DouglasKC, I commented at the bottom about Diamond's response to your comment #89.
Diamond, all of this is for you.
You want to talk about "
pneuma" vs
"psuche" .
The answer for
"psuche" and the different ways it is interpreted, was given in
comment #93
" 1. John's use of the emphatic demonstrative masculine pronoun ekeinos to refer to the Holy Spirit (in spite of the fact that pneuma is a neuter noun)"
You are referring to
John 16:7-15.
You also want to connect the "pronoun
ekeinos", which is also a adjective to "spirit" and actually INDICATES
the ownership of that spirit, God the Father.
Someone much more experienced than me, a retired air traffic controller, wrote very good dissertation on this years ago.
Here's
aan excerpt of that article:
The Greek Word For "He"
Many assume that the language of Christ (recorded by John) concerning the "Other Comforter" is referring to a third person of the Godhead.
Christ said, "Nevertheless I tell you the truth;It is expedient for you that I go away:
for if I go not away,the Comforter will not come unto you;
but if I depart,I will send him unto you.
"And when he is come,he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
"Of sin,because they believe not on me;
"Of righteousness,because I go to my Father,
"Of judgment,because the prince of this world is judged.
"I have yet many things to say unto you,but ye cannot bear them now.
"Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come,he will guide you into all truth:for he shall not speak of himself;
but whatsoever he shall hear,and he will show you things to come.
"He shall glorify me:for he shall receive of mine,and shall show it unto you.
"All things that the Father haththerefore said I,that he shall take of mine,
God the Father is masculine, not feminine.
Like the Latin languages, the Greek has gender.
In Spanish, "el" is masculine, while "la" is feminine.
Hence, "el techo" is masculine, for "the roof," and "la casa" is feminine for "the house."
The Greek word translated "he" in this lengthy passage is from "ekeinos."
Of this word, the exhaustive concordance says,"that one (or [neut.] thing); often intensified by the art.
Prefixed:--he, it, the other (same), selfsame, that (same, very), x their x them, they, this, those."
Notice carefully that "ekeinos" can just as easily be translated "it" as "he."
It can also be used to indicate "that one" or "that thing."
"He" in any language is a reflexive third-person pronoun, and can be applied in many, many ways.
In the Greek, it is "autos," and is used in the following ways:"her, it (self), one, the other, (mine) own, said ([self], the] same, ([him, my, thy]) self, [your] selves, she, that, their (s), them ([selves]), there [at, by, in, into, of, on, with], they, (these) things, this (man), those, together, very, which."(Strongs Exhaustive Concordance,Greek Dictionary, No. 846).
BECAUSE one or another of these two words ARE USED IN CONNECTION WITH the Holy Spirit WHICH ISSUES FORTH FROM the Father, they are used in the masculine "He" in the passages appearing in John 16.
However, notice, "For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear;but ye have received the Spirit of adoption,
"The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit,that WE ARE the children of God:
"And if children,then heirs;heirs of God,and joint-heirs with Christ;
if so be
The word "itself" comes from the Greek "autos," and is a reflexive pronoun.
It is quite appropriately translated "itself" in this passage.
Notice the awesome MEANING of these beautiful words!
When we receive the Holy Spirit of God following repentance, accepting the shed blood of Christ, water baptism, and the laying on of hands, we are begotten of God, the Father!
Our spiritual FATHER is the FATHER; the same Father to Whom Jesus prayed, and the Father to Whom He returned!
We are NOT the "children of the Holy Spirit," as if a third person of a triumvirate had begotten us, but the children of God, the Father.
Christ is the first begotten of the Father, and He is the FIRSTBORN among MANY brethren (1 Corinthians 15:23; Romans 8:29).
This clearly shows that being "born of God" means exactly what it says;that we are EVENTUALLY TO BE BORN AGAIN as a SPIRIT being, in the Divine Family of God!
The word "adoption" should be rendered "sonship," for it means much more than mere legal adoption.
It means becoming the actual begotten child; the BORN child of the parent!
Paul says this is why we cry "Abba," which means "FATHER."
Your human father is your literal, actual, real father,not some vague, shadowy, ghost-like "mister in between."
