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When we seek the teaching of the Scriptures on the
invisible mission of the Holy Ghost and the Son, we see
that Scripture frequently speaks of the general presence
of God the author of nature in all things, which God
immediately conserves in being, inasmuch as being is the
proper effect of God. Thus we read: "If I ascend
into heaven, Thou art there; if I descend into hell,
Thou art present."[626] St. Paul speaking on the
Areopagus, said: "For in Him we live, and move, and
are."[627]
This general presence of God in all created things,
which God preserves in being, is explained by St.
Thomas as the preserving action which is a continuation of
the creative action that produces things in being
immediately and not through any instrument.[628]
Thus God, as the efficient cause, is effectively
present in all things inasmuch as He preserves in them
what is most intimate, their being, which is the most
formal thing of all since it actuates everything in created
beings. God also immediately preserves the matter that is
produced from nothing as well as the souls produced from
nothing.
Sacred Scripture speaks not only of this general
presence, which is called the presence of immensity, but
also of a special presence of God, which is in the souls
of the just and not in all things. Thus we read in the
Book of Wisdom: "For wisdom will not enter into a
malicious soul, nor dwell in a body subject to sins. For
the Holy Spirit of discipline will flee from the
deceitful, and will withdraw Himself from thoughts that
are without understanding."[629] From the context
it seems that these words refer not only to created wisdom
but also to the Holy Ghost, who is uncreated wisdom.
Any doubt that may arise, however, is removed by
Christ's words: "If any one love Me, he will keep
My word, and My Father will love him, and We will
come to him, and will make Our abode with
him."[630]
In this text every word should be noted, especially the
words, "We will come to him." Who comes? Is it only
some created effect, like created grace or created
wisdom? No. Those who come are the same as love, the
Father and the Son, from whom the Holy Ghost is never
separated. Besides this, the Holy Ghost is promised by
the Son. Lastly we read not only that They will come
but also that They will make Their abode with him, that
is, they will not come only transitorily but permanently
to abide in the just man as long as he remains just. Thus
we read, "God is charity, and he that abideth in
charity, abideth in God, and God in him."[631]
Obviously mention is made here of a special presence
entirely distinct from God's general presence in all
things. The condition of this special presence is
charity, or the state of grace, by which a man is
constituted as just. The just man, then, possesses God
in his heart, or perhaps it would be better to say that
God possesses the just man inasmuch as God preserves him
not only in nature but also in grace and charity.
St. Paul, writing to the Romans, said: "The
charity of God is poured forth in our hearts, by the
Holy Ghost, who is given to us."[632] We
receive, therefore, not only the gift of charity but also
the Holy Ghost, the giver of charity. Again St.
Paul says: "Know you not, that you are the temple of
God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in
you?"[633] That is to say, the Holy Ghost dwells
in you, in your souls, as He dwells in a temple where
He ought to be known, loved, and adored." Or know you
not, that your members are the temple of the Holy
Ghost, who is in you, whom you have from God, and you
are not your own? For you are bought with a great price.
Glorify and bear God in your body."[634] These
words recall what Jesus said to the Samaritan woman:
"Woman, believe Me, that the hour cometh, when you
shall neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, adore
the Father. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the
true adorers shall adore the Father in spirit and in
truth... . God is a spirit; and they that adore
Him, must adore Him in spirit and in truth."[635]
The Scriptures therefore clearly distinguish between
God's general presence and His special presence, which
is often attributed to the Holy Ghost.
Tradition. From documents of the primitive Church we
see that this doctrine was admirably preserved from the
beginning.
