Who's Afraid of the Holy Spirit? (pt. 4)

In the essay The Spirit and Community: A Historical Perspective, Gerald Bray looks at how the Spirit's influence on community has been viewed throughout various periods of church history. He breaks this down into three eras: the early church, the medieval church, and the Protestant church. How does the Spirit function in the area of bringing unity to the church?

In the early church, one of the biggest hurdles was bringing Jews and Gentiles together. It is hard for us to grasp the enormity of this challenge from our modern-day Gentile perspective. But if you were a Jew in the first century, the idea that the pagan world could become full-fledged citizens in God's Kingdom was a radical notion. The presence of the Holy Spirit was critical to breaking down the walls of ethnicity. Bray illustrates by looking to 1 Corinthians 12:13: "For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink." He writes:

Whatever we think of baptism today, we probably do not assume that it will be the means of breaking down social and economic barriers. But for the first Christians, to be baptized in the Spirit was to put off the old man, with its ethnic and social limitations, and to become a new creation in Christ. From the very beginning, Christians were aware that they constituted a new society, a community which was in the world but not of it.

As the church grew and became an established part of civilization, much changed. The newness and fervency that characterized the early Christians was absorbed into structure and ritualism. The Church became the de-facto source of order after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. Being a part of this "Church" became a necessity if a person were to be a part of Western culture--and those who were not a part of it were ostracized and excluded. As a result, baptism lost its original significance and became instead a way of gaining entrance to society. The effort to maintain unity in an environment of diluted faith ultimately resulted in centralizing power in the office of the Pope:

...by 1450 the movement towards a declaration of papal infallibility in matters of faith and morals was well underway, even if it was not to be proclaimed officially until as late as 1870. All of this process, it must be repeated, was regarded by those involved in it as the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit in the Church, and interpreted by them as a necessary evolution in the context of the Church's growth and expansion.

This solution to unity would not last, and the restrictions of the Medieval Church were thrown off by the Reformers. The Protestant tradition brought a distinction between the civil and the spiritual--a distinction which Bray calls the "invisible church". In other words, membership in the body was not contingent on the external, but on the internal reality.

The doctrine of the invisible Church is a key tenet of the Reformation, and sets Protestants apart from other Christians in ways which are not always fully recognized. Protestantism, for example, can fragment (as it has) into an apparently endless number of denominations without losing its fundamental unity.
...
As the doctrine of the primacy of the invisible over the visible Church began to sink in, many Protestants came to the conclusion that a large percentage of Church members were really not Christians at all. Baptism could no longer be understood as entry into the Christian community in anything but a formal sense.

Bray finds the logical result of the "invisible church" in the practice of the Puritans, who recognized that if outward forms strayed from inner reality they could be dispensed with.

At a deeper level, Puritans of this type are always ready to pick up and go, because in their heart of hearts they know that the perfect Church does not exist here on earth. The best they can do is to minimize the corruption they find, and remain within a particular fellowship as long as it does nothing which offends their sensibilities.

In their effort to establish a society founded on Biblical ideals, they went so far as to move to the New World. But, as Bray concludes: "Even in New England, where every colonist was meant to be a saint, a perfect society could not be established."

So where does this leave us today? The essay seems to be drawing a contrast between the divergent paths of the Church found in history. One is the idea of a unified, centralized, visible Church, manifested in the rise of the Catholicism. The other is the idea of the true, real, invisible Church birthed by Protestantism. The first finds a sort of unity, but sacrifices truth. The second produces a splintering along many lines but seeks to preserve truth. His concluding question is well worth pondering:

We have to admit that keeping the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace has never been easy, and it has seldom been achieved for long outside the confines of fairly narrow groups. What we now need is to ask ourselves whether this is the only kind of viable fellowship which is possible in a fallen world, or whether there is a way in which as Evangelicals we can demonstrate that we really were all baptized by one Spirit into one body.

Friday Musings

Just a few thoughts in a spare moment at work...

Will Hilton Magic Return?
I'm going to watch ISU vs. Kansas tomorrow and I am PUMPED. Kansas games always bring out the best of the Hilton crowd and some of my best memories there are watching the Jayhawks come to town. Like in 1999 when Kansas visited on the last game of the season. Larry Eustachy was a new coach, Marcus Fizer was a sophomore, and our record was 14-15. But we had Hilton, and won the game 52-50 with a Fizer dunk to finish it out. I still have the poster of that dunk hanging on the wall in the basement.

