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Anti-Trinitarians misuse these passages to prove the Holy Spirit is not a person:
Refuted!
Anti-Trinitarian proof texts refuted
Click to View #1 The Holy Spirit is the personification of God's power.
Click to View #2 The Holy Spirit is directly called the power of God in
Luke 1:35.
Click to View #3 The Holy Spirit is neuter gender in scripture proving it
is an "it" not a person.
Click to View #4 The Bible calls the Holy Spirit an "it". John 1:32; Rom
8:16,26; 1 Pet 1:11
Click to View #5 The Holy Spirit was poured out, fell upon, filled men.
Acts 2:4
Click to View #6 How could the holy spirit fill 120 disciples at the same
time?
Click to View #7 The Holy Spirit is used to "anoint" people Acts 10:38
Click to View #8 Whenever the Holy Spirit speaks in one text, another text
says other persons were actually speaking.
Click to View #9 The actual Greek "The Spirit the Holy" proves the Holy
Spirit is not a person.
Click to View #10 The Holy Spirit is always associated with impersonal
things which proves He is not a person.
#1 Anti-Trinitarian Proof Text Refuted
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The Holy Spirit is the personification of God's power and is not a person. It is not unusual in the Scriptures for something to be personified. For example, wisdom is said to have "children." (Luke 7:35) Sin and death are spoken of as kings. (Rom 5:14,21) (Reasoning from the Scriptures, Spirit, p380, Jehovah's Witness publication)
Personification is "A rhetorical figure of speech in which inanimate
objects or abstractions are endowed with human qualities..." (American,
p.926)
Personification is found throughout the Bible with endless examples
of mountains clapping and stars singing. But in all these things we know by
way of human experience that they are not really persons. Not so with the
Holy Spirit. No one can know the Holy Spirit is a thing (and not a person)
the way we can know a mountain is not a person from human experience.
We can prove something is personification by finding a Bible verse
that outright states it is not a person but a thing. We can do this with
hills, wisdom, stars etc. Anti-Trinitarians are at a loss to find any Bible
verse that says the Holy Spirit is a thing and not a person.
When referenced, the Holy Spirit is always the masculine "HE". Not
so with mountains and stars.
The vast majority of times the Bible refers to things like stars and
mountains, they are not personified. Personification is the EXCEPTION to
the usage in scripture.
The problem for anti-Trinitarians is that the Holy Spirit IS ALWAYS
PERSONIFIED. Personification is not the exception to the general use,
personification is the rule... every time, without exception!
If anti-Trinitarians are correct, the personification of the Holy
Spirit is so complete and extensive in scripture, that we are without a
guideline to determine the difference between persons and things. We would
have to call into question, for example, the person hood of Abraham as the
personification of the father of God's people. The personification of the
Holy Spirit is as extensive as the personification of Abraham or many other
Bible characters.
Take Adam for example. Many modernists already dismiss his personal
existence as myth. Could Adam be nothing more than the personification of
all mankind? A simple reading of Romans 5:12-19 and 1 Cor 15:45 will
quickly reveal the problem for Arians. Adam is clearly used as a metaphoric
symbol for all of mankind in many places. Could Adam be nothing more than
personification?
The extent of personification of the Holy Spirit equals any Bible
character.
Anti-Trinitarian challenge: what verse shows the Holy Spirit to be a
thing or an it? We know of none, therefore we are forced to the conclusion
that the Holy Spirit is a person.
#2 Anti-Trinitarian Proof Text Refuted
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The Holy Spirit is directly called the power of God in Luke 1:35
"The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you" Luke 1:35
Only to an anti-Trinitarian does this verse outright call the Holy
Spirit God's power. The verse does not say, "The Holy Spirit is the power
of God". It uses a paired statement. Notice Luke 1:35 is the closest verse
Arians can come up with that might suggest the Holy Spirit is said to be
God's power.
Granted that "Hebrew parallelism" is in fact common in the Bible,
there are so many statements like Luke 1:35 that are not "Hebrew
parallelisms" that no further really needs to be said. Even still, there
are different kinds of "Hebrew parallelisms". Some where two things are
intended to be interchangeably synonymous and others where two different
things are working together to have a common effect. Arians view Luke 1:35
as two interchangeably synonymous things: Holy Spirit and Power. But there
are so many examples where different things are linked to have a common
effect, that Arians simply have no firm proof of anything.
