(th e u n iv e r s i t y o f c h i c ag o

J O HN

POUN DB D BY

D . R O C KE FEL LER

T h e S p i r i t o f G o d in Bib l i c a l
L it e ra t u r e
A S T U D Y I N T H E H I ST O R Y O F
R E LI G I O N

Submi

tt ed t
in

a ul ty
a di da y f

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or

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a rt m e n t
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D I SSER T A TIO N
f th Grad te S h o l f Arts
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f D t r f Phi l
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f Bi b l i c a l

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oso ph y

P a tri s t i c Gr e e k)

By

I R VI N G F R A N C I S

wo o g

N EW Y ORK

A C A R M S T R O N G 8t S O N
3 an d 5 W e st Eigh te e n th Str e et
.

1 9 04

TH E N EW Y OR K

PUBLIC LIBRARY
AS TO R , LENO " AND
T L D E N F O U N DAT IO NS

19

06

c o pyr ght "

RMS R
By A C
o v e m be
ublish e d
.

T O N G 8 SO N
N
r 1 904
t

C O N TEN TS

PA R T I

T h e S p ir it

f G o d i n He b r e w T h o u g h t
PA GE

C b a i te r

W ri ti n g s b efo r e t h e E xi l e
T h e O ri g in o f th e C on ception
T h e C a n o ni c a l W ri tin g s a f te r t h e
T h e Pa l e stin i a n J e wi sh W ri tin g s
Th e A l e x a n d r i a n Jewish Wri tin g s
Th e

I
II

I II

IV

26

E xi

PA R T

T h e S p ir i t
C h a pt e

of

60
86

117

124

15 1

198

o n clu sio n

BI

3 8

Go d i n N e w T e s t a m e n t T h o u g h t

II

In tro d ucti o n
I I Th e S yn o pti c G o sp e l s
I I I Th e P ri m itiv e C hri sti a n C on c e p ti o n
I V Th e P a u l i ne W ri tin g s
V Th e J o h a nne a n W ri tings
I

le

23 3

PA R T I I I
2 61

BL IO G R A P H Y

271

I N D E"

275
v ii

PA R T I
T H E S P I R I T O F G O D I N H EBR EW
T H O U GH T

CH AP TER I
Th e

Wr i t in g s

be fo r e th e Ex i le

M ODE R N bibli cal study has usually f o u n d little

place for the t reatment o f the Hebrew i dea o f the
Spi rit o f God This is not surprising The s u b
j e c t itself is very obscure The Spirit o f God s eems

at rst s ight to be hardly more than an a spect o f

God
I f pursued until it can become somewha t
understood in its histori cal relations it i s found
to b e intimately connected with cert a in concep tions
o f early He b rew thought like th a t o f the angel o f
Jehovah and w ith ce r tain experien c es o f Semiti c
l i f e like that o f prophecy the underst a nding o f
W hose early s igni cance still remains o b scure to us
even a fter scholarsh ip has given us all the help in
its power O nly a long and c are ful study can cle a r
up its most obvious di fculties T he d a t a f or com
p l e te explanation are di f cult t o read or in some
cases wholly lacking
The su b j ect however i s not o f such slight i m
portance as i s sometimes assumed It mi ght be a
su fcient claim on the attention o f the biblical
student that the New Testament conception o f the
Spi rit rests on the O ld T estam ent conception as
i t s basis and does not admit o f explanation wi thout
O ld Testament aid But the subj ect has a value
entirely within itsel f ; i t f urnishes a d e nite con
t r ibu t io n to our u nderst a ndin g of the Hebrew con
.

TH E
c ep t i o n

S PI R IT O F

GOD

o f divinity The Spirit of God was not the

simple equivalent o f God Had the Hebrew no
independent idea to convey by the phrase he would
not have used it ; or i f he had found its use in
ances tral Sem i tic l a nguage w ould n o t h a ve per
It must have been signicant for him
p e t u a te d it
It must have added to the range o f expression O pe n
to him regarding either the nature o f God o r the
relation o f God to man These t wo great them es
are the subj ects on which Hebrew thought has
added to the sum o f the world s religious knowl
edge and anything which will help us to understand
better the Hebrew ideas regarding them is o f great
importance to the history o f religious development
The problem o f the origin o f the conception o f
the Spirit is like most problems o f religious origins
one whose solution is a matter o f in ference rather
than o f di rect testimony The earliest traces o f
the ide a which we can nd in literature represent
a stage o f considerable advancement in its growth
F rom this we must work back by the m e th o ds
known to the study o f the history of religion to
earlier st ages and i f possible to the earliest stage
It follows that a study o f the Hebrew conception o f
the Spirit cann o t begin at the beginning ; it must
begin with the earliest literature the pre exilic his
tories and prophecies an d make its in ferences from
this to still earlier periods on which n o literature
throws its light It is a m a tter o f course that such
inferences contain elements of greater or less u m
cert ainty The whole q uestion resolves itsel f int o a
.

WR ITI NGS B EF O RE TH E E X IL E

TH E

series o f probabilities I t makes the matter still less

certain that comparative religion much a s i t has
been able to accomplish can formulate m a th em a t
i c a lly no xed laws o f religious progress which will
unmistakably guide us in our researches It can
however furnis h principles o f religious history
which create probabilities in specic instances like
that f urnished by our study In spite there fore of
all uncertainties and di fculties there is hope that
some progre ss ma y b e m ade towa rd the dis covery
o f the origin and early history o f the i d ea o f the
Spiri t o f Go d
It seems best fo r our purposes to treat all pre
exili c propheti c and histori cal writings together
The examination o f the sepa rate writings sh o ws
no special progress except in one or two particulars
to b e hereafter noticed They all represent the pro
h
i
e
t
c school o f thought much o f the histori c writ
p
ings bein g of course n o less prophetic than the
writings we call prophecies We nd in these writ
ings the following distinct uses o f Spirit o f God
or Spirit o f Jahveh :
A The Spirit used o f Go d in the sphere o f i n
dividual mental li fe :
1
F o r endowment with c har ismati c g i f ts :
I
2
I
Pr
phecy
M
i
c
o
:
Hos
0
;
;
( )
7 3
9 7
S am 1 0 6 I o ; 1 9 9 2 0 2 3 ; I Kin g s 2 2 2 2 ff ;
Num 2 4 2
T he term chari smati c f rom the N w Testament w ord xp wp mean
i g a sp ri tual endo wment or g i f t f or a spec i al purpose expresses
clearl y
a fundamental I dea f the w ork of the S p r t i all stag es o f the h i story o f
the concept on that I t may w ell b e used the peri od o f the Ol d T estament
welll l h that o f the N w Testament
W
N w k and B ri gg s re g ard as a g loss
.

In

as In

a u se n

a,

as

ac

so

S P I R IT O F GOD

TH E

( b)

Skill in ruling : Num I I

.

17

Gen

41

3 8;

Isa 2 8 6
( c ) Prowess in war : j ud g 6 3 4 ; I 3 2 5 ; I 4
1 9 ; I Sam
II 6
( d ) Bodily stren gt h : Jud g I 3 2 5 ( P) ; 1 4 6 ;
15
1 4 ( all o f Samson )
1
Skill
in
interpretation
of
dreams
e
e
n
:
G
4
( )
3 8
( f ) Without designation o f purp ose : I S a m 1 6
.

13

1 4a

F or guidance influence or direction i n the

sphere o f human operations without the implica
tion o f di rect charismatic gi fts A conception some
what broader than I generally conceived a s look
ing toward a res ult in the eld o f historic movement
A teli c use : 2 Kings 1 9 7 ( parallel Isa 3 7 7 ) Isa
IO ; 3 2
I
29
Sometimes this spirit is evil not a s b eing morally
wicked but as producing a result whi ch is evil
Some o f these cases like th a t of Saul c o ntain e l e
1
ments akin to a charismatic use : Judg 9 2 3 ; I
2
S am 1 6 I 4h 2 2 ; 1 8 I o ; 1 9 9 ( comp 1 Kin gs
2

g
s ( y m l f B bl i L i
) clas i es the re ferences to
the
sp r t wh ch came upon S aul under ecstati c prophec
S am i b eaks
o f a sp ri t from G d All other connected pas
f J ahveh
sa ges
S
p r t of d
T
hi s one va i ati on remai ns to b e
accounted f or The concep ti on i certai nly somew hat d fferent i the tw o
sets o f passa ges A spi r t from G d seems to b e a later I dea than A
k mo f G d
I may b e that the text w as ori gi nally
an ev l Spi ri t of
Jgh h and that an e d tor i the i nterest o f later orthodoxy has chan g ed
Ii t to an 1i Sp r t fromi J ahvehi b i nserti ng NND P ossi bly he also
nserted a accord w th the dea that the S p ri t w as a di vi ne endowm ent
for ki n g shi p S uch i d he m i ht i n fer from 6 I I and 6
That the text has rece ved emendati ons i generally acknowledged H
S mGthd ( C m m
p ) sa s B oth 3 3 HD HBN n h [ an evi l spi ri t
o f ] and m m {1 11
[ an evi l spi ri t o f J ahveh] seem to me to b e
ung rammati cal and I suspect that the ori inal w as si mply D HBN
h A si mi lar chan e i the
[ a m o f G d ] throug hout th s
IntereI st of orthodox i that f rom <g d ( am
) to S atan g Chron
)
B ri
ev i

ou

sa y

"

v e

ev 1

an

ea

I O.

e n ta r y

1 0;

6:

49

'

'

sp

"

00

"

"

or

ter a tu r e ,

ca

a r a gr a
o

2 1.

"

2 4.

WR ITI N GS B EF O RE TH E E X IL E

TH E

B The Spi rit used for God actin g in the phys

ical world but for the sake o f m a n :
I As the basis o f physical li fe : Gen 6 3
2
Acting in the external physi cal world : I Kin g s
16
1 8 1 2 ; 2 K ings 2
This classication b rings o u t the f ollowin g no
ti c e a b l e points :
I The Spirit is used o f God acting never o f the
absolute divinity a b i n tr o It is always dynamic
neve r static
2
The Spi rit is always used o f God acting di
r e c t l y or indirectly
in reference to man Where
used o f action on external nature it is still for the
sake o f man In the one passage where Spirit r e
fers to the plan o f God it is his plan with re ference
to man To in fer from this set of passages that the
Spiri t never meant to the Hebrew the a b solute
divine God a b i n tr a woul d doubtless be u n wa r
ranted These writings are not philosoph ical n o r
introspective They do not discuss the i dea o f a b
solute divinity and only incidentally intr o duce the
conception T hei r range lies largely in th e thought
o f the activity o f God and especi ally o f that a c t i v
ity in relation to m an It woul d be wrong to say
that the He b rew o f this time never thought of
th e Spirit as referring to God except as acting It
is right to say that the predomi nant usage and so
fa r as our sources go the exclusive usage i s f or
God as acting
The dominant idea o f the Spirit in our sources
3
is the charismati c O f the various gi fts which come
.

'

S PI R IT O F GOD

TH E

f rom the Spi rit the most extraordinary and i n fr e

quent are evidently conceived with the greatest
clearness as being the direct product of the Spi rit
With less clearness and somewhat more rarely other
gi fts of less extraordinary character are also as
The bearing o f this on the
c r i b e d to the Spirit
problem o f the origin o f the i dea we shall s e e later
4 The Spi rit as the basis o f physical li fe i s rarely
found only once according to our class ication
Again the argument from silence must not be
pressed too closely for the writings have little
occas ion to deal with the problems of the origin o f
either physical or mental life Where we do nd
it however the thought is uni form Th e J E story
o f creation indicates the same conception i n its u se

o f the term the breath of God

breath mania

not Spirit mm but the connection o f li fe with the

divine is evidently the same ) as the origin o f dis
t i n c t i v e l y human li fe
H ebrew thought re gardin g
the origin o f li fe had al ready wo r n its ch a nn el for
any future philosophical speculation
Th e e ffects in man which were ascribed to the
Spirit were the ecstasy o f prophecy skill i n rulin g
and in giving j ud g ment interpretation o f dreams
fear erroneous decision and action ; then passin g
by impercepti ble shades o f di fference into phys
ical realms insanity with accompanying abnormal
b o dily c o nditions prowes s in wa r e xtraor di nary
stren gt h The one principle which binds this vary
ing gro u p o f psychical and phys i c al phenom e n a to
i
s that they all represent some phas e o f the
ether
g
.

TH E

WR I T I NG S B EF O RE T H E E X IL E

extraordinary Sometimes i t is psychical man i festa

tions which can not be accounted for i n ordinary
ways such as the propheti c ecstasy o r S aul s i nsan
ity Sometimes i t is only an unusual mani f es tation
o f what i s in less degree normal like the tr a ditional
i deas o f S amson s stren g th Sometimes it is merely
the unexpected which seems to Ob servers to ha p pen
without su fcient external reason like the a ff right
O f the Assyrian army ( 2 Kings 1 9
Was the fact that a phenomenon w as e x t r a o r
d i n a r y and infrequen t su fcient in itsel f to cause
?
the ascription o f the event to the Spi rit o f God
In the na i ve condition o f thought which the early
H ebrews represent it woul d not b e surprising i f
this w ere the case Where great mountains were
the mountains o f God and the thunder the voice
o f God it can hardly b e otherwise than that every
unusu a l and inexpli cable phenomenon in man should
b e ascribed to the Spiri t o f God as its cause In
primitive races the god is always the d en s e x m a
c h i n a whi ch is b rought in when other explanations
f ail But it is a n interesting fact that in ou r literary
sources the Spirit is never used as a cause e xcep t
o f those things which have to do with the a ffai rs
o f the people o f Israel The personal experienc es
o f the private H e b rew are not ascri be d to the S pi rit
o f God but only those which bea r di rectly o r indi
r e c t l y for good or ill upon the progress o f national
matters or at least o f those whose results bea r
i n some obvious way upon the li f e o f consi dera b le
portions o f the c ommunity T hi s m ay be pa r tly
.

TH E

S PI R IT O F GOD

beca u se o u r autho rs are a l l prophets and are inter

There must be added to
e s te d in national a ffairs
this however the fact that early religion w as always
tribal In thei r earlier forms religious and public
li fe were the s ame thing An i n dividual religion
had not yet developed i n Israel Jehovah was a
national God and his relations were with national
matters not with those o f indivi duals It is true
that indivi dual religion was a direct inference from
the ethical positions o f Amos M icah and the later
prophets but not till the exile did the Hebrews
make this in ference in any clear a n d complete w ay
Had it been made before E zekiel s elaborate argu
ments for a personal religion would have been his
t o r i c a ll y out o f place
With this view o f the relation o f Jehovah to
Israel it is easy to see that no religious writer i n
t e r es t e d in national a ffairs would demean the Spirit
o f Jehovah to the for him trivial position o f a gui de

in private action Th e work of the seers in Israel

i n the earliest literary period as shown in the case
o f Saul s appeal to Samuel i n the matter of his
father s los t asses is not a contradiction o f this

It is true that the man o f God was ex pe cted to

assist in the needs o f private l i fe and doubtless his
work like that o f all the prophets was regarded
as the product o f the activity of the Spirit But
such a publi c character had a relation to more than
individual li fe H is work even i n the simple pic
ture presented in the earliest S amuel document was
quas i tribal in that it might a ffect an entire com
.

'

10

TH E

WR ITI NGS B EF O RE TH E E X IL E

munity in Israel The Spi rit was not given to the

prophet for his indivi dual behoo f or for that of any
other s ingle person but fo r the good o f the peop l e
o f Jehovah in whole or in part He used i t in ce r
tai n cases for the advantage o f indivi duals but i t
remained a sort o f p ubli c possession whose usufruct
rested in the b ody politic E very m an might use it
in ca se of need but the motive o f Jehovah in the
propheti c gi ft was the benet o f his communi ty
cons idered as a community That this tribal r e
l i g i o n logically involves an individual religion Israel
s aw later That they di d not see it in an earlier
age only shows that they had not yet passed out
o f that tribal stage in the development o f religio n
which has been common to all nations
T his helps us in some me a sur e t o answer a related
q u estion : Were certai n phenomen a always an d
everywhere regarded as the work of the Spirit with
out regard to thei r importance or the range o f their
results ? The worship o f eve r y wan dering ban d
o f dervish like prophets in Israel was j udging from
I Sam 1 0 and 1 9 regarded as the result o f the work
of the Spi rit but certainly it di d not always have a
national importance But the entire si gn i cance o f
the propheti c orde r lies i n its relation to the com
munity The order is publi c pe r s e ; therefore all
phenomena connected with it are the result of the
spirit o f the god which rules in the community
More di fcult are the problems raised by such a
case o f peculiar and unaccountable disease as that
under which Saul su ff ered Would a pe a s ant i n
.

