If Christology is so important because of the centrality of Jesus to Chretianity, the importance of pneumatology is in many ways more fund vocaal still Within the Judaco-Christian tradition "spirit" has long been the word that denotes our religious sense of wonder, fear, and reverence, the word that signifies the power within and behind creation, and the name for that power's reverberations within the human soul. The New Testament, however, points us to a more specific understanding of the Spirit one that expresses the Spirit in trinitar- lante, inaimately related to the life of the church. The subject of Theumatology, then, is of particular importance for Christians every- where, as witricssed by the extent to which interpretations of the Spirit continue to shape today's denominations.

This volume contains twenty-three of James D. G. Dunn's best shorter mays-produced over a span of twenty-five years and grouped here scctuding to theme on different aspects of New Testament pneuma- tology Chapters 1-6 look generally at important pneumatological topics, such as the use of "spirit" and "Holy Spirit in the New Testa nem and Spirit-haptism and Pentecostalism. Chapters 7-9 examine the sciation of John the Baptist to our Christian understanding of Spiru-baptism. Chapters 10-13 explore the relationship between the Spirtt, the kingdom, and Jesus' ministry Chapters 14-17 study in depth the pneumatology of the book of Acts Finally, chapters 18-23 consider the implications ications of New Testament pneumatology for the life of the Christian church.