Here is a verse very close to Luke 1:35. God himself and His power
are used in a "Hebrew parallelism". "I will also cut off the inhabitant
from Ashdod ... I will even unleash My power upon Ekron" Amos 1:8. God is
no more mere power in Amos 1:8 than the Holy Spirit is mere power in Luke
1:35.
The scriptures are even called the power of God in Rom 1:16, but
everyone knows that they are not used interchangeably synonymous in this
verse but are two distinct things: "You are mistaken, not understanding the
Scriptures, or the power of God." Mt 22:29 The scriptures were the source
of their doctrinal misunderstandings and God's power would raise all men
from the dead at the second coming. To demand that scriptures and God's
power are interchangeably synonymous in Mt 22:29 is just as wrong as
demanding the Holy Spirit and power are interchangeably synonymous in Luke
1:35.
Here we have a similar statement where two different things are
mentioned. God's power is linked to God's hand. Two different things that
are not interchangeably synonymous: "Thou didst redeem by Thy great power
and by Thy strong hand" Nehemiah 1:10
Here the Holy Spirit and power are differentiated: "God anointed Him
[Jesus] with the Holy Spirit and with power" Acts 10:38; "demonstration of
the Spirit and of power" 1 Cor 2:4. It makes no sense that Jesus was
"anointed with power and power".
#3 Anti-Trinitarian Proof Text Refuted
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The Holy Spirit is neuter gender through out the New Testament Greek proving it is an "it" not a person. No if the Holy Spirit was in the masculine, you would have a point. But God deliberately chose to use a neuter gender word to show us the Holy Spirit is a thing not a person.
Gender of a word has nothing to do with identity. It has to do with
the language. Gender belongs to the language of the word, not to the case
of, or the object of the word.
Infants (Lk 1:41,44; 2:16; 18:15) and children (Mk 5:39-41) are also
neuter in the Greek in exactly the same way Holy Spirit is neuter gender.
Girl is a neuter noun in Mt 9:24, 25; Mk 5:41, 42.
Angels are neuter pneuma " IT " spirits in Heb 1:14
Demons are neuter pneuma " IT " spirits over 45 times in scripture.
The word "Spirit" is feminine in Genesis 1:2: "the Spirit of God was
moving over the surface of the waters".
A masculine pronoun ("He" Greek: ekeinos, literal "that One") is
applied to the Holy Spirit throughout the New Testament despite the fact
that "Spirit" (Greek: pneuma) is neuter. Is God trying to confuse us? Or is
God taking special steps to make sure we understand the Holy Spirit is a
person?
The word spirit is frequently "neuter gender" when it refers to the
Father in Jn 4:24, to Jesus in 1Cor 15:45, to baby Jesus, in Mt 2:8, 11,
13, 14, 19-21,
Such an argument displays a dismal understanding of the Greek
language.
#4 Anti-Trinitarian Proof Text Refuted
The Bible calls the Holy Spirit an "it" 7 times proving He is not a person.
John 1:32; Rom 8:16,26; 1Cor 12:11; Heb 10:15,17; 1 Pet 1:11
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· Jehovah's Witnesses are major promoters of the lie that persons in the Bible are never referred to as " IT ":
"But on the other hand, we find Jesus repeatedly using IMPERSONAL pronouns when referring to God's holy spirit, a most DISRESPECTFUL thing to do if the holy spirit were the third person of a trinity, coequal, & cosubstantial with Jehovah God himself.... But if the holy spirit were the third person of the trinity, equal to God & Christ in glory & honor as claimed by the creeds, could we imagine the Scriptures referring to the holy spirit as ' IT '?" (Watchtower July 15, 1957 p.434)
"If the holy spirit is a person, IT should always be referred to as 'he' in the Bible. Jesus is a person, & is NEVER referred to as 'it'. Nor is Jehovah God. But at times the Greek word pneuma is in the NEUTER gender. That means that IT is considered as neither masculine nor feminine." (Canadian Bethel WTS , personal letter)
"But nowhere do we read of Jehovah God and Jesus as being referred to by neuter pronouns, which is the case in regard to the holy spirit." (w53 1/1 The Scriptures, Reason & the Trinity, p.24)
Jesus is referred to as "IT" 5 times in: Mt 2:8, 11, 13, 14, 20, 21
John the Baptist is referred to as IT 8 times: Lk1:59, 60, 62, 63,
66, 67
Humans are called "it": "And this is the will of Him who sent Me,
that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the
last day. John 6:39 Nothing more needs to be said, after quoting this one
verse, but we must address each verse Arians misuse.
