C.A Rumbay Klabat Theological Review | Vol. 1 | No.2 | February 2021 Copyright @2021, Faculty of Philosophy UNKLAB ISSN: 2723-4320, E-ISSN: 2723-6137 pg. 119 The Intelligence of the Spirit in the Old Testament Christar Arstilo Rumbay PhD Student at Theologische Universiteit Apeldoorn, Netherlands Christar.indotec@gmail.com Abstract Pneumatology has been the subject of discussion of her activities in the Old Testament. The personality of the Spirit is one of the controversial discussions where she is simply considered a power or energy of God. Intelligence, however, is regarded as one of the attributes of a personal being. This treatise aims to explore the intelligence of the Spirit in the Old Testaments books where the Spirit potentially testifies of wisdom, knowledge, and counsel in the sense of fatherhood, jurisprudence intelligence in political activity, and governmental nature. Keywords: Intelligence; Old Testament; Pneumatology; Systematic Theology Introduction The personality of the Spirit receives a large number of discussions. Moreover, it has been the subject of denying through the history of Christianity development. For instance, the heretic Arius who develops the idea that the Spirit is only an exerted energy of God, Socinius who defines that the Spirit is as eternally proceeding the energy of God, and other related concepts that deviate from the revelation given in the Scriptures. 1 Recently, her personality has been denied by liberal thinkers such as Schleiermatcher, certain neo-orthodox theologians, Ritschl, and the Unitarians. 2 However, few attributes of the Spirit as a personality has been presented to establish mind that She is a person. 3 Fuchsia Pickett argues that the gentleness of a dove and the display in the baptism of Jesus Christ present the characteristics of the Spirit in which she is never harsh, rude, critical, and judgmental, rather, she testifies patience, peace, and embracing, where her personality is displayed well. 4 Unfortunately, all the evidence presented occurs in the New Testament where the existence of the Spirit is less of controversy as she is spread evenly in the New Testament books. It seems the Spirit has less significant role in the Old Testament. Leon J Wood says that the Holy Spirit is frequently dismissed in the OT. In contrast, the NT shares all the answers to the questions regarding the Spirit. Further, he insists that this is so because the OT prepares the basis for the New Testament truth, while the New Testament expands the seed of thought in the Old Testament. 5 Moreover, the NT portrays the existence of the Spirit as a personality, while 1 John F. Walvoord, The Holy Spirit: A Comprehensive Study of the Person and the Work of the Holy Spirit (Wheaton, IL: Van Kampen Press, 1954; reprint ed., Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1978), 5-7 2 Charles C. Ryrie, The Holy Spirit (Chicago: Moody Press, 1997), 13. 3 The Spirit bears feminine gender nature rather than masculine in the Bible. See, Johannes van Oort, The Holy Spirit as Feminine: Early Christian testimonies and their Interpretation (HTS Teologiese Studies/ Theological Studies 72(1), 1-6, 2016, http://dx.doi.org/ 10.4102/hts.v72i1.3225). 4 Fuchsia Pickett, Understanding the Personality of the Holy Spirit, Book 1 (Lake Mary, Florida: Charisma House, A Strang Company, 2004), 15. 5 Leon J. Wood, The Holy Spirit in the Old Testament (Eugene: Wipf and Stock Publisher, 1998), 11- 12.