It was your FATHER whose life-giving seed united with your mother to produce YOU.
In like fashion, the life-giving HOLY SPIRIT OF THE FATHER unites with your human spirit (erroneously called "the soul" by most) Christ is now our elder Brother, for He was the FIRST begotten of the same Father!
Gods Holy Spirit witnesses with our human spirit that we are now the "children of God!"
There is no "third person" active in this scenario!
The Biblical Analogies For The Holy Spirit
Had the Bible been written in our day,
the analogies used to convey to our minds the truth about the Holy Spirit might have included electricity, radio and television waves, or nuclear energy.
Instead, the analogies used in the Bible are air, wind, light, power, and water!
NEVER is the Person of the Father, or the Person of the Son spoken of as being "poured out."
But notice,"And it shall come to pass afterward,that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh;and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,your old men shall dream dreams,your young men shall see visions:
"And also upon the servants
One pours water out of a vase.
Pouring is obvious reference to liquid, as water!
When Peter referred to this prophecy, the Holy Spirit had been manifested in at least four different ways;as a "roaring, mighty wind;"
as "fire,"
as the gift of speaking with foreign languages,
and as liquid, as if being "poured out!"
Notice what Luke wrote "And when the day of Pentecost was fully come,they were all with one accord in one place.
"And suddenly there came a sound from heavenas of a rushing mighty wind,
and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
"And there appeared unto them cloven [flickering flames, or "tongues" of fire, equally divided] tongues like as of fire,and it sat upon each of them.
"And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost,and began to speak with other tongues
[languages], as the Spirit gave them utterance.
"And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.
"Now when this was noised abroad,the multitude came together,and were confounded,because that every man heard them speak in his own language...
But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them,Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem,be this known unto you, and hearken to my words:
"For these are not drunken, as ye suppose,seeing it is but the third hour of the day.
"But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;
"And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God,I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh:and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,and your young men shall see visions,and your old men shall dream dreams:
"And on my servantsand on my handmaidensI will pour out in those days
Here, the Holy Spirit is analogous to sound, or noise; to water, to powerful wind, and to fire!
Water is the substance of LIFE!
Without water, there could be NO LIFE on earth.
You are mostly composed of water.
Baptism is a type of being "washed" free of sin by the power of the Holy Spirit!
Notice, "Husbands,love your wives,even as Christ also loved the church,
"That he might sanctify and cleanse it
The word of God "washes" the human mind free from sin, even as one washes dirty laundry.
Water, that greatest of all solvents over a period of time; that life-sustaining substance, is used as an analogy of Gods Holy Spirit.
When Peter had to learn that God was opening the way to salvation to the Gentiles,
he rehearsed how the house of Cornelius and other Gentiles had repented, and been begotten of God: "And as I began to speak,the Holy Spirit fell on them,as on us at the beginning.
"Then remembered Ithe word of the Lord,how that he said,John indeed baptized with water;but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.
"Forasmuch thenas God gave them the like giftas he did unto us,who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ;
what was I,
Expressions such as "falling upon," or "clothed with," or "poured out," or "baptized with" are used of the Holy Spiritin order to convey the invisible POWER of God;His mind, His purpose, His life-giving power; His nature; His Divine Character!
Notice that each Christian is said to be "begotten of the Holy Spirit!"
None of the adherents to the FALSE DOCTRINE of the Trinity
argues that the Father is anyone OTHER THAN the Father of Christ,the distinct FATHER of their so-called "Trinity!"
Then, notice what Christ said ABOUT our Father in heaven: "And when thou prayest,thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are:for they love to pray STANDING IN the synagogues and in the corners of the streets,that THEY MAY BE SEEN OF MEN.
Verily I say unto you,
"But thou, when thou prayest,enter into thy closet,and when thou hast SHUT THY DOOR, pray to thy Father
and thy Fatherwhich seeth IN SECRETshall reward thee OPENLY.
"But when ye pray,use NOT vain repetitions,
"Be not ye therefore like unto them:for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of,
"After this manner therefore pray ye:Our Father which art in heaven,
"Thy kingdom come.Thy will be done in earth,
By WHOM, or by what POWER were we begotten of God?
