Acts 19:1-8: The Spirit
Monday, May 30, 2022
In the New American Bible Paul said to the Ephesians: Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?
They answered him: We have never even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.
Today we take time to consider our own concept of the Spirit and our willingness to allow the Spirit’s impact on our lives. To do this we might use the scripture link above to explore other versions of these verses. We may or may not be baptized or confirmed in a Christian way of life. If we have, we might consider how vulnerable we have allowed ourselves to become. If we have not, we now have the opportunity to consider entering into this special relationship.
In the Message, Paul asks: Did you take God into your mind only, or did you also embrace him with your heart? Did he get inside you?
And the people answer: We’ve never even heard of that—a Holy Spirit? God within us?
How much does the Spirit influence our lives? Are we aware that God lives within? Do we welcome the Spirit? Do we share our Spirit experiences with others? Do we thank God for this faithful, hope-filled, healing presence?
If Paul were to walk among us today and ask us his question, what do we answer? Have we heard of the Spirit? Do we recognize or understand this powerful force in our lives? Do we hold this message within or do we spread the good news?
Here is how Paul reacts to the questions that pepper him: He entered the synagogue and continued speaking out boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God.
What is our response to those who question the presence and power of the Spirit? How do we enact the Spirit in our relationships with others? And what do we do with the good news we have received?
Enter the word Spirit into the blog search bar, explore, reflect, rejoice and share.
Images from: http://getupwithgod.com/bible/the-bible-in-5-words/
The Noontimes 
The Holy Spirit is the Third Person of the Holy Trinity. He is a distinct, divine Person. He is the uncreated personification of the immense love between the Father and the Son. He is coeternal with the Father and the Son. In other words, the love between the Father and the Son is so great that it reveals or introduces a Third Person to us, the Holy Spirit. He is “Love” or “Gift”. He is also the Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
According to the CCC, paragraphs 683-747, “The Third Person of the Blessed Trinity, often called the “Advocate,” the “Consoler,” the “Paraclete,” and the “Sanctifier,” Who is coeternal, coequal, consubstantial with and distinct from the Father and the Son. He proceeds from both the Father and the Son by “spiration.” Scripture and Tradition mention much about the Holy Spirit’s role in grace and the gifts, virtues, and fruits.”
He is known in the Bible as “wind”, “breath”, “air”, “fire”, “water” and “dove”. He is also known as the “Spirit of Christ”.
The Holy Spirit is not a conduit for ongoing public revelation. Public revelation ceased with the death of St. John circa 100 AD. The Holy Spirit now directs the magisterium.
The Holy Spirit is active in my life in His subtle promptings and His Gifts and Fruits. As long as I am in the state of sanctifying grace, the Holy Spirit dwells inside me. His seven Gifts are wisdom, understanding, knowledge, fortitude, counsel, piety, and fear of the Lord. The twelve Fruits of the Holy Spirit are charity, joy, peace, patience, benignity, goodness, longanimity, mildness, faith, modesty, continency, and chastity. These are given in Baptism and strengthened in Confirmation. The Gifts are what the Holy Spirit imparts and His Fruits are the results of His indwelling.
Our Baptized souls are temples of the Holy Spirit. As long as I allow Him and remain in the state of grace, the Holy Spirit will direct my life. His grace will be proportional to the trial I am facing.
My perception of what the Holy Spirit is and does has changed significantly with my understanding of Athanasius’ and Didymus’ rebuttal of the Arian hearsay in their Letters to Serapion and On the Holy Spirit, respectively.
Athanasius was a Greek Bishop and was an early Church Father living in Alexandria, Egypt. Rhetoric was important to the Greeks. It is long, drawn out, and the rhetorical style was a rebuttal of the Arian arguments—the Holy Spirit is not divine, is a creature, and is an angelic being. Then Athanasius uses preemptive arguments to anticipate where his opponents are going to object.
Alexandria was cultural center where lots of different ideas were happening and a major center of trade existed between the West and the East. It also was known for its library, which made anything that exists today pale in comparison.
Arianism says that the Son and the Holy Spirit are Homoiousios to the Father, which means they are subordinate, of “like” essence. Orthodox Christian doctrine promoted by Athanasius says that the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit are Homoousios, meaning the “same” essence. They are equal. They all have the divine essence. How they communicate that divine essence in a specific sense is called hypostasis and is going to differ from Father, to Son, to Holy Spirit.
If we follow Arius’ view, Jesus cannot save us because He would be an emissary, and not God Himself. Only God can resurrect, forgive sin, and heal.
