The Holy Spirit has sometimes been referred to as the Cinderella of Christian theology; when the other two “sisters” of the Trinity were taken to the party, the Spirit was left at home.
We begin, therefore, by asking whether the Holy Spirit is an invited (dare I say welcome!) guest in our churches. The Canadian Presbyterian theologian Walter Bryden once offered this friendly provocation: “The average church member would not be a little upset were a fellow worshipper to insist on speaking to him in regard to the ‘joy’ to be had in the Holy Spirit.”
It is true that speaking about the Holy Spirit, even amongst ministers, elders, and theological students, is sometimes met with an awkward silence or a blank stare. But perhaps we come by this honestly. Our creeds and confessions are frequently silent on the subject, with the result that we ignore what the Bible says. (Have you ever noticed, for example, that the Westminster Confession of Faith has no chapter on the Holy Spirit?)
On the other hand, Augustine urged caution when speaking about the Holy Spirit because the Spirit “withdraws from us into the mystery even more than Christ.” This sense of mystery is picked up in the best selling novel The Shack. The main character Mack meets God the Holy Trinity at a run-down cabin in the woods. The Holy Spirit is depicted as a distinctively Asian-looking woman of northern Chinese or Nepalese or even Mongolian ethnicity, whose presence is elusive.
So what are we to make of the Spirit? In Christian teaching, the Holy Spirit refers to the wind or breath of God (ruah in Hebrew, pneuma in Greek). Throughout the Bible this “spirit” is at work—creating, revealing, and saving. Jesus was conceived and baptized by the Spirit. He promised that the same Spirit would accompany the disciples after his death. And on the day of Pentecost, this promised Spirit was poured out upon those disciples who constituted the early church.
During the fourth century, with the development of the doctrine of the Trinity, the Spirit was acknowledged as the presence and power of God in person. Thus Basil, the great theologian of the Holy Spirit, taught that the Spirit of God is the Lord and life-giver, to be worshipped and glorified together with the Father and the Son, words that found their way into the Creed of Nicea and Constantinople in 381 CE.
In fairness to our own Reformed tradition, we’re good at emphasizing certain aspects of the Spirit’s work: the Holy Spirit is God with us, speaks through the Scriptures, enables people to believe, and forms and equips the church. Contemporary interest in spirituality is a sign that we have not forgotten about the Spirit altogether. And we gather for worship weekly, believing that the Holy Spirit enables God’s word to be heard in preaching and God’s grace to be received in the sacraments.
At the same time, we have a lot to learn and experience about the ministry of the Spirit, especially through the witness of others. Let me offer four examples:
First, the entrance of the Eastern Orthodox churches into the ecumenical movement has made a rich spiritual tradition more easily accessible. The doctrine of the Holy Spirit has always played a prominent role in Eastern Orthodox theology, especially in its understanding of the Trinity, salvation, and the church. Roman Catholics and Protestants tend to subordinate the Holy Spirit to both the Father and the Son (the so-called “filioque” clause). Not so the Eastern Orthodox; they tend to emphasize the Spirit’s distinctive role in the Trinity. This has been a helpful note.
Secondly, the dramatic spread of the Pentecostal movement throughout the world, especially among the poor and the marginalized, has made us wake up to the significance of the Spirit’s supernatural power. Many churches in Asia, Africa, and Latin America remind us that the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit have not ceased. The Canadian Presbyterian response to such movements has been, at best, muted (see our response to the charismatic movement in the 1970s); sometimes downright hostile. This has been spiritual snobbery on our part, and we should repent of it. That’s not to say that everything about global Pentecostalism should be embraced and encouraged. But no one can look at what is happening in the churches of the global south without acknowledging that an important dimension of Christian faith has been rediscovered.
Thirdly, there has been an increasing awareness of the Spirit’s work in society. The World Council of Churches met in 1991 under the theme “Come Holy Spirit—Renew the Creation.” The focus of this ecumenical gathering was on the work of the Holy Spirit in relation to the church’s witness for peace, justice, and care for creation. And on the heels of this, in 1998, Pope John Paul II declared a year of special devotion to the Spirit in preparation for the third millennium.
Fourthly, the rise of inter-faith dialogue has reinforced the need for a robust doctrine of the Spirit. As Christians, we encounter people of other religions who already have a faith. We acknowledge that their lives give evidence of devotion and reverence for life. As Living Faith puts it, “We recognize that truth and goodness in them are the work of God’s Spirit, the author of all truth.” In other words, religious pluralism does not require us to back away from biblical claims concerning the saving work of Christ. It invites us, rather, to rediscover the Spirit. The Spirit who bears witness to Jesus as Lord is the same Spirit at work in people of other faiths.
All that said, when it comes to the Spirit, we must confess that words still fail us. Perhaps the ancient prayer of Ambrose (c.339-397) gets us close: “O Lord, who has mercy on all … mercifully kindle in me the fire of your Holy Spirit.”
Questions on “The Forgotten God”
- The theologian Jürgen Moltmann says this: “The simple question: when did you last feel the workings of the Holy Spirit? embarrasses us.” Is this true? If so, why?
- Living Faith says this about people of other religions who already have a faith: “We recognize that truth and goodness in them are the work of God’s Spirit, the author of all truth?” What does this mean for a Christian understanding of other religions today?
- The Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed (381 CE) says that the Holy Spirit is the “Giver of Life.” What kind of life does the Holy Spirit give?
- How is the Holy Spirit described by Jesus in the Upper Room Discourse (John 13-17) in John’s Gospel? See especially John 14:15-31; 15:26,27; 16:4b-15.
- The Reformed tradition emphasizes that the church has a continuing function of reformulating the faith in obedience to Scripture and under the promised guidance of the Holy Spirit. How is the guidance of the Holy Spirit experienced in this theological work?
- For most of its history most of the Christian movement has affirmed that the extraordinary and supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit ceased with the end of the apostolic age (and the emergence of the NT canon). In the past century this has been challenged by Pentecostalism, the charismatic movement, and other forms of experiential Christianity, especially in the global south. What might Presbyterians in Canada learn from these movements?
For further reading:
Gary D. Badcock, Light of Truth & Fire of Love: A Theology of the Holy Spirit.
Alasdair I. C. Heron, The Holy Spirit in the Bible, the History of Christian Thought, and recent Theology
Jürgen Moltmann, The Spirit of Life: A Universal Affirmation.
Clark H. Pinnock, Flame of Love: A Theology of the Holy Spirit.
