Editorial July 23, 1966 Issue

Spirit and Spiritual Things

Helen Wood Bauman

Christ Jesus described God as "a Spirit," or as "Spirit," according to modern translations of the New Testament. To the woman of Samaria with whom he discussed worship he said, "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth."^{John 4:24;} Moffatt has it, "God is Spirit, and his worshippers must worship him in Spirit and in reality." To Nicodemus the Master said, "That which is born of the Spirit is spirit"^3:6;—spiritual things are the creation of Spirit.

The many references in the Bible to the Spirit of the Lord, the spirit of God, and to the holy Spirit lead one to believe that the true worshipers of God have always been conscious of Him as Spirit; they have found Spirit a tangible presence and not a mystery. Paul spoke of spiritual things as concepts with which he was familiar. He said, "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, ... the things which God hath prepared for them that love him."^{I Cor. 2:9;}

God, Spirit, is not a vague essence or animating influence, such as one refers to when he speaks of the Christmas spirit or the spirit of the age. Nor can Spirit refer to someone who has departed in death and is supposedly able to converse with the living.

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