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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | What is the Holy Spirit? | Bible general Archive 1 | chief01 | 3645 | ||
There is much discussion in theologians today about God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. One renowned theologian stated the three are separate and distinct. Can you please clarify the Holy Spirit? | ||||||
2 | What is the Holy Spirit? | Bible general Archive 1 | Hank | 3662 | ||
Al, in orthodox Christian theology the Holy Spirit is the third Person of the Trinity, and being a Person, not a thing, personal pronouns like Who (not what) and He (not it) are used in reference to Him. It is through the Holy Spirit that God acts, reveals, empowers and discloses His presence. The Holy Spirit was present at creation (Gen. 1:2), at Jesus' baptism (Lk.3:22), on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:4) that marked the birth of the church. These are but three of numerous accounts throughout the Bible of the manifestation of the Holy Spirit. All of the apostolic writers bear clear witness to the reality of the Holy Spirit in the church. The apostle Paul, above all others, gives us the most profound theological insights on the nature and function of the Holy Spirit. See Romans 8; 1 Corinthians 2, 12, 13, 14); 2 Corinthians 3; and Galatians 5. .... Closely allied to and part of the doctrine of the Holy Spirit is the distinctive Christian doctrine of the Trinity, a theological term used to define God as being in His nature threefold -- God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Attempts have been made to explain this concept in terms that the finite human mind can grasp. None have been quite adequate nor can they be, because God is transcendent, meaning that there is none like Him and therefore we can never say with definitiveness, God is like this or like that." God is God. He Himself said in response to Moses' request for the name of the God of the patriarchs "I AM WHO I AM." (Exodus 3:14). One illustration that has been offered in an attempt to help us understand the nature of the Trinity is this: A man is a father to his children. He is a son to his parents. He is a husband to his wife. He is the same man, he is one person, but he is viewed differently by, and plays different roles in the lives of, his children, his parents and his wife. This illustration falls far short of explanation of the Trinity, but perhaps it serves to open a small window to give us a pale, dim view into the mysteries of the Trinity. Paul's fine words in 1 Corinthians 13:12 reflect the human condition in which we all of us find ourselves, "For now we see in a mirror dimly...now I know in part, but then I will know fully..." ... The "nenowned theologian" to whom you refer as stating that the three (persons of the Godhead) are separate and distinct appears as if he may be espousing tritheism, one of two (unitarianism being the other) doctrines of the Trinity that are viewed as flawed and unorthodox. The orthodox view of the Trinity attempts to balance the concepts of unity and distinctiveness, that is, that God is one as the Shema affirms in Deut. 6:4: "Hear, O Israel! the LORD is our God, the LORD is one!" While that is true, God is one, he nonetheless manifests Himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- three in one, three yet one, the triune God. Tritheism, on the other hand, stresses the distinctive nature of the Godhead to the point at which the Trinity is seen as three separate Gods, which amounts to a Christian polytheism. Unitarianism by contrast focuses exclusively on the concept of God the Father, thus relegating the Son and Holy Spirit to a lower category and made less than divine. Hank. | ||||||