The person of the Holy Spirit
6.5 John Webster – Theo 1313
There has always been a theology discussion about the person of the Holy Spirit. Some writers argued that the term “Spirit” designated an aspect of God’s work, not a distinct divine person of the Trinity, while others criticized the western approaches to the Trinity, which regards the Holy Spirit as proceeding from the Father and the Son. In the midst of these discussions, John Webster, wrote an important response on the distinctiveness of the Holy Spirit, arguing a possible way to conceive the role of the Holy Spirit within the western background ideas.
Webster starts his argument by stating that “There is a need to ensure a properly pluralist doctrine of the Trinity, one, that is, in which threeness is understood as fundamental to God’s unity”. First of all, it must be clear that the Christian belief in the Trinity is not the belief in three gods, but the belief in three people who participate in the divine nature of the full and integral God. It is the event of the peace of the divine life between Father, Son, and the Spirit. In addition, the notion of “person” as applied to God, is constituted in relationship and dialogue. God's relationship with his son was notorious from the baptism of Jesus and the person of the Holy Spirit who also was present at the time (Matthew 3:16 -17/Luke. 3:21 -22). Through Jesus Christ, we are allowed to get to know God, and to have a personal relationship with the creator.
Webster affirms that there are three areas of God’s actions, which are properly to be attributed to the Spirit. “First, the Spirit is the one who is sent out into the world through the church and who thus demonstrates that God’s life is a life open to the creation. One of the main functions of the Holy Spirit in the divine plan of redemption is to reveal and confirm God’s message to man. Without the work of the Spirit, it would not be possible for men to be saved. What man can learn from God through creation is important,
There has always been a theology discussion about the person of the Holy Spirit. Some writers argued that the term “Spirit” designated an aspect of God’s work, not a distinct divine person of the Trinity, while others criticized the western approaches to the Trinity, which regards the Holy Spirit as proceeding from the Father and the Son. In the midst of these discussions, John Webster, wrote an important response on the distinctiveness of the Holy Spirit, arguing a possible way to conceive the role of the Holy Spirit within the western background ideas.
Webster starts his argument by stating that “There is a need to ensure a properly pluralist doctrine of the Trinity, one, that is, in which threeness is understood as fundamental to God’s unity”. First of all, it must be clear that the Christian belief in the Trinity is not the belief in three gods, but the belief in three people who participate in the divine nature of the full and integral God. It is the event of the peace of the divine life between Father, Son, and the Spirit. In addition, the notion of “person” as applied to God, is constituted in relationship and dialogue. God's relationship with his son was notorious from the baptism of Jesus and the person of the Holy Spirit who also was present at the time (Matthew 3:16 -17/Luke. 3:21 -22). Through Jesus Christ, we are allowed to get to know God, and to have a personal relationship with the creator.
Webster affirms that there are three areas of God’s actions, which are properly to be attributed to the Spirit. “First, the Spirit is the one who is sent out into the world through the church and who thus demonstrates that God’s life is a life open to the creation. One of the main functions of the Holy Spirit in the divine plan of redemption is to reveal and confirm God’s message to man. Without the work of the Spirit, it would not be possible for men to be saved. What man can learn from God through creation is important,