In 1964 Professor Hendrikus Berkhof delivered the Warfield Lectures
at Princeton Theological Seminary on "The Doctrine of the
Holy Spirit," which were published thereafter under the same
title.1 In these lectures Berkhof, after discussing justification
and sanctification, spoke of the Revivalist and Pentecostal movements
who "experienced still another blessing...now widely known
as the 'filling by the Holy Spirit' or 'the baptism by the Holy
Spirit.'"2 This working of the Holy Spirit, Berkhof added,
has scarcely been heeded by "official theology." These
pertinent sentences follow:
Small wonder, because there is a watertight partition-wall between these groups and theology in seminaries and universities. I believe that this partition is to the detriment of both parties, and I will make an attempt to break through the wall. I do so although I am aware that I set foot on an unexplored field and that my thoughts here...must be considered as preliminary and needing correction by others.3
In Berkhof's attempt to "break through the wall" he
concluded that "the work of the Spirit is not exhausted in
justification and sanctification; an additional working is promised
and must therefore be sought....The Pentecostals are basically
right when they speak of a working of the Holy Spirit beyond that
which is acknowledged in the major denominations."4
My own reflection and experience has confirmed for me, likewise,
that there is a basic dimension of the Holy Spirit's work largely
overlooked by theology and church, and that "official theology"
hitherto has given little consideration to this working of the
Spirit. We may be grateful, however, that the two major Presbyterian
bodies in America within recent years have adopted related statements
on the work of the Holy Spirit.5 I would call particular attention
to the report of the Presbyterian Church, U.S., because of its
focus on the special work of the Holy Spirit. With caution, but
nonetheless clearly, the Presbyterian Church, U.S., report concludes:
It is clear that there is Biblical and Reformed witness concerning
baptism of the Holy Spirit and special endowments of the Holy
Spirit in the believing community....where such an experience
gives evidence of an empowering and renewing work of Christ in
the life of the individual and the church, it may be acknowledged
with gratitude. This means above all that Christ should be glorified,
His own Spirit made manifest in human lives, and the church edified.
For such evidences of the presence of the Holy Spirit the church
may rejoice.
Now I should like to elaborate some of my thinking in this area.
If it helps further to break open the "watertight partition-wall,"
I shall be grateful. For it seem to me that we still have such
to do to get this dimension of the Spirit's work clearly before
us.
My concern is with that aspect of the work of the Spirit that
has to do with the energizing of the community of faith.
Presupposing the creation of such community by the Word and Spirit,
this activity of the Spirit has to do with the empowering of the
community for witness and mission. The Holy Spirit, while active
in the origination of such community, now invests the community
with fresh resources of praise, proclamation, and service. Going
beyond "salvation history" this belongs to the life
of the community both in its upbuilding and outreach.
Here a brief biblical and theological review may be in order.
The work of the Holy Spirit stretches from creation to consummation.
The Spirit of God is active in creation as the power by which
all things are brought into being and infused with life (the Holy
Spirit as "Lord and Giver of life"). He is likewise
the power of God that sustains the universe; for without His Spirit
all things would return to chaos and emptiness. The Spirit of
God is at work in the world to further all that is good, to restrain
evil; and He is to be recognized as the source of truth, purity,
and holiness. The Spirit is present everywhere among people- -for
"whither shall I go from thy Spirit? Or whither shall I flee
from thy presence?" (Psalm 139:7). The Holy Spirit is active
in the Incarnation, for it is by His overshadowing power that
the Son of God is born of a woman, and it is with His anointing
that Jesus enters upon and executes His ministry. The Spirit of
God likewise brings about conviction of sin, and by Him the "new
birth" takes place. The Spirit unites to Christ by faith,
and through His indwelling presence the believer is more and more
transformed into the likeness of Christ. The Holy Spirit is present
in the Word and sacraments exhibiting and confirming grace, and
in all Christian living provides strength and direction. At the
end, the Holy Spirit will be the power of God that brings resurrection
life- -for "he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give
life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit which dwells in
you" (Romans 8:11). Thus from creation to consummation the
Spirit of God is at work.
In the above summary there is nothing that has not been said many
times, and theological reflection has done much by way of clarification.
