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1. In the Synoptic Gospels the Holy Ghost is less
frequently mentioned than the Son of God, because He
was not incarnate, and sometimes in Sacred Scripture the
expression "Spirit of God" does not clearly designate a
special person. Nevertheless, as we pointed out in
gathering the testimonies about the three divine persons
together in the Synoptic Gospels, the Holy Ghost
appears as a divine person, distinct from the others, in
the formula of baptism (Matt. 28:19; Mark
16:13). In this formula Father and Son are
personal nouns, and therefore the third term should also
designate a distinct divine person. This truth appears,
although not so clearly, in the words of the archangel
Gabriel at the time of the Annunciation, "The Holy
Ghost shall come upon thee" (Luke 1:35), and in
the solemn theophany after Christ's baptism when Jesus
"saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming
upon Him" (Matt. 3:16; Luke 9:34).
Father Ceuppens distinguishes the texts in which it is
clear from the context that reference is made to the third
person of the Blessed Trinity from those in which there
is rather reference to some divine virtue and not
explicitly to the Third Person.[80]
St. John the Baptist, St. Elizabeth, and St.
Zachary are said to be filled with the Holy Spirit
(Luke 1:15, 41, 67).
Simeon is said to have "received an answer from the Holy
Ghost... and came by the Spirit into the temple"
(Luke 2:26 f.).
St. John the Baptist announced a higher baptism to be
conferred "in the Holy Ghost" (Matt. 3:11),
and "Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert"
(Matt. 4:1).
Christ said: "Whosoever shall speak a word against the
Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but he that shall
speak against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven
him" (Matt. 12:32)."In view of the context,"
says Father Ceuppens, "we do not think that the Holy
Ghost here can be explained as referring to the Third
Person of the Trinity.[81]
Announcing to the apostles their imminent persecution,
Jesus said: "It shall be given you in that hour what to
speak. For it is not you that speak, but the Spirit of
your Father that speaketh in you" (Matt. 10:19
f.). He who speaks is a person and not a divine
attribute, and this promise was fulfilled by the sending
of the Holy Ghost, the Third Person of the Trinity,
on Pentecost (Acts 2:1, 4).
Thus the Synoptic Gospels reveal the Holy Ghost as a
distinct, divine person, to whom are attributed divine
operations, in particular prophecy (the prophecy of
Simeon), and the sanctification of souls (the
sanctification of St. John Baptist). All this will
become clearer in the Acts of the Apostles and in the
epistles of St. Paul.
2. In the Acts of the Apostles the Holy Ghost speaks
as the person who sanctifies men, who in the past inspired
the prophets and now inspires the apostles, who directs
and rules them and constitutes them bishops. Thus we
read: "Now there were in the church which was at
Antioch, prophets and doctors,... and the Holy
Ghost said to them: Separate me Saul and Barnabas,
for the work whereunto I have taken them... . So they
being sent by the Holy Ghost, went to Seleucia: and
from thence they sailed to Cyprus" (Acts
13:1-4); "The Holy Ghost hath placed you
bishops, to rule the Church of God" (Acts
20:28); "Have you received the Holy Ghost since
ye believed?" (Acts 19:2.) St. Paul says:
"And now, behold, being bound in the spirit, I go to
Jerusalem, not knowing the things which shall befall me
there: save that the Holy Ghost in every city witnesseth
to me, saying that bands and afflictions wait for me at
Jerusalem" (Acts 20:22 f.); and St. Peter
said: "Men, brethren, the scripture must needs be
fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost spoke before by the
mouth of David concerning Judas" (Acts 1:16).
In all these instances the Holy Ghost appears as a
person. Again, St. Peter said that to lie to the
Holy Ghost is to lie to God: "Ananias, why hath
Satan tempted thy heart, that thou shouldst lie to the
Holy Ghost?... Thou hast not lied to men, but to
God" (Acts 5:3 f.).
On this point the entire second chapter of the Acts of
the Apostles about the coming of the Holy Ghost can be
cited: "And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost,
and they began to speak with divers tongues according as
the Holy Ghost gave them to speak" (v. 4). Here,
as in the other texts, the Holy Ghost speaks as a divine
person for only God sanctifies souls.
Father Ceuppens[82] says that the personal character
of the Holy Ghost cannot be inferred from some of the
texts of the Acts of the Apostles in which He is
mentioned, for example, 1:5, 8; 2:4, 41;
8:12; 9:7; but that the Holy Ghost appears
explicitly as a person in the following: "And they were
all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they began to speak
with divers tongues according as the Holy Ghost gave them
to speak" (2:4). This was the fulfillment of
Christ's promise to send the person of the Holy Ghost.
His personal character is clear when He is said to rule
the apostles (5:3, 9); also in the text," or it
hath seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us"
(15:28); "The Holy Ghost said to them:
Separate me Saul and Barnabas" (13:2), and when
He prevented St. Paul from going to Bithynia
(16:7), when He foretold St. Paul's sufferings
(20:22 f.), and when He "placed you bishops to
rule the church of God" (20:28).
