Innovation and the Holy Spirit

Abstract

With a number of examples, this article shows how in the writings of the New Testament, and so also in the life of the primitive Church, there emerges both the importance of faithfulness to the original "deposit" and the need for innovation. It is a faithfulness in freedom, guaranteed by the Holy Spirit, creator of the bonds of continuity and, at the same time, of new things. This can be seen, for example, in the handing down of the words of Jesus, and in the evolution of the apostles’ missionary programme. The innovative function of the Holy Spirit is present in two dimensions: as the moving agent guiding the community, but above all as the One who renews the believer in depth, imprinting upon the heart of each one the gift of freedom (cf. 2Cor 3:17) and communicating the reality of being "children of God".