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The Holy Spirit

Donna Sams reflects on the nature of the third person of the trinity

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of life
who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
With the Father and the Son He is worshipped and glorified.
He has spoken through the prophets.

The Nicene Creed

For me, of all the trinity, the Holy Spirit was the hardest aspect to grasp. God the Father was easy — a father in heaven as on earth; a Being who helps us when things get difficult; who loves us, asking only our love in return; who gives us gifts. Equally, Jesus Christ, only begotten Son of the Father was an easy concept — God put Himself in human form to feel our sufferings, live among us, show us the right way and redeem us by His death. To me, for many years these two encompassed my entire understanding of God, and I failed to see what more is necessary for salvation.

Yet Christians believe in a God who is three-in-one, and the Holy Spirit is necessary for salvation. I have become aware that the Holy Spirit is a difficult part of the trinity to envisage. Jesus Christ is easy — He was man. God, well when I was a child, I saw God the Father as a nice elderly gentleman who sat on a cloud being kind, probably with angels flying around Him. In fact, I have to admit that in my early conceptions, God and Santa Claus were rather confused — both nice old men; both give presents; Christmas is important to them both; both can do ‘magic.’ My conceptions have matured from this, but the Father still has a presence for me.

What is the nature of the Holy Spirit? As a fellow Christian put it, “The Holy Spirit is like a fluffy white cloud.” It is not very concrete, and human perception is limited by our conceptions.

The Bible tries to give form to the Holy Spirit. In Genesis, the Spirit of God moves over the waters of the earth like a wind; in the gospels, the Holy Spirit descends upon Jesus like a dove at his baptism; in the Acts of the Apostles, the Holy Spirit descends upon the twelve as tongues of flame at Pentecost. The Bible seems to be saying that the Spirit can have a physical presence.

Indeed, the Holy Spirit does some very concrete things in the Bible. Mary conceived by the power of the Spirit. Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist; Simeon and Anna in the temple; and John the Baptist himself were all able to identify and acknowledge Jesus as the Christ before He had made Himself known — all through the power of the Holy Spirit.

In various epistles Paul talks about the gifts of the Spirit, as does Peter in Acts. The Spirit has an active role to play in the inspiration of God’s people: it is from the Spirit that we receive wisdom, knowledge, the power to heal, faith, the gifts of prophecy and miracle-working, speaking in tongues, preaching and teaching, interpreting of tongues. I have certainly been moved by preaching and teaching, I believe in the power of prophesy and I have friends who are able to faith-heal and speak in tongues. According to Paul, our very power to pray is a gift of the Spirit.

The Spirit is thus the nature of God’s force or power. It inspires; it guides; it can make dry bones living and clothed in flesh — taking our puny, pitiful efforts and making them worthy of Christ. It is the means of change for the better in our lives, the means of our relationship with God; it is what Christ left of Himself upon the earth.

What does this mean in our lives? Surely, non-Christians can be touched by the Spirit — how else was Christ a fulfilment of the Jewish prophecies? I also believe that the works of men like Gandhi and Mohammed show that they were Spirit-led. Yet, if the Spirit is the presence of God on earth, is it not also present in all humankind? Christ says that the only unforgivable sin is sin against the Holy Spirit. This sin could be defined as denying our personal need for salvation. Surely anyone seeking God genuinely is inspired to take up that quest by the Holy Spirit, and as such is not committing this sin? Although they may not acknowledge it as such, a Sikh following the teachings of the Gurus and Saints, a Hindu seeking Nirvana, a Buddhist seeking Enlightenment and Jews and Muslims following their laws are all seeking the power of the Holy Spirit in their lives, and so are free from sin against the Holy Spirit.

So what difference does being a Christian make? Most religions acknowledge the Presence of an eternal soul which springs from, or is part of, a greater whole: our higher-self; our conscience; our spirit, is a part of God’s Spirit. And this to me is the is the difference in being a Christian: through the Holy Spirit and through redemption, our soul is reunited with God. The Holy Spirit transcends the barriers put up by our human fallibility, reuniting us with God — it is the awareness and the blessing of that union that makes Christianity so special. Union with God is available to all, but can only be achieved by the power of the Holy Spirit and through a conscious act of seeking God.

Donna Sams is a third year Psychology student.

Last modified: 25th November 2005