St. Ignatius of Antioch in his epistles often calls
Christians "Godbearers" ("theophoroi"), according
to St. Paul's expression, "Wear God in your
body."[636]
This doctrine was explicitly known by the faithful in the
early Church and was proclaimed by the martyrs before
their judges. St. Lucy said to Paschasius: "Words
are not lacking to those who have the Holy Ghost within
themselves." "Is not therefore the Holy Ghost in
you?" "Indeed, all those who live piously and chastely
are the temples of the Holy Ghost."[637] The
Greek Fathers often say that by the Holy Ghost
Christians are made partakers of God and are
deified.[638] St. Basil said that our union with
the Holy Ghost is founded on the fact that the Holy
Ghost dwells in us and makes us spiritual and conformed to
the image of the Son of God.[639] St. Cyril of
Alexandria teaches the same thing.[640] St.
Ambrose says that the Holy Ghost is given to us first in
baptism and then in confirmation so that we might be able
to possess His splendor and His image and His
grace.[641] St. Augustine testifies that the
Fathers are in great accord in teaching that God gives
Himself as a gift to the just.[642]
This doctrine has often been affirmed by the Church: in
the Creed of St. Epiphanius, "The Holy Ghost, who
spoke through the apostles and dwells in the
saints."[643] The Council of Trent declared:
"The efficient cause of justification is the mercy of
God, who gratuitously cleanses and sanctifies, signing
and anointing with the Spirit of promise, who is the
pledge of our inheritance."[644] Lastly, Leo
XIII in his encyclical Divinum illud munus[645]
quotes these texts of Sacred Scripture, and in
explaining the special presence of the Holy Trinity in
the just he quotes the words of St. Thomas.[646]
Pope Leo XIII writes in the encyclical: "God is in
all things; He is in them by His power since all things
are subject to His power; by His presence since all
things are naked and open to His eyes; by His essence
since He is present in all things as their cause of
being.[647] But in man God is present not only as
He is in things, but more so because He is known and
loved by man, since by our nature we spontaneously love
and desire and acquire the good. Besides this, God
resides in the souls of the just by grace as in a temple in
a singular and intimate manner; and from this it follows
by force of charity, by which God is most closely
conjoined to the soul, that He is completely and most
sweetly enjoyed more than a friend is loved by his dearest
friend. This wonderful union, which is called
inhabitation, differs only in status from that by which
God embraces the blessed in heaven, although it is
effected by the very real presence of the entire Trinity,
according to the words, 'We will come to him and make
Our abode with him,' nevertheless this union is
predicated in a special way of the Holy Ghost.[648]
Even though traces of God's power and wisdom appear in
the unjust man, no one except the just man is a partaker
of that charity which is the special note of the Holy
Ghost. A wealth of heavenly gifts of various kinds
follows the Holy Ghost when He inhabits the souls of the
just."[649]
The encyclical explains that this special presence of the
Holy Trinity is appropriated to the Holy Ghost inasmuch
as the Holy Ghost is sent by the two other persons and
since charity assimilates us to the Holy Ghost, who is
personal love, more than faith assimilates us to the
Word. Because of its obscurity, faith is essentially
imperfect and thus differs from charity, which alone of
the three theological virtues remains in heaven. Our
perfect assimilation with the Word takes place only when
we receive the light of glory and when we see the Word,
by which we are assimilated to the Father inasmuch as the
Son is the splendor of the Father.
Thus the special presence of the Holy Trinity is
appropriated to the Holy Ghost, although His mission,
as we have said, is more than this appropriation. It is
also certain that the Son, not by reason of His
humanity, but as the Word, is specially present in us
and is invisibly sent to us; the Father Himself is
present, but He is not sent since He gives Himself to
the just.
The encyclical of Pope Leo, therefore, does not favor
the opinion of Petavius, according to which the special
union of the Holy Ghost with the just is more than
appropriation. Petavius does not offer an adequate
explanation of our Lord's words: "If anyone love Me,
he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and
We will come to him, and will make Our abode with
him."[650] Obviously not only the Holy Ghost but
also the Father and the Son dwell in the just by this
special presence distinct from God's general presence.
No great effort will be required to distinguish clearly
between these kinds of presence according to their formal
constituent.
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