Spock fell in love!) The seven spirits of God appears in a book where analytical reasoning does not help much. In the Bible, as is the case with the rest of life, not all things can be understood in a cold, detached, logical manner. (In fact there would be something very wrong if you did not think rationally.) The problem lies in when we venerate it to a position where it dominates our thought processes in ways it shouldn’t. There is nothing wrong with being a rational thinker. In today’s world we over emphasize left-brain, logical, analytical thinking. It is the challenge of how we conceptualize and imagine the Holy Scriptures in our modern cognitive environment. It is no so much an issue of what hermeneutical or exegetical method one should use. The second issue is related to the first and it is the problem of interpretation. When we read passages like this we should not set out to “prove” any creed or we run the risk of eisogesis (reading our own interpretation into the text.) This leads me to the next challenge. Instead of trying to build doctrines off simple statements we need to unpack them and see what they really mean. Wright points out in his book, “Scripture and the Authority of God”, many of these theological terms are short hands for a larger and a bigger concept. I can confidently say that neither John nor any of the early Christians thought in terms of the Trinity, at least not in the way we popularly understand it. We cannot anachronistically read back into the text a mode of thinking and understanding which was never theirs. Now it is important for us to note that the creedal formulation of the doctrine of the Holy Trinity came sometime after the New Testament. Admirable as this is, if the text wanted to say that there was Greek for it.
In an attempt to mitigate the potentially absurd effects of multiple spirits of God it is rather called the “seven-fold” spirits of God. Any Trinitarian worth his salt will instantly see the challenge of there being seven spirits. This is especially true when we extend it to mean a seven-fold Holy Spirit which I think is the most popular view. This however does not mean there are no challenges with the latter. It is apparent from my rejection of the first view I am sympathetic towards the second. It is hard to imagine, especially in the context of apocalyptic literature, how the eyes can be interpreted as separate distinct entities all together. Here they are feature of the crucified Messiah’s person. Apart from this in Revelation 5:6 the seven eyes of the Lamb that was slain are identified as the seven spirits of God. The fact that he put them in divine company suggests they are not angels. The seven spirits are nestled in between God the Father and the Messiah Jesus. It is a common New Testament formula to offer greetings in the name of the Father and the Son. For example John brings us salutations from the very throne room of God. When we look at all the occurrences it does not suggest an angel of any sort. The specific phrasing “seven spirits of God” appears three other times all in the Book of Revelation. So the seven spirits are actually the one Holy Spirit who has seven facets, dimensions or aspects.Īs for the first view I wholly reject it. Those of the second view sometimes go on to say that each of the virtues listed in Isaiah is the name and designation of each “spirit”. The other is that it is an allusion to Isaiah 11:2.Īnd the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. One is saying that they are the seven archangels that stand before God. In a book of many bewildering symbols and figures how do we make sense of this one in particular? There are two popular ways of interpreting this. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. One of the most of curious of these riddles is the seven spirits of God. These enigmas are an important part of the mystique and challenge of the scriptures.