Dar Ducha Świętego i jego implikacje etyczne dla wspólnoty Kościoła na podstawie Dz 2, 1–41

Abstract

The article speaks about the signifi cance which the coming of the Holy Spirit had for the early Church. The first part of the text, which focuses on the Pentecost narration (Acts 2:1–13), shows that in the theology of the Acts of the Apostles the phenomenon of the Pentecost marks the moment when the fi rst disciples of the Risen Christ open to a language hitherto unknown to them, to a sign and the outer manifestation of a new heart. Thanks to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the community of the disciples became the Church. The gift of the Spirit gave them the creative ability to communicate despite human diff erences, dissolved the barriers between tchem and brought about their unity. The next three passages of Peter’s Pentecostal Sermon (Acts 2:14–41), presenting the theological and redemptive meaning of the Pentecost, are analyzed in the second part of the article. Peter’s speech constitutes Luke’s interpretation of the phenomenon of the Pentecost which should be understood as the inauguration of a new epoch (Acts 2:15–21), the fruit of Jesus’ Passover (Acts 2:22–36), and the call to respond to the gift “from above” in the act of conversion and through accepting baptism in the name of Jesus (Acts 2:37–41). The third and last part of the article presents three most important ethical implications (in Luke’s rendering) which constitute the expected reply of the Risen Lord’s disciple to the gift of the Holy Spirit. The essence of the moral message of Luke’s Pentecostal narration can be expressed in the following exhortations: to walk the path of good in the footsteps of Jesus anointed with the Holy Spirit; to give witness and to proclaim the Gospel about the redemption available in the Risen Christ; to be open to dialogue and to the brotherhood of all.