Holy Spirit
In Christianity, the Holy Spirit is the third person of the trinity and one of the agents by which God exercises influence on the course of human events. Despite the mention of the Holy Spirit in early baptism, the doctrine and theology of the Holy Spirit was slow to develop. Perhaps for this reason, different Christian denominations place different emphasis on the actions of the Spirit.
The Spirit in the New Testament
Despite the prominence of the Holy Spirit as the third person of the godhead, the Holy Spirit was relatively de-emphasized in the early church. Along those lines, the Spirit is only mentioned a few times in the New Testament.
The most prominent mention of the Holy Spirit occurs in the story of John the Baptist in the gospels. John, who has gained prominence as a preacher and prophet, claims that he baptizes with water, but that the one who comes after him will baptize with the Holy Spirit[1] When Jesus himself is baptized by John, the spirit descends like a dove onto Jesus, and Jesus is said to be "full of the Holy Spirit" (Luke 4:1) afterwards.
The text most important for the theological working-out of the trinity is Matthew 28:19: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."
Controversy, and the Council of Constantinople
The Holy Spirit East and West
The Holy Spirit in the Christian Tradition
The Pentecostal Movement
- ↑ Matthew 2:11, Mark 1:8, Luke 3:16, John 1:33. Interestingly, in Luke John the Baptist claims that Jesus will baptize with the "Holy Spirit and fire." In the gospel of John, John the Baptist says "I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.'"