Holy Spirit: Encyclopedia II - Holy Spirit - Christian views on the Holy Spirit

Holy Spirit - Christian views on the Holy Spirit

Holy Spirit - Pentecostalism

The Christian movement called Pentecostalism derives its name from the event of Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit when Jesus' disciples were gathered in Jerusalem.

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. In this the Christian can now be used to do signs, miracles and wonders for the sake of evangelism.

Many Pentecostals also believe that a sure sign of this infilling (baptism) is the ability to speak in other tongues (glossalalia).

Holy Spirit - Catholic Church

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states the following in the first paragraph dealing with the Apostles Creed's article I believe in the Holy Spirit. "No one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God." Now God's Spirit, who reveals God, makes known to us Christ, his Word, his living Utterance, but the Spirit does not speak of himself. The Spirit who "has spoken through the prophets" makes us hear the Father's Word, but we do not hear the Spirit himself. We know him only in the movement by which he reveals the Word to us and disposes us to welcome him in faith. The Spirit of truth who "unveils" Christ to us "will not speak on his own." Such properly divine self-effacement explains why "the world cannot receive [him], because it neither sees him nor knows him," while those who believe in Christ know the Spirit because he dwells with them."

As regards the Holy Spirit's relationship with the Church, the Catechism states: "The mission of Christ and the Holy Spirit is brought to completion in the Church, which is the Body of Christ and the Temple of the Holy Spirit...Thus the Church's mission is not an addition to that of Christ and the Holy Spirit, but is its sacrament: in her whole being and in all her members, the Church is sent to announce, bear witness, make present, and spread the mystery of the communion of the Holy Trinity...Because the Holy Spirit is the anointing of Christ, it is Christ who, as the head of the Body, pours out the Spirit among his members to nourish, heal, and organize them in their mutual functions, to give them life, send them to bear witness, and associate them to his self-offering to the Father and to his intercession for the whole world. Through the Church's sacraments, Christ communicates his Holy and sanctifying Spirit to the members of his Body."

The Catechism also lists the various symbols of the Holy Spirit in the Bible:

• Water - signifies the Holy Spirit's action in Baptism. As "by one Spirit we were all baptized," so we are also "made to drink of one Spirit." (1 Cor 12:13) Thus the Spirit is also personally the living water welling up from Christ crucified (Jn 19:34; 1 Jn 5:8) as its source and welling up in us to eternal life. (Cf. Jn 4:10-14; 738; Ex 17:1-6; Isa 55:1; Zech 14:8; 1 Cor 10:4; Rev 21:6; 22:17)

• Anointing - The symbolism of anointing with oil also signifies the Holy Spirit, to the point of becoming a synonym for the Holy Spirit. (Cf. 1 Jn 2:20:27; 2 Cor 1:21) In Christian initiation, anointing is the sacramental sign of Confirmation, called "chrismation" in the Churches of the East. Its full force can be grasped only in relation to the primary anointing accomplished by the Holy Spirit, that of Jesus. Christ (in Hebrew "messiah") means the one "anointed" by God's Spirit.

• Fire - symbolizes the transforming energy of the Holy Spirit's actions. In the form of tongues "as of fire," the Holy Spirit rests on the disciples on the morning of Pentecost and fills them with himself.

• Cloud and light - The Spirit comes upon the Virgin Mary and "overshadows" her, so that she might conceive and give birth to Jesus. On the mountain of Transfiguration, the Spirit in the "cloud came and overshadowed" Jesus, Moses and Elijah, Peter, James and John, and "a voice came out of the cloud, saying, 'This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!'" (Lk 9:34-35)

• The seal is a symbol close to that of anointing. "The Father has set his seal" on Christ and also seals us in him. (Jn 6:27; cf. 2 Cor 1:22; Eph 1:13; 4:3) Because this seal indicates the indelible effect of the anointing with the Holy Spirit in the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Orders, the image of the seal (sphragis) has been used in some theological traditions to express the indelible "character" imprinted by these three unrepeatable sacraments.

• The hand. It is by the Apostles' imposition of hands that the Holy Spirit is given. The Letter to the Hebrews lists the imposition of hands among the "fundamental elements" of its teaching. The Church has kept this sign of the all-powerful outpouring of the Holy Spirit in its sacramental epicleses.

• The finger. "It is by the finger of God that [Jesus] cast out demons." If God's law was written on tablets of stone "by the finger of God," then the "letter from Christ" entrusted to the care of the apostles, is written "with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of human hearts." (Ex 31:18; 2 Cor 3:3)

• The dove. When Christ comes up from the water of his baptism, the Holy Spirit, in the form of a dove, comes down upon him and remains with him.

Holy Spirit - Orthodoxy

Eastern Orthodoxy proclaims that the Father is the eternal source of the Godhead, from Whom is begotten the Son eternally and also from Whom the Holy Spirit proceeds eternally. Note that unlike the Catholic Church and western Christianity in general, the Orthodox Church does not espouse the use of the Filioque in describing the procession of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is believed to eternally proceed from the Father, not from the Father and the Son. Orthodox doctrine regarding the Holy Trinity is summarized in the Symbol of Faith (Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed).

Holy Spirit - Dispensationalism

According to dispensationalism (a pejorative term applied by many modernist groups within the boundaries of evangelical orthodoxy), we are now living in the Age of the Spirit, or church age. The Old Testament period, under this view, may be called the Age of the Father, or of the (Mosaic) law; the period covered by the Gospels, the Age of the Son; from Pentecost until the second advent of Christ, the Age of the Spirit, or the church age (see also Joachim of Fiore).

The Mosaic law was still in effect up to the time when Jesus Christ (the second person of the Trinity) died on a Roman cross, was buried and rose from the dead (Corinthians 15: 1-5). The church age was fully established at Pentecost where the disciples' were given the Holy Spirit, and sent out by Him to plant His church in the world.

The church age is said to close with the second coming of Christ.

Holy Spirit - Branch Davidian

While most Christians think of the person of the Holy Spirit as being a He or It, Branch Davidian Seventh Day Adventists, and others, believe that the Holy Spirit is a feminine Motherly Being, deriving this from the Hebrew language, rather than Greek or Latin. They also believe that ancient (and modern) Goddesses, and the veneration of Mary by Catholics, are derived from this truth. They sometimes ascribe the name "Sophia" to the Holy Spirit. This view, however, is often disputed because the Bible is accepted as the Word of God and unchanging, infallible Truth, (to many Christians), and both the Old Testament and New Testament are important and true; the Old testament is, of course, translated from the Hebrew texts and in Hebrew the word for "Goddess" also means "abomination," often in reference to Astarte. See "Hebrew Pronunciation" under "Astarte" here: [1]

The late Lois Roden, former president of the Branch organization, began teaching this aspect of the Spirit beginning in 1977. Thus Branch believers see a Family in heaven, whose family image is clearly seen on earth.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Christian views on the Holy Spirit", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki