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62-555: The Spirit may refer to: Holy Spirit , a conception of God in Abrahamic religions Spirit (comics character) The Spirit (1987 film) The Spirit (2008 film) The Spirit (album) , by Magnum, 1991 "The Spirit" ( Third Watch ) , a television episode See also [ edit ] In the Spirit (disambiguation) Spirit (disambiguation) Topics referred to by

124-540: A duality or trinity is considered shituf (or "not purely monotheistic"). 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

186-563: A "Holy Trinity", according to the Qur'an, is forbidden and deemed to be blasphemy . The same prohibition applies to any idea of the duality of God ( Allah ). The Baháʼí Faith has the concept of the Most Great Spirit , seen as the bounty of God . It is usually used to describe the descent of the Spirit of God upon the messengers/prophets of God who include, among others, Jesus, Muhammad and Bahá'u'lláh . In Baháʼí belief,

248-574: A Christian becomes a participant in the Son's communion with the Father, they become sons by adoption and brothers to Christ, and "sharers in the divine nature" (although Eastern Orthodox Christians would have reservations regarding how "nature" would be interpreted). This contrasting, majority view has been thoroughly developed in the Catholic, Trinitarian tradition inherited by most Protestants. For example,

310-460: A binitarian view of God. The sabbatarian Churches of God persist in their worship of Jesus and the Father; insisting that, in their worship of the "plural" God, " Elohim " (Gods), as multiple separate and individual God-beings of which only the Father and Son are now very God, they are practicing monotheism in the sense that "Elohim" is one family unit. Adherents of these churches believe they will eventually be born into that family as children of God at

372-739: A binitarian view today are the General Conference of the Church of God (Seventh Day) – with other Church of God (7th Day) groups remaining unitarian – the United Church of God , and the Living Church of God (the latter two originating from the Worldwide Church of God). Other groups, scattered spin-offs from the breakup of the previously sabbatarian Worldwide Church of God founded by Herbert W. Armstrong , also hold to

434-544: A fairly consistent linkage and subordination of Jesus to God 'the Father' in these circles, evident even in the Christian texts from the latter decades of the 1st century that are commonly regarded as a very 'high' Christology, such as the Gospel of John and Revelation. This is why I referred to this Jesus-devotion as a 'binitarian' form of monotheism: there are two distinguishable figures (God and Jesus), but they are posited in

496-437: A human family; as all humans are also called "Man", after their first father, so in the Father's family, all born into his family are called "God". This is considered a form of polytheism in the traditional trinitarian view as well as in the unitarian or monotheistic point of view. Semi-Arian binitarians do not believe that Jesus "was truly human and truly God", which is the position held by trinitarians . They believe that Jesus

558-641: A man like a fluid". 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. 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

620-464: A person of God's being, which also lived in Jesus (or, from other sources, appears to be thought of as Jesus's pre-existent, divine nature). This view further asserts that the same Spirit is given to men, making them a new creation and sharers in the same hope of resurrection and exaltation. This interpretation of early Christian belief is often cited in contrast to trinitarianism. However, trinitarians cite

682-534: A possessive suffix is added the definite article ha is dropped). 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. For the large majority of Christians , the Holy Spirit (or Holy Ghost , from Old English gast , "spirit")

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744-416: A relation to each other that seems intended to avoid the ditheism of two gods. Hurtado does not describe binitarianism as antithetical to Nicene Christianity but rather as an indication that early Christians (before Nicaea ) were monotheistic (as evidenced by their singular reference to the Father as God) yet also devoted to Jesus as pre-existent, co-eternal, the creator, embodying the power of God, by whom

806-410: A resurrection of the dead at the second coming of Christ. They also believe that others will follow as children of God after Christ rules on Earth and teaches the correct way to live and follow him. These same groups insist certain human beings may eventually be gifted with all the attributes of the Father and Jesus. These humans who may enter the "God family" are currently only those found to be attending

868-585: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Holy Spirit The Holy Spirit , otherwise known as the Holy Ghost , is a concept within the Abrahamic religions . In Judaism , the Holy Spirit is understood as the divine quality or force of God manifesting in the world, particularly in acts of prophecy , creation and guidance. In Nicene Christianity , this conception expanded in meaning to represent