I I

S PI R IT O F

TH E

GOD

Israel su bj ec t to the s ame maladies which aficted

King Saul have been regarded as the victim of a

spirit from God ? Was i t t h e national importance

o f Saul which caused his su ffering to be ascribed to
a spirit ? O ne ca nnot be dogmati c o n this point
for we have n o case in the literature whi ch will de
cide the question for us The general principle o f
the unity o f religious and public li fe would seem to
give the events of the li fe of the king a religious
si gnican ce which those of a peasant would not
have but the distinction between public and private
li fe is not easy to draw Private conduct was early
recognized as having publi c bearings as in the
story o f the s in o f Achan and private mis fortunes
as due to public faults E ven apart from this con
n e c t i o n popular religious thought assumed a rela
tion between God and the private individual before
the leaders o f religion were ready to recognize i t

Sometimes the strength of orthodox thought com

p e l l e d popula r religion to go outside the tribal r e
l ig io n for this relation when it became illicit religion

or black magic
Possibly this is partly th e ex
planation o f the c ult o f the famili ar spirit (3 m)
in Israel at the time o f Saul But the care o f the
god for his people furnishes a ground of private
relation be tween them to which men have never
been quite oblivious however little their literat ure
has recognized it O ne cannot feel at all sure that
the pe asant su ffer ing from a di seas e kindred to
t hat of King Saul would not have bee n supposed
b y his nei g h b ors to b e aficted by the Spiri t o f God
-

'

12

TH E WR ITI NGS B EF O RE TH E E X IL E

witho u t thou ght o f a n y immedi a te conn ection be

tween his malady an d the welfare o f the comm u nity
The literature however presents u s w ith n o s u ch
case
In the cas e of traditional matters like the w a rlike
valor o f Gideon or the stren g th o f S amson i t is
easy to s e e how the importan ce of the work of
these heroes f or nati o nal progress may have led
naturally to the ascription o f thei r peculi a r q uali
ties o f leadership to the Spi r it o f God The same
was the case when looking for ward to the i deal
ruler o f the future the prophet pictured the Mes
siah as possessing powers o f leadership whi ch were
t o be the gi fts o f the Spi rit o f God
There is n o evidence that any warrior or ruler
O f pre exili c time claimed for himsel f personal gui d
ance by the Spirit o f God But why should he not
a s well as the prophet ?
In general his work had
a much more obvious relatio n t o publi c wel far e
We must not forget that we usually have in view
only the mountain tops o f Hebrew prophecy Be
neath the lofty prophet s o f individu a l fame there
lay a great substratum of o b scure and sometimes
i gnoble pro fessional prophets most o f whom were
very insignicant by the si de o f the great w arriors
and rulers Y et they claimed the Spirit o f God and
the warrior and ruler did not O bviously the di f
ference was not wholly a matter o f publi c impor
tance It must have lain then in the di fference o f
psychical experience between th e two The men tal
and sometimes physical phenomena which attended
.

13

TH E

S P IRI T O F

GOD

prophecy were entirely di fferent from anything ex

m
u
r
b
y
the
warrior
ruler
They
were
o
p e r ie n c e d
account a ble by ordinary means and demanded a
supernatural explanation We m ust re turn to this
propheti c experience later Now we can s a y in
answer to the question under discussion there are
certain phe n omena always and everywhere ascribed
to the Spirit nam ely those of prophecy But the
entire purpose and sign ic a nce of prophecy lies in
its actual or potential public char a cter The human
experiences which are assigned to the Spirit of the
national God as a cause in Hebrew literature then
contain t wo elements : they were inexplic a bl e by
and they had a
n ature as the H ebrew kn e w it
national ch a racter
Another element in the idea o f the S pirit is
brought under consi deration by the question Was
it regarded as adding to man s natural p o wers or
as always endowing those upon whom it came with
1
?
powers wholly new
Gunkel holds that i t was

not conceived a s adding to nat u ral powers : The

working of the Spirit is not in a n y way the en h a n c
ing of a nature common to all men but is plai nly

supernatural and therefore divine

Certainly in
some cases we must agree with Gunkel that the
powers were wholly new The wrapt ecst a sy o f
prophecy was not part o f the nor m a l li fe o f man
That it was not regarded by the pe o pl e as normal

is shown by the use o f m an h to act the p r o ph

to indicate the conduct o f a madman T he

et
.

Di e

Wi r ku n gen

de s he i l i g en Gei s tes .

89 9 , p

2 2.

WR I T I NG S B EF O RE TH E E X IL E

TH E

whole content of the picture of the pr o phet is that

o f one moved by an external p o wer D uties and
missions are fo rgotten under its inuence ( 1 S a m

18
There is a compulsion in it
The
19

L o rd h a th spoken who can but prophes y ? In the

later pre exilic time the prophet is in man y cases
a clear eyed reasoning statesman yet sti ll the ele
ment of compuls ion remains He is mov e d by a
power from w ithout H is words are the result not
o f a h ei ghtened h u man reason bu t o f a divine
power external to himsel f
As the o bligation
chan ges f rom the older cr u der physi cal c o m p u l
sion i t takes on the still stronger form o f moral
c ompulsion P rophecy in Sem iti c li f e is b y its
nature a power external to man s consciousness
But wh en the Spi rit is conceived as act ing i n
elds i n which man has n a tural powers as w isdom
strength skill in rulin g it is enti rely gratuitous to
s u ppose that the H eb re w thought of it as intro
d u c in g a new powe r a b ex tr a
Why should it ?
What relation would the new superhuman po wer
b e con c eived o f as b earing to the natural human
power ? Would it take the place o f the human
power rende r i ng i t for th e time in o pera tive or
would i t add a f orei gn element like a merce n a ry
It is b y asking
a rmy assisting a native tro o p ?
s uch questions that the di f culty o f the p o sition
T here is noth ing i n
Gunkel holds is b est re a lized
either th e sources or the situation itsel f which com
pels us to take any ground except the n a tural one
tha t the Spirit wa s c onceived as supplementing o r
.

S PI R I T O F

TH E

GOD

h u man powers so that they mi ght meet

ext raordinary demands
O n th e one hand then we h a ve th e Spi ri t giving
s u perhuman powers ; on the other aiding and aug
m e n t i n g human po wers
The po in t o f distinction
between them is this : P o wers which were in them
selves a bn o rmal w ere regard e d as caused by new
endowments which were the di rect result o f the
Spirit ; while powers which were in thems elves nor
mal but whi ch were developed to an extraordinary
degree Were as cribe d to the Spirit in so far a s they
exceeded the usual an d norm al condition
The
seeming discrepancy between the t wo classes o f
cases causes no di fculty The discrepancy is in
the nature of the phenomen a The conception of
the action of the S p i ri t rem a ins the same The
Spirit is regarded as the cause of the extraordinary
and unusual in mental li fe
We have already
s e en how e ver that the ex plana tion o f augmented
human power a s caused by endowment o f the Spirit
i s never assumed by anyone but in every case is
ascri b ed b y others to a traditi o nal character like
Gid e on o r S am son For the purposes o f living r e
l ig i o u s experience the Spirit is i n this period always
conceived as an external power acting s u p e r n a tu
rally upon the person
A question o f greater importance is whether the
operations o f the Spirit in early Israel always had
a religious value Here there has been a di ffer
ence o f opinion Most have held that even in the
O ld T estament the wo rk o f the Spi rit had al w a ys
d in a ry

16

B EF O RE TH E E X IL E

TH E WR ITI NGS

a religious si gnicance
Gunkel who says that

this has been the O pinion fast r e g e l m ass ig auf

gestel lt ( page
cites for i t Wendt P e i d e r e r
K leinert in the J a h r b
d eu ts c h e Th e o l 1 86 7 and
S chult z T o these w e may add D avidson i n the

The
Ex p o si to r y Ti m e s O ct obe r 1 8 9 9 who s ays
Spi rit given to men such a s Gi deon J ep h th a Sam
uel and others was this theocratic redemptive Spirit
perhaps
even
S
a
son
s
inspi
ration
may
b
e
brought
m
[
in here ] ; it was Jehovah operating i n men for t e

d e m p t i v e purposes saving an d ruling his people

Gunkel however takes a di ff erent g ro u nd ( pa g e
He admits that in m a ny cases the action o f
the Sp i r i t has si gnicance for the purposes o f God
in Israel b ut denies that i t is s o in all What mean
i n g f or these purposes h e asks could S a mson s
s la u ghter of the lion in the vineyard have ? ( Judg
O r what religious val u e is in the spiritual
I4
mani festations r elated in I S am I O 6 ff ; 1 9 2 0
ff ? He di rects speci al attention to 1 K ings 1 8 7
ff and 2 Kings 2 1 6 ff a s cases which h a v e no
co nceivable religious s i gn icance
O ne q ueries whether either s ide has q u ite pene
t r a te d to the region in which we must n d the true
answer The q uestion they discuss is Would the
developed religious ideas o f the nineteenth century
or at least o f the New Testament nd thei r wants
m et i n thes e phenomen a ?
D ou b tless they would
not B u t a f ter all that is not the q uesti on Th e
real problem i s much m o re di fcult It i s Were
these m ani f es tati o ns r e g arded b y the He b rew s a s
,

TH E

S PI RI T O F

GOD

o f religious s ignicance ? This demands for its

answer an appreciation of some elements in the
Hebrew religious consciousness
We mus t remember two things : rst that r e
l i g i o u s values are not always from the point of
view o f our ethics moral values ; and second that
religious values in the cruder stages o f civilization
o ften attach themselves to any extraordinary phe
n o m en a
Witness the power o f the merely unusual
in the determination of sacred obj ects an d places
The fact that a certain spring in Ceylon issues from
the ground at the seashore below the level of high
tide h a s been s u fcient t o make its waters sacred

Witness the power and the holy la u gh i n t e

v i v a l s in our own country

Th e
s pecial provi

dence which plays so large a part in the r e ligious

experience o f many is o ften little more than a mod
ern form o f the belief that the unusual is specially
divine All this opens up the possibility that all
the phenomen a ascribed to the Spi rit in our sources
may have had a religious value T o prove that they
di d have such a value is somewhat more di f cult
With regard to most of them however the case is
clea r Prophecy was always religious It formed
the most direct link be twee n God and man All
cases o f extraordinary wis dom or skill i n war or
government are for the di rect be hoo f o f the p eople
of Jahveh R emem b ering that early religious s ig
n i c a n c e is largely
a t a cert ain stage ex clus ively
tribal these must all be classed as religious The
case o f Samson is governed b y the same c onsidera
.

18

TH E

W RITI N G S B EF OR E T H E E X IL E

tions Hi s stren g th was an element in the conict

between the Philistines and the He b rews for the
sake o f which the editor o f the present book o f
Judges preserves the stories o f h is prow ess Th e
fact tha t this strength was on c e according t o the
story used in the sla u g hter o f a lion does not tak e
the work o f the Spirit which gave i t outsi d e of the
realm o f religion Somewhat akin is the evil spirit
which came upon S aul The editor o f the b o oks o f
Samuel wishes to show that all the events o f S aul s
reign were designed by God to prepare the way
f or the as cent o f D avi d to the throne The edi
t o r i a l purpos e a c counts for the preservation of these
stories of S amson and S aul Both seem to be de
rived f rom popular folk tales which probably a l
ready contained the supernatural elements and for
the people the extraordinary and inexplicable when
related to the publi c wel fare in any way needed no
special signi c an ce to make it religious The very
fact that i t was inexplicable showed that in it the
god was approaching his people and this approach
might be for evil as well as for good I K ings 1 8
ff
and
2
Kings
2
1
which
Gunkel
so
strongly
6
7
emphasizes are both to b e interpreted as attached
i n religious signicance to the conception o f God s
relation to the prophet S O realisti c wa s the belief
in t h e d ivine control o f the prophet that the Spirit
might b e expected to transport him bodily at will
even w ithout the prophet s desi re a n d to his bodily
harm S uch a conception is not religious when de
t a c h e d f rom the connected thought o f the whole
.

TH E

S PIRIT O F

GOD

meanin g o f the prophet s work Neithe r has the

organ prelude i n a modern church an y religious
signicance apart from t he res t of the servi ce We
have no right to make such detachments A c o n
cept must be taken for religious signicance in
either ancient or modern times in its whole c o n
tent not with isolation o f its component parts
It is true that nothing is more di fcult than to
reproduce exactly the religi ous values o f another
age but our sources seem t o show no case i n which
a phenomenon ascribed to the Spirit m ay n o t be
supposed to have religious content When we r e
call that we are here dealing with phenomen a
which by the very terms o f thei r description are
placed in connection with the national God the con
elusion that the working of the Spirit always had
a religious value for the early H ebrews becomes
strengthened u ntil it amounts to a practi cal demon
.

st r a t i o n

D i d the Hebrews make a clear distinction b e

tween Jahveh or E lohim and the Spirit o f Jahveh
or the Spirit o f E lohim ? There is no reason to
suppose that in the times we are consi dering they
did All the phenomena a s cri b ed to the Spiri t were
also ascribed directly to Jahveh and E lohim Th e
narrative o f the oracles o f Balaam is instructive on
this point ( Num 2 2 to
The story is a com
i
s
t e o f J and E though the points o f division
o
p
1
are not always clea r
Addis suggests th at the
ancient poem at the basis o f the two a ccounts may
,

Ar t i c l e

alaa m

"

i n Enc y c lo p e d i a Bi b l i c a

20

WR ITI N GS B EF O RE TH E E X IL E

TH E

go back in its kernel to the time o f Solomon wh ile

he places the poems as w e now have them not earlier
than the beginning o f the work of the literary
prophets In any cas e t h ey repre s ent popular thought
The J portion uses the Spirit o f E lohim as the agen t
o f propheti c inspiration ( se e Num 2 4
E uses
th e follo wing phr ases to express the s am e f act :

E lohim came to Balaam by night ( 2 2 2 o ) E lo

him m et B alaam ( 2 3 4 )
E lohim came unto

Balaam ( 2 2 9 ) Jahveh put a wo rd i n Ba l a am s

mouth ( 2 3
Jahveh met Balaam an d put a

word in his mouth ( 2 3

( In the l a st two

passages Jahveh i s t o be assigned to R ) Pro

h
i
e
t
c ecstasy is
as we have seen the one kind o f
p
phenomen on which i s most characteristi c o f the
Spirit I f it can be ascribed to either God o r the
Spirit O f God it is di fcult t o suppose that the same
might not be done with any other class o f the works
o f the Spirit
The most di fcult group o f cases i s undou b tedly
those which ascribe evil to the Spirit o f God o r to
a spi rit f rom Jahveh as 1 S am 1 6 1 4 ff Y et
when the appen dix t o S amuel ( 2 Sam 2 4 1 ) s ays

that Jah veh moved D avi d against Israel to n umber

them the idea is essenti ally the same

I make

peace an d create evil ( Isa 4 5 7 ) i s a n e xili c

ph r a s e b ut the i de a belongs t o the ol d He b re w
range o f thought
In some cases possi b ly we may se e a pre f eren ce
o f authors f or one or the other f orm o f expression
In the stories o f the j udges the heroism o f the di f
,

2 1

TH E

S PI R IT O F GOD

fer on t j ud ges i s frequently ascri b ed to the Spi rit of

Jahveh ( See Judg 3 I O ; 6 3 4 ; I I 1 9 ; I 4 1 9
Compare I Sam I I 6 which belongs to the same
range of thought i f not to the s a me cycle o f stories
See Smith S a m u e l page
The editor o f
Judges though he summarizes the whole period in

2
1 1 1 8 does not us e the term but says that
Jah

veh raised up j udges ( 2 1 6 I 8 )

Jahveh raised

up a saviour
I
3 9
5 ) al so comes from the editor

while the Spiri t O f Jahveh came upon him ( 3

1 0 ) is probably preserved from the sources of the
Judges stories
Parallel t o the use o f the editor of Judges is the
usage o f the editor o f K ings where the Spirit is
never re garded as the source of prowess in war
O ne q uestions whether here we may not have an
element of progress from the earlier and more nai ve
conceptions o f the tales o f the j udges It i s of
interest in this connection to note th a t th e c rudest
Hebrew ideas o f the relation o f the Spirit to mental
and physical phenomen a are found in these tales o f
the j udges in the E lij ah stories and in the earlier
document of Samuel
All thes e are among the
earliest portions o f Heb rew literature They bear
marks o f the popular story of th e E ast and may
be supposed t o represent po p ular conceptions
Seemingly i n th e i deas o f the Spi rit as elsewhere
the prophets rened and spiritualized popular r e
l i g i o u s ideas
But i f there is no clear distinction b etween Go d
and the Spiri t o f God can we still nd at the period
.

