The W(Holy) Spirit
Recently, reading a book about the Holy Spirit, a fabulous work by Veli-Matti Karkainnen entitled Pneumatology, I discovered a wonderful idea picked up on by a man named Eduard Schweizer. In discovering the excitment and ever-present power of the Spirit he writes:
‘Long before the Holy Spirit was a theme of doctrine (as it is largely ignored in many tribes), he was a reality of community’
A friend of mine recently googled the word Pneumatology (a fairly academic word for the study of the Holy Spirit) and discovered a funny picture…of me! While I have at times considered myself somewhat deified, at least in my weaker moments, and at others no doubt considered myself somewhat evil. Its an ever changing perspective. And of course, the chances are that google thinks I am God in some way is unlikely, the intereting find comes from the fact that I taught a class on the Holy Spirit once, and somehow, someway, my picture became synonomous with the study of the Holy Spirit.
Aside from me, this picture came up as well, thankfully:
A dove. A little gray concrete dove. So when you google the Holy Spirit, either I come up, or this little dove.
Our little community that we live in, the Onyx House, is institutionally and relationally connected with a Pentecostal church in town called Eugene Faith Center. What makes it all exciting is how few “Pentecostals” live in our house. Conversation is never boring.
But what does get boring is when we fail to recognize the power of the Spirit among us regardless of denominational ties. What I think Schweizer was saying, if he said it today is…
‘Community is the epicenter of the Spirit. Regardless of view, he is there when you all are there.’
And while most of our views of the Holy Spirit are short-sighted, mostly from the fact that the Bible doesn’t give us a systematic theology fo the Holy Spirit, we must submit to his presence among us, regardless of theological view.
And while some see the Holy Spirit as dove, or fire, or wind, all these metaphors point to something greater…a power
Beth Bilynskyj wrote:
A.J. Have you heard about the new Orthodox Study Bible, from Conciliar Press? You really ought to check it out: http://orthodoxstudybible.com I can’t wait to get my hands on one, as I’m convinced that the Trinity (as opposed to Christocentricity, Theocentricity, or Pneumacentricity) is the reality of community. Or, to put it another way, community is the epicenter of the Trinity.
P.S. Are you aware of any Pentecostal-Orthodox dialogues going on, the way there are Catholic-Pentecostal ones happening?
Posted on 07-Mar-08 at 2:14 pm | Permalink
Beth Bilynskyj wrote:
Oh, one more thing: I guess the way I’d prefer to put it is that all these metaphors point to someONE greater: a PERSON. If we remember that, then we will be more apt to treat Him as a person, an end in Himself, and not just a power to be used as a means to an end.
Posted on 10-Mar-08 at 10:04 am | Permalink
Tyler wrote:
its been 3 months since your last post. you are due.
Posted on 02-May-08 at 9:41 pm | Permalink