Review: Knowing the Spirit by Costi Hinn

I had the pleasure of receiving Costi Hinn’s new book, Knowing the Holy Spirit, as a gift, and I wanted to review it briefly.

Hinn states at the outset of the book’s introduction, “If you’ve come from a place of confusion, this book will bring clarity. If you have never experienced abuse and chaos regarding his work, you’ll have little to deconstruct, but I hope this book will serve you in a foundational way as well.”

In essence, I think this line of the introduction summarizes well what one can expect: a primer on the Holy Spirit that particularly has a pastoral heart, especially for those who may have been plagued by poor doctrine and ill-informed experiences. There are eleven chapters, and the first four focus on pneumatology broadly. Chapter one speaks to who the Holy Spirit is, two speaks to how we encounter the Holy Spirit, three on the Holy Spirit’s role in sanctification, and four, what it means to walk in the Spirit.

Following these chapters, Hinn speaks to several issues that surface in contemporary discussions, such as the baptism of the Holy Spirit, Gifts of the Spirit, what worship looks like in the Spirit, being slain in the Spirit, and so forth. While these chapters certainly contribute to articulating the book’s overall doctrine of the Holy Spirit, they do so by addressing common controversies.

What I found particularly helpful are the breaks at the end of each chapter that move into practical applications, and this is followed up with questions for reflections. This means that the book can easily be transferred into a small group setting.

The book’s format is excellent, and the organization of various sections within the book is beneficial. When I say this, I’m especially thinking of bullet points that are provided where concepts or topics are broken down into lists. These lists bolster the book’s overall accessibility but also contribute to how easy it would be to come back and reference later.

While there is a chance you won’t agree with everything you read, I’m confident that regardless of where you land on hot-button issues (I.e., the gifts), you’ll enjoy the book.

Most of the book is a gold mine of quotables and “amens.” For example, Costi emphasizes that the Holy Spirit is not an “it” but a he and challenges readers to put this into practice, or Costi’s balanced approach regarding worship and worship concerning cultural differences.

Or take, for example, Costi’s grace towards those who disagree with him on gifts but who can be united with him against the hyper-charismatics. The list goes on, but one of my favorite sections of the book was “bringing clarity to misleading phrases” on whether “the Spirit speaks,” as Hinn suggests ways to better articulate impressions of the Holy Spirit in our daily lives. The section was an unexpected but pleasant surprise.

With all of these positives, it wouldn’t be a balanced review without mentioning at least one negative, yet any criticisms I can think of are “nitpicky.” For example, in chapter one, when Costi summarizes the historical theology around the Holy Spirit, he places pneumatology’s conclusion at Nicaea via Constantine (325) when the creed produced at Nicaea did not deal with pneumatology conclusively but instead led to calls for greater clarity on the subject given its vague declaration on the Holy Spirit.

Instead, it was in the expansion of 381 at Constantinople following the work of Athanasius and the Cappadocians who dealt with the Macedonians (or Pneumatomachi/Spirit fighters), that produced the Nicene Creed we generally think of (381) with its corresponding expansions on the Holy Spirit (and the later controversy over the Filioque).

As I said, this is nitpicky, especially since Costi’s focus was not on historical theology. Hopefully, this can demonstrate to potential readers that this book doesn’t have many negatives, even with any disagreements you may have on the hot-button issues.

It’s just a great book to pick up and discuss.

Some additional points on this book:

• Extremely practical: the book is highly practical in the advice provided.
• Biblically loaded: this book is heavily loaded with scriptural references for readers to open up as they read and study. Costi, throughout the book, encourages readers to do just that: open up their Bible.
• Firm but gentle: the book is firm yet tactful in its critiques of various movements. It says what needs to be said, but it exemplifies the proper way to do it (cf. 1 Tim. 1:5 for ex.)
• Pastoral: you can hear Hinn’s pastoral heart throughout the book.
• Balanced: Hinn is balanced when speaking on the subjects he disagrees with (such as his position on cessationism). I was particularly impressed with his discussions in Traditional Pentecostals and “Open-but-cautious-continuationists and reformed charismatics.”
• Well executed: the book is well-written, well-organized, and accessible. This book’s layout, structure, and accessibility make it an excellent go-to as an intro on the Holy Spirit. Hinn’s contribution to the subject can easily be a discipleship tool for those first working out the doctrine or those needing to move into a proper understanding after coming out of a hyper-charismatic setting.

Overall, I highly recommend this book and will likely be recommending it in the future when I am asked for resources on pneumatology.

Pick up a copy here: https://amzn.to/46kbbcB

A couple of notable quotes:

“Want to encounter the Holy Spirit? Do less! Yes, you read that correctly. Stop chasing encounter after encounter, conference after conference, and feeling after feeling. The Holy Spirit invades your life not through feelings but through faith. Feelings undoubtedly will be a byproduct of faith, but faith is the foundation.”

“Many people in the church today think that merely reading the Bible is going to change them. But merely reading words isn’t the power, the Spirit working through the Word is the power. This is why some people check off all of the boxes in their annual Bible reading plan but get frustrated that they experience no transformation and acquire no greater understanding of God. They are disciplined in their reading but neglect to ask the Spirit to illuminate the Word. How slippery is the slope of morally good works without the power of the Spirit opening our eyes and changing our hearts. This is empty religion at its peak. Nothing happens outside of the Spirit’s power.”