Where is the Holy Spirit?

This is from John Loftus at Debunking Christianity:

Ministers commit adultery, molest children, sexually abuse women, pilfer money from the church, and so on. Pastors are supposed to be the best examples of Christianity, but they don’t seem any better than any other Christians. Why is this? Where is the power of the Holy Spirit in their lives?

Why is it that Christianity is the only religion that claims a creator God (via the Holy Spirit) takes up “residence” in the life of the believer but it doesn’t produce people who act any better than anyone else, especially it’s pastors?

Anybody out there have any answers?


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7 Responses to “Where is the Holy Spirit?”

  1. danielle Says:
    September 7th, 2006 at 3:11 pm

    Because human beings are are just that, human. No one person is perfect and it would be foolish to expect any human being to not have faults or hang ups regardless of their position or title. I do think it is a shame that many people hide behind the title of religious leader and then do things that go in direct opposition of the values and behavior they claim to uphold, but that is life. I love the phrase “I’d rather see a sermon that listen to one.” I look for my role models based on their actions rather than their words. I don’t trust anyone 100% because people are human and they can and will let you down. What is important is the lesson you learn from it and more importantly, how you behave based on the lessons you learned. There you have my 2 cents! Looking forward to seeing you on the 17th. :)

  2. lil angel Says:
    September 7th, 2006 at 7:21 pm

    I agree. All of this really speaks of a failure on man’s part. Not a lack of God’s existance. Everyone believes in something whether they believe it or not. Trust in God or trust in man.

  3. steven Aitchison Says:
    September 9th, 2006 at 2:23 am

    I believe in the spirit and a higher force that we can tap into but DO NOT believe in god. Those who are preaching ‘gods will’ are human so how can they possibly teach this.

    We are human beings, all we can hope to teach our future generations is right from wrong and belief in oneself.

    Christianity, as is any religion, is a community of people who like to get together and feel part of that community. You will notice that people within that community that speak against it are ostracized for doing so, therefore they are no longer are part of the community, hence the reason people within the group don’t speak their true feelings.

    How many Catholics are devout catholics? not many. Times change but the demonisation of people by religious groups has not changed. This is why people are turning to within themselves to find the answer to life’s questions.

    Minsiters, pastors etc are trying to suppress their humaness which is why the bad in them come out.

  4. Theresa Says:
    September 10th, 2006 at 2:26 pm

    Danielle,

    Thanks for your thoughts. You know I appreciate them. It still doesn’t answer the question, “Why is it that Christianity is the only religion that claims a creator God (via the Holy Spirit) takes up “residence” in the life of the believer but it doesn’t produce people who act any better than anyone else, especially it’s pastors?”

    I know you are a little different Christian than the ones I was around (not as dogmatic and much more liberal - thank goodness!) but I still think it is a paradox as to how Christians claim to have God inside of them and yet still act as sinners. If that is okay because “we ae human beings” then what is the difference between the believer and the unbeliever?

  5. Theresa Says:
    September 10th, 2006 at 2:35 pm

    lil angel - I think I answered your thoughts in my comments to Danielle.

    Could you explain what you mean by,”Everyone believes in something whether they believe it or not.” I’m not quite sure what you are getting at.

    And as far as you saying,”Trust in God or trust in man,” I think I would rather trust in man. I don’t think God is very trustworthy. He doesn’t do what he promises and all throughout the Bible he has been known to change his mind, sometimes drastically so. You can make up all the excuses in the world for God (His ways are not our ways, He answered my prayer, but with a no, It must not be God’s will, etc.) but that doesn’t coincide with what the Bible says. Either he does what he says he will do or he doesn’t. If he doesn’t, I don’t trust him.

  6. Theresa Says:
    September 10th, 2006 at 2:43 pm

    “Christianity, as is any religion, is a community of people who like to get together and feel part of that community. You will notice that people within that community that speak against it are ostracized for doing so, therefore they are no longer are part of the community, hence the reason people within the group don’t speak their true feelings.”

    Steven - thank you for your comments. I loved what you said (above) and it is so true. I hope you continue reading and commenting.

  7. heissailing Says:
    March 3rd, 2007 at 9:29 pm

    Thanks for this quote. It is just what I am looking for to sum up my feelings after reading Martin Luther King’s biography last year. Long Story - read the article on my site.
    This question also started my slide into doubting Christianity. I will borrow this quote for my site - thanks again.

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