ACC ~ John 14 v17

THE SPIRIT OF THE TRINITY

AUGUSTINE: We have here, at all events, the Holy Spirit in the Trinity whom the catholic faith acknowledges to be consubstantial and coeternal with the Father and the Son. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 74.1. [1]

[1] CCL 36:512; NPNF 1 7:333.

THE SPIRIT COMPLETES THE TRINITY

ATHANASIUS: The Lord called the Spirit “Spirit of truth” and “Paraclete,” showing that the Triad [1] is complete in him. In him the Word makes glorious the creation and, by bestowing on it divine life and sonship, draws it to the Father. But that which joins creation to the Word cannot belong to the creatures. And that which bestows sonship upon the creation could not be alien from the Son. For we should have otherwise to seek another spirit, so that by him this Spirit might be joined to the Word. But that would be absurd. The Spirit, therefore, does not belong to things originated. He pertains to the Godhead of the Father, and in him the Word makes things originated divine. But he in whom creation is made divine cannot be outside the Godhead of the Father. [2] LETTER TO SERAPION 1.25. [3]

[1] Gk triada.

[2] Cyril makes a similar argument for the Spirit’s divinity in his Commentary on the Gospel of John 9.1 (LF 48:303-4).

[3] MFC 3:106*; PG 26:589.

THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH CANNOT ABIDE LIES

HERMAS: Again [the Shepherd] said to me, “Love the truth, and let nothing but truth proceed from your mouth, [1] so that the spirit that God has placed in your flesh may be found truthful before all. And the Lord who dwells in you [2] will be glorified, because the Lord is truthful in every word, and in him is no falsehood. They therefore who lie deny the Lord and rob him, not giving back to him the deposit that they have received. For they received from him a spirit free from falsehood. If they give him back this spirit untruthful, they pollute the commandment of the Lord and become robbers.” SHEPHERD OF HERMAS 2.3. [3]

[1] Eph 4:25, 29.

[2] Alt. “who put the Spirit in you.”

[3] ANF 2:21**.

THE SPIRIT REVEALS THE TRUTH OF THE GODHEAD

BASIL THE GREAT: Only the Spirit can adequately glorify the Lord. “He will glorify me,” [1] not as a creature, but as the Spirit of truth, since he himself is truth shining brightly. He is the Spirit of wisdom, revealing Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God, in his own greatness. As the Paraclete he reflects the goodness of the Paraclete (the Father) [2] who sent him, and his own dignity reveals the majesty of him from whom he proceeded. … If we are illumined by divine power and fix our eyes on the beauty of the image of the invisible God, and [if we] through the image are led up to the indescribable beauty of its source, it is because we have been inseparably joined to the Spirit of knowledge. He gives those who love the vision of truth the power that enables them to see the image. And this power is himself. He does not reveal it to them from outside sources but leads them to knowledge personally: “No one knows the Father except the Son,” [3] and “No one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except in the Holy Spirit.” [4] Notice that it does not say through the Spirit but in the Spirit. It also says, “God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth,” [5] and “in your light do we see light,” [6] through the illumination of the Holy Spirit, “the true light that enlightens every one who comes into the world.” [7] He reveals the glory of the Only Begotten in himself, and he gives true worshipers the knowledge of God in himself. The way to divine knowledge ascends from one Spirit through the one Son to the one Father. ON THE HOLY SPIRIT 18.46-47. [8]

[1] Jn 16:14.

[2] Basil leaves ambiguous to whom “tou othen proēlthen” in the Greek refers. It could be the Father or the Son. See note 7 in NPNF 2 8:29.

[3] Mt 11:27.

[4] 1 Cor 12:3.

[5] Jn 4:24.

[6] Ps 36:9 (35:10 LXX).

[7] Jn 1:9.

[8] OHS 73-75*. In On the Holy Spirit 19.48 (OHS 76), Basil further notes how the Spirit is given the same title here as the Father and the Son have, demonstrating his equality with them. See also Tertullian. Against Praxeas 9, 25.

