A Boundless God - by Jack Levison (Paperback)

About the Book

This readable, well-organized survey explores the fascinating intersection of breath and Spirit in the Old Testament.

Book Synopsis

Christianity Today 2021 Award of Merit (Biblical Studies)

The word rûaḥ (commonly translated as breath, wind, spirit, or Spirit) occurs in the Old Testament 378 times--more frequently than torah, shalom, or Sabbath. In this volume, a popular Old Testament scholar, whose previous books have received wide acclaim, cracks open the challenging and provocative world of the Spirit in the Old Testament, offering readers cogent yet comprehensive insights.

Grounded in scholarship yet accessible and inviting, this book unlocks the world of the Spirit, plunging readers into an imaginative realm of fresh senses, sounds, and skills.d The book gives readers the opportunity to recapture Israel's tenacious sense of the Spirit's energy as it was expressed by a series of vibrant verbs: blowing, breathing, coming, resting, passing, pouring, filling, cleansing, standing, and guiding. Readers will encounter in these pages all of the Old Testament expressions of the Spirit--passages that will challenge the conventional, confront the commonplace, and transport them to a world of wisdom, work, and wonder.

From the Back Cover

Discovering the Spirit in the Old Testament

"In this fluent and elegant book, Jack Levison makes two points of fundamental importance for Christian theology: (1) the Christian understanding of the spirit must be grounded in the multifaceted rûaḥ (breath, wind, spirit) of the Hebrew Bible, and (2) the saving spirit of God cannot be divorced from the spirit/breath that gives life. A remarkable and subtle contribution to biblical theology."
--John J. Collins, Yale Divinity School

"It's well known that the Hebrew word for spirit is also the word for wind and for breath, but I don't think anyone has done as much with that fact as Levison in this book. A beautiful combination of the academic and the nurturing, it works by careful, thoughtful, life-giving study of whole passages where rûaḥ appears, and it invites measured and reflective assimilation."
--John Goldingay, Fuller Theological Seminary

"A careful study of rûaḥ from the Jewish Scriptures that takes the reader on a journey into an expansive vision for what is meant by talk of the breath, wind, spirit, or Spirit of God. Readers will be challenged to lay down old paradigms and dichotomies and to embrace an understanding of the spirit that is far more nuanced than before."
--Lucy Peppiatt, Westminster Theological Centre, United Kingdom

"By allowing the Hebrew Scriptures to speak with their own voice, Levison has demonstrated that spirit in the witness of ancient Israel overflows our neatly drawn theological boundaries. The result is a fresh theological vision of the mystery of life that we share with all of creation. I found this book richly stimulating."
--Frank D. Macchia, Vanguard University of Southern California; Centre for Pentecostal and Charismatic Studies, Bangor University, Wales, United Kingdom

"From the spirit that broods over the face of the deep in Genesis to a remnant of the spirit found in Malachi, the Old Testament is saturated with the holy breath, wind, and spirit of God. A Boundless God is a remarkable achievement, alerting the reader to the ubiquitous and transforming presence of the holy spirit throughout the Old Testament."
--Brian Zahnd, pastor of Word of Life Church, St. Joseph, Missouri; author of Postcards from Babylon

About the Author

Jack Levison (PhD, Duke University) is W. J. A. Power Professor of Old Testament Interpretation and Biblical Hebrew at Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University, in Dallas, Texas. He previously taught at Duke Divinity School and Seattle Pacific University. Levison is the author or editor of numerous books, including Filled with the Spirit, Fresh Air: The Holy Spirit for an Inspired Life, 40 Days with the Holy Spirit, and Inspired: The Holy Spirit and the Mind of Faith. He has also been a featured blogger for HuffPost.