Andrea D. Snavely, Life in the Spirit: a Post-Constantinian and Trinitarian Account of the Christian Life (Cambridge: James Clarke & Co., 2015), xvii + 209 Pps., $$$$???
Andrea D. Snavely is a professor of biblie and theology at Global University of the Assembies of God in Springfield, Missouri. In this text, he explores what it means to say that the Christian life is a life to be lived in the Spirit. All Christians generally agree with that assertion. However, there is where the agreement stops. Indeed, the “how” of living-out this life in the Spirit is a highly controversial topic within contemporary theology. Herein, Snavely develops a Spirit-Christology that is Post-Constantinian that is based principally on the work of John Howard Yoder and Stanley Hauerwas. He then builds upon the Spirit-Christology of Leopoldo Sanchez, who provides a framework for seeing one’s life as transformed by the Spirit.
Snavely’s argument in the text develops in four parts. The first part considers the theology of the Christian life itself, and he follows the lead of Yoder. Snavely agrees with Yoder’s critique of how modern theology ignored or even denied Christ’s life as being the norm for Christian’s more generally. The second part develops a new type of Christology, namely a Spirit-Christology in which Jesus Christ and his life are essentially constituted by and expressed through the Spirit. Notably, Snavely finds a thoroughly Trinitarian Spirit-Christology in the work of Leo Sanchez in which the Spirit’s presence and power are essential. The third part of Snavely’s account explains how the Spirit-empowered Christian life comes about, namely by the gift of the Spirit. Here we see the Pentecostal influence on Snavely’s account. In developing this third part, Snavely attends closely to the ministry of the Apostles by considering how their preaching and baptizing brought about new life in the Spirit. And finally, the fourth part of this title explains the contours of life in the Spirit. In so doing, Snavely returns to a Post-Constantinaian depiction of the Christian life as a cruciform one, which means that non-violence, contentment, and harmony are essential.
Life in the Spirit will help readers to develop a better understanding of the place of vocation in the world as witness to the lordship of Christ, which is empowered by the Spirit, who brings about the unity of the body of Christ. Snavely’s reimagining of the Church and the Christian life in terms of living in union with the Spirit is to be highly praised. It pictures the Christian life as being grounded in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus as the one who is the Son of God in and through the Spirit. I recommend it to all comers.
Bradford McCall
Holy Apostles College and Seminary