Book Review: Here In Spirit by Jonathan Dodson

When it comes to the Holy Spirit, Christians are divided. There are many reasons why. Some look at the Spirit as a impersonal force like something off Star Wars. Some look at the Spirit as a means to get the power of God meaning they can do some of the miraculous signs in the Bible such as raising the dead. As Jonathan Dodson puts it, the three words that can divide the church is "The Holy Spirit."

In his book, Here In Spirit, Dodson writes that the Holy Spirit is not only a person of the Trinity, but He (notice the Spirit is a person not a thing) is the one who connects us to the Father and the Son. The Son fills us with a life that is satisfying and creative. Yeah, when I saw that I had an idea where Dodson might be going. It seems that there were parts in this book where Dodson was going a little charismatic.

One thing Dodson said was the Spirit is the affection of God planted in our hearts. I do not recall seeing that in scripture. I know the Spirit is a seal (Ephesians 1:13-14) and helper (John 14:26), but I have never seen Him called affection of God anywhere in the Bible. Where did Dodson come up with that?

Remember that I wrote earlier that some look at the Spirit as an impersonal force? Dodson does teach in the book that the Spirit is not a force, He is a Person. He gives the attributes of the Spirit which I am glad Dodson did teach this in his book. A force has no attributes, no feelings. The Spirit does have them. The Spirit also has personal qualities such as speaking, teaching, and grieves, which a force or thing does not.

Dodson continues to teach on many things of the Spirit which includes how He is our companion as we go through this life. The Spirit is there to guide us and reminds of the things Christ taught us. I was a little struck when the last chapter of the book was titled, "The Future of The Spirit." Does the Holy Spirit have a future? The answer is yes. He does not go away when Jesus returns or when we gather in God's presence with the saints in heaven. One of the attributes Dodson showed his readers is that the Spirit is eternal based on John 14:16 and Hebrews 9:14.

There were a few issues I had with this book as well as points of agreement. There were times I felt Dodson was going a little charismatic as I mentioned earlier. I am don't think this would be my "go-to" book on the Holy Spirit, but it the church should not be afraid to talk about the Spirit. The church should have a good theology of the Holy Spirit, but it needs to be what God has revealed about Him in the Scriptures, not what we feel the Spirit is or does.

Thanks InterVarsity Press for letting me review this book.