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A Once-&-Coming Spirit at Pentecost: Essays on the Liturgical Readings Between Easter & Pentecost
Father Brown completes his look at the great seasons of the liturgical year, making the rich insights of modern biblical exegesis conveniently available to all, with this volume for the season from Easter to Pentecost. During this season the Church reads consecutively from the Acts of the Apostles, recounting the external life of the Church after Pentecost. The accompanying readings from the Gospel according to John portray the internal life of Christian disciples and promise a coming Paraclete to be sent by the Father. Father Brown's title A Once-and-Coming Spirit signifies these two great biblical sources that he reflects on. He shows how these readings speak to our time as we live out the external history of a visible Church while internally drawing life from Jesus as branches on the vine. His comments offer an opportunity to appreciate the intent of the season after Easter and to prepare ourselves for the intensified gift of the spirit at Pentecost.
- GenresTheology
104 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1994
About the author
Raymond E. Brown
138 books102 followersRoman Catholic priest, member of Society of Saint-Sulpice and a prominent biblical scholar, esteemed by not only his colleagues of the same confession. One of the first Roman Catholic scholars to apply historical-critical analysis to the Bible.
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July 7, 2025
Review of “a Once and Coming Spirit at PENTECOST” Raymond E. Brown
Raymond E. Brown’s book is a fascinating look at the nuts and bolts of the establishment of an unknown Galilean’s teachings in the first century CE into a unique religion that grew and spread way beyond its roots in Judaism. Jesus left a bare-bones blueprint (Luke 10: 1-12) for his disciples to follow and no real organization. During his ministry, Jesus introduced his radical ideas to the populace, chose 12 apostles and sent the Holy Spirit to inspire and lead his followers to the place where we find ourselves today, 2025. The author examines the readings of the Catholic church for the Easter season until Pentecost Sunday from the book of Acts of the Apostles, and to a lesser extent readings from John’s Gospel, to show how the church gradually organizes to meet the human and spiritual needs of its expanding and diversifying community. Despite their many differences and arguments, the apostles, their presbyters and their diverse followers were able to establish a continuity between Jesus’ public ministry and the beginning of the church, i.e., God’s kingdom on earth. Raymond E. Brown’s perceptive insights provide us with a close look at the improbable rise of this fledgling church and how it happened.
It is surprising that the Church was not subsumed or obliterated by Judaism or splintered among the church’s diverse members into oblivion. The author does an excellent job of describing the church’s relationship to Judaism, their overlap, their differences and their eventual separation. The early Jewish-Christians did not cease being Jewish. They continued their worship practices and prayers, like the Shema, in the synagogue. When Luke wrote of Jesus’ life in the gospel, he adapted Jewish hymns and prayers: “They are a pastiche of Old Testament echoes” (24). Even Jesus followed the Jewish prayer style from the OT, a list of petitions directed to God. He instructs his disciples how to pray using The Lord’s Prayer, which never mentions “Jesus” by name.
In the early years after Jesus’ death, the apostles' teaching would have been similar to Jewish teaching – from the Law, the Psalms and the Prophets. But they would have included Jesus’ modifications and changes, which “became the nucleus of a special teaching” (27) i.e., Christianity. These early Christians could have attended the synagogue in the day and at night the Jesus-believers could celebrate the eucharist by breaking bread and drinking wine at the house of a fellow believer. They could observe the Sabbath on Saturday until evening and still have enough time to travel to a believer’s house to celebrate their worship service on Sunday.
The apostolic teachings took Christianity in a different direction from the Jewish law. It became a “credal religion” centered on the belief that Jesus is the Son of God, a major difference from Judaism. The apostle Peter took it upon himself as the head of the Church to introduce the practice of Baptism by water in the name of Jesus the Christ as a way of distinguishing Christians from others. At Baptism the Christian initiates confess that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God.
In addition Jesus-believers profess a strong belief in the Holy Spirit. Peter promises that believers in Jesus “shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, for the promise is … to as many as the Lord God calls” Acts 2: 38-39 as quoted by Brown pp. 18-19. Interestingly, the Spirit comes, or not, based upon God’s will not upon our own personal efforts, sacrifices or good works. Brown writes, “It takes Spirit to beget spirit” (38). When the spirit arrives, it is an equalizer that levels the playing field for every believer regardless of their outward abilities, status, ethnicity, parents and position. Jesus’ death on a cross has opened up the door of heaven to the righteous and faithful of every nation and ethnicity on earth. Salvation has taken on a universality previously unknown. When we, one day, stand before the throne of God, we will be judged by how well we kept our Baptismal calling and how well we “lived by the one Spirit given to ALL” (19, emphasis mine). All other distinctions and accomplishments will pale in comparison.
Peter makes a major break from Judaism when he is preaching at the house of a Roman centurion, Cornelius, in Caesarea. Peter has had a vision about dietary regulations and tells his audience of Jews and Gentiles that foods traditionally considered ritually unclean are actually fine for consumption (59), echoing Jesus’ belief that what goes into your stomach is not as important as what comes out from your heart. Peter sees during his sermon that the uncircumcised have received the Holy Spirit (Acts 10:47) and decides to baptize them bypassing the traditional ritual of circumcision practiced by the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem.
