Christ and the Spirit: Spirit-Christology in Trinitarian Perspective by Ralph Del Colle (review)

656 BOOK REVIEWS Christ and the Spirit: Spirit-Christology in Trinitarian Perspective. By RALPH DEL COLLE. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994. Pp. 240. $35.00 (cloth). Ralph Del Colle has written a conscientious work on Spirit-christology. He attempts both to be faithful to the conciliar Christological tradition (Nicaea and Chalcedon), and yet to advance simultaneously the proper and rightful role of the Spirit within a Christological and Trinitarian setting. As he states: What is new and distinctive in Spirit-christology is that, on the level of theological construction and doctrinal interpretation, it proposes that the relationship between Jesus and God and the role of Christ in redemption cannot be fully understood unless there is an explicitly pneumatological dimension. In other words, the relationship between Jesus and the Spirit is as important to conveying the truth of the christological mystery with its soteriological consequences as that of Jesus and the Word. (4) Without this pneumatological dimension, the full deposit of faith, Del Colle believes, is diminished and even jeopardized. His hope is that his new model of Spirit-christology will not only "preserve the integrity" of the Church's Trinitarian tradition, but will "profoundly enrich" it (5). Del Colle's study takes place on three interrelated levels-those of the Trinity, Christology, and grace. By clarifying the proper role ofthe Holy Spirit within the Trinity, he attempts to enhance the appropriate function and position ofthe Spirit within Christology and the theology ofredemption and grace. To accomplish this he examines, in Chapter One, the Western Trinitarian position, specifically the place of the Holy Spirit, in light of the Eastern criticism , especially that of V. Lossky. Chapters Two and Three respectively take up the Neo-scholastic development of the role of the Spirit within the Christology (M. Scheeben and E. Mersch) and within the theology of grace (De la Taille, Rabner, and W. Hill). Having shown the strengths and weaknesses of this Neo-scholastic development, Del Colle, in Chapter Four, studies in depth the Trinitarian, Christological, and soteriological thought of David Coffey, who he believes both advances the tradition and produces a highly creative and fully mature Spirit-christology. In light of Coffey's thought, he then critically examines (Chapter Five) other contemporary Spirit-christologies-such as those of Dunn, Schoonenberg, and Lampe. Lastly, in Chapter Six, he explicates the implications of his Spirit-christology for culture, social praxis, and religious pluralism. Del Colle's work has many strengths. Firstly, the questions he raises and the issues he addresses concerning the role of the Holy Spirit within the Trinity, in Christology, and in the theology of grace are of inherent and contemporary importance. He rightly perceives that within the Christian tradition the Holy Spirit has not assumed his proper place both within the immanent Trinity and within the economy of salvation. Secondly, he has a good BOOK REVIEWS 657 sense of theological development. He not only creatively critiques the past, but he also, while being faithful to the best of the past, attempts imaginatively to proceed beyond it. Thirdly, with the help of Coffey, he proposes a Spiritchristology that, in many ways, admirably enhances Trinitarian thought, Christology, and the theology of grace. Fourthly, because of the depth of his own Spirit-christology, Del Colle can thoroughly critique the often superficial and revisionist Spirit-christologies of such modems as Schoonenberg and Lampe. In order to propose a proper role for the Holy Spirit both within the Trinity and in Christology Del Colle, following Coffey, champions a "bestowal model" (most recently renamed by Coffey as the "model of return") of the Trinity that would complement and augment the traditional "procession model." Unlike the "procession model," which sees the Son proceeding from the Father and then the Spirit proceeding from the Father and (or through) the Son, the "bestowal model" understands that the Father bestows his love on the Son and the Son in return bestows his love on the Father. This mutual bestowal oflove is the Holy Spirit (see 107-8). This "bestowal model" adds more dynamism and personalism both within the Trinity and within the economy of salvation. The love of the Father for the Son does not lie dormant in the Son...