Additional information
by Damian Vraniak (Author), Christina Vraniak (Author)
This study guide focuses upon what the Bible (NIV) says about the Holy Spirit. We gathered together several couples interested in our initial study. Then compiled all references to the "Holy Spirit" in the Bible. In the process we found that Scripture actually mentioned 'heart' more often and subsequently looked at and compiled all the references to the 'heart', 'soul', and 'spirit(s)', in order that we and the other study participants might begin to explore the relationships between the Holy Spirit and these other important parts of being a human being and a Christian. The effort of this study was to stay close to the Word; that is, rather than rely on the interpretations of scholars and other authors, we sought to invite the Holy Spirit directly into our hearts through study of the Word. In the end, we spent the first four weeks studying the references in Scripture to heart, soul, spirit, and demons, respectively, each week. Then we spent a week studying references that included mentions of combinations of heart and soul, body and mind. Finally, we spent three weeks studying Biblical references to the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Jesus and the Holy Spirit, to see if we might more clearly discern the operations of the Holy Spirit upon our hearts, souls, bodies and minds. The source material was assembled for our study participants, as it is for you, in three forms: The first is contained in the Appendices - it is a direct compilation of the sentences in Scripture that contain each word studied each week. The second form entailed Damian arranging those passages thematically and then sequentially, removing duplication, as well as doing some minimal editing to create a smooth narrative. This 'condensation' was quite helpful is discerning patterns between the passages and meaningful relationships among the weekly concepts studied. Finally, it was especially helpful to us to have this condensed version broken up into negative and positive oriented passages, that is, proscriptions and warnings (don't do) and affirmations (do do) for us in our concluding week of study.
