The Authority of the Holy Spirit

1967 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 183-197
Author(s):  
H. F. Woodhouse

What is the ultimate seat of authority to which Christian theology makes its appeal?' Dr Whale in posing this question says that answers fall into three great and distinctive types. ‘The first type emphasises the authority of the Church’ while ‘the second type emphasises the sole authority of the Bible’ and ‘the third type may be loosely described as mystical—its constitutive principle is the “Inner Light”'.1

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 116-128
Author(s):  
Marlon Butarbutar

Kristologi adalah merupakan pokok terpenting dalam ajaran iman Kristen. Kristologi juga bisa disebut sebagai pusat kekristenan itu sendiri, dengan itu kristologi adalah pusat dari ilmu theologia. Karenanya mempelajari Pribadi dan karya Kristus, berarti sedang berada pada pusat theologi Kristen. Yesus Kristuslah yang memberikan identitas kepada kekristenan, yang sekaligus membedakannya dari agama atau kepercayaan yang lain. Keistimewaan doktrin ini terletak dalam pribadi dan karya Yesus Kristus sebagai Tuhan yang menjadi finalitas jalan menuju kepada keselamatan yang kekal. Pemahaman yang benar terhadap doktrin kristologi tidak lepas dari pengetahuan yang sehat terhadap Alkitab, sebab Alkitablah satu-satunya sumber utama yang dengan jujur dan terbuka memberikan kesaksian mengenai pribadi Yesus sebagai juruselamat dunia. Memang realita historis tulisan-tulisan di dalam Alkitab itu ditulis oleh manusia, akan tetapi proses penulisannya diilhami oleh Allah melalui pimpinan Roh Kudus sehingga apa yang diucapkan atau ditulis sesuai dengan kehendak Tuhan (bnd. 2Tim 3:16). Alkitab secara keseluruhan dipercaya dengan akurat dalam mengambarkan Yesus Kristus. Akan tetapi dalam prosesnya banyak ditemukan bahwa kristologi yang dihasilkan bertentangan dengan Alkitab. Sejarah membuktikan bahwa gereja selalu berhadapan dengan pengajaran-pengajaran sesat yang menyerang gereja dari dalam. Dalam hal ini berbentuk ajaran-ajaran (doktrin) yang menyesatkan atau bidat-bidat yang menyelewengkan ajaran murni Alkitab. Bahaya ajaran-ajaran sesat ini tidak saja timbul pada abad-abad belakangan ini, melainkan sudah ada sejak gereja didirikan. Karenanya penulis hendak menguraikan kristologi yang akan menjadi dasar apologetika di era postmodern sekarang ini.   Christology is the most important point in the teachings of the Christian faith. Christology can also be called the center of Christianity itself, so that Christology is the center of theological science. Therefore studying the Person and work of Christ, means being at the center of Christian theology. It is Jesus Christ who gives identity to Christianity, which also distinguishes it from other religions or beliefs. The specialty of this doctrine lies in the person and work of Jesus Christ as Lord who becomes the finality of the path to eternal salvation. A correct understanding of the doctrine of Christology is inseparable from a healthy knowledge of the Bible, because the Bible is the only major source that honestly and openly testifies about the person of Jesus as the savior of the world. Indeed the historical reality of the writings in the Bible was written by humans, but the process of writing was inspired by God through the leadership of the Holy Spirit so that what was said or written was according to God's will (cf. 2Tim 3:16). The Bible as a whole is believed to be accurate in describing Jesus Christ. However, in the process it was found that the resulting christology was in conflict with the Bible. History proves that the church is always dealing with false teachings that attack the church from within. In this case the form of teachings (doctrines) are misleading or heretics who distort the pure teachings of the Bible. The danger of these heresies has not only arisen in recent centuries, but has existed since the church was founded. Therefore the author wants to elaborate on the Christology that will be the basis of apologetics in the current postmodern era.


