Kai áλnoaa) per Iesum Christum facta est - And of his fulness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses; grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." The Logos is the author both of nature and of the Supernatural, and therefore very God. The Logos appeared corporeally on earth in Jesus Christ, for it is to Him and to Him alone that we can apply such Scriptural passages as: "He came unto his own," 144 "He was in the world," 145 "John gave testimony of [Him]," 146 and, lastly,147 "The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." 148 This "Word made flesh," which is for the first time called "Jesus Christ" in John I, 17, is "the only begotten Son of God." 149 Hence Christ is both the Logos and the Son of God. With John I, 15, therefore, begins the story of the life of Jesus Christ.150 READINGS: On the theology of the Son: J. E. Stadler, Über die Identität der Idee der Weisheit mit der des Wortes, Münster 1832; E. Bougaud, The Divinity of Christ (translated by Currie) New York 1906; *L. Atzberger, Die Logoslehre des h. Athanasius, München 1880; M. Beyr, Trinitatis in Unitate Dei Salus Mundi per Iesum Christum Redempti, Graz 1875; K. Müller, Göttliches Wissen und göttliche Macht des johanneischen Christus, Freiburg 1882; *P. Keppler, Die Komposition des Johannesevangeliums, Freiburg 1884; G. A. Müller, Christus bei Josephus Flavius, 2nd ed., Innsbruck 1896; Simar, Theologie des h. Paulus, 2nd ed., Freiburg 1883; *Franzelin, De Verbo Incarnato, thes. 2-9, ed. 4, Romae 1893; G. B. Tepe, Instit. Theolog., Vol. II, pp. 234 sqq., Parisiis 1895; J. B. Bartmann, Das Himmelreich und sein König nach den Synoptikern, Paderborn 1904; H. Schell, Jahwe und Christus, Paderborn 1905. An older work of special value on this subject is Prud. Maranus, De Divinitate Domini Nostri Iesu Christi Manifesta in Scripturis et Traditione, Parisiis 1764. Cfr. also St. Thomas, Contr. Gent., IV, 7 (Rickaby, Of God and His Creatures, pp. 344 sqq., London 1905); Bellarmine, Controv. de Christo, 1. I; J. Perrone, De D. N. I. Chr. Divinitate adv. huius Aetatis Incredulos, Rationalistas et Mysticos, 3 Vols., Taurini 1870; H. P. Liddon, The Divinity of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, London 1867; H. J. Coleridge, S. J., The Preparation of the Incarnation, 2nd ed., London 1894; M. Lepin, Christ and the Gospel, or Jesus the Messiah and Son of God, Philadelphia 1910; A. J. Maas, S. J., Christ in Type and Prophecy, 2 vols., New York 1893-5. ARTICLE 3 OF GOD THE HOLY GHOST The term "Holy Ghost," or Spirit of God," does not imply opposition so clearly as "Father" and "Son." In demonstrating this dogma, therefore, we shall have to emphasize the personality of the Holy Ghost and the fact that He is an independent Hypostasis, distinct from both the Father and the Son. His Divinity can be proved with comparative ease. Accordingly, this article will fall into three divisions. In the first division we shall demonstrate that the Holy Ghost is a real Person; in the second, that He is a Person distinct from the Father and the Son; and in the third, that He is a truly Divine Person, or God Himself. Once these three points are established from Holy Scripture, no further proof will be needed to show the existence of a Third Person in the Godhead. A. The Personality of the Holy Ghost I. THE WORD GHOST (SPIRIT) IN ITS IMPERSONAL SENSE.-The Bible not infrequently uses the terms "God the Father" and "sons of God" in a figurative sense. Similarly it also employs the word "spirit of God" in a way that does not always suggest the idea of a real personality. When we read, for instance, that "the spirit of God moved over the waters," " 151 we understand that the sacred writer personifies the breath of divine omnipotence. At least there is no cogent reason for thinking that Moses here meant the Person of the Holy Ghost. In those texts, too, which tell of supernatural effects wrought by grace, or of the workings of the spirit, it is not always obvious that Holy Scripture means to describe something more than an external divine effect which might be figuratively termed "holy spirit." In the Fiftieth Psalm the words "Spiritum rectum innova in visceribus meis," 152 and "Spiritu principali confirma me, "153 evidently denote a supernatural spirit of rectitude and self-control, i. e., a good disposition. “Et spiritum sanctum tuum ne auferas a me," 154 must likewise be interpreted impersonally. The "holy spirit" here referred to is the spirit of sanctity. There are still other texts in which "spirit" does not designate a Person, but the absolute Divine Nature, which is essentially spiritual. Cfr. John IV, 24: " God is a spirit (spiritus, TVEUμa), and they that adore him, must adore him in 151 Gen. I, 2. 