Talk:Spiritual gift

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is part of Charismatic Christianity, an attempt to build a comprehensive and detailed guide to Pentecostalism, the Charismatic movement and its relatives and offshoots on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, you can edit the article attached to this page, or visit the project page, where you can join the project and/or contribute to the discussion.

[edit] Easton's Bible Dictionary

The dictionary this article was based on is quite POV. Nonetheless here is the reference if anyone is interested. Colin MacLaurin 01:47, 21 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Question

Do some Christian groups limit the term "spiritual gifts" to just the miraculous gifts?

For example, Easton seems to limit "spiritual gifts" to only miraculous gifts in the early church - "They were the gifts of speaking with tongues, casting out devils, healing, etc." A Google search turned up a helpful article, which could be taken to imply a dual meaning where "spiritual gifts" could mean either the (outwardly) miraculous gifts or the entirety of gifts. Your opinions please! Colin MacLaurin 01:47, 21 July 2006 (UTC)

Perhaps more to the point -- some do not. The Catholic Church classifies both the miraclous gifts and the gifts and fruits that stem from sanctifying grace as spiritual gifts, though making many distinctions between the types. Goldfritha 22:34, 5 August 2006 (UTC)

We might be talking about a three-way distinction now! The Bible talks about some truly miraculous gifts like healing, and some more mundane gifts like administration. Both types are given to particular people: not all are healers and not all are administrators. By contrast, the gifts of the HS that Goldfritha is talking about are something different still: they are seven in number and are given to all baptized Christians and perfected in confirmation. David Chiang 21:22, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Merger

The articles Spiritual gift and Gifts of the Holy Spirit ought to be merged.

• Since Gifts of the Holy Spirit is the longer of the two, I propose that Spiritual gift be merged into it.
• I also propose that the result be placed under the title Spiritual gifts, as this is the most commonly used term.

Colin MacLaurin 10:48, 25 July 2006 (UTC)

Correction: Make that "Spiritual gift", because of the Wikipedia convention, "In general only create page titles that are in the singular..." (See here). Colin MacLaurin 07:54, 27 July 2006 (UTC)

• I propose that Gifts of the Holy Spirit is a subset of Spiritual Gifts. Spiritual Gifts is actually the broader term. From what I've seen in the bible Spiritual Gifts can include many gifts which is where you get the different numbers. There are only 9 Gifts of the Holy Spirit.

• However, in Catholic spiritual theology, Gifts of the Holy Spirit refers to two distinct phenomena as mentioned above. This article describes what are commonly called charisms or charismata in the Catholic tradition, and are normally meant for the edification of the community. There are also the Seven gifts of the Holy Spirit which are normally meant for the sanctification of the person to whom they are given. When Catholics talk about the "gifts of the HS" they usually mean the latter. David Chiang 20:51, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

• A Google search of "gifts of the holy spirit" turns up mostly Catholic pages talking about the Seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, where a search for "spiritual gift" turns up mostly evangelical/charismatic pages talking about charismata, e.g., speaking in tongues. Perhaps, then, common usage would call for two articles that cross-reference each other? David Chiang 21:44, 26 September 2006 (UTC)