"This is not a 'God is Dead' book; it is a cognitive treatment dealing strictly with the record of, and working of, Spirit--the Holy Ghost. If anything, it is more than even an advanced obituary; it is in the mood of a requiem. Moreover, it is specific to the Holy Ghost, not a tract on God, religion, or Church history" (from the introduction).
When the Christ, in his physical form, left the earthly world, he sent the Holy Spirit--"The Comforter"--to guide and inspire his followers. Beginning with Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was perhaps the most important aspect of the Godhead for the future of Christianity and for humankind as a whole. Today, however, there are cults for Mary and there are Jesuits and Jesus freaks, but what about the Holy Ghost--why has the Spirit lost its central role in Christianity and the Church?
Who Killed the Holy Ghost? is a sweeping, hard-hitting, and accessible survey of the Spirit in the world and in human life, from the Jewish prophets to modern times. Goodwin--a journalist, former correspondent to the Vatican, and an expert on the Church and its history--investigates the rise of the Holy Ghost, the heresies, the battles, defeats, and victories, and the Holy Spirit's exile from history.
Goodwin recounts and contextualizes what individuals have said about the Holy Spirit--from Paul, John, and Jesus to Leonardo da Vinci and George Washington to Einstein, Freud, and John Glenn. We are also given a close look at the various ways world religious traditions have treated the Spirit, including Judaism, Christianity, Islam, shamanism, Buddhism, Taoism, and many others. In the process, the author focuses otherwise vague uses of the word spirit, from the ancient Greeks and Romans to Christian gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit to modern Pentecostals and the New Age movement.
Journalistic in its sweep, Goodwin's honors the history of the Holy Ghost in life and death for our materialistic times. The Holy Ghost's visibility has faded over the centuries, but the Holy Spirit, often so invisible, might not be a mere ghost or dead yet.
C O N T E N T S:
Introduction
1. The Spirit that Blows Where It Will
2. The Spirit and the Dust
3. The Unwanted Guest
4. The Presence: Being
5. Spirit--What Is It?
6. Holy Spirit
7. From the Prophets to Jesus
8. Pentecost
9. Gifts, Signs, and Fruit
10. Tongues of Fire
11. Truth
12. Scripture
13. The Sin Against the Holy Ghost
14. Other Traditions
15. Early Heresy
16. East and West
17. Battle for the Spirit
18. The Medievals
19. The Reformation
20. Lady Philosophy
21. The Holy Ghost Conceives
22. War and Music
23. Testimony
24. Americanism
25. The Vatican
26. Mr. Science
27. The Pentecostals
28. The Ghost in the Machine
29. Amen to the Future
Bibliography
Index
