In our last class discussion, we began talking about what or who the Holy Spirit is in the Bible. I think we came to the conclusion that it is an extension of God, most often present when God speaks to his followers. We agreed that the Holy Spirit is a vessel, a voice, a presentation of God that exists between the infinite and finite worlds of the Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of Man.
I did a quick Google search just to see if we were correct or close to what Christians believe it to be. A couple websites that I read, though I can't speak on their credibility, all seemed to agree on some basic principles of what the Holy Spirit is. Like God, the Holy Spirit is omnipresent, omni-powerful and eternal. More importantly, they all state that it is a living person -- a man, because of the same use of "he" and "him" that is used to describe God -- and that he has a will. One source says that he is not the ethereal and shapeless presence that is attributed to the word "spirit". He has a form, and serves the purpose of bearing witness to Jesus Christ. Apparently, he resides in Christ's followers once they believe in him, and also wills those who don't believe to convert.
It's strange to imagine a third divine being walking around and working in the same ways that Jesus and God do. We see very little of the Holy Spirit performing real actions in the Bible, and instead read about him only in reference by other characters. For those who believe in the Trinity or have been taught anything about it, is what I read true or widely believed/accepted? And does this new understanding of the Holy Spirit change your perspective of the New Testament?
If anyone wants to read the websites that I looked at, they're posted here:
http://www.everystudent.com/forum/hspirit.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Spirit
http://carm.org/holy-spirit
As I read the NT, I understood the holy spirit to be a differentiating factor between Christians and non-Christians, meaning that by being a Christian, following the ways of Jesus, one was endowed with the hooky spirit. Just as Jews were defined by their righteousness, Christians are valued in their possessing of the holy spirit. By having the holy spirit and believing in the ways of Jesus, one was promised salvation, and heaven. The idea of the holy spirit also provides another almost tangible concept for people to latch onto and thus trust in the teachings of Christianity.
ReplyDeleteWhen Professor Vaught suggested that the holy spirit could be a connection between God and man, it got me thinking about the cross. Growing up in a catholic church, I've learned to bless myself by gesturing the cross. The father is said at the head, the son is said at the chest, and the holy spirit is said while touching the sides of the body in-between. The holy spirit would be the short, horizontal part of the cross, in-between both ends of the longer side (the top is God and the bottom is Jesus, which is representative of man). Hopefully that makes sense, but I thought it was a good representation of the holy spirit being a connection between God and man.
ReplyDeleteI think the concept of "second death" that we talked about in class today can potentially provide a good explanation in terms of entities. St. Augustine establishes that in each individual there is the body and the soul. The body dies as the soul parts, but the soul dies as God "abandons" it. In this sense, the Holy Spirit seems much more like the "representation" of God's connection to the individual. Another aspect which supports this explanation is that the Holy Spirit will only come to the soul after baptism. As an act to cleanse the body from Adam's lasting sin, God can only establish his connection after the taint has been removed.
ReplyDeleteWhen we first talked about the Holy Spirit, I thought of it as just a messenger of god. But after today's discussion we established that the Holy Spirit is an entirely different entity that does not take orders. I believe that it more of God's 'assistant' that is helping Him lead humans on the right path.
ReplyDeleteI remember us referring to the Holy Spirit as some sort of messenger between God and earth, and I suppose in a way this makes sense, since it does convey God's messages. One definition that I found was that it provides God's power in the lives of people, which I think is fitting, since Joseph and Mary had to encounter the Holy Spirit before they were granted a child.
ReplyDeleteGrowing up, this is the same impression I got about what the Holy Spirit was. Although in addition to this I was told the the Holy Spirit is an entity that provides the power of God to the people.
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