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What I was taught was that in Old Testament times, during the age of Israel the function of the Holy Spirit was to endue or impower certain people for certain tasks or duties such as building the temple, or for the function of the priesthood. Enduement could be removed due to sin. King David prayed that the Holy Spirit not be removed from him (because of the David and Bathsheba thing).
In New Testament times (the church-age), the Holy Spirit has several ministries which are unique to this dispensation, such as the indwelling of the Holy Spirit which is universal among believers and is permanent in that the indwelling of the Holy Spirit cannot be removed. Then there is the filling of the Holy Spirit which IS lost when the believer sins and restored when the sin is acknowledged to God. The sealing of the Holy Spirit is another ministry of the Holy Spirit and is a guarantee of the believers eternal security. There are a couple more ministries of the Holy Spirit during the dispensation of the church, but I don't remember what they are.
Anyway, this is what I was taught. Do what you want with it.
And yes, this probably belongs in the Christianity forum.
Oh yes, as mentioned in post 6, the distribution of certain spiritual gifts is another ministry of the Holy Spirit according to the Bible.
When I have feelings "of energy running through my human body," I call them happiness, elation, love, anger, frustration, etc. I have never associated any of these emotions with anything like a Holy Ghost. Seems to me the very first question is whether such a thing exists in the first place...
It seems to me to be another christian tip of the hat (historically) to the outdated beliefs of ghosts and goblins and spirits (both evil and good).
MysticPhD:
Unfortunately all of these states in your above paragraph are user-interpretable and circumstance specific.
The point I think I am trying to make is that like most other things in Christianity, it is all up-in-the-air and interpreted by the hierarchy according to how they feel. Now, whether these are learned folk who have studied the Bible or some other religious authorities, it is very difficult to pin down a ghost or human feeling enough to describe it so that others can identify it.
Everything about Spirit is in our mind (what you call up in the air) and that is where our focus should be. God is Spirit, and we are burgeoning Spirits (maturing). If we focus on our physical lives exclusively we shortchange our Spirit and it does not mature. There is nothing difficult or hard to comprehend about the Holy Spirit's states of mind. Our job is to try to be in those states of mind as often as possible to mature our Spirit. We cannot ignore our physical lives, but there is a balance most people do not achieve. Sadly, it is the magical and supernatural expectations fostered by religious dogma that are stumbling blocks to the balance required. The Holy Spirit's states of mind should always take precedence if at all possible. WE control our states of mind (or should), NOT some supernatural nonsense. That is why Jesus needed to show us it could be done no matter what the circumstances.
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From my own perspective, people trying to describe religious concepts or even giving a sermon, they use terminology and phrases which dont actually mean anything and although may sound real and sound like good religious stuff, when you REALLY listen to it, it is like a politician in an interview. They make all the right noises but the substance is sorely lacking. Everyone comes out of church feeling good but when quizzed on what it all meant, they cannot tell you.
You are talking about religion and religious leaders, NOT the Holy Spirit.
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If we are going to pick apart your paragraph above, No-one knows the true nature of God, and certainly no-one can describe it or demonstrate it since there is no actual proof that God exists so anything based on assuming that, is meaningless.
Jesus does know the true nature of God, IMO because I encountered the consciousness of God and the descriptions of the "mind of Christ" exactly matched the "mind of God.
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In an ideal world we would all be lovey-dovey and have the qualities and personality we all think we would like everyone to have, but in reality everyone is a mixture of emotions, behaviours, beliefs, and personality. We place human emotions and behaviours on our idealised God and then we try to live up to this image and fail miserably.
The demands of our physical existence are too strong for most of us to overcome by our state of mind, but strengthening our Spirits to do so (however imperfectly) is our Goal.
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The passage from Phillipians again does not mean anything but sounds religious. And.. I bet you cannot explain it without a derogatory remark about me.
I have nothing derogatory to say about atheists. I used to be one and fully understand why.
So, do we think the Holy Ghost is a 'personality' or do we think it is an aspect of God?
If it is an aspect or personality, then how is it separated from the whole that some people call God?
If it is not separate then how can it be identified by Christians as a separate part of the Trinity?
How can you separate a nebulous amorphous energy from the energy which is God?
Again as an Advaitist perspective (Hinduism) Holy Ghost is a reflection of God that shines within us, because there is nothing other than God. Its essence is knowing, awareness, Consciousness. All these three terms are synonymous.
God does not have a personality, qualities, parts, it is pure cosmic consciousness.
There is no separation of the consciousness within from God, the cosmic consciousness. We feel separation when we identify with the ego, which is the mind that is deluded.
It helps to understand if one can stop thinking of God as creator god, who judges from above, and meets out rewards and punishments. Living a life of goodness and love, developing mindfulness to control our thoughts are some of the pathways to realization of our oneness with God.
The Holy Spirit in Christianity is obviously the least religious figure, since there are no scriptures or doctrines of what it says or thinks. It's all spiritual. It is the spirit who would take residence in us, and who we would commune and communicate with internally. That it is so undefined is perhaps its greatest asset, since it requires the person to seek and explore the relationship, rather than leaving that to other people.
But, as has been mentioned before, this is a topic of Christianity.
Last edited by Thoreau424; 04-23-2024 at 12:13 PM..
The Holy Spirit is that part of God's spirit that manifests His presence and care in conveying His Divine Love into men's souls. This Love is the highest and greatest and most holy of His possessions, and can be conveyed to men only by the Holy Spirit…
So, what is particularly Holy about it? Is there a difference between a spirit and a ghost in this case, and is it just a matter of terminology?
I guess someone is going to say that ghosts are lost souls, but I dont think that definition is a good one and may not be correct. If we all go to the next life and use another body (but slightly more 'refined' in energy) then we are all going to be ghosts or spirits or whatever you want to call them.
I used to be a Spiritualist and spirits/ghosts were two-a-penny there. Of course, there were people who could hear and see and sense spirits but it is difficult to classify your ordinary spirit as to its 'level' of progression unless they are obviously negative in nature. The only way to tell, was by what came out of the mediums mouth which was purported to come from those spirits.
So, what is particularly Holy about it? Is there a difference between a spirit and a ghost in this case, and is it just a matter of terminology.
The Holy Spirit is a part of God. Let’s say it’s attached to Him and its “job” is to deliver God’s very essence and substance (Divine Love) into His children whose souls are open to receive it.
It’s not a spirit that was ever a human and it doesn’t have arms and legs or a head and body. It’s moving energy filled to the brim with God’s Awesome LOVE!❤️
The holy spirit is the connection to God part of the holy trinity in the Christian faith praying to the holy spirit is the same as praying to Jesus and God the father.It is the spirit of God given to a Christian at baptism to guild them in their lives according to the theology. Without it you can never know God that's why rejecting it is such a great sin.The spirit promised by Christ after he rose to heaven he said he and the father would send the holy spirit to guild the faithful..It can be found in the Acts of the Apostles when the holy spirit first comes upon all the people in the house.It changes Peter drastically he is now bold and extremely faithful unlike how he was before he received the holy spirit you can see that in his letters.
Reported as best for the Christianity forum; however, since the discussion has already moved beyond Christianity, we'll leave it in the general forum for now.
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