James D. G. Dunn’s Baptism in the Holy Spirit

As an aside, I also want to share that the one book that was instrumental in my spiritual journey was James D. G. Dunn’s Baptism in the Holy Spirit. I will always be grateful to the A/G professor who patiently listened to my spiritual struggle and recommended I read this book!


While I realize that not everyone will agree with all of Dunn’s exegetical conclusions, I do think that this is one book that everyone interested in this area of theology should read. And, so people know a little about my presuppositions, I find that I am in total agreement with Dunn’s objectives for his book:

I hope to show that for the writers of the NT the baptism in or gift of the Spirit was part of the event (or process) of becoming a Christian,

together with the effective proclamation of the Gospel, belief in (eis) Jesus as Lord, and water-baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus;


that it was the chief element in conversion-initiation so that only those who had thus received the Spirit could be called Christians;

that the reception of the Spirit was a very definite and often dramatic experience,

the decisive and climactic experience in conversion-initiation, to which the Christian was usually recalled when reminded of the beginning of his Christian faith and experience.


We shall see that while the Pentecostal’s belief in the dynamic and experiential nature of Spirit-baptism is well founded, his separation of it from conversion-initiation is wholly unjustified; and that, conversely, while water-baptism is an important element in the complex of conversion-initiation, it is neither to be equated or confused with Spirit-baptism nor to be given the most prominent part in that complex event.

The high point in conversion-initiation is the gift of the Spirit, and the beginning of the Christian life is to be reckoned from the experience of Spirit-baptism. (James D. G. Dunn, Baptism in the Holy Spirit, p. 4)