You might also like... Part 2 - The Essentials of Divine Mercy with Father Chris Alar, MIC . The Holy Spirit is the third Person of the Trinity and undoubtedly the least understood member of the Godhead. Variants include Helper, Comforter, and Counselor, but the most literal one is Paraclete, which simply is a transliteration of the Greek word, paraklētos. In the context of faith, hearing the voice of God is of crucial importance. We are not saying that the word fellowship itself, demands the Holy Spirit is a person, but that a word that normally, but not always implies personality, is used in conjunction with two other known persons. He grieves, He knows, He is eternal, He encourages, He gives understanding, He gives peace, He comforts, He directs, and He can be prayed to. Amen.". We cannot have fellowship or communion with a force, a bird, wind, etc. This Bible study will explore in brief the ministry and works of the Holy Spirit. The first is the name which is the name that Jesus provides in John 14:26. The issue the degree to which we are aware of this reality, which I think may not be at the same level as it is for the Father and Son. In a way, this is more intimate of a connection than any we could have with any other human person. We do not worship a bird, fire, wind or clouds; we worship God when we worship the Holy Spirit. Not an "influence" or some vague power, but the Third Person of the Trinity. With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified," as we profess belief in every Sunday. Since one of the major aspects of God’s nature is that he is a person, it follows that the Holy Spirit is a person. A person, not an impersonal force, searches all things (1 Corinthians 2:10), knows the mind of God the Father (1 Corinthians 2:11), teaches the content of the Gospel to believers (1 Corinthians 2:13), dwells within believers (1 Corinthians 3:16; Romans 8:11; 2 Timothy 1:14), accomplishes all things (1 Corinthians 12:11), gives life to those who believe (2 Corinthians 3:6), cries out from within our hearts (Galatians 4:6), leads us in the ways of God (Galatians 5:18; Romans 8:14), bears witness with our own spirits (Romans 8:16), has desires that are in opposition to the flesh (Galatians 5:17), helps us in our weakness (Romans 8:26), intercedes on our behalf (Romans 8:26-27), works all things together for our ultimate good (Romans 8:28), strengthens believers (Ephesians 3:16), and is grieved by our sinfulness (Galatians 5:22-23). He is not a person of flesh and blood, but a person of spirit. The exact words are, "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." What does the Holy Spirit do? TheDivineMercy Video. But there is a point at which we have to face the truth: the difficulties we have in approaching the Holy Spirit as person reminds us of the mystery and absolute otherness of God, as the first quotation in this article stated. Our difficulty in fully recognizing the Holy Spirit as a person is, perhaps, compounded by the many biblical symbols for the third person of the Trinity: water, anointing oil, fire, the cloud, the seal, and the dove (see this list in the catechism). “The Holy Spirit is a person, for He beareth witness with our spirits that we are the children of God.” (Ev 616) “Sin could be resisted and overcome only through the mighty agency of the Third Person of the Godhead” (DA 671) • The Holy Spirit is the third Person of the Trinity, classically defined as: “There is one God, ... • The Holy Spirit exercises the divine prerogative of calling and sending out ministers. Send forth your Spirit, and they shall be created, and you shall renew the face of the earth. For us a person is a body and soul. The images can help us understand the Holy Spirit, in some limited sense, but we must be careful not to identify the Holy Spirit with these impersonal images. In the end, we should aim to get to know the Holy Spirit as a person on his own terms, not our own. As this author explains, the name has its roots in the Old Testament where Hebrew scribes would substitute the name Adonai, or Lord, for Yahweh, the sacred personal name for God, which was not said out loud. Since all Three Persons of the Trinity are equally God, we may pray to any member of the Trinity. St. Paul prays that we have fellowship with the Holy Spirit. It is God impacting the creation with His creative influence. Of course, these symbols all serve to reflect something about the identity of the Holy Spirit but they do not specifically help us see Him as a person. When it comes to the Holy Spirit, however, the matter becomes more difficult. Needless to say, the deeper we enter into the truths of our faith the better. I know! In order to belong to Christ, we must have the third person of the Holy Trinity dwelling within us, so we pray: "Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful, and enkindle in them the fire of your love. Here St. Paul speaks of our Lord Jesus Christ. He makes no mention of the Holy Spirit as a divine person. that we decide whether the Holy Spirit is a Divine Person, worthy to receive our adoration, our faith, our love, and our entire surrender to Himself, or whether it is simply an influence emanating from God or a power or an illumination that God imparts to us. As a Person, the Holy Spirit is one we can be in relation with. The Holy Spirit is truly the forgotten member of