Can any Jehovah witness prove the Holy Spirit is just a force?

Question

Yes people can prove things.

It seems the bible says the Holy Spirit is a person. The JW at work was unable to answer my question.

those verses do not prove the Holy Spirit is an active force.

Answer 1

First of all there is not a verse that directly says the Holy Spirit is a force.
Frequently JWs like to use the verses that talk of the Holy Sprit filling a person and saying that shows the HS is an antive force.
By that logic, then demon's or evil spirits are not persons since they can posess/fill a person.

Jws are confusing person with physical bodies
The HS is frequently seen as haveing attributes of a person.
The HS is referred to as a comforter, and also can be greived.

You can't greive a force

The end of Matthew has "in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit." Notice its not the names, but singular "name"
Now how do you come in the name of an active force? you can not.

email me if you wish

Answer 2

"possess" and "fill" are two different words with distinctly different meanings. To possess is to control. To fill is to fill. and "be contained by" or, controlled by. All accounts of demon possession are of a spirit creature controlling a human person or an animal. The holy spirit has never been described as controlling any human. Where is free will if this is true? Jesus had to undergo his torment voluntarily in order for it to be valid. He was filled with Holy Sprit throughout his ministry. If he had been controlled by it during his torment, that would have invalidated his entire sacrifice. Holy spirit would never be "put into" anyone who could not be trusted with it. A person may control another, a spirit "force" may influence but does not control.

BIG, very BIG difference between demon possession and being filled with Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is NOT a person.

Oh yes! And persons have names. Holy spirit has no name.

Answer 3

Nowhere in the Bible is the holy spirit mentioned with God and Christ as being equal to them. For instance, on the occasion of Jesus’ baptism, Mark 1:10 shows that the holy spirit came down upon Jesus “like a dove,” not in a human form. The holy spirit was not some person coming upon Jesus but was God’s active force. That power from God enabled Jesus to heal the sick and resurrect the dead. As Luke 5:17 says in the Diaglott: “The Mighty Power of the Lord [God] was on him [Jesus] to cure.” Later, at Pentecost, the apostles also were given the power from God to heal the sick and raise the dead. Did that make them part of some “godhead”? No, they were simply given power from God, through Christ, to do what humans ordinarily could not do.

That same active force is mentioned at Ephesians 5:18, where Paul counsels: “Keep getting filled with spirit.” Similarly, Acts 7:55 says that Stephen was “full of holy spirit.” And at Pentecost, the followers of Jesus “all became filled with holy spirit.” (Acts 2:4) Can a human get filled with another person? No, but he can get filled with the power that comes from God. That holy spirit is the same force that God used to create the universe. As Genesis 1:2 says: “God’s active force was moving to and fro over the surface of the waters.”

After Jesus was resurrected, Stephen had a vision of heaven and “caught sight of God’s glory and of Jesus standing at God’s right hand.” (Acts 7:55) Thus, two separate persons were in evidence in heaven: (1) God and (2) the resurrected Jesus Christ. No holy spirit is mentioned in this vision because it was not any third person of a Trinity. The holy spirit, being God’s active force, would proceed from God but not as a separate being. That is why Stephen saw only two persons, not three.

Regarding the holy spirit, the New Catholic Encyclopedia admits: “The O[ld] T[estament] clearly does not envisage God’s spirit as a person, neither in the strictly philosophical sense, nor in the Semitic sense. God’s spirit is simply God’s power. If it is sometimes represented as being distinct from God, it is because the breath of Yahweh acts exteriorly.” It also states: “The majority of N[ew] T[estament] texts reveal God’s spirit as something, not someone; this is especially seen in the parallelism between the spirit and the power of God.”

Answer 4

Well, let's reason on this for a moment.

In the Hebrew Scriptures, or the “Old Testament,” there are references to the “holy spirit” and to “my [God’s] spirit.” (Psalm 51:11; Joel 2:28, 29) We read that the holy spirit can fill a person, come upon him, and envelop him. (Exodus 31:3; Judges 3:10; 6:34) Some of God’s holy spirit can be taken from one person and given to another. (Numbers 11:17, 25) The holy spirit can become operative upon someone, enabling him to perform superhuman feats.—Judges 14:6; 1 Samuel 10:6.

