Book Review: Fred Sanders’ “The Holy Spirit: An Introduction”

This book is part of a new series from Crossway, “short Studies in Systematic Theology”. They are intended to help someone who has a basic understanding of Christianity to get a deeper understanding of one doctrine. This one by Fred Sanders is the first in the series and it does an excellent job.

It does not assume any prior knowledge of academic theology or systematic theology, but helps the reader through step by step to survey a vast amount of Bible and theological discussion on the topic of the Holy Spirit.

There were two particular strengths of the book that made it stand out as more than just a solid presentation of the Holy Spirit. First, Fred Sanders let the topic itself shape how he approached the topic. Instead of approaching understanding the Holy Spirit as if we just apply the approaches and truths for understanding Jesus, Sanders is sensitive to the way the Holy Spirit works and presents himself differently. A particularly helpful phrase he uses is that the Holy Spirit is “always already”. By the time you start looking at the Holy Spirit and his work, you find that you are looking at what he is already doing, and even your act of looking is something he is already doing.

The second strength of the book is the diverse range of quotes used very well. It did not come across as someone showing off their knowledge. Nor were the quotes from a narrow range of writers. Church Fathers, Reformers, Puritans, Great Awakening, 19th century theologians, and 20th century theologians were all quoted. I was also struck by how many quote came from works published in the last five years, showing that Fred Sanders is up to date in his reading on this topic, and giving me interesting further reading to explore.

This book is not for the absolute beginner- I think it is likely to be helpful to someone who has a fairly good grasp of the basics of the Christian faith. But it would make an excellent first introduction for someone looking to study the Holy Spirit’s person and work more deeply. And even as someone who has read quite a few books on the Spirit over the years, I found it refreshing and stimulating to read it.