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The Holy Spirit, article in The Universalist Quarterly 1862
The phrase Holy Ghost does not occur in the Old Testament, neither does Holy Spirit but a few times. In the New Testament the term Holy Ghost is found in numerous places, and means the same as Holy Spirit, for it is translated from the same word. It seems to us that Holy Spirit is much preferable to the other form of expression, since ghost has such unpleasant associations, and often awakens apprehensions of evil, and fears of danger or harm. People are sometimes frightened at a ghost, or fear they shall be. Plainly, all epithets which we apply to God, all words which in any way bring him to view, should be fitted to awaken pleasing emotions and cheerful views of him.
The belief has been common that the Holy Spirit is the third person in the trinity, of which the Father is the first, and the Son is the second. The trinity of persons constituting one Being, has been called a holy mystery; and certainly it is, and must ever remain a mystery. For is it possible for us to form a conception of a Being who has three persons, three intellects, three wills, and three affectional natures, so united and blended, that he possesses only one person, one intellect, one will, and one heart? How can there be three distinct persons in one, so that there shall always be only one and always three? Though this is a mystery incapable of solution, our reverence for the Scriptures is such that we would accept it without question as true, if it were clearly taught in the Gospels, or in the letters of the Apostles to the Churches. What though Jesus says to his disciples, when taking leave of them, "I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another comforter, even the spirit of truth;" what though Paul says to the Corinthians, "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with you all;" what though the "Spirit searcheth all things, even the deep things of God," does it follow that the Holy Spirit is very God? By no means. Christians may have a comforter sent them which is not a Deity; they may enjoy the communion of the Holy Spirit in their worship and services of God; and the Spirit may search the deep things of God when it does not search its own things. In such and similar passages we find proof that the Holy Spirit is not very God, rather than it is.
Spirit is an intangible, invisible thing or essence. The ancient Jews designated it by a word which seems specially suitable — a word which means wind or breath. Hence the same word must sometimes be translated wind or breath, and sometimes spirit, — the connection alone can determine which. For this reason, there is sometimes a force or a shade of thought in the original which cannot be conveyed in a translation, as when Jesus says to Nicodemus, "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh or whither it goeth; so is every one that is born of the Spirit." Wind or breath does not possess the attributes of a person, and is put in the neuter gender. And when the word of which wind is the synonyme in English, is used to denote a spirit, or the Holy Spirit, it still remains in the neuter gender. It is treated grammatically, not as a person, but as a thing; as an unconscious, inanimate thing. It is treated as if it had no life, and no attributes of a person, more than the wind that blows, or the mysterious forces of nature. In the original, the Holy Spirit is always spoken of as it, not as he; as a thing, not as a person. There is no exception to this statement. If the Apostles meant to designate a person by the phrase, Holy Spirit, it seems probable that they would have contrived some way to express themselves so as not to call it a thing, as they have done by using the neuter gender. The names applied to the Deity, as Lord, God, Father, imply personality, and are in the masculine gender. We should all regard it as an impropriety to put the name of God in the neuter gender, thus making him a thing, or an impersonal essence. So the Holy Spirit being uniformly spoken of as a thing, we infer the Apostles did not think of it as God, or regard it as an object of worship. Indeed, the beginning of the name with capital letters, is a matter of taste, since we cannot claim any apostolic authority for so doing.
It will now be shown what the Holy Spirit is spoken of in the Scriptures as accomplishing, or what effects it produces.
1. It gives wisdom, discretion, prudence. The Apostles were exposed to persecution and various ill treatment from their enemies. Hence Jesus says to them, "When they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate; but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye; for it is not you that speak, but the Holy Spirit." In fulfilment of this promise, we find that the Apostles were possessed of a wisdom which made them equal to any emergency or strait. The Holy Spirit quickened and aroused their intellects so that they spoke with great shrewdness and ability in defending themselves against their enemies.
2. The Holy Spirit gives inspiration. There are many passages of Scripture in which inspiration, or the gift of prophecy, is ascribed to the Holy Spirit. So David was made to say, "The Lord said to my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand till I make thy enemies thy footstool." Here David is represented as uttering a prophecy under the influence of the Holy Spirit. It was revealed to Simeon, that devout man, that "He should not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ." Here is a positive statement, that the knowledge of a future event was communicated by the Holy Spirit. And Peter affirms that "Prophecy came not in the olden time by the will of man; but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit."
In every age of the world, God favors his servants with that measure of inspiration which they need in the circumstances in which they are placed. If the ancient prophets of Israel were more highly favored in this respect than men of other nations, or in other times, it was undoubtedly because there was special need of it in that age and among that people.
3. Men were filled with the Holy Spirit. It was prophesied by John Baptist that he should be filled with the Holy Spirit. When he was circumcised and named, his father Zacharius was filled with the Holy Spirit, and opened his mouth in prophecy. Jesus and the apostles are spoken of as filled in a similar manner. On the day of Pentecost, when the disciples were assembled in one place, they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. And when the primitive church needed judicious men to act as deacons, seven men were sought out, "of honest report, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom," who were appointed over the business.
4. The Holy Spirit was given or communicated by the laying on of the Apostles' hands. When the Apostles which were at Jerusalem "heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John, who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Spirit; for as yet it was fallen upon none of them; only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. And when Simon saw that through laying on of the Apostles' hands, the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money, saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Spirit."
5. Christ is said to have been anointed with the Holy Spirit. Peter speaks of Jesus as one whom "God anointed with the Holy Spirit, and with power; who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed with the devil; for God was with him."