Babies are called "it": We often use it to refer to babies in the
same kind of way today: "What did you name it?" Here a baby is called
literally "the holy thing begotten": "And Mary said unto the angel, How
shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said
unto her, The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most
High shall overshadow thee: wherefore also the holy thing which is begotten
shall be called the Son of God." Luke 1:34-35.
The men living in the world are called an "its" in John 14:17 "
Spirit of the truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not
behold Him or know Him"
The KJV, RSV actually refer to the Holy Spirit as an "it" in these
two passages: Romans 8:16,26 "The Spirit ITSELF beareth witness with our
spirit ... The Spirit ITSELF maketh intercession for us with groanings "
(KJV, RSV) The fault is not in the original text, but in the translation.
Vine says, "The rendering "itself" in Rom. 8:16, 26, due to the Greek
gender, is corrected to "Himself" in the R.V. (W. E. Vine, spirit) The word
means: "(1) self (emphatic) (2) he, she, it (used for the third pers.
pron.) (3) the same" Notice that the word can be translated, he, she or it.
To those familiar with the Greek language, the fact the Holy Spirit is
called "itself" does nothing to prove the Holy Spirit is not a person.
Another passage Arians try to use to prove the Holy Spirit is not a
person is John 1:32 "And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit
descending from heaven like a dove, and IT abode upon him." (KJV) The NKJV
and NASB translate it "and He remained upon Him". The NIV simply translates
it, "and remain on him". But even with this using the word it is really not
problematic. Since the word IT refers specifically to the "DOVE shape" the
Holy Spirit took as a form. Not that the Holy Spirit was a dove, but that
he took the form of a dove, hence, using "it" is quite natural even in
English. Example: "My son dressed up as a gorilla. It was real scary!"
A final Arian misused proof text is 1 Peter 1:11 "Searching what, or
what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify when
IT testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should
follow." Of course it doesn't say "Spirit of God" but "Spirit of Christ".
Now for Trinitarians, this is no problem, but for Arians, this is a huge
problem. The Holy Spirit is the Father's "energy" not the "created Son's".
If it is Jesus' own Spirit, Arians have just proven Jesus is not a person
by their own argument of the usage of "it". If it is the Holy Spirit,
(God's power) then they have to explain away the fact God's power is
called, "the Spirit of Christ". We send Arians skidding into the ditch with
this question: Was the Dove that abode on Him the father's Power or his own
power? In the end, 1 Pet 1:11 is exactly like Romans 8:16,26 and John 1:32.
The usage of the word "it", is just business as usual in the Greek language
and those who think it proves the Holy Spirit is not a person are simply
misinformed.
But one final comment on 1 Pet 1:11 and Rom 8:16-26. If is puzzling
that if God was trying to show us that the Holy Spirit was not a person in
these verses, why would He attach "personality qualities" to the "it"? In 1
Pet 1:11 the "it" is intelligently revealing prophetic information. Persons
do this, not things.
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In Rom 8:26, the very verse that the Holy Spirit is called an it the Holy Spirit helps us pray, and intercedes on our behalf: "the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groaning which cannot be uttered". Wow, that's some machine, one that helps us pray! Perhaps the Buddhists were on to something with their prayer wheels!
#5 Anti-Trinitarian Proof Text Refuted
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"A comparison of Bible texts that refer to the holy spirit shows that it is spoken of as "filling" people: they are "baptized" with it; and they can be anointed with it. (Luke 1:41; Matt 3:11; Acts 10:38). None of these expressions would be appropriate if the holy spirit were a person." (Reasoning from the Scriptures, Spirit, p380, Jehovah's Witness publication)
Acts 2:1-4 The Holy Spirit was poured out and fell upon Christians, meaning power not a person. You pour out a thing not a person. Things fall upon men not other people.
This argument illustrates the utter desperation Jehovah's Witnesses are in
to try to prove the Holy Spirit is not a person. We notice that they are
wrong on every argument because the same kind of language they say cannot
be used of persons, IS USED OF PERSONS! Of course beware of the New World
Translation which deliberately translates the exact same words in different
ways to deceive Jehovah's Witnesses.