If the Spirit is a subordinate being of some kind, does that subordinate being have the full power to guide the Church and vivify creation with God’s presence? No. Angels as emissaries do not bring people back from the dead, heal people, or forgive sin. They are messengers.
Athanasius insists on the full presence of the Spirit in the world instead of what we had in the Old Testament, attributes of God.
Why does Athanasius insist on the full presence of the Spirit in the world instead of what we have in the Old Testament, an attribute of God working in the world? It doesn’t save in what way. In casts into doubt the unity of God and His creation. The Spirit being equal to the Father states unambiguously “God is with us” in ways the Spirit as an attribute of God cannot do.
The reasons why certain teachings are heretical are that they are bad theology. They are bad ideas. They can distort our relationship with God. They harm our relationship with or even cut us off from God.
Athanasius’ rebuttal of this Arian heresy is that a man, who was not fully divine, was appointed by God to be His great emissary. But one cannot be saved by an emissary. Only a God-Man can save and unite one to God. In order for Christ to save us, He must be human and divine, complete, whole, entire in His person. Why? Because the medium is the message. The fact that Jesus comes as he does, fully human and fully divine, before He says anything, before He does anything, His very being presents a message. The message is that we are saved, not just from sin, but that we are united with God. Nothing will divide us from God. And how better to show that than humanity and divinity existing in a person?
The Arians present the Father and Son as a dyad and the Holy Spirit as a creature who was sent by the Father and the Son. If the Holy Spirit is subordinate to God the Father, He cannot be God’s continuing presence in the Church and the world, and therefore cannot save. The Spirit saves differently than Jesus. There is no further need for atonement. The bridge between God and us has been restored. The Spirit, for example, reminds us what Jesus did on the Cross for us when we sin, He guides us. The Spirit reminds us what happened and to accept God’s offer of salvation, which has already been bought and paid for by Jesus.
Like Mary’s Assumption and Dormition, In his Letters to Serapion, Athanasius doesn’t choose the Father sending the Son who sends the Holy Spirit as believed in the West or that the Father and Son both sending the Holy Spirit as believed in the East. It does not matter. They are the same. (Athanasius p.55 1.2.5)
References to the Holy Spirit may be qualified or unqualified. Unqualified references refer to a soul, a manifestation of the divine, an angelic being, even an evil spirit. Qualified references use the definite article “the” as in “The Holy Spirit”, “The Spirit”, and “The Spirit of Truth”. (Athanasius p.57 1.4.1)
The unforgivable sin as set forth in Mt 12:32, is sinning against the Holy Spirit. This means not accepting His grace and divine power to help you achieve union with God.
Theosis—divinization—is the transforming effect of divine grace, the Spirit of God, or the atonement of Christ. The process of Theosis includes the removal or forgiveness of sin. Therefore, blaspheming against the Holy Spirit is denying the Spirit’s ability to forgive sin. It is a form of despair. It’s the unforgivable sin because you are being closed off from being forgiven in the first place. Sinning against the Holy Spirit is denying the Spirit’s ability to transform, to redeem, and you do not trust God or the Spirit.
Athanasius and Didymus argue that the Holy Spirit is not a creature. The Spirit is uncreated. If the Spirit has the ability to search the depths of God Himself, then it stand to reason that it cannot be a creature. Creatures are finite. God is infinite. A finite being can participate in God; it cannot search the depths of God.
When the Arians deny that the Spirit is God, when they insist the Holy Spirit is a creature, Athanasius says that what you have is a God as a dyad. A dyad is something that consists of two parts: a “twoness” and an “other”. The “twoness” is the Father and Jesus, and the “other” is the Spirit as a creature. The problem with this “dyad plus a creature” language is that it makes God into a compound. He is simple, meaning he has no parts. When you say that God is simple, you are saying that God lacks parts
The Arians make God into a compound. They mix the dyad (divine essence, ousia) of the Father and Son with the “creaturelyness” of the Holy Spirit. Athanasius argues that what is happening with the Arians is they are mixing things that don’t go together. If they believe that the Holy Spirit is a creature and is somehow part of this Trinity, what you have is no Trinity at all because you are mixing two unlike things. The ousia of the Father and the Son cannot be mixed with something alien to it, or other than it. For the Trinity to be the Trinity, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit all must have the same ousia.
Qualities of the Spirit
Why the Spirit is not a creature, why the Spirit is God.
1. Creatures are sanctified and renewed, whereas the Spirit sanctifies and renews (Athanasius p. 88).
This means the Holy Spirit makes us holy before God and gives us a spiritual renewal, even physical renewal.
