Driving a Biblical Investigative Agenda
In the first essay of this series, I wrote:
Read again the first few chapters of the Book of Acts, not as a believer, but as a field biologist asking the standard set of questions that are asked upon discovery of a new species: What are the characteristics of the new species? What is its natural history? What characteristics are unique to it, and which are shared by others? What are its identifying features that allow biologists to identify members of this species and avoid misclassification with other species? How does it reproduce? How does it interact within its eco-system and the other occupants? How does it defend itself? What is its range? How does it expand its niche in the eco-system, and who is impacted by its arrival? What other species can we compare it to? How does the ecosystem support a growth rate where 120 members become 3000 members in the span of a day? What do we call it?
A special set of sub-questions are asked by field biologists when they encounter a symbiotic species or a host/parasite relationship. We've already answered the one of "what is the host and what is the symbiont (occupant)?" The ones of interest to us are "Where within the host does the symbiont reside? How does that location affect the host? How does that location enable the symbiont to live and interact with the host? How does the location determine benefit?"
We will learn that location determines symbiont interactivity with the host. We will then look for the location of the Holy Spirit within the believer, assess what is known about that location (biblically and scientifically), and then from there determine the likely mechanism by which the Holy Spirit interacts with the believer based on its location. We will put this information to practical use in the next essay.
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