930-668: Is interpreted in the sense of the might of a unitary God . This interpretation is different from the Nicene Christian conception of the Holy Spirit as one person of the Trinity . The Christian concept tends to emphasize the moral aspect of the Holy Spirit as a common expression in the Christian New Testament. Based on the Old Testament, the book of Acts emphasizes the power of ministry aspect of

992-447: Is sympathetic to its predecessor view in Judaism; and it also displays a plurality of simultaneous identities, which is sympathetic to its successor in trinitarianism. It is a development in understanding of Christ, in other words, from which arose several subsequent ones in the further course of development that eventually came into conflict with one another. Before Hurtado's influential work, one classic scholarly theory of binitarianism

1054-520: Is the third person of the Trinity: The "Triune God" manifested as Father , Son , and Holy Spirit; each Person being God. Two symbols from the New Testament canon are associated with the Holy Spirit in Christian iconography : a winged dove, and tongues of fire. Each depiction of the Holy Spirit arose from different accounts in the Gospel narratives; the first being at the baptism of Jesus in

1116-521: The Early Church believe that the teaching from Romans 8:29 about Jesus being "the firstborn among many brethren" demonstrates that Christians will be in the Family called "God". The view that God is a Family that Christians can expect to be born into is not widely held within groups that profess Christianity . However, there is a sense in which trinitarians believe that, by being united with Christ,

1178-773: The Jordan River where the Holy Spirit was said to descend in the form of a dove as the voice of God the Father spoke as described in Matthew , Mark , and Luke ; the second being from the day of Pentecost , fifty days after Passover where the descent of the Holy Spirit came upon the Apostles and other followers of Jesus Christ , as tongues of fire as described in the Acts of the Apostles , as promised by Jesus in his farewell discourse. Called "the unveiled epiphany of God ",

1240-511: The third person of the Trinity , co-equal and co-eternal with God the Father and God the Son . 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". The Hebrew Bible contains the term " spirit of God " ( ruach elochim ) which by Jews

1302-696: 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. The Hebrew language phrase ruach ha-kodesh ( Hebrew : רוח הקודש , "holy spirit" also transliterated ruaḥ ha-qodesh ) is used in the Hebrew Bible and Jewish writings to refer to the spirit of YHWH (רוח יהוה). The Hebrew terms ruacḥ qodshəka , "thy holy spirit" ( רוּחַ קָדְשְׁךָ ), and ruacḥ qodshō , "his holy spirit" ( רוּחַ קָדְשׁוֹ ), also occur (when

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1364-472: The "original" Jewish Christians. Certain scholars have noted that "earliest Christian worship specifies two figures, God and Jesus, as recipients" and that early rabbis considered early Christianity to be binitarian. After the 325 Council of Nicaea defeated Arianism , the Council of Constantinople was called in 381 to attempt to deal with the binitarians, who were referred to as "Semi-Arians". However, as

1426-574: The Christian concept the gift resides in persons permanently. 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 of the History of religions school , the Christian concept of the Holy Spirit cannot be explained from Jewish ideas alone without reference to

1488-424: The Father and Son "God", not only do neither refer to the Holy Spirit as God, Melito's "Oration on Our Lord's Passion" suggests that the Holy Spirit is simply the power of God in action. Binitarians have noted that Paul honors the Father and the Son towards the beginning of every book he wrote, but never does so for the Holy Spirit. Trinitarians see Romans 1:4 "And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to

1550-415: The Father is revealed, and in whose name alone the Father is worshiped. He writes, "The central place given to Jesus ... and ... their concern to avoid ditheism by reverencing Jesus rather consistently with reference to 'the Father', combine to shape the proto-orthodox 'binitarian' pattern of devotion. Jesus truly is reverenced as divine." Hurtado's view might be interpreted as urging that, at this stage in

1612-822: The Father, and to the Son, but the Holy Spirit is never prayed to nor worshiped in the Bible; in the Revelation of John, there is praise to the "One who sits upon the throne" (God), "and to the Lamb" (Jesus), but the Spirit is not mentioned; modern binitarians conclude that this is because the Holy Spirit is not a person of the God family, but the mind of God. Binitarians believe that statements from early Christian leaders such as Melito of Sardis and Polycarp of Smyrna were binitarian, though most mainstream scholars do not accept this assertion. Binitarians point out, for example, while both call

