Trinity's Other Third

Neuter Pronoun Doesn't Do Holy Spirit Justice, Many Say

August 20, 2004

Dennis M. Mahoney
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Sister Mary Ann Fatula cringes when someone refers to the Holy Spirit as "it."

As she teaches her theology students at Ohio Dominican University on the East Side, the Holy Spirit is not a "force," as many Christians believe today, but "someone with whom we are meant to really have a relationship that completely changes our life."

"Like one of my students said, 'You can't fall in love with a force,' " Fatula said.

In Christianity, God is believed to consist of three separate, but equal, beings, who make up what is called the Trinity: the Father, the Son (Jesus) and the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is believed to have inspired those who wrote the Bible.

The Holy Spirit is frequently mentioned in the New Testament. In Matthew's Gospel, the Holy Spirit is seen as a dove descending on Jesus when he is baptized; in John's Gospel, Jesus calls the Holy Spirit "the comforter," who will be sent to confirm the truth of what Jesus taught.

After Jesus' resurrection, the Holy Spirit is said to have descended on his disciples in the form of tongues of fire (an event known as Pentecost), instilling in them the ability to preach the Gospel in many languages, and to heal and prophesy.

The Holy Spirit is believed to bestow gifts on humans. For some, those are virtues such as wisdom, piety and understanding; others also hold that like with the early Christians, the Holy Spirit gives the power to "speak in tongues" and to heal.

Fulfilling God's plan

The Rev. David Case, professor of theology at Circleville Bible College in Circleville, agrees with Fatula that the concept of the Holy Spirit is more difficult for people to grasp than that of God as father, and as son, known in the historical person of Jesus.

Often, the Holy Spirit conjures images of a dove or fire. But the Holy Spirit should be seen as one who "does things that a person can do. Like he teaches, he leads, he encourages, he admonishes," Case said.

Jesus and the Holy Spirit are not competitive, he said, but equals. In scripture, Jesus spoke of sending the Holy Spirit after him, Case said, to fulfill God's plan.

"Jesus dies on Calvary's cross to make a plan of salvation possible," he said. "But it's the Holy Spirit now who comes to apply and to administer that work to the hearts and minds of people."

In the Bible, "spirit" is seen as the presence of God's kingdom in the world as an eschatological event, said the Rev. Walter Bouman, professor emeritus of theology at Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Bexley.

But eschatology -- the theological study of last things, such as death and resurrection -- doesn't mean the end of the world, but the final outcome of history, he said.

It is that final outcome that was revealed to Jesus' followers at Pentecost, Bouman said. "The Pentecost experience was not so much a supernatural event as an 'Aha!' moment," he said "(It was) the recognition suddenly of what it means that Jesus is the messiah, that the outcome of history has already been revealed because the final judge will be Jesus. And (the disciples are) in on the verdict."

Today, the Holy Spirit lives among those who work for peace and justice, and exhibit compassion for those around them, Bouman said.

"Wherever we are anticipating the final victory of the kingdom of God, that's Holy Spirit," he said.

Providing empowerment While other faiths speak of spirit, the concept of the Holy Spirit is essentially Christian.

Jews, for instance, believe that the body is the temple of a person's spirit, or soul, which will live on when he or she dies, said Rabbi Barnett Brickner of Temple Israel, on the Far East Side. Each person is infused with the spirit of God, he said.

"At the core of Jewish belief is the belief that we are made in tzelem Elohim, in the image of God, that there is a spark of divinity in each and every human being, with all living things there is a spark of divinity," Brickner said.

"And as such, that's what is the essence of our spirit, our consciousness." Even though everyone is holy because they possess that divine spark, he said, "How one activates that, how one nurtures that is the substance of religious living."

Muslims believe in the oneness of God, and reject the theology of the Trinity, said Mouhammed Nabih Tarazi, an Islamic scholar and president of the Islamic Foundation of Central Ohio.

Some Muslims see the angel Gabriel as playing a role similar to the Christian Holy Spirit, he said. Gabriel is believed to have been God's special messenger to the prophets, bringing to them the revelations that were incorporated in the Quran, which guides the faith, Tarazi said.

Fatula, author of Holy Spirit: Giver of Life, said the Holy Spirit gives people special "empowerments" that allow them to live "in a whole new divine way."

As an example, she pointed to St. Maximilian Kolbe, a Polish priest who volunteered to be executed in the place of a Jewish man at a Nazi concentration camp in 1941. While what Kolbe did was laudable, how he did it was special, she said.

"He did an extraordinary thing with ease and joy," Fatula said.

At times today, what are believed to be encounters with the Holy Spirit are dramatic moments for individuals, both physically and emotionally. While there are such events, Case said, they aren't the only indication that the Holy Spirit is a part of a person's life.

"It may not be emotional. It might not be the spectacular. It's a day by day awareness that God is at work in me and through me through his spirit. I am empowered by God's spirit this day to be the salt of the earth, the light of the world," he said.

Reprinted with permission. The Columbus Dispatch, 2004.