Journal: Southern Baptist Journal of Theology
Volume: SBJT 23:2 (Summer 2019)
Article: Book Reviews
Author: Anonymous

SBJT 23:2 (Summer 2019) p. 181

Book Reviews

The Progressive Mystery: Tracing the Elusive Spirit in Scripture and Tradition. By Myk Habets. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2019, xv + 220 pp., $17.99 paper.

Myk Habets presently serves in several educational and leadership roles at Carey Baptist College in Auckland, New Zealand, and has written and edited works on various subjects of systematic theology, including Trinitarianism (Trinitarian Theology after Barth), Spirit Christology (The Anointed Son), and Pneumatology (Third Article Theology, The Spirit of Truth). The author intends for the present volume, The Progressive Mystery, to serve as a “concise introduction” (4) on the person and work of the Holy Spirit throughout the biblical canon and church history. This book’s unique contribution to the field includes Habets’ frequent mention of Christological implications vis-à-vis Pneumatology—typically, from a Spirit-Christology perspective—and his championing of a third article theological method—that is, “a systematic and considered attempt to do theology by starting with questions of the Spirit” (183; cf. 178n22).

Habets divides the book into four parts. In parts 1 and 2, he highlights the progressive revelation of the Holy Spirit in the Old and New Testaments in order to avoid common caricatures and misapplications of Pneumatology (1). In the Old Testament survey (part 1), Habets follows a thematic—rather than canonical—approach, focusing on the Spirit of God’s role in creation, the OT community of faith, and the consummation of God’s covenantal plans through the coming Messiah redeemer. The author does, however, employ a canonical approach in the New Testament survey (part 2), covering the Spirit’s portrayal in Matthew–Mark, Luke–Acts, the Johannine corpus, and the general epistles. In parts 3 and 4, Habets wrestles with how the church has sought to understand God’s revelation on the Spirit and apply it to matters of faith and practice in history and today (4). In the historical survey (part 3), the author traces the gradual establishment of pro-Nicene orthodoxy concerning Trinitarianism and Pneumatology through the relevant contributions of—and obstacles faced by—Irenaeus, Tertullian, Origen,

SBJT 23:2 (Summer 2019) p. 182

Athanasius, the Cappadocian Fathers, and Augustine. In the contemporary survey (part 4), Habets explores the influential contributions to modern Pneumatology by “Reformed” thinkers (Calvin, Schleiermacher, Barth, Moltmann), Roman Catholics (Congar, Rahner, Vatican II), the Pentecostal and Charismatic renewal movements, and contemporary Evangelicalism (or “orthodox conservative Protestantism” [173n1]). The book ends with the author’s synthesis of what a well...