Mark J. Keown, Pneumaformity: Transformation by the Spirit in Paul

Keown, Mark J. Pneumaformity: Transformation by the Spirit in Paul. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Kregel Academic, 2024. 440 pp.; Pb.; $31.99. Link to Kregel Academic.

Mark Keown wrote an extensive two-volume commentary on Philippians in the Evangelical Exegetical Commentary (Lexham Academic, 2017; see my review here) and a three-volume introduction, Discovering the New Testament (Lexham Academic 2018, 2022; see my review of vols. 1-2 here, vol. 3 here). Based on this work, Keown observes that Paul’s Understanding of the Christian life was “profoundly pneumatological.” Even as early as the book of Galatians, believers are not under the law but are living a life led by the Holy Spirit. This book corrects what Keown sees as a missing piece of Pauline theology, the centrality of the Holy Spirit.

Two writers influence this book. First, Keown acknowledges the importance of Michael Gorman’s Cruciformity: Paul’s Narrative Spirituality of the Cross (Eerdmans, 2001). Gorman is widely recognized for coining the term cruciformity, by which he means “to live as cross-shaped people who seek to transform their world.” Scot McKnight modified this as “Christoformity,” and David deSilva tried “Resurrectiformality,” but both Keown, none of these neologisms quite capture the essence of Paul’s view of the Christian life. Therefore, in this book, he suggests Pneumaformity to emphasize the work of the Holy Spirit.

The second writer Keown cites as a guide is Gordon Fee. Fee’s God’s Empowering Presence (Baker, 1994) was one of the first exhaustive studies of Paul’s understanding of the Holy Spirit. Fee’s focus was on references to πνεῦμα (pneuma) that apply to God in Paul’s letters. Keown sees this as too narrow since “living in the spirit” can also use Christological or eschatological language. For example, πνεῦμα only appears in Philippians four times. But Paul stresses God’s power (2:13). In 1:6, Paul says, “he began a good work in you.” Who is the “he” in this verse? God? Christ? The Holy Spirit? All members of the godhead are involved in saving and in harmony in the believer’s life. Keown interacts with Fee throughout the book, often agreeing or disagreeing with God’s Empowering Presence in the footnotes.

This is Keown’s motivation for coining the term “pneumaformity.” He defines pneumaformity as “the process of God’s transformation of his people” (21). He is not opposed to the term christoformity or the other terms, but this book focuses on how the Holy Spirit works in the life of believers to transform them. The work of the spirit is ethical, but it is more than just ethics, social or behavioral, etc. The spirit transforms the believer to devoted worship and service to Christ and impels believers to fulfill their mission to the world.

Chapter 1 reviews the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Old Testament. Keown argues that Paul inherited his view of the Spirit from his Jewish heritage, but he reads the text through the lens of being in Christ, the suffering servant. Most Christians have been led to believe that the Holy Spirit is not particularly active in the Old Testament. To a certain extent, that is true, but Keown develops a long list of the Holy Spirit’s activities in the Hebrew Bible. This goes beyond texts, which include the word “spirit.” Compared to his sections on the New Testament, this chapter seems brief, which is necessary given Keown’s goals in this monograph. An examination of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament could be expanded into a book.

Chapters 2-3 detail the role of the Holy Spirit in conversion. The Holy Spirit is active in the conversion of believers by sending the word, shaping the life of “soon to be converted,” and persuading them of the truth of the gospel. He calls this a “pneumaphany.” The converted “drink and receive” the spirit and become one with God. The immediate impact of the Spirit begins with “spirit baptism” (which he calls “transformational cleansing”; 2 Cor 1:21–22). Receiving the Holy Spirit is a guarantee of future salvation. The Holy Spirit justifies the believer, liberates them from the bondage of law, and sets them free from sin.

Chapters 4-11 are thematic. Keown canvasses the Pauline letters to describe the Holy Spirit and Christian community, worship, Christoformity (conforming to the image of the Son), ethics and virtue, suffering, participation in the life of the church, mission, and eschaton (the spirit and the future resurrection). Keown provides exegesis for all relevant verses in the thirteen Pauline letters for these themes.  In fact, Keown’s exegesis is intense and as detailed as his Philippians commentary. Greek is left untranslated, but most electrical and syntactical details are placed in the footnotes. He interacts with a wide range of secondary literature. This is remarkable detail for a popular-level book, which might cover all these themes in a chapter or two with just a handful of proof texts. He goes deep into each text, providing substance for his descriptions of the work of the Holy Spirit.

Conclusion. Do we need another -formity word to describe God’s work in the believer’s life? Maybe not, but an emphasis on the Holy Spirit in the life of God’s people is long overdue. Keown’s book should take its place alongside Gordon Fee’s God’s Empowering Presence (1994). Yet he forges a new path in Pauline studies by focusing on the Holy Spirit as central to Christian spiritual formation. In this clear and scholarly work, Keown challenges Pneumaform people to be devoted to worship and to participate in God’s mission in the world.

NB: Thanks to Kregel Academic for kindly providing me with a review copy of this book, both in print and Logos format. This did not influence my thoughts regarding the work.