The end of Tuesday’s post in this series unpacking the development of beliefs about the Holy Spirit brought us to the question of vocation and spiritual gifts. This is the final, but by no means least important, of the major themes in the New Testament about the role of the Spirit in the lives of … Continue reading The Spirit in the Epistles, Part 3: The Spirit of Power
In the most recent post in this series looking at the development of ideas about the Holy Spirit, we saw how the Epistles continued an ancient tradition of associating the Spirit of God with revelation, whether through Scripture, prophecy, public defense, or evangelism, and the confirmation of that revelation as true. This is particularly true … Continue reading The Spirit in the Epistles, Part 2: The Spirit of Christ
I come from a family that values simplicity. You might even say ‘Keep it simple, stupid’ was something of a family motto when I was growing up. So, as much as highly nuanced pieces of theology interest me, I have a soft spot for passages like those from today’s readings that go right to the … Continue reading Commanded to Love: A Reflection on 1 John 5.1-6 and John 15.9-17
Throughout the Easter Season, we’ve been doing an intensive study of how the Scriptures talk about the Holy Spirit. Over the next three posts, we’ll be turning our attention to the Epistles, a category of books I’m expanding to include the twenty-two writings — mostly letters (the ‘true’ Epistles), but also Hebrews (a sermon), and … Continue reading The Holy Spirit in the Epistles, Part 1: The Spirit of Truth
We left off this series looking at how the Scriptures and Tradition as as whole have understood the Holy Spirit on that wonderful feast we call Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit fell down upon the disciples in power, an event which our Scriptures interpret as a great fulfillment of the promises of the Prophets. Today … Continue reading The Spirit in the Acts of the Apostles
Matthew Root 