humanity, which He hath assumed into glory, as a pledge of the future glorification of His mystical Body, the Church. For we observe an exchange of pledges between the Church and her absent Spouse. He hath taken our flesh into heaven, as a pledge of our future resurrection to share His glory. "Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? GOD that justifieth? Who is he that condemneth? CHRIST that died, yea rather, that is risen again, Who is even at the right hand of GOD, Who also maketh intercession for us?) "h For "as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly." On the other hand the Church hath received the "holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our promised inheritance, until the redemption of the purchased possession." Nor doth the intercession of our High Priest serve as a disproof of His Divinity any more than that of the SPIRIT; "because He" also "maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of GOD." " k Lastly, it is objected; "But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the SON, but the FATHER." For the due explication. of which, see below, Chapter XIV. §. 7. It is the tendency of the Latin Church to avoid the mysterious topic of the Subordination of the SON and SPIRIT to the FATHER, from a practical fear of Arianism. The ethereal delicacy of Greek theology is soon clouded over in the West. So the Quicunque vult, a Western symbol, reduces the subordination. of the Son to a mere "inferior. . as touching His Manhood." h Rom. viii. 33, 34. 1 Cor. xv. 49. Eph. i. 13, 14. * Rom. viii. 27. 157 CHAPTER VII. OF THE DIVINITY OF THE HOLY GHOST, AND OF HIS PROCESSION. m §. 1. As the LOGOS or WORD of GOD was revealed with increasing light when the time of His Incarnation drew nigh; so the Personal Subsistency of the HOLY GHOST was enounced with a stronger emphasis, as the period of His direct and universal agency in the Church approached. However clear the passages in the Old Testament relating to His Person may seem to us to be, we find even "certain disciples" mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles, who were "baptized unto John's baptism," and who yet could reply to S. Paul's inquiry, "Have ye received the HOLY GHOST since ye believed? We have not so much as heard whether there be any HOLY GHOST." The passages, which we do find, admit such a construction as evades the consequences of direct categorical statements. Nor is there any reason to be alarmed at the notion of development and partially disclosed glimpses of heavenly things. For we are distinctly told by S. Paul, that the Law of Moses was "a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things; and again, that it "was our schoolmaster to bring us unto CHRIST, that we might be justified by faith." • Now according to the analogy of the metaphor 'schoolmaster,' we should be led to expect a gradual process of instruction, not a direct and instant illumination. Indeed, a sound education would rather imply that the steps of instruction should be perceptible only in the general results. It is recorded of the Apostles that they understood not CHRIST'S sayings; and therefore He promised that "the Comforter, which is the HOLY GHOST, should teach them all things, and bring all things to their remembrance, whatsoever He had said unto them." So we need not be surprised, if passages, which to us enlightened by the Gospel of Truth are instinct with high and mysterious meaning, conveyed but an indistinct and dreamy impression to the Jewish mind. Many thinkers may have pondered wistfully on the phenomena, which are said to have led Columbus to the discovery of the American continent or Newton to that of the laws of gravitation, and may have been on the very verge of the solution; but let the discovery have been once effected, and it remains a possession for ever. So before the Gospel it would be difficult to explain all the notices of the SPIRIT of GOD by attributing them to a mere personification on the part of the sacred writer; while at the same time the Unity of the Godhead was so clearly proclaimed, that any notion arising above that of His being an influence or an attribute would seem to seriously impair its integrity. For example, in such passages as, "The Spirit of the LORD spake by me, and His Word was in my tongue; "a "Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit? or whither shall I flee from Thy Presence?" "And now the LORD GOD, and His Spirit, hath sent me;" "But they rebelled, and vexed His Holy Spirit; "t it is impossible not to feel the entire inadequacy of any exposition which would reduce to a mere influence or operation One Who is associated with GOD and represented as speaking, sending, and being vexed; while nevertheless a categorical statement of His Personal Divinity was still wanting. In selecting Scripture proof then of the Personality and Divinity of the HOLY GHOST, we are constrained by the very consideration of development, which has been urged, to seek it in the pages of the New rather than of the Old Testament. And, as has been already said, the cardinal proof to a believer PS. John xiv. 26. 2 Sam. xxiii. 2. Ps. cxxxix. 7. Isa. xlviii. 16. 1 lb. lxiii 10. W X must be the sacred formula, whereby he was admitted to the company of all faithful people, "in the Name of the FATHER, and of the SON, and of the HOLY GHOST;"" and as the Apostle writes, "One LORD, one faith, one baptism." "Who shall not be compelled by the truth itself to acknowledge the equality of the HOLY TRINITY, while there is one faith in the FATHER and the SON and the HOLY GHOST, and Baptism is given and confirmed in their name?" 2. The SPIRIT was personally present to our LORD's Human Nature, when He became as it were an unction and was inseparably conjoined with it; as it is written, "Upon whom thou shalt see the SPIRIT descending, and remaining on him, the same is He which baptizeth with the HOLY GHOST;" and, "GOD anointed JESUS of Nazareth with the HOLY GHOST and with power." And every action of JESUS was performed with the presence of the SPIRIT, as in the instance of the temptation; "Then was JESUS led up of the SPIRIT into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil;" where the personality of the HOLY GHOST is clearly contrasted with that of the ghostly Tempter. 3. "Moreover, by the confession of all, the HOLY GHOST is the immutable Sanctifier, the Giver of Divine knowledge and all good things; and, in short, Himself subsists in those good things which are granted by the LORD. For Matthew and Luke describing the same passage of the Gospel say, 'How much more shall your FATHER which is in heaven give good things to them that ask Him'? the other, 'How much more shall your heavenly FATHER give the HOLY SPIRIT to them that ask Him? 'a "From which passages it appears that the HOLY GHOST is the fulness of the gifts of GOD, and that those things which are divinely administered subsist not without Him; because all utilities received from the gifts of GOD proceed from that source. But that which is substantially good cannot admit extraneous goodness, when Itself gives goodness to others. Therefore it is clear that the HOLY GHOST is extraneous not only c to corporal but also to incorporeal creatures; because other substances receive this substance of sanctification; but He not only does not admit sanctification from another, but is besides the Giver and Creator thereof. Lastly, they who enjoy His fellowship are called partakers of the HOLY GHOST, to wit, being sanctified by Him. For it is clearly written, that he who hath done despite unto the SPIRIT of Grace is worthy of sorer punishment. But if he was sanctified through the communion of the HOLY GHOST, it is shown that he was partaker of Him, and the HOLY GHOST the Giver of sanctification." To this argument, that the human soul and indeed any other created intellect cannot properly be said to be filled by aught inferior to the Supreme Being Who made it; and therefore that, when we read of holy men in Scripture being filled with the HOLY GHOST, it is a proof of His Divinity and Personality; it is objected, that Satan also is said to fill the hearts of evil men; as in the case of Judas, "After the sop Satan entered into him; "d and of Ananias, "Why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the HOLY GHOST? "e It is replied, that the devil, observing by certain outward emotions and workings to what vices the heart of Judas (for example) was most inclined, sent a corresponding suggestion into his mind. His entrance then was not according to substance but according to operation; for to enter into another's being or substance belongs to that uncreated Nature, Which is participated in by many. 4. "Whosoever speaketh against the HOLY GHOST, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come." This denunciation refers to the period when the Comforter should have come, and GOD's ultimate Gift of Personal Love be given to abide in men's hearts, so that persistent rebellion against His 'sweet influences' should partake of the character of devilish malignity, and the old example be renewed, when "the wrath of the LORD arose against His people, till there was no remedy. Coupled Didym. Lib. iii. circ. finem. Acts v. 3. |