One of the more humorous quirks of scientific history is the debate over who should get the credit for discovering oxygen. Joseph Priestley, an English scientist and clergyman, is often given that honor because he was the first to publish his findings, doing so in 1774. Interestingly, Priestley originally called the gas, "dephlogisticated air."

However, in 1772, two years prior to Priestly's find, a Swedish chemist named Carl Scheele independently discovered the gas that is vital to human existence. Strangely enough, the term oxygen didn't actually come into use until 1775, when yet another chemist, Frenchman Antoine Lavoisier, discovered and named the gas we breathe. Lavoisier was the first to recognize oxygen as one of our natural elements.

Regardless of who gets the credit, it's odd to think of a human being "discovering" oxygen. Does a fish discover water? The truth is that oxygen literally surrounds us every day, and even if we choose to call it "dephlogisticated air," we can't live without it. The same is true of the Holy Spirit.