22

WR ITI NGS B EF O RE TH E E X IL E

TH E

o f Hebrew thought with which we are dealing any

special cl a sses of phenomen a habitu a lly ascribed to
the Spiri t ? Was there any tendency toward the
di fferentiation O f the work of the Spiri t from that
o f God ? Let us t a ke the sources which use the term
most frequently the stori es o f the j udges a n d the
earlier documents o f S amuel
The cas es o f use
are :
Jud g 6 3 4 : Th e Spi rit o f Jahveh cam e upon
Gideon and he made war upon M idian
Judg I 3 2 5 : Th e Spirit of Jahveh began to sti r
S amson
Judg 1 4 6 : The Spiri t o f Jahveh came upo n
S amson and he rent a lion
Judg I 5 1 4 : The Spi rit o f Jahveh came s trongly
upon S amson an d he performed fe a ts o f strength
1 Sam
10
6 1 0 : The Spi ri t o f Jahveh c a me
strongly upon S aul and he prophes ied
I S am 1 1 6 : Th e Spi rit o f Jah veh came strongly
upon Saul an d he led Israel to the rel ie f o f Jabesh
I S am 1 6 1 4 : An evi l S pi ri t o f Jahveh c ame
upon S aul
1 S am 1 6 1 5 1 6 : An evi l spirit o f E lohim came
upon Saul ( so 1 9 2 3 ex c ept w ith om ission o f

evil m m)
1 Sam
18
1 0 : An evil spirit o f E loh im came
strongly upon Saul and he prophesied
1 S am
19
9 : An evil spi rit o f Jahveh came on
Saul and he attempted to k ll D avid ( Budde
W e l l h a u se n D river and Smith agree in emending
to
,

'

TH E

S PI R IT O F GOD

The a b ove list includes only p as s a ges f rom J and

E according to the analysis of Moore s J u d g es an d
Budde s S a m u e l The c a reful reader will observe
that various p a ssages of the books using the Spi rit
o f J a hveh or the Spirit of E lohim are omitted They
are those assigned to later writers In some cases
they are obvious imitations o f the us a ge in the su r
rounding n a rratives ( comp Judg I 4 1 9 ) or in
kindred acco u nts ( comp Judg 3
In at least
one case ( 1 Sam 1 9 2 0 2 3 ) we prob a bly have
some elements of an early source preserved i n a
later section ( see below ) Th e complete lis t o f the
remaining pass a ge s is as follows :
Judg 3 1 0 : Th e Spi rit of Jahveh c ame upo n
O thniel and he j udged Israel ( Imitation o f kindred
accounts )
Judg 9 2 3 : E lohim sent an evil spirit b etween
2
Abimelech and the men of Shechem ( E )
Judg I I 2 9 : T he Spiri t o f Jahveh cam e u p on
Jephthah and he made war upon Amon ( Post
e x i l i c addition
Imitation o f kindred n arratives
See 6
Judg I 4 1 9 : The Spi rit o f Ja h veh came strongly
upon S am son and he slew thirty men o f Askelo n
R
E
Imitati o n o f other Sam so n stories S ee 1 4
( J

6;

Sam 1 9 2 0 2 3 is ass i gned to a late date b y

Budde e t a l b ut the c o nceptio n o f prophecy which
i t shows is certainly early Perhaps i ts pr es ent f orm
and e xagger ated supernatural ism is late ( see 2 3
where the Spirit sei z es upon S a u l b e fore h e c o m es
1

24

TH E

WR ITI NG S B EF O RE TH E E X IL E

under the inuence o f the prophets ) T he e ssence

o f the account however must be early I t shows
a very vivi d recollection o f early forms o f Semitic
prophecy It would seem to be a proper witness
t o early popul a r conceptions o f the Spirit
These passage s which represent d irectly or by
reecti o n e a rly p o pular thought S h ow that the u n
us u al i n men tal and physi cal li fe fo r which no
natural cause could be found wa s when conne c ted
with national progress a ssigned to the Spirit
While the early stories S how a preference for the
use of the Spi rit they also assign kindred phenom
ena to the direct action o f God ( see 1 S am 9 I 5 ;
Judg 6 I 4
That it is exactly the same phe
n o m en a as is th e case in the B al a am stori e s noted
above is not so clear R evealed knowledge th e Op h
an ies and c o mmands li e in a di fferent c ategory from
prowess in wa r physical stren g th o r prophetic
ecstasy This group o f con c eptions was surrounded
b y a penum b ra which g radually f aded o ff till the
distinction be tween the ope r ation o f Go d and o f
th e Spi rit o f Go d was completely o b s c ured Th at
the whole con c eption o f the Spirit g rew up o u t o f
th e root ide a o f th e unus u al in ment al and physical
li f e seems h o we ver qu ite cl ea r
.

CHAP TER II
Th e O r i g i n

of

t h e C o n ce p ti o n

AN Y

attempt to nd the origin o f a religious con

c e p t i o n must take its point o f departure from the
central form of the idea in its earliest discoverable
expression That meaning may be many stages in
advance o f its original conception but i t will be at
least on the way along which we must retr a ce o u r
steps to reach the original conception
Another ai d in the study o f origins which is
sometimes not always o f great value is the mean
ing o f words the etymologi cal aid All who are
familiar with the history of Aryan mythology know
the great assistance which i t h a s rendered there
The battles which have raged about the questio n
of its appli cation d o not touch the fact o f its real
value Both thes e two a ids of research we may
use in our study
The central thought o f the popular interpret a
tio n o f the i dea in its earliest att a inabl e form is
that of the Spirit as God actin g in the extraordinary
and i nfrequent phenomena o f human li fe This we
may well take to have been a pa r t o f the original
i dea E arly m an did not consider it neces s a ry to
bring i n the divine to explain the ordinary H e
accepted that i n a childlike way a s a part o f the
expecte d T he unexpected demande d explanation
.

O R IGI N O F T H E C O N C E PTION

TH E

and to that he applied the idea o f divine ai d to

1
account for its existence
We have seen how wide was the range O f a c t iv
ities covered by this seem ingly c ontracted term even
in the earliest literary period ; we m ight indeed say
in the pre literary period for much of the f olklore
had certainly hardened into the m ain lines of its
structure before it c a me t o the hands that wrote
i t down The term covered deeds of war b odily
strength prophecy unaccountable disease i n f a c t
anything inexplicable whi ch could be thought O f a s
i n any way connected with tribal o r community
advantage I S it possible to push our investigation s
b ehind this somewhat promis cuous mass and nd
some one class of phenomena which was probably
?
the central point f rom which all the rest radiated
That there was such a central point w e may b e sure
It is hardly possible that from the earliest use o f th e
term a n y unusual human phenomena what e ver i f
only it was o f tribal S ignicance might b e assi g ned
to the Spi rit
Indic ations point toward prophecy as bein g th e
central point around which the conceptions o f the
Spirit s activity were built E arly Hebrew pr o phecy
had no lo fty religious content and mani fested itsel f
i n no lo f ty mental results It was essenti ally a n
experience which carried the prophet outside o f him
sel f
In the earliest Hebrew literary period it
could b e induced at will b y the mental excitement o f
music that intoxicant o f the emotions whi ch h a s
.

J e v ons I n tr o duc ti o n
.

to the

Hwtor y o f Re l i g i o n

19.

TH E

S PI R IT O F

GOD

m u ch o f reli g i o us feelin gs an d thei r

l
results i n both the ancient and the modern wo r l d
o r might come unwittingly by the very contact with
the experiences of others ( 1 Sam I O 1 0 ; 1 9 I 8
It seemed obvious that such facts could be
accounted for by no human means It must be the
god in the man
Here Hebrew thought is in the sa m
e range of
ideas as that of all early nations E verywhere an
essential element o f religion has been the idea that
God could communicate di rectly with m a n th a t man
c ould speak words and do deeds that were directly
3
i nspired by God
Peculiar mental and physical
conditions which were inexplicable to him e as ily
passed for the states in which the god was giving
his special communications To this ran ge of ideas
b elongs a wide ci rcle of religious con ceptions i n
cluding some which are by n o means yet outgrown
In f act the i de a O f the direct communi c a tion of God
with man is the essential thought o f religion
Without i t n o religion w o rthy the nam e is poss ible
Here belong along with the Hebrew pr o phet the
shaman of central Asia the medicine man o f the
America n Indians the Greek oracle Socrates s b e
lie f that h e wa s guided by a d aemon and not less
the modern Christian conceptions o f conversion
i ns pi red

so

ng s 3 5 The cycle o f E li j ah Eli sha stori es represents the older

ty pe o f H eb e w prophec y
The w ri ter rememb ers ob servi ng i a mosq ue of the howli ng d m h
h w a g roup o f w omen ran g ed outs de the wi ndow s o f the central cu p ola
w ere g raduall y i b rought under the spell of the mot
i on o f the w orsh pers
below unt l thei r heads and i bod es were sw ayi n g i perfect though seem
i g l y unconsc ous umson w th every f orm o f the ary i ng contorti ons o f
band of d y i h b eneath
th
1 2

Ki

es

er

e
3

es

B r m t o n . Re h g wn s

of

P r i m i ti ve P e o p le s p
,

"

'

5 0 . ti

TH E

O R IGI N O F TH E C O N C E PTI O N

He b rew prophecy is but the representative o f this

great universal religious i dea It is n a tural to sup
pose that from this early and universal con c eptio n
proceed other ideas of the communication o f God
with man
B ut why the Spirit ? We have seen that so f ar
as we may j udge from our earliest sources this
inuence was sometimes a ssigned to God himsel f
There i s no reason to suppose that this was not true
in Hebrew thought earlier than our so u r c es Why
then the idea o f a Spirit at all ?
T he rst answer to b e suggested c omes f ro m
early Semiti c religion I t is evident that early S em
iti c religio n was full o f divine and semi divine
b eings S chultz regards the E lohim o f the early
He b rew writings as plain traces o f Such beings ( Gen
I 2 6 ; E xod 2 3 2 3 ; Gen 6 I ff ; Psa 2 9 1

He says It is reasonable to suppose that these rep

resent the gods o f the Ol d S emiti c religion who hav e
1
shriveled up into subordinate heavenly bein gs
Nor are we left to O ld Testament sourc e s alone Th e
Ara b i c j i n n seem t o be representatives o f kindred
early Sem iti c conceptions O ne is compelled t o b e
lieve also that the early and extensive cult o f the 2 i in
Ba bylonia was not without its inuence on He b re w
thought even i f its ori gin b e Sumerian rathe r than
S emiti c T hat all this mass o f divine be ings was
simply b lotted out o f existence by th e ri s e o f
Mosaism we c an no longer suppose T he history
o f religion does not progress that w ay N o cas e
.

Old Testa men t The o lo g y . II ,

2 1

5 . En g

tr .

TH E

S PI R IT O F GOD

parallel to such a result can be found Moreover

the passages C ited above S how that these beings had
a lon g existence as subordinate to Jahveh Now
in the process o f syncretism which every religion
is liable to undergo o n e of two things takes place :
T he divine beings which are for a ny reas on o f less
imp o rtance may be absorbed int o the personality
o f the more important and become mere ph as es o f
thei r mani festation This is partly the history of
syncretism in E gypt and Babyloni a and in some
o f the V ishn u avatars o f moder n H induism O r
these lesser divine beings may become the servants
and messengers o f some o f the gr ea ter gods In
stead o f losing thei r personality they are in anthro
p o m o r p h i c fashion s e t in personal relations t o those
wh o have usurped thei r pl a ce
Th is we nd in
E gypt B abylonia and Greece It i s a peculiarity
o f the S aivite development in modern H induism as
over against the Va i sh n u v ite development Er e
q uently both movemen ts are found in the same r e
l i g i o n as is probably the case in both E g ypt and
Babylonia where the histories o f O si ri s and Marduk
seem to represent the former and the relations o f
Horus to R a and o f Nebo to M arduk the latter
Can we detect either o f these movements in the
hal f obliterated traces o f early Hebrew syncretism ?
Gen 1 2 6 and 3 2 2 might suggest a tendency to
the a b sorption o f di fferent deities into the same per
s o n a l i t y but it is doubtful i f these pass ages are be st
explained in this way Much more clear are traces
o f su bordination Gen 6 1 6 ; Psa 2 9 I 86 8
.

O R IGIN O F TH E C O N C E PTI O N

TH E

m ay be explained by thi s i dea This tendency o f

syncretism early disappeared under the j ealous iso
l a tion o f Jahveh as the one God o f Israel Th e
references from Psalms given a bo ve are the linger
ing echoes o f a former faith used to expr e ss a
present belief in the absolute supremacy of Jah
veh Mosaism h a d no roo m even f or divine serv
ants o f Jahveh much less fo r a son T he god s o f
other nations are recogn ized but are not placed
in any organ i c relation to Jahveh ( Judg I I 2 4 ;
E xod I 5 I I ) It seems possible however that i n
the tran sition from the older polyth eism which we
are compelled to posi t as the Semiti c ba c kground
o f the He b rew religion to the new henotheisti c
position o f Jahvism there may hav e been a stage
when the subordinati o n o f the divine beings t o
J a hveh played a more important part than the lit
e r a r y period o f the Hebrew religion reveals
If
it will help account for the somewhat strange
so
phenomenon o f a religion with strong tendencies
toward monotheism yet us ing w ith perfect f r e edom
the idea o f a Spirit o f God o r even o f a spirit from
Go d gured as in I Kings 2 2 2 1 f as a distinct
p e rsonality whi ch Jahveh might s end on his b e
h ests It will help ac c ount f or the semi hypostasis
o f the Spirit which always introduces an element
o f vagu eness int o its use in this p eriod o f Hebrew
t hought
O n thi s supposition the phrase toget her
with some fringes o f p o l y d e m o n i st i c meanin g
comes from a period when a multitude o f divine
b ein gs wer e s omewhat more distinctly c onceived
.

TH E

S PI R IT O F

GOD

than even in the earliest period of Hebrew l itera

ture conceived however not as independent
but as su b ordinate in personality and power to
Jahveh
Bu t i f this aids u s to u nderst a nd the notion o f
the Spirit o f God o r the S pirit from God o f Spirit
as the medium o f activity in distinction from God
as the actor it still leaves the notion o f Spiri t itsel f
to b e e xplained
Here etymology will assist u s T he Spirit used
1
for the active power o f God i s the b reath o f God
The divine psychology o f the term i f we may u se
such a phrase rests as all scholars se e u pon its
h u man psychology The breath was the mani festa
tion o f the active li fe In excitement i t came mor e
quickly With v i g o r o u s /a c t i v i ty running severe
e x ertion o f any kind i t became fuller stronger
mor e rapid In S leep i t was slower and in death
it disappeared altogether It o ff ered itsel f as th e
most obvious measure o f vital activity In t h is i t

contrasted wi th the blood The blood is the li f e

is perh aps as old a generali z ation as that the breath
is the li f e But blood di ffers from breath in t wo
important ways : F irst it is always material and
does not suggest an invisible power connected with
li fe ; second it is not possi b l e to think o f i t as
something which may be sent out and so it is more
appropriate as a symbo l o f the stati c than o f the

carri es i t b ack a step farther to the wi nd

I t seems dou b tf u l w hether the l vi n g b reath i not more close to t e
b s l I dea than t h i n si blei I mmateri al w md Earl y eligi o s i deas more
o ft t rt wi th o cept o of li i ng po wer tha wi th l feles f orce
Wendt ( F le i sc h

a nd

Ge i s t)

a a

en s a

vi

a.