152" Renew a right spirit within my bowels." Ps. L, 12. 153"Strengthen me with a perfect spirit." Ps. L, 14. 154"Take not thy holy spirit from me." Ps. L, 13. spirit and in truth." In the eighth verse of the third chapter of St. John's Gospel, Christ Himself employs the word "spirit" in its original impersonal and material sense of "wind." For spiritus is derived from spirare, which means to blow, to breathe, as the Greek πvečμa is derived from viv, which has the same meaning.155 2. THE WORD SPIRIT IN SPIRIT IN ITS HYPOSTATIC SENSE. Aside from the texts already quoted, there is a considerable number of other Scriptural passages in which the Holy Ghost is clearly described as a real and individual person. a) There are in the first place certain epithets designed to restrict the concept of spirit and to show that it is not a mere impersonal abstraction. Holy Scripture very frequently speaks not merely of the "spirit of God," but of the "Holy Spirit" (rò ayiov πveõμa), and this personal appellation in some texts is individualized even more strongly by the reduplication of the definite article rò, as e. g. in John XIV, 26: Tò πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον. In some instances the Divine Spirit is spoken of as " the Spirit of the Father," or "the Spirit of the Son," or "the Spirit of Christ," which clearly intimates opposition to the Father and the Son.156 Cor. II, 12: "Spiritus qui ex Deo est (rò πveŭμa tò ék TOU EO) The Spirit that is of God," distinctly recalls. John I, 1: "Et Verbum erat apud Deum - And the Word was with God." 155 On the role of the Holy Ghost in the Old Testament, see supra, p. 18 sq. On the whole subject of this subdivision, Newman, Athanasius, II, pp. 304 sqq.; Lebreton, I Les Origines du Dogme de la 156 Acts XVI, 7; Cfr. Rom. VIII, 9; Gal. IV, 6; Phil. I, 19, 1 Pet. I, II. b) The Holy Ghost is also called Paraclete (Paraclitus, Tapákλnтos). This term is as peculiar to St. John as the term Logos. Like Logos and Son of God, Paraclete and Holy Ghost denote one identical Person. Paraclete is not, however, predicated of the Holy Spirit so exclusively as Logos is applied to the Son. Thus, in the First Epistle of St. John, Christ is called Paraclete.157 The Saviour Himself in the Fourth Gospel repeatedly refers to the Holy Ghost as the Paraclete. What, then, is the meaning of Paraclete? The word is used in three different senses, all derived from the root-verb Tарaкaλeiv. The first and original sense is advocate " (advocatus, from παρακαλεῖν = in auxilium advocare). But the operations which Jesus ascribes to the Paraclete manifestly cannot be brought within the limits of this definition. Some exegetes derive Paraclete from mapakaλciola (i. e., consolari) and take it to mean "comforter" (consolator). But if that derivation were correct, the noun should spell πapakλýτwp, not waρákλŋτos. Moreover, it is plain from our Lord's discourse after the Last Supper,158 that the office of the Paraclete is far superior to that of a mere comforter. He is formally to take the place of the departing Son of God, and to represent Him in His Church in the same manner in which Christ had represented the Father. The Paraclete is to complete the work begun by the Saviour and to assist the newly founded Church unto the consummation of the world, filling it with His sanctifying 157 John II, 1: "Si quis pec- have an advocate with the Father, caverit, advocatum (παрáкληtov) Jesus Christ the just." habemus apud Patrem, Iesum Chri- 158 John XIV-XVI. stum iustum If any man sin, we 734023 |