Cobb: The Holy Spirit

January 25, 2005

The Holy Spirit

As I was browsing through Squashed Philosophers, I came upon the following, teeny tiny entry:

GLOSSARY Jesus Christ: Jewish teacher of Nazareth
Church: The entire world of Christ's followers
Sin: A specific separation from God.
Grace: Unmerited favour of God.
Kingdom of God: Society following God's rule.
Salvation: Utter freedom from sin.
Holy Spirit/Paraclete/Holy Ghost: The invisible, active, spiritual energy of God.
Trinity: The 3 ways God is evident: Creator/Father; Son/Jesus; Spiritual force/Holy Spirit.
Saints: Those, holy in life, who now certainly dwell with God.
Bishop: Regional church ruler, a direct ('apostolic') sucessor of Christ.
Sacrament: Ritual sharing of Grace in Eucharist, Baptism etc.
Paul: Formerly Saul of Tarsus (c9-c63 AD), Turkish Jew. Employed by Roman authorities to persecute Christians until himself converted after a mystical vision of Christ while on the road to Damascus.
Baptism: Ritual bathing, sacrement of joining Christ's Church.

It was Augustine, of course. But what struck me was this term 'Paraclete' which I've never heard. That in turn with this very simple explaination of the Trinity as expressions of God, twisted a peg deep inside. Mostly, it got me thinking about the nature of The Holy Spirit and what recognition of it does to Christianity.

In the Old School, 'getting the Holy Spirit' means basically one thing. It's about jumping for joy in church, perhaps speaking in tongues, and then interpreting such speech. It's an extatic expression of the love of God in people, but not an expression of God.

Back in the day at the Foursquare Church, when people got the Holy Spirit, it was acknowleged. But if that didn't happen, it was ignored. To consider that the Holy Spirit pervades the Earth, that it is unseen yet active, is something of an ignored dimension in the Christianity I've witnessed these 35 years (starting when I was 8). Certainly Catholics had no use for the Holy Spirit. 'Spiritus Sanctus' doesn't even sound like something that is a Gaia-like power, but it is the direction I take this quality.

Again this goes back to a reconciliation of Bhuddism and Christianity that I find somewhere in the Gnostic Gospels. This becomes more and more interesting.

As a fragmental aside, listening to the new De La Soul album, one of the rappers said something about catching up with his tithes after he paid his taxes. Hmmm. There's a comic in there somewhere.

Posted by mbowen at January 25, 2005 10:03 AM

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