WITHOUT THE HOLY SPIRIT, God is far away,
Christ stays in the past,
the Gospel is a dead letter,
the Church is simply an organisation,
authority a matter of domination,
mission a matter of propaganda,
the liturgical services no more than a reminder of the past,
Christian living a slave morality.
BUT WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT, God is with us,
the universe is resurrected
and groans with the birth pangs of the kingdom,
the risen Christ is here,
the Gospel is the power of life,
the Church is the organism, the Body of the living Christ,
authority is service,
mission is Pentecost,
the liturgy is both memorial and anticipation,
human action is God at work in this world.
-Patriarch Ignatius IV
Powerfully stated.
Amen.
That is awesome. Do you know when that was written?
Randy,
Good to hear from you! If I’m not mistaken, Ignatius IV is currently the Patriarch of Antioch w/n the Greek Orthodox church. I think this prayer was written in the late 70’s or early 80’s.
This is probably one of the most powerful confessionals I have read regarding the Holy Spirit. We should use this in our services. It is very true that the Holy Spirit working in body of Christ is God at work in the world.
I wonder how many Pentecostals used this confessioanl to devise their theology?
I am currently teaching the college age attenders and I am going to use it as the basis of our discussion on Wednesday. Thanks for posting it.