tion, as signifying an emanation of that holiness, and communication of the effects thereof; and in this communication his office doth consist. Whatsoever therefore doth concern the Spirit of God, as such, and the intrinsical sanctity, which belongeth to that Spirit, may be expressed in the explication of his nature; whatsoever belongeth to the derivation of that sanctity, may be described in his office; and consequently more cannot be necessary, than to declare what is the nature, what the office, of the Spirit of God. For the better indagation of the nature of the Holy Ghost, I shall proceed by certain steps and degrees; which as they will render the discourse more clear, so will they also make the reasons more strong, and the arguments more evident. And first, as to the existence of the Spirit of God, it will be unnecessary to endeavour the proof of it; for although the Sadducees seemed to deny it, who said "that there is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit;" (Acts xxiii. 8.) though it hath been ordinarily concluded from thence that they rejected the Holy Ghost,* yet it cannot be proved from those words that they denied the existence of the Spirit of God, any more than that they denied the existence of God who is a spirit: nor did the notion which the Jews had of the Spirit of God any way incline the Sadducees, who denied the existence of the angels and the souls of men, to reject it. The resurrection, angel, and spirit, which the Sadducees refused to acknowledge, were but two particulars; for it is expressly added, that the "Pharisees confessed both;" of which two the resurrection was one, angels and spirits were the other;+ wherefore that which the Sadducees disbelieved was the existence of such created spiritual natures, as the angels and the souls of men are conceived to have. And as for those disciples at Ephesus, who had "not so much as heard whether there be a Holy Ghost;" (Acts xix. 2.) if they were Gentiles, it is no wonder, because they never had that notion in their religion; if they were Jews, as they seem to be, because they were baptized with the baptism of John, it signifieth not that they never heard of the Spirit of God, but only that they had not heard of the giving of it, which the apostle mentioned: as we read elsewhere, that the "Holy Ghost was not yet;" (John vii. 39.) not denying the existence, but the plentiful effusion of it. For, whatsoever the nature of the Spirit of God may be thought to be, no man can conceive the apostle should deny his existence before Christ's glorification, whose operation was so manifest at his conception. Howsoever, the apostle * As Epiphanius Hæres. xiv. Tò Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον Σαδδυκαῖοι μὲν οὐδὲ εἶναι τὸ παράπαν ἐνόμισαν (οὐδὲ γὰρ ἀγγέλους, οὐδὲ ἀνάστασιν) οὐκ οἶδ' ὅθεν τὰς τοσαύτας περὶ αὐτοῦ μαρτυρίας ἐν rý nadaiă diarrúoavres. Greg. Naz. Orat. xxxvii. p. 595. † Φαρισαῖοι δὲ, φησὶν, ὁμολογοῦσι τὰ ἀμφότερα, καὶ μὴν τρία ἐστί· πῶς οὖν λέγει ἀμφότερα; ἢ ὅτι πνεῦμα καὶ ἄγγε λος ἕν ἐστι; S. Chrysost. Hom. 49. Act. Apost. xxiii. 8. asked those ignorant disciples, "Unto what then were ye baptized?" (Acts xix. 3.) intimating, that if they were baptized according to the rule of Christ, they could not be ignorant that there is a Holy Ghost; because the apostles were commanded to baptize "in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." (Matt. xxviii. 19.) It is therefore presumed that every one who professeth the name of Christ, from the first baptismal institution, acknowledgeth that there is a Holy Ghost; and the only question consists in this, what that Holy Ghost is, in whose name we are baptized, and in whom, according to our baptism, we profess in the CREED to believe. In order to the determination of which question, our first assertion is, That the Holy Ghost, described to us in the Word of God, and joined with the Father and the Son in the form of baptism, is a person. We are all baptized in the name of the three, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; and the public confession of our faith hath relation to those three. We all confess that two of these, the Father and the Son, are persons that which we now assert, is only this, That the Holy Ghost, who is of the three the third, is also a person as the other two. That blessed Spirit is not only an energy or operation,* not a quality or power, but a spiritual and intellectual subsistence. If we conceive it as an operation only,+ then must it only be actuated and not act; and when it is not actuated, it must not be at all. If we say, that it is a quality, and not a substance; we say that it is that, which we cannot prove to have any being. It seemeth to me strangely unreasonable, that men should be so earnest in endeavouring to prove that the Holy Ghost, which sanctifieth them, is no substance, when they cannot be assured, that there is any thing operative in the world beside substantial beings; and conse To conclude the nature of the Holy Ghost, which is not so immediately expressed in the Scriptures, it will be needful so to place our assertions, as that they may occur to all other misconceptions. Now the old notions (and more they cannot now have) were thus delivered