What can reasonably be concluded from such statements? Surely not that the holy spirit is a person. How can a portion of a person be taken from one individual and be given to another? That makes no sense. There is no evidence that when Jesus was on earth, faithful Jews viewed the holy spirit as a person equal to the Father. They certainly did not worship the holy spirit. Rather, their worship was directed solely to Jehovah, the One whom Jesus himself called “my Father” and “my God.”—John 20:17.

Like the so-called Old Testament, the part of the Bible called the Christian Greek Scriptures, or “New Testament,” says that the holy spirit can ‘fill’ a person or be “upon” him. (Acts 2:4; Luke 2:25-27) Holy spirit was ‘given,’ ‘poured out upon,’ and ‘distributed.’ (Luke 11:13; Acts 10:45; Hebrews 2:4) At Pentecost 33 C.E., the disciples received “some of” God’s spirit. (Acts 2:17) The Scriptures also speak of baptism with holy spirit and of anointing with it.—Matthew 3:11; Acts 1:5; 10:38.

Such Biblical statements prove that the holy spirit is not a person. This conclusion is confirmed when we see that the holy spirit is listed with other impersonal things. For instance, the Bible states that Stephen was “full of faith and holy spirit.” (Acts 6:5) And the apostle Paul recommended himself as God’s minister “by purity, by knowledge, by long-suffering, by kindness, by holy spirit, by love free from hypocrisy.”—2 Corinthians 6:4-6.

Also, in the Bible, the holy spirit does not have a personal name. Names are important in the Bible. God stressed the importance of his own name when he said: “I am Jehovah. That is my name; and to no one else shall I give my own glory, neither my praise to graven images.” (Isaiah 42:8) The importance of Jesus Christ’s name was emphasized before his birth when an angel told Mary: “You are to call his name Jesus.” (Luke 1:31) If the names of the Father and of the Son are so important, why does the holy spirit not have a personal name?

Maybe the reason Jehovah's Witnesses have not been able to prove to you that the Holy Spirit is an active force is because you have convinced yourself otherwise. The apostle Paul wrote: “If, now, the good news we declare is in fact veiled, it is veiled among those who are perishing, among whom the god of this system of things has blinded the minds of the unbelievers.” (2 Corinthians 4:3, 4) Satan is the god of this system of things. In addition to Satan’s efforts to conceal Bible truths, many people veil their own faces because they do not want to see.
The figurative eyes of many are blinded by ignorance.
For many, spiritual vision is obstructed because they are unteachable and rigid in their views.Others are blinded by wishful thinking. Many churchgoers are blinded by tradition.
If you just want to argue, there is no point in that, but if you really want to understand, pray about it with a sincere heart, and then, see what happens. Maybe the holy spirit will help you to understand.

Answer 5

These Scriptures show that the Holy Spirit (God's active force) "filled" people. One person cannot fill another.

(Luke 1:41) Elizabeth was filled with holy spirit

(Luke 1:15) [John the Baptist] will be filled with holy spirit right from his mother's womb

(Luke 1:67) Zechariah its father was filled with holy spirit

(Acts 2:4) They all became filled with holy spirit

(Acts 4:8) Peter, filled with holy spirit

Answer 6

An Active Force

THE Bible’s use of “holy spirit” indicates that it is a controlled force that Jehovah God uses to accomplish a variety of his purposes. To a certain extent, it can be likened to electricity, a force that can be adapted to perform a great variety of operations.

At Genesis 1:2 the Bible states that “God’s active force [“spirit” (Hebrew, ru′ach)] was moving to and fro over the surface of the waters.” Here, God’s spirit was his active force working to shape the earth.

God uses his spirit to enlighten those who serve him. David prayed: “Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. Your spirit [ru′ach] is good; may it lead me in the land of uprightness.” (Psalm 143:10) When 70 capable men were appointed to help Moses, God said to him: “I shall have to take away some of the spirit [ru′ach] that is upon you and place it upon them.”—Numbers 11:17.