2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 214-233
Author(s):  
Jan Van Doleweerd

Modern Hermeneutics is rooted in the realities of the readers and their culture. But what if readers are going to be their own Hermes? What kind of authority is left for the Bible as the Holy Word of God? The Calvinistic concept of autopistia, the self-convincing of Scripture, attempts to preserve the balance between tradition and inner light, between objectivity and subjectivity. It ties the Bible to God and the Holy Spirit but also to the readers and their context. With the autopistia as background this article contributes with a new hermeneutic frame with three vantage points: (1) the Text as Viva Vox Dei, (2) the reader, and (3) the historical and present hermeneutical community of readers, the church.


1975 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 234-242
Author(s):  
Jay G. Williams

“Might it not be possible, just at this moment when the fortunes of the church seem to be at low ebb, that we may be entering a new age, an age in which the Holy Spirit will become far more central to the faith, an age when the third person of the Trinity will reveal to us more fully who she is?”


Religions ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 89
Author(s):  
Pan Zhao

During China’s Republican Era (1912–1949), the True Jesus Church, comprising one of the largest indigenous Pentecostal/charismatic churches in China, created a whole set of exclusive salvation doctrines based on its unique biblical interpretation. This paper attempts to illustrate the role that the Bible played in the development of the True Jesus Church (TJC for short) and how its biblical interpretations functioned in the shaping of its exclusive identity based on certain aspects of its charismatic experiences and unique doctrinal system. The founding of the TJC relied upon charismatic experiences, which were regarded as the work of the Holy Spirit to prove the authority of the Church. Doctrinally, the approaches to biblical interpretation employed by TJC leaders were another source of the church’s unique identity: The exclusive status the church assigned to itself was evident in its distinct interpretive approaches, as well as in its innovative rituals, especially facedown immersion baptism. Along with various influences of the Pentecostal tradition and the Chinese social context, these hermeneutics were an important reason for the TJC’s development as an independent denomination in the Republican era.


2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 101-111
Author(s):  
Ferderika Pertiwi Ndiy ◽  
S Susanto

Church growth is an important study in church history. The Bible has important principles in church growth, therefore these principles need to be analyzed so that they can contribute to the study of church growth. The Acts of the Apostles is a book that has a history and principles of church growth, therefore the author conducted research on church growth based on Acts 2: 1-47. The author uses a qualitative approach to literature study to find the principles of church growth based on Acts 2: 1-47. The results showed that there were three principles for the growth of the early church. The first principle based on the fourth verse is to depend on the Holy Spirit, the second principle based on verses 14-36, 42 is to preach the Word of God, the third principle based on verses 42-46 is to live in fellowship. For the growth of the church today the church must depend on the power of the Holy Spirit, teaching based on the word of God, and the church lives in fellowship.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 24-39
Author(s):  
Sylwester Jaśkiewicz ◽  

Cardinal Wyszyński continues teaching about the Holy Spirit as love and as a gift, which comes from the Bible and patristic tradition (eg St. Augustine). The basic text of his reflections on the God of Love are the words from the First Letter of St. John: “God is love” (1 Jn 4: 8, 16). He reads these words, or the shortest definition of God, from the perspective of the Christian and his life experience. In the Holy Spirit, God communicates as love. To be gifted and loved by God means for man to elevate him to the supernatural order. The Holy Spirit, who in the interior life of God is the Love of the Father and the Son, in his self-giving to the world (ad extra), pours God’s love into human hearts (Rom 5: 5), enlivens and dynamises human life. Love as a proprium of the Holy Spirit is also the criterion of Christian identity and of the Church. Important threads of the discussed issue are also the spiritual motherhood of Mary and the establishment of her as the Temple and Bride of the Holy Spirit.