3. In the epistles of St. Paul many passages show the
Holy Ghost to be a distinct person and true God. He
appears as a person when such properties and actions are
predicated of Him as pertain only to a person and not to a
divine attribute. The Holy Ghost is said to have an
intellect," or the Spirit searcheth all things, yea,
the deep things of God" (I Cor. 2:10). To Him
are also attributed a will and operations, "but all these
things one and the same Spirit worketh, dividing to
everyone according as He will" (I Cor. 12:11);
graces "gratis datae", like prophecy and the
word of wisdom, are conferred by Him.
The person mentioned here is also true God for He is
said to have all knowledge of divine things," or the
Spirit searcheth all things,[comprehends them], yea,
the deep things of God" (I Cor. 2:10). Only
God can know future free things and reveal them to the
prophets. To the Holy Ghost are also attributed the
works of regeneration and sanctification and these are
proper to God, as in "You are washed, but you are
sanctified, but you are justified in the name of our Lord
Jesus Christ, and the Spirit of our God" (I Cor.
6:11).
Lastly, according to St. Paul, the worship of latria
is to be given to the Holy Ghost, dwelling in the just
soul: "Or know you not, that your members are the
temple of the Holy Ghost, who is in you?" (I Cor.
6:19); but temples are built for God. Therefore
St. Paul added, "glorify and bear God in your body"
(v. 20). Father Ceuppens[83] remarks," some
of these texts, taken alone, might be understood as
referring to a poetical personification, as was said above
about wisdom, but to comprehend the full meaning of these
texts we must keep in mind the Trinitarian formulas in
St. Paul's writings in which the Holy Ghost is placed
on the same level with the Father and the Son."
4. In St. John's Gospel the Holy Ghost clearly
appears as a divine person distinct from the other divine
persons as was shown above in treating of the three divine
persons together: "And I will ask the Father, and He
shall give you another Paraclete... . But the
Paraclete, the Holy Ghost [to pneuma], whom the
Father will send in My name, he [ekeinos] will teach
you all things" (John 14:16, 26).[84] No
one sends himself, and therefore the Holy Ghost, who is
sent, is distinct from the Father, who sends Him, and
from the Son, who asks the Father to send the Holy
Ghost, because the Son was already sent in the
Incarnation. Here too (15:26) the Holy Ghost is
called the Spirit of truth, that is, the source of
truth, and He is said to possess perfect knowledge so as
to illuminate the apostles and perfect sanctity for the
sanctification of souls: "But when He, the Spirit of
truth, is come, He will teach you all truth" (John
16:13). In all these passages the Holy Ghost is
revealed as a divine person.
We may conclude, therefore, that the books of the New
Testament explicitly reveal the mystery of one God in
three distinct and perfectly equal divine persons. This
doctrine is completely at variance with the Stoics'
pantheistic concept of the "logos", the world
soul; from Neoplatonism, in which the "logos"
is a secondary "hypostasis"
subordinate to the One-Good; and from Philonism, in
which the "logos" is either a creature or a
divine attribute, depending on whether Philo was speaking
as a Jew or as a Neoplatonist. We see, then, that the
doctrine of Christ was not altered by the Greek
philosophers, but that it is an explicit manifestation of
higher truth, which in an obscure manner was already
revealed in the Old Testament, as we shall show
immediately.
Objections. It has been pointed out before that the
Arians and after them the Socinians adduced certain texts
of the New Testament to deny the divinity of the Son and
the Holy Ghost, for example, "go to the Father: for
the Father is greater than I" (John 14:28). To
this we reply that going to the Father was not predicated
of Christ according to His divine nature, for in His
divine nature He is always in the Father.
I insist. In I Cor. 15:28 we read: "And when
all things shall be subdued unto Him, then the Son also
Himself shall be subject unto Him that put all things
under Him."
Reply. Here St. Paul is speaking of the resurrection
of Christ, which is attributed to Christ in His human
nature.
I insist. In Matt. 24:36 we read: "But of that
day and hour no one knoweth, no not the angels of heaven,
but the Father alone."
Reply. St. Thomas,[85] St. John Chrysostom,
and many other Fathers say that these words are to be
understood of Christ as man, for as man Christ is said
to be ignorant of the day of judgment; not absolutely,
for St. Peter said, "Lord, Thou knowest all
things" (John 21:17), but He was ignorant of the
time with regard to revealing it to us.[86]
I insist. In I Thess. 5:19 we read:
"Extinguish not the spirit."
Reply. The meaning of these words is: Do not place
obstacles in the way of the manifestations of the spirit,
such as prophecy and the gift of tongues; do not resist
grace.
I insist. The spirit of an individual is not a person
distinct from that individual; but the Holy Ghost is
often called the Spirit of God; therefore He is not a
distinct person.
Reply. I distinguish the major: if the word "spirit"
is used to denote an individual's essence or part of his
essence or his manner of judging, this I concede;
otherwise, this I deny.
Thus, for instance, the spirit of an angel designates
his whole essence, and spirit of a man designates his
manner of judging. Sometimes, however, spirit is used
to denote a person distinct from him of whom it is said to
be the spirit; for instance, the angels are called the
spirits of God (Apoc. 3:1 ff.). No repugnance
arises, therefore, when we say that "Spirit of God"
means a distinct person, and from the context it is often
clear that such is the case; for instance, when it is
said that the "Father sends His spirit," and when this
Spirit is said to be another Paraclete, distinct also
from the Son.
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