However, there is another line much less pursued, and one that
is directly relevant to our present concern. It has to do with
the Holy Spirit as a mysterious divine energy that comes
variously upon the people of God. In the Old Testament this divine
energy now and again comes upon people and enables them to fulfill
certain tasks: for example, an artisan for the building of the
tabernacle (Ex. 31:3), a judge or a king for the ruling of Israel
(e.g., Judg. 3:10; 1 Sam. 16:13), a prophet for the speaking of
God's word (e.g., Mic. 3:8). At times this energy comes with such
force as to represent a kind of divine seizure (e.g., Judg. 6:34),
"taking possession" of a man for the performing of prodigious
feats (e.g., Judg. 14:6), sometimes "coming mightily"
upon one so that he prophesies day and night (1 Sam. 19:24), sometimes
even carrying a person bodily from one place to another (1 Kings
18:12). Nowhere in the Old Testament is the Spirit said to be
given to the people as a whole; however, the hope is held out
that this will someday occur. Moses expresses a deep yearning
that all God's people might be prophets ("Would that all
the Lord's people were prophets, that the Lord would put His Spirit
upon them!" Num. 11:29), and Joel prophesies that the time
will come when God will pour out His Spirit on all flesh (Joel
2:28).
In the New Testament there is a kind of step-by-step unfolding
of fulfillment. First, certain persons, prior to Jesus' ministry,
continue the Old Testament line of individuals occasionally anointed
by the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:41-42, 67-68; 2:25-32); upon them the
divine energy comes for prophetic utterance. Second, John the
Baptist is said to "be filled with the Holy Spirit, even
from his mother's womb" (Luke 1:15)- -hence a precursor of
the permanent anointing to come- -for the lifelong purpose of preparing
the way for Christ. John goes "in the spirit and power of
Elijah" (Luke 1:17), and the divine energy is such as to
set fires of repentance burning in the hearts and lives of those
who hear him. Third, Jesus upon His baptism at Jordan receives
the anointing of God's Spirit (Luke 3:22, 4:1), and the Spirit
who so comes is said to "descend and remain" (John 1:33),
thus a continuing endowment. According to one account, just following
Jesus' baptism, the Holy Spirit "immediately drove him out
into the wilderness" (Mark 1:12)- -thus the picture of a divine
energy that mightily propels and directs. Thereafter He begins
His prophetic ministry with the words, "The Spirit of the
Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to preach good news"
(Luke 4:18). Fourth, at Pentecost the Holy Spirit comes in plenitude
upon all the disciples who are assembled together- -thus the initial
fulfillment of Joel's prophecy- -and with such extraordinary force
that they begin "to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit
gave them utterance" (Acts 2:4-13) and to proclaim powerfully
the good news about Jesus (Acts 4:14-36). Fifth, in ensuing years
recurrences of the descent of the Spirit happen in varying situations
(e. g., Samaria, Caesarea, and Ephesus), and with similar powerful
results. Both Caesareans and Ephesians speak in tongues- -the former
are observed to be "speaking in tongues and extolling God"
(10:46), the latter "spoke with tongues and prophesied"
(19:6). The mysterious divine energy, from Pentecost onward, clearly
propels the community of faith into depths of utterance hitherto
unexperienced, and into a powerful witness to the good news in
Jesus Christ.
It is important to note that the line we have been pursuing represents
enabling power bestowed upon the community of faith. Before
Pentecost it is apparent that the divine energy comes upon those
who are the people of God, thereby enabling them to fulfill certain
divine tasks. The same thing is portrayed in Acts, the thematic
text being chapter 1:8, "You shall receive power when the
Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses."
The donation of the Spirit for witness is promised to the apostolic
community of believers; and after the reception of this gift the
promise is renewed: "The promise is to you and to your children
and to all that are far off, every one whom the Lord our God calls
to him" (2:39). Thereafter the record in Acts portrays many
who are called- -new communities of faith- -who are invested with
power for the mission of the Gospel. The Samaritans receive this
enabling power several days after they hear the word, believe,
and are baptized; the Caesareans at the moment of their hearing
and believing the Gospel are invested with power ("While
Peter was still saying this, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard
the word" [10:44]); the Ephesians, after their coming to
faith and baptism, have hands laid upon them to receive this spiritual
endowment (19:4-6).
It is to be observed, therefore, that this enablement of the Holy
Spirit presupposes faith, calling, community. Whether it
is an Old Testament judge, prophet, or king; or in the New Testament,
John the Baptist, Jesus Himself, or the early disciples, the Holy
Spirit activates those who are God's people. Hence, this action
of the Holy Spirit is not for the creation of faith and
community, but for the enablement of those who believe to fulfill
God's purposes. As the New Testament unfolds, the situation is
made more complex by the fact that the community of faith is no
longer simply a continuation of Israel, but is that brought into
being by a fresh generation of God's Spirit. Hence, it is to those
born of the Spirit that the Spirit is given! Jesus Himself, in
unique fashion, is an exemplar of this, for He is shown to be
"conceived by the Holy Spirit" (Matt. 1:20-25; Luke
1:31-35), and later the Spirit comes upon Him in anointing power.
