Zone1 How do you imagine the Holy Spirit?

[Zebra]

it is a mystery.

usually one thinks of him as a pigeon


but that is only one example

 

[Meister]

He did make Man in his own image.

 

[Zebra]

He did make Man in his own image.

a puzzle, then

in the OT there is no pigeon as Holy Spirit

 

[odanny]

 

[Zebra]

pigeon = dove

 

[hobelim]

it is a mystery.

Not really.

Jesus said that God would send another, like him, a Jewish man, who IS the Spirit of truth, the Helper, the Advocate, the Comforter, the Paraclete, whatever, who would glorify Jesus, by drawing from what he taught, and lead people into all the truth, that which was too much for the disciples to bear at that time. Seems clear enough to me. Nothing mysterious about it at all. It was never about God sending a disembodied entity, an invisible ghost that makes people who are full of it squeak and gibber and jump around like they were possessed by a demon.

 

[Cassandro]

Human conscience.

 

[norwegen]

A spirit-driven passion to witness for Christ (Acts 1:8).

The Holy Spirit is freedom (2 Cor 3:17). Besides being the believer's link to eternal life (Ti 3:5-7), he is a liberating influence that God unleashed on the world through His living vessels sculpted for honorable use to do good works (2 Tim 2:21). Good works - the Holy Spirit has done more than transform individuals; he has transformed civilization.

In the words of the Master himself, the Holy Spirit is the power of forgiveness and Spirit of truth (Jn 20:22-23, 14:17).

A dove comes close, but an animal doesn't do him justice.

 

[Zebra]

He did make Man in his own image.

but the Holy Ghost is seen as a dove

 

[Meister]

but the Holy Ghost is seen as a dove

Not exactly. The Holy Spirit was coming down from Heaven 'like a dove'.

 

[Zebra]

Not exactly. The Holy Spirit was coming down from Heaven 'like a dove'.

i remember ..... in the form of a dove ....

 

[Zebra]

i remember ..... in the form of a dove ....

in German: in Gestalt einer Taube

 

[Meister]

i remember ..... in the form of a dove ....

I don't know what to tell you.
I guess it comes down to translation

 

[Zebra]

I don't know what to tell you.
I guess it comes down to translation

and at Pentecost in the form of burning tongues

 

[the watcher]

He can be everything to everyone, each according to their needs. Charlie Manson's Spirit may be different from yours, but maybe not.

 

[hobelim]

and at Pentecost in the form of burning tongues

If you read the story carefully you will see that a mighty wind burst through the door and "tongues of fire" (plural) appeared that settled above each of their heads ."

 

[Zebra]

If you read the story carefully you will see that a mighty wind burst through the door and "tongues of fire" (plural) appeared that settled above each of their heads ."

i know

 

[norwegen]

i know

Not exactly. Divided tongues appeared to them. "As of fire" is just a simile.

So, did these divided tongues literally appear? Hardly. What a comical, nonsensical sight that would have been.

The believers at Pentecost were not divided; they were united.

The dove is also simile. "Like a dove." Not the form of a dove. The Holy Spirit descended like a dove.

The one who descended on Jesus was God. The spirit of God.

 

[the watcher]

If you read the story carefully you will see that a mighty wind burst through the door and "tongues of fire" (plural) appeared that settled above each of their heads ."

I hate when that happens.

 

[toobfreak]

How do you imagine the Holy Spirit?​

I don't. Or at least, as nothing. After all, how do you imagine something which is without substance as being /something/ of substance to imagine?

I heard once that the Trinity of Father/Son/Holy Ghost was something not in the Bible, made up by the Catholics or someone, so now even its liturgical credibility falls into question.