1674-627: The Godhead with the Father and the Son." After Ellen White gained influence in the American Adventist movement, in 1858 the binitarian Church of God (Seventh Day) was founded in the U.S. mid-western states of Michigan and Iowa having split from those Adventists who in 1863 founded the Seventh-day Adventist Church . Later, in 1897, Ellen White published a pamphlet declaring the Holy Spirit "the third person of

1736-552: The Godhead". Andrews University, an Adventist institution for higher learning, suggests that the Seventh-day Adventists were inclined towards binitarianism before this, which Gerhard Pfandl terms "Semi-Arian." By the latter half of the 19th century, binitarianism was held by a relatively small group of church denominations. At present, it is a theology essentially held only by some 7th Day Church of God groups. The three largest church denominations that appear to hold

1798-620: The Hellenistic religions. 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". Another link with ancient Greek thought is the Stoic idea of the spirit as anima mundi – or world soul – that unites all people. Some believe that this can be seen in Paul's formulation of

1860-563: The Holy Spirit is a partner to God in the Godhead, but rather is the pure essence of God's attributes. The Hindu concept of Advaita is linked to the Trinity, according to the theologian Raimon Panikkar . He states that the Holy Spirit, as one of the Three Persons of the Trinity of "father, Logos and Holy Spirit", is a bridge-builder between Christianity and Hinduism. He explains that: "The meeting of spiritualistic can take place in

1922-435: The Holy Spirit is essentially the power of God, with no distinct identity within God, and not a separate Being or Person as they conceive the Son to be. For example, in its Official Statement of Fundamental Beliefs, the binitarian Living Church of God states, "The Holy Spirit is the very essence, the mind, life and power of God. It is not a Being. The Spirit is inherent in the Father and the Son, and emanates from Them throughout

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1984-684: The Holy Spirit is generally consistent with other interpretations based upon the Old and the New Testaments. On the basis of narrations in certain Hadith , some Muslims identify it with the angel Gabriel (Arabic Jibrāʾīl ). The Spirit ( الروح al-Ruh , without the adjective "holy" or "exalted") is described, among other things, as the creative spirit from God by which God enlivened Adam , and which inspired in various ways God's messengers and prophets, including Jesus and Abraham . The belief in

2046-483: The Holy Spirit is seen as the source of all goodness in the universe, the spark of all life within humanity, and is the ultimate guide for humanity to righteousness and communion with God. The Holy Spirit is put in direct opposition to its eternal dual counterpart, Angra Mainyu , who is the source of all wickedness and who leads humanity astray. The ancient Gnostic text known as the Secret Book of John refers to

2108-507: The Holy Spirit is the conduit through which the wisdom of God becomes directly associated with his messenger, and it has been described variously in different religions such as the burning bush to Moses, the sacred fire to Zoroaster, the dove to Jesus, the angel Gabriel to Muhammad, and the Maid of Heaven to Bahá'u'lláh (founder of the Baháʼí Faith). The Baháʼí view rejects the idea that

2170-532: The Holy Spirit is the One who empowers the followers of Jesus with spiritual gifts and power that enables the proclamation of Jesus Christ, and the power that brings conviction of faith. The Holy Spirit ( Arabic : روح القدس , romanized :  Ruh al-Qudus , "the Spirit of Holiness") is mentioned four times in the Qur'an , where it acts as an agent of divine action or communication. The Muslim interpretation of

2232-572: The Holy Spirit. In general, Jews reject any conception of a co-equal, multi-person godhead; anything but an absolute monotheism is contrary to the Shema . They do not consider the Hebrew word for "one" (Hebrew: אחד, ekhad ) as meaning anything other than a simple numerical one . The rabbinical understanding of the Holy Spirit has a certain degree of personification , but it remains, "a quality belonging to God, one of his attributes". The idea of God as

2294-662: The Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost (cor. Spirit):" and 1 Timothy 1:14 "And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus." as exceptions. By not considering that the Holy Spirit is a person of God, or God's mind, some binitarians were also called the Pneumatomachi , as a subset of Semi-Arians. Binitarians from groups originating in

2356-733: The Semi-Arians were the main binitarians. None of the Semi-Arian views were strictly monotheistic (one being). All asserted that the God who speaks and the Word who creates are two beings similar to one another, of similar substance ( homoiousia [ ὁμοιούσία ]), and denied that they are one and the same being, or two persons of the same substance ( homoousia [ ὁμοούσία ]) in which two are distinguished, as Nicaea eventually held. Many Church of God binitarians (see below ) believe their Christology perspective most accurately reflects that of

