Doxologies in the NT: Where is the Spirit?

During our course this week Dr. Phelps shared a document that was very interesting.

(POST UPDATE [i.e. credit where credit is due]: The PDF document in this post was given to our professor, Dr. Dennis Phelps, by Dr. Daniel I. Block of the Wheaton Graduate School.)

The document is a chart that lists all the doxologies in the New Testament.  Most notably it lists who is being praised in each of these expressions of praise.  Almost all of the references are to God.  A few are to Christ.  NONE are to the Holy Spirit.  This is what was so interesting.  In the NT there seems to be missing any direct praise solely and specifically addressed to the Holy Spirit.

What does this have to do with Charismatic Worship?  Oftentimes there is a very pronounced emphasis upon the Holy Spirit within many variations of the Charismatic style of worship.  The question needs to be asked whether this emphasis aligns with the doxological worship spelled out in the New Testament.  Here’s the document we were given:

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Our Site Is Now Complete…(for the most part)

The various pages of this site (which are displayed as a navigation bar running horizontally underneath the picture/header at the top of this site) are now complete. Make sure to click through to each page to see what our group has put together.  The pages are as follows:

• About Our Group
• Components of Charismatic Worship
• Strengths & Weakness
• History
• Cultures & Trends
• Biblical Data

We invite you to interact with the information we have provided.  At the bottom of each individual page and every single post you will find a comment box for your feedback.  We welcome your questions, comments, resonations, etc.

A Few More Interesting Reads…

Here are a couple more articles that members of our group have come across in their research.

From Christian History & Biography: ”Worldwide Renewal: The Charismatic Movement”

Excerpt: “Recent decades have witnessed a remarkable movement throughout the Christian church. Springing up spontaneously across the full spectrum -from Protestant to Roman Catholic to Greek Orthodox – the charismatic renewal now involves millions of people on every continent.”

Click here to read the full article.

From the Barna Group: ”Is American Christianity Turning Charismatic?”

Excerpt: “Pentecostal or charismatic Christianity is viewed by some Americans as an emotional, theologically suspect form of the Christian faith. It is widely thought to be a very vocal and visible, but numerically small slice of the grand religious pie in the United States. Two new surveys from The Barna Group, however, indicate that things are changing dramatically in the religious landscape.”

Click here to read the full article.

Statistics Regarding Charismatic and Pentecostal Christianity

The Barna Group presents their findings on “How Different Generations View and Engage with Charismatic and Pentecostal Christianity.”

Below are two charts they’ve produced that reveal their survey’s results.  They charts also come with several paragraphs of commentary.  Click here to read the full article.

“Everybody Is Not a Child of God”

Distinctions Between ‘Pentecostal’ and ‘Charismatic’

Here’s an interesting series of articles that distinguish between the labels ‘Pentecostal’ and ‘Charismatic.’

Excerpt from the Introduction of Part I:

“The difference between the Pentecostals and the Charismatic is not easily discerned by casual or indifferent observers within or without the Evangelical church.  Many believe they are the same.  But there are vast differences between Biblical Pentecost and the modern Charismatic movement that distinguish them as being two very distinct beliefs and two very different churches with two widely separated doctrinal stances.“

Here are links to the four parts of the article:

• Part I
• Part II
• Part III
• Part IV

Interesting Read on the Work of the Holy Spirit

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