What a well-informed, concise, and imaginative book this is! John Markey’s Christ and the Spirit signals a promising direction in response to Jesus’ enduring question: Who do you say that I am? Markey recognizes that a genuine answer to this question requires the active presence of the Spirit of Jesus, the Holy Spirit. Well-chosen films with prominent Christ-figures invite readers to consider God’s wondrous and surprising presence among us and the ways in which the Spirit transforms and empowers us. Throughout, this book remains faithful to the best biblical and theological work of our time.

“Imagining the world or one’s life differently is the first step in changing it.” So states John Markey in his introduction to Christ and the Spirit: Catholic Perspectives Through the Ages. Convinced that people must access God through their own experience if they are to authentically connect to the God of Christianity, and equally convinced of the epistemological power of story, Markey, along with contributor Greg Zuschlag, lace a lucid outline of Western Christianity’s theologies of Christ and the Spirit with illustrations from the film narratives of Beauty and the Beast, Superman, and Star Wars. In the case of Beauty and the Beast, he illuminates the ways in which the story’s heroine, Belle, functions as a Christ figure, returning to her again and again in reflection question boxes that challenge readers to make their own connections and draw their own conclusions on the basis of his elaboration of the developments of the Christian Tradition. In evoking Superman and Star Wars, he acknowledges popular parallels, respectively, to Christ and the Spirit, but counsels caution and invites critical analysis vis-à-vis an authentic understanding of the paschal mystery. Both his boxed reflections and discussion questions lead the reader to recognize the truth-in-contrast between the redemptive power of Belle’s vulnerable love and the myth of redemptive violence perpetuated by Superman and the Force. Recurring references to Jean Vanier’s L’Arche communities reinforce the vision of the world through the lens of the Christian story that Markey so successfully conveys.

This book is a rich resource for undergraduate introductory courses as well as for continuing formation for adults. It provides excellent pedagogical tools for the classroom and for popular pastoral education.

Christ and the Spirit offers a remarkably thorough survey of major historical developments in the understanding of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. It is both a compelling tour of the theological concerns and questions that gave rise to those developments and a creative exploration of how the Christian community’s insights might continue to make a claim on us today. John Markey has provided a book that will delight teachers and students alike. He and his colleague, Greg Zuschlag, are master teachers, inviting their readers to think with depth and precision about the transformative work of Jesus Christ and the Spirit in our world.

Christ and the Spirit presents an accessible entry to the study of Christology, using examples from contemporary culture to demonstrate the action of the Spirit of God in the world. The book’s concise explanations of theological principles and their applications complement its detailed rendition of the way Jesus Christ is presented in Scripture and received through the ages.

Christ and the Spirit provides a well-researched and accessible overview of Catholic perspectives on Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit from a Western, Catholic, Christian understanding as they have emerged and developed over the past two millennia. What is innovative about Markey’s approach is his exploration of these traditions through story and film. Using the films Beauty and the Beast and Star Wars, and with input by colleague Greg Zuschlag, Markey explores the meaning and significance of the Christ and the Holy Spirit through the lens, particularly, of Belle (Beauty) as a “Christ-figure,” one who saves as Christ does humanity from sin and death. This approach forces readers to rethink their understanding of Jesus for today.

The book is well written, engaging, and thought provoking. I highly recommend it as especially appealing for use in undergraduate and graduate theology and religious studies courses. This small book (students will appreciate the brevity), opens up new ways of thinking about and understanding Jesus Christ for the twenty-first century.