We’re in the midst of a series exploring the development of beliefs about the Holy Spirit. So far we’ve looked at how the concept was used in the Law and Deuteronomistic History (or ‘Former Prophets’), the Prophetic tradition, and the Hebrew Bible’s creation theology, as well as how these ideas developed during the Second Temple … Continue reading The Spirit in the Gospels, Part 1
So far in this series on the evolution of beliefs about the Holy Spirit, we’ve seen how the Old Testament has two streams of thought — the general, in which the Holy Spirit is nothing other than the breath of life that fills all creation, and the particular, in which the Holy Spirit empowers specific … Continue reading The Spirit in the Second Temple Period
So far in this survey of how the Old Testament speaks about the Holy Spirit, we’ve looked at the examples where the Spirit is given as a particular gift to a particular person. In the Torah and Deuteronomistic History, we found a consistent pattern of gifts of practical wisdom and communication for the purpose of … Continue reading The Spirit and the theology of Creation
Last week, in the first post of three looking at what the Old Testament has to say about the Spirit of God, we saw the emergence, throughout the Law and Historical books, of a general pattern of the Spirit setting apart and empowering individuals for effective leadership, including both good judgment and decision-making and prophetic … Continue reading The Spirit in the Prophets
Today we start our look at the development of the concept of the Holy Spirit, or Spirit of God, by tracing how the idea was used in the Hebrew Bible (or Old Testament). As I mentioned in my introductory post, I feel this is a helpful thing to do because so many Christians have little … Continue reading The Spirit in the Law & Deuteronomistic History
Matthew Root 