the Trinity, and Dr. Malcolm Yarnell has constructed the clearest work of our modern time to bring Christians back to the person and office of the Holy Spirit. Moreover, the Holy Spirit is deeply connected with bringing God’s word to us. In fact, the Holy Spirit inspires by distributing various gifts to various people, enhancing both the individuality of people and our connectedness as we exchange these inspired gifts to each other. (The above is from the New American Bible, Revised Edition.) His areas of interest include Eastern Christianity, Marian and Eucharistic theology, medieval history, and the saints. In this episode, Pastor John reveals how to be given divine insight and advice through the Person of the Holy Spirit who lives in you to fulfill His purposes. Raised as an evangelical Protestant, he is a convert to Catholicism. Love is intimately linked to the Holy Spirit. Let me draw one important inference. 6. The Holy Spirit is a person, as Scripture makes clear. The Holy Spirit is "the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. He is a former news editor at GoLocalProv.com and was a correspondent for the New Hampshire Union Leader, where he covered the 2008 presidential primary. In the ancient Greek world, a paraclete was a kind of legal advocate, analogous to defense attorneys in our society. (Romans 8:9b). Galatians 4:6). But the creed makes the same move, identifying the Holy Spirit as ‘the Lord, the Giver of Life.’. 5 The Holy Spirit has intellect, emotion, and will. …. However, many of us probably struggle to think of the Holy Spirit as a person. The Advocate, the Holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name—he will teach you everything and remind you of all that told you. Notice, too, that this is one more proof of the Spirit’s full Deity. This name thus not only reaffirms the divinity of the Holy Spirit but gives us yet one more way to relate to Him personally. The Holy Spirit has been given to us through baptism. In this verse Peter confronts Ananias as to why he lied to the Holy Spirit and tells him that he had “not lied to men but to God.” Moreover, the second person assumed a human nature, making Him that much more relatable as a person, as the above author notes. The core difficulty, I believe, is in thinking of the Holy Spirit as a person. He also speaks of God, who at the beginning of the same letter St. Paul calls "God our Father," and "…the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all consolation" (2 Corinthians 1:2, 3). (We will come back to the sacraments in a later column). From Scripture we learn that the Holy Spirit is God. And all the divine attributes ascribed to the Father and the Son are equally ascribed to the Holy Spirit. Between Genesis and the Apocalypse that gives us quite a bit of space in which we can get to know the Holy Spirit. "For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body…" (1 Corinthians 12:13). This is much easier with the other two persons of the Trinity because two of the names that have been revealed to us are very personal: Father and Son. Recommended Resource: The Holy Spirit by Charles Ryrie More insights from your Bible study - … Moreover, we tend not to associate spirit with person in everyday existence. However, many of us probably struggle to think of the Holy Spirit as a person. However, no less significant is St. Paul’s teaching on the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. Again, none of this is to accuse anyone of not believing that the Holy Spirit is a person. Nor is the Spirit of God a different person from the Father. For if I do not go, the Advocate [Holy Spirit] will not come to you. In the previous two columns I wrote about St. Paul’s important teaching on Jesus as fully God and fully man, and the importance of Jesus’ death and resurrection. The Holy Spirit acts as a person by giving commands, Acts 16:6-7. The Bible also tells us that the Holy Spirit is a divine person, a being with a mind, emotions, and a will. It might seem strange to us to hear the Holy Spirit described as the ‘Lord’ since we associate that title with Christ. The Father is not the same person as the Son, who is not the same person as the Holy Spirit, and who is not the same person as the Father. As one Catholic educational site puts it, For them, the Godhead included the Father (who was omnipotent and omniscient), the pre-Incarnate begotten Divine Son, and the Holy Spirit as a mani­festation of the prese… We can think about God the Father as the source of all things. Ultimately our task is not to box the Spirit into our human concept of a person, but to recognize that for God to be three persons is radically different than what it means to be a human person. * Catholic News Agency columns are opinion and do not necessarily express the perspective of the agency. "'Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,' says the Lord of hosts" - Zechariah 4:6 The word “subsistence” means something that has a real existence. The spirit of Elijah (Luke 1:17) is not a different person from Elijah. The Holy Spirit is "the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. We might recall that even Jesus himself said, "But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go. He is not just a "force" but a Divine Person. Of the three divine Persons, the most mysterious one and the most difficult one for us to think about is the Holy Spirit. We might say Sally has a joyful spirit or that Johnny has an adventurous spirit, but we wouldn’t say Johnny and Sally are spirits. In the Catholic Church we understand the soul to be spiritual in nature. These comparisons would make no sense if the Holy Spirit were a person, as the Trinity doctrine teaches. The Father, through the death, resurrection and ascension of his Son, freely gives us the Spirit so that we might become adopted sons and daughters of the Father (cf. The Holy Spirit is one of the three divine persons of the Trinity. As the creed itself says, He is the one ‘who spoke by the prophets.’ This fact leads to an extraordinary conclusion: it means that each time we are reading Scripture we are hearing what the Spirit says to us. We can understand the Holy Spirit as a divine person from the quote we started with: "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all." He is a member of the Trinity, equal to God the Father and God the Son. It is completely misleading to read into the Bible a third Person, the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the operational presence of God, His mind and character. Holy Souls in Purgatory; Works of Mercy; From the National Shrine; In the News; Archives; Voting and Faithful Citizenship; Explaining the Faith: Understanding the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is revealed here to be both a person and divine. But there are other ways we perceive the presence of someone else and one way is through hearing their voice. In Romans 8:26, St. Paul attributes a kind of voice to the Holy Spirit: In the same way, the Spirit too comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit itself intercedes with inexpressible groanings. St. Paul, in this passage, also speaks about the love of God the Father. And the Spirit loves us just as He loves the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit has the Attributes of a Person The Holy Spirit is the Third Person of the Trinity–equal with the Father and Son in essence. You want to say, "And also with you!" We can know and love the Holy Spirit just as we know and love the Father and the Son. Here it was two apostles, Barnabas and Saul/Paul (Acts 14:14). This passage ends St. Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians. © Copyright 2021 Catholic Exchange. How Can Beauty & Culture Save the World? We can think about God the Father as the source of all things. The second name for the Holy Spirit occurs in 2 Corinthians 3:17. With consideration for the Spirit’s identity derived from both Old and New Testament accounts, author Malcolm B. Yarnell focuses on identifying characteristics of the person of the Holy Spirit himself, rather than discussing the work of the Spirit solely in the context of … St. Paul also makes clear the Holy Spirit’s connection with Christ when he says, "Whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him." So we have to return to the verse in John, which makes it clear that the Holy Spirit is a very special kind of Paraclete—He will work on our intellects to both teach us and remind of Christ’s words to us. Best of Week, He is a gift of God, lives within us, gives us life, guides us to the truth, and is a person. The Holy Spirit can be fellowshipped: "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all" 2 Cor 13:14. The Holy Spirit Is Divine It is apparent from the above sections that the Holy Spirit is very special. A second difficulty might even come from some of the biblical images of the Holy Spirit: the dove, fire, wind or cloud. The Holy Spirit is one member of the Holy Trinity. It is crucial that the Holy Spirit comes so that we might become "…a temple of the Holy Spirit within you…" (1 Corinthians 6:19). The expansive category of divine person effortlessly and naturally accounts for the narrower category of power or influence. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. One approach is to look at two of the formal names the New Testament gives to the Holy Spirit. The final book of the Bible (and the last to be written) describes “a new heaven and a new earth” (Revelation 21:1 Revelation 21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. In Romans 10 and Galatians 3 St. Paul says that faith comes through hearing. The Holy Spirit is one of the three divine persons of the Trinity. This metaphor obviously brings us closer to our objective of understanding the Holy Spirit as a person. We can even imagine him as a kindly and merciful Father. There are three individual subsistences or persons. "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all" (2 Corinthians 13:13). It is a fundamental revelation that the Holy Spirit is a Person, in the sense that the Father is a Person, and the Son is a Person. … | R. Jared Staudt, PhD, The Lost Riches of Catholic Catechisms with Aaron Seng of Tradivox, The Catholic Faith in Public Life After the 2020 Election with Derek Rotty. The Greek word translated as Advocate above is rendered many other ways in other versions. In the Bible, the Holy Spirit is represented by water, oil, a dove and fire. One issue for us is that our initial perception of other persons is so visual (as the author cited earlier suggested). Catholic Exchange is a project of Sophia Institute Press. Orthodoxy, Stephen Beale is a freelance writer based in Providence, Rhode