The Spirit in Galatia: Paul's Interpretation of Pneuma as Divine Power: 49 (Dissertation (Paperback))

An investigation of the term pneuma in Pauls letter to the Galations is needed from the side of NT scholarship because debate continues over the question about the nature of the crisis in the churches of Galatia and therefore about the historical occasion of Pauls statements about the Spirit. The focus of this debate is the character of Pauls opponents in the Galatian churches. Currently the consensus is limited to a single point: that someone was engaging in a circumcizing campaign in the Galatian churches. But on the other points no agreement exists. The two parts of this study are distinguished in that the first part deals with the historical context of Pauls statements about the Spirit in Galatians: that is the events because of which Paul wrote the letter and the nature and social setting of expriences of the Spirit in the life of the Galatian churches. The second part deals with the theology of the Spirit in Pauls message to the Galatians which has three aspects-soteriology christology and eschatology. -from the Introduction This important and closely argued study of the experience of the Spirit marks a real advance in the discussion of Galatians. Lulls work a dissertation directed by H. D. Betz follows many of the lines laid out by Betz in his commentary and elsewhere but Lull is an independent scholar who makes his own judgments and carries the discussion forward at several key points. . . . Lull shows how the Spirit can be seen as more than an existentialist understanding of existence on the one hand and more than a universal creative Spirit on the other. -William A. Beardslee Journal of Biblical Literature The study is a welcome contribution to a neglected area of research. It will prove useful to pastors since it treats responsibly a topic on which so much nonsense is written. . . . The treatment of the Spirit in Galatia is timely and the link that is forged with ethics is suggestive. -Calvin J. Roetzel Interpretation David J. Lull is Associate Professor of New Testament at the Wartburg Theological Seminary. He is co-author (with John B. Cobb Jr.) of Romans (Chalice Press 2005) and is currently working on Galatians Philippians 1 & 2 Thessalonians Philemon Chalace Press Commentaries for Today.