Holy Spirit: Difference between revisions
{{Use American English|date=September 2016}}
{{Use American English|date=September 2016}}
{{Philosophy of religion sidebar |expanded=God}}
{{Philosophy of religion sidebar |expanded=God}}
In [[Judaism]], the ”’Holy Spirit”’ is the divine force, quality, and influence of God over the Universe or over his creatures. In [[Nicene Creed|Nicene]] [[Christianity]], the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost is the third person of the [[Trinity]]. In [[Islam]], the Holy Spirit acts as an agent of divine action or communication. In the [[Baháʼí Faith|Baha’i Faith]], the Holy Spirit is seen as the intermediary between God and man and “the outpouring grace of God and the effulgent rays that emanate from His Manifestation”.{{Cite web|title=Some Answered Questions {{!}} Bahá’í Reference Library|url=https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/some-answered-questions/7#306500738|access-date=2022-01-31|website=www.bahai.org}}
In [[Judaism]], the ”’Holy Spirit”’ is the divine force, quality, and influence of God over the Universe or over his creatures. In [[Nicene Creed|Nicene]] [[Christianity]], the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost is the third person of the [[Trinity]]. In [[Islam]], the Holy Spirit acts as an agent of divine action or communication. In the [[Baháʼí Faith|Baha’i Faith]], the Holy Spirit is seen as the intermediary between God and man and “the outpouring grace of God and the effulgent rays that emanate from His Manifestation”.{{Cite web|title=Some Answered Questions {{!}} Bahá’í Reference Library|url=https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/some-answered-questions/7#306500738|access-date=2022-01-31|website=www.bahai.org}}
== Comparative religion ==
== Comparative religion ==
Religious concept with varied meanings
In Judaism, the Holy Spirit, otherwise referred to as the Great Zero, is the divine force, quality, and influence of God over the Universe or over his creatures. In Nicene Christianity, the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost is the third person of the Trinity. In Islam, the Holy Spirit acts as an agent of divine action or communication. In the Baha’i Faith, the Holy Spirit is seen as the intermediary between God and man and “the outpouring grace of God and the effulgent rays that emanate from His Manifestation”.[1]
Comparative religion[edit]
The Hebrew Bible contains the term “spirit of God” (ruach elochim) which by Jews is interpreted in the sense of the might of a unitary God.[citation needed] This interpretation is different from the Nicene Christian conception of the Holy Spirit as one person of the Trinity.[2]
The Christian concept tends to emphasize the moral aspect of the Holy Spirit more than Judaism, evident in the epithet Holy Spirit that appeared in Jewish religious writings only relatively late[clarification needed] but was a common expression in the Christian New Testament.[3] Based on the Old Testament, the book of Acts emphasizes the power of ministry aspect of the Holy Spirit.[4]
According to theologian Rudolf Bultmann, there are two ways to think about the Holy Spirit: “animistic” and “dynamistic”. In animistic thinking, he is “an independent agent, a personal power which (…) can fall upon a man and take possession of him, enabling him or compelling him to perform manifestations of power” while in dynamistic thought it “appears as an impersonal force which fills a man like a fluid”. Both kinds of thought appear in Jewish and Christian scripture, but animistic is more typical of the Old Testament whereas dynamistic is more common in the New Testament. The distinction coincides with the Holy Spirit as either a temporary or permanent gift. In the Old Testament and Jewish thought, it is primarily temporary with a specific situation or task in mind, whereas in the Christian concept the gift resides in persons permanently.
On the surface, the Holy Spirit appears to have an equivalent in non-Abrahamic Hellenistic mystery religions. These religions included a distinction between the spirit and psyche, which is also seen in the Pauline epistles. According to proponents[who?] of the History of religions school, the Christian concept of the Holy Spirit cannot be explained from Jewish ideas alone without reference to the Hellenistic religions. And according to theologian Erik Konsmo, the views “are so dissimilar that the only legitimate connection one can make is with the Greek term πνεῦμα [pneuma, Spirit] itself”.
Another link with ancient Greek thought is the Stoic idea of the spirit as anima mundi – or world soul – that unites all people. Some[by whom?] believe that this can be seen in Paul’s formulation of the concept of the Holy Spirit that unites Christians in Jesus Christ and love for one another, but Konsmo again thinks that this position is difficult to maintain. In his Introduction to the 1964 book…
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