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
Alleluia! Christ is risen! Here we are in Easter Week, also known as Bright Week, the start of what has traditionally been a fifty-day period of celebration of the resurrection of Jesus. But this Easter season is, paradoxically, not an end in itself, but is leading us headlong into another feast that should be of … Continue reading Awaiting the Spirit: Introduction
The Nicene Creed is, at least theoretically, one of the major forces that unifies Christians. But, as we will see today, its text has created as much division as it has resolved. Today I’m going to try, as best as I can, to summarize the controversy, which is about the relationships among the Trinity, its … Continue reading … Who Proceeds from the Father …
Over the past few weeks’, we’ve been going over the history, theology, and spirituality of the Nicene Creed, an ancient statement of faith that has been one of the major standards of Christian orthodoxy for close to 1700 years. Today our attention will shift to what it says about the Holy Spirit. In the original … Continue reading … And in the Holy Spirit
Matthew Root 