More Ames Basketball
My brother Josh's homeschool team has a game tonight in Ames that I'm planning on seeing as well. I'm glad that he's getting that opportunity--playing competitive basketball in highschool is something I would've loved.

Finally
After heeding the many pleas to revive his site, Tristan is back. I had gotten so used to him not writing that I forgot how much I enjoyed pulling up his site when there was something new to read. My only beef? He needs to fix his link to my blog.

Discovering Hitchcock
My wife and I have been on an Alfred Hitchcock binge lately. It started with watching Notorious over Christmas break. Then came Shadow of a Doubt, To Catch a Thief, and Rear Window. After getting burned out on modern movies, it is refreshing to find out that such suspenseful, creative, and compelling films were made so long ago. It's also great to "discover" old stars like Carey Grant, Ingrid Bergman, and Grace Kelly. The next time you're at your local rental establishment, swing by the classics section and pick up a Hitchcock. I think you'll enjoy it.

Who's Afraid of the Holy Spirit? (pt. 3)

In The Witness of the Spirit in Romans 8:16, Daniel Wallace discusses two possible ways of translating Romans 8:16 and its impact on our lives:

Option #1:
The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are sons of God.

Option #2:
The Spirit himself testifies to our spirit that we are sons of God.

At the forefront of these two interpretations are two key questions. Who is doing the witnessing? And who is being witnessed to? In option #1 we join with the Holy Spirit as a witness to our own salvation. In this framework, the object of the witnessing is a little unclear--the witnessing could be to God, other people, or even ourselves. In option #2 it is the Holy Spirit witnessing to us.

Wallace is a master of exegesis, and this article is well worth reading just to observe the skill with which he handles the text. It gives me a renewed appreciation for the complexity involved in Bible translation, and how it is important to turn a text over to gain insight both from the language and context. The article is easier to follow if you have had some sort of Greek background, but the essence is this:

1. There is good precedent for the verb to be translated "witness to", and the standard Greek-English lexicon takes this as the primary force of the verb.

2. What would it mean for our spirit and the Holy Spirit to testify to God regarding our salvation? In other words, what authority do we have in the matter?

3. What would it mean for our spirit and the Holy Spirit to testify to ourself? What good does it do us to convince ourselves? One of the very things Paul is counteracting in this chapter is our own doubts.

4. The context of Romans 8 is all about the Spirit's work in our lives. He is the one who sets us free from the law of sin and death, produces fruit in our life, and intercedes for us with groanings that words cannot express. Surely He is also the one who gives us assurance in the midst of our doubt.

At the end of the article, I am left persuaded by Wallace's argument. One of the works of the Spirit is to bear testimony to our heart that we belong to God. It is a great comfort to know that we do not have a God who stands aloof from us. Our Father does not leave us merely to cold hard rationalism, as if we must deduce our own salvation from a set of clues. Yes, Scripture testifies to the truthfulness of what has happened in our lives. But God has also given us his Spirit, who speaks to our hearts with assurance and comfort and reminds us that we can cry out "Abba, Father".

Burnt Ends

Happy Birthday!
This is a word of appreciation for my mom, whose birthday is today. While I am rapidly approaching parenthood status, it gives me a new respect for her. It is difficult enough to give birth to 5 kids, but even more impressive to raise them, discipline them, teach them, love them, and provide such a godly example throughout. We had a nice meal at Olive Garden last night to celebrate the occasion. Hard to beat their breadsticks and salad.

Texas A&M Plays Basketball?
Looks like it will be another up-and-down season in Ames. Last week was a win at Nebraska and a loss to A&M at home. You know times are changing when the football team beats the Aggies at Kyle Field and then we lose to them at Hilton. I hope this isn't a year where they keep inventing new ways to choke. It's too early to give up hope, but with games against Missouri and Kansas this week they are in a real pickle. I'm going to try to make it up to Ames for the Kansas game if I can find a ticket.

The End of the Spear
Despite the controversy regarding a lead actor being gay, I am hearing good reviews about this film. Do I think it was an unwise casting choice? Sure. But God's providential hand is capable of working through sinful people of all kinds, and I am praying that He would use this occasion to open doors for the gospel. Sometimes it is easy to become disheartened with the direction that society is going, but we need to remember that we serve a God who is in control of ALL events (both significant and small). He used a donkey to speak to Balaam, so certainly He can use this as well.