IF the Holy Spirit is a "PERSON" then each Christian is praying to the WRONG FATHER!
The Father is the Great God of the Divine Elohim, of Whom Christ said, "My Father is GREATER than I!"
Christ prayed to His Father.
We are to pray to the same Father!
Christ is said to have been like a "Replica," or the "stamped impress"; a perfect COPY of the Father!
He said, "If you have seen me, you have seen the Father."
Notice,"God, who at sundry times and in divers mannersspake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
"Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son,whom he hath appointed heir of all things,by whom also he made the worlds;
"Who being the brightness of his glory,and the express image of his person,
and upholding all thingsby the word of his power,
when he had by himselfsat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
"Being made so much better than the angels,as he hath by inheritanceobtained a more excellent name than they.
"For unto which of the angels said he at any time,Thou art my Son,this day have I begotten thee?
And again,I will be to him a Father,
Who said he had begotten Jesus Christ?
Why, the FATHER said this!
Then the SPIRITUAL AGENCY by which such a miracle occurred was that of the Holy Spirit!
NOT a "separate person" of the Godhead at all,but the life-giving POWER OF ALMIGHTY GOD THE FATHER!
Jesus Christ did NOT come to make His Father a darkened, incomprehensible MYSTERY!
Christ came to REVEAL the Father.
The FALSE doctrine of the trinity sees a CLOSED Godhead,
and DENIES that you or I CAN BECOME THE CHILDREN OF God the Father!
The "incomprehensible MYSTERY of the so-called "trinity" makes millions of people ASSUME"God" is unknowable; unapproachableexcept through ELABORATE RITUAL, "way off" somewhere in the blackness of space.
But Jesus Christ came to REVEAL God the Father;to EXPLAIN THE PURPOSE of life,and TO OFFER SALVATION TO ALL those who will BELIEVE what He said!
Christ cried out,"Why call ye me, Lord, Lord,and do NOT the things which I say?" (Luke 6:46).
Christ commanded,
The Gospel is the GOOD NEWS of the soon-coming world-ruling Kingdom of God!
The Gospel is the very BEST news you could ever hear!
Then to address your THIRD QUESTION:
"And you apparently think,and please correct me if I am wrong on this point,
that the Scripture"...who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? "in 1 Corinthians 2:11
is referring to demonic sprits(as you apparently stated in post #95). "
Not at all.
You comment at the bottom of
comment #94 "In scripture, as far as I can tell, man NEVER HAS a "spirit" OTHER THAN the one given to Christians....the holy spirit."
I was simply pointing out that the Bible has shown that
man HAS HAD OTHER KINDS of "spirits". But
I was NOT suggesting that demonic sprits are THE ONLY spirits in men.
After looking back at Comment #94, I went back to
comment #89and saw that the comment was actually made by
DouglasKC.
So I don't know WHAT you were trying to point out to him, on that subject.
After looking back at Comment #94, I went back to comment #89and saw that the comment was actually made by DouglasKC.
So I don't know WHAT you were trying to point out to him, on that subject. Yes, you are correct - my apologies for misattributing that post to you.
Someone much more experienced than me, a retired air traffic controller, wrote very good dissertation on this years ago. Here's aan excerpt of that article:
I read your lengthy excerpt and when I looked at the link I found that the article was written by the late, serial adulterer Garner Ted Armstrong. I prefer A.T. Robertson as a reliable enough source regarding ekeinos.
"Two passages in John call for a remark, inasmuch as they bear on the personality of the Holy Spirit. In 14:26...the relative ho follows the grammatical gender of pneuma. Ekeinos, however, skips over pneuma and reverts to the gender of parakletos. In 16:13 a more striking example occurs...Here one has to back six lines to ekeinos again and seven to parakletos. It is more evident therefore in this passage that John is insisting on the personality of the Holy Spirit, when the grammatical gender so easily called for ekeino. Cf. ho in Jo. 14:17,26 and auto in 14:17."
Source: A.T. Robertson, A Grammar of the Greek New Testament in Light of Historical Research (George H. Doran Co., NY, 1923, pp. 708-709)
Cordially,