God the Holy Spirit, Mentor's Guide, MG14

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G O D T H E H O L Y S P I R I T

the Father in the Son and the Spirit, but there is no coalescence or commingling or confusion.

~ St. John of Damascus. Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers , Series 2. “Exposition of the Orthodox Faith,” 1.14.

Thus the unity and diversity of the Trinitarian relationships are described rightly as a “Divine dance of love” and Augustine’s insights about the role of the Holy Spirit as “the bond of love” reinforce the power of this analogy.

The foundational doctrinal defense of worshiping and glorifying the Spirit of God is found in On the Holy Spirit by St. Basil (329-379 A.D.). Millard J. Erickson in his book, God in Three Person: A Contemporary Interpretation of the Trinity, reminds us that the question about the worship of the Holy Spirit is part of a larger Trinitarian question: Should we pray to and worship only the Father or is all prayer and worship ultimately directed to the one Triune God (regardless of which Person is addressed)? Very early on, the Church concluded that it was instructed by the Scriptures to worship Jesus as Lord (Matt. 21.15-16; John 20.28; Rev. 1.5-6, 5.8-14) and pray to him (Acts 7.59; Rom. 10.13; 1 Cor. 1.2). Since Jesus sends the Holy Spirit to us to be “another Paraclete” like himself and since it is only the ministry of the Holy Spirit that allows us to engage in true worship (1 Cor. 12.3) and prayer (Rom. 8.26), the Church reasoned that prayer to, and worship of, the Holy Spirit was a natural response to his mission of “coming alongside” to be the presence of Christ in our lives. Ultimately, Christian theology has been convinced that the unity of the Trinity demands that we do not segment our worship but respond to the whole Godhead with praise, worship, and reverent awe. “Holy, Holy, Holy! Merciful and mighty; God in three persons, blessed Trinity.”

19 Page 29 Outline Point IV-A

Come Thou Almighty King is a good example of the hymns which focus the first verse on the worship of God the Father, the second verse on the worship of God the Son, the third verse on the worship of God the Spirit, and the final verse on the worship of the one Holy Trinity.

20 Page 30 Outline Point IV-B-3