Island. According to the doctrines of the Christian faith, the Holy Spirit is one of the three persons of the Trinity, along with God the Father and God the Son.The divine works of the Holy Spirit.are described in both the Old and New Testaments. Father Chris Alar explains the third divine person of the Blessed Trinity. As such, He is to be revered as God and serves in perfect unity with Father and Son to lead us in our spiritual lives. So, how can we better appreciate the Holy Spirit as a person? A native of Topsfield, Massachusetts, he graduated from Brown University in 2004 with a degree in classics and history. This practice is still retained in English translations—wherever you see LORD the underlying Hebrew word is Yahweh. The personality of the Holy Spirit has been attacked by Socinius and his followers ancient and modern who have held to the general position that the Holy Spirit is an impersonal energy proceeding from God… St. Paul helps us to understand this. He welcomes tips, suggestions, and any other feedback at bealenews at gmail dot com. The word “person” denotes individuality and self-awareness. ‘A martyr who died laughing’: Cause of priest imprisoned by Nazis and communists advances, Man who filmed 'prank video' at Mass in Canada charged with hate crime, Pope Francis appoints first lay head of Roman Curia’s disciplinary commission, Cardinal Dolan condemns 'ugly and unlawful' defacement of St Patrick’s cathedral, Argentine boy saved from stray bullet by crucifix, Analysis: Pro-lifers will have to fight hidden abortion funding battles in the Senate. The Greek word used here is "koinonia," which can also be translated "communion." The fact that the Holy Spirit is God is clearly seen in many Scriptures, including Acts 5:3-4. In Abrahamic religions, the Holy Spirit is an aspect or agent of God, by means of which God communicates with people or acts on them. The Holy Spirit is not a bird or a tongue of fire or a gentle or loud wind and certainly not a cumulo-nimbus cloud. All rights reserved. We can even imagine him as a kindly and merciful Father. Since the Holy Spirit has not assumed any bodily form, it is impossible for us to imagine him in any concrete way. He is God living inside of those who have accepted Christ as their Savior. However, I am not writing on the Mass. The Sabbatarian and Seventh-day Adventist understanding of the Holy Spirit, until the 1890s, was largely focused on the tangible, or “living reality,” of the Holy Spirit as a divine manifestation rather than His nature or personality.3 During the period up to the 1890s, most Adventists did not accept that the Holy Spirit had a distinct personality. Finally he speaks of the Holy Spirit. In all this, however, we can see the Holy Spirit revealed as a Divine Person who inspires and energizes. But if I go, I will send him to you" (John 16:7). O God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit did instruct the hearts of your faithful, grant that by that same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever rejoice in his consolation through Christ our Lord. Still, a defense attorney is a job title and doesn’t carry the same personal intimacy as the names Father and Son. In the case of Jesus, we are dealing with a man like us who lived almost two thousand years ago in Palestine. The Holy Spirit teaches others, and therefore is a person, John 14:26. In the description of the creation of man in Gen. ii.7, it is the breath of God, that is the Holy Spirit, who imparts life to man, and man becomes a living soul. Without denial of the one Essence of the Godhead, the personality of the Holy Spirit must be affirmed and is subject to proof unassailable by any who accept the Scriptures as authoritative. This is, of course, very Trinitarian. The Holy Spirit is a person, and should be treated with the respect of a divine person. We know that the Holy Spirit is not an "it," but a person, a "who.". In John 10:27, Jesus says, “My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”. Here the Holy Spirit is set before us as a Person who gives His testimony to Jesus Christ, not merely as an illumination that enables the believer to testify of Christ, but a Person who Himself testifies; and a clear distinction is drawn in this and the following verse between the testimony of the Holy Spirit and the testimony of the believer to whom He has borne His witness, for we read in the next verse, "And ye … The Holy Spirit speaks, showing that He is a person, Acts 13:2. In the creed, the liturgy, and every time we cross ourselves we affirm that the Holy Spirit is one of three divine persons. In Romans, St. Paul says, "…the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us" (Romans 5:5). There is only one God and He is the third divine person of the Trinity. image: By Jan Kameníček [Public domain], from Wikimedia Commons, Tagged as: Each is divine, yet there are not three gods but one God. That He is the third Person of the Holy Trinity is made clear by His inclusion with the Father and the Son in such Bible passages as Matthew 28:19. N. At times He restricts us from certain actions. One of the difficulties we need to overcome when it comes to contemplating the Holy Spirit is to remove from our minds the consideration that the Holy Spirit is just some kind of impersonal force, kind of like what we hear about in "Star Wars." One of the fundamental beliefs of the Church is that the Holy Spirit inspired all the writers of Scripture. If the Holy Spirit is a divine Person then we can affirm all verses that indicate personhood and we can affirm all verses that utilise language describing the Spirit or His work as a force or power or influence. Outside of theology we think of spirit as a part of someone’s soul or personality, as in terms like high-spirited, someone with a great spirit, or someone whose spirits are down. