Experiencing the Spirit in Church History & TODAY!

Often the Holy Spirit is reduced to an "it" or some sort of power source disconnected from personhood. Yet Scripture teaches that the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity.

The first four hundred years of Church History included a significant amount of focus toward understanding and defining the nature of God, settling on the Blessed Trinity (one God who exists as three persons). While the Nicene Creed (325, 381AD) focuses a significant amount of it’s attention on the nature of Jesus (Christology), it does contain clarity regarding the Spirit’s personhood and divinity:

“And we believe in the Holy Spirit,
      the Lord, the giver of life.
      He proceeds from the Father and the Son,
      and with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified.”

Yet by the completion of the Athanasian Creed, affirmed by Western Christianity, we have a fuller summary of who the Holy Spirit is and what the Church believed to be biblical, stating that:

“What quality the Father has, the Son has, and the Holy Spirit has… the Holy Spirit is uncreated… the Holy Spirit is immeasurable… the Holy Spirit is eternal… the Holy Spirit is almighty… the Holy Spirit is God… the Holy Spirit is Lord… The Holy Spirit was neither made nor created nor begotten; he proceeds from the Father and the Son.”

As a Charismatic, I’m particularly interested in the person and activity of the Holy Spirit. And as a Charismatic, I think we Charismatics should invest as much energy in understanding, embracing and loving the Holy Spirit as we do for Jesus!

Enter an excellent book by Kyle R. Hughes, How the Spirit Became God: The Mosaic of Early Christian Pneumatology. Acknowledging the global influence of Pentecostal and Charismatics toward Christian concerns about the Holy Spirit and Christian living, Hughes notes:

“What appears to be missing, however, from many of these discussions of the doctrine of the Holy Spirit (that is, pneumatology) is an account of the process by which the early Christians came to recognize the Holy Spirit as the third divine person of the Trinity.”

To this subject, Hughes invites his readers to understand better the process that took place in the Church and examines the biblical theological data leading us to embrace the Spirit as divine (and active).

Why Should We Study the Process?

Maybe you are curious about why I suggest understanding this process would be helpful, especially as a “charismatic.” Here are a few of the reasons why I’ve really enjoyed Hughes’ work:

(1) A better grasp of the biblical data. Hughes does a great job of wrestling with and drawing out Scripture’s narrative in relation to who the Holy Spirit is and what activities the Spirit has been (and is!) engaged in. Make no mistake, Hughes does not pretend that the Bible offers a simplistic and monolithic summary of the Spirit; rather, he acknowledges the “Holy Spirit as a person is complicated by the aforementioned diversity of pneumatological approaches found in the New Testament itself.” Yet as he wrestles with questions about Paul’s understanding of the Spirit’s personhood and the early church’s “binitarianism,” what emerges is a convincing biblical case for the orthodox trinitarian understanding of the Spirit. Hughes’ biblical engagement is very helpful. Hughes’ own thesis is well argued:

“… the thesis of this book is that Christians of the patristic period came to identify the Spirit as a distinct divine person alongside the Father and the Son as a result of careful reflection on Scripture, which, in this context, primarily refers to the interpretation of what Christians would call the Old Testament, in light of their lived experience of this Holy Spirit.”

(2) A better grasp of the theological implications of who the Holy Spirit is (and his work). In my experience, depending on what tradition you are from, your understanding of the Holy Spirit’s work will likely focus upon certain themes. Generally speaking (and there are exceptions!), it can be said that the Reformed will often focus on the Spirit at work in inspiring Scripture and in personal salvation, Charismatics focus on the Holy Spirit empowering spiritual gifts, and Catholics on the Spirit’s role in the Eucharist. We often have a very narrow understanding of the Holy Spirit. Hughes subtext of the mosaic helps provide a fuller treatment and understanding of much more than our particular tradition’s pneumatological understanding (and identity). As he points out, Christian spirituality is deeply pneumatological and our faith needs to be grounded in a much thicker appreciation for all of the Spirit’s work, which is aided by a better understanding of and fellowship with the Spirit.

(3) The Holy Spirit was at work in the early church’s discovery of truth, which suggests to me that the Spirit is at work in the Church today. This is obviously more a secondary application of Hughes book, but as I read his reflections on the early church’s experience of the Spirit, I couldn’t help but think about how necessary it is for today’s church to continue being guided by the Spirit. We desperately need the Spirit’s leading in the world that we live in. At the end of Hughes’ book, my heart was “strangely warmed” toward an appreciation of the Spirit’s continued presence and power at work in Jesus’ church.

(4) History matters and developing an appreciation for theological reflection requires an appreciation for church history. We Charismatics have often been suspicious of theology and scholarship, with a bent toward anti-intellectualism. Studying church history helps minimize that due to an awareness of the fact that if it hadn’t been for pastors and theologians “contending for the faith,” we’d all hold to deficient and empty understandings of who God is and what God has done. Hughes’ book helps encourage us to take history seriously and to appreciate and value the Spirit’s work throughout the past 2,000 years.

(5) Learning about the Holy Spirit invites us to experience the power of the Holy Spirit. I’ve always found Paul’s words to the Corinthians challenging. Ending 2 Corinthians, Paul’s benediction is remarkable:

“May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all” (2 Cor. 13:14)

The “fellowship of the Holy Spirit” is an invitation to intimate partnership. It’s an encouragement to embrace a relational approach to the third person of the Trinity. Every aspect of Hughes’ work instilled in me a desire to grow in my love for Jesus through the Holy Spirit’s work. I found myself often dreaming of what more of the Spirit’s guidance would look like and I often paused to reflect on how it applies in my own discipleship journey, not to mention the times I’d consider how to encourage this in the people I serve.

Perhaps that’s one of the reasons why I’ve long connected the person of the Spirit to the invitation of God. The Holy Spirit is invitational. Within the “fellowship of the Spirit” is an invitation to drink deeply from the well of God and to experience first-hand the freedom that comes from Christ. Perhaps this is no better stated than how Hughes closes his book:

“This, then, is the invitation of the Spirit: to make space in our lives for the Spirit’s life-giving breath to create in us the very character of Christ, by which we may one day behold God face-to-face. And, in the face of such an immense, awe-inspiring invitation, we can only begin with prayer: Veni, Creator Spiritus…”

We who have been influenced by John Wimber will find the Latin phrase “Veni, Creator Spiritus” familiar. We regularly pray a similar prayer: “Come Holy Spirit.” Pick up a copy of Hughes book. Spend time working through it. It’s worth your time.

What do you think?

About the Author

Luke Geraty is a pastor-theologian in northern California. With a few theology degrees and nearly twenty years of pastoral leadership, Luke loves the Bible, theology, fly fishing, coffee, and books. All opinions are his own and not the views of any other organizations he’s affiliated with. You can follow him on Twitter, Instagram, and subscribe to his YouTube.