O R IGI N O F T H E C O N C E PTI O N

TH E

dyn ami c li fe T h us we nd i t in the O ld T esta

ment It is never u sed o f the divine li fe at all
though there i s no inherent reason why it should
n o t be a s well as the hands or the f eet or the heart
When used o f man i t i s never in the sense o f p sy
chical activity T he nearest approach to such use

i s in Gen 4 1 0
The voice o f thy brother s blood

c ri eth unto me f rom the ground where the very

stren g th o f the gure lies in the powerlessness o f
the passive li fe represented b y the b lood to aecom
i
i
l
s
h
t
s
own vengeance
p
As we have already see n in the case o f the Spi rit

o f God the use o f the term spirit o f man as

applied to man soon b roadens out from one sense
into others and we have the spirit as mean ing the
essenti al li fe o f m an Still it di ffers from the use
o f blood i n b ein g his essential li fe a s a conscious
soul rather than a s a physi cal b eing
It is now easy to pass to the use o f the term

spi rit as descriptive o f the divine li fe 1 D i re c t

a nthropomorphism would lead to the use o f the
s a me term to descri b e the divine li fe as was u sed
to describe the human li f e God is like man B u t
since God i s an immaterial and invisible b ein g the
term connotin g the relatively imm aterial and i n
visible elements o f human l i f e would naturally b e
used o f him 2 Since early man was everywhere
interested in the activity o f God rather than in his
passive li f e that term would be chosen whi ch was
m ost closely connected with man s activi ty o f li fe
Thus the direc t anthropomorphism f o u nd in all
.

(3 )

3 3

TH E

S PI R IT O F

GOD

early religion led to the use of the term spirit for

the activity o f God
Can we now build the di fferent results o f our i n
v e s t i g a t io n
into an explanation o f the particular
central idea o f the early Hebrew usage that o f
the Spirit as the cause o f prophecy and o f other
like I nex plicable phenom e na ? It would s eem to
be possible to do this These phenomena were r e
garded as mani festations o f a di rect contact between
God and man They came and went independently
o f visible or audible cause
They constituted a
vivi d experience to those who were their subj ects
Sometimes they were even almost unwelcome

Compare the calls o f the great prophets every

one o f which implies almost a dread of the divine
a fa t u s
At all times these experiences had even
to the su b j ects o f them a certain fearsome quality
They were inexplica b le and uncanny but very i n
tense very real Their explanation could only b e
in a connection with God as intense and real as was
the experience
The term which denoted active
divine energy vital but invisible was peculiarly
appropriate for the explanation o f thes e phenom
ena The most immaterial term that the language
posse ssed was the most tting for such mysterious
movings o f d ivinity It was never even forgotten
that back o f the term stood the gure of the
breath the same element as the wind whose mys
t e r i o u s changes and invisible motion but served to
add power to the gure E ven as late as the gospe l
o f John we have still the mem o ry o f these two ele
.

3 4

TH E

O R IGI N O F TH E C O N C E PTI O N

ments o f the gure Jesus b reathed on them and

said R eceive ye the Holy Spi rit

The wind b low
eth where i t l isteth an d thou hearest the voic e
thereo f but knowest not whence it cometh an d
whither it goeth : s o is everyone that is b or n o f t h e

Spi rit
At the same time this psychical conception with
its roots in anthropomorphism wa s stren g thened
b y a religious conception with its roots i n p o l y d e
monism S ubordinate divin e beings were messen
gers of God and might b e sent hither and yon o n
his b idding
AS J a h v e h s personality b ecome s
more clear thei rs b ecome more S hadowy until
nally they almost disappear from view and all thei r
f unctions b ecome a b sorbed b y this expression fo r
the active God And s o two forces workin g inde
pendently unite to lay the foundations f o r a semi
hypostasis of the activity of God It i s not sur
prising if this double origin causes ce rtai n elements
o f vagueness i n the later structure o f Hebre w
though t
Thus we a c count f or the conception o f the Spirit
as God active in those extraordinary phenomena o f
h u man li fe which constituted e a rly propheti c ex
This was doubtless the earlies t phase o f
p e r i en c e
the ide a But there i s another element which seems
to have lain i n He b rew thought in the pre literary
period It is that o f the Spirit a s the basis o f th e
enti re rational li fe What were the steps whi ch led
to this stage o f tho u ght ? They were exam ples o f
early philosophizing Men soon found that the e x
:

'

'

3 5

TH E

S PI R IT O F

GOD

wa s not the only range of li f e which

t r a o r d in a r y

needed explanation
Li fe itsel f as well as the
strange ecstasy o f prophecy needed a cause The
sam e course of thought was in progress in all gr o w
ing civilizations
The bes t example outside o f
Hebrew thought is that o f India The H indu and
the Hebrew alike were led to the conclusion that the
li fe of man with all its phenomena both ordinary
and extraordinary was due to the activity o f God
The Hebrew had what the Hind u had not a term
which expressed the active God and which was
already closely connected w ith that activity as
S hown in the psychi c life o f man I t was e asy for
him by the use of this term to af rm that Go d
was the caus e o f the li fe o f man even that the li f e
o f man was itsel f the breath of God thus mak in g
the closest possible connection b etween God and
man that could be made without the assumption o f
i dentity and yet not to a frm that God was m an
or that man was God The temptation to panthe
ism was thus avoided even had t he H ebr e w b een
more inclined to philosophize than h e was The
H indu had no such convenient distinction He wa s
feeling after the same truth o f a close relation o f
God to man He could only s ay however that the
l i fe o f man was the li fe o f God ; which a f ter all
is exactly what the Hebrew said but in di ff erent
language
That di fference of l anguage makes
much di fference i n the history of thought The
H indu could logically reach by his expression noth
in g b u t pa n theism with its inevitable outcome o f
,

6
3

TH E

O R IGI N O F TH E C O N C E PTI O N

V edanta and M aya The Hebrew without c on

scious phi losophy and yet with perfect logic c oul d
reach the conception o f a transcendent God at the
same time immanent i n th e world o f human con
s c i o u sn e ss
and therefore in the world o f ex ternal
nature as well
The origins o f the ide a o f the Spiri t lie in the
common ground of early religious c onc e pts The
growth o f i t may be explained by l aws which w e
nd working in all early religions Its peculiarity
is that i t started very early along a line o f develop
ment which i s as far as we c an se e the only lin e
that could have prepared i t to receive the ri ch r e
l i g i o u s content with which Judaism and Christi an
ity later lled i t I f there i s ever a providence in
the history of human tho u ght s u rely here is a plac e
where i t m ay b e seen
.

3 7

CHAP TER III

Th e C a n o n i c a l
TH E

Wr iti n g s

th e Ex i l e

a f er

post exilic literature presents a muc h more

complicated eld of study in our subj ect than does
the pre exilic literat u re Thi s is partly due t o the
wider ra n ge of thought expressed i n it partly to the
di fculty of dating certain portions of it but mainly

the Spirit of Go d had

t o the fact that the term
lost its former simplicity o f meaning and was used
o f a wider variety o f phenomena but had not yet a c
q uired the somewhat clear de n ition that i t did a t
a later period Such a time of more or less con
fusion of meaning is not uncommon at the period
when a term passes from the u n r e e c tiv e use to th e
beginning of a more philos o phic use
To make a satis factory classication o f He b rew
and Jewish literature after the exile is not easy
F or our purpose however it will divide f a irly well
into three sections : Post exilic literature t o the
Greek period ; Palestinian Judaistic literature after
the beginning o f the Greek period ; and Alexandrian
Judaisti c literature This chapter will b e devoted
to the rst period the writings o f which will be
designated simply as post exilic He b rew literature
In this literature we nd the following uses o f

the Spirit o f God or the Spirit o f Jahveh

-

The followi ng cla ssi cation f ollow s as far as p ossi ble the f orm of that
f the pre e xd e wr t n g s g en on p
if
,

i i

iv

5,

8
3

C A N ONI CAL WR I T I N G S A F T ER E X IL E
A Spirit used of God acting i n the sphere o f i n
divi dual rational li fe :
I F o r endowment of individ u als wit h c haris
mati c gi fts :
2
Prophecy
:
Num
I
I
P
Ez
ek
a
2
2 ;
;
( )
9 ( )
.

12

Neh
I

4;

I I

3 ;

I Chron

0;

I sa 48

20;

3 7

18

5;

Chron 1 5 I ; 2 0
( perhaps ) ; 6 1 1 ( i f refe r

12

16

; 2

ring to a prophet )
( b ) Skill in ruling : Num I I 1 7 ; 2 7 1 8 ( P )
Skill
in
artisan
work
E
xod
c
28
:
( )
3 ; 3 1 3 ;
3 5 3 1 ( P ) ( all refer to one person Bezal eel )
d
Prowess
i
n
war
Judg
I
I
:
29
( )
( e ) W isdom : D en t 3 4 9 ( P ) ; Job 3 2 8 ; 3 3
P
4 ( )
2
As the b as i s o f human li fe This lis t i s made
to include bo th the rational an d the physi c al li fe
In many cas es it is impossi bl e to distinguish b e
tween them The He b rew writers o f this perio d
often treate d m an as a unit and con c eive d o f t he
S pirit as the b asis o f his li f e quite without refer
ence to the distinction o f physi cal and mental : Isa
42 5 ; Jo b 2 7 3 ; 3 3 4 ; 3 4 1 4 ; Z ech I 2 I ; M al
2
P
2
I 5 ( ) ;
Num I 6 2 2 ; 2 7 I 6 ; E ccles 3 2 1
comp
1
2
(
B Spirit u sed for God a c ting in the physical
world and in the development o f human h isto r y :
.

reg ards as a g loss

text o f th s ob scure passa ge see S mi th B k f Tw l P p h t
p 3 6 4 note : Wendt F l i} d
p 3 6 No w ack K i m P p h t n
E cclesi astes i treated I n thi s per od b ecause even If w r tten sl g htly
later i t g eneral atti tude of thoug ht i conser ati ve as f or e xam p le t
k p t i m m reg ard i ng the ne w doctri ne o f the esu rect on
9

C o rn i ll
For

oo

e i sc

un

3 9

ro

e ve

e s.

ro

e e

I s

S PI R IT O F GOD

TH E

Ac tin g on external nature apart f r o m m an

Jo b 2 6 1 3 ; Gen 1 2 ( P ) ; P sa 3 3
1 04 3 0
1

Guiding or inuencing in the eld o f hum an

actions I n these books i t always has to do w ith
the pas t or the future o f Israel It shades o ff in to
the distinctly Messianic use :
( a ) O f Israel s past history : Isa 6 3 I o 1 1
I 4 ; Neh 9 2 O ; P s a 1 06 3 3
( b ) O f the Messiah : Isa 1 1 2 4

( 0) O f the S ervant o f Ja h veh in whom t h e

Spiri t i s a p r esent possession : Isa 42 1 ; 5 9 2 1 ;
6 1 1 ( i f o f the Servant ) ( comp P s a 5 1 1 3 [ E ng
1 43
10
I f thes e psalms a r e national the
u se i s still the same )
( d ) O f the future o f Israel ( that is a M essian i c
promise ) : Psa 1 43 1 0 ; Ez ek 1 1 1 9 ; 3 6 2 6 2 7 ;
2

3 7 I4; 3 9
Z ech 4 6 ;
comp
P
sa
(
.

9 ; I sa

12

11

Joel

10;

4 4; 3

1 43

15 ;

3 4

3 ;

E
ng
(

1, 2

8,

9)

C Spirit used i n a general way o f the plan or

p u rpose o f Go d in relation to man : I sa 40 I 3
D Spiri t u sed in the sphere o f the religious li f e :
10 ; I 3 9 7
Psa 5 1 I I 1 2 ( E n g 1 0
1 43
O n pa ge 7 attention wa s directed to certain con
Com
e lusions from the pre exilic use o f Spirit
parin g the passages noted a b ove w ith the treatment
the r e we nd :
1
In pre exili c literat u r e S piri t wa s never u sed
o f Go d a b i n tr a Here there is an approach to s u ch
.

Thi

ge

t h e d o u b e m ea n

de ot the po wer o f G d u d e
mg f
ll wm g th
n

es

i s u se .

40

t h e g

re o f t h e

b r ea th

C AN O NI C AL WR ITI NGS A F T ER E X IL E
a u se though only once I n Ps a I 3 9 7 the Spirit

of God is parallel with the presence

Both
are gurative expressions used pleonastically for
God c onsidered not dynam i cally but statically
Not activity but omniscience is here posited O f the
divine Spirit D uring this period the spiri t came
to be used statically o f man to indicate his per
16
An
2 1 ; comp Num
s o n a l i t y ( E ccles 3
extension of the same psychologi c al u se is here mad e
to the divine Spi rit
There Spirit was always used o f Go d actin g
2
directly or indirectly in relation to man Here i t
is not God s action in creation and in the ord inary
processes o f external nature is here assigned to th e
Spiri t q uite apart from any bearing which these
may have on human li f e ( se e Job 2 6 1 3 ; P sa 1 04
,

; 3 3

6)

There the dominan t idea is the charismati c

Here the charismatic no longer holds such promi
n en c e
T he C hange in the main em phasis may be
traced in the literat u re o f the period itsel f In
Ez ekiel t h e Spirit o f propheti c inspiration is still
prominent The usage occurs ten times ( nine i f 1 1
2 4 i s d iscarded as a gloss )
As prophecy disappe ars
this phase o f experience p a sses into histori c memory
and the conception o f the S pirit as the source o r
medium o f individual gi fts tends to decline w ith
it Th e dominant thought then be c omes more d if
c ult to name Instead o f one idea overshadowin g
all others we discover two q u ite di ff eren t c oncept s
o f appro x imately e qu al prominen c e in the liter at ur e
3

41

S PI R IT O F GOD

TH E

and bo th o f great value for the fut u re history o f

religion : O ne is the Spirit as the rst cause and con
trolling power i n the external world ; the other the
Spirit as the guide o f Israel s past history and the
force that will shape its future destiny In the las t
phase it becomes the name for God s activity in the
Messiani c time
h
The
concept
o
f
the
Spirit
as
the
ba
s
is
o
f
u
4
man li fe without separation between the rational
and the physical now rises into importance The
thought had already appeared in the earlier writ
ings ( Gen 6
Two things tended to develop
the idea in later literature : O ne was the tendency to
expand an i dea from a narrow t o a wider range
which we have already noted as at work in this
eld ; the other was the growing attention to the
q uestion of origins a part o f the philosoph izin g
development o f the human race which even Hebrew
thought di d not wholly escape
In the study o f the earlier literature emphasis was
lai d on the close connection o f the Spirit with the
extraordinary in li fe The S p irit was there seldom
used except as the source o f un u sual phenomen a
while conversely unusual phenomena when c o n si d
ered in thei r religious a s pect might almost always be
explained as caused b y the S p irit We found also
that the predominant use o f the Spirit was in con
n e c t i o n with individual endowment
Its s igni cance
was grounded ultimately i n experience It was the
interpretation o f the feeling o f upli ft and inspira
tio n perhaps even S imply o f mystery accompanyin g
,

42

C AN ON I C AL WR ITI NGS A F T ER E X IL E
certain experiences an d e m o t io n s that strongly a f
fe c te d those who were subj ect to them
In post
exili c literature the i dea of indivi dual endowment
was as we have seen above not s o prominent The
cruder conceptions tended to disappear No case of
bodily strength was assigned to the Spi rit as in
t h e stories o f Samson
The instance appa rently
most nearly parallel to this is the as cription of the
skill o f Bezaleel to the Spirit ( E xod 2 8 3 e t a l )
b ut this as will be seen later represented a national
rather than an individual relation to the Spirit
The same is true o f Joshua s ski ll in ruling ( Num
27
There is left only wisdom and prophecy
Wisdom is an endowment of the Spi rit only in the
Wisdom literature and in connection with the con
The only
c e p t io n O f wisdom as divine in essence

clear passage on this subj ect is Prov I 2 3 : I

will pour out my Spirit upon you

It means as

the parallel I will make known my words unto

you shows
I will utte r mysel f to you ( Toy
i n lo c o )
The phrase an d the i dea are both directly
b orrowed from prophecy While the endowment is
clearly wisdom the method o f endowment is ex
pressed i n a way entirely analogous to prophetic
usage
The peculiar phys ic a l accompaniments o f pro
p h e t i c inspiration had disappeared from the work o f
at least the more valued prophets o f Is rael b ut the
tradition o f the presence and power o f the Spi rit
had remained It is certain that even in the pre
exili c time the prophets whose writings were pre
.