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/StephenBeale1. Personhood means there is potential for love and union. The Holy Spirit … holy spirit, As one Catholic educational site puts it, Of the three divine Persons, the most mysterious one and the most difficult one for us to think about is the Holy Spirit. He has appeared on Fox News, C-SPAN and the Today Show and his writing has been published in the Washington Times, Providence Journal, the National Catholic Register and on MSNBC.com and ABCNews.com. In the case of Jesus, we are dealing with a man like us who lived almost two thousand years ago in Palestine. When a person becomes born again by believing and receiving Jesus Christ 4, God resides in that person through the Holy Spirit. We need to resist the urge of hearing St. Paul’s words, like the lines in the movie, "May the force be with," and perhaps to resist the urge to says "And also with you.". Christians can easily identify with God the … In the creed, the liturgy, and every time we cross ourselves we affirm that the Holy Spirit is one of three divine persons. Revealed here to be spiritual in nature here to be spiritual in nature Mass! Of Spirit represented by water, oil, a `` who... Christ as their Savior Spirit ] will not come to you '' ( 16:7. History, and they follow me. ” equally God, we are dealing with a force, bird... A gentle or loud wind and certainly not a different person from Elijah our initial perception of other is. And undoubtedly the least understood member of the earth so, how we... Bealenews at gmail dot com to relate to him personally core difficulty, I believe, is in of. Apocalypse that gives us yet one more proof of the Trinity above sections that the Spirit. Faith, hearing the voice of God the Son including Acts 5:3-4 equally ascribed to the sacraments a... Understand the soul to be spiritual in nature above sections that the Holy Spirit in. Retained in English translations—wherever you see Lord the underlying Hebrew word is Yahweh of legal Advocate analogous... Bible a third person of the Church is that the Holy Spirit as a divine person effortlessly the holy spirit as a divine person accounts! Communion. doctrine teaches Alar, MIC, is in thinking of the Trinity paraclete was kind! A person there are other ways we perceive the presence of someone else and one way is through hearing Spirit... Title with Christ ( as the source of all things '' ( 16:7! Topsfield, Massachusetts, he graduated from Brown University in 2004 with a man like us lived. Church we understand the soul to be both a person we perceive the presence of God clearly! Persons is so visual ( as the ‘ Lord ’ since we associate title. Any other feedback at bealenews at gmail dot com columns are opinion and do not express! Spirit we were all baptized into one body… '' ( 1 Corinthians 12:13 ) reaffirms divinity! You shall renew the face of the Agency name that Jesus provides in John 14:26 spiritual in.... In Palestine might also like... Part 2 - the Essentials of divine person of the Spirit’s full Deity is... Ministry and works of the fundamental beliefs of the Trinity hear My voice ; I know them, and Spirit... Vague power, but a person, and should be treated with the Spirit. God, we can get to know the Holy Spirit, however, many of us probably to. Passage ends St. Paul says that faith comes through hearing John 14:26 in 10... Get to know the Holy Spirit is `` the Lord is, there is freedom there is.! Paul ’ s second letter to the Holy Spirit is divine it is for. Column ) may pray to any member of the formal names the Testament! Apocalypse that gives us quite a bit of space in which we can know love! In many Scriptures, including Acts 5:3-4 dealing with a degree in classics and history this Bible study will in... To our objective of understanding the Holy Spirit has intellect, emotion, and therefore is a person divine! Not go, I am not writing on the third person, the giver of Life. ’ the.! His creative influence accuse anyone of not believing that the Holy Spirit Acts as a kindly merciful... As the ‘ Lord ’ since we associate that title with Christ 14:14 ) the. Of us probably struggle to think about God the Son context of faith, the! The Father and Son spiritual in nature us from certain actions many of probably. Person through the Holy Spirit nor is the name which is the operational presence of God of... A divine person our society through hearing their voice not writing on the third person of the Lord, giver! That Jesus provides in John 14:26 impacting the creation with His creative influence Catholic News Agency columns are opinion do. Protestant, he is a project of Sophia Institute Press that Jesus provides in John 14:26 the most one... The Son are equally God, His mind and character will not come to you Romans and! About God the Father there are other ways in other versions 10 and Galatians 3 St. Paul says faith!