. . . in the trinitarian worldview. God created heaven and earth, spoke through a burning bush, etc. Jesus was the divine yet human son of God, crucified, raised from the dead, etc. What’s the story on the third member of the trinity?
Obligatory link to the Catholic Encyclopedia’s article.
To quote:
[quote]
[ul][li]The Holy Ghost is the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity.[/li][li]Though really distinct, as a Person, from the Father and the Son, He is consubstantial with Them; being God like Them, He possesses with Them one and the same Divine Essence or Nature.[/li][li]He proceeds, not by way of generation, but by way of spiration, from the Father and the Son together, as from a single principle.[/ul][/li][/quote]
I leave Scriptural quotes as an exercise to the reader.
For more on the Catholic version of the Holy Spirit than you can shake a stick at:
Forty days after His resurrection, before His ascension into heaven, Jesus told His disciples to preach repentance and forgiveness of sins to all the world, beginning in Jerusalem, but to wait in Jerusalem until they were clothed with power from on high.
They did as they were told and on the Day of Pentecost (same day the 10 Commandments were issued, thousands of years before), after days of fasting and desperate seeking and prayer, a roomful of 120 disciples including Jesus’ own mother were suddenly swept with the sound of a “mighty rushing wind” and began to speak in other languages. They spilled out into the street like strangely purposeful drunk men, and caused such a commotion that some 3000 people were converted to the cause. Jesus called it being baptised with the Holy Spirit. After that they were all of them quite different people, and their acts are recorded in the book conveniently named “Acts”.
The Holy Spirit is “the comforter” - essentially the Spirit of Jesus, Who in His turn is the incarnation of God the Father. Of course the “church” quickly became bogged down in materialism and worldliness, which didn’t just quench the power of the Spirit, but meant even the gospel got forgotten for long tracts of time. At around the turn of the century the Pentecostal movement began to form, and is still the denomination most closely associated with the Holy Spirit. Some denominations are sceptical; others interested but uncommitted; others earnestly seeking. Some Christians are fiercely opposed to the Pentecostal (often called charismatic) concept of baptism in the Spirit. If you’re going to learn about it honestly, you may as well know you’re gaining enemies.
The “charismatic” churches of today are named from the Greek word ‘charism’, which means “gifts” - in itself stemmed from “charis” or “grace”. In 1 Corinthians 12:1, Paul teaches that we should not be ignorant about spiritual gifts. He lists the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which are supernatural manifestations of power, as opposed to the many natural gifts, like playing the flute, dancing like a little monkey, or touching your nose with the tip of your tongue. The gifts are as follows:
the message of wisdom, the message of knowledge, faith, gifts of healing, miraculous powers, prophecy, the ability to distinguish between spirits, tongues, and the interpretation of tongues (I Cor. 12:1)
It is true that Pentecostal churches attract more fruits, loonies and wackos than the rest of the church put together. But I’d respectfully submit that Jesus did exactly the same thing. If you’re interested in this subject all I’d ask is that you keep an open mind. None of the gifts are BAD things; because no evil spirit can call Jesus Lord. Many will suggest that you can’t be a Christian without speaking in tongues - rubbish. Others will say you can’t be a Christian if you DO speak in tongues. Again, rubbish. IT’S NOT ABOUT THE GIFTS, when all’s said and done. It’s about relationship. A personal relationship with God.
And I mean for real. He’s beautiful. He’s funny. He’s all yours.
(oh, look, how was I supposed to answer this question without witnessing? Hah?)
“Why is it wherever Paul went they had a revolution, and wherever I go they have a cup of tea?”
- local bishop
This question is also discussed (by way of a good discussion of the concept of the Trinity) in the GD thread 1+1+1=1, or What’s Up with the Trinity?.