Challenge #8 ~ Do you agree that Mt.28:19 clearly presents The Holy Spirit as a Person?
Some humans believe The Holy Spirit is just a force -- energy from God The Father.
Some humans believe The Holy Spirit is a Person -- a Paraclete-Person -- like Jesus.
It is a gross understatement to say Jesus knows The Holy Spirit better than anyone.
JESUS commanded His followers to make disciples & baptize them in ONE NAME !
Narkissos, in Challenge #2, I wrote:
"Speaking of name, what is your understanding of the Singular Name in Mt.28:19?"
You replied:
"As to Matthew 28:19, the (again, unique in the NT) trinitarian formula is best understood
as a (late) extension of the usual christological baptism formula: eis (to) onoma kuriou/Ièsou/Khristou...
More than the (singular) use of onoma which simply belongs to the fixed locutionI would say the very parallelism of Father / Son / Holy Spirit
tends to "personalise" or "personify" the latter to an extent (so far I would agree)."
So it's agreed that Jesus made a clear, powerful, statement in Mt.28:19 that cannot be manipulated or rationally explained away.
- It's not my fault or concern that this pithy statement is unique --but it cannot be ignored because it is unique !!!
- It's not my fault or concern if tons of great minds see this verse as a clear statement of "Trinity".
- It's not my fault or concern that the sun-entity emits light, heat, energy. :-)
- The statement is a command that stands as a foundational sign-post.
- These 11, simple words ("to onoma tou patros kai tou uiou kai tou agiou pneumatos")
(cause tension &) bother & baffle those who deny the Personhood of The Holy Spirit.
- It is a fact that there are 3 parts to the singular name.
- It is a fact that the parallism clearly presents the inherent "authority" of 3 Persons.
- The name of the Father is not His personal name but is His title of relationship to us & His Son.
- The name of The Son is not His personal name but is His title of relationship to The Father,
& one of many titles of our (1Jn.2:1) Paraclete-Advocate-Lawyer (see Isa.9:6; Mt.1:23; Rev.17:14).
- The name of the Holy Spirit is not His personal name but just one of many titles
of our (Jn.14:16,26; 15:26; 16:27) "other" Paraclete-Advocate-Lawyer.