The name of Holy Spirit


Onnyx : Slay the Dragon (Through the Spirit)

God has a personal name. God’s Son has a personal name. The Holy Spirit has a personal name. This much should be obvious. The meaning of God's name is described within the Bible as I Am. The meaning of the Son’s name is described in the Bible as The Savior. Understanding the relationship of the Father and Son depends on understanding their names and the meaning of those names. So, what is the personal name of the Spirit and what does it mean, and does this matter?

I found 1 John 4:6 to be the closest to a specific statement about what the name of the Holy Spirit is, and also whether it matters.

We are from God; the person who knows God listens to us, but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of deceit.
(1 John 4:6 — New English Translation)

In 1 John 4:6, we see English the word truth associated with the Holy Spirit, and especially contrasted against the word deceit. While the English word truth is a close match for the meaning, If you take this Greek word (ἀλήθεια : al-ay'-thi-yah) to be naming the Spirit as well as describing the Spirit, It might open the Scriptures up. This is especially true in the Gospel and letters of John. Also, here John describes that other spirits exist, so being able to discern the Holy Spirit from false spirits becomes essential.


The name of the Spirit in the Gospel of John

If we take the word ἀλήθεια to be a proper name for the Holy Spirit, it strengthens the Bible in many ways. I am proposing this as an idea to be considered. I haven't looked for any final destinations that lead to traps of theology. This idea was revealed to me through prayer and topical research many years ago, and it has been a backbone of my faith through difficult times. When I search briefly for affirmations of the Name of the Spirit by scholars, I see none, so there is likely a fundamental flaw in this idea. After years of holding it quietly, this morning I was lead to share this, to seek feedback.

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
(John 1:14 — KJV)

If you take the word truth to be the name of the Spirit in this verse, it suddenly becomes an affirmation of the trinity, and a more complete statement that the gift of the grace by the father through the son brings the indwelling of the spirit. <\p>

But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
(John 4:23-24 — KJV)

Here, the verse seems to be naming the spirit as you read above in 1 John 4:6. This verse also affirms the word is being used as a proper name of the Holy Spirit.

You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
(John 8:32 — KJV)

In this verse, It becomes clear that Truth is a name. If truth is not a proper name, then this verse taken at its meaning is in conflict with much of the rest of the bible, since truth alone sets noone free. When you read this verse as the name of the spirit, then the verse is in harmony and this verse is as powerful as John 3:16.

... The devil ... was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
(John 8:44 — KJV)

Here we see evidence that Truth is the spirit through the description of being inside and the evidence that lies are not of the spirit.

Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all.
(John 18:37-38 — KJV)

In this last mention of the word ἀλήθεια in the Gospel of John, the complete meaning of the section is so much more clear when the word is translated into a proper name for the Spirit.


I'm using the King James Version here only because my only real way to get at the Greek words in the new testament are through a program that can search by Strongs Greek reference numbers, and the text I have access to with strongs encoding is the King James Version. As always, I strongly encourage reading these references in their complete original sections in multiple modern versions to fully appreciate the implications I suggest in the next few lines.

Giving

In the US, few relevant top scientists believe in Intelligent Design


The title, if accurate, says much about the state of education in the United States, and not much about the state of Intelligent Design. From the dawn of the Renaissance to the first half of the 20th century a "top scientist" was one who achieved something like developing radio from a problem affecting electrical transmission into a new industry (Tesla).

In the first part of the 21st century, "Top Scientist", as described here, is someone who has good grammar, and knows how to network. Professional courtesy and considering others ideas has given way to professional jealousy and picking on others motivations rather than ideas. This is very much part of a cycle of education that fits into a larger cycle of civilizations. The implications for the future are unsettling.

Science is supposed to be about dangerous ideas. A law of science does not come to be by using politics. It needs really tough challenges to support it. The world was in fact flat for most of the history of the planet, while the idea of a spherical planet was developed under the school of Pythagoras as scientists listened to travelers from Africa tell of another region where the stars circled around far away to the south. That idea was dangerous. It was heresy against established facts. It took 2000 years before the idea was considered fact. When Magellan returned with claims of a circumnavigation, only then did the institutions start allowing for another idea.

Science is supposed to point out the fallacies of today's common knowledge. Science is supposed to ask the really obvious questions that break the framework. There will always be those whose beliefs and reputations are on the line. There are always going to be those who get ruffled feathers when those obvious questions are asked. When we talk about this article, how does it fit in to the cycle of understanding? Or has American Education become a stoic institution with all it's eggheads in a single basket?