THE WORLD IS AN IMPEDIMENT TO THE SPIRIT’S INDWELLING

BEDE: He calls “the world” the inhabitants of this world who are given over to love of it. [1] In contrast, the saints are on fire with a desire for heavenly things. … And so, anyone who is searching for consolation outwardly in the things of the world is not capable of being reformed inwardly by the favor of divine consolation. Whoever yearns after lowly delight cannot receive the Spirit of truth. The Spirit of truth flees from a heart it discerns is subject to vanity and restores by the light of his coming only those it beholds carrying out the commandments of truth out of love. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPELS 2.17. [2]

[1] See also Augustine Tractates on the Gospel of John 74.4.

[2] CS 111:166*.

SEEING WHAT OTHERS CANNOT

APOLLINARIS OF LAODICEA: Thus, his coming would not be perceived by those who think only about visible matters … since whatever they do not see with their eyes they cannot know or even imagine to exist, whereas those who can partake of the Spirit are able to perceive him when he comes. They have a better perception of spiritual things because they are partakers of the Spirit and thus distinguish themselves from the world since they are filled with the Spirit. Through their participation with the divine [Spirit], they have a unique understanding of his art and the divine power behind it, just as someone who has wisdom or a certain art understands in himself what he has, even if it remains unknown to his neighbors. FRAGMENTS ON JOHN 104. [1]

[1] JKGK 42-43.

DIFFERENT GIFTS AND POSSESSIONS OF THE SPIRIT

GREGORY THE GREAT: But if the Holy Spirit abides in the disciples, how is it a special mark of the Mediator that [the Spirit] abides in him. … We shall better understand if we distinguish between the different gifts of the Spirit. … In respect of those gifts without which we cannot attain to salvation, the Holy Spirit ever abides in all the elect. But in respect of those that do not relate to our own salvation but to procuring that of others, [the Spirit] does not always abide in them. … For he sometimes withdraws his miraculous gifts so that his grace may be possessed with humility. … Christ … has him without measure and always. MORALS ON THE BOOK OF JOB 2.56.90-91. [1]

[1] LF 18:128**; ODGM 11:238.

WE CANNOT LOVE OR OBEY WITHOUT THE SPIRIT

AUGUSTINE: The apostle says, “The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who is given to us.” [1] How then does the Lord say here, “If you love me, keep my commandments, and [then] I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Comforter”? Notice he says this about the Holy Spirit. But without the Spirit we can neither love God nor keep his commandments. How can we love so that we will receive him when, without him, we cannot love at all? How can we keep the commandments so that we will receive him when, without him, we have no power to keep them? Or is it the case that the love by which we love Christ has a prior place in us so that by loving Christ in this way and keeping his commandments we become worthy of receiving the Holy Spirit so that the love of God the Father (not of Christ, which we already had) may be shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who is given to us? That kind of thinking is all wrong. For whoever believes he loves the Son without loving the Father loves some figment of his own imagination, not the Son. …

We should therefore understand that whoever loves already has the Holy Spirit, and by having him he becomes worthy of having even more of him. And the more he has the Spirit the more he loves. The disciples already had the Holy Spirit whom the Lord promised. … But they did not yet have him in the way the Lord promised. And so they had him and did not have him inasmuch as they did not have to the extent that they would later. They had him in a more limited sense. He was later to be given to them more fully. They had him in a hidden way, but he was yet to be given to them more openly. … Let us admit then that without the Holy Spirit we can neither love Christ nor keep his commandments. [But it is also true that] the less experience we have of the Spirit’s presence, the less we can do, while the fuller our experience of the Spirit is, the greater is our ability. And so this is no empty promise of Jesus here—either to the one who does not have the Holy Spirit or to the one who has him. For the promise is made to the one who does not have the Spirit so that he may have him, and it is made to the one who does have the Spirit so that he may have him more abundantly. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 74.1-2. [2]

[1] Rom 5:5.

[2] NPNF 1 7:333-34**. On the gradual indwelling of the Spirit, see also Gregory of Nazianzus Oration 31.26.