43

S PI R IT O F GOD

TH E

served wer e c onscious of a mental experience

which wa s to them n o t less supernatural than were
the phys ical dervish like mani festations of the
earliest Hebrew prophecy The feeling o f the i m
p e r at i v e n ess of his message which Amos expresses
i n 3 3 8 can thus be st be explained This also gives
a hint of what the experience was through whi c h

God revealed his secret unto his serva nts th e

prophets
They had a perception which consti
Th e clearness o f thi s
t u t e d for them a message
perception was the proof to them that it cam e f rom
the Spirit o f Jehovah Its ch a r a cter as a percep
tion of truths lying mainly in the eld of the i a

made the phrase God spake most

t e l l e c tu a l
natural But doubtless we should not do j ustice
to this experience i f we merely regarded it as an
intellectual perception w ith a moral content That
i t had a content of emotion as well we must be
lieve The vividness and compelling power o f the
convictio n can be explained in no other way T he
prophetic writings are also full of ex pressions whi ch
are strongly emotional
T his powerful convi ction with its accompanimen t
o f a strong emotion was not resolved by the
prophet into elements of patriotism reection
logi c and reli g ious feeling b ut taken entire j ust
as he experienced it for a divine gi ft It was not
for him the labo red working o f a human mind
bu t the direct inbreathing o f God himsel f
In the
early post exilic times this experience was still felt
and so lon g as it was the Spirit was re g arded a s
-

44

C AN O NI C AL WR ITI NG S A F T ER E X IL E
origin It i s worthy o f note that the Spiri t was
still conned to experien ces o f strongly emotional
content expressed i n traditional terms o f bo d i ly

meanin g
The Spiri t falls upon the prophet

2
a
E
zek
I
I
enters
into
him
t
kes
(
(

h im up ( 3
carries him away ( 3
but never speaks God speaks In the New Testa
ment this distinction is lost and the Spiri t is r e
garded as speaking through the pro p het ( for ex am
ple Acts 1
It will be noted that all the p a s
sages above are drawn from E zekiel H e is the last
prophet who expressed his emotional experience in
this form and in this respect he b elongs to the
period o f pre exi li c rather than o f post exili c r e
l i g i o u s thought
With the exile b egan the period o f reectio n u po n
the nation s past Now the olde r historic writin gs
were reedited in the spiri t o f a reective moral cri t
i c i sm
The traditional thought that God h a d
gui ded the nation now came with new f orce It i s
not su rprising that the Spirit was us ed of that g uid
ance It was the stronges t term the H ebrew pos
sessed for the activity o f God Another e lemen t
tending to this use is that the reection o n the pas t
national history was all passed through the lter
o f propheti c thought
E ven the editors o f the
priestly codes were indebted to the pre exili c p r o p h
ets fo r their general i deas o f God s relation to
Israel i n the past E ven the most priestly w riter s
were there fore in a measure the disciples Of the
prophets Now to all disciples o f the prophet s God s
its

45

S P IRIT O F

TH E

GOD

gu idance of the nation seemed to come largely

through the prophets that is according to tradi
through the Spirit o f Jahveh
t i o n a l conceptions
F rom the guidance o f God
( comp Neh 9
b y his Spi rit in the prophets it is a short and easy
step which is taken by the authors of P s a 1 06 3 3 ;
Isa 6 3 1 0 1 4 ; and Neh 9 2 0 when they speak o f
the Spirit of God as in Moses for the direction of
Israel In fact thi s is hardly an adva n ce at all
for already D eut I 8 1 8 assumes that Moses was
a prophet There seems however to be in these
passages the reection o f a thought somewhat wider
t han merely that o f the propheti c inspir a t ion o f
M oses The thought seems to center about God s
general attitude toward Isr a el rather than a bo ut
Moses as the S pecial medium of God s action In
Neh 9 2 0 the Spirit for instruction is coupled with
manna and water In Psa 1 06 3 3 so far from
making prominent the divine inspiration o f Moses
the writer has in mind the human frailty o f Moses s
rash speech In Isa 6 3 1 0 1 4 the thought is still
more distinctly o f the general provi dential g u idance
o f Israel
I f we q uestion what is the S ignicance o f the f act
that with the possibl e exception o f Isa 6 3
all
references to the past guidance o f Israel by the
Spi rit relate to the period o f the wilderness wan
d e r i n g s we S h al l nd the an swer lying i n the con
c e p t i o n o f Hebrew history quite a s much a s in the
,

t s pa

If hi
c e p ti o n
1

ss ag

e al so re fers to the W lderne s wanderi ng s ther

i

46

is

no

ex

C ANO N I C A L WR ITI NGS

FT ER E X I L E

doctrine o f the Spirit The Mosai c period was that

to which Hebre wthought always turned most
readily when it consi dered t h e care o f God i n the
nation s history a s in M ic 6 4 5 ; P s a 1 3 5 8 1 4
T o this period it wa s easy to assign special workings
o f the Spirit All religions a re prone t o nd the
a ctivity o f God specially mani fest in those periods
o f the distant past w h ic h a r e g lori ed by heroi c
This also f ur nishes the ex pl a n a ti o n o f
l egen ds
It
P s u se O f the Spiri t fo r artisa n inspiration
was no derogation o f divine dign ity that an artis a n
o f the distant past when J a hveh s o ma n i festly led
h i s people s hould be consi dered u nder the c ontrol
o f t h e Spirit when enga ged in work connected wit h
worship
This
i
s
plai
nly
traditional
de
v
h
s
a
h
e
J
v e l o p m en t not grounded in the f acts o f experience
T h e like i s assumed i n no other case in the O l d
Testament nor in any other Jewish literatur e
There i s no evidence that any Heb re w a rtis a n eve r
regarded himsel f o r that his contemporaries eve r
re ga rded him a s under the control o f th e Spiri t
It is not correct to imply that the He b r e w artisan s
la bo r might be regarded as th e ttin g su b j ect o f th e
Spi rit s inspi ration Tha t an arti sa n in a tim e o f
specia l divine gu idance o f the nation con c ern ed in
a special religio u s work i s regarded i n a late
priestly writin g a s having b een directed b y the
Spirit b y no means j usti es such a statement
T here i s n othing in the experience o f ordinary a rt i
s a n la b or that woul d suggest a belie f in i t s i n sp i
ration a n d livin g i dea s o f inspirati o n h a ve a lways
.

47

TH E

S P I R IT O F

GOD

been determined by the interpretation of actual

experience The same princip l es wi l l apply t o the
representation o f the Spirit a s imparting S kill in
ru l ing which P gives in Num 2 7 1 8
Th e charismatic Spirit is more C learly conned
to endowments for direct religious purposes here
than in pre exilic l iterature What has j ust been
said shows that the cases of artisan la bor and o f
skill in ruling cannot be regarded as secular The
literature presents us with n o other charismatic en
dowments excep t prophecy and wisdom both o f
which were strongly religious
O f gre a ter importance than all other changes i s
the rise o f a n e w use of Spirit which connects i t
with the personal character the ethical religio u s
use as distinguished from the emoti onal religio u s
and the ceremonial religious It is true that the
cases o f Spirit used in this sense are few but they
indi cate with su fcient clearness the existence o f
this factor i n Hebrew thought It is true also that
the only clear passages P sa 5 1 1 1 1 2 ; I 4 3
are in psalms whose interpretation i s in question
I f they refer t o national rath er than t o individual
ex periences it would seem at rst sight that they
do not belong in this cl assication and that we
cannot be sure that Hebrew thought had even yet
But i f the author o f
t aken this impo rtant step

P s a 5 1 spoke in the nam e O f the Church ( Cheyn e

B a m p to n L e c tu r es page
it still remains tru e
.

the date o f Cheyne b e accepted P sa 4 w ould fall i the next p eri od

L r p
but
( P ost P ersi an B m p t
5 w o ld st ll f all I n th
per od ( Re torat on B m p t L t r p
If

on

e c tu e s

on

3 3

e c u es ,

48

is

C AN O NI C AL WR ITING S A F T ER E X IL E
that he a s also the author o f Psa 1 43 uses the
gu res of individual li fe in which to clot he his
thought The subj ect of the poems is conscious of
his spiri t faints his soul longs for God as a
s in
weary land he ees to God he rej oices in forgive
ness Nothing in these ps a lms stands opposed to
a personal interpretation whether literal or g u r
ative The Psalms lie w ithi n the r a nge o f personal
experience and can only be explained as national
u nder th e supposition of a personal ex perience trans
ferred to the nation
Whether the Psalms are
national or not then does not a ffect the interpreta
tion o f the meaning o f the Spi rit That interpreta
tion remains personal
In a general way the transition to this ethical
religious conception is clear It follows inevitably
from the exilic cons ciousness such as E zek I 8 an d
reveal
o
f
a
person
l
r
lation
to
God
I
t
is
the
a
e
3 3
logical outcome in m inds strongly imbued with
religiou s thought o f the newly perc e ived idea of
personal worth But such a general s ta tement does
not satis fy th e demand for geneti c analysis When
we examine more closely four ways by whi c h the
ide a may have taken shape suggest themselves :
1 T he Spirit may have been used o f the origin of
physical li fe ; then as religious consciousness grew
it may have b een trans ferred f rom the origin o f
physical li fe to the ori g in o f religious li fe This
would b e growth by an alo g y
T here may h a ve b een a growin g tendency to
2
u s e the Spirit o f Go d only f or phenomena o f c learly
.

49

TH E

S PI R IT O F GOD

religious val u e T hen the idea of the Spirit of God

working in man may have become in a kindred way
limited S pecially t o the religious consciousness
This would be growth by limitation
At
the
same
time
that
the
religious
conscious
3
ness o f the Hebrew grew the physica l phenomen a
which had formerly bee n referred to the Spirit de
creased The term formerly used o f the origin of
these physical phenomena may have been trans
ferred to the ethical religious as being now the dom
i n a n t element in the thought o f divine activity This
would be growth by trans ference between phases
o f personal ex p erience
This di ffers from the
change noted under 1 in connecting the origin o f
this use with the charismatic rather than with the
cosmical idea
4 National religious li fe had come to b e con
c e i v e d as under the guidance o f the Spirit of God
As personal religious consciousness grew the per
sonal religious li fe like the national may have
come to be considered as under the s a me guidanc e
o f the Spirit This would be growth by trans fer
ence o f i dea from national to individual li fe
All of these may have been factors o f develop
ment O ur knowledge of the steps o f progress in
Hebrew thought is so slight that it would be rash
to exclude any o f them We can however sa y a s
much as this : th at the transition o f the idea o f the
Spiri t from national to individual li fe was very
probably a large factor i n this development C e r
t a i n l y i n the minds o f some the workin g o f the
.

50

C AN ON I CAL WR ITI N GS

F T ER E X IL E

Spiri t in the nation s li fe had com e t o b e predom

i n a n t ly ethical religious Such was la rgely E zekiel s
i dea even with all his priestly tendencies ( see for
example 3 6 1 6
Nor was it a propheti c nov
Its germs go back to the eighth century p r o p h
c l ty
ets Then when the holiness o f the nation as a
result of the Spirit s work was a dominant thought
the holiness of the individual as the result o f endow
ment by that same Spiri t follows naturally
Why then di d it not arise earlier ? While it is
true that the great emphasis on the future O f Is rael
as a holy nation belongs to the exilic prophets the
i dea was not so foreign to earlier prophets but
that i t might have led to the corresponding idea o f
ethical holiness in the indivi dual Why had it not
done so ? Because national holiness was only one
element in the i dea The other element no less
necessary was the clear re c ognition of the concept
o f personality This is always assum ed in modern
thought It was not assumed in ancient thought
A concep t o f personality so C le a r that it could stand
apart and be m ade the su b j ect o f denite c o n s i d
c ration is not found i n Hebrew literature earlier
than the exili c time Ez ekiel is the rst writer who
clearly perceived it O nly a fter it had gained rec
o g n i t i o n could the concept o f personal ethical r e
l i g i o u s li fe as the work o f the Spirit com e into
be ing
It is pro b a b le that the change o f experience i n the
growth o f religious thought which is summarized
a b ove under 3 may al so have had its b earing on the

TH E

S PI R IT O F GOD

development o f this new idea We have seen that

the physical phenomena o f early prophecy had
largely passed away We have seen also that as
long as the peculiar mental and emotional e x p e r i
e n c es th a t made up later prophecy lasted the prophet
considered himself and was doubtless considered by
others as inspi red When however prophecy de
c l i n e d there was no longer any experience except
that o f simple religious consciousness whic h could
b e a scribe d to the Spirit It would perhaps be more
c orrect to say that Hebrew thought had n o w
reached the stage where simple religious conscious
ness could take the place of the older and more
intense experiences wh ich were interpreted to i n
d i c a t e union with God
It was a natural sequence
that the loftiest term Israel had for the expression
Of this union should not be lai d as ide but li fted to
a still loftier meaning and applied to what was now
the highest and purest religious experience that de
vo n t hearts in Israel knew
Thus always at a
cer tai n stage i n advan c ing reli gi ous thought the
external has yielded to the internal the ritualistic
Th us for example
t o the ethi cal an d spiritual
prayer ceased to be a mere appendage of sacrice
and rose to an independent expression o f com
munion with God This chan ge in the ex pe rience
which was a s cribed to the Spirit is but part of the
working o f a law which the history o f religions
abundantly exemplies elsewhere
No period o f pro found reection on God and his
work could long conne the active power o f God to
.

2
5

C AN O NI C AL WR I T INGS A F T ER E X IL E
the el d of individual cons ciousness or of national
li fe Already in the earlier p e riod it h a d begun to
reach beyond that into the re a lm of n a ture but as yet
only for the sake o f man In the time o f the exile
when new national experienc e s were yieldi ng so
many new religious i deas this idea of God in nature
also passed through a p e r io d o f v e r y r a p i d expansion
Then for the rst time cosmogony interested He
l
bre w thought
Here too God was conceived Of
as active What more n a tural than to say th a t the
agent o f this activity was the Spirit o f God ? I f
Jahveh was the God o f all the world not o f Israel
and Palestine only then all the o pe rations o f nature
were the working o f the Spi rit o f God The very
growth a n d decay o f the transient grass and o we r
proceeded from the Spirit ( Isa 40
N O op e ra
tion o f nature was too insignicant to be under the
gui dance o f the Spirit of God M an s connection
with natural operations now disappeared a s a reaso n
fo r the interest o f Go d s Spirit in them To God
the Creator nature is an end in itsel f not merely a
means
In this period Hebrew thought p a ssed
f rom the anthropocentri c t o the c o sm o c e n t r i c ph ase
and the change i n the usage o f the Spirit is one mar k
o f that transition
.