2. Creatures receive life, whereas the Spirit gives life (Athanasius p. 89).
When you hide your face, they panic.
Take away their breath, they perish
And return to the dust.
Send forth your Spirit, they are created
And you renew the face of the earth. Ps 104:29-30
When you take away their breath (spirit—lowercase), they die (unqualified spirit) as in one’s soul. In verse 30, the Spirit (uppercase) is qualified, meaning the Holy Spirit.
3. Creatures are anointed and sealed, whereas the Spirit is the anointing and seal (Athanasius p. 88).
Anointing means you are appointed to do work for God. In the Old Testament, priests, prophets, and kings were anointed. Sealing means you are saved. God accepts you.
4. We participate in God through the Spirit (Athanasius, p. 90)
“If the Holy Spirit were a creature, we would not have participation in God through Him” (Athanasius, p. 90, 1.24.1). If the Holy Spirit were a creature, He would be more like us and we would be cut off from God. The Spirit enables us to participate in the very being with God. Those in whom the Spirit dwells are divinized. That is Theosis.
5. The Father creates all things through the Word in the Spirit (Athanasius, p. 91).
The Word is Jesus. Logos translates into “word”. In the Old Testament, “Word” is not just an utterance from God, it can be, but “Word” implies agency. “Word” is where God sends an emissary. In the Old Testament, God’s word comes through many mediums, theophanies, angels, and the prophets. In the New Testament, St. John the Baptist is the last person who is the medium for God’s message in the old way. He was the last prophet. God stops sending emissaries and the logos is personified. Jesus comes in person. Arians reduce Jesus to a subordinate divinity and take the New Testament version of logos and makes it into the Old Testament version again. Jesus is simply the greatest emissary ever. But, one cannot be saved by an emissary. One can only be saved by God. Likewise with the Holy Spirit, He has to be helping communicating God’s logos in a way that makes Him divine. St. John Chapter One repeats Genesis Chapter One through a Trinitarian lens. The Trinity is an agent of creation and renewal. Athanasius asserts that creation and renewal has always been a Trinitarian event. Jesus and the Spirit are involved, but hidden from the people in Old Testament time. They always existed but were not yet revealed. They are fully present to those who receive God’s revelation today.
6. The Spirit is the Image of the Son (Athanasius, p. 91).
In Eastern Christianity, image does not necessarily mean physical image alone, it can include physical image, but it does not mean physical image alone. Image means qualities. We share in God’s qualities. What God has absolutely, we share in a limited way. Human beings can be good, but God IS good. We can love, but God IS love. All the qualities we possess in a limited way, God possesses fully and completely. When we say the Spirit is the Image of the Son, we are not speaking of physical resemblance. We are saying that the Spirit shares exactly in Jesus’ qualities. What quality is shared? The same divine ousia, the same divine quality. Like speaks to like.
7. The Spirit is proper to the Son, and thereby proper to the divinity of the Father (Athanasius, p. 92).
When Athanasius says the Son is proper to the Father in essence, that is another way of saying that the Son shares in the Father’s divine essence, ousia. When he says the Spirit is proper to the Son, he is saying the Spirit has the same divine essence as the Son, and by extension the Father. The Spirit adopts us as God’s people, divinizes us, and leads us to the Father. But for that to happen, the Spirit cannot be a creature. The Spirit cannot be an emissary. The Spirit has to be God to fully adopt us as children of God and fully divinize us and fully bring us to the Father.
8. Creatures are mutable, whereas the Spirit is immutable (Athanasius, p. 93).
Immutable means unchangeable, unvarying, or incorruptible. The Spirit is not a creature. He is God and therefore is immutable. The Spirit does not die, does not sin, and does not slow down. He is unvarying because when He delivers His gifts, one gets the full gift.
9. Creatures are circumscribed, whereas the Spirit is omnipresent (Athanasius, p. 94).
This means that humans are restricted by time and space in their finite status. The Holy Spirit is omnipresent meaning He is everywhere at all times and places. Angels are messengers who minister to people. That ministry entails giving God’s guidance and His Gifts, specifically counsel, knowledge, and consolation.
10. Creatures participate in the Spirit, whereas the Spirit is participated in (Athanasius, p. 95).
The Spirit is omnipresent and we are finite. Because we are finite beings, we cannot participate in one another. But the Spirit’s presence can be in every one of us. It is a matter of letting that presence work. We can not accept the Spirit by choice. We can choose not to accept the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. God accepts our free will. When we participate in the Spirit, that presupposes an openness. When the Spirit participates in us, that presupposes our being open to the Spirit working within us, transforming us. When one receives a conversion experience, that is a Trinitarian event.
