Baptized_____Holy Spirit

Eighth Saturday after Pentecost

First, let me respond to Stuart's comment. I have not done any serious study of the Common English Bible yet. I am reading it now for the daily lectionary readings in the Daily Office. I know a number of people who were translators. All of them are top rate scholars. The theological viewpoint of the translation is virtually the same as that of the NRSV. The major difference I see is language. The CEB is much more colloquial. An obvious difference is that it commonly uses contractions: "God doesn't," rather than "God does not." The one difference from other translations I really do not (don't) like is the phrase "the human one," instead of the "son of man." The phrase almost always refers to Jesus. 

Although "the human one" has been in scholarly parlance since the 1980's, it is largely unknown to church members. The effort is to be gender neutral. Jesus, however, was male. Use of this gender neutral term seems especially odd to me since elsewhere in the Bible the CEB uses the pronoun "he" for God, You may have noticed neither I nor the clergy at my church, University, use this or any pronoun for God. All the new United Methodist curriculum materials and Disciple courses are geared to the CEB and quote from the CEB, rather than the NRSV. Also, many people find the CEB more readable than the NRSV.

I will respond to the other recent comments by personal email. I'm behind in that, so if you have written me or the blog, be patient. I will get back to you.

Now to Acts 1. I'm going to start with v. 5, a really important verse:
"You will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now." 

One translation problem. It is the translation "with." The NRSV has a footnote that the word could be translated "by." Both translations are possible, but I think both are wrong. The Greek word is en. The normal translation in English is "in," just like the word sounds in Greek. Oh, those prepositions! They can drive a translator crazy. I've got to go with "in" here. And yes, it does make a difference. 

What is the relationship between the person and the Holy Spirit in this process? "By" makes the phrase mean that the Holy Spirit does the baptizing. "With" means that the HS is what is used (presumably by God)  to accomplish the baptism. What water was for John, the Holy Spirit is for God. "In" means that the person is brought fully and totally into the HS. The person now lives in the HS, and the HS lives in the person. 

Jesus then says that this will happen "not many days from now." The reference is to Pentecost, which will occur ten days later. The Western text has it clearer, "not many days from now until Pentecost." 

What is this "baptism in the Holy Spirit?" Pentecostals have a very clear answer. It is the event when a person, filled with the Spirit, begins to speak in tongues. They will reference Acts 2:1-5, Acts 10:38-44, and Acts 19:1-7, as well as 1 Corinthians 12 and 14. I should note that not all Pentecostals think this. I'll talk more about speaking in tongues in a later post. 

Other Protestants and Catholics are much less clear. Was Jesus only referring to the apostles gathered there in Jerusalem or did he mean this for all Christians for all times. Can it refer simply to a personal experience of the infilling of the Holy Spirit without any manifestation like speaking in tongues? Acts 8:14-16 would imply a "yes" answer to that question. Does everyone need to be "baptized in the Holy Spirit." The paucity of references to baptism in the Holy Spirit outside of Acts implies that it is not essential. Not many verses from now Peter will say simply, "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved." If not by speaking in tongues, how would I know that I have been baptized in the Holy Spirit? I'm not sure, but I think you will know. Can you be baptized in the Holy Spirit more than once? The references in the NT imply that it is a one time experience. What did John Wesley think?  He called it "the second blessing." 

Faithfully,

Christian