Men also were baptized with it; indeed, all true Christians were baptized in this manner. It was foretold that Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Peter recalls these words, when, on his preaching the Gospel to Cornelius, the Holy Spirit fell on the company present. "Then," he says, "remembered I the word of the Lord, how he said, John indeed baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit."
6. The Holy Spirit sometimes descended in a visible form on those whom it filled or inspired. We have such an example at Jesus' baptism, when the Holy Spirit descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him. This descent might have been literally in the form of a dove, or there might have been a visible motion of the air over him, resembling the motion of a dove hovering over an object. This appearance was designed to convince John that Jesus was the Messiah who should come. We have another instance of a similar kind on the day of Pentecost, when "there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues, like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them." These small tongue-shaped flames of fire appearing to rest upon, or to stand over the head of each one, would attract the attention of spectators, and cause them to think that the wonderful gift of tongues was from God. Those tongue-shaped flames of fire resting on the heads of the disciples might have been designed to indicate the manner in which the inspiration would manifest itself.
The brief examination which has now been given to the subject, shows that the Holy Spirit is always used by the Apostles in the neuter gender, or is spoken of as a thing, not as a person; that it gives wisdom or discretion; that it gives inspiration or the prophetic power; that men were filled with it; that the Apostles imparted it to others by the laying on of hands; that Christ was anointed with it; that men were baptized with it, and that it sometimes descended on men in visible form.
Now we submit, if a thing spoken of in this manner by the Apostles could by them have been recognized as Deity? as the one living and true God? God may indeed make one wise, and he may enable one to foretell future events; but can we, with any propriety, speak of men as being filled with God, or can we speak of God as being given or imparted to men by the laying on of hands? Can we with propriety speak of Christ as being anointed with God, or of men as being baptized with God? It seems to us in the highest degree absurd, nay, irreverent, to speak of God in this manner. Yet, if the Holy Spirit is very God, then the Apostles and others were at times full of God, and Gentile converts had God imparted, or given to them, by the Apostles laying their hands on them and praying. How can we accept such a doctrine as the truth? What doctrine can be more absurd and repugnant to reason and common sense?
Without pretending to give every shade of meaning which the Holy Spirit has, as used in the Scriptures, we would represent it as a divine influence — an influence shed upon men from God; so that enjoying it, they can do what otherwise would be impossible for them to do. We would not represent the Holy Spirit as God, but as an influence from Him, enlightening, strengthening, and sanctifying those upon whom it rests. And we would seek for illustrations in the physical world. The sun is placed at an immense distance from the earth, yet his rays have a remarkable effect upon it. Even philosophers have found it difficult to decide what light is, and how it operates; but the simplest person knows its effects upon vegetable growth, — knows that the light and heat of the sun have much to do in perfecting the bloom of summer and the fruitage of autumn. The nature of light, and why its effects should be what they are, may not be fully understood by the man of science, yet we all know that there is light, and know the common effects which it produces.
The fields must lie open to the sun, must be immersed in the light proceeding from him, to be fruitful and productive in a high degree. The atmosphere modifies the effects of the sun's rays, sometimes seeming to co-operate with the sun, and sometimes working against it. It is only when sun and air and rain unite their triple influences to favor vegetable growth, that the harvests are the richest and the most abundant. So there is an influence from heaven resting upon men, and operating in them no less beneficently than the light and heat of the sun upon field and forest.
We may not be able to explain how this influence comes, or to describe the mode of its operation; yet we may be conscious of its presence, conscious of the moral light which it gives, and of the spiritual beauty which it awakens in the soul. We may not be able to tell exactly how much is imparted by it, or whether it produces its effects simply by quickening the powers of intellect, and arousing the emotional nature. Mayhap a spiritual effect is produced upon the heart directly by this influence; or may be it works its effects by quickening the moral and intellectual powers. This much we know, the heart must be in a right condition to receive the influence, else little or no effect will be produced; the heart will remain unfruitful in righteousness, and its emotions undevout in tone. There are deep dells or recesses in lofty mountain ranges in which the snows of winter remain nearly or quite through the year; so there may be hearts in such a moral condition that the Holy Spirit cannot well reach them: whence a wintry desolation of heart is perpetually suffered, a summer of the soul never being enjoyed. There are lands suffering from such an over-abundance of water that they remain cold and unfruitful, though the rays of the sun fall directly upon them. Likewise there are natures so filled with selfishness and worldly loves, that they remain religiously cold and barren, though the Holy Spirit is shedding a select influence upon other hearts, making them fruitful in righteousness, nay, producing a summer of the soul in which the bloom of purity and the fruitage of holiness ever abound.
Men must co-operate with the Holy Spirit to secure the best and happiest results. The vernal rains may descend, the summer showers may fall, and the sun shine with warmth in his beams, yet the neglected field will not rejoice in summer's beauty, nor invite the husbandman to reap the golden harvest in autumn. Sun and rain and dew will all have been in vain, and have united their triple influence to no purpose on such a field. So the human heart may possess all the elements of religious life and moral fruitfulness, and a holy influence may rest upon it with heavenly refreshing, yet that heart continue barren and unblest. Men must cultivate their religious natures; they must open their hearts to receive the heavenly influence, and it will not be withheld. Men are not compelled by the Author of their being to be immoral or irreligious, but they must make a diligent use of the means of grace; they must cultivate religious feeling, emotion, and aspiration; then the Holy Spirit will be breathed upon them, and they shall enjoy the conscious approval of heaven. w. R. F.
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