P sa 8
J ob 6 the ch e f cosmologi cal passages of the H e bre w
Si cr ptu es are all ex l c or later RH: ( create ) i used1 o f the creat on
pre ex l c w r t ng s onl i Amos
Deut
I P i i
)
( "
used t mes ll wm G 6 7 to stand apart R i S econd Is i ah
t mes P salms t mes T he ti tle o f G d as Creator ( N1 13 ) i wholly
8
post l ( I
E ccles
H113 3 ( make ) i used
o f creat on
h w
only J G
m
R
( E xod
dependent upon P ) ; Amos 3 5 8 I 7
6 J er
f
f
f
I
thus used i S econd Isa ah
;
t mes J ob 6 t mes I n P salms ti mes ( all pla nl y post x l i c from
8 6 to end f the b ook ) and i E cclesi astes
P
ti mes
1

Ge n

1 04

sa

in

en

exi i c

In

40

1 2

1 2

sa .

r e e x1

2 2

In

1 1C 7

2 2

as

5;

gs

7: 5

In

5.
I 7

en

1 1

20

15

1 1

; 3 7

,
.

i s

53

1 2

sa

10

i i

TH E

S P IRIT O F GOD

In the literature of this period what is the rel a

tion o f the Spirit to the created universe ? To
material n a ture the Spirit stands i n the relation o f
a transcendent cause It caused the change from
ch a os to the ordered cosmos ( Ge n 1
made t h e

heaven s ( Psa 3 3
garnished them ( Job 2 6
withers the grass and the ower ( Isa 40
controls the oods of waters ( Ps a 1 8 I 5 ) endows
the beasts with li fe ( Psa 1 04
Nowhere d o
we have the as sertion o f any except the trans
c e n d e n t a l relatio n toward nature ap a rt f rom m an
It is interesting to note th a t the author o f Psa 1 04
0
avoids
s
aying
that
the
Spirit
of
God
which
is
3
sent out from him becomes th e spirit o f the beasts
The i de a is plainly that o f extern a l causation as

dete r mined by the preceding parallels Thou open

est thy hand th e y are satised with goo d ; tho u
hidest thy face they are troubled ; thou takest away

their b reath they die

In all these as also in the

verse followin g Thou sendest forth thy Spirit

they are created there is an elliptical omission o f

the connective i n th e sense of result
In certain passages where the Spirit is u sed o f
man a transcendental interpretation is possible
Such are Isa 4 2 5 Go d giveth the spirit to man ;

Job 3 3 4 The Spirit o f God hath made me ;

E ccles 1 2 7 The spirit shall return to God who

gave it
Note that this las t does not S peak of the
human spiri t as the Spirit o f God b ut the S pirit
which God gave Compare for the idea o f the r e
turn o f the Spirit of God Psa 1 04 2 9 f ; Z ech
.

54

C AN O NI C AL WR I T INGS A F T ER E X I L E
God forms the spirit of man w ithin him ;

Num 1 6 2 2 ; 2 7 1 6 Lord o f the spi r its o f all

esh M al 2 1 5 O ther passages demand for ex
planation the idea o f the Spiri t as immanent cause :
Job 2 7 3 The breath o f God is in my nostrils ; Job

I f he gather unto himself his S pi rit and his

3 4 14

soul ( i f his re fers to God )

The predominan t use is here still the t r a n s c en
dental The narrow range o f literature in whi ch the
immanent i dea is found is noticeabl e In Charac
ter this liter a ture is that which most closely a p
r
s
n
the
philosophical
The
statement
o
f
te
a
c
h
es
o
o
p
made that in common Hebrew thought the S piri t
o f man was the Spirit o f Go d is not entirely cor
rect That certain H ebrew writers held such an
idea must be admitted That it was a common
Hebrew notion does not seem to be the f act
In the charismatic use some passages admit o f
a trans cendental interpret a tion Such are E zek 3
12
14 ; 8 3 ; 1 1
1 2 4 ; 43
5 ; Z ech 4 6 I n these
the Spirit acts upon the prophet from without
The Spi rit used in the sense o f immanent causa
tion is however more usual O f indivi d uals : E zek
Isa
1
I
Num
2
I
8
2
2 ; 3
24; I I
6
;
;
7
5
Prov I 2 3
E xod 3 1 3 ; 3 5 3 1 ; Job
Neh 9 2 0 O f the nation : Isa 4 2 1 ; 5 9 2 1 ;
6 1 1 ( i f of the S ervant ) ; Joel 3 1 ; E zek 1 1 1 9 ;
10
2
Z
ech
1
2
Here
the
2
6
f
1
6
;
;
;
4
3
7
3
9
9
3

Spirit enters into the prophet or the nation and

the action is from within Th e i dea seems also
usually to b e that o f a pe r manent force r esiding
12

1,

55

TH E

S PI R IT O F

GOD

in the person or n a tion rather than a gi f t f or a

particular time and purpose Where the ancient
propheti c use is followed as in E zekiel the use o f
the immanent idea is eas ily enough accounted for
by ancient n o tions of the Spirit as immanent in
the prophets ; so perh a ps also in the wisdom pas
sages Job 3 2 8 ; Prov I 2 3
In the cases o f t he
u s e of the Spirit as the possession o f the Servant in
the present or o f all Israel in the future simple
tradition no longer serves to account for the i m
The old idea o f p r Op h et i c inspiration
m a n en c e
doubtless furnished the foundation but the super
structure belonged to living thought
Now to gather up the facts : The Spirit is used
as a transcendent caus e for all nature outside man
It is sometimes used a s a transcendent an d some
times but less o ften as an immanent cause for the
li fe o f man It is used sometimes as a transc e ndent
but much more o ften as a n immanent cause f or i n
dividual and national endowments Th a t is th e
S p i r i t o f God operates u p o n nature but operates both
i n an d u p o n man This last claus e expresses not two
ideas but one and the same idea stated in two di f
fe r e n t ways
We nd both used in the sam e writer
as in E zekiel
We must not complain that the
Hebrew writers did not se e a discrepancy i n thes e
di ff erent ways o f looking at G o d s activity ; nor
must we complain that they coupled the physical
and rational li fe of man together as over against the
physical external world
Thi s leads to the q u estion Wh a t is the d istin c
,

56

C AN O NI C AL WR I T I N G S A F T ER E X IL E
tion betwee n Go d and the Spi rit ? It is still what
it was in the earlier literature that the Spirit i s
God active in the world The Hebrew now di f
fe r e n t i a te s between God and the world more sharply
and philosophically than in the earlier period
T here is a clearer sense o f the transcenden ce o f God
He is above the world acting upon i t from without
This is God considered as the philosophi z in g tend
ency dem a nded With the further growth o f r e
e c t io n still more emphasis was laid on the tran
It is the same tendency
sc e n d e n t a l character o f God
that culminated in the refus al to pronounce the
name of the D eity Had religion been only philos
o p h y the Spirit o f God would have become only a
transcendental power actin g on the worl d a n d h u
man li f e f rom without not di ffering from God
himsel f The term would h ave lost special me a nin g
and would pe rhaps have nally disappea red as in
the next period o f the literature it actually does
cease to b e used in this mea n ing
But religious feeling has ever made a di ff erent
deman d It has f elt the sense o f union with the
D eity h a s striven to make that union as clos e as
po ssible and h a s earnestly so u ght m e ans f o r its
expression
Th eology and ritual in early J u daism were put
tin g God away f rom man until in the second cen
tury be fore Christ the author o f D an iel gave as a

commonplace the opinion that the gods dwell not

with man
But He b rew religion had a nother s ide
that o f reli gious f eeling and that s ide took re f uge
,

S7

TH E

S PI R IT O F GOD

in the use o f the ancient conception o f the Spirit o f

God Sophistication had robbed religion o f the old
and crude ways o f ex p ressing unio n with God
through the Spirit
E nthusi asm and exuberant
propheti c ecstasy no longer satised it But that
only drove religion to a new ground D eprived of
frenzy and emotional exci tement as evidences of the
possession o f the Spirit it sought these evidences
in the calm an d rational religious experien ces As
sai d above the Spirit is as in the earlier literature
God acting ; but here it tends to become God acting
i n the human experience and u p o n not i n the ex
ternal world The tendency was toward the posi
tion t hat the Spirit is God imm a nent i n man as
distinguished f rom Go d transcendent over the
world including m an
When this tendency ha d
become fully developed theological thought was
ready to enter upon the New T es tament stage o f
the subj ect
It would b e interestin g t o c ompare the search
for union with God i n early Judaism with that
in other religions in periods o f increasing theolog
ical and ritual activity E ssentially the sam e ele
ments would b e found in all The feeling o f union
with God will not down I f crushed in one form
it nds refuge in another Neither philosophy nor
ritual are able to rob religion o f this its basal con
Great act ivity in t h e eld o f thought or
c e p t io n
o f ceremonial usually produces great activity in
the eld of religious feeling as its complement So
i t came a b o u t that in the Christi a n c h u rch the a ge
.

'

:5 8

C AN O NI C AL WR ITINGS A F T ER E X IL E
o f the triumph o f s cholasticism was the age o f a
great outburst o f mysticism The period of great
activity in the purely deisti c Moh a mmeda n theol
In India a remark
o gy s a w the ris e of Susm
ably mechanical ritualisti c theolo gy developed and
also the strongest mysti cal quietism that the world
has seen ; and while we know s o little o f dates in
Indian history that we must speak with ca ution on
all matters involving them yet every thin g that c a n
be discovered favors the vi ew that the two devel
oped in direct relation to each other
Th e comparisons here suggested S how us that
the course which the conception o f the Spi ri t t ook
in early Judaism was in no wa v an isolated o r i n
explicable phen omenon but was subj ect to th e com
mon laws o f religious history
The only thin g
about it which is peculiar is that the He b rew h a d an
expression whi ch allowe d f or the full developmen t
o f the i dea o f man s union w ith God yet w itho u t
in any way violating the con c eption o f the tra n
sc e n d e n t a l character o f God
.

59

CHAP TER IV
Th e P a l estin i a n

Je wi sh Wr i tin g s

IT

will be be st fo r our purpose t o discuss the

later Judaic writings o f the pre Christian period in
two sections the Palestinian and the A l e x andrian
Both the conception of the Spirit and the experience
which it represents di ffer somewhat in the two l it
e r a t u r es
In the Palestinian writings we include
those Jewish producti o ns dating from about B C
2 00 to the end o f the rst century o f the Christian
era which rep resen t Palestinian as distinct from
Alexandri an Judaism
Classi fying the uses o f the Spirit in this litera
ture as nearly as p ossible as in previous sections we
have the following arrangem ent :
A Spirit used o f Go d a cting in the individual
rational li f e :
I For endowment of individuals with charis
m a ti c gi fts :

( a ) Prophecy : S i r 48 2 4 Isaiah saw b y a great

S pi rit the last things

Test X II Levi 2 A spirit

o f discernment of th e Lo rd cam e over me

This
spirit o f vision seems to be essentially the same as
1
the spirit of prophecy

God
( b ) Skill in j ud gm ent : Sus 4 5 Th e o d
raised up the holy spirit o f a young lad whos e name
Isai ah cried not nor
Ad d M art I
D uri n g the mart y rdom
5
4
wept but hi mouth di scoursed m i t he l gen Ge st ( B e r I n K t h

. .

Ap o c

.
.

sa

u.

P s e u dep eg r a p he n )

i i

6o

"

so

a u sc

P AL E STI NIAN JE W I S H WR ITI N G S

TH E

was D aniel
The angel as he h a d been
4 2 L XX
commanded gave a sagacious spi rit to a young m an
1

namely to D aniel
( comp 64 L XX F or young
men are piously disposed and there will be in them
a spirit o f knowledge and sagacity

Wisdom
S
i
r
6
I
f
the
great
Lord
will
c
:
( )
3 9

he shall be lled with the spirit o f understanding

( comp 4 Macc 7 1 4 where the Spirit which
revives li fe after death is c a lled m xe ii ju a 7 017
Spi rit o f reasoning )
( d ) The interpretation o f dreams : D an 4 8 9
.

18

12

14

( e) An ethical us e ( see C )

AS

the b a sis o f human li fe As in the early

post exi li c literature this division includes the whole
man without sharp distinction between the physi
c al an d the rational M a n is considered as a
unit over against the rest o f creation At the same
time the passages give n below emphasize the rational
rather than the physi cal :

Ju b 5 8 : My Spirit shall not remain f orever

upon men for they are esh ( bo rrowed directly

from Gen 6

Apoc B aruch 2 3 5 : My Spirit is the creator

o f li fe ( said i n speak ing o f li fe a fter death Th e

book is comparatively late coming from the last
hal f o f the rst Christian centu r y )
4 Macc 7 1 4 q uoted above I ( c )
2

Passages l i ke thi s seem to b e the meeti n g poi nt of the i dea o f the S pi ri t

The sp r t thought o f
f G d and the concepti on o f the human sp ri t
be i ng I n some w co nected wi th G d y t as b e ng at the same t me
the p t o f a m

as

ay

ll l

an.

61

13

TH E

Judith
For

a ll

GOD

I4 :

th y c r ea t

th e e

r e s ser v e

d t h e y c a m e i n t o b e in g

d i d s t s e n d fo r t h t h y S p i r i t , a n d i t fa s h i o n e d t h e m

F o r th o

Th o

16

S P I RI T O F

sp a k e s t , a n

this
may
include
animal
li
fe
as
well
i
f
so
i
t
i
s
;
(
probably a borrowing o f the common older idea
perhaps from Psa 1 04
Th e following passages belong here only by i n
ference They speak o f the human spirit a s cre
ated by God though not expli citly mentioning the
Spiri t of God as the active ag ent of creation :

2 Macc 7 2 2
f ; I [ the mother ] kn o w not h OW
you cam e into my womb nor did I give you spi rit
and li fe a n d di d not a rrange in order the c o n st i tu
ent parts o f each one Accordingly the Creator o f
the world who originated and formed man an d
found out the origin o f all things will in mercy

give you back both spi rit and li fe aga in

2 M acc
1 4 46 :
Calling upon the Lord o f li f e

an d spi rit t o restore him thes e a gain h e thus died

( comp 4 M a c e 1 6 2 5 I f God would mak e them

li fe ; same i dea without use o f spirit )

1
2 Mac c
The Lord o f spirits o r of
3 24:

spirit

E noch 3 7 2 4 5 etc : T he Lord of spirits

C o mpare note in Charles s E n o c h i n l o c o : O ne

hundred and four times twenty eight o f thes e at

least i n interpolations
Its original meaning in
E noch seems to be the Lord of the spirits o f angels
p
F it
h rea d s
Sweet K amphausen ( K t h edi ti on )
;
,

z sc

tr a r

ov

62

a u sc

'

P A L E STI NIAN JE WISH WR ITI NGS

TH E

and Of the dead ( see 40 7

the principle o f
whos e li fe is S pi r i tual ( comp 1 5 4 6 ; 6 1
B Spiri t representing God acting in the phys i
c al world and in the development o f history
I O n external nature apart from m an
While
there are no passages extant representing the Spirit
as acting on nature apa rt from man it is not i m
possible that there may be a remote connection
betwee n that more ancient idea and the conception
which occasionally appears that the phenomen a o f
nature have spirits :

Ju b 2 2 : Then on the rst day he created the

heaven and the earth and the water and all the
spirits who serve before him
the angel o f
the wind spirit and the angel o f the spi rit o f the
clouds o f darkness and o f the ha il and o f th e
hoar frost
and the angel o f the spirits o f the
cold a n d the heat and the winter and the spring and

the autumn and the summer etc ( so E noch 60

1 6 where m u ch the s ame list o f n a tural obj ects is
g iven )
C harles ( Ass u m p ti o n o f M o s e s page 1 06 ff )
s u ggests that the original form o f the Assu m p ti o n
contained the claim o f S atan to the lordship o f the

world to whi c h M ichael rej oined The Lord r e

b uke thee for it w as God s Spi ri t that created the
world and all mankind so God is the Lord o f the

world
The p as sages on the basis o f whi ch Charles
makes the above suggestion are the following : ( a )
Me ta S yn o d i N i c a en II 2 0 an s y ap m ari na t e ; dy i a r
dv r o i) t ra m 6g xr i o njuev
( b ) An an ony m ous writ
.