In his time, Galileo was considered a heretic for observing what we now see as very very obvious things that nobody else was willing to point out: Venus seems to circle the Sun, not Earth, etc. Anyone interested could see those things from the dawn of history just by looking up, but nobody dared apply them to real science because the implications upset the balance of science as it was understood. Instead of considering what is now obvious, there were really complex solutions to the Venus and Mars planetary motion conundrums proposed for millenia.

Today, almost nobody remembers who led the charge against Galileo. History records only the top scientists.

Created - Evolved - Designed

DH:
Had theistic evolution been true (in the sense of humans being descended from sub-human primate mammals, but all supervised somehow by God), this would imply that God approved of fornication, even though the Law later given through Moses forbids adultery.
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MH:
You are assuming that the behavior of animals today hasn't changed in the millennia since evolution and/or creation occurred. Since that's the whole point of evolution, I'd prefer to disprove it without having to ignore it completely. Fro...m what I can tell, God provides a 50/50 gender split in every species. There is nothing preventing monogamous relationships in any species I'm aware of. That is, no species on Earth needs an adulterous/fornicative relationship to pro-create. If you believe that the object of sex is to improve chances of survival by mixing up DNA, then why hasn't a more robust method of procreation evolved? A 4 way mixing would lead to quicker evolution. Especially in the "lower" animals (fishes/insects/amphibians) where 'sex' occurs outside the body, you'd think that allowing more than 1 pairing of DNA would have evolved, since by the rules of evolution it should have been the 'stronger'. Where is it? The theory of evolution loses steam when you start looking at what it should have produced instead of trying to piece together God's quilt in series instead of in parallel.

As to the point of saying that because some animals fornicate today means that God didn't use evolution eons ago... If the deceiver was able to get to man, isn't it possible he also corrupted other creations in the earth? Is there any proof of fornication prior to the creation of man in the written or natural histories that I've missed? I'm not saying this is the case, just that it's a possibility.
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DH:
@Michael: Very helpful contribution to the discussion. What you are saying is in effect that non-monogamous sexual relationships in mammals may be a result of the Fall, and thereby part of the "groaning of all creation" which Paul refers t...o in Romans 8. This is an interesting idea that I had not thought of before. Yet to state it in these terms does also militate against Evolutionism as a species of Philosophical Naturalism. The judgment following man's disobedience had far wider effects than most naturalists assume as a working hypothesis, even Christians who study the natural sciences.
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MH:
There's a difference between suggestion and evidence. The points about fornication in other species being either evolved or fallen behavior are suggestion, not fact. Without time travel, there will be no evidence to prove or disprove it. It's a matter of faith either way.

I do see universal evidence today which supports an original design of 1 male:1 female in all the animals on earth. "Natural selection" does not allow for such wasteful creations like 50% male births in walruses if only ~2% (*) of male walruses ever procreate. If Darwin had it right, then the birth rates of males in walruses should have dropped eons ago. The fact that males are born 50% of the time seems to be evidence against natural selection and evidence for an intelligent design that originally planned a 1:1 relationship for all creation, even where it wasn't necessary for the survival of the species. When you look at all the facts, the leap of faith that says the social behavior of walruses doesn't match their design is much smaller than the leap of faith that says there is some "natural selection" reason for the 48% of the population which has nothing to do with survival. The Law of Moses is confirming evidence that there is a reason for the unscientific birth rates in mammals.

(*) My 2% statement here is purely a guess based on public television shows. It should be verified if it's going to be repeated.

When you start talking about Man being an 'evolved' creature (with or without design involved) vs. built from clay on day 6, You get into the realm where again, without a time machine, you'll never be able to convince everyone. It is important to point out the leaps of faith that 'evolution' requires are much much larger than the leaps of faith that 'creationism' requires.

