Holy Spirit
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In Judaism, the Holy Spirit, otherwise known as the Holy Ghost, is the divine force, quality and influence of God over the universe or his creatures. In Nicene Christianity, the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity. In Islam, the Holy Spirit acts as an agent of divine action or communication. In the Baha’i Faith, the Holy Spirit is seen as the intermediary between God and man and "the outpouring grace of God and the effulgent rays that emanate from His Manifestation".[1]
Comparative religion
The Hebrew Bible contains the term "spirit of God" (ruach elochim) which by Jews is interpreted in the sense of the might of a unitary God.[citation needed] This interpretation is different from the Nicene Christian conception of the Holy Spirit as one person of the Trinity.[2]
The Christian concept tends to emphasize the moral aspect of the Holy Spirit more than Judaism, evident in the epithet Holy Spirit that appeared in Jewish religious writings only relatively late[clarification needed] but was a common expression in the Christian New Testament.[3] Based on the Old Testament, the book of Acts emphasizes the power of ministry aspect of the Holy Spirit.[4]
According to theologian Rudolf Bultmann, there are two ways to think about the Holy Spirit: "animistic" and "dynamistic". In animistic thinking, he is "an independent agent, a personal power which (...) can fall upon a man and take possession of him, enabling him or compelling him to perform manifestations of power" while in dynamistic thought it "appears as an impersonal force which fills a man like a fluid".[5] Both kinds of thought appear in Jewish and Christian scripture, but animistic is more typical of the Old Testament whereas dynamistic is more common in the New Testament.[6] The distinction coincides with the Holy Spirit as either a temporary or permanent gift. In the Old Testament and Jewish thought, it is primarily temporary with a specific situation or task in mind, whereas in the Christian concept the gift resides in persons permanently.[7]
On the surface, the Holy Spirit appears to have an equivalent in non-Abrahamic Hellenistic mystery religions. These religions included a distinction between the spirit and psyche, which is also seen in the Pauline epistles. According to proponents[who?] of the History of religions school, the Christian concept of the Holy Spirit cannot be explained from Jewish ideas alone without reference to the Hellenistic religions.[8] And according to theologian Erik Konsmo, the views "are so dissimilar that the only legitimate connection one can make is with the Greek term πνεῦμα [pneuma, Spirit] itself".[9]
Another link with ancient Greek thought is the Stoic idea of the spirit as anima mundi – or world soul – that unites all people.[9] Some[by whom?] believe that this can be seen in Paul's formulation of the concept of the Holy Spirit that unites Christians in Jesus Christ and love for one another, but Konsmo again thinks that this position is difficult to maintain.[10] In his Introduction to the 1964 book Meditations, the Anglican priest Maxwell Staniforth wrote:
Another Stoic concept which offered inspiration to the Church was that of "divine Spirit". Cleanthes, wishing to give more explicit meaning to Zeno's "creative fire", had been the first to hit upon the term pneuma, or "spirit", to describe it. Like fire, this intelligent "spirit" was imagined as a tenuous substance akin to a current of air or breath, but essentially possessing the quality of warmth; it was immanent in the universe as God, and in man as the soul and life-giving principle. Clearly it is not a long step from this to the "Holy Spirit" of Christian theology, the "Lord and Giver of life", visibly manifested as tongues of fire at Pentecost and ever since associated – in the Christian as in the Stoic mind – with the ideas of vital fire and beneficent warmth.[11]
Abrahamic religions
Judaism
The
The Holy Spirit in Judaism generally refers to the divine aspect of prophecy and wisdom. It also refers to the divine force, quality, and influence of the Most High God, over the universe or over his creatures, in given contexts.[13]
Christianity
For the large majority of
-
Depiction of the Christian Holy SpiritSaint Peter's Basilica
-
A depiction of the Trinity consisting ofGod the Holy Spiritalong with God the Father and God the Son
-
Pentecost icon depicting the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and Mary in the form of tongues of flame above their heads
Islam
The Holy Spirit (
Baháʼí Faith
The
In Baháʼí belief, the Holy Spirit is the
Other religions
Hinduism
The
Zoroastrianism
In
Gnosticism
The ancient Gnostic text known as the Secret Book of John refers to the supreme female principle Barbelo as the Holy Spirit.[40]
See also
- Avatar
- Baptism with the Holy Spirit
- Barakah
- Chaplet of the Holy Spirit and His Seven Gifts
- Cult of the Holy Spirit
- Deity
- Gender of the Holy Spirit
- God in Abrahamic religions
- Great Spirit
- Intercession of the Spirit
- Parable of the Leaven
- Pneumatology
Further reading
- Bellarmine, Robert (1902). . Sermons from the Latins. Benziger Brothers.
