This certainly is a reasonable question. In English it is akward to "lie"
to impersonal things. However, I find that in Greek this does not hold. For
example, we have James 3:14:
(from the Nestle-Aland Greek-English NT 8th Edition)
Greek: MH ... YEUDESQE KATA THS ALHQEIAS
English: Do not ... be false to the truth.
Alt: "lie against the truth"
I started to run a search of any occurrences of YEUDOMAI to impersonal
things in the LXX (or Classics?), but I am out of time. Perhaps someone
else can pick this up.
Therefore, Ananias could YEUDOMAI ("lie" "be false") to a thing or force
and therefore Acts 5:3,4 cannot be used to prove or disprove the "nature"
of PNEUMA hAGION.
I thought Carl's point about Luke's testimony of PNEUMA hAGION was
pertinent. Luke's first mention of PNEUMA hAGION compared it with "power"
in Luke 1:35:
h/Holy s/Spirit will come upon you and _power of the Most High_ will
overshadow you.
I've always viewed the "spirit" much like Carl's illustration, as dynamic
personified energy that makes things happen, illustrated by electricity.
The electricity contrasted/ compared with the mere latent power that would
be stored in a battery ("power").
Sincerely,
Wes Williams
This should come from what the scriptures say about PNEUMA hAGION,
including the strong witness of the O.T.