Pneuma: A Dialectic of Flesh-Spirit at the Root of New Testament Pneumatology

Was the identity of the Holy Spirit as a personal agent already obvious in the expressions of faith at the pre-literary stage of Christianity? This book traces the evolution of the expression of the early Christian faith in relation to the notion of pneuma (spirit). It shows that, first of all pneuma, as long as it can be traced from three passages in antithesis with sarks (1 Tim 3:16; 1 Pet 3:18,22 and Rom 1:3-4) reflecting the Christian theology prior to the early New Testament writings, referred to the spiritual condition to which Christ had access as a result of his resurrection, in contrast to his previous earthly condition. Then in a more in-depth examination of Rom 1:4 from the angle of identifiable redactions, it continues to show how the passage/transition from this representation of the pneuma-condition to that of the pneuma (Spirit) designating the Holy Spirit took place.