Tomline on Article V: Of the Holy Ghost

The third person in the Holy Trinity is called the Holy Ghost (a) or Holy Spirit, and often the Spirit only : ” In the meantime he poured Forth the Holy Ghost, a gift which he had re- ceived from the Father, the third person in the Godhead, and the third name of Majesty (b).’* Frequent mention is made in the Old Testament of the Spirit of God, as at the creation of the world the Spirit of God is said to have ” moved upon the face of the waters f cj.” And when the prophets received any supernatural power or knowledge, or any impression was made upon their minds for a particular purpose, it is gene- rally ascribed to the Spirit of God.

St. John^ has recorded, that Christ, not long before his crucifixion, said to his disciples, ” I

will

(a) Ghost is a Saxon word, signifying Spirit.

(b) Tert. adv. Pm. (c) Gen* c. 1. v. 2.

172 Erposition of the [part iir.

will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever, even the Spirit of Truth (d)” And in the following passage our Saviour speaks of the office of the Holy Spirit, as having a close and necessary connexion with his own personal minis- try, and as being of the highest importance to the complete execution and accomplishment of the great scheme of human redemption : ” I tell you the truth ; it is expedient for you that I go away ; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you ; but if I depart, I will send him unto you, and he shall teach you all ‘things, and bring all things to your remembrance, what- soever I have said unto you (e)” Agreeably to this promise and declaration, on the day of Pen- tecost, and a few days after the ascension of our Saviour into heaven, the Holy Ghost descended visibly upon the Apostles, and instantaneously communicated to them the power of speaking a great variety of languages, enabled them to work miracles in confirmation of the doctrines which they were to preach, and furnished them with zeal and resolution, and with every other quali- fication necessary to the effectual discharge of their ministry. The Holy Ghost also ” abode

with

(d) John,e. 14. v. 16 and 17.

(e) John, c. 16. v. 7. c. 14. v. a6.

ART. v.] Thirty-nine Articles. 1 73

with them,”- as our Saviour promised, for we find them constantly acting under his immediate and directing influence. ” The Spirit said unto Philip, go near and join thyself to this cha- riot (X)’ ’ Peter, in giving an account of the conversion of Cornelius, says, ” The Spi- rit bade me go with him, nothing doubting (g)’ When Paul and Barnabas ” had gone throughout Phrygia, and the regions of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia, after they were come to Mysia, they essayed to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit suffered them QOt (h)” And the success which attended the first preaching of the Gospel is always ascribed to ” the power of the Spirit of God (i).’

But besides these great gifts communicated to the apostles and others, and these particular in- terpositions for important purposes at the first promulgation of Christianity, and which are, for the sake of distinction, called by modern divines the extraordinary operations of the Spirit, there are other communications of a more general na- ture, which are called the ordinary operations of the Spirit. These consist in causing a change and renewal of men’s minds, and in affording them inward and secret assistance to become

good

(f) Acts. c. 8. V. 29. (g) Acts, c. 11. V. 12.

(“Aj Acts, c. 16. V. 6 and 7. {i) Rum, c. 15. v. 19.

1 74 Eaywsiiim of the [part in.-

good and virtuoas. Christ said to’ Nicodemus, ” Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot see the kingdom of God (k);” and upon another occasion he declared, ” that his heavenly Father would give his Holy Spirit to them that ask him f /J.”— ” The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentle- ness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance (mj.’* St. Peter, in his sermon upon the day of Pen- tecost, said ” Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar . off, even as many as the Lord our God shall CBll(n)” It is evident that the influence of the Spirit, spoken of in these passages, must be common to all Christians, and cannot mean the extraordinary and miraculous communications, which were the portion of very few, and conti- nued but for a short time ^ and hence we derive this comfortable and important assurance, that the Spirit of God co-operates with our sincere endeavours after righteousness, and assists us in

alt our virtuous exertions.

In

(k) John, c. 3. V. 5. (I) Luke, c. 11. V. 13. (m) Gal. c. 5. V. 22 and 23. (n) Acts, c. 2. V. 38 and 39.

ART. v.] Thirty-mne Artkks. 175

In this article the Holy Ghost is spoken of as

•ON. That the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father we learn from the express authority of St. John, whose words are, ” The Spirit of Truth which proceedeth from the Father (0) : ” and as Christ in the same verse says, ” I will send the Spirit;” and St. Paul tells the Galatians that ” God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into their hearts (p)” we infer that the Spirit />ro- ceeds from the Son also : and indeed the union between the Father and the Son is such, that we cannot conceive how the Sjjirit can proceed from the one without at the same time proceed- ing from the other. But we must acknowledge that the procession of the Holy Ghost, although to be believed as being asserted in Scripture, is far beyond our comprehension ; and in subj^ts of this kind we cannot be too cautious and diffi- dent in what we say and think.

