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Holy Spirit
Holy Spirit
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church
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2000
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© The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church 2000, originally published by Oxford University Press 2000. (Hide copyright information)
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Holy Spirit. In Christian theology, the Third Person of the
Trinity, distinct from, but consubstantial, coequal, and coeternal with, the Father and the Son, and in the fullest sense God.
Christian theologians point to a gradual unfolding of the doctrine in the OT, where the notion of ‘Spirit’ plays a large part as an instrument of Divine action. The Spirit of God is already operative at the Creation. He was bestowed on those appointed to convey Divine truth, and in the future times of fulfilled hope there would be an extension of the Spirit's activities and powers. Although Jesus said little about the Spirit, the Resurrection faith of His disciples was strongly marked by the experience of the Spirit and they interpreted this as God's gift at the dawn of the coming age. This conviction is epitomized in the quotation of Joel 2: 28–32 in the Acts account of St
Peter's speech on the day of
Pentecost after the dramatic outpouring of the Spirit on the disciples. On occasion the Apostles convey the Spirit by the laying on of
hands. The Gospels present Jesus as empowered by the Spirit at His baptism and driven by the Spirit into the wilderness, as well as claiming the operation of the Spirit at His conception.
The OT view of this intermittently active but impersonal power of God undergoes two developments in the NT. The Spirit is held to be given to all members at their
Baptism, and in the epistles of St
Paul and in Jn. the concept is personalized and given ethical content. In Jn. 14–16 the Spirit is ‘another Comforter’, distinct from Jesus, but performing similar works and making present what Jesus said and did. Paul can associate the Spirit so closely with Jesus that they are almost identified. Possessing the Spirit unites believers with the Lord and has moral implications.
Though implicit in the NT, the doctrine of the Spirit was not fully elaborated for some centuries. From 360 it became a matter of controversy. The Macedonians, while maintaining the Divinity of the Son, denied that of the Spirit. At the Council of
Constantinople in 381 this heresy was finally repudiated and the full doctrine of the Spirit received authoritative acceptance in the Church. For differences between E. and W. doctrines, see
DOUBLE PROCESSION and
FILIOQUE. See also
CHARISMATIC RENEWAL MOVEMENT and
PENTECOSTALISM.
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The Spirit (World) and the (Holy) Spirits among the Earliest Christians: 1 Corinthians 12 and 14 as a Test Case
Magazine article from: The Catholic Biblical Quarterly; 4/1/2008; ; 700+ words
; ...a] holy spirit" (12:3); ..., "[a] spirit" (14:2, 16...usage: ..., "spirits" (12:10; 14...God operates as "spirits of Christ" (ANF...Third Century: The Holy Spirit Emerges Origen...
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 "Post (South Africa)")
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Seeking 'Holy Spirits'.(News)
Newspaper article from: Post (South Africa); 4/29/2009; 667 words
; ...refers. The words "Holy Spirit" or "Spirit of Truth", etc, doesn...referred to as "Holy Spirits" as well. Acts7:51...and it is the "true spirits" themselves that have...Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits...
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Alice Lakwena and the Holy Spirits: War in Northern Uganda, 1986-97.(Book Review)
Magazine article from: African Studies Quarterly; 3/22/2003; ; 700+ words
; ...Alice Auma. Translated from German, Behrend explains how Alice, under the possession of a Christian spirit named Lakwena, raises the Holy Spirit Mobile Forces (HSMF). The author does this through field interviews with former members of the HSMF...
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The Holy Spirit: Source of unity in the liturgy
Magazine article from: Anglican Theological Review; 7/1/2001; ; 700+ words
; ...discussion of the role of the Holy Spirit in the liturgy has tended to focus...epiclesis or Invocation of the Holy Spirit in the text of the eucharistic...ascribe any significant role to the Holy Spirit in the Church's liturgical worship...
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The forgotten God: rediscovering the Holy Spirit.(THEOLOGY 101)
Magazine article from: Presbyterian Record; 6/1/2009; ; 700+ words
; [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Holy Spirit has sometimes been referred to...Basil, the great theologian of the Holy Spirit, taught that the Spirit of God...Protestants tend to subordinate the Holy Spirit to both the Father and the Son...
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Holy Spirit Hospital to celebrate 25 years of community service.
PR Newswire; 4/14/1988; 700+ words
; HOLY SPIRIT HOSPITAL TO CELEBRATE 25 YEARS OF COMMUNITY...facility to handle neurological diagnosis. Holy Spirit Ventures also has helped finance and plan...patients every year. The Birthplace at Holy Spirit offers the newest techniques in family...
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Pentecostal movement has cast light on role of Holy Spirit.(The Dallas Morning News)
Newspaper article from: Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service; 6/9/2004; ; 700+ words
; ...the cultural appeal of the Holy Spirit. In many places, Pentecostal...their attention to the Holy Spirit with pneumatology, the study...phenomena, especially belief in spirits intervening between humans...in short, study of the Holy Spirit. The serious scholarship has...
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Holy Power, Holy Presence: Rediscovering Medieval Metaphors for the Holy Spirit
Magazine article from: The Catholic Historical Review; 1/1/2009; ; 700+ words
; Medieval Holy Power, Holy Presence: Rediscovering Medieval Metaphors for the Holy Spirit. By Elizabeth A. Dreyer. (New York and Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press. 2007. Pp. vi , 344. $24.95 paperback. ISBN 978-0-809-14485-3.) Lamenting...
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Pentecostal movement has cast light on role of Holy Spirit.
Newspaper article from: Dallas Morning News; 6/9/2004; 700+ words
; ...the cultural appeal of the Holy Spirit. In many places, Pentecostal...their attention to the Holy Spirit with pneumatology, the study...phenomena, especially belief in spirits intervening between humans...in short, study of the Holy Spirit. The serious scholarship has...
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What would you do with abundance of Holy Spirit?
Newspaper article from: Wyoming Tribune-Eagle; 5/27/2006; 700+ words
; ...an over abundant amount of the Holy Spirit?" I asked that to those at Power...What if you could have more of the Holy Spirit in your life?" Were like this...walk around, and because of the Holy Spirit in us, people would get up out...
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Holy Spirit
Encyclopedia entry from: Encyclopedia of Science and Religion
Holy Spirit The term Holy Spirit occurs in only two...Matthew and Mark seldom mentioned the Holy Spirit, Luke believed that the presence of the...time of the church. At Pentecost the Holy Spirit filled the disciples (Acts 2:4...
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Double Procession of the Holy Spirit
Book article from: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church
Double Procession of the Holy Spirit. The doctrine of the W. Church that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. Against...Fount of Divinity in the Godhead; they hold that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father ‘through...
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‘baptism in the Holy Spirit’
Book article from: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church
‘baptism in the Holy Spirit’. A doctrine now best known...x2019;). They maintain that, as the Holy Spirit fell on the first Apostles...are ‘baptized with the Holy Spirit’ (cf. Acts 11...
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Procession of the Holy Spirit
Book article from: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions
Procession of the Holy Spirit. A disputed issue between E. and W. Churches. See FILIOQUE .
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holy
Book article from: The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable
...another term for the Holy Spirit . The Order of the...site of this tomb. Holy Spirit, in Christian belief...Christian art, the Holy Spirit is often represented as a dove . holy water water blessed...Helpers at fourteen , holier-than-thou , the...
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