2418-407: The Spirit well, living in holiness and purity, without defiling the Spirit in any way. ... [I]t had lived honorably and chastely, and had worked with the Spirit and cooperated with it in everything. The classic theory of Christian binitarian theology (assumed by most dictionary definitions) asserts that some early Christians conceived of the Spirit as going out from God the creator, and is the creator:

2480-530: The Spirit. No new 'system' has primarily to come of this encounter, but a new and yet old spirit must emerge." Atman is Vedic terminology elaborated in Hindu scriptures such as Upanishads and Vedanta signifies the Ultimate Reality and Absolute . In Zoroastrianism , the Holy Spirit, also known as Spenta Mainyu , is a hypostasis of Ahura Mazda , the supreme Creator God of Zoroastrianism;

2542-764: The Trinitarian Eastern Orthodox Church teaches that Christians will by grace become so entirely conformed to the will, purpose, and character of God , that they will be gods by the grace of God, but not on the same level of the Uncreated God. Timothy Ware , an Eastern Orthodox theologian, wrote, "St. Athanasius summed up the purpose of the Incarnation by saying, 'God became human that we might be made God'...we are God's 'offspring' (or generation) (Acts xvii, 28), His kin ... we will become 'like' God, we will acquire divine likeness; In

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2604-526: The Trinity was finalized at this time as official Christian doctrine, the offended Semi-Arians walked out. "They rejected the Arian view that Christ was created and had a different nature from God ( anomoios [ ἀνόμοιος ]—dissimilar), but neither did they accept the Nicene Creed which stated that Christ was 'of one substance ( homoousios [ ὁμοούσιος ]) with the Father'. Semi-Arians taught that Christ

2666-566: 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. 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

2728-689: The congregations that openly support "pluralism", but after Jesus's return salvation shall be offered to all during the Great White Throne Judgment, which is a form of universal reconciliation . God's plural identification in Genesis as "Elohim", as the Father and the Word or Logos ( John 1:1–18 ) who became the Son of God, the firstborn of many brethren, leaves room for untold numbers to be added to God's family. This binitarian view posits that humanity eventually will have access to become members of God's family in their own right each with

2790-519: The development of the Church's understanding, it could be said that God is a person (the Father) and one being; and that Jesus is distinct from the Father, was pre-existent with God, and also originating from God without becoming a being separate from him, so that he is God (the Son). This view of a binitarian pattern of devotion would posit a unity of God's being and a oneness of the object of worship, which

2852-499: The entire universe (1 Kings 8:27; Psalm 139:7; Jeremiah 23:24). It was through the Spirit that God created all things ( Genesis 1:1 – 2 ; Revelation 4:11). It is the power by which Christ maintains the universe (Hebrews 1:2–3). It is given to all who repent of their sins and are baptized (Acts 2:38–39) and is the power ( Acts 1:8 ; 2 Timothy 1:6–7) by which all believers may be 'overcomers' (Romans 8:37 (KJV); Revelation 2:26–27) and will be led to eternal life." Scripture mentions prayer to

2914-402: 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,

2976-486: The flesh Jesus was not who He was prior to His incarnation (God the Word), not what He was (i.e. not fully God with all authority) since His resurrection. He was God, then he was not fully God, then he was God again. Trinitarians teach that the Holy Spirit is another person like the Son, who comes from God without becoming a separate being from him ( Matthew 28:19 – 20 ; John 16:5–7; Acts 1:8 , 2:4). Most binitarians teach that

3038-411: The fullness of God, not as an intermediary, but as God indeed. In Eastern Orthodoxy especially, to deny that the Holy Spirit eternally proceeds from the Father alone but rather from both the Father and the Son, as the filioque states, is seen as tending toward binitarian monotheism, or worse, bitheism. The Roman Church accepted and urged adoption of the filioque, which formed the theological rationale for

3100-406: The power of the Holy Spirit, however, not equal to Father or Son. As part of the binitarian view it is also believed that, as the Bible states, the Father is greater than Jesus. Trinitarians sometimes describe the modern binitarian view as "ditheist" or "dualist" instead of binitarian because, in their misunderstanding of binitarianism, some claim it posits that God is multiple beings, analogous to