'

6a

S PI R IT O F GOD

TH E

in g f rom Cremer s
1 60,

C a te n a i n Ep is t

To v r o r c 6 K pt o g

d m rrv e v nd r wv

Ira

C a th o l
? m i myg

page

o a pn g.

The total lack elsewhere in the literature of an y

expression exactly equivalent to ( a ) and the very

frequent use of Lord of S pirits in the Similitudes

o f the book o f E noch would suggest the p roba b ility
that ( b ) more nearly represents the original and
that Charles s reproductio n should be revised
a ccordingly
2
F or guidance or inuence in the eld o f h u
m an actions In thes e boo ks always a possession
working redemption for
Of the personal Mess iah
Israel or j udgment on her enemies This becomes
a charismatic use and might be classed under A 1

E noch 62 2 : And the Lord o f S pi rits seated him

that
is
the
Messiah
on
the
throne
of
his
glory
]
[
a n d the S pirit o f righteousness was poured out upon
him and the word o f his mouth slew all the sinners
and all the unrighteous were destroyed be fore his
f ace ?

E noch 49 3 : And in him dwells the S pirit o f

wisdom and the spirit o f him wh o gives knowledge
and the spi rit o f understandi n g an d of might and
the spirit o f those wh o have fallen asleep in right
,

eo u sn e s s

Sol 1 7 42 : Go d shall cause him t o be

mighty through the spi rit o f holiness a n d wise
through the counsel o f understanding with might

and righteousness ( I 7 3 7 in K a u t sc h s edition )

P sa Sol 1 8 8 : In th e day o f the Messiah the

Lord will b ring goodness to p as s thro u gh him in

Psa

64

PAL E S TI NIAN JE WISH WR ITI NGS

TH E

spi rit o f wisdom and of righteousness and o f

might ( I 8 7 in K a u ts c h s edition )

Test X II Levi 1 8 : The spirit o f understand

ing and of holiness will be upon him

Judah 2 4 : The heavens will open over him to

give him the blessing o f the Spirit O f the holy
F ather and the spi ri t o f g ra c e will be poured out

upon him
All these pas sages seem to contain a r em i n is
cen c e O f Isa 1 1 2 a passage which evidently had
a great inuence on the Messiani c thought o f
Judaism
C O f the ethical li f e :

Test X II Simon 4 : Joseph was a good man an d

had the Spirit o f God i n him

Benj 4 : The good man

loves him wh o
has the g race o f a good spi rit with his whol e

soul

Benj 8 : He is unspotted o f hea rt S ince the

Spirit of God rests upon him ( this is charismati c

in form )
D Spirit used o f God a b i n tr o :

E noch 6 7 1 0 : Spirit o f the Lord ( uni q ue in

E noch and in this whole literature O ccurrin g in

the S imilitudes which use the Lord o f the spi rits

so o ften
the suggestion is obvious that i t may be
an error o f text S o Beer i n K a u tsc h [ page

viel in Herrn d Geister z u

E noch 7 0 2 : And he [ E no c h ] was carried alo f t

on the chariots o f the Spirit and the name vanished

amongst men ( comp 2 Kings 2 I I )

65
(5 )

the

S P I R IT O F

TH E

GOD

Comparing these passages with those f rom the

earlier post exilic period we nd :
I The use o f the Spirit for God a b i n tr a gained
no ground Judaistic thought does not incline to
identi fy God and the Spirit o f God The word

S piri t was coming into continually more frequent

use as a name for the personality of man but the
analogy o f this psychological usage was not carried
over into the realm of theological thought
2
In the earliest Hebrew period the term was
only used i n reference to God s action upon man or
for the sake o f man In early post exili c literature
it was also used o f God s ac t ion upon nature apart
f rom man Here there is a return to the older
usage but with a di fference ; for n o w all i dea o f
the Spirit as God act ing on nature fo r the sak e of
man or otherwise has disappeared a n d the Spirit
acts only on m a n
In the earliest Hebrew period the dominant
3
i dea was charismati c and individual based on the
mani festations o f prophecy In the e a r l y p o st exili c
it was two fold the Spirit in nature and the Spirit
in national history and hope Here once m o re it
is charismatic but with two elements : O ne is i n
dividual the thought o f the ethical value o f the
possession o f the Spirit ; the other is national the
gi ft o f the Spirit to the Messiah This connects
itsel f on the one hand with the national hope so
prominent in the last period and on the other with
the idea of the individual charismati c gi ft in its
ethical v a l u e ( Note that the Spirit given to the
-

66

P AL E STI NIAN JE WI S H WR ITINGS

TH E

M es s iah is a s p irit of righteousness and j u stice

qualities which immediately link with the indivi dual
ethical idea ) O ne may draw these together then
in the statement that the dominant idea is that o f
the ethical rather than the merely physical or p sy
chical result of the possession of the Spirit o f God
4 The conce p t o f the Spirit as the essential sub
stance of human li fe is nowhere clearly stated It
would seem that God h ad become too far removed
from the world o f human error and frailty for this
i dea to b e wholly acceptable In its place we nd
a rather numerous group of pass a ges that a frm
that God is the c reator of human S pirits without
however m akin g the Spirit o f God the means o f
creatio n or in any way the point o f contact
Where as in Judith 1 6 1 4 the Spirit of God is
the means o f creation it is still not i denti ed with
the S pirit o f man This is doubtless due to a grow
ing hesitancy to a frm union between the erring
S pirit of man an d the holy Spi rit o f God
The small part which the idea played in the
thought o f this period is indi cated by the narrow
range of literature in whi ch the term occurs In
the books o f the Apocrypha it i s found only i n
J u di th S irach S usan na S ec o nd M acca b ees and
F ourth Maccabees It is lacking a lso in the As
sumpt ion o f Moses as we now have i t F ourth
E zra and the Li fe o f Adam and E ve
The uses o f the Spirit here may be reclassi ed
as follows : I The historical the Spirit i n the
past With this f alls the haggadic use in A I ( a )
,

'

67

S P I R IT O F

TH E

GOD

fu
The
Messianic
the
Spirit
in
the
2
b
( )
ture 3 The psychological and religious the Spirit
as the basis of rational and ethical li fe 4 The the
ological the Spirit as God a b i n tr o None of these
uses a r e new with this period The ethical use how
ever is more fully developed than in the preceding
period but is used only of traditional gures in the
distant past except in Test X II Benj 4
The uses found in earlier periods but lacking
here are ( a ) the charismatic Spirit as productive
o f phys ical and strongly emotional results
the
Spirit as an active force in the external world
We have tried to translate the literature o f each
period into terms o f actual experience Let us see
i f we can discover what experience lay f or these
writers behind thei r use of the Spirit In order to
do this we must exclude from consideration certain
groups o f passage s
O n nearly all s u bj ects the
writings o f Judaism represent three c lasses o f
material :
1
That borrowed directly from the sacred writ
ings and used without assimilation or much e ffort
to nd its exact meaning This has little S ig n i
cance for the Jewish thought o f t his perio d
2
T hat which while not b orrowed directly is
yet so controlled by the usages o f the sacred writ
ings that it is merely traditional and cannot b e used
to rep resent the real thought o f the period
3 T hat which grows out o f livin g experience
and so forms an integral part o f the b ody o f
tho u gh t

68

TH E

P AL E STINIAN JE WISH WR ITI NGS

-

E very religion with a history behind it has need

to class i fy its present possessions under these r u
O ne might draw illustrations from modern
br ic s
H induism or B uddhism or Parseeism or Confucian
ism
Those fam iliar with the present forms o f
these faiths are continually reminding us that thei r
b ooks do not fairly represent their real character
becaus e the traditions which the books contain are
so di fferent from the actual religion Christianity
f urnishes no less illustrations All histori c churches
h ave in thei r theological lum b er rooms traditional
elements not yet thrown away which do not r ep r e
sent existing views o f truth
Cases of direct borr o wing o f the Spirit in Juda

i st i c literature are such as Ju b 5 8 My Spi rit shall

not always rem ain upon man and slightly less

direct E noch 7 0 2 He was carried alo f t on the

chariots o f the Spi rit ( comp 2 Kings 2 I I W her e

the Spiri t is not used )
Cases o f traditional use are S i r 48 2 4 t h e as

The
a great spirit
c r ip t i o n o f prophetic vision to

term Lord o f spirits in E noch is also tradi

t i o n a l though its part icular use as Lord o f an geli c
s p irits or spirits o f the dead i s not Charles n otes
t hat the term occurs o f ten in the interpolations with
o u t regard to its real signi cance in the genuine
passages In such cases we have pure traditional
u se founded on Num 1 6 2 2 etc Here b elong
also all cases o f haggadi c stories in whi ch the Spi rit
i s made t o per form the o fces that i t does in ancient
n ational literat u re without regard to c ontemporary
.

69

TH E

S PI R IT O F GOD

experience ( for example D an 4 8 f ; 5 1 2

These form part of traditional theological b elief
but not o f living expe rience E xcluding these two
classes the uses of the term which express actual
experience reduce themselves to the following :

I Wisdom as S ir 3 9 6 I f the great Lord will

he shall be lled with the spirit o f understand

ing
2
The basis o f the ethical li f e
The Messianic hope
3
T o this period the words of Wendt apply when
he says that in the sense of a certain bodily ecstasy

Spirit is applied either to the ideal state o f an a n

or to an ideal
tiqu i ty garnished with tradition
fu ture ( F l e is c h u n d Ge i s t page
W e ndt seems

to err in maki ng this apply im Grossen und Gan

z en to the O ld Testament Gunkel in criticising

the position ( page 4 ) perhaps does not recognize
su fciently the great di fference between the di fferent
periods o f Hebrew thought or how barren late
Judaism is of this use o f the Spirit as applied to
any actual experience
What are the reasons for this narrowed us e o f the
term ? Two related reasons suggest themselve s :
The rst i s the disappearance from experience at
least so far as the authors o f this literature were c on
cerned in large measure i f not entirely o f those
extraordinary phenomena which the early Hebrews
assigned to the Spirit Prophecy with i t s inspi red
a fa t u s had ceased ( I Macc 4 46 ; 9
27 ; I4
D reams might still b e treated i n haggadi c story as
,

70

TH E

P AL E STINIAN JE WISH WR ITI NGS

-

the revelations of God as in D aniel but in act u al

li f e there was a psychological reason for them
They came from the multitude o f business ( E ccles
E
ven
where
the
experience
occurred
it
was
5
no longer as cri be d to God The madman was not
under the inspiration of a Spirit o f God b ut o f
a demon or unclean spirit It is notable that i n all
this literature there is not one claim m a de o f the
actual possession o f the Spirit by or in b ehal f o f any
contemporary The contrast with the early Chris
tian literature in this respect is very strikin g
Was then this Jewish period s o totally l a ckin g
in experiences connected with deep religious emo
tion ? We are accustomed to call it a perio d o f
ritualism but did the ritualism produce a religion so
c old and barren as this would seem to indi cate ? I t
would seem an i rreparable loss to religion i f with
the disappearance o r reinterpretation o f ol d psychi c
phenomena there ha d occurred also the dis a ppear
ance o f the accompanying religious feeling which
had caused these phenomena to b e ascribed t o the
Spirit
O ne cannot so read Jewish h istory T he ma g
n i c e n t heroism o f the Maccabean time would for
bi d i t i f there were nothing else F i rst and S econd
Maccabees and D aniel are each i n a di fferent way
witnesses for a very profound religious feel ing o f
exactly the sort that in other ages either earlier or
later would have been ascribed to the Spirit F ancy
the dee d o f Mattathias told in the book o f Acts
w ithout a reference to the Spirit " Nor is the M ac
,

1
7

S PI R IT O F GOD

TH E

ca be an pe riod the only one in which we must s u p

pose intense religious experiences The writers o f
all apocalypses show that they possessed it O ne
sees no good reason so far as the feeling they ex
press is concerned why their visions S houl d not

have been introduced by The Spirit o f the Lord

came upon me and I saw

The phrase would hav e
been appropriate enough in the mouth o f D aniel
o r E noc h or B a ruch o r the T welve Patriarchs b u t
the authors never allow them to use it The N e w
Testament apocalyptist claims spiritual possessio n
while Spirit though not the Spirit is a
1
part o f the regular machinery of Hermas ( Vi si o ns
I I 3 ; II I
While then the ecstasy O f prophe cy
had failed yet experiences and feelings appropriat e
to b e assigned to the Spirit had not failed Ther e
must b e some other cooperating reason for t he
meager u s e of the Spi rit
T his reason is foun d in the growin g tendency
already noted in the last period t o put God far away
from the world and to avoi d any phrase which had
an anthropomorphic relation The angel of Jahveh
had dis a ppeared except as a gure b orrowed from
the S criptures in pseudepigraphi c writings like T e st
"I I In place o f it a hierarchy o f an gels had been
developed This accounts f or the meager use o f
the Spi ri t as applied to human ex p erience It is also
c losely connected with the further developm en t o f
the traditional theologi cal ide a o f the M essiah as
possessed by the Spirit T his b ecame an element in
settin g the M e ssiah ap a rt f rom o the r men and
.

2
7

P AL E STINIAN JE WISH WR ITI NG S

TH E

d igni fyi ng

his age as unlike the pre s ent age i n

being more closely conn ected with God
This tendency also accoun ts for the total dis
appearance of the cosmologi cal use which had
developed so f ully in the preceding period
In
the Ps alms there h a d been as Pro fessor T oy

points out
a certain w armth o f colorin g in
the representation o f God s relation to the
1
world
This died away with the decline
o f the poeti c impulse i n th e later and less ori g
inal psalmody as the consciousness o f God s
presence had di ed away with the decline o f p r o p h
and nothing had risen to take its place Th e
e cy
Psalms o f Solomon contain nothing o f it nor do
the psalms which can with certainty be assigned to
2
t h e Macca b ean period
God was no longer i m
manent in nature Tha t was b eneath the di gnity
o f the God o f heaven It is true that the logical
outcome o f God s overlo rdship o f the world could
be nothing less than the care o f all his creatures
The germ o f this always lay in the und e veloped
possi b ilities o f Jewish thought When Christ used
God s care for the sparrows to illustrate God s care
for men we do not learn that he met with any o h
i
In f act one may
e
c
t
o n as one who degraded Go d
j
believe that he would neve r h a ve used this picture
of the S parrow at all had it not met with a ready
response i n Jewish popular thought f or he was too
.

r
p 8
ven Duhm who perhaps assi gns as larg e a pro
to M acca b ean tim es as does y recent w r te exclu
placi g them i the P e an p eri od
1

ud a i s m

and

C h i s ti a n i ty

0.

an

rsi

73

o f the P salter
the nature poems

o rt I o n

es

TH E

S PI R IT O F GOD

wise a tea c her to load his argument with minor

points to which his auditors would take exception
Y et a fter all so far as literature represen ts the
case Paul was much nearer typical J u daistic

thought when he said Is it fo r the oxen that God

careth
That th is possible inconsistency e x isted is not
surprising True religious thought h as always in
some form left open the door for the ide a of con
tact between God and the world of nature S in c e
the essence o f religion is the reco g nition o f a real
relation between God and man and s ince man is
so closely connected with the external world s m
cere religion never completely loses S ight of God s
connection with the world The Palestinia n Jews
did not philosophize about it They hardly reco g
n i z e d that it was there b ut it was in germ and i n
due time i t could bear its proper fruit Indeed
Judaism was fortunate in that it di d not philosop hi z e
about it whether under the name o f the Spirit or
under any other name It was better in the end
that while Judaism was exalting the might and
power o f Jahveh from the circumscribed limits o f a
national God to the supreme R uler o f the universe
his relation to nat u re should for the present remai n
in obscurity To have brought it into prominen c e
would have necessitated one o f two things : E ither
the idea of God would have been kept from any
genuine advance bound to conceptions that wer e
not lo fty by shackles o f connection with the material
world remaining pe rmanently to all intents a demi
.