These operations of the Holy Spirit are clearly not the same,
and uniquely foreshadow what is intended for those who turn to
Christ: both a conception by the Spirit (a new birth) wherein
Christian life and community comes to be, and the bestowal of
the Spirit in anointing power for the mission of the Gospel.
Now, I repeat, it is this second line- -the Spirit coming with anointing
power- -that has been much less considered in theology. Here it
is not the Holy Spirit as active in salvation, but in implementation;
it is the mighty coming of the Holy Spirit upon those who believe.
This coming is not for the origination of faith, but belongs to
that action of God wherein power is bestowed for witness, praise,
and proclamation. Furthermore, there is nothing automatic about
this bestowal of the Spirit. It is promised to all whom God calls
to Himself, and accordingly is to be received in faith. The result
is access of divine energy- -with striking manifestations frequently
accompanying- -and entrance into fresh dimensions of personal and
communal life.
This then brings us to the crucial point, namely, that many people
today in the so-called "charismatic movement" are experiencing
a similar input of divine energy. Berkhof, as we noted, wrote
in the past tense, of those who "experienced still
another blessing...the 'filling by the Holy Spirit' or 'the baptism
by the Holy Spirit.'" We may now shift into the present and
say, "are experiencing." It is happening across
the world, and bids fair to be the greatest renewal movement of
our time.
What must be recognized- -if theology is adequately to come to terms
with all this- -is that we are talking about a vast infusion of
spiritual energy. The spiritual input of the Old Covenant leading
up to Christ is obviously not a small thing (attested by supernatural
wisdom, prophetic inspiration, driving force, and so on), but
with the new creation made possible by the life, death, and resurrection
of Jesus Christ the potential input is greatly increased, and
the resulting effects are markedly more profound and pervasive.
Here there is a fullness of penetration that the people of the
Old Covenant could not know or experience. It is verily the community
of faith being immersed in the presence and power of Almighty
God.
The phenomenon of tongues is peculiarly a New Testament sign of
this spiritual penetration. In previous prophetic utterance, whereby
a person boldly spoke forth a "thus says the Lord,"
there is obviously a remarkable intensity of spiritual presence.
For therein God directly communicates His message through ordinary
language. The New Testament manifestation of tongues represents
a further stepping up of spiritual intensity. It is a sign of
that profound penetration wherein the depths of the human spirit
are probed by the Holy Spirit, and the consequent language moves
past the mental and conceptual into spiritual utterance. Here
there is direct address of man to God in "other tongues,"
declaring His praise, attesting His greatness, extolling His Name,
even speaking His mysteries. Like prophecy this manifestation
of the Spirit is extraordinary utterance.
However, unlike prophecy it is not in the known language of the
speaker, and further it is not directed to people but to God.
It is the speaking forth from the depths of the human spirit,
invaded by the divine Spirit, of a transcendent utterance that
ordinary language cannot express. This is the ultimate in communication
from earth to heaven, and represents with peculiar vividness the
penetration of the spirit made possible with the dawn of the New
Testament period.
But one needs to add quickly that such depth phenomena as prophecy
and tongues are only initiatory signs of the new spiritual era.
A broad range of other phenomena- -such as extraordinary healing
powers, spiritual discernment and exorcism of evil powers, and
miracles of innumerable kinds- -now become operative. All these
manifestations- -and many others- -signalize a tremendous release
of spiritual force for the renewal and upbuilding of persons and
communities, and for the implementation of Christian witness to
the world.
Let us now return to the basic issue before us which is not the
matter of spiritual manifestations (as important as they are),
but that of the infusion of the Holy Spirit. People today are
undoubtedly experiencing, in a variety of ways, this "fullness"
of the Spirit. It is of such potency as to make the praise of
God the focus of their existence, a joyful sense of community
across all denominational lines, and a fresh witness to Jesus
Christ apparent in their everyday lives. This spiritual movement
is also of such force as to begin to provoke the church at large
into asking the Pentecostal question, "What does this mean?"
(Acts 2:12), and into a growing realization that something is
happening here that could make for a radical renewal of the body
of Christ throughout the world.
1The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit. My address was given at the same seminary ten years after Berkhof delivered the Warfield Lectures there.
2Ibid., 85.
3Ibid.
4Ibid., 87. For some of the quotations above, also see the previous chapter, "The Upsurge of Pentecostalism."
5The Work of the Holy Spirit,
official statement of the former United Presbyterian Church in
the U.S.A., and The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit,
official statement of the former Presbyterian Church, U.S. Both
reports may be found in Presence, Power, Praise: Documents
of the Charismatic Renewal (Kilian McDonnell, ed., 1:221-82,
287-317). Also see the earlier chapter entitled "The Person
and Work of the Holy Sprit with Special reference to 'the Baptism
with the Holy Spirit'" for sections quoted from the Presbyterian
Church