That the procession of the Holy Ghost, both from the Father and the Son, was the doctrine of the holy primitive church, is very clearly established by bishop Pearson (q). He admits that the Greek fathers have not directly asserted that the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Son, but

he

(0) John, c. 15. v. 26 (p) Gal. c. 4. v. 6.

(q) Exp. of Creed, Art. 8,

176 Earposition of the [part iii.

he shews that the expressions which they have used have that meaning. And Dr. NichoUs (r) has proved the same thing by many quotations both from tlie Latin and Greek ecclesiastical writers, and also by reference to the acts of several councils ; and in particular it may be ob- served, that at the councils of Alexandria and Ephesus, which were held as early as the years 430 and 431, it was declared that the Holy Ghost proceeded from the Son as well as from the Father. This doctrine was afterwards the subject of a warm and long controversy, and became the cause of a great ‘schism between the eastern and western churches, the former maiutaining that the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father only, and the latter that he proceeds from the Father and the Son. This still continues to be one of the points of difference between the Greek church and that of Rome.

In the explanation of the latter part of the first article, which relates to the doctrine of the Trinity, it was proved from several texts of Scripture, that the Holy Ghost is both a person and God. The following passages prove sepa- rately the divinity of the Holy Ghost, as as- serted in this article, and are also proofs of his personality : St. Peter, in punishing Ananias and

Sapphira (r) Exp. of Art.

A At. V.J Thirty’tiine Artictes. 177

Sapphura, uses the expressions/ ^^ lying to the Holy Ghost,” and ” lying to God (s)j’ as equi- valent : the Holy Ghost is said to be eternal (t) ; to teach all things (u); to guide into all truth (x) ; to shew things to come (y) ; to search all things, even the deep things of God (z) ; to make intercession for the saints (a) ; to change us into the same image with Christ (b) ; to bring all things to remembrance (c) ; to reprove the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment (d)\ and to have raised Christ from the dead (e), Christ himself calls the Holy Ghost ” another Com- forter (f)i’ to be sent in his stead, or to supply his absence; and St. Paul attributes to the Holy Ghost the communication of a great variety of qualities and powers : ” Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit ; to one is given hy the Spirit the word of wisdom ; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit ; to another faith by the same Spirit ; to another the ^fts of healing by the same Spirit; to another

the

(s) Acts, c. 5. V. 3 & 4. (t) Heb. c. 9. v. 14.

(u) John, c. 14. V. 26. (x) John, c. 16. v. 13.

(y) John, c. 16. v. 13. (z) 1 Cor. c. 2. v. 10.

(a) Rom. c. 8. v. 27. (b) 2 Cor. c. 3. v. 18- ,

(c) John, c. 14. V. 26. (d) John, c. 16. v. 8.

(e) 1 Pet. c* 3. V. 18. (f) John, c. 14. v. 16.

[…]

the working of miracles ; to another prophecy ; to another discerning of spirits ; to another divers kinds oS tongues ; to another the int^pretation of tongues ; but all these worketh that one and the self-same Spirit, dividing to every man seve- rally as he will (g).” In ^ these passages the Hdy Ghost is plainly spoken of not merdy as a quality or operation, but as a person ; and the powers attributed to him are such that they can belong only to a divine person; if therefore the Holy Ghost be God, as well ad the Father and the Son, and there be but one God, it follows that the Holy Ghost is of one substance, ma*

Those who deny the perscHiality of the Holy Ghost, contend that it is ordinary in the Scrips- tares to find the like expressions, which are proper unto persons, given unto those things which are no persons; as, when the Apostk aaith, Charity 8uff(-edi long, and is kind ; cha- rity en vieth not ; charity vaunteth not itself; is not puffed up ; doth not behave itself unseemly ; seeketh not her own; is not easily provoked; thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things; be-

lieveth (g) I Cor. c. 12 V. 4. 8, &c.