11. There are a multitude of creatures but just one Spirit (Athanasius, p. 95).
One Spirit points to the oneness of God. Here Athanasius is reminding us that the Triune God paradoxically is one God, not three Gods. And, the Spirit is not a creature because we have many creatures; there are many human beings and other creatures of all shapes and sizes on the earth. There is only one Holy Spirit. If the Holy Spirit were a creature, there would be more than one of these creatures.
The letter closes with an exposition on the Trinity. Athanasius’ rhetorical style was to repeat and remind to make his point. Sabellianism is another way of talking about a hearsay called Modalistic Monarchism. These Monarchists were called Modalistic “because [they] attempted to solve the paradox of looking upon Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as temporary ‘modes’ of the one God”. Athanasius talks about the Trinity as matter of Truth. The Trinity is not a play on words. (Athanasius, p. 96-97, 1.28.1-1.28.4). For Sabellian and other Modalistic Monarchists it is merely a wording strategy to try and describe how God can appear as three People. Athanasius says, no. God is not “appearing” as three people. God is in truth three distinct Persons, but they do not divide the Godhead (Athanasius, p. 96-97, 1.28.1-1.28.4).
Regarding Christian Baptism, if the Spirit is a creature and not God, (Athanasius, p. 98-99, 1.30.1-1.30.3) it is not valid. If you are claiming that the Spirit is a creature, and for it to be a creature you must have many of them, and you are being Baptized in part in the name of that creature, then you are Baptizing on an unstable foundation. You are Baptizing on a foundation that is less than God. Anything less than God can fail you. Even angels can fall. Satan was a fallen angel. Baptisms not based on the Trinity are invalid. Groups or sects, including modalists, that do not accept the Trinity, do not have valid Baptisms.
The German Catholic Jesuit theologian Karl Rahner described an Immanent Trinity, which is the interior life of God, and an Economic Trinity, which is God’s activity, His presence in creation. Rahner said that each is the other. When one looks at God’s activity in our world, how the Triune God relates to you, me, others, and creation, that give one insight, a glimpse into the interior life of God. St. Augustine says in his book, On the Trinity, that the Triune God models how we should live as a Church. This gives us insight into the interior life of God. The fact that the Persons of the Trinity dwell in perfect love and peace gives us insight on the interior life of God.
Athanasius looks at the Economic behavior of the Trinity, what we observe. That gives us insight into the interior life of God, the Immanent Trinity. Athanasius claims that through the Spirit we continue to exist. The Spirit is the continuing presence of God in the Church and in the world. The Spirit sustains creation, another way to say, “renew”. It keeps us alive. It continues the work of creation begun by the Father directly and through His Incarnate Word, who was present at the creation, pre-existing before the Incarnation.
Athanasius concludes his rebuttal of Arianism in his letter to Serapion by saying that once you believe in the Scriptures do not speculate about them or altar what they say. But, is that exactly what Athanasius means? Paul Ricoeur is a French Protestant philosopher. He wrote a book titled, Discourse and the Surplus of Meaning. What he says is that when you read a text, any text, including Biblical texts, there are two things that need to be picked out. The first is, “What does author say?” and the second is, “What you can say the text says?” For example, Genesis, Chapter One describes an attribute of God to a Jew who would have written this text. As a Christian, we believe there is a surplus of meaning in the Old Testament. What is it about the text that allows Christians to “read” more into the Scriptures than was originally intended? Inspiration is part of the reason. The main reason is the Church. The Church gives us Sacred Tradition. The New Testament reveals that God is Triune. Therefore, if God is Triune, the Spirit of God, or, the Holy Spirit has always existed. That means you can go back into the Old Testament canon and every time you see the Spirit is seen as an attribute of God we can unlock Trinity language which we can take out because the New Testament in its revelation to us says that we can.
Athanasius ends with some remarks about the Son and the Spirit are begotten of the Father. Begetting usually refers to human reproduction. In this sense, the Father introduces the Son and the Spirit. It could also mean how they became apparent to us, presented, or revealed to us since the Trinity has existed from all eternity. According to Athanasius, begetting is an analogy of two similar things. The Church uses analogy frequently to describe God’s and our attributes. It is limited and incomplete, but it gives us a glimpse of who God is. Begetting is an analogy.