To me: I find it entirely possible that God 'created' all the history that was scientifically required for man to exist in the blink of his eye. As He knew the hairs on your head before he made you, God lives outside time, and trying to understand 'creation' from inside time is going to be incomplete in any form we can grasp it. That is, in one (second, minute, hour, day, eon, other time period), He made the world which had evolved for eons up to the point of dinosaurs living up to today. And then, in another (blink of his eye,) 65 million years ago there was a huge asteroid which wiped out the dinosaurs, and all the events required to make man in the likeness of God. None of it happened, it was just what was required for man to exist. God made it already completed, already done. To better explain the difference between the earth being the result of the Big Bang or Creation: Pretend time machines existed and you set the destination for 67 million BC: If the big bang theory is correct you'll open your door and see T-Rex. If creation is correct, you're going to run into a huge brick wall about 6500 BC and discover all the stuff before that is an image, and not history. However, from here (6500 years or so into the creation), looking back you will never be able to see the wall. To all of us inside the event, created history is the same as transpired history, and arguing about which is REALLY correct is just over thinking it. Does it really matter if dinosaurs actually roamed the earth or the earth was made with the history of dinosaurs in it?

Last Instruction

Music: GO!
The very last instruction from Jesus recorded by Matthew, Mark, and John record in their writings agree. Luke recorded the same instruction at the end of his Gospel, but then wrote another book describing who and how that instruction was followed in the early days of the movement (which includes later instructions from Jesus about how to carry out the Commision he gave us.) 

Since John separated the Gospel from the Revelation, it is very important to note that he placed this "Last Instruction of Christ" at the end of Revelation, and not at the end of the Gospel.  Why do you think the words of John that most closely resemble The Great Commission come at the end of the Revelation and not at the end of His Gospel? 

Point is:  Every nay-say, doomsday, holier-than-thou interpretation taken from the New Testament is FOLLOWED by the Great Commission. That fact that Christ's commission occurs at the very END of each Gospel author's words must be recognized as important.  That is, Jesus revealed things about the end times, and THEN told us what to do about it. 


Clearly the Last Instruction Jesus gave us is a response to the prophetic words as much or more than it is part of the Gospel. Even if... no... Especially if all the predictions you see in Matthew 24 and Revelations can be applied to events you see around you today, The Last Instruction from Christ still applies today and to the end.

"Go!" -Jesus  (Matthew 28:19)
"Go!" - Jesus (Mark 16:15)
"Go!" (*) - Jesus (Luke 24:47)
"Come!" - Jesus, IAM, The Spirit & the bride (Revelation 22:16-17)

(*) - the word in Luke is more closely 'Proclaim' but carried in the first century the definite sense of not just speaking in a room, but getting out there, movement from her to another point and making noise.

Music: The Power Of Prayer (Billy Fonfrel)
4 Loving what the world has is the same as hating God You should know that, [but] you want only what will give you pleasure. 3 You people are not faithful to God! Your motives are all wrong, so when you ask, you don't get it. 2 You wouldn't even think of asking God for it, would you? You want what isn't yours and will risk violence to get your hands on it. You lust for what you don't have and are willing to kill to get it. 1 [These] selfish desires make war inside you. So, tell me, where do your fights and arguments come from? James 4:4->1 (ERV) James 4:3 (NLT) James 4:2 (The Message) James 4:1 (ERV)

How To Love

How To Love (Sam FranjiONE)
Love will never end.
It never quits,
It Never loses hope,
Love never stops trusting.

Love never gives up on people.
Love is always happy with the truth.
It is never happy when others do wrong,
But Love does not remember wrongs done against it.

Love cannot be made angry easily.
It is not selfish. Love is not rude.
It does not brag. Love is not jealous.
Instead, Love is patient and kind.

If I don’t have love, I gain nothing by doing all this:
I may give away everything I have to help others, and
I may even give my body as an offering to be burned.
But even with all this, if I don’t have love, I am nothing.
1 Corinthians 13:8->3 (ERV)
... And they'll know we are Christians by our love. Don't take that lightly. Each and every day we have opportunities to be Jesus to others.

Eggs in a Basket

Music : Aaron Tomberlin - It is Enough
Ecclesiasties 11:6-2
7 [Consider:] The light is sweet, and it is good for the eyes to see the sun.
6 So begin planting early in the morning, and don’t stop working until evening.
You don’t know what might make you rich. Maybe everything you do will be successful.
5 God made everything, and you can no more understand what he does than you understand how new life begins in a pregnant woman.
4 He who is watching the wind will not get the seed planted, and he who is looking at the clouds will not get in the grain.
3 If the clouds are full of rain, they will empty themselves on the earth,
and whether a tree falls to the south or to the north, the tree will lie wherever it falls.
[So,]
2 Invest what you have in several different things. You don’t know what bad things might happen on earth.
Sources
7 AB (Apostle's Bible)
6 ERV
5 TEV
4 BBE
3 NET
2 ERV
Remember in your sowing that it is God's plan that you have more than one egg basket to keep.

