In Gift and Giver, a substantial revision of his 3 Crucial Questions about the Holy Spirit, prolific author Craig Keener takes a probing look at the various evangelical understandings of the role of the Holy Spirit in the church. His desire is for Christians to "work for consensus, or at least for unity in God’s work despite our differences on secondary matters."

Employing a helpful narrative approach and an ample number of stories, Keener enters into constructive dialogue with Pentecostals, moderates, and cessationists, all the while attempting to learn from each viewpoint. He seeks to bridge the gap between cessationists and Pentecostals/charismatics by urging all Christians to seek the Holy Spirit’s empowerment. His irenic approach to this controversial issue has been endorsed by charismatics and non-charismatics alike.

Sure to provoke helpful dialogue on a topic that has caused unfortunate divisions within the church, Gift and Giver will be a valuable addition to college and seminary courses on pneumatology. It will also be helpful to lay readers interested in a balanced discussion of spiritual gifts.

The level-headed, anecdotally enriched exegesis that Craig Keener offers in this book broadens the categories of Spirit-baptism, ongoing charismata, and current manifestations of the Spirit in a way that is pacifying, unifying, and edifying, and neatly rounds off a good deal of recent debate. Disciplined scholarship and pastoral concern blend here most fruitfully, in lines of argument that have real importance for church life today and tomorrow.–J. I. Packer, professor of theology, Regent College, Vancouver

Both scholarly and warmly personal, it should be helpful to Pentecostals, charismatics, evangelicals, and any others needing a fresh perspective on the Holy Spirit’s work today. –Vinson Synan, dean, School of Divinity Regent University, Virginia