Am. v.] ITitrfy-nine Articles. 179

Udveth aU things; hopeth ajl things; eDcbareth aE things (hX AU wUch personal actions axe ajttributed to charijty, which is no person, as in other cases it is usual, but belong tp that pecson which is charitable; because that person which so qualified doth perform these actions ac- cording to, and by virtue of, that charity which IB in him. In Ae same manner say they, per* sonal acticHis are attributed to the Holy Ghost, which is no person, but the virtue, power, and efficacy of God the Fatiber of our Lord Jesus Christ; because that God the Father is a person, and doth perfonn tose personal actions, attri- buted to tbe Hcly Ghost, by that virtue, powec, and efficacy ip. himself which is the Holy Ghost: w when we read,. The Spirit said ujtxto Peter fiehold three men seek thee; arise, tJaerefore, and get thee down, and go with them, doubting nothing, for I have sent tbrai;’ we must under- stand that God the Father was the person which spake theae words, who had called Barnabas and ul, and to whom they were to be separated. But because Gx)d did all this by that power within him, which is his Spirit, therefore those win and actions are attributed to the Holy Ghoat. This is the sum of their answer, and more

than

K 2

j8d Exposition of the [part in;

than t}iis, I conceive, cannot be said in answer to that argument which we urge from those personal expressions attributed to the Spirit of God, and as we believe, as to a person. But this answer id most apparently insufficient, as giving no satis- faction to the argument ; for if all the personal actions attributed in the Scriptures to the Spirit, might proceed from the person of God the Father, according to the power which is in him^ then might this answer seem satisfactory : but if these actions be personal, as they are acknow- ledged, and cannot be denied ; if the same can* not be attributed to the person of God the Father, whose Spirit it is ; if he cannot be said to do that by the power within him, which is said to be done by the Holy Ghost, then is that de- f(Mice not to be defended ; then must the Holy Ghost be acknowledged a person: but I shall clearly prove that there are several personal at- tributes ^ven in the sacred Scriptures expressly to the Holy Ghost, which cannot be ascribed to God the Father ; which God the Father, by that power which is in him, cannot be said to da; and consequently there cannot be any ground why those attributes should be given to the Spirit, if it be not a person. To make intercession is a personal action, and this action is attributed to the Spirit of God, because he maketh interces- sion

AnT. vj Thirty-nine Articles. i5i

sion for the saints, according to the will of- God; but to make intercession is not an act which can be attributed to God the Father, neither can he be said to intercede for us according to that power which is in him : and therefore this can be no prosopopoeia, or feigning of a person : the Holy Ghost cannot be said to exercise the personal action of intercession for that reason, because it is the spirit of the person which in- tercedeth for us. To come unto men, as being sent unto them, is, as I have said before, a per- sonal action; but to come unto men. as being sent, cannot be ascribed to God the Patiier, who sendeth, but is never sent, especially in t}iis par- ticular, in which he is said expressly to send, and that in the name of the Son; for our Sa- viour’s words are, * whom the Father will send in my name.’ When therefore the Holy Ghost Cometh to the sons of men, as sent by the Fa- ther in the name of the Son, and sent by the Son himself, this personal action cannot be at- tributed to the Father, as working by the power within him, and consequently cannot ground a prosopopoeia, by which the virtue or power of God the Father shall be said to do it. To apeak and hear are personal actions, and both together attributed to the Spirit in such a man- ner, as they cannot be ascribed to God the

K 3 Fathei: :

iSa E^eposUhn of the [part in.

Father: * When he^’ saith Christ, ’ the Spirit of Truth is come, he will guide you into aH truth; for he shall not speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak ft J/ Now to speak, and not of himself, cannot be Attributed to God the Father, who doth all things of himself; to speak what he heareth, and that of tic Son, to deliver what he receiveth from another, and to glorify him from whom he receiveth, by receiving from him as Christ speaketh of the Holy Ghost, ’ He shaU ^xxify me, for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it to you (kX is by no means applicable to the Father, and consequently it cannot be trae that the Holy Ghost is therefore said to da these personal actions, because that person, whose Spirit the Holy Ghost is, doth these actions by, and according to, his own power, which is the Holy Ghost. It remaineth there- fore that the answer given by the adversaries of this truth is apparently insufficient ; and con- sequently, that our argument, drawn from the personal actions attributed in the Scriptures to the Spirit, is sound and valid. I thought dns discourse had fully destroyed the Socinian pro aopopoBia ; and, indeed, as tiiey ordinarily pnv

poond

(i) John, c. i6, v. 13. (k) John. c. 16. v, 14.