3162-529: The same as, deification...deification is not something reserved for a select few initiates, but is something intended for all alike, but only in the sense of attainment of heavenly attributes. The Orthodox Church believes this is the normal goal of every Christian without exception. Certainly we shall only be deified on the Last Day; but for each of us the process of divinization must begin here and now in this present life." Western Christians often vigorously avoid

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3224-599: The same sources as examples of pre-Nicene Christian monotheism, which is not orthodoxy but "proto-orthodox"—that is, one of several versions among Christians which explain monotheism as a plurality (Father, Son, Spirit) in one being, prior to orthodoxy's settlement in Christianity. By the time of the Arian controversy, some bishops defended a kind of "dual" conception of deity, which is sometimes called " Semi-Arian ". Macedonianism (the Pneumatomachi ) typifies this view, which some prefer to call "binitarian" as at that time

3286-417: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title The Spirit . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Spirit&oldid=1224895563 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description

3348-803: The schism with the Eastern Orthodox in 1054. The Orthodox urge that these filioque statements must be rejected because the theological understanding of the Spirit is directly attached to consequent notions of what the unity of God is, the unity of the gift of God in giving his Son and His Spirit, and thus what "salvation" means and by what principle it is lived out. In addition, the Orthodox view of theosis only allows humans to be united with God in his "energies", but never with God's "essence", as God remains completely transcendent in His essence. Binitarians look forward to their hope of being deified, and deny that

3410-540: The spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:", Ephesians 1:13 "In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise", 1 Thessalonians 1:5–6 "For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost (cor. gk. pneuma, air, breath, breeze, Spirit), and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake. And ye became followers of us, and of

3472-485: The supreme female principle Barbelo as the Holy Spirit. Binitarianism Larry W. Hurtado of University of Edinburgh uses the word "binitarian" to describe the position of early Christian devotion to God, which ascribes to the Son ( Jesus ) an exaltedness that in Judaism would be reserved for God alone, while still affirming as in Judaism that God is one and is alone to be worshiped. He writes: ...there are

3534-507: The terminology of deification, divinization, or theosis, while not necessarily rejecting the intended doctrine expressed in different terms. Modern binitarians strongly agree with these Eastern Orthodox statements concerning deification, as they understand them. However, in Eastern Orthodoxy, theosis is profoundly linked to a Trinitarian understanding of God, laying special emphasis on the Holy Spirit as containing and communicating

3596-455: The trinitarian or Chalcedonian doctrines uniquely assert anything necessary to a godly faith, along with Mormons . Nevertheless, as they do not see the strict monotheism or the trinitarianism of Eastern Orthodoxy as contributing anything essential and necessary, these binitarians see themselves as closer to the Eastern Orthodox than to "theosis" as found in Western (Augustinian) Christianity, or

3658-610: The words of John Damascene ... To acquire the likeness is to be deified, it is to become a 'second god', a god by grace'. 'I said, ye are gods, and all of ye children of the Most High' (Psalm lxxxi, 6; cf John x, 34–35) ... Such, according to the teaching of the Orthodox Church, is the final goal at which every Christian must attain: to become like God, to obtain theosis , 'deification' or 'divinization'. For Orthodoxy human salvation and redemption mean something close to, but not

3720-423: Was God (the Word) prior to His incarnation, that He became fully human (finite) yet he was not fully God during the pre-resurrection incarnation as He did not have the powers etc. of God then, and that all authority was restored to Him (as well as his infinite God-status) at or shortly after the resurrection. They make three major claims to support that position: In other words, Semi-Arian binitarians believe that in

3782-437: Was similar ( homoios [ ὅμοιος ]) to the Father, or of like substance ( homoiousios [ ὁμοιούσίος ]), but still subordinate." In the mid-4th century, orthodox apologist Epiphanius of Salamis noted, "Semi-Arians ... hold the truly orthodox view of the Son, that he was forever with the Father ... but has been begotten without beginning and not in time ... But all of these blaspheme the Holy Spirit, and do not count him in

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3844-417: Was that the Holy Spirit was seen as in some sense identical to the Son or uniquely embodied in him. The Shepherd of Hermas , among other sources, is cited to support the theory. Near the end of Parable Five, for example, an angel declares: The preexistent Holy Spirit, which created the whole creation, God caused to live in the flesh that he wished. This flesh, therefore, in which the Holy Spirit lived served

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