The Holy Spirit and an Evolving Church provides a masterfully concise overview of biblical and patristic pneumatology, links it to Jesus’ eschatological proclamation of the “Reign of God,” and argues that this Spirit-driven eschatology finds expression in the life of the church. It also offers sensitive pastoral recommendations for development and change in current Roman Catholic ecclesial life. It only occasionally develops a robust argument for how Coriden's recommended ecclesial changes grow out of the preceding tradition.

Chapters 1 and 2 review biblical and early church sources on the Holy Spirit and are admirable for their breadth and depth of treatment in such a short form. Coriden summarizes nearly every New Testament book; the synoptic gospels are treated together, with an additional note on the distinctive contributions of John's Gospel. In the patristic chapter, about two dozen early church theologians get some mention, with greater attention to major figures such as the Cappadocians (nine pages) and Augustine of Hippo (four pages). These brief sketches whet the appetite for deeper reading of the sources while providing adequate grounds for Coriden's central thesis that the Holy Spirit animates both individual Christians and the community as a whole, drawing all into God's transformed life. Readers already familiar with biblical and patrisitc pneumatology will find these chapters a good refresher on a dizzying array of sources. Although masterful in their conciseness and accuracy, these chapters contain little theological commentary or argumentation. They establish the basic contours of Christian tradition.

The succeeding chapter juxtaposes this classic pneumatological tradition with another biblical theme: Jesus’ eschatological message about the reign of God and its realization in God's people (chapter 3). It could have been possible to weave together more seamlessly the pneumatological and eschatological biblical material—this discussion circles back to the gospels already discussed in chapter 1. One is reminded of Gerhard Lohfink's Jesus of Nazareth: What He Wanted, Who He Was as an example of biblical theology with more thorough integration of biblical themes, albeit in a much longer form. Nevertheless, like the preceding chapters, Coriden delivers a concise and lively summary of Jesus’ preaching on God's reign.

Chapter 4 is the real culmination of the book, an argument mostly using Vatican II sources to argue that “the two themes …the history of the Holy Spirit … and the Reign of God … converge in the new people of God” (141). Rejecting supercessionist and triumphalist interpretations of the church, Corbin lays out the Vatican II vision of God's people as a sacrament of the reign of God, witnessing to and working toward the salvation of the world.

Curiously, the final three chapters are Coriden's distinctive contribution to the preceding discussion and are less integrated into it. Chapter 5 recommends structural developments in the Catholic Church, and chapter 6 recommends changes in the understanding and administration of sacraments. Here Coriden shines as a canon lawyer, a sensitive pastor, and a historically informed observer of the Catholic Church in the United States. For example, he relates fascinating history on topics such as early synodal efforts in North America, with the implication that increased synodality follows from the pneumatological and eschatological character of the church. Yet this implied claim is never fully elaborated. The final chapters read like an astute laundry list of things that need to change, without much argument for why the changes are authentic—and necessary—developments for the church to realize its Spirit-led character. This weakness is heightened in the book's closing remarks, which read like interesting jottings on future directions for the church in communications (listening and teaching), ecology, and ecumenical/interreligious dialogue. It's not clear how these musings fit with the main chapters, 1 to 4, and a more deeply argued rationale would make these final chapters a much more satisfying read.

Nevertheless, this book nimbly covers an enormous amount of territory in a brief space, and so is very serviceable for students who have had some introduction to biblical and patristic theology. It is also recommended for groups of educated Christians who would like a quick look at Christian pneumatology with some proposals that are sure to spark lively discussion.