the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament

I was in a bible study my sophomore year in college. When I consider how I arrived here at seminary, I remember that bible study as containing one of the formative moments in my destiny to arrive at theological studies.

That we attempted to study the Bible I look back and realize was an audacious decision. That I personally desired to really look at what it says, I reflect now, was an audacious personal decision.

This bible study was led by a Campus Crusade staff member and I remember one session when our discussion of a New Testament scripture (I think we were studying Philippans) brought up the question: Did the Holy Spirit exist in the Old Testament? Reflecting now on this question, I also see inherent in it the questions: Did the Trinity exist in the Old Testament? How do we conclude the existence of the Trinity even in the New Testament? Does the "us" in Genesis refer to the Father and Son, without the Holy Spirit? Which person of the Trinity is preeminent?

But nonetheless, the question posed was: Did the Holy Spirit exist in the Old Testament? I know it was this because I have pondered it again and again in confusion over the years.

I'm not sure what the various arguments for or against this idea were, but I remember that I upset our leader by being truly interested in investigating this issue. For a long time, I looked back on that moment with equal parts frustration and chagrin, knowing that I wanted to be perceived as of course desiring genuine Christian love and unity amongst us, while sincerely wanting to examine the arguments around this issue. To this leader, my eagerness to pursue the issue meant I was willing to divide the group, or at least relinquish the sensitive balance of unity we had amongst us.

This morning I took a midterm that asked for examples of the Trinity in the Old Testament. My school allows for multiple sincere interpretations of this doctrine, including denying the doctrines existence in the Old Testament, by Christians of good faith. We were not asked to conclude whether the Trinity existed "back then" from the suggestions of it in the Old Testament, but at an initial critical level, to consider the evidence for it.

While I was probably not mature enough in my sophomore year to express this idea; that's what I really wanted. I didn't want us to conclude, but I did want us to consider it. Consider all the angles and evidence for the idea.

One of things I've been thinking about lately is that I tend to care more about the heart of sincerity over the exactness of being right about theological matters. Therefore, I never would have thought of myself as someone interested in attending seminary. Also, I've never seen myself as someone particularly interested in the nuances for instance of the Greek word "power" in the New Testament (on which topic I just read a delightfully detailed and lengthy book) or other minute matters of exegesis.

However, I do think these matters are important to consider and discuss, even if we don't agree or are not able to come to conclusion on them. And I'm at the right school because I'm realizing I don't need to sacrifice my heart, that desires genuine loving fellowship, in order to approach these issues with a critical mind.

I present this evidence that you might arrive at the conclusion I've arrived at today...
God is good.
And more specifically, He's good to me.

Mouw on the Pope

A Papal Discussion: On Faith and Human Rights

Reading Mouw's latest offerings on Catholic/Protestant ethics.

Something that comes to mind as I read this is an old phrase I heard once, probably on a crime show:
What do we think?
What do we know?
What can we prove?

I know that's a very rational way to evaluate the blog and the Pope's visit, but I fall back to it because I think this kind of visit often attracts so much conjecture and emotive response from critics and ordinary thinkers. I think it's important to go back to the facts when there's a lot of that and try to remember that "he who is not against us is for us".

I'm living in the Old Testament

I went to visit my dad Sunday night. He's building a second home on his property so he can move into it and tear down and then rebuild his main home. It's crazy. The new main home will have a gym and sauna and two offices, one with 250 degrees of views of the ocean. I can't believe we are related. It's seriously like the parables in the NT of the man who build a big house. My dad's house is being built solidly, (not on sand like the parable) but ultimately when it's all done, what will he have? A place to live that's not all that different than the current house. I'm not sure what to think. It's this huge investment in getting something customized to their taste, but it's simply not something I would invest that much money in. I can't believe how guilty I will feel sometimes when I spend an extra $15 at Ross and ijn comparison my dad is spending hordes of money on this new house. I don't really have an opinion on it yet, I'm still not sure if I think it's a good idea or not. But either way, it's happening.

Women and the Church and Me

So I've been having some thoughts. I'm currently without church. I'm significantly more worried about this than most of my friends, who I tell this to and they immediately say, but you've got so much church around you all the time. Which is true. I am not without friends, support, etc. If I tried to become a monk or a Buddhist, no doubt there would be a line at my front door. It seems as though as much as I try, my church comes to me, not the other way around.

Therefore, since I am without church, I'm on a quest looking for church. I've tried many. But mostly I run into some main problems. One, women are not allowed to teach. (Hence, they probably won't be psyched that I'm going to seminary or psyched to help me grow into pastoring.) Two, they have some crazy beliefs. Like they think God wants us to be rich. Or they think women should read books like: "Biblical Womanhood In the Home." Hm, that's not very subtle. Are you sensing a theme here? I'm not sure what to do.

Was RockHarbor okay with women pastoring? I think so. And for some ways that they stuck to conservative interpretations on things like communion, that's a little hermeneutical leap they took on women. What with us being half the human race, I'm glad they jumped. A happy leap for me. But alas, I'm looking for some churches around here that will take the leap. And I'm afraid all I'll find is ones where I'm shamed for taking up a perfectly good spot a man could have in seminary. Boo.

Agony

"There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you."— Maya Angelou

I was condescended to today. It took me a while to figure out what was going on. It was one of those moments when at first I didn't know what was going on and then I thought I was being mean with my reaction, and then I realized that I needed to respond to the condescension. It was one of those times when you think the person is being nice and then you realize that the person is just being nice for themselves.

It reminded me of this quote:

"If you've come here to help me, please leave. If you've come here because your liberation is tied to my own, then let's work together."