- Council of Trent (1829). . The catechism of the Council of Trent. Translated by James Donovan. Lucas Brothers.
- Deharbe, Joseph (1912). . A Complete Catechism of the Catholic Religion. Translated by Rev. John Fander. Schwartz, Kirwin & Fauss.
- Forget, Jacques (1910). Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 7. New York: Robert Appleton Company. . In Herbermann, Charles (ed.).
- Swete, Henry Barclay (1912). The Holy Spirit in the Ancient Church: a Study of Christian Teaching in the Age of the Fathers. ISBN 0342946455.
References
- ^ "Some Answered Questions | Bahá'í Reference Library". www.bahai.org. Retrieved January 31, 2022.
- ISBN 978-0-8146-5856-7.
- ISBN 978-0-8028-0387-0.
- ^ Menzies, William W. and Robert P. "Spirit and Power." Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2000.
- ^ Bultmann 2007, p. 155.
- ^ Bultmann 2007, pp. 156–157.
- ^ Bultmann 2007, pp. 157.
- ^ Konsmo 2010, p. 2.
- ^ a b Konsmo 2010, p. 5.
- ^ Konsmo 2010, p. 6.
- ISBN 0-14044140-9.
- ^ This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906). "Holy Spirit". The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls. Cf. also the term ruaḥ Elohim (Hebrew: רוח אלהים, "spirit/wind of God"). See, for example, Guy Darshan, "Ruaḥ ’Elohim in Genesis 1:2 in Light of Phoenician Cosmogonies: A Tradition's History," Journal of Northwest Semitic Languages 45,2 (2019), 51–78.
- ^ Alan Unterman and Rivka Horowitz, Ruah ha-Kodesh, Encyclopaedia Judaica (CD-ROM Edition, Jerusalem: Judaica Multimedia/Keter, 1997).
- ISBN 978-0-8132-1864-9.
- ^ Erickson, Millard J. (1992). Introducing Christian Doctrine. Baker Book House. p. 103.
- ^ Hammond, T. C. (1968). Wright, David F. (ed.). In Understanding be Men: A Handbook of Christian Doctrine (6th ed.). Inter-Varsity Press. pp. 54–56, 128–131.
- ^ Grudem, Wayne A. (1994). Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine. Leicester, England: Inter-Varsity Press; Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan. p. 226.
- ^ a b Bible, Luke 3:22, NIV
- ^ Bible, Acts 2:3, NIV
- ^ Bible, Acts 2:1–31
- ^ Bible, John 14-16
- ^ Williams, Charles (1950). The descent of the Dove : a short history of the Holy Spirit in the church. London: Faber.
- ISBN 978-1-316-61990-2.
- ^ Bible, I Corinthians 13:4-11, NIV
- OCLC 53143450.
- Acts 1:8
- ^ Johnson, Bill. When Heaven Invades Earth. Destiny Image, 2005
- ^ Fee, Gordon D. (1994). "God's empowering presence: the Holy Spirit in the letters of Paul." Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson.
- ^ Qur'an search: روح القدس. searchtruth.com.
- ^ "What Is Meant by the Holy Spirit in the Qur'an?". Islam Awareness. Sheikh Ahmad Kutty. Retrieved November 14, 2018.
- Encyclopaedia of the Quran.
- Thomas Patrick Hughes, A Dictionary of Islam, p. 605.
- ISBN 0-87743-190-6.
- ISBN 0-85398-270-8.
- ^ Abdo, Lil (1994). "Female Representations of the Holy Spirit in Baháʼí and Christian writings and their implications for gender roles". Baháʼí Studies Review. 4 (1).
- ISBN 0-87743-190-6.
- ISBN 978-0-7618-0184-9.
- ISBN 978-0-664-23136-1.
- ISBN 978-0-22606-930-2.
- ^ Marvin Meyer; Willis Barnstone (June 30, 2009). "The Secret Book of John". The Gnostic Bible. Shambhala. Retrieved October 15, 2021.
Works cited
- Bultmann, Rudolf (2007) [1951]. Theology of the New Testament. Vol. 1. Translated by Grobel, Kendrick. Waco: Baylor University Press. § 14. The Spirit: 1. ISBN 978-1-932792-93-5.
- Konsmo, Erik (2010). The Pauline Metaphors of the Holy Spirit: The Intangible Spirit's Tangible Presence in the Life of the Christian. New York: Peter Lang. ISBN 978-1-4331-0691-0.
- ISBN 0-14044140-9.