In the beginning was the Word
In John 1:1-3 it reads, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made.”
William Dembski has stated that Information is required for the start of any controlled process. Information itself is preceded by the prime source of all information, a mind. By the Word the Apostle John was referring to the person who is the Prime Cause, the Mind of God who is the Sender of information actualized in all creations by the Son, Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Dualist interactionism supported
I cite Danko Georgiev in my book, The Boundless Love of God: A Holy Spirit Story, who said:
“Indeed if one considers the wave function of a quantum particle as a non-observable mental state of pre-probabilities and the actualized position in space and time as an observable material state, then the dualistic interactionism proposed by Sir John Eccles is consistent with the modern vision of what the physical world is.”
The dualistic interactionism take away
Mind-brain interaction occurs and is dualistic. Interaction involves a nonmaterial mind with the capacity to cause a probabilistic, directed transmission of action potentials through coherent synaptic networks of the physical brain (see “Waves in Our Brains, Part Two”). It occurs by quantum tunneling which induces conformational changes in the protein scaffolds, vesicles, vesicular pores and ionic channels of synapses. By this process neural transmitters are released from vesicular pores into synaptic clefts. The transmitters stimulate encoded spike trains of action potentials conducted through a network of postsynaptic downstream neurons. Synaptic transmission of specified information occurs by this process and is interpreted by a mind. When the intention, attention or will of one’s cognitive mind generates encoded neural impulses the mind interprets the codes as “percepts” in real time so that one knows what one is thinking and intending. The linguistic code generated is likely by an immaterial energy of the mind.
Plantinga on dualism
Alvin Plantinga was cited in my book, The Boundless Love of God: A Holy Spirit Story, stating that classical science does not claim that the universe is causally closed. His statement is entirely consistent with special divine action in the world. Just as God, who is immaterial and Spirit, can act in the physical universe, so too can the immaterial minds of human beings. There is no objection to special divine action or for human free action, dualistically conceived.
Miracles in our time
In an interview of Roger F. Olson, Ph.D. by Lee Strobel, Dr. Olson commented on the reality of miracles in our time. I included his quote in my second book:
No question…I continue to believe that God speaks to his people today, although I concede that sometimes I find myself feeling pretty alone on this….Often Christians object to the legitimacy of these ‘God things’ because they say people don’t need God to speak anymore. After all, they insist, the canon of Scripture is complete, and today God chooses to speak through preachers to communicate messages based on those biblical teachings. Personally, I find that absurd…If God was gracious enough to give personal guidance, comfort, and correction to individuals and groups ‘back then,’ why would he stop?
Connection to God via Holy Spirit
I am posting a quote from Shawn Bolz relevant to points I make in my books and blogs for our good and God’s glory:
“…we are all given access to the will of God and connection to God through the Holy Spirit. Jesus restored our connection with God! We no longer need a proxy through which we commune with our loving Creator. Jesus built a bridge that crosses the chasm of our sin to connect us directly with the Father’s love….We now have Jesus and His Spirit of truth, revelation, wisdom, and knowledge living inside of us.”
Spirit of Jesus
From F. F. Bruce’s Commentary on the Book of Acts:
Since His ascension it is by His Spirit that Jesus communicates with his people; we may recall Paul’s description of Him as “the last Adam: who became a “life-giving spirit” (1 Cor. 15: 45)
In my two books I consider at least in part how the Spirit of Jesus communes with us via linguistic neural codes distributed through coherent neural synaptic networks, showing concordance between neuroscience and Scripture.
THe Holy Spirit
The next posts will feature quotes in italics from Billy Graham’s book, The Holy Spirit: Activating God’s Power in Your Life. Doctor Graham’s worldwide evangelical ministry was guided by the Holy Spirit through prayer and with unrelenting faith, explaining to millions the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Before he died, Pope John was asked what church doctrine most needed emphasis today. He replied, "The doctrine of the Holy Spirit.” Billy Graham asked Dr. Karl Barth what he thought the next emphasis on theology would be. He replied without hesitation, “The Holy Spirit.”
Doctor Graham expressed concern over the misunderstanding and even ignorance in some Christian circles concerning the Third Person of the Trinity. How the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit relate is explained as follows: …we say that we pray to the Father through the Son and in the power of the Holy Spirit. …functionally the Father came first, then the Son became incarnate, died and rose again. Now the Spirit does His work in this age of the Spirit….trinitarianism preserves the unity of the Godhead, and at the same time it acknowledges that there are three persons in that Godhead which is still of one essence. God is one, but that oneness is not simple - it is complex. God the Father is fully God. God the Son is fully God. God the Holy Spirit is fully God. The Bible presents this as fact….although the Father is the Source of all blessing, it is through the Holy Spirit at work in us that all truth becomes living and operative in our lives.
Pentecost
Pentecost in the New Testament marked the commencement of the present age of the Holy Spirit. Believers are under the guidance even as the disciples of Jesus were under Him. From heaven Jesus still exercises lordship over us, but, not being physically with us now, He transmits his directions by means of the Holy Spirit who makes Christ real to us. Since Pentecost the Holy Spirit is the link between the first and second advents of Jesus. He applies the work of Jesus Christ to men in this age. (Billy Graham)
Christ in us
…consider Romans 8:10 (KJV), which says, “If Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin.” Or consider Galatians 2:20, “Christ lives in me.” It is clear in these verses that if the Spirit is in us, then Christ is in us. Christ dwells in our hearts by faith. But the Holy Spirit is the person of the Trinity who actually dwells in us, having been sent by the Son who has gone away but who will come again in person when we shall literally see Him. (Billy Graham)
Holy spirit in history
…the operations of the Holy Spirit among men in the three periods of human history may be defined by three words: “upon,” “with,” “in.” In the Old Testament He came upon selected persons and remained for a season (Judg. 14:19). In the Gospels He is represented as dwelling with the disciples in the person of Christ (John 14:17). From the second chapter of Acts onward he is spoken of as being in the people of God (1 Cor. 6:19). (Billy Graham)
Marks of the holy spirit
I conclude this series of quotes from Billy Graham’s book, The Holy Spirit: Activating God’s Power in Your Life, with these comments:
There should be no more distinctive mark of the Christian than love. . . . The Holy Spirit is the one who reproves, convicts, strives, instructs, invites, quickens, regenerates, renews, strengthens, and uses. He must not be grieved, resisted, tempted, quenched, insulted, or blasphemed. He gives liberty to the Christian, direction to the worker, discernment to the teacher, power to the Word, and fruit to faithful service. He reveals the things of Christ. He teaches us how to use the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God. He guides us into all truth. He directs in the way of godliness. He teaches us how to answer the enemies of our Lord. He gives us [direct] access to the Father.
Holy Spirit is personal
…the Bible speaks of the Holy Spirit performing tasks that only persons can perform. The Spirit comforts, guides, and teaches the elect (see John 16). These activities are done in a manner that involves intelligence, will, feeling, and power. He searches, selects, reveals, comforts, convicts, and admonishes. Only a person could do these things. The response of the Christian, then, is not mere affirmation that such a being exists, but rather to obey, love, and adore the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Trinity. (R. C. Sproul, Essential Truths of the Christian Faith)
Sanctification by the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit fulfills the role of the sanctifier. To be sanctified is to be made holy, or righteous. Sanctification is a process that begins the moment we become Christians. The process continues until death when the believer is made finally, fully, and forevermore righteous….Our sanctification is a cooperative venture. We must work with the Holy Spirit to grow in sanctification. (R. C. Sproul, Essential Truths of the Christian Faith)