Jesus said, “John baptised with water, but in a few days you will be baptised with the Holy Spirit”. Acts 1:5
They said, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit”. Acts 19:2
Sermon-class was nearly over - and I had been the preacher. Now it was time for “constructive feed-back”, when everyone in chapel could pile in and comment on how I had done.
The college principal gave me a severe look and said “I’m sorry, Mr Sedgwick (things were a lot more formal all those years ago), but I’m afraid you are a binitarian.”
Gulp. What on earth was a binitarian? Was he accusing me of being some kind of heretic, like the Mormons or Jehovah’s Witnesses?
In fact, he wasn’t being entirely serious. No, this was his way of pointing out that throughout the whole service there hadn’t been so much as a mention of the Holy Spirit. Not in the hymns I had chosen, nor in any of the readings; not in the prayers or in the sermon. Mmm.
In terms of doctrine, Christians are trinitarians - that is, we believe that in God there are three (“tri-") persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We are certainly not unitarians, believing that God is simply one (“uni-") person.
So what the principal was telling me was that I was guilty of believing in only two (“bi-") persons in God, the Father and the Son. But not the Holy Spirit.
This happened some fifty years ago, when I was callow, brown-haired and luxuriously bearded. But I suspect that for many genuine Christians not much has changed. If you were to ask them “Do you believe in God the Holy Spirit?” they would be horrified: “Of course! - I’m a sound, orthodox Christian!” But for all practical purposes they are binitarians (not much different from those “disciples” in Acts 19). The Holy Spirit barely figures in their thinking at all.
May I ask: What about you? Could it be that you are a binitarian?
I suspect there are two main reasons for this sorry state of affairs.
First, it’s not easy to put into words or pictures who the Holy Spirit is, so we tend to neglect him.
Everyone has at least some idea of what a “father” is. And of course it’s not difficult to imagine God the Son - Jesus is wonderfully pictured for us in the Gospels.
But the Holy Spirit? How should we think of him? The breath of God? The supernatural life of God? The comforter? The peace-giver? A dove? The Holy Spirit is very hard to pin down! - like trying to grab a beautiful aroma with your fingers.
And, in fairness, many churches in those far-off days probably failed to give much teaching concerning him: he was acknowledged in principle, but not really in practice. (So perhaps I could be excused for my failing.)
The second reason for our neglect of the Holy Spirit can be summed up in a single word: fear.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s the church suddenly woke up to the Holy Spirit through what became known as the charismatic movement. And, putting it bluntly, it frightened many people. Puzzling questions were being asked, like, “Have you been baptised in the Holy Spirit?” or “Are you filled with the Holy Spirit?”
Disturbing things started happening - things which previously we had only associated with those strange “Pentecostals” who, as everyone knew, were, ahem, slightly dodgy. People were claiming miracles and healings. People were “speaking in tongues” (or “gabbling”, as someone expressed it). Meetings and services were getting out of control, sometimes highly emotional.
All very alarming. It was, as some saw it, Pentecostalism spilling out of Pentecostal churches and into the more “mainstream” churches - Anglican, Baptist, even Roman Catholic. And so the shutters went up in many circles - as if a cursor had been placed over the Holy Spirit and the delete button pressed.
The last fifty years has taught us that yes, indeed, the charismatic movement brought with it many excesses, and there is no doubt that lives have been damaged by it. But the church as a whole has succeeded in absorbing what started out seeming wild and dangerous and which has now become mainstream.
But that nervousness remains in many quarters - deep down, we like things comfortable and predictable, don’t we, nicely pinned down? And so mention of the Holy Spirit can still make us jittery.
Which is tragic! - if indeed the Spirit really is as vitally important as the Gospels, Acts and the letters of the New Testament make clear.
Well, it will soon be Whitsun - that time in the Christian calendar when churches all round the world will be celebrating the wonderful events described in Acts 2. The first Christian Pentecost! - the events promised by John the Baptist: “I baptise you with water, but he (that is, Jesus) will baptise you with the Holy Spirit” (Mark 1:8).
I am no Pentecostal or charismatic: I think important aspects of the theology are wrong. But there’s no doubt in my mind that, however sound our doctrine might be in theory, a bit of self-examination might be in order for some of us: am I - are you - to all intents and purposes a binitarian?
Loving Father, we cry out to you that, even as Whitsun approaches, you would fill your church with the love of your Son - and baptise it with the power of your Spirit. Amen!