The Holy Spirit
Persons
"they were all filled with the Holy Spirit" Acts 2:4
"Be filled with the Spirit" Eph. 5:18
"that He [Christ] might fill all things." Eph. 4:10
that you may be filled with all the fullness of God Eph 3:19
"I will pour forth of My Spirit upon all mankind." Acts 2:17
"He has poured forth this which you both see and hear." Acts 2:33
Because He [Christ] poured out Himself to death" Isa 53:12
"I [Paul] am being poured out as a drink offering" Phil. 2:17; 2 Tim. 4:6
David was poured out Psalm 22:14
"He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire" Matt. 3:11; Luke 3:16
"For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God." Deut. 4:24
"our God is a consuming fire." Heb. 12:29
1 Cor 6:19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you
2 Cor 13:5 Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you
one God and Father of all who is in all Eph 4:6
greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world 1 Jn 4:4
do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you 2 Cor 13:5
And if Christ is in you Rom 8:10
2 Cor 1:22 gave the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge
Eph 3:17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts
1 Cor 3:16 you are a temple of God...the Spirit of God dwells in you
2 Cor 6:16 we are the temple of the Father, I will dwell in them
the Holy Spirit fell upon them Acts 11:15; Acts 10:44; Acts 8:16
sacrifice to Jehovah our God, lest He fall upon us Ex 5:3
the hand of the Lord God fell upon me there Ezekiel 8:1 (metonymy: God really fell not the hand)
#6 Anti-Trinitarian Proof Text Refuted
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A "proof" given in the booklet "Should You believe in the Trinity", published by the Watchtower and blindly distributed widely by Jehovah's witnesses, is the caption of a picture on page 41. The picture is of the 120 with "tongues of fire" resting on them (see Acts 2:3f). The caption asks, "How could the holy spirit be a person, when it filled about 120 disciples at the same time?"
Jehovah's Witnesses are wrong in Acts 2:1-4 because only the 12
apostles were filled, not the 120. However, with this correction their
point is unchanged.
Jehovah's Witnesses view God too small! What do you expect from a
religion who thinks its creator and saviour (Jesus Christ) is nothing more
than an elaborate wind up toy designed to die on the cross.
We ask this question of JW's, How could the Father or Jesus be a
person when each fills millions of believers at the same time?
"that He [Christ] might fill all things." Eph. 4:10
"that you may be filled with all the fullness of God" Eph 3:19
#7 Anti-Trinitarian Proof Text Refuted
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"God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power" Acts 10:38
The Holy Spirit is used to "anoint" people like oil, He therefore cannot be a Person.
Jesus is used as a door through which we enter, and go in and out,
and find pasture. He therefore cannot be a Person? Think not! John 10:9 "I
am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he shall be saved, and shall go
in and out, and find pasture." Unless the person making the argument is
willing to say Jesus is not a Person either because He is a door, this
effective nullifies the argument. If Arians understand how a person can be
a door that we go in and out of, then they should understand a person can
be used to anoint another person.
Obviously there is a type and antitype that is in play here. Incense
in the Old testament is said to be our prayers in the New testament. Rev
5:8. It says the incense is the prayers of the saints. The temple of stone
is our bodies in the New Testament.
God says "the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple" Rev
21:22 Does this mean God is not a person? Notice the antitype of the
physical temple is God Himself and Christ!
Likewise, Holy Spirit is the antitype of the anointing oil of the
Old Testament.
#8 Anti-Trinitarian Proof Text Refuted
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"While some texts say that the spirit "spoke," other passages make clear that this was done through angels or humans" (Reasoning from the Scriptures, Spirit, p380, Jehovah's Witness publication)
The Watchtower is again up to their deceptive tricks. They know full
well that many texts appear that God is talking when other passages make
clear that this was done through angels. Does this prove God is not a
person? Conversely, angels and men talk when it is clear that God was
actually doing the talking. Are angels and men personification? The key is
that God ALWAYS talks through another PERSON never electricity!
Jehovah's Witnesses think it is logical that since the Holy Spirit
speaks through people, He can't be a Person Himself. It has escaped their
eyes that if the speech going through a person originates with the Holy
Spirit, it proves personality and intelligence!
We are reminded that the revealed primary role of the Holy Spirit is
"revelator". If the Holy Spirit were a person, what would change? He would
still speak through others!
While it is true that God once spoke through a donkey to Baalam,
this was a special miracle. Further, God was merely facilitating what the
donkey was actually thinking, so the miracle is God translating the
donkey's actual and real thoughts so a man can understand it. Further,
animals have both thoughts and freewill, electricity does not. Where is the
passage where God spoke through a thing?
