Baptism with the Holy Spirit (alternatively Baptism in the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost) in Christian theology is a term describing baptism (washing or immersion) in or with the Spirit of God and is frequently associated with the bestowal of spiritual gifts and empowerment for Christian ministry. While the phrase "baptism with the Holy Spirit" is found in the New Testament and all Christian traditions accept it as a theological concept, each has interpreted it in a way consistent with their own beliefs on ecclesiology and Christian initiation. One view holds that the term refers only to Pentecost, the "once-for-all" event for the whole Church described in the second chapter of the Book of Acts. Another view holds that the term also refers to an experience of the individual believer distinct from salvation and initiation into the Church.
Before the emergence of the holiness movement in the mid 19th century and Pentecostalism in the early 20th century, most denominations believed that Christians received the baptism with the Holy Spirit either upon conversion and regeneration or through rites of Christian initiation. Since the growth and spread of Pentecostal and charismatic churches, however, the belief that the baptism with the Holy Spirit is an experience distinct from regeneration has come into increasing prominence.
Read more about Baptism With The Holy Spirit: Biblical Description, History, Views, Bible References
Famous quotes containing the words baptism, holy and/or spirit:
“A funeral is not death, any more than baptism is birth or marriage union. All three are the clumsy devices, coming now too late, now too early, by which Society would register the quick motions of man.”
—E.M. (Edward Morgan)
“The peace of God, which passeth all understanding.”
—Bible: New Testament St. Paul, in Philippians, 4:7.
The words are also used in the Book of Common Prayer, Holy Communion (1662)
“But those rare souls whose spirit gets magically into the hearts of men, leave behind them something more real and warmly personal than bodily presence, an ineffable and eternal thing. It is everlasting life touching us as something more than a vague, recondite concept. The sound of a great name dies like an echo; the splendor of fame fades into nothing; but the grace of a fine spirit pervades the places through which it has passed, like the haunting loveliness of mignonette.”
—James Thurber (1894–1961)