Bible prophecy was recorded when men of God were “borne along by holy spirit [Greek, from pneu′ma].” (2 Peter 1:20, 21) In this way the Bible was “inspired of God,” the Greek word for which is The·o′pneu·stos, meaning “God-breathed.” (2 Timothy 3:16) And holy spirit guided certain people to see visions or to have prophetic dreams.—2 Samuel 23:2; Joel 2:28, 29; Luke 1:67; Acts 1:16; 2:32, 33.

The holy spirit impelled Jesus to go into the wilderness after his baptism. (Mark 1:12) The spirit was like a fire within God’s servants, causing them to be energized by that force. And it enabled them to speak out boldly and courageously.—Micah 3:8; Acts 7:55-60; 18:25; Romans 12:11; 1 Thessalonians 5:19.

By his spirit, God carries out his judgments on men and nations. (Isaiah 30:27, 28; 59:18, 19) And God’s spirit can reach everywhere, acting for people or against them.—Psalm 139:7-12.

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Dan O speaks from a clear lack of understanding. For one thing, in the very first book of the Bible, in the second verse of the Bible, it says: "Now the earth proved to be formless and waste and there was darkness upon the surface of (the) watery deep; and God's active force was moving to and fro over the surface of the waters." - That active force is exactly what the "holy spirit" is.

The holy spirit is NOT a person or being. Note the following:

Not a Person

ARE there not, however, Bible verses that speak of the holy spirit in personal terms? Yes, but note what Catholic theologian Edmund Fortman says about this in The Triune God: “Although this spirit is often described in personal terms, it seems quite clear that the sacred writers [of the Hebrew Scriptures] never conceived or presented this spirit as a distinct person.”

In the Scriptures it is not unusual for something to be personified. Wisdom is said to have children. (Luke 7:35) Sin and death are called kings. (Romans 5:14, 21) At Genesis 4:7 The New English Bible (NE) says: “Sin is a demon crouching at the door,” personifying sin as a wicked spirit crouching at Cain’s door. But, of course, sin is not a spirit person; nor does personifying the holy spirit make it a spirit person.

Similarly, at 1 John 5:6-8 (NE) not only the spirit but also “the water, and the blood” are said to be “witnesses.” But water and blood are obviously not persons, and neither is the holy spirit a person.

In harmony with this is the Bible’s general usage of “holy spirit” in an impersonal way, such as paralleling it with water and fire. (Matthew 3:11; Mark 1:8) People are urged to become filled with holy spirit instead of with wine. (Ephesians 5:18) They are spoken of as being filled with holy spirit in the same way they are filled with such qualities as wisdom, faith, and joy. (Acts 6:3; 11:24; 13:52) And at 2 Corinthians 6:6 holy spirit is included among a number of qualities. Such expressions would not be so common if the holy spirit were actually a person.

Then, too, while some Bible texts say that the spirit speaks, other texts show that this was actually done through humans or angels. (Matthew 10:19, 20; Acts 4:24, 25; 28:25; Hebrews 2:2) The action of the spirit in such instances is like that of radio waves transmitting messages from one person to another far away.

At Matthew 28:19 reference is made to “the name . . . of the holy spirit.” But the word “name” does not always mean a personal name, either in Greek or in English. When we say “in the name of the law,” we are not referring to a person. We mean that which the law stands for, its authority. Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament says: “The use of name (onoma) here is a common one in the Septuagint and the papyri for power or authority.” So baptism ‘in the name of the holy spirit’ recognizes the authority of the spirit, that it is from God and functions by divine will.

Answer 7

The Bible indicates that the Holy Spirit is God ... not just a force.

Cordially,
John

Answer 8

It was poured out on 120 disciples in the upper room, how could it be a person when it is a force that was used to created the earth. shell

Answer 9

How can you "see" love? Isn't that a force? Prove love and how it magnifies people together and you'll understand the holy spirit. otherwise, this isn't much of a question.

Answer 10

I think that the bible is very open to interpretation. If you take one bible verse all the different religions would put a different spin on it.