ART. v.] Thirty-nine Articks. 183

pound their answer, it is abundantly refuted ; bat I find the subdety of Socinus prepared an- other expUcation of the prosopopoeia, to supply liie room when he foresaw the other would not serve; which double figure he grounded upon ^s distinction ; the Spirit, that is, the power of <jrod, says he, may be considered either as a pro- priety and power in God, or as the things on which it worketh are affected with it : if it be considered in the first notion, then if any per- sonal attribute be given to the Spirit, the Spirit is there taken for God, and by the Spirit, God is signified. If it be considered in the second notion, then, if any personal attribute be given to the Spirit, the Spirit is there taken for that man in which it worketh ; and that man af- fected with it, is cafled-the Spirit of God. So that now we must not only shew, that such things as are attributed to the Holy Ghost can- not be spoken of the Father, but we must also prove that Aey cannot be attributed unto man, in whom the Spirit worketh firom the Father^ And this also will be very easily and evidently proved. The Holy Ghost is said to come unto the Apostles, as sent by the Father and the Son; and to come as so sent, is a personal action, irtiich we have already shewed cannot bie the

N 4 action

184 Exposition of the [part 11 j,

action of the Father, who sent the Spirit ; and it is as certain that it cannot be the action of the apostle who was affected with the Spirit which was sent, except we can say that the Father and the Son did come unto St. Peter ; and St. Peter, being sent by the Father and the Son, did come unto St. Peter. Again, pur Saviour, speaking of the Holy Ghost, saith, * He shall receive of mine,’ therefore the Holy Ghost in that place is not taken for the Father; ’ and shew it unto you.’ therefore he is not taken for an apostle : in that he * receiveth,’ the first Socinian prosopopoeia is improper ; in that he * sheweth’ to the apostle, the second is absurd. The Holy Ghost then is de- scribed as a person distinct from the person of the Father, whose power he is ; and distinct from the person of the apostle, in whom he worketh ; and consequently neither of the Socinian figures can evacuate or enervate the doctrine of his proper and peculiar personality. Secondly, for those at- ’ tributes or expressions used of the Holy Ghost in the sacred Scriptures, and pretended to be repug- lAant to the nature of a person ; either they are not so repugnant, or if they be, they belong unto the Spirit, as it signifieth not the person, but the gifts or eflects of the Spirit. They tell us that the Spirit is given, and that sometimes in measure,

sometimes

ABT. v.] Thirty-nine Articies. 185

jBometimes without measure ; that the Spirit is poured out, and that men drink of it, and are filled with it ; that it is doubled and distributed, and something is taken from it, and that some- times it is extinguished ; and from hence they gather, that the Holy Ghost is not a person, because these expressions are inconsistent with personality, fiut a satisfactory answer is easily returned to this objection. It is true that God is said to have given the Holy Ghost to them

• that obey him (m) ;’ but it is as true that a person may be given. So we read, * unto us a Son is given (n) f and we are assured that

• God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son (0);’ and certainly the Son of God is a person. And if all the rest of the expressions be such as they pretend, that is, not proper to a person, yet do they no way prejudice the truth of our assertion, because we acknowledge the effects and operations of the Spirit, to have in the Scriptures the name of the Spirit, who is the cause of those operations. And since to that Spirit, as the cause, we have already shown those attri- butes to be given, which can agree to nothing but a person, we therefore conclude, against

the

(m) Acts, c. 5. V. 32. (n) Is. c. 9. v. 6.

(0) John, c. 3. V. 16.

i86 Ejijxmtian of the [part rii.

the Socinians and the Jews, that the Holy Ghost is not an energy, operation, quality, or |K>wer, but a person, a spiritual and intellectual subsistence (p).”^

It may indeed be observed in answer to the objection founded on the text, ” for God givefii not the Spirit by measure unto him (qX’* that this passage is evidently designed to prove the superiority of Christ to the ancient prophets, who spake by the Spirit of God — the Spirit of Christ — the Holy Ghost — and can in no wise be brought as an argument against the personality of the Holy Spirit. It is an allusion to the fact, vhich John the Baptist had before declared, that he saw the Spirit of God descend and remain upon Jesus to distinguish him as the Messiah — the Son of God — (r) from the prophets, who were only occasionally favoured by his in- fluence. But when we consider the mysterious union of the three persons in one God, which certainly implies unity of will and power, it ap- pears to me we may safely grant that expres- sions of this sort are sometimes used to signify an attribute, an energy, operation, quality, or power of God, without injury to the doctrine

we

(p) Veneer, Exp. of this Art. (q) John, c 3. v. 34. (r) John^ c. 1. v, 32, 8cc.

ART. v.] Thirty-nine Articles. 187

we maintain, which is clearly established by so many passages in Scripture.

The earliest controversy upon the subject of this article was that occasioned by Macedonius, Bishop of Constantiilople, in the middle of the fourth century, who denied the divinity of the H(dy Ghost, and was on that account deposed from bis bishopric.

i88 Expcsitian of the [part lu.