Didymus opens his “On the Holy Spirit” about the Holy Spirit being a “fearsome endeavor”. Why is it fearsome? Because if you get it wrong, the punishment for blaspheming against the Holy Spirit is very severe. It is required that we think things through, but ideas matter. There are right conclusions and wrong conclusions. If we reach the wrong conclusion, know it, and stick with it, there is no forgiveness. Didymus emphasizes the activity of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Trinity. How does the Spirit actually relate to the Father and the Son? How does that work in our daily lives? Didymus talks about this.
Didymus uses a positive approach as opposed to Athanasius’ negative approach. Like Athanasius, he does not use proof texting. He approaches the Arian heresies canonically.
Didymus describes how the Spirit is sent. “The Spirit sent in the name of the Son is the Spirit of the Son”. He uses John 14:26:
“The Advocate, the Holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name—He will teach you everything and remind you of all that [I] told you.”
Here we have the Economic Trinity giving insight into the Imminent Trinity. How is the Spirit sent? It could be an act of the Father and the Son, we have established that, but how do they act? They act through an act of their will and intellect. (Didymus, p. 185)
Didymus talks about how the Spirit does not speak. This is so we can learn what the Father and Son have to say. The Spirit is of one mind with the Father and the Son. The Spirit guides you back to God. The Spirit is silent so you can hear the Father and the Son. Your mind and will can conform to God’s mind and will. You are given insight into what God wants and how God thinks. It is an interior dialogue. The Holy Spirit’s subtle promptings over the years have protected me, my children, and given me peace when I needed it the most. (Didymus, p. 191)
Didymus names nine activities or qualities of the Spirit.
1. The Spirit bestows the same grace and love as the Father and Son. (Didymus, p. 166) Grace is God’s divine strength or power. It is grace that I receive, during or after prayer, when I am in trouble or need help.
2. The Father, Son, and Spirit have a single activity, indicating a single substance. (Didymus, p.168) This means, simply, conveying the wisdom of God, if you receive it, it opens you up to everything else.
3. The Spirit is the same nature and power as the Father and Son. (Didymus, p. 170) Jesus is the right arm and hand of God. The Spirit is the right finger of God. The right arm, hand, and finger are used to show the power and authority of God.
4. The Spirit gives the same wisdom and truth as the Father and the Son. (Didymus, p. 172) The Holy Spirit is not a creature. It is a push back against paganism. Wisdom comes from God alone. It speaks to the unity and oneness of God.
5. The Spirit is “distributing” like the Father and the Son. (Didymus, p. 173-174) The Spirit is distributing Gifts, as does the Father and the Son. Nothing is required in return. “I am giving it to you because you exist.” They are given freely and gratuitously.
6. The Spirit calls to ministry like the Father and Son. (Didymus, p. 174) The Father commissions people to ministry. Jesus calls people to ministry. So does the Spirit. But how to tell real from fake? Are they teaching the Apostolic Deposit of Faith? Look to see what message they are preaching. There are many charlatans to beware of.
7. The Spirit Baptizes like the Father and Son. (Didymus, p. 175) This goes to what makes a Baptism licit. It brings up the great commission in Mt 28:19: “Go therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit”. Proper matter, form, and a cleric are needed for a valid Baptism.
8. The Spirit establishes ecclesiastical discipline like the Father and the Son. (Didymus, p. 176) If the Spirit cannot speak, He has to work through apostles, prophets, and teachers. By teaching people well, and by helping form people in the faith well, then the discipline takes care of itself and no one is going off the deep end with unorthodox theology. This is the best form of discipline, self-discipline.
9. The Spirit indwells like the Father and the Son. (Didymus, p. 177) God is a spiritual being, so God indwells. Jesus sends His Spirit, it indwells. That Spirit is the Holy Spirit and it indwells. The presence of God is within us. The Trinity indwells in us.
Didymus then talks about clarifying the nature of angelic beings in regard to the Spirit and also our nature in regard to the angels and the Spirit. The angles are not equal to the Spirit because they are creatures, spiritual creatures. And we are not equal to the angels because they are spirit beings and have greater affinity with the Holy Spirit, and therefore God. Also, unlike us, the angels did not fall, as we did. (With one exception—Lucifer.)
Source: “Works on the Spirit” by Athanasius the Great and Didymus the Blind, Popular Patristic Series
LikeLike
Dear Amy, you have written a tome! I will read your comment when I am able to carve the time from a busy life. In the meantime, I am confident that God the creator, redeemer and spirit lives in each of us. You might find Richard Rohr or Teilhard de Chardin interesting. Take care.
LikeLike