The differences between the followers of Father Abraham and the followers of Jesus the Messiah were widening and becoming irreconcilable. Brown refers to Jesus’ parable in Luke about the new wine (i.e., the New Testament) bursting the old wineskins (i.e., The Old Testament) (60). Circumcision is no longer considered necessary to become a child of God. A Jewish mother is no longer necessary to be one of God’s chosen. Jewish traditions no longer have primacy over faith in Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit takes on an equal importance to the Law and guides us in its fulfillment. Where does Jesus stand on all these issues faced by Peter, the apostles and the earliest church? Peter and the apostles had to make many pressing decisions not addressed by Jesus in order to realize the church He left to them. When Peter made these ad hoc decisions, was he leading the Church in the direction that Jesus intended?
Peter had a hard time convincing his Christian-Jewish brethren in Jerusalem to accept a few uncircumcised Gentiles as full-fledged members into their Jesus group, but Paul took his Gentile notions even further. He wanted to initiate whole churches of Gentiles – in Thessalonica, Rome, Corinth, Antioch and so on, where there were no Jews to guide them and to ground them. He had the “crazy” idea of making Christianity “an almost entirely Gentile religion” (77). The Jewish-Christians of Jerusalem called Paul and his “co-conspirator,” Barnabas, to a conference in Jerusalem (49 CE) to justify themselves and to discuss the future direction of the Jesus movement. They arrived in Jerusalem to talk to the “pillars” of the church (i.e., James, Peter, John and others) feeling uncertain about (afraid for?) the future of the fledgling churches they had already started. They brought with them one of their converts from the hinterlands, Titus, to show to the attendees at the conference the righteousness and holiness of the “uncircumcised Gentiles,” whom they may not have been familiar with. Paul also brought with him a strong argument. Brown writes, “Paul and his companions … argued that to demand circumcision would nullify the dispensation of grace by Christ” (80).
The Jerusalem Conference ended well for Paul and the Jesus-movement. The Jerusalem “pillars” incorporated Paul’s radical ideas concerning Gentiles and welcomed their newly-established churches. This was a turning point in Christianity’s development because it kept the peace, preserved the unity amongst its diverse members (81) and paved the road for expansion. The Jerusalem “pillars” recognized that Paul’s radical ideas concerning Gentiles were simply an extension of Jesus’ core message of diversity, equality and inclusion. They all want to reach out to those people who are marginalized outside of the Law in order to establish one unified kingdom of God that extends to all the nations on earth.
I have read Acts of The Apostles and John’s Gospel several times, but I have missed the underlying and subtle messages that Brown explains clearly always based on a close textual analysis of the Bible. His writing is defined by its simplicity and clarity. He is able to take the seemingly ordinary and obvious and make it interesting and meaningful. His book gave me a deeper understanding and appreciation of Jesus, his apostles and the incredible story of the establishment of the Church.
Raymond E. Brown’s book is a fascinating look at the nuts and bolts of the establishment of an unknown Galilean’s teachings in the first century CE into a unique religion that grew and spread way beyond its roots in Judaism. Jesus left a bare-bones blueprint (Luke 10: 1-12) for his disciples to follow and no real organization. During his ministry, Jesus introduced his radical ideas to the populace, chose 12 apostles and sent the Holy Spirit to inspire and lead his followers to the place where we find ourselves today, 2025. The author examines the readings of the Catholic church for the Easter season until Pentecost Sunday from the book of Acts of the Apostles, and to a lesser extent readings from John’s Gospel, to show how the church gradually organizes to meet the human and spiritual needs of its expanding and diversifying community. Despite their many differences and arguments, the apostles, their presbyters and their diverse followers were able to establish a continuity between Jesus’ public ministry and the beginning of the church, i.e., God’s kingdom on earth. Raymond E. Brown’s perceptive insights provide us with a close look at the improbable rise of this fledgling church and how it happened.
It is surprising that the Church was not subsumed or obliterated by Judaism or splintered among the church’s diverse members into oblivion. The author does an excellent job of describing the church’s relationship to Judaism, their overlap, their differences and their eventual separation. The early Jewish-Christians did not cease being Jewish. They continued their worship practices and prayers, like the Shema, in the synagogue. When Luke wrote of Jesus’ life in the gospel, he adapted Jewish hymns and prayers: “They are a pastiche of Old Testament echoes” (24). Even Jesus followed the Jewish prayer style from the OT, a list of petitions directed to God. He instructs his disciples how to pray using The Lord’s Prayer, which never mentions “Jesus” by name.
In the early years after Jesus’ death, the apostles' teaching would have been similar to Jewish teaching – from the Law, the Psalms and the Prophets. But they would have included Jesus’ modifications and changes, which “became the nucleus of a special teaching” (27) i.e., Christianity. These early Christians could have attended the synagogue in the day and at night the Jesus-believers could celebrate the eucharist by breaking bread and drinking wine at the house of a fellow believer. They could observe the Sabbath on Saturday until evening and still have enough time to travel to a believer’s house to celebrate their worship service on Sunday.
