Subject: Re: The Apostle Paul Quoted Pagans
Date: Mon, 27 Sep 1999 9:48:04 +0800
From: Nigel Mitchell <><>
Newsgroups: aus.religion.christian,nz.soc.religion

Rowland:
>> The Holy Spirit is God-in-action...

Graeme:
> Whatever happened to the Holy Spirit being the thrid Person of the
> Trinity, of the same essence and equal with God the Father and God the
> Son, the revealer of the plan of God?

Both definitions mean the same thing. Rowland's is in plain speech, and 
Graeme's is in jargon. Both are correct.

Perhaps a synthesis of the two would be helpful- The Trinity in 250 words or 
less, for a general audience.

There is only one God. The Christian understanding of the one God is that we 
there are three persons in the one essence, and those persons are known by 
the relational terms Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 

The experience of God the Father is in creation, and in the historical 
experience of the Jewish people as recorded in the Hebrew Scriptures (Old 
Testament). 

The experience of God the Son is in the person and work of Jesus, who lived 
as an historical human being, and who was God incarnate upon earth. In his 
teaching, life, death and ressurection, Christians believe that Jesus 
fulfilled the expectations of the prophecies of ancient Israel, and brought 
about a new age in which forgiveness and eternal life can be freely obtained 
through faith in him.

The experience of God the Holy Spirit is in God acting in the world, and in 
the life of human beings, today and throughout history, revealing the love of 
God and the ways in which we can respond to God. The Holy Spirit has acted in 
the past to inspire the Church to write, authorise and interpret the 
scriptures. The Holy Spirit continues to bring individual people to faith, 
and to guide and inspire the Church in interpreting the scriptures, teaching 
the faith, and proclaiming the Gospel. 

cheers

N+