William P. Atkinson, Jesus Before Pentecost (Cambridge: The Lutterworth Press, 2016).
William P. Atkinson is Senior Lecturer in Pentecostal and Charismatic Studies at the London School of Theology. He is the author of The “Spiritual Death” of Jesus (2009), Baptism in the Spirit (2011), and Trinity after Pentecost (2013). This particular title studies the history of Jesus’ ministry from a Pentecostal perspective. This perspective affects both his method and the book’s content. Regarding his method, Atkinson puts forward a strong argument for looking carefully at John’s Gospel and the synoptic gospels as a reliable historical source for Jesus’ life. In terms of content, his main areas of study follow key Pentecostal interests, summed up in the “foursquare” Pentecostal rubric of Jesus as savior, healer, baptizer in the Spirit, and soon-coming king.
The title is broken into five different chapters. In the first, Jesus is studied through “different eyes.” Chapter two covers Jesus as the Baptizer in the Spirit.” The third, Jesus as “Healer.” Chapter four discusses Jesus as “Savior.” And the final chapter broaches the topic of Jesus as “Soon-Coming King.” In sum, Atkinson offers fresh insights into Jesus’ life: the symbolic meaning Jesus invested in the feeding of the five thousand; the personal cost to Jesus of his approach to healing the sick; the involvement of God’s Spirit in his life and in the lives of those around him; and his enigmatic predictions of his future coming. Overall, the study is academically rigorous. It will appeal to anyone who is seriously interested in the academic study of Jesus, whether or not they are Pentecostal.
Bradford McCall
Claremont School of Theology