74

TH E

P ALE STI NIAN JE WI S H WR ITI NGS

-

ur g e ; or else some philosophi c chain must have

been devised with links enough to stretch from
heaven to earth The non philosophi c nature of the
Hebrew m ind allowed the Jews to escape b oth o f
these calamities Alexandrian Jewish thought took
the second of these alternatives though o n ly i n a
hal f hearted way Neither the Logos nor the Spirit
was ever fully hypostas ized by the system Gn o st i
c i sm was much more logical and thoroughgoin g

Its aeons and powers formed a denite syste m

of divine connection w ith the world
I t raise d
the conception o f God to a tting dignity and s a t
i s e d the demands o f reason much better than did
the amorphous condition o f Palestinian Judaism
But here as so often in the history o f religion the
more haste the less speed The battle o f thought
is not always to the logical The line of religio u s
history does not lie through Gnosticism nor even
through Alexandrian Judaism in spite o f the
Christian Logos doctrine b ut through Palestinian
Judaism T he Spirit was li fted forever above con
No other conception took its
n ec t i o n with nature
place But in time the religious thought could once
more set God him self i n relation to his creation o f
nature fo r then God has a dvanced to a position
where this relation could not degrade him but
only upli ft nature And s o this whole range o f
thought passes outside the histo ry o f th e i dea o f
the Spirit yet with no l o ss to its intrins i c religious
value
At the same time the i dea o f the S pi ri t g ained b y
-

75

S PI R IT O F GOD

TH E

this chan ge It became limited to the relation be

tween God and man This gave it a religious force
and m ade i t signicant o f an intimacy o f relation
such as never could have been att a ined had i t still
been used of God active in the wide range of all
his c reation
By becoming narrowed it became
b oth intensied and elevated The closer one studies
the history o f this idea the more clearly it is seen
that the seemingly simple fact of droppin g th e r e
lation to external nature from the idea o f the Spirit
f orms the greatest S ingle crisis in its history It
completed the foundation upo n which the New
Testament structure o f thought on this subj ect was
reared
We S hall understand better the signicance o f
this histori c process for the growth o f religious
thought i f we note the c ourse o f the same i dea in
other religions It was sai d above that a sincere
religion never completely loses s ight of God s con
The statement was made i n
n e c t i o n with the world
the light o f the history of religion E verywhere
one nds this t o be true in some form o r other
and o ften the form is si gnicant o f the kind o f
progress which it is p o ss ible for the reli g i o n i n
question to make
E arly reli gions placed thei r gods in connection
with nature in a direct and nai ve way There was
for them no pro b lem about i t any more than ther e
was a b out man s connection with nature But a s
a religion developed the pro b lem always arose con
It was met in one o f the
s c io u sly or uncons c iously
.

6
7

TH E

P AL E STINIAN

JE WISH WR ITI NGS

two ways mentioned a bove : E ither the idea o f r e

lation to nature checked an d limited the complete
growth o f the conception of God or the proble m
was solved by some philosophical devi ce which a l
lowed the elevation o i God and yet kept his relation
to nature Examples o f the rs t class are found in
most o f the earlier religions which we might d es ig
nate as non philosophical as for example th e
Canaanite The Baals o f Canaan rem ained to the
en d agri cultural gods
Hebrew and C a naa nite
alike worshiped them i n this phase T hey wer e
s o closely connected with the operations o f nature
that they could never be removed from this relation
The spi rits o f China and Babylon were also o ri g
i n a l l y nature gods whos e connection w ith n ature
remained un b roken The re s ult was th at they did
not g row b ut remainin g a sort o f dwa r f go ds h a d
value only fo r the lower phases o f religion magi c
and demonolo g y Th e second class i s ill u strated
by the philosophi cal schemes o f Gnosticism an d o f
the S ankhya and V edant a schools o f India These
were c arefully ela b orated metaphys ical devi c es b y
whi ch the S uprem e was kept unchanged an d u n
chan g ing not sullied by the impurities o f the wo r ld
yet his connection with the world was m ade prom
i n e n t and was c are f ully e x pl a ined
Th e de f ect o f
such religions as mediums o f the advance o f history
is that thei r metaphys ical devices are only tempo
rary an d are outgrown b y the pro g res s o f philo
sophi c thought F ew religions have l ike the J e w
i sh steered a middle course thro u gh the intri ca c i es
,

77

TH E

S PI R IT O F GOD

o f the pro b lem and adopted neither o f the two

solutions which most naturally o ffered themselves
Amid the limitations of us a ge however there
is one us e which is quite a s free as in former periods
This is the Messiani c use The actual num ber o f
passages in which it occurs does not increase so
much but the increase in the prop o rtion o f use
seems to indi cate th a t the idea wa s here more dom
With
i n a n t tha n i t had been in previous periods
this occurs a n o table i rTc r e a se in the us e of the spirit
i n a purely psychol o gical sense meaning the per
both living an d dead ( for example E noch 2 2
so n
1
2
etc
6
6
1
6
1
1
8
8
0
;
;
;
;
;
4
9 3
7
7
7 7
5
We again raise the q uestion here as in the last
period of the relation o f the Spi rit t o the created
univers e There we found th a t i t al ways stoo d in
the relation o f a transcendental caus e t o nature
sometimes in that o f a transcendental and sometimes
in that o f an immanent caus e to man
When
thought of as the cause of the li fe o f man the pre
dominan t use was transcendental ; when as the o r
igin o f his endowment the more usual usage was
the immanen t AS l a ter Judaism never uses the
Spirit in reference to external nature the rst class
o f transcen dental passages enti rely dis a ppears
Th e
Spirit as God acting upon man a s the cause o f
human l i fe is in all c a ses transcen den ta l Th is is
s o whether it is used o f the Spi rit as the cause of
li fe in general as in Judith 1 6 1 4 ; 2 M acc 7 2 2 ;
or of the rational li fe which survives the event o f
death a s in 2 Ma c e 1 4 46 7 2 3
T h e li f e o f
,

'

8
7

TH E P AL E STI NIAN

JE WISH WR ITI NGS

man is never the Spi rit o f God not even i n J u dith

I 6 14
It is either as there caused by the Spirit
o f God o r as is more usual the spi rit of man is
given b y God and there is no mention o f the Spirit
O f God
The separatio n between the spirit of man
and the Spiri t o f God is now complete Man is
not considered to have the Spirit o f God beca u s e
his spirit is created by God This absolute separa
tion between the two is a necessary prerequisite i n
preparin g the older Hebre w anthropology for its
development into the New Testament an thropolo g y
In the charismati c us e the following passages i n
cluding some of ethical import are capable o f a

transcendental interpretation : Sus 42 The angel

as he h a d been comman ded gave a saga cious spirit
1
to a youn g man n a mely to D aniel
Test X II

Levi 2 A spi rit o f discernment o f the Lord came

over me E noch 62 2 Th e spirit o f righteousness

was poured out upon him

Test X I I Judah 2 0

Th e spirit o f holiness wi ll b e upon him

In these
passages the Spi rit works f rom without upon the
individuals
Th e followin g are mor e n a turally interpreted as

immanent : Si r 48 2 4 Is ai a h saw by a great spiri t

the last things

6
He
shall
be
lled
w
ith
3 9

the spirit o f understandin g

Test X II S imon 4

Joseph was a good man and h ad the Spirit o f

Benj 4 Him who has the grace

Go d i n him

8
He is unspo tted of heart
O f a good S pirit

S ince the Spi rit o f God rests upon him

M art
S ee the f ootnote on thi s passage p 6
,

79

1.

TH E

S PI R IT O F GOD

Isa 5 1 4 Isaiah discoursed with the Holy Spirit

E noch 49 3
In him dwells the spirit o f wisdom

etc Psa Sol I 7 42 The Messiah will be mighty

through the spirit o f holiness

18
8 The Lord

will bring goodness to pass in the spirit of wisdom

and of righteousness and of might

D an 4 8 9

In whom is the spi rit o f the holy gods etc In

these passages the Spiri t operates from within the
individual Here als o the Spirit is usually an abid
ing possession rather than a temporary gi ft though
it is not always easy to draw the distinction b e
tween the two Certainly where character is the
result o f the Spirit as in Test X II Benj 8 the
pos session must be regarded as permanent A study
o f the passages as a whole shows a tendency to
regard the charismatic Spirit as immanent working
within the man rather than a s an external force
acting from without upon him
Jewish thought then is working to opposite r e
s u l t s along the two lines o f the development of the
idea of the Spirit In the act o f creation the Spirit
o f God works from without Indeed it is becomin g
rare that the need of the intervention of the Spi rit is
felt at all In the endowment o f m an with gifts the
tendency is to regard the Spi rit as working from
within
The tendency to reti re the working of the Spirit
from all connection w ith the merely physical o r
unusual and to limit it to the distinctly ethical and
religious is stronger at this stage than in any o f
the previous periods b ut and this is import an t for
.

80

TH E

P AL E S TINI A N JE WI S H WRITIN GS
-

the future history o f the conception the Spirit

working ethically was never ascribed to or claimed
by a contemporary
I t always be longed to the
past or to the present as a mere generality Th is
S hows a growing spiritual power and ethical sense
which is much greater than is sometimes recognized
by those who s ee in Judaism only a monstrous de
The abi ding
v e l o p m en t o f burdensome ceremonial
religious power o f Judaism was less in the elabora
tion of a ritual which isolated the Jewish from the
Gentile world than i n the growth o f a clear moral
insight which made the lower ethics o f other r e
l i g i o n s repugnant
Isolation by ritual alone is a
mere shell which never in the history o f religi on
c onstitutes the living germ o f religious growth
however much it may serv e to protect it from ex
ternal forces o f destruction The outcome and the
g reat importance of this cours e o f moral growth
in the concept o f the Spirit we shall see when we
c ome to study its Christian use
U p to this stage o f our study we have f ound that
the i dea of the Spi rit o f God was never the exact
synonym o f the idea o f God Here also this i s
true The Spi rit o f God still meant f or the J e w
what it had from the very b e g inning o f his religion
God active in the world The only di ffer en ce from
stage to stage has been i n the delimitation o f the
sphere w ithin which the activity o f God was as
s igned to the Spirit This sphere had been broad
ened from man to the cosmos Here it was narrowed
again to man and to the higher side o f his m ental
81
(6)

TH E

S PI R IT O F

GOD

activity but still it is God acting

E very thin g
which was assigned to the Spirit could be equa ll y
assigned to God
The question then naturally
arises W a s there then any need to preserve the

term the Spirit o f Go d ? The answer lies in

that religious feeling which we have before found
t o be so important in connection with this subj ect
the feeling o f union with God This feeling is very
pers istent Its manifestation always measures the
high water mark in the advance of any faith for
it is always found along the highest levels The
exilic se n se o f God s relation to man and the world
was higher than that which at an earlier peri od
found proofs of the relation only in the unusual and
ecstatic But the Judaistic sense of this relation
was higher still and found its expression so far as
experience went in the ethical li fe and the higher
reason which it called wisdom ; while it looked to
the future for a still closer union to be mani fested
in the Messiah Amid the externalism of the Jew
ish rituali sm it kept and used this old expression
o f the Spi rit and yet preserved the transcendence
o f the mighty Go d the Creator of heaven and earth
untarnished by implication o f contact with the
frailty and impurity of man Thus the reli gious
longing for the union with God was satised and
yet God was n o t b rought down to the level o f
man
We have be fore turned for comparison to India
and we are again impelled t o notice the likeness
and the contrast In India there was also this long
,

82

P A L E S TI N I A N JE W I S H WR I T I NGS

TH E

in g f or union with God Perhaps nowhere in the

world has that longing been more strongly felt
There also it reached its highest c ulmination in a
period o f elaborate ritual development The Hindu
like the Jew came to see that the rational an d the
ethical were the highest realms o f li fe He also
had in his religious history trance ecstasy and
vision as mani festations of m an s union with the
divine ; and he like the Jew had risen to t h e
thought that all the world was linked like man
in union with God But he had n o term by the use
o r disuse of which he could mark nice shades o f
distinction in the growth of his own religious e x
They must all be lumped together as
p e r i e n c es
uni on wi th the Supreme Then union and unity
were con fused and so it cam e about that h e wo r

I am B rahm ; and all the

sh i p e d himsel f saying
world was likewise B rahm an d cause and result
maker and made enj oye r an d enj oyed sunk into
one inextrica b le c on fusion whose only possi b le lo g
i cal outcome was the a b solute identity o f all reality
To this conclusion the V edanta ph ilosophy came

Its m o st terse ex pression is This is that

what

ever yo u can call this i s i dentical with that

It is
the religio u s feeling o f union with Go d f ructi fyin g
1
i n ph ilosophy
Y et religion must have this feel
.

H o w att acti ve thi s rel i gi ous philosophy o f the E ast i to some m i nds
of the h g hest order m y b e seen i the f ollowi n g q uotati on f rom the A t
b g r p h y f M ax Mii ll
The k no w thysel f ascri b ed to Ch lon
(p 4 )
d other sa g es o f anci ent G reece g ai ns a deeper mean i n g wi th every
1 11 at last the I w h ch w e looked upon as the most certai n and undou b ted
i ous
fact vani shes f rom our grasp to b ecome the S el f free from the var
ac i dents and l i mi tati ons wh i ch make up the I and there fore one wi th the
S el f that underli es all i ndi vi dual and theref ore vani shi ng I i What thatI
common S el f m y b e i q uesti on to b e reser ed f or later t mes thoug h
l

io

er

an

u o

n
"

y ea r

21

s a

83

S P I R IT O F GOD

TH E

ing else it p o ssesses no quickening p o wer T he

Jew with his term the Spirit of God could de

v e l o p this feeling o f union
and yet not lose him
self o r his w or l d in the boundles s abyss of an u h
conditioned Supreme
The H i ndu was compel l ed to retain the crudest
e fforts of his re l i gi on t o reach union with God
s ide by side wit h the most lo fty No term disti n
g u i sh e d between them and they a l l stood together
in one confused tang l e o f re l igious ceremo n i a ls So
it happened that the philosopher who in India was
often the man of strongest re l i gious feeling was
bound to the phys ical y o g a exerc i ses wh o se aim
was to produce t rance and ecstasy H i ndu religion
could not leave be h i nd its outgrown expressions o f
re l igious experience but must mold the higher to
t the lower and carry a l l forward with it as alik e
important making for itsel f an intolerable burden
o f old and new crud e and lo fty enough t o bear
down any religious system F rom all this the H e
b rew development o f the i de a o f the Spirit relieved
the Jew O ne does not see how any other usage
could have so well tted h is religion for advance
This allowed him to pass thro u gh the sam e stages
o f religious experience as the Hindu to grasp all
the Hindu s religious truths and yet to leave behind
the shell o f the s eed s from which a b etter f ruit a ge
.

'

say at once that the only t ue answer given to t seems to me to b

that o f the U pani shads and the V edanta phi losophy O ly w e must
take care not to m stake the moral S el f that n d s f ault W th the acti ve
Si elf for the H ghest S el f that know s no longer of g ood or evi l deeds I t
nteresti ng to note
that
the
S
el
f as used here i the Atma w h ch l ke
the 11 11
p m t = b re th

m ay

"

84

P AL E S TI NIA N JE W I S H WR I T ING S

TH E

had sprung It made his rel i gion adaptable to the

needs o f growth and yet always kept it true to the
essential fact o f all religion the union of man wit h
God
Men sometimes question why it is that modern
c ritical scholarship with its strong appreciation o f
ethnic faiths still holds to the unique value o f
Hebrew thought for the h istory o f religion It is
b ecause the more carefully it is studied the more
modern scholarship nds in this religion together
with its successor Christianity the possi b i lity and
the power of an innite rel i gious advance which
no other system o f thought presents F ew elements
o f the religion exhibit this more clearly than that
we are now considering The reverent scholar is
impelled to be lieve that through this Hebrew and
Jewish pro g ress o f thought there worked the divine
power to which he still can give no better name than
the Spi rit o f God
.

85

CHAP TER V
Th e Al ex a n d r i a n J e wish
-

Wr itin g s

S U C C E SS F U L attempts to c ombine elements from

two widely di ffering forms o f religion into a singl e
system are somewhat rare in history
Moham
m e d a n i s m is the only one whi ch can b e regarded
as having become a permanent force under its own
name Next in importance to it perhaps is that
movement of Greco Jewish syncretism usually
known as Alexandