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Baylor University
Institute for Faith and Learning
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    • Baylor Symposium on Faith and Culture
      • 2022 Art Seeking Understanding
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      • 2013 Kierkegaard: A Christian Thinker for Our Time?
      • 2012 Technology and Human Flourishing
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      • 2007 Friendship
    • Bill and Roberta Bailey Family Lecture in Christian Ethics
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    • Institute for Faith and Learning Video Archive
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    • The Christian Reflection Project
      • Acedia
      • Advent Ethics
      • Aging
      • Anger
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      • The Book of Acts
      • Caring for Creation
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Baylor BU Institute for Faith and Learning Media and Resources The Christian Reflection Project Pentecost
  • Faith Animating Online Education
  • Institute for Faith and Learning Video Archive
  • Baylor Symposium on Faith and Culture Video Archive
  • Bill and Roberta Bailey Family Lecture in Christian Ethics
  • Recommended Reading
  • External Resources
  • The Christian Reflection Project
    • Acedia
    • Advent Ethics
    • Aging
    • Anger
    • Apocalyptic Vision
    • Attentive Patience
    • The Book of Acts
    • Caring for Creation
    • Catechism
    • Chastity
    • Children
    • Christianity and Islam
    • Christmas and Epiphany
    • Cities and Towns
    • Cloning
    • Consumerism
    • Death
    • Disability
    • Easter
    • Food and Hunger
    • Forgiveness
    • Freedom
    • Friendship
    • Gambling Culture
    • Generosity
    • Global Wealth
    • Health
    • Heaven and Hell
    • Hospitality
    • Immigration
    • Inklings of Glory
    • Lent
    • The Letter of James
    • Marriage
    • Membership
    • Monasticism Old and New
    • Moral Landscape of Creation
    • Mysticism
    • Parables
    • Patterns of Violence
    • Peace and War
    • Pentecost
    • Pornographic Culture
    • Prayer
    • Prison
    • Prophetic Ethics
    • Racism
    • Sabbath
    • Schools in a Pluralist Culture
    • Scripture
    • Sermon on the Mount
    • Singing Our Lives
    • Sports
    • Suffering
    • Traveling Well
    • Virtual Lives
    • Vocation
    • Where Wisdom Is Found
    • Women and the Church
    • Women in the Bible
    • Work

Pentecost

On Pentecost Sunday we recall the gift of the Holy Spirit to Jesus' disciples and rejoice in the Spirit's continuing comfort, guidance, and intercession for us.

Since the crowd at Pentecost were devout Jews resettled in Jerusalem, Aaron Kuecker assumes they shared a language. Hearing Christ's spirit-filled disciples speak to them in their birth-languages was the subversion of shared language and culture as a necessary basis for common identity.

Bill Shiell explains how Peter reinterpreted the feast of Pentecost and the marvelous events as fulfilling Joel's prophecy for old and young, male and female, and slaves. Alicia Myers reminds us the disciples and their churches were imperfect and unfinished by the inclusive standards established that day.

Brandon Dahm draws attention to "the ordinary gifts of the Holy Spirit - the ones that grace the Messiah: wisdom, knowledge, understanding, counsel, piety, courage, and fear of the Lord - for they are part of something equally marvelous: our being drawn into friendship with God." Exploring the mysterious role of the Spirit in praying for us, whether we are aware of it or not, Timothy Wiarda writes, "God knows our hearts and is intimately acquainted with our groaning. And that should cause us to love and praise him."

Heidi Hornik compares how four artists over ten centuries portrayed the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Carmen Butcher explores the importance of the Spirit in Hildegard of Bingen's thought as expressed in her prose, poetry, and illuminations.

The study guides and lesson plans integrate Bible study, prayer, and worship to explore the central roles of the Holy Spirit in motivating and guiding our discipleship. The guides can be used in a series or individually. You may download and reproduce them for personal or group use.

Download the entire Pentecost issue and the set of five Study Guides. Or, download individual pieces by clicking the titles below.

Articles

  • "The Spirit's Gift and Witness: Communities of Reconciled Difference," by Aaron J. Kuecker
  • "Dreams, Visions, and Prophecies," by Alicia D. Myers
  • "Friendship with the Holy Spirit," by Brandon Dahm
  • "When the Holy Spirit Intercedes," by Timothy J. Wiarda
  • "'Supreme and Fiery Force,'" by Carmen Acevedo Butcher

Art

  • "Descent of the Holy Spirit," by Heidi J. Hornik, on the illuminated manuscript Descent of the Holy Spirit (Pentecost), Duccio's Pentecost, El Greco's The Pentecost, and Emil Nolte's Pentecost