Can't Buy Me Love

Music : The Beatles - Can't Buy Me Love

Simon saw that the Spirit was given to the Samaritans when the apostles placed their hands on them. So he offered Peter and John money and said, "Give me this power so that anyone I place my hands on will receive the Holy Spirit." Peter told Simon, "May your money be destroyed with you because you thought you could buy God's gift.
Acts 8:18-20 (God's Word to the Nations)

Giving (MONEY) with expectation is not giving. God cannot be mocked or fooled, what you 'sow' is exactly what you will reap. (Galations 6:6 paraphrased) If you're able to give cash into the kingdom, that's wonderful. If putting cash into the kingdom is you're idea of 'sowing' (planting seeds with the expectation of returns of the same kind... ) you may reap cash, but the price of that cash is quite high. If you keep books on God, then you haven't 'given' at all, and fall into the same category as Simon above, trying to buy your stairway.

Me? I'll keep sowing God's Word with the expectation that it (God's Word) takes root in the souls God places in my path. My harvest will be joy at the resurrection for the souls that stay out of the lake of fire.

If you can give out of worship and thanks, and most especially without any expectations on returns or later benefits: you've got it. Live with the spirit "give, and it will be given to you"--understanding that "to give" means to let go completely. No expectations of great returns or rewards or rank or crowns. Give means to let go.

Please, let go.

Saving Grace

Music: InterTwind - Save Me





Psalm 119:94-89 .ל (Lamed)

94 Save me, because I belong to you.

93 Because you give me new life, I won't ever forget your teachings.

92 I would have died from my sufferings if I had not loved your teachings.

91 All [the whole universe] are Your servants; therefore they continue this day according to Your ordinances.

90 You have set earth in order, and it stands. To generation after generation your faithfulness lasts.

89 LORD, thy Word dwells in Heaven without end. (Lord, thi word dwellith in heuene; with outen ende.)


Verse List:
94 New International Readers Version
93 Contemporary English Version
92 New Century Version
91 The Amplified Bible
90 The Bible in Living English
89 The John Purvey revision of the Wycliffe Bible

Sowing the Light

Music: Chris Rice - Go Light Your World
Galations 6:10-->4 from various versions

10 When we have the opportunity to help anyone, we should do it. But we should give special attention to those who are in the family of believers

9b At the right time we will harvest a good crop if we don't give up, or quit.

9a So let's not allow ourselves to get fatigued doing good.

8b [Some people] plant to please the Holy Spirit. From the Spirit they will harvest eternal life.

8a [Other] people plant to please their sinful nature. From that nature they will harvest death.

8b {T}he one who plants in response to God, letting God's Spirit do the growth work in him, harvests a crop of real life, eternal life.

7c Whatever you plant is what you'll harvest.

7b You can never make a fool out of God.

7a Make no mistake about this:

6 Those who have been taught the gospel should help their teacher spread the good news

5b For none of us is perfect!

5a Each of us must bear some faults and burdens of his own.

4c Don't compare yourself with others.

4b Don't be impressed with yourself.

4a Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that.


Verse list:
10 New Century Version
9 The Message
8 New International Reader's Version
7 God's Word to the Nations
6 The Clear Word for Children
5 The Living Bible, Paraphrased
4 The Message


Sowing is what you make of your life. If you set the right goals, you'll reach the right goals.

Dawn

Music: Phil Wickham - Shining (lyrics)

Romans 13:11-14

. . . [T]he day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light . . .

When company is coming, you don't prepare by getting drunk, do you?

So, if the 'prophets' are to be believed, and the time is coming, there is less time for revelry than ever. Clean out your house now, before your guest arrives.

At my place of employment we had a saying about cleaning: "a place for everything, and everything in it's place." This philosophy went so far as to use tape to mark out locations on the floor for everything. Even a mop and mop bucket had a 'home location' marked with yellow tape in a closet somewhere. It made it easy to see what was out of place, and what had no place at all.

This way of cleaning means more today than ever. Take note of what belongs in your 'house' and mark a spot for it on the 'floor'. If you notice things in your house that are out of place, put them back in their home location. If you notice things that have no place in your house, what are they there for?



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