They said, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit”. Acts 19:2
Sermon-class was nearly over - and I had been the preacher. Now it was time for “constructive feed-back”, when everyone in chapel could pile in and comment on how I had done.
The college principal gave me a severe look and said “I’m sorry, Mr Sedgwick (things were a lot more formal all those years ago), but I’m afraid you are a binitarian.”
Gulp. What on earth was a binitarian? Was he accusing me of being some kind of heretic, like the Mormons or Jehovah’s Witnesses?
In fact, he wasn’t being entirely serious. No, this was his way of pointing out that throughout the whole service there hadn’t been so much as a mention of the Holy Spirit. Not in the hymns I had chosen, nor in any of the readings; not in the prayers or in the sermon. Mmm.
In terms of doctrine, Christians are trinitarians - that is, we believe that in God there are three (“tri-") persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We are certainly not unitarians, believing that God is simply one (“uni-") person.
So what the principal was telling me was that I was guilty of believing in only two (“bi-") persons in God, the Father and the Son. But not the Holy Spirit.
This happened some fifty years ago, when I was callow, brown-haired and luxuriously bearded. But I suspect that for many genuine Christians not much has changed. If you were to ask them “Do you believe in God the Holy Spirit?” they would be horrified: “Of course! - I’m a sound, orthodox Christian!” But for all practical purposes they are binitarians (not much different from those “disciples” in Acts 19). The Holy Spirit barely figures in their thinking at all.
May I ask: What about you? Could it be that you are a binitarian?
I suspect there are two main reasons for this sorry state of affairs.
First, it’s not easy to put into words or pictures who the Holy Spirit is, so we tend to neglect him.
Everyone has at least some idea of what a “father” is. And of course it’s not difficult to imagine God the Son - Jesus is wonderfully pictured for us in the Gospels.
But the Holy Spirit? How should we think of him? The breath of God? The supernatural life of God? The comforter? The peace-giver? A dove? The Holy Spirit is very hard to pin down! - like trying to grab a beautiful aroma with your fingers.
And, in fairness, many churches in those far-off days probably failed to give much teaching concerning him: he was acknowledged in principle, but not really in practice. (So perhaps I could be excused for my failing.)
The second reason for our neglect of the Holy Spirit can be summed up in a single word: fear.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s the church suddenly woke up to the Holy Spirit through what became known as the charismatic movement. And, putting it bluntly, it frightened many people. Puzzling questions were being asked, like, “Have you been baptised in the Holy Spirit?” or “Are you filled with the Holy Spirit?”
Disturbing things started happening - things which previously we had only associated with those strange “Pentecostals” who, as everyone knew, were, ahem, slightly dodgy. People were claiming miracles and healings. People were “speaking in tongues” (or “gabbling”, as someone expressed it). Meetings and services were getting out of control, sometimes highly emotional.
All very alarming. It was, as some saw it, Pentecostalism spilling out of Pentecostal churches and into the more “mainstream” churches - Anglican, Baptist, even Roman Catholic. And so the shutters went up in many circles - as if a cursor had been placed over the Holy Spirit and the delete button pressed.
The last fifty years has taught us that yes, indeed, the charismatic movement brought with it many excesses, and there is no doubt that lives have been damaged by it. But the church as a whole has succeeded in absorbing what started out seeming wild and dangerous and which has now become mainstream.
But that nervousness remains in many quarters - deep down, we like things comfortable and predictable, don’t we, nicely pinned down? And so mention of the Holy Spirit can still make us jittery.
Which is tragic! - if indeed the Spirit really is as vitally important as the Gospels, Acts and the letters of the New Testament make clear.
Well, it will soon be Whitsun - that time in the Christian calendar when churches all round the world will be celebrating the wonderful events described in Acts 2. The first Christian Pentecost! - the events promised by John the Baptist: “I baptise you with water, but he (that is, Jesus) will baptise you with the Holy Spirit” (Mark 1:8).
I am no Pentecostal or charismatic: I think important aspects of the theology are wrong. But there’s no doubt in my mind that, however sound our doctrine might be in theory, a bit of self-examination might be in order for some of us: am I - are you - to all intents and purposes a binitarian?
Loving Father, we cry out to you that, even as Whitsun approaches, you would fill your church with the love of your Son - and baptise it with the power of your Spirit. Amen!
No comments:
Post a Comment