The Teaching of the Creeds on the Holy Spirit in the Old and the New Testaments
The foundation of the Church’s ideology is the belief in the Holy Spirit. The Creeds’ teaching plays an important role in establishing this foundation. Therefore, it is important to examine the history of the Creeds’ creation. The most used and known to this day is the Nicene Creed, which outlines this connection between the Church, the Holy Spirit, and Jesus. It was created at the Council of Nicaea to determine the divine nature of Jesus and his relation to God.
This council was spurred into this action because of the wide variety of rumors about Jesus and his role, attempting to clarify the issue and establish the Church’s stance on it. In other words, it also expanded on its predecessor, the Apostles’ Creed, to show the connection between God and Jesus. Inadvertently, the Nicene Creed extended the Church’s foundational position on the Holy Spirit, linking its concept to itself through the figure of Jesus.
As the Nicene Creed seeks to reaffirm the divine nature of Jesus, the concept of the Holy Spirit becomes part of the link between Jesus and God. The Nicene Creed asserts for the first time with certainty that Jesus is the Son of God and God himself, “We believe in One Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God … of one Being with the Father” (Church 2). This assertion confirms the link between Christ and God, with The Holy Spirit becoming this connection, “And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of life, who proceedeth from the Father, who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified” (Whiting 15). In other words, the Holy Spirit originates from God, is present in Jesus, and permeates human existence.
The Relationship of the Holy Spirit to the Father and the Son
Furthermore, the Church reestablishes its connection with God through Jesus using the Holy Spirit. In other words, the resurrection of Jesus becomes the foundation of the Church with the ever-present Holy Spirit that guides people to God. The Holy Spirit assumes a role similar and complementary to that of the Church, navigating people in their spiritual journey and protecting them from harm. On the other hand, the Church allows people to understand and believe these concepts to get closer to God, “We believe in the Holy Spirit … the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son … who has spoken through the prophets” (Wierzbicka 9). In other words, the Church and its prophets guide people through the spiritual challenges to the truth and God, using the belief in the Holy Spirit.
In believing in the Holy Spirit and Jesus’s divine connection to God, the Church claims the possibility of the Resurrection and Everlasting Life. The Church has a long history of believing in the concepts of Resurrection and Eternal Life for its followers. This position is mainly founded on the Resurrection of Jesus. When Jesus was crucified, he died but was resurrected to live an eternal life with God in heaven. Thus, according to the revised teachings, people also have a capacity for eternal life and resurrection in paradise. These results can be achieved through faith in God, leading a good life, abiding by the Holy Spirit, and, by extension, the Church’s dogmas.
Moreover, the Church’s ritual of baptism reflects this idea of resurrection. In this ritual, the Holy Spirit provides the first gift of flesh, later guiding the follower in the spiritual life to get eternal life with God. These assertions establish the link between Jesus, God, the Church, the Holy Spirit, the Resurrection, and Everlasting Life, forming the foundations of Christianity.
Works Cited
Church, Lord of Life Lutheran. “Nicene Creed.” Book of Confessions (2021): 1-3. Web.
Whiting, Colin M. Documents from the Luciferians: in defense of the Nicene Creed. Vol. 43. SBL Press, 2019. Web.
Wierzbicka, Anna. “Rethinking the Nicene Creed through Minimal English: How far can conceptual analysis take us?” Symposium on Grammar and Religion University of Helsinki, 2018. Web.