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Session 4 – Spirit and Scripture

Overview

• Think about the Holy Spirit– Ways in which the Church has described the

Spirit– Look for the work of the Spirit in our lives

and in our worship• Look at the key working of the Holy

Spirit in Scripture– Look briefly at an Introduction to the New

Testament– Encourage you to look critically at Scripture

working within you.

Holy Spirit

• In Greek: πνεύμα - pneuma– Think of pneumatic tyres– Speaks of breath and air

• In older translations, this airy lightness led to the BCP/AV translation of Holy Ghost

• Also in other parts of scripture described as a “helper/comforter” παράκλητος

• Features in OT literature as “Wisdom” and as רוח הקודש Ruah haqodesh; the breath of God (cf Genesis 1:1)

Gender

• We have identified that God has all genders and none

• In English, we need pronouns– He, she etc.

• Wisdom, רוח הקודש; are feminine• Παράκλητος is masculine• I sometimes playfully therefore refer to the

Holy Spirit as she just to ensure that patriarchy does not dominate our religious language.

• When speaking God, the Other, I do not think it that important!

Holy Spirit

• Turn to Acts 2:1-13• Watch this:

How can the Spirit transform your worship,

your church, your life lived in Christ like the first

apostles?

How can we become a Pentecost people?

Holy Scripture

• All Christians hold the bible to be at the heart of our faith

• …but we must be careful that it does not become our faith in itself

• Some appear to worship their bibles more than they worship their God– Not idolatory but bibliolatory!

Holy Scripture

• “All Scripture is God-Breathed”– 2 Timothy 3:16– Note that Paul was referring only to the OT

and not the yet unwritten NT!

• Inspired, but ultimately written by humans

• Subject to perspectives, different emphasis, agendas, party influences

• None the worse for that!

NT Canon• A Canon is a list of books seen as Authoritative

– Also implies the exclusion of books not seen as orthodox

• OT Canon not settled until long after Christ• NT Canon slowly formed in response to

schisms and doctrinal disputes• Not fully settled until an Ecumenical Council

defined them finally in 382 AD• Even today, there are some books accepted by

some parts of the Church which others do not accept

Timing of the NT

• Epistles of Paul – 49-60 AD– 1 Thessalonians is thought to be

earliest

• Mark – 70 AD• Matthew – 85 AD• Luke/Acts – 85-95 AD• John – 90-100 AD• Revelation – 120 AD

Pseudagraphica

• A member of a School of thought would often claim to be the key person of that school

• So some books claiming to be by some author may have been a product of that school rather than the person itself

• Continuing the oral tradition• Is this a problem?

Matthew

• Who?– By tradition the tax collector (Mt 9:9; 10:3)– Not backed up by any scholarship or evidence– Does this matter?

• Where?– In an urban setting– Written for Jewish Christians– Possibly: Alexandia, Caesarea, Antioch (first

cited by Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch 115AD)

Matthew

• When?– 85-90AD

• Why?– To show Jesus as the rightful Messiah of

the Jews– To show fulfilment of Scripture– To draw together the Narrative oral

tradition and the Teaching Document: Q

Mark• Who?

– By Tradition the Young man in the Garden (Mk 14:51-52)

– Possibly John Mark in Acts 12:25

• Where?– Written for Gentiles, possibly in Rome

• When?– Earliest Gospel – post 70 AD fall of Jerusalem

• Why?– To convey the core essential oral narrative in times

of great persecution after the 66-70 AD Jewish War

Luke / Acts

• Who?– By tradition, Luke the Physician, a

companion of Paul (Col 4:14; 2 Tim 4:11)

– Does not appear to share the same doctrinal space as Paul

– Sophisticated, second generation diaspora Jew

Luke / Acts

• When?– After Mark, and possibly after Matthew,

around AD 90

• Where?– Not in Palestine– Theophilus may be just a literary device (it

means lover of God)

• Why?– As in the prologue, so that many (in the

diaspora) may “know the truth” by an “orderly account”

John

• Nothing like the others• Who?

– Traditions says John the Son of Zebedee– Probably the same author as 1 John– Possibly the John the Elder who wrote 2

John and 3 John– Definitely not the Author of Revelation

John

• Where?– Tradition says Ephesus– More likely within a Johannine Community,

possibly in Syria much like the one which left behind the Nag Hammurabi documents

• When?– Late, possibly around 100 AD for a Hellenist

readership• Why?

– To explore the philosophical meaning of Christ in the context of his life

This week’s film:

The Shawshan

k Redemption (1994)

For reflection

• Have we let the Spirit loose in our lives?

• What will the happen to our Church if we let the Spirit loose?

• How can we best read, mark, learn and inwardly digest the Holy Scriptures.

Amen