by Gregory Nazianzen, that great divine, so much concerned in this subject: Twv de καθ ̓ ἡμᾶς σοφῶν οἱ μὲν ἐνέργειαν τοῦτο oi (τὸ πνεῦμα) ὑπέλαβον, οἱ δὲ κτίσμα, οἱ δὲ θεὸν, οἱ δὲ οὐκ ἔγνωσαν ὁπότερον τούτων· αἰδοῖ τῆς γραφῆς, ὥς φασιν, οὐδέτερον σαφῶς δηλωσάσης. Orat. xxxvii. p. 595. These were the three particular and opposite opinions, either the Spirit is an operation, or a created substance, or God; the fourth is but a doubt or hesitation which of the three is true. The first of these is thus propounded by way of question: Τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον ἢ τῶν καθ ̓ ἑαυτὸ ὑφεστηκότων πάντως ὑποθετέον, ἢ τῶν ἐν ἑτέρῳ θεωρουμένων, ὧν τὸ μὲν οὐσίαν καλοῦσιν οἱ περὶ ταῦτα δεινοὶ, τὸ δὲ συμßɛßŋkós. Ibid. Either it is subsisting in itself, as a substance; or in another, as an accident. This was the first question then, and still is. + This is the argument of the same father: Εἰ μὲν οὖν συμβέβηκεν, ἐνέργεια τοῦτο ἂν εἴη Θεοῦ· τί γὰρ ἕτερον, ἢ τίνος; τοῦτο γάρ πως μᾶλλον, καὶ φεύγει σύν θεσιν· καὶ εἰ ἐνέργεια, ἐνεργηθήσεται δηλονότι, οὐκ ἐνεργήσει, καὶ ὁμοῦ τῷ ἐνεργηθῆναι παύσεται· τοιοῦτον γὰρ ἡ ἐνέργεια. Πῶς οὖν ἐνεργεῖ, καὶ τάδε λέγει, καὶ ἀφορίζει, καὶ λυπεῖται, καὶ παροξύνεται, καὶ ὅσα κινουμένου σαφῶς ἐστὶν, où khoewc. Ibid. 票 quently if they be not sanctified by that, they can be susceptible of no holiness. By what reason in nature can they be assured, by what revelation in Scripture can they be confident, that there is a reality deserving the name of quality distinguished from all substance, and yet working real and admirable effects? If there were no other argument but this, that we are assured by the Christian faith, that there is a Holy Ghost existing; and we cannot be assured, either by reason or faith, that there is a quality really and essentially distinguished from all substance; it would be sufficient to deter us from that boldness, to assert the Holy Ghost, in whose name we are baptized, to be nothing else but a quality. But we are not left to guess at the nature of the Spirit of God; the word of God, which came from that Spirit, hath sufficiently delivered him as a person. It is indeed to be observed, that in the Scriptures there are some things spoken of the Holy Ghost, which are proper and peculiar to a person, as the adversaries confess; others, which are not properly and primarily to be attributed to a person, as we cannot deny and it might seem to be equally doubtful, in relation to the Scripture-expressions, whether the Holy Ghost were a person or no; and that they which deny his personality, may pretend as much Scripture as they which assert it. But in this seeming indifferency, we must also observe a large diversity; inasmuch as the Holy Ghost or Spirit of God, is not always taken in the same propriety of signification; nor do we say that the Holy Ghost, which signifieth a person, always signifieth so much. It is therefore easily conceived how some things may be attributed to the Spirit in the Scriptures which are not proper to a person, and yet the Spirit be a person, because sometimes the Spirit is taken for that which is not a person, as we acknowledge: whereas, if ever any thing be attributed to the Holy Ghost as to a person, which cannot be otherwise understood of the Spirit of God than as of a person, then may we infallibly conclude that the Holy Ghost is a person. This therefore we shall endeavour fully and clearly to demonstrate; first, That the Scriptures declare unto us the Holy Ghost as a person, by such attributes and expressions as cannot be understood to be spoken of the Spirit of God any other way than as of a person: secondly, That whatsoever attributes or expressions are used in the Scriptures of the Holy Ghost, and are objected as repugnant to the nature of a person, either are not so repugnant as is objected; or if they be, they belong unto the Spirit, as it signifieth not a person. First then, The Holy Ghost, or good Spirit of God, is clearly and formally opposed to those evil spirits, which are and must be acknowledged persons of a spiritual and intellectual subsistence: as, "the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him." (1 Sam. xvi. 14.) Now, what those evil spirits from the Lord were, is apparent from the sad example of Ahab, concerning whom we read, "there came out a spirit and stood before the Lord and said, I will entice him; and the Lord said unto him, Wherewith? and he said, I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets; and the Lord said, Thou shalt entice him, and thou shalt also prevail; go out, and do even so." (2 Chron. xviii. 