The apostolic teachings took Christianity in a different direction from the Jewish law. It became a “credal religion” centered on the belief that Jesus is the Son of God, a major difference from Judaism. The apostle Peter took it upon himself as the head of the Church to introduce the practice of Baptism by water in the name of Jesus the Christ as a way of distinguishing Christians from others. At Baptism the Christian initiates confess that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God.
In addition Jesus-believers profess a strong belief in the Holy Spirit. Peter promises that believers in Jesus “shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, for the promise is … to as many as the Lord God calls” Acts 2: 38-39 as quoted by Brown pp. 18-19. Interestingly, the Spirit comes, or not, based upon God’s will not upon our own personal efforts, sacrifices or good works. Brown writes, “It takes Spirit to beget spirit” (38). When the spirit arrives, it is an equalizer that levels the playing field for every believer regardless of their outward abilities, status, ethnicity, parents and position. Jesus’ death on a cross has opened up the door of heaven to the righteous and faithful of every nation and ethnicity on earth. Salvation has taken on a universality previously unknown. When we, one day, stand before the throne of God, we will be judged by how well we kept our Baptismal calling and how well we “lived by the one Spirit given to ALL” (19, emphasis mine). All other distinctions and accomplishments will pale in comparison.
Peter makes a major break from Judaism when he is preaching at the house of a Roman centurion, Cornelius, in Caesarea. Peter has had a vision about dietary regulations and tells his audience of Jews and Gentiles that foods traditionally considered ritually unclean are actually fine for consumption (59), echoing Jesus’ belief that what goes into your stomach is not as important as what comes out from your heart. Peter sees during his sermon that the uncircumcised have received the Holy Spirit (Acts 10:47) and decides to baptize them bypassing the traditional ritual of circumcision practiced by the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem.
The differences between the followers of Father Abraham and the followers of Jesus the Messiah were widening and becoming irreconcilable. Brown refers to Jesus’ parable in Luke about the new wine (i.e., the New Testament) bursting the old wineskins (i.e., The Old Testament) (60). Circumcision is no longer considered necessary to become a child of God. A Jewish mother is no longer necessary to be one of God’s chosen. Jewish traditions no longer have primacy over faith in Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit takes on an equal importance to the Law and guides us in its fulfillment. Where does Jesus stand on all these issues faced by Peter, the apostles and the earliest church? Peter and the apostles had to make many pressing decisions not addressed by Jesus in order to realize the church He left to them. When Peter made these ad hoc decisions, was he leading the Church in the direction that Jesus intended?
Peter had a hard time convincing his Christian-Jewish brethren in Jerusalem to accept a few uncircumcised Gentiles as full-fledged members into their Jesus group, but Paul took his Gentile notions even further. He wanted to initiate whole churches of Gentiles – in Thessalonica, Rome, Corinth, Antioch and so on, where there were no Jews to guide them and to ground them. He had the “crazy” idea of making Christianity “an almost entirely Gentile religion” (77). The Jewish-Christians of Jerusalem called Paul and his “co-conspirator,” Barnabas, to a conference in Jerusalem (49 CE) to justify themselves and to discuss the future direction of the Jesus movement. They arrived in Jerusalem to talk to the “pillars” of the church (i.e., James, Peter, John and others) feeling uncertain about (afraid for?) the future of the fledgling churches they had already started. They brought with them one of their converts from the hinterlands, Titus, to show to the attendees at the conference the righteousness and holiness of the “uncircumcised Gentiles,” whom they may not have been familiar with. Paul also brought with him a strong argument. Brown writes, “Paul and his companions … argued that to demand circumcision would nullify the dispensation of grace by Christ” (80).
The Jerusalem Conference ended well for Paul and the Jesus-movement. The Jerusalem “pillars” incorporated Paul’s radical ideas concerning Gentiles and welcomed their newly-established churches. This was a turning point in Christianity’s development because it kept the peace, preserved the unity amongst its diverse members (81) and paved the road for expansion. The Jerusalem “pillars” recognized that Paul’s radical ideas concerning Gentiles were simply an extension of Jesus’ core message of diversity, equality and inclusion. They all want to reach out to those people who are marginalized outside of the Law in order to establish one unified kingdom of God that extends to all the nations on earth.
I have read Acts of The Apostles and John’s Gospel several times, but I have missed the underlying and subtle messages that Brown explains clearly always based on a close textual analysis of the Bible. His writing is defined by its simplicity and clarity. He is able to take the seemingly ordinary and obvious and make it interesting and meaningful. His book gave me a deeper understanding and appreciation of Jesus, his apostles and the incredible story of the establishment of the Church.
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March 31, 2009A Once-And-Coming Spirit at Pentecost: Essays on the Liturgical Readings Between Easter and Pentecost, Taken from the Acts of the Apostles and from by Raymond E. Brown (1994)
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews