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

NOTE: Athenagoras, who is quoted in the devotional, was a Athenian philosopher who converted to Christianity and wrote around 177 A.D. His two existent works are “A Plea for Christians” and “Treatise on the Resurrection of the Dead” both of which can be found in The Ante-Nicene Fathers , Vol. 2.

When you come to knowing God, the initiative lies on His side. If He does not show Himself, nothing you can do will enable you to find Him.

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~ C. S. Lewis. Mere Christianity .

Christians claim to know about God, not through science, philosophy, or art but rather through “prophetic words” inspired by the Spirit. What we know about God comes to us through revelation rather than through human endeavor. [Karl Barth is right on this point, the gulf between God and man is so wide that it cannot be bridged from the human side]. God takes the initiative to reveal himself to us. According to 1 Cor. 2.10-12, the Spirit searches the deep things of God and not only puts this knowledge into words of his own choosing but fills the believer with a discernment that allows those words (which would otherwise be inadequate human words about the infinite God) to become understandable and meaningful. Later on in the lesson we will refer to this two-fold work of the Spirit as inspiration and illumination . General revelation (the creation and the knowledge of God imprinted on the human heart) may sometimes convince people that God exists, but only God’s self-revelation through his Son and through his Spirit can allow people to know what he is truly like and what his specific will and purposes for humanity are. Note: Roman Catholic theology has been willing to assign a much larger role to “General Revelation” (and the Natural Theology which can be drawn from it) than have most Protestants. (See “Natural Theology” in Evangelical Dictionary of Theology , Walter A. Elwell, ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1984, for a good introductory article on this debate).