In From Pentecost to the Triune God Steven Studebaker puts forth a provocative Pentecostal Trinitarian theology, arguing that the Holy Spirit completes the fellowship of the triune God and therefore shapes the identities of the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit, Studebaker maintains, is not simply a passive end-product of a procession from the Father and Son but, rather, a dynamic person who plays an active role in the Trinity and a constitutional, consummational role in the history of redemption. In the course of his study, Studebaker shows the theological yield of the Pentecostal experience of the Holy Spirit and uncovers the biblical narratives of the Spirit from creation to Pentecost. A constructive and ecumenical contribution to Trinitarian theology, From Pentecost to the Triune God also engages major historical and contemporary figures such as Augustine, the Cappadocians, Weinandy, and Zizioulas, as well as representatives from the evangelical and charismatic traditions. Finally, Studebaker applies his Pentecostal Trinitarian theology to the theology of religions and creation care, proposing that Christians embrace an inclusive posture toward people of other religious traditions and have an earth orientation that sees creation care as Christian formation.

Trinity After Pentecost considers the triune God from a Pentecostal viewpoint. In so doing, it offers a fresh articulation of the theology of the Trinity, taking the Holy Spirit as its starting point. It concludes that the Trinity cannot be adequately appreciated using any single model - whether social, modal, or psychological. Instead, it presents three models - relational, instrumental, and substantial - that must be held in paradoxical tension with one another to gain insight into the Trinity. Of these, the relational model is the foremost. Pentecost offers rich potential for seeing the relations between the Father, the Son and the Spirit as a dynamic reciprocal 'dance', in which each Person empties their 'self ' in order to exalt the others.

In From Pentecost to the Triune God Steven Studebaker puts forth a provocative Pentecostal Trinitarian theology, arguing that the Holy Spirit completes the fellowship of the triune God and therefore shapes the identities of the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit, Studebaker maintains, is not simply a passive end-product of a procession from the Father and Son but, rather, a dynamic person who plays an active role in the Trinity and a constitutional, consummational role in the history of redemption. In the course of his study, Studebaker shows the theological yield of the Pentecostal experience of the Holy Spirit and uncovers the biblical narratives of the Spirit from creation to Pentecost. A constructive and ecumenical contribution to Trinitarian theology, From Pentecost to the Triune God also engages major historical and contemporary figures such as Augustine, the Cappadocians, Weinandy, and Zizioulas, as well as representatives from the evangelical and charismatic traditions. Finally, Studebaker applies his Pentecostal Trinitarian theology to the theology of religions and creation care, proposing that Christians embrace an inclusive posture toward people of other religious traditions and have an earth orientation that sees creation care as Christian formation.

"Argues persuasively that Christian teaching about the Spirit (pneumatology) has much to offer to a correct understanding of justification.... We have here a book of singular consequence."ùWilliam G. Rusch, Yale Divinity School --

A constructive study of Trinitarian theology that aims to clarify our knowledge of the triune God by rightly ordering the theological language we use to praise him. The Triune God reaches its conclusions about how this doctrine should be handled on the basis of the way the Trinity was revealed. As such, theologian Fred Sanders: Invites a doxological invitation to the reader to contemplate the mystery of the Trinity. Establishes the biblical exposition and draws the doctrinal implications from it. Offers dogmatic principles for Trinitarian exegesis. Though Sanders does interact with major voices from the history of doctrine—and his arguments are indebted to and informed by the great tradition of Trinitarianism—he is clear throughout that Trinitarianism is a gift of revelation before it is an achievement of the church. The most patristic way to proceed toward a well-ordered doctrine of the Trinity is, after all, to study Scripture. -ABOUT THE SERIES- New Studies in Dogmatics seeks to retrieve the riches of Christian doctrine for the sake of contemporary theological renewal. Following in the tradition of G. C. Berkouwer's Studies in Dogmatics, this series provides thoughtful, concise, and readable treatments of major theological topics, expressing the biblical, creedal, and confessional shape of Christian doctrine for a contemporary evangelical audience. The editors and contributors share a common conviction that the way forward in constructive systematic theology lies in building upon the foundations laid in the church's historic understanding of the Word of God as professed in its creeds, councils, and confessions, and by its most trusted teachers.

Our six authors from four continents representing several branches of Evangelicalism are united in affirming the classical Christian understanding of God as Trinity as crucial for knowing God, understanding the world, and serving God honestly. Their essays lead up to a compilation of classical creeds regarding this foundational proclamation. Thomas K. Johnson: “The Trinity is a matter of knowing God in his complexity, totally different from us in our singularity yet radically similar in having personality in his image, then letting this knowledge of God become the pattern of a renewed Christian mind.” Brian Edgar: “This presentation of the consummate dimensions of the Trinity . . . tells us that the life of God as Trinity is something in which we participate rather than something to be intellectually comprehended.” J. Scott Horrell: “The suggestion, humbly submitted, is especially for a missional Trinitarian worldview—not missional as from one culture to another, but missional as each body of believers seeks to engage and express Trinitarian faith within their own culture.” William P. Atkinson: “As the Father’s kenotic ‘leadership’ of the Trinity thereby exalts the Son and the Spirit, so too we can expect that the sort of servant-leadership that answers Jesus’ high-priestly prayer will lift those who are being led.” Pavel Hošek: “The Enlightenment reductionist rationalism in theology is going through a serious crisis, and the relativistic postmodern alternatives do not provide any firm epistemological basis for responsible theological thinking. I suggest that the trinitarian intellectual framework which Comenius and Lewis tried to develop offers a promising and inspiring way forward for Christian theologians faithful to the orthodox teachings of the church who are struggling with the intellectual challenges of contemporary culture.” Tersur Aben: “The Trinity is the heart of God’s self-disclosure to and involvement with humans on earth. . . . The mission of the church is thus to proclaim the gospel of salvation and the restoration of humans back to God, which the Son accomplished on Calvary and the Holy Spirit applies to believers on Pentecost.”

"A Michael Glazier book." Includes bibliographical references (p. 119-123) and index.