2011 ◽  
Vol 48 ◽  
pp. 93-115
Author(s):  
Adam Wojtczak

The article presents theological meaning of the Marian title “Morning Star”. The article consists of three paragraphs. The first one portrays Mary as the Morning Star that preceded, prepared and heralded the historical coming of the Messiah–Sun. She handed the Light of God to humanity and opened up a new era in history. The second paragraph discusses Mary’s participation in the life and salvific mission of the Son. Before he began talking about himself and his mission, it was her who talked about him. During his public activity, she receded into the background, in order for a new family to grow. Being his Teacher, she later became a Disciple of her Son. The third paragraph introduces the presence of Mary – the Leading Star upon the path of faith of the Church. After the Ascension of Christ, she is found at the Cenacle among his disciples so as to prepare the descent of the Holy Spirit and the birth of the Church. Since then she has been leading the Church towards the ultimate goal. She does so in a twofold way. For the pilgrims, she is a model of faith, hope and love. She is also the spiritual Mother of all humanity. They plead with her for her motherly intercession upon the path of faith. All in all, it turns out that Mary-Morning Star is a reflection of Christ and she praises him, not herself.


Author(s):  
Gerald O’Collins, SJ

Dealing with biblical inspiration within the scheme of the Word of God in its threefold form (as preached, written, and revealed), Karl Barth distinguished between divine revelation and the inspired Bible. He insisted that the revelation to prophets and apostles preceded proclamation and the writing of Scripture. He interpreted all the Scriptures as witness to Christ. While the human authors of the Bible ‘made full use of their human capacities’, the Holy Spirit is ‘the real author’ of what is written. Raymond Collins, in dialogue with Thomas Aquinas, Barth, and others, interpreted biblical inspiration in the light of the Second Vatican Council’s Constitution on Divine Revelation. He spoke of the Holy Spirit as the ‘principal, efficient cause’ (with the human authors as the ‘instrumental’ causes), rejected dictation views of inspiration, and examined the scope of biblical truth and the authority of the Bible for the Church.


Author(s):  
William J. Abraham

This chapter discusses the Person of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the third Person of the Trinity who proceeds eternally from the Father. In his work in Christology Athanasius made the relevant conceptual breakthrough, yet the church was rightly cautious in stating the ontology involved. Efforts to secure the filioque clause are not successful. There is merit in applying the biblical images of breath, rain, water, dove, wine, and oil. Later images focusing on force-field, bond of love, and light are interesting but light should be preferred, not least because it helps us make theological sense of the transfiguration of the Son.


2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 183
Author(s):  
Sajad Zangane-tabar ◽  
Ghorban Elmi ◽  
Jafar Shanazari

Faith had a special place in the thought of Augustine, so that it should be considered essential as a starting point in the process of human purification. In this opinion, our knowledge to the seen and believable affairs would be the thoughts and faith respectively. This approch stated about the role of faith in the understanding that revelation invites us to believe and we cannot understand as long as we don’t believe. The Greek ideas have been used during Fathers period and its subject matter emphasized that there is a great and infinite God. The concept of God in Greek philosophy was close to the God of the Bible in some ways. Justin martyr confirmed that the Christian faith is the only valid and useful philosophy. More righteous God should be inclusive to the extent of justice’s concept. God worship must be a responsibility not just for the chosen nation, but other people also worship him. Augustine and holy texts considered attributes to God such as infinite, substantive, creative, love, goodness, justice, almighty, creator, eternal and penetrating. Augustine knew the God's righteousness attribute eternal and said about God that he is an eternal and immutable truth that is present in our minds and he agreed the formal theory of three hypostases (God, Christ or the Logos and the Holy Spirit). He was one of the greatest Christian theorist of the Trinity; the only real God has been formed from three persons under the names of Father, Son and the Holy Spirit in his view. The most important attribute of God is unity. The doctrine of grace is as the basic Christian concepts. Paul knew the grace implies on the act of mercy of God and also a major factor for salvation. Augustine knew the first humanity's sin great and unjust somehow our minds are unable to understand the damages caused by it. No one are known to be exempted of this just and true punishment unless, free mercy and grace of God release him. Religious reformation motion also questioned the authoritarianism in religious life and its emphasis on the personal aspect of faith that played a role in the transition from the medieval world to the modern era. The impact of Christian classical teachings and the ideas of Augustine was undeniable on the development of Christian theology.


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