Hymn and Worship Service

  • "A Rushing, Mighty Wind," by David W. Music
  • Worship Service by David W. Music

Inspirational Piece

  • "Revising Memories at Pentecost," by William D. Shiell

Book Reviews

  • "Tracing the Spirit through Scripture," by Dalen C. Jackson
    • Gordon D. Fee, Paul, the Spirit, and the People of God
    • Anthony Thiselton, The Holy Spirit - In Biblical Teaching, through the Centuries, and Today
    • Christopher J. H. Wright, Knowing the Holy Spirit through the Old Testament
    • Amos Yong, Who Is the Holy Spirit? A Walk with the Apostles
  • "Who is the Holy Spirit?" by Barbara Mutch
    • Jack Levinson, Inspired: The Holy Spirit and the Mind of Faith
    • Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen, ed., Holy Spirit and Salvation
    • Craig S. Keener, Gift and Giver: The Holy Spirit for Today
    • Phyllis Tickle, with Jon M. Sweeney, The Age of the Spirit: How the Ghost of an Ancient Controversy is Shaping the Church

Study Guides and Lesson Plans (Download the set of five Study Guides)

  • "The Holy Spirit's Gift and Witness"
  • "Dreams, Visions, and Prophecies"
  • "Friendship with the Holy Spirit"
  • "When the Holy Spirit Intercedes"
  • "The Spirit's 'Supreme and Fiery Force'"

Further Reading:

  • "The Book of Acts" issue of Christian Reflection
Baylor BU Institute for Faith and Learning Media and Resources The Christian Reflection Project Pentecost
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        • Featured Speakers
        • Video Archive
      • 2012 Technology and Human Flourishing
        Back
        • Featured Speakers
        • Video Archive
      • 2011 Educating for Wisdom in the 21st Century University
        Back
        • Featured Speakers
        • Video Archive
      • 2010 Human Dignity and the Future of Health Care
        Back
        • Featured Speakers
        • Video Archive
      • 2009 Secularization and Revival
        Back
        • Video Archive
      • 2008 Bottom-Up Approaches to Global Poverty
      • 2007 Friendship
    • Bill and Roberta Bailey Family Lecture in Christian Ethics
      Back
      • Bailey Lecture Video Archive
    • Other Conferences and Events
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      • IFL@25
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      • 2019 LFP National Conference
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      • Art & Soul
      • Pruit Memorial Symposium
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        • 2001 Celebrating Augustine's Confessions
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      • Baylor University Medical Ethics Seminar
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        • 2017 Medical Ethics Seminar
        • 2018 Medical Ethics Seminar
      • One-Time Conferences
  • Programs
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    • Communio: A Retreat for Baylor Educators
    • William Carey Crane Scholars Program
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      • Additional Information
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    • Forming Character in the Classroom
      Back
      • About the Program: Called to Character
      • Past Workshops
    • Reading Groups and Guest Speakers
    • Soundings Project
  • Media and Resources
    Back
    • Faith Animating Online Education
      Back
      • Starting Points
      • A Christian Imagination about Online Education?
      • Cultivating Character and Online Learning
      • Additional Resources
    • Institute for Faith and Learning Video Archive
    • Baylor Symposium on Faith and Culture Video Archive
    • Bill and Roberta Bailey Family Lecture in Christian Ethics
    • Recommended Reading
    • External Resources
    • The Christian Reflection Project
      Back
      • Acedia
      • Advent Ethics
      • Aging
      • Anger
      • Apocalyptic Vision
      • Attentive Patience
      • The Book of Acts
      • Caring for Creation
      • Catechism
      • Chastity
      • Children
      • Christianity and Islam
      • Christmas and Epiphany
      • Cities and Towns
      • Cloning
      • Consumerism
      • Death
      • Disability
      • Easter
      • Food and Hunger
      • Forgiveness
      • Freedom
      • Friendship
      • Gambling Culture
      • Generosity
      • Global Wealth
      • Health
      • Heaven and Hell
      • Hospitality
      • Immigration
      • Inklings of Glory
      • Lent
      • The Letter of James
      • Marriage
      • Membership
      • Monasticism Old and New
      • Moral Landscape of Creation
      • Mysticism
      • Parables
      • Patterns of Violence
      • Peace and War
      • Pentecost
      • Pornographic Culture
      • Prayer
      • Prison
      • Prophetic Ethics
      • Racism
      • Sabbath
      • Schools in a Pluralist Culture
      • Scripture
      • Sermon on the Mount
      • Singing Our Lives
      • Sports
      • Suffering
      • Traveling Well
      • Virtual Lives
      • Vocation
      • Where Wisdom Is Found
      • Women and the Church
      • Women in the Bible
      • Work
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