says that to a certain extent, the Holy Spirit can be likened to electricity, " a force that can be adapted to perform a great variety of operations." ?
Is it just as human beings use electricity to accomplish a variety of purposes, so God uses the impersonal force known as the Holy Spirit to accomplish His purposes?
How could anyone trust impersonal force like that?
2007-10-07 14:38:25 · 10 answers · asked by Nina, BaC 7 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Yes (to the first question in bold). It is true that an illustration might liken holy spirit to electricity.
The publication mentioned in this question is found in its entirety on the official website of Jehovah's Witnesses. Here is the quote of interest to this questioner:
http://watchtower.org/e/ti/index.htm?article=article_07.htm
[quote]
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.
[unquote]
Does a person trust his finger? The bible teaches that the holy spirit is "God's finger" (and thus obviously is not a separate person).
...(Luke 11:20) If it is by means of God's finger I expel the demons, the kingdom of God has really overtaken you
...(Matthew 12:28) If it is by means of God’s spirit that I expel the demons, the kingdom of God has really overtaken you.
...(Exodus 8:16-19) Jehovah now said...: “...‘Stretch your rod out and strike the dust of the earth, and it must become gnats...’” ...Hence the magic-practicing priests said to Pharaoh: “It is the finger of God!”
Incidentally, scientists, engineers, and electricians have trusted electricity for over a hundred years. It seems disingenuous to pretend otherwise (see John 8:44).
Learn more:
http://watchtower.org/e/20020408/article_01.htm
2007-10-08 05:38:19 · answer #1 · answered by achtung_heiss 7 · 0⤊ 2⤋
I never read the Watchtower magazine, but I do read the Word of God. And the Holy Spirit is far more powerful than electricity or any other man-made force. The Holy Spirit can perform anything that God the Father desires for Him to perform. And if you do not trust the Holy Spirit of God, then you do not trust Jesus, or God the Father. For Jesus told us in the Word of God, that He, the Heavenly Father, and the Holy Spirit are one; called the Holy Trinity. (1John 5:7)
2007-10-07 22:12:23 · answer #2 · answered by Calvin S 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I'm just Curious:
If Jehovah's Witnesses don't have the True Religion then Who DOES ?
p.s. If NOT Loving a God Because you don't think that the Doctrine of the Trinity is Reasonable; Resulting in a Person BURNING FOREVER in Hell Isn't IMPERSONAL then I don't Know What is !
I MEAN if that Isn't a IMPERSONAL God that I wouldn't TRUST then I don't Know what is !
2007-10-08 19:13:33 · answer #3 · answered by Bye-Bye 4 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Holy Spirit is not like electricity.
The Holy Spirit is the love between God the Father and God the Son. They are both pure sacrificial love, giving themselves to each other, this love between them is so intense it is another person...the Holy Spirit.
2007-10-07 21:54:03 · answer #4 · answered by Misty 7 · 3⤊ 1⤋
In the King James version which they say they use it reads 1st. John 5:7 for there are three that bare witnes in heaven the Father, the word [Jesus] & the Holy Spirit & these three are one. God said it, that settles it, & I believe it. Amen!!!!!!!!!!!!
2007-10-07 21:51:38 · answer #5 · answered by GREGORIOUSITY 5 · 2⤊ 1⤋
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. 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 1Â 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 2Â 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.
No Part of a Trinity
VARIOUS sources acknowledge that the Bible does not support the idea that the holy spirit is the third person of a Trinity. For example:
The Catholic Encyclopedia: “Nowhere in the Old Testament do we find any clear indication of a Third Person.”
Catholic theologian Fortman: “The Jews never regarded the spirit as a person; nor is there any solid evidence that any Old Testament writer held this view. . . . The Holy Spirit is usually presented in the Synoptics [Gospels] and in Acts as a divine force or power.”
The New Catholic Encyclopedia: “The O[ld] T[estament] clearly does not envisage God’s spirit as a person . . . 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 says: “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.”—Italics ours.
A Catholic Dictionary: “On the whole, the New Testament, like the Old, speaks of the spirit as a divine energy or power.”
Hence, neither the Jews nor the early Christians viewed the holy spirit as part of a Trinity. That teaching came centuries later. As A Catholic Dictionary notes: “The third Person was asserted at a Council of Alexandria in 362 . . . and finally by the Council of Constantinople of 381”—some three and a half centuries after holy spirit filled the disciples at Pentecost!
No, the holy spirit is not a person and it is not part of a Trinity. The holy spirit is God’s active force that he uses to accomplish his will. It is not equal to God but is always at his disposition and subordinate to him.
2007-10-07 23:52:41 · answer #6 · answered by amorromantico02 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
You would be better off reading the Bible for yourself. I always trash those watchtower booklets.
2007-10-07 21:44:24 · answer #7 · answered by nowyouknow 7 · 3⤊ 1⤋
How can anyone who believes in the Bible accept this teaching?? Yikes.......
2007-10-08 16:52:23 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
That 'impersonal force' is not directing itself.
Do you 'trust' electricity?
Of its own volition, it is not going to attack you.
But then again, you know what damage it can do and so do not poke your finger into a light or power socket.
2007-10-07 21:45:08 · answer #9 · answered by pugjw9896 7 · 1⤊ 5⤋
there is no telling what those things say...I think Stan Lee is writing them now
2007-10-07 21:41:42 · answer #10 · answered by Robert K 5 · 2⤊ 1⤋