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So, I’ve been thinking (always a dangerous pastime, I know). When writing allegory, it’s fairly easy to represent the Father and the Son as the great King and the Prince. But the third person of the Trinity is normally neglected; probably because it’s so hard to figure out what to do. What are your thoughts on how to represent the Holy Spirit, in allegory, without making Him a mystical force? My thoughts so far include a wind and a voice; but a warm, personal type of voice (or firm and hard as the situation requires).
My grandfather had an idea of the Spirit taking shapes depending on the situation…the Holy Spirit appeared as a dove in the Bible, and as a tongue of fire. What if He came phoenix or falcon? Portraying the Spirit is hard because there isn’t a solid physical being we can easily match with it, but I think it’s something worth taking the time to think about and doing.
Thoughts? (Note, all comments are liable to be taken or referenced in a future blog post of mine)
INTJ - Inhumane. No-feelings. Terrible. Judgment and doom on everyone.
Hi Hope Ann!
I love allegory, and I totally understand what you mean– I often struggle to portray the Holy Spirit in allegory as well. I like the idea of a wind and a voice, or maybe even just a voice, accompanied by a tangible, but not visible, presence. (For further inspiration on this idea you might want to look at 1 Kings 19, when Elijah is in the Presence of God.)
In the story I’m currently writing, I intend to portray the Holy Spirit as fire (think Pentecost, pillar of fire guiding the Israelites by night, burning bush, etc.). Fire can both give life and destroy it, making it both dangerous and beautiful, like the Trinity. It gives light, and therefore guidance, which is the Holy Spirit’s role in our lives. Furthermore, the nature of fire is that it is both heat and light. Heat by itself is not fire, and light by itself is not fire, but together, they make fire. Sort of like the Trinity– Three separate Spirits with different characteristics that all compose one Spirit.
I also like the idea of a dove, but a dove might not be a very epic character in a story. 🙂
Hope this was helpful!
HannahYA Fantasy Writer
Obsessive Character Namer
Find me at hisinstrumentblog.wordpress.comHm, for my allegory (yes, I do allegory as well, what a small world it is! Hahaha… 😉 ). I don’t go very deeply into the actual physical character of the Trinity— a voice in a whirlwind would probably be the closest I’ve come at this point to actually giving God some ‘screen time’. (That sounds awful…) 😛 Mostly it’s theory— urgh, no, that’s not right. It’s theological— the three facets of a Godhead— Father (King) Spirit (Judge) and Son (Priest/servant). My characters teach the Trinity as an inseparable part of religion— not just that there is one God, but there is one God in Three Persons. It’s partially how they understand His nature— Lawgiver, Judge, and Intercessor. Jealousy, justice, and love/mercy.
Anyway, that’s just the general theory of how my characters think about Him, so that helps a little… if I was actually going to make a physical ‘character’ out of the Holy Spirit I would probably do someone grave and stern and…
Actually you know what I’m just completely rambling, so feel free to ignore me… I’ll have to think this out some more before I can offer anything more concrete! 😛
huh @kate-flournoy, why the Holy Spirit as judge? I tend to think of Him as a teacher/companion type. “My Spirit I leave with you …” “He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all things …”
I would think of the Son as the Judge. It says something about that somewhere. Humph. Why can’t I think of that passage? Oh well. It’s out there somewhere.
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Hm… I’m not exactly sure, actually @Daeus… I always got the impression the Holy Spirit was more of a justice/judge type… Your definition definitely does seem to fit better. It’s not a huge theological cornerstone of mine or anything. 😀 I’ve not even studied a lot on it. I’m going to be once I get to where that actually gets important to my story, but I’m not quite there yet.
Thanks for the wake-up call… I’ll definitely have to study more on that.@kate-flournoy Have fun
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@Daeus I will. You may be sure.
@his-instrument Yes, a dove isn’t very epic. But what about a phoenix?
@kate-flournoy I just completed a theology class with a part about the Trinity this last winter… God is three in one. The different tasks, for lack of a better word (such as salvation and judgment) are attributed to all three persons of the Godhead at different times or another. But the Spirit, is the Comforter. The Intercessor. Jesus is sometimes portrayed as the Judge, and other times as the Intercessor for us to the Judge (the Father).INTJ - Inhumane. No-feelings. Terrible. Judgment and doom on everyone.
@hope the more I think about it, the more that makes sense. Thanks! 🙂
Hey, maybe he’s like the army general or something. Since the holy spirit is mostly the one we use when getting down and doing spiritual warfare and stuff. 🙂
I like the thought of the Holy Spirit as the army general! @Kate-flournoy and @Daeus, I have always thought of God the Father as the Judge, and Jesus as the Intercessor/Advocate. But since they’re all one, I guess they’re all parts of the role of Judge… if that make sense at all.
Don’t we serve an awesome God? To have Judge, Intercessor, Advocate, Guide, Army General, Creator, Lover, and much, much more all in one? How many religions can claim that? How many can claim a RELATIONSHIP with their God? I love that we get to write about this kind of stuff, and tell stories about His goodness and allegories about Him!YA Fantasy Writer
Obsessive Character Namer
Find me at hisinstrumentblog.wordpress.com- Rank: Wise Jester
- Total Posts: 68
somehow i’ve always thought of the Spirit as a kind of holy mist…i’m not sure why. with some embellishment, you could make Him in your story as a kind of alive blue hazy misty thing, or something. and when it envelops you, you feel peace and it speaks to you, and…i’m getting carried away. 😛
but you get the general idea.
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