Cornelis Bennema, «Spirit-Baptism in the Fourth Gospel. A Messianic Reading of John 1,33», Vol. 84 (2003) 35-60

The various ways of understanding "baptism in the Holy Spirit" has caused much division in both academic scholarship and the church. Most theories have been based on the Synoptics and Acts, but the phrase o( bapti/zwn e)n pneu/mati a(gi/w| is also present in the Fourth Gospel (1,33). However, Johannine scholarship has hardly given attention to this concept. This paper will seek to establish that o( bapti/zwn e)n pneu/mati a(gi/w| is a programmatic statement for Jesus’ nexus of soteriological activities in relation to people by means of the Spirit. "To baptize with Holy Spirit" refers to Jesus’ programme of cleansing people through revelation by means of the Spirit. Moreover, this concept is rooted in Jewish messianic traditions, which were able to expect a messiah who would judge, restore and cleanse by means of his Spirit-imbued word.

majority of scholars think that "the baptism in/with Holy Spirit" refers to one single event, and is fulfilled either in 19,30⁵⁷ or 20,22⁵⁸, or at an event beyond the text of John’s Gospel, such as Pentecost in Acts 2⁵⁹. However, we have already seen that "to baptize with Holy Spirit" cannot be restricted to a single event. In fact, the Fourth Gospel depicts Jesus’ activity of baptizing with Holy Spirit as a process or nexus of activities which had already started during Jesus’ ministry, which continued after his glorification, and which finds its fulfilment at a point in the further future. It would probably not be too wide of the mark to assume that this future point might be the Parousia⁶⁰.

        We are now also able to assess (from a Johannine perspective) the Pentecostal position and that of Dunn. Classical Pentecostalism interprets "the baptism in the Holy Spirit" as the gift of the Spirit for missionary empowerment (so, for example, Ervin and Menzies). However, to interpret "the baptism in the Holy Spirit" in terms of the Messiah giving God’s Spirit as empowerment remains problematic and is also too limited since Jesus’ Spirit-baptism is not merely a donum superadditum without soteriological consequences. Moreover, bapti/zw in Judaism does not carry the sense of "to empower".

        Taking Spirit-baptism as the high-point in conversion-initiation, Dunn sees an initiatory metaphor in the Spirit-baptism: just as Jesus’ own anointing at the Jordan was an initiatory experience, a baptism in the Spirit, so he will baptize others in the Spirit, i.e., initiate others into the new age/Kingdom⁶¹. Thus, Jesus’ own baptism in the Spirit is paradigmatic of all later Spirit-baptisms; Jesus’ entry into the new age and covenant is prototypical of every initiate’s entry into the new age and covenant⁶². Finally, based on John 7,39, Dunn argues that Jesus’