The Role of the Holy Spirit in the Foundation of the Early Church and the Construction of the Christian Religious identity (According to the New Testament)
Subject Areas : Christianity
Sepideh Vahidnia
1
,
arastoo Mirani
2
,
Yahya Sabbaghchi
3
1 - PhD Candidate of Comparative Religion and Mysticism, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
2 - Assistance Professor at Islamic Azad University, Gorgan, Iran
3 - Center for Islamic Education and Humanities, Sharif University of Technology
Keywords: Christianity, Holy Spirit, Church, New Testament, Gentiles,
Abstract :
Christianity was a reform movement within the Shari'a-centered religion of Judaism that, after about half a century, by accepting non-Jews, separated from Judaism. With the spread of this religion, probably around 1st century, the early church was gradually formed. The Holy Spirit is one of the common themes and categories between Judaism and Christianity, which, according to Christians and from the New Testament point of view, has played an important role in the establishment and formation of the early church and its survival. The companionship of the Holy Spirit with Jesus from birth and at all times, also filling the apostles with him in Pentecost and the presence of the Holy Spirit when baptism of Jewish and Gentile converts, are the effective functions of the Spirit in the survival and spread of Christianity. The Holy Spirit has also played an effective role in strengthening the spirituality and unity of the Church and the faithful. And again, One of the influential missions of the Holy Spirit in the destiny of the church should be to guide and assist the apostles and the church, especially by acknowledging the direct entry of Gentiles into the Christian convert.
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