20, 21.) From whence it is evident, that the evil spirits from God were certain persons, even bad angels, to which the one good Spirit as a person is opposed, departing from him to whom the other cometh. Again, The New Testament doth describe the Holy Ghost by such personal dispositions, and with such operations, as are as evident marks and signs of a person as any which are attributed to the Father or the Son, which are unquestionable persons; and whatsoever terms are spoken of the Spirit by way of quality, are spoken as well of those which are acknowledged persons. We are exhorted by the apostle "not to grieve the Spirit of God;" (Eph. iv. 30.) but grief is certainly a personal affection, of which a quality is not capable We are assured that the same "Spirit maketh intercession for us with groanings that cannot be uttered;" (Rom. viii. 26.) and we can understand what are interceding persons, but have no apprehension of interceding or groaning qualities. The operations of the Spirit are manifest, and as manifestly personal; for he "searcheth all things, yea, even the deep things of God;" (1 Cor. ii. 10.) and so he "knoweth all things, even the things of God," (Ibid. 11.) which can be no description of the power of God: he "worketh all the spiritual gifts, dividing to every man severally as he will," (1 Cor. xii. 11.) in which the operation, discretion, distribution, and all these voluntary, are sufficient demonstrations of a person. He revealeth the will of God, and speaketh to the sons of men, in the nature and after the manner of a person; "for the Spirit said unto Peter, Behold three men seek thee: arise therefore and get thee down, and go with them, doubting nothing, for I have sent them." (Acts x. 19.) And "the Holy Ghost said" unto the prophets and teachers at Antioch, "Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them." (Acts xiii. 2.) We cannot better understand the nature of the Holy Ghost than by the description given by Christ which sent him: and he said thus to his disciples, "The Comforter (or the Advocate), which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things;" "he shall testify of me and ye also shall bare witness." "If I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world," and "he will guide you into all truth; for he shall not speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak, and he shall shew you things to come; he shall glorify me, for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you." (John xiv. 26. xv. 26, 27, xvi. 7, 8. 13, 14.) All which words are nothing else but so many descriptions of a person, a person hearing, a person receiving, a person testifying, a person speaking, a person reproving, a person instructing. The adversaries to this truth,* acknowledging all these personal expressions, answer that it is ordinary in the Scriptures to find the like expressions, which are proper unto persons, given unto those things which are no persons: as when the apostle saith, "Charity suffereth long and is kind, charity envieth not, charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh none evil, rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things:" (1 Cor. xiii. 4-7.) all which personal actions are attributed to charity, which is no person, as in other cases it is usual,† but belonging to that person which is charitable; because that person which is so qualified doth perform those actions according to, and by virtue of, that charity which is in him. In the same manner, say they, personal actions are attributed to the Holy Ghost, which is no person, but only the virtue, power, and efficacy of God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, because that The present adversaries to this truth are the Socinians, and their opinion was thus delivered by Socinus: Quod in testimoniis sacris quæ adversarii citant, Spiritui S. actiones tribuuntur, et ea quæ personarum sunt propria, ex hoc nihil concludi potest, cum aliis rebus, quas personas non esse constat, similiter in Seripturis sacris actiones tribuantur, et ea quæ sunt propria personarum. Cujus rei plenissimam fidem facere potest vel locus ille Pauli, (1 Cor. xiii. a 4 ad 8.) ubi perpetuo de charitate, tanquam de persona aliqua loquitur, illi permulta tribuens, quæ revera non nisi in personam cadunt.' Faustus Socinus contra Wiekum, c. 10. tur, (Rom. iii. 19.) et Scripturæ quod prospiciat et prænunciet, (Gal. iii. 18.) et Charitati quod sit longanimis, &c. (1 Cor. xiii. 4-7.) denique Spiritui, i. e. vento, quod spiret ubi velit.' c. 6. Vide Socini Epistolam 3. ad Petrum Statorium. Quod si quis dixerit, satis constare, Paulum eo in loco figurate loqui, et charitatis nomine eum intelligere qui charitate est præditus, quatenus ea est præditus: respondebo, cum Spiritus S. sit Spiritus Dei, certumque sit alioqui spiritum alicujus personæ non posse esse personam ab ea, cujus est spiritus, distinctam, non minus constare, cum Spiritui S. ea tribuuntur, quæ personæ et simul ipSo the Racovian Catechism doth sius Dei sunt propria, nihil aliud enlarge this answer, stating the ques- intelligendum nomine Spiritus S. tion thus: Qui vero ii Scripturæ loci esse, quam ipsum Deum spiritu suo, accipiendi sunt, in quibus Spiritui S. id est, virtute atque efficacia sua, actiones personarum propriæ, et ad agentem atque operantem.'_F. SociDeum ipsum spectantes, attribuun- nus, cont. Wiek. c. 10. 'Quoniam tur? And returning this solution: vero Spiritus S. virtus Dei est, hinc 'Ad eum modum, quo in Scripturis fit ut ea quæ Dei sunt, Spiritui S. atrebus id attribuatur sæpenumero, tribuantur, et sub nomine Spiritus quod personarum est; neque tamen S. sæpe Dcus ipse intelligatur, quares illæ propterea persona censentur, tenus suam virtutem Deus per spiat peccato, quod deceperit, et occide- ritum suum exerit.' Catech. Racov. rit, (Rom. vii. 11.) et legi quod loqua- c. 6. |