Fresh Air: The Holy Spirit for an Inspired Life

This book is life-changing in the study of the Holy Spirit. Jack Levison has a way of making the Spirit accessible yet still holding the mystery of the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives. I highly recommend this book for personal or group studies. You won't be disappointed!

This is a neat study of the holy spirit .levison combines o.t and n.t. Scripture to present a comprehensive study of the Holy Spirit Throughout the Bible.it was a good group study. It presents the work of the Holy Spirit in individuals as well as in community. His wrap up in the last chapter is very good. It takes it full circle back to the beginning of the book. All in all it is a good Bible study. We added several chapters from the book of Hebrews to compliment the last chapter.

Fresh Air does indeed take a new and considered look at worship as shown to us by the early Christian church. I would like to see all such enticements to things in a new way be so carefully researched and provided with such a firm foundation of premise. However, I left this well laid out book unconvinced that it offered a new hope. I did not see how a mix of proficy and teaching would cure the woes of today's church or what a church that embraced his solution would look like. The book felt unfinished.

A book of unique personal and theological depth that explores the difficult-to-articulate dynamics of God's Spirit/spirit. Through a diverse but focused look at the Bible, FRESH AIR begins creating a language through which everyday people can think clearly about the mystery of God's indwelling presence without being reductionistic and formulaic. As a side benefit, the book poses an intrinsic challenge to the parts of us that want a Duality, not a Trinity, the parts of us that really do want a formulaic God instead of the Living God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and, supremely, Jesus. Wherever you stand theologically regarding the Spirit, this book can breathe new wisdom and vigor into your faith.

I appreciate the focus in this book on how those in the Qumran community used the phrase "holy spirit" or "spirit of holiness". But it would be wrong to assume that the Qumran community were the first and only ones to use the phrase "holy spirit". See here - Jubilees 1 (written by a Pharisee around 135 BC)- But they are Thy people and Thy inheritance, which thou hast delivered with thy great power from the hands of the Egyptians: create in them a clean heart and a holy spirit, and let them not be ensnared in 22 their sins from henceforth until eternity.' And the Lord said unto Moses: 'I know their contrariness and their thoughts and their stiffneckedness, and they will not be obedient till they confess 23 their own sin and the sin of their fathers. And after this they will turn to Me in all uprightness and with all (their) heart and with all (their) soul, and I will circumcise the foreskin of their heart and the foreskin of the heart of their seed, and I will create in them a holy spirit, and I will cleanse them so that they shall not turn away from Me from that day unto eternity Also Psuedo-Philo mentions the phrase "holy spirit" many times which was written around the time of Jesus but was not connected to the Qumran community. I am really surprised but I do not think there was even a mention of Psalm 51:11 - Do not take your holy spirit from me"! or Isaiah 63:10 - "Yet they rebelled and grieved his holy spirit"! Or no mention was made between "holy spirit" and "the spirit of the holy gods" in Daniel 4 and 5! I do like his emphasis on keeping a proper balance of the spirit in our life and how sometimes it can be the spirit who drives us into the wilderness. Probably the best point in the book. I just thought he never really jelled together the idea he was supporting that the spirit is something that everyone has, yet the spirit is also something that is given to people. So how do these two things function together in Scripture? We are left with no answer! Ezekiel 36:26 hints at something when it talks about a new spirit, and 2 Cor. 5:17 and Galatians 6:15 when they talk about a new creation. These themes would seem to be very pertinent to a book like this. It is almost captured in the title of the book "Fresh Air" but too bad he did not expand upon this. Also I disagree with Dr. Levison if he is saying memorizing Scripture will lead to inspiration. In my experience it led to division. I have met many a person who would use memorization a measuring stick of maturity. The key to growth in Christ is not memorization but comprehension. So when you do have Bible studies, it should not be just reading and letting it soak in, because most people if they are honest have no idea what they just read means! Also with all his emphasis on the spirit working slowly, there are many examples in Scripture where the Spirit works quickly and suddenly - the boy who rose from the dead through Elijah's prayers and breath. The spirit swooping up Philip on a road to another city! So it should be granted that the Spirit does work this way and I have experienced a welling up in my soul ready to explode when the Spirit was speaking to me. It was a prompting during a prayer service to go up and play a particular song on the piano, which led to repentance of those in attendance of various things. But I agree that I don't think the spirit would want to work that way when it comes to rebuking someone. That is where the gentleness should enter in. Overall the book helpfully broadans the usage of the spirit which is important, but ends up confusing one in how the Spirit is not given but is given.

This book was fantastic. It was critical and, in some ways, groundbreaking, but Levison's warm tone and storytelling makes it accessible and helpful to everyone from academic and layperson! A must read!

I'm a person who likes to read a couple of the top reviews and a couple of the bottom ones to help me decide on a purchase. I only review things on here if I have a strong opinion and its usually a 5 star opinion not a 1 star. I bought the book in the beginning because I loved the cover. It embodied how I feel about the Holy Spirit in my own life. He's a breath of fresh air. (among many other things). I was reading right along and even diving in whole heartedly reading the passages that went along with the author's insight...by the way he uses a lot of passages which makes it seem very Biblical. I got to the sentence where he referred to the big bang (as if it actually happened) and all of a sudden all the red flags in my entire being flew sky high and I could barely concentrate on the paragraphs that followed. I asked God for guidance about further commitment to reading the book and cautiously continued reading. I made it through a couple more chapters and then I decided to go read the reviews here on amazon. I usually roll my eyes at 'negative nancy' reviews..but take this from a 'positive polly' ...this book made my spirit wanna puke. no...i'm not going to finish it. so I realize I have not supported my claim with solid arguments. so I recommend you look at the review that's titled "what happened to the person" he argues a lot for the capitalization of Holy Spirit (and I understood the authors intent when he lowercased it) so that's not my main problem with the book. but the other stuff this person says I really agree with. if you consider yourself part of 'the liberal church' then you might like the book. if you are fundamental you'll wanna toss it.

This has been one of the most life giving books I've read in a long time. As a historian and scholar Levison is one of the most knowledgable people about the holy Spirit in Jewish and Christian thought. This books makes relevant his expertise and years of research.