Jehovah's Witnesses need any example in scripture where God or
anyone spoke through a thing. Take the burning bush. It doesn't say, "And
the bush said, 'Moses take off your sandals'" but "God called to him from
the midst of the bush" Ex 3:4 Arians simply have no verse where anything
other than an intelligent person (or being with actual thoughts and free
will) talked. This one point alone completely refutes their doctrine!
It is common for one person to speak through another. In fact, when
one person speaks through another, we naturally conclude both are persons
and that the originator of the through is where the real intelligence lies.
Speech can only originate with a self-conscious, intelligent being.
But here are a passages where the Holy Spirit does the speaking all
by Himself! There is simply no indication anywhere that God was speaking
through the Holy Spirit. Acts 13:2 "the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for Me
Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them". 1 Ti 4:1 "The
Spirit explicitly says" Heb 9:8 "the Holy Spirit is indicating this."
But now, lets deal with the Jehovah's Witness view that God is
really the one who is speaking through the Holy Spirit as in these verses:
Jn 16:13 "Whatever He hears He will speak" Heb 10:15-17 "And the Holy
Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying, "This is the covenant
that I will make with them"". (Quoting Jehovah in Jer 31:33) We can
actually turn the Anti-Trinitarian argument on its head by arguing that it
really was the Holy Spirit who did the talking in Jeremiah 31:33. This
passage doesn't prove that the Holy Spirit is God's personified energy
talking. Rather it proves that the Holy Spirit can rightly be called
Jehovah, just like the Father and the Son can too! But we ask, why would
God go to all the trouble of inventing and personifying what appears on the
surface to be a separate entity speaking? Why not just say "God sayeth"
every time instead of "the Holy Spirit sayeth"? Look at Jn 16:13, Christ
relays a message through the Holy Spirit. If the Holy Spirit is not a
person this makes the Holy Spirit nothing more than a tape recorder that
replays what is said. There are two problem here, first, Jesus is seen
relaying in exactly the same way and second, the Holy Spirit is pictured as
an intelligent person who does the relaying, not some machine. There are
places where Jesus directly speaks to men. Why confuse the simple matter
with the Holy Spirit? The same thing in Heb 10:15f. Why would God say the
Holy Spirit said this, if the thought really originated with the Father?
Again the Holy Spirit is clearly portrayed as a person saying, witnessing
and teaching us. Why would God confuse such a simple matter if the Holy
Spirit was nothing more than God's Power?
#9 Anti-Trinitarian Proof Text Refuted
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The actual Greek structure in reference to the Holy Spirit is: "The Spirit the Holy". This construction emphasizes that the Holy Spirit is not a person.
The Greek construction "The Spirit the Holy" is an exceedingly common and
fundamental Greek construction. It's just a common way of associating an
adjective and a noun: "The Spirit, the Holy [one]" We might think of these
phrases as saying, "the car, the red one..." But it is less cumbersome to
simply translate, "the red car" as we did before. So the construction "The
Spirit the Holy" certainly does not indicate whether Holy Spirit is a
person.
#10 Anti-Trinitarian Proof Text Refuted
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The Holy Spirit used in association with impersonal things, such as water & fire.
Jehovah's Witnesses falsely argue:
"Further evidence against the idea of personality as regards the holy spirit is the way it is used in association with other impersonal things, such as water & fire (Matt. 3:11; Mark 1:8), & Christians are spoken of as being baptized 'in holy spirit.' (Acts 1:5; 11:16) Persons are urged to become 'filled with spirit' instead of wine. (Eph. 5:18) So, too, persons are spoken of as being 'filled' with it along with such qualities as wisdom & faith (Acts 6:3, 5; 11:24) or joy (Acts 13:52), & holy spirit is inserted or 'sandwiched in' with a number of such qualities at 2 Corinthians 6:6. It is most unlikely that such expressions would be made if reference were being made to a divine person." (Jehovah's Witnesses, Insight p 1020, & Aid p 1543)
This argument is utterly false, but what do you expect from a cult
that can teach its "door to door book salesmen" anything and they will
blindly accept it without checking or questioning. Association with other
impersonal things doesn't eliminate anyone's personality!
God is associated with many impersonal things. In fact God is
directly called "fire" i two places: "our God is a consuming fire." Heb.
12:29 and "For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God." Deut.
4:24.
Jesus is associated with impersonal things too. Jesus directly calls
himself: The Bread, The Door, The Lamb, The Life, The Light, The Rock, The
Stone, The Truth, The Vine, The Way, The Word, The Bread of Life.
Steve Rudd
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