Christian views of the Holy Spirit

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Christian views of the Holy Spirit

 

In mainstream Christianity, the Holy Spirit is one person of the

Trinity, co-equal with the Father and the Son (i.e. Jesus Christ), a

part of the Godhead. In Unitarian churches, Jehovah's Witnesses and

some other churches that do not accept the doctrine of the Trinity,

the Holy Spirit is the force or will of God, and not a separate

person. In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints the Holy

Spirit is considered a third and individual member of the Godhead,

distinct from the Father and the Son, having a body of spirit

(whereas the Father and the Son are believed to be resurrected

individuals having immortalized bodies of flesh and bone).

 

Christians believe it is the Holy Spirit who leads people to faith

in Jesus Christ and the one who gives them the ability to lead a

Christian life. The Spirit dwells inside every true Christian. He is

depicted as a 'counsellor' or 'helper' (paraclete in Greek), guiding

them in the way of the truth. The 'Fruit of the Spirit' (i.e. the

results of his work) should be " love,joy, peace, patience, kindness,

goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control " (Galatians

5:22). The Spirit is also believed to give gifts (i.e. abilities) to

Christians such as those of prophecy, tongues and knowledge,

although some Christians believe that this occurred only in New

Testament times.

 

The Pentecostal movement places special emphasis on the work of the

Holy Spirit, and especially on the gifts mentioned above, believing

that they are still given today. Many Pentecostals believe in

a 'Baptism of the Holy Spirit', in which the Spirit's power is

received by the Christian in a new way. Some Pentecostal sects hold

that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is the one sure sign of

Christianity in a person, or conversely, that until a person has

experienced this baptism of the Holy Spirit, they cannot be certain

of their salvation.

 

The Holy Spirit is often depicted as a dove, based on the story of

the Holy Spirit descending on Jesus Christ in the form of a dove

when he was baptized in the Jordan. The book of Acts describes the

Holy Spirit descending on the apostles at Pentecost in the form of a

wind and tongues of fire resting over the apostles' heads. Based on

the imagery in that account, the Holy Spirit is sometimes symbolized

by a flame of fire.

 

In John's Gospel of the New Testament, the emphasis is placed not

upon what the Holy Spirit did for Jesus, but upon Jesus giving the

spirit to his disciples. This " Higher " Christology, which was the

most influential in the later development of Trinity doctrine, sees

Jesus as a sacrificial lamb, and as coming among men in order to

grant the Spirit of God to humanity.

 

Although the language used to describe Jesus' receiving of the

Spirit in St. John's gospel is a parallel to accounts in other

Gospels, nevertheless, John reports this with the aim in view of

showing that Jesus is specially in possession of the Spirit for the

purpose of granting the Spirit to his followers, uniting them with

Himself, and in Himself also uniting them with the Father. (See

Raymond Brown, " The Gospel According to John " , chapter on

Pneumatology). In John, the gift of the Spirit is equivalent to

eternal life, knowledge of God, power to obey, and communion with

one another and with the Father.

 

The Holy Spirit is sometimes referred to as the Holy Ghost (the name

used in the King James Version of the Bible), particularly by

conservative Pentecostal groups and the Church of Jesus Christ of

Latter-day Saints. The usage was also common before 1901.

 

According to dispensationalism, we are now living in the Age of the

Spirit. The Old Testament period, under this view, may be called the

Age of the Father; the period covered by the Gospels, the Age of the

Son; from Pentecost until the second advent of Christ, the Age of

the Spirit.

 

 

The Gender of the Holy Spirit

 

The Biblical Hebrew word for spirit is ruwach, meaning wind, breath,

inspiration; the noun is grammatically feminine. In the " Odes of

Solomon'; the oldest surviving Christian hymnal, the Holy Spirit is

grammatically female. The Greek word for spirit, 'pneuma', has no

grammatical gender. The Holy Spirit is translated in masculine terms

only in languages such as Latin and English.

 

Christian views of the Holy Spirit

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