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The
Pentecost Experience
by
Graeme J. Davidson, May
2002
Pentecost
comes from the Greek 'fifty'
According
to the Acts of the Apostles Jesus ascended to heaven 40 days after
the resurrection and 10 days later (50 days) Pentecost occurred
when the Holy Spirit descended in dramatic form upon Jesus' followers.
For a simple and brief explanation of the Pentecost experience
go to the SpiritHome
site or to the Christian
Resource Institute.
The Biblical
and historical accounts
To study the
early Church's Pentecostal experience as it is reported in chapter
2 of the New Testament's Acts of the Apostles, go to the Blue
Letter Bible. The
advantage of the Blue Letter Bible is that it enables verse-by-verse
comparison of different Bible translations, original Greek texts,
Biblical dictionaries, concordances and commentaries that are
in the public domain.
It also
lists pertinent hymns associated with the biblical text - ideal
for a church leader or music director who is looking for inspiration.
For example, ACTS 2.2, 'And suddenly there came a sound from heaven
as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where
they were sitting' there are suggestions of, 'Oh come down love
divine' and 'Spirit divine attend our prayer' and so on.
A good academic
summary of the biblical and historical issues surrounding Pentecost
and the early conversions with links to key biblical passages
is provided in Chapter IV of Philip Schaffs' History of the Christian
Church.
An oration
made by one of the early Church Fathers in the later part of the
4th Century explains the deity of the Holy Spirit and its relationship
in the Godhead based on the evidence of Pentecost.
Study notes
Study notes on the 3000 converted at Pentecost and the implications
to us today are provided by Mark Copeland at Executable
Outlines.
A short explanation
of the origins of the Church feast of Pentecost or Whitsunday
can be found in the Catholic
Encyclopedia.
For a Jewish
explanation of the festival of 'weeks', which falls on the 50th
day after Passover, the same day as the Christian festival of
Pentecost, check Shuvuot.
Gifts of
the Spirit
The nine gifts of the Spirit are: wisdom, faith, healings, working
of miracles, prophesy, discerning of spirits, speaking in tongues,
and interpretation of tongues.Robert
Longman Junior's SpritHome site also has an explanation and study
guide on gifts
of the Spirit, while the C
for C site contains a list of the gifts with biblical references
and a questionnaire to help individuals discern their particular
strengths and weaknesses when matched against these gifts.
The
Orthodox Church is well-known for the emphasis it places on the
Holy Spirit. The Rev. George Mastrontonis of the Greek Orthodox
Church of America explains about the gifts
of the Spirit given to the Church through Pentecost.
Fruits
of the Spirit
The fruits of the spirit — love, joy, peace, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control — are listed
by St. Paul in his Letter to the Galations. The SpiritHome
site gives a good introductory explanation and study guide.
Thomas
Keating emphasizes the importance of centering on the Holy
Spirit so that the individual will bear the fruits of the Spirit,
while a translation of Pravoslavnaya Zhizn's Orthodox understanding
of the fruits of the
Spirit can be found at Orthodox America.
The HolySpirit
site gives a brief comparison of gifts of the Spirit with the
fruits of the Spirit.
Modern
Pentecostalism
The modern Pentecostal movement started at the beginning of last
century. Click on this link for a one-page introduction to modern
Pentecostalism. To learn more about this movement and for
links to church organisations, their theology and Pentecostal
magazines that sprung from the Pentecostal moment go to the Religious
Movements site at University of Virginia.
Another two
good theological magazines that have in-depth discussion of Pentecostal
issues are Contemporary
Pentecostal Issues and Cyberjournal
for Pentecostal-Charismatic Research.
Speaking
in tongues
Speaking in tongues or glossolalia was one of the phenomenon's
of Pentecost and since then there has been controversy over the
significance of this 'gift' of the spirit. For several views on
this topic check What
about Speaking in Tongues? at RBC ministries, Mark A. McNeil's
Is speaking
with Tongues evidence of the spirit baptism? and Robert Longman
Junior's ideas and study questions at Spirithome.
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