The Holy Spirit:
Person or Force?
(A brief look at
The Shadow of the Almighty by
Witherington & Ice)
By Rand York+
Ben Witherington III & Laura Ice in their book The Shadow of the Almighty demonstrate
an understanding of the Holy Spirit that is Eastern Orthodox and Nicene. They
see the Spirit not as a force or an activity or as a relationship, but as a
Person: “The question of personhood becomes a pressing one when it comes to
dealing with the Holy Spirit, who has often been seen in [western] church
history and even today as a force or a power or a presence of God, but not as a
person of the Godhead…Nevertheless, there is indeed evidence in various parts
of the NT, particularly in the Fourth Gospel and in Paul, that the Spirit is
seen not merely as a power but as a person distinguishable from both the Father
and the Son” (pp. 101-102).
I have recently read a half dozen or so books on the
Holy Trinity by Roman Catholic, Scotch Calvinist, American Evangelical, Eastern
Orthodox, and Methodist writers (by “Methodist” I mean that they hail from
Asbury Seminary – specifically Ben Witherington III, Laura Ice, and Stephan
Seamands). Of these, only the Orthodox and the Methodists viewed the Holy
Spirit as a person. The rest all viewed the Holy Spirit as either a divine
force (as in “May the Force be with you”) or as the love binding God the Father
to God the Son. I found myself stunned that the personhood of the Holy Spirit has
been tossed aside by so many. It would appear in these last days that many
Christians are, when it comes right down to it, really no longer Trinitarian,
but Binarian in their theology. Many Orthodox theologians will tell us that
this is the unsurprising result of the addition of the filioque to the Nicene Creed (see my article on this).
Make no mistake. The Holy Spirit is from God and is God. It is the Holy Spirit who remains with us and in us until
Jesus returns. It is he who changes and
sanctifies us… “Burn holy flame until
the same heart that’s in you is burning in me” (Clay McLean).
This brings us to an additional consideration. We
speak of who the Holy Spirit is, but we must also speak of who we are. Witherington and Ice remind us
that we are not our own. We are made to be indwelt – to be possessed, if you
will. If we are not indwelt by the Holy
Spirit, we are an empty house vulnerable to invasion. Jesus put is this way: 24"When an
evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and
does not find it. Then it says, 'I will return to the house I left.' 25When
it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. 26Then
it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in
and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first"
(Luke 11:24-26).
We
will be indwelt, but by whom, and what is the
difference? Witherington and Ice answer, “The difference is that the Spirit
leads, guides, prompts, directs, and in general respects the personal identity
or integrity of the individual in which the Spirit dwells. The unclean spirit
by contrast coerces, dominates, takes over the control center of the person,
simply uses the person to its own ends, even uses the person as a mouthpiece to
speak its own words” (p. 109).
We will continue in this process of becoming or
unbecoming until we are completely whole or completely destroyed.
©2013
Rand York
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