The Person of the Spirit: Emotion
Persons have emotions. Even unborn babies respond emotionally to certain stimuli. But when we think of the Holy Spirit we don’t think of a person, we think of a force or energy. This is largely because, in our minds, the Spirit does not have emotion.
We don’t think the Spirit has emotions for two reasons. First, [...]
The Person of the Spirit: Divine Feminine?
Another reason Western Christians often have difficulty thinking of the Spirit as a person is because persons have gender.[1] Gender tells a lot about a person: their history, roles, stereotypes, privileges, function in society, experiences, etc. Without knowing the Spirit’s gender, we have difficulty discerning some of these core identity markers.
Strictly speaking, the entire Trinity [...]
Experiencing Theology: Reflections on the Holy Spirit
A few months ago I wrote a post charging myself with being Too Skeptical for the Holy Spirit. I lamented, really, the fact that my Pneumatological Hermeneutic of Suspicion is always in over-drive. A few weeks later I wrote a post delineating those Christian beliefs I considered Dogma, Doctrine, Opinion or Heresy. My friend Bryne [...]
Isaiah 3:16-26
Father,
we are children who have been given much. You have blessed us with an abundance of all things: food to fill our stomachs, every kind of entertainment to distract and occupy our minds, and every opportunity to adorn our bodies with things
stuff
the trappings of our culture that we think make us beautiful.
Father,
you teach us that [...]
Why I am not a Calvinist
Once upon a time, there were two men who were similar in many ways. Both were powerful and creative. Both were kind and loving. Both were well-respected in their towns. Both were fathers. And both were exceptional artists. In fact, the artistic community argued all the time as to which was the greatest, and the [...]
The Jobian Take on Righteousness
In the book of Job, written sometime between the early sixth and late fifth century BCE, God describes Job as a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil. What is such a man like? If we were to be blameless and God fearing, what sort of things ought we do?
I [...]