Who's Afraid of the Holy Spirit? (pt. 2)

The second essay from the book is by Richard E. Averbeck, professor of Old Testament Studies and Biblical Counseling at Trinity. The essay is titled, The Holy Spirit in the Hebrew Bible and Its Connections to the New Testament, and you may read it online by clicking the previous link.

Averbeck starts by looking at the Hebrew words used to portray the Spirit and its working in the Old Testament. He writes that while there are many Old Testament references to "the Spirit of God", the Jews did not view the Holy Spirit as a distinct person of the Godhead. Rather, they saw the working of the Spirit as the energy of God and manifestation of his power. He goes on to examine the meaning behind the Hebrew word ruakh, which we translate as "spirit". Out of the 378 occurrences of this, 140 of them refer to "wind" or "breath" instead of "spirit". With regards to this metaphor, Averbeck writes:

We need to take this biblical analogy seriously in both understanding the nature of God’s Spirit and in welcoming and engaging with his work. Wind is a mysterious and powerful force. We cannot always predict what it is going to do, and it is not under our control. The same is true of God. We cannot always predict what he is going to do, and he is not under our control even if he has told us what he is going to do. He is God. We are not. All this is true also of the Spirit of God. However, although we cannot completely understand and control the Holy Spirit, we can draw upon his power. Using the analogy of a ship driven by the wind (see above), we can “put up the sails” in our lives and thereby take advantage of the blowing of the Spirit in and through our lives. We are empowered by the Holy Spirit as long as we have our sails up.

This terminology was helpful to me. The Holy Spirit is not under our control, and we shouldn't try to dictate to God the ways that He will work in our lives. Instead, we need to look to see where He is working and seek to be yielded to His control. As Paul said in Romans: "Those who live according to the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires." (Romans 8:5b, emphasis mine).

The second primary analogy that Averbeck finds is that of water, and the cleansing work of the Holy Spirit. He points to Ezekiel 36:25-28 as a primary example:

I will sprinkle you with pure water and you will be clean from all your impurities; I will purify you from all your idols. I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; I will remove the heart of stone from your body and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my spirit within you; I will take the initiative and you will obey my statutes and carefully observe my laws. Then you will live in the land I gave to your fathers; you will be my people, and I will be your God (Ezek 36:25–28).

He points out the parallels between this passage and John 3:5-6:

I tell you the solemn truth, unless a person is born of water and spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.

However, after comparing Ezekiel 36 to John 3, he makes this statement: "God has always wanted the same thing from everyone and, according to passages like those cited above, his resources have always been available and at work to bring this about in the lives of believers whether in Old or New Testament days." He argues that what was new about Pentecost was not the indwelling presence of the Spirit in God's people, but instead was the prophetic ministry of the Spirit on a widespread basis. He points to Joel 2:28-32a and its fulfillment at Pentecost as pointing us to the new prophetic ministry of the Spirit, poured out on "all people".

I don't know that I am ready to accept this, and in my mind his exegetical argument is a stretch. It is true--God did work through the Holy Spirit in many instances prior to Pentacost. This type indwelling also may have been more common than we sometimes think. However, when you look at what Jesus says in John 17:5-15, it seems that Jesus is looking forward to more than a new era of prophetic revelation and ministry, but to a fundamental shift in the way that the Spirit would work in and among us. If anyone else has insights on this, I'd be happy to hear them.

Burnt Ends

Iowa State vs. Texas
I had the unfortune of watching Texas completely dismantle my Clones on ESPN's "Big Monday". Texas is really really good, so I'm not about to jump off the bandwagon yet, but the boys in Ames have some serious work to do. It starts with Hubalek, Marsden, and Taggert. They need to grow up in a hurry to compete with the post players in the Big XII. Stinson is going to need to find a way to drive and score. The rest of the guards need to quit jacking up threes so early in the shot clock. On a happier note, I had Hickory Park before the game. That place makes even the worst losses stomach-able.

Is this Iowa?
We have had quite the stretch of great weather lately. Today it is 50 degrees and sunny, with more of the same to come this weekend. How nice has it been? Well I finished raking the front yard this past Sunday (13 bags). And I wasn't wearing a coat either. The only thing bad about this kind of weather is the bittersweet realization that REAL winter will be back again and spring is still a long ways away.

Pulled Pork
I smoked a pork shoulder yesterday, and we're taking some of the meat to Heath and Sarah, who had their first baby the last week of December. It turned out pretty well, but I am seriously missing my charcoal starter, which has been stranded at Nate's since he borrowed my smoker. Even the casual griller shouldn't be without a starter, which gives you a full can of white-hot coals in about a half-hour without any lighter fluid or mess--just pour them out and get cooking.

Who's Afraid of the Holy Spirit? (pt. 1)

I started reading Who's Afraid of the Holy Spirit? this week. It is a collection of essays on the work of the Holy Spirit from a cessationist perspective that explores a middle ground between an overly rational and cold faith that "locks the Spirit in the pages of Scripture" and the excesses found in some charismatic circles.

The first essay in the book is an address given by Dr. Daniel B. Wallace at the 1994 Evangelical Theological Society's regional meeting titled "The Uneasy Conscience of a Non-Charismatic Evangelical". My first exposure to Dr. Wallace came in Jack Fish's second-year Greek class (where we used his excellent book Greek Grammar beyond the Basics). Shortly after my time at Emmaus I discovered the very helpful bible.org site and read this thought-provoking essay. It seems that the eleven theses put forth from Wallace in that address have provided some of the impetus and background for this volume.

I'm not going to waste time recounting the story (which you can read for yourself), but the gist is this: in the midst of extreme trial and difficulty, Wallace found his normal means of relating to God (through exegesis and Bible Study) to provide insufficient comfort and strength to cope. In his own words:

In the midst of this "summer from hell," I began to examine what had become of my faith. I found a longing to get closer to God, but found myself unable to do so through my normal means: exegesis, scripture reading, more exegesis. I believe that I had depersonalized God so much that when I really needed him I didn't know how to relate. I longed for him, but found many community-wide restrictions in my cessationist environment. I found a suffocation of the Spirit in my evangelical tradition as well as in my own heart.

As a response to this longing, he set out to wrestle with what he called "practial issues of pneumatology" and put forth eleven theses or questions relating to the Holy Spirit's work in the lives of present-day believers. I find myself resonating with several of these. In particular, Wallace cautions that an overemphasis on knowledge can produce in us a "biblioloatry". In other words, we can become so enamored with Scripture that God becomes a mere object of our study. The Bible points us to God, but we should not let it become a substitute for Him. I think this can be a temptation for anyone who spends time at a Bible college or studying from an academic perspective. We need to let the Spirit apply God's word to our hearts as well as our minds. But if our study becomes a purely academic pursuit this dimension will be lacking.

I am looking forward to reading, thinking, and writing about the remaining essays in this book. My prayer is that God would use them to draw me closer to Himself and increase my love and appreciation for His constant working in my life.

Burnt Ends

Assorted items and thoughts...

The Rose Bowl
Texas vs. USC turned into one of the best championships ever played. What a game by Vince Young, who showed that he should have been the Heisman winner. 467 total yards. Beating the previously unbeatable USC. Running for the winning touchdown on 4th down with everything on the line. It was a perfect performance on the perfect stage.

Fun with Dick and Jane
I saw the new Jim Carrey movie last weekend. It has a few funny moments, but mostly tries too hard and doesn't get it done. Carrey is an upwardly mobile businessman who works for an "Enron"-type company that goes belly-up. After peddling all their possessions, he and his wife resort to robbing. There are a few laughs when it is making fun of corporations and suburban life, but this is one to skip. I give it 2 stars.

Who's Afraid of the Holy Spirit?
I just ordered Daniel B. Wallace's book by the above title (released this past November) as my first book to read in 2006. I read about it on the bible.org website and it looks interesting. My hope is to read through it and share my reactions and thoughts on this blog. Here's a quote from the abstract:

"We have become convinced that the ministry of the Spirit is far wider and deeper but more subtle than even the Pentecostal/charismatic tradition envisions it. Consequently the essays of this volume explore, however tentatively, an attempt to steer a middle ground between the sterile cessationism that essentially locks the Spirit in the pages of scripture, and an anything-goes-approach that has characterized parts of the Pentecostal/charismatic/Third Wave movements."

New Year's Resolutions

I enjoy the start of a new year since it gives opportunity to make a few resoutions. Here are mine for 2006:

1. Read. I would like to try to read at least 1 book a month. What sort of books? Maybe a couple of classics I've never read. Theology is always good. Perhaps a few biographies. I enjoy reading but for whatever reason is something I have found myself doing less of in recent years.

2. Exercise. My noon-time bball group at the health club has disbanded so I need to find another way to stay in shape. I'll probably start using the health club at work. 3 times a week is a good goal to start out with.

3. Study. I am going to try to pick out several Biblical books or topics which I would like to understand better and try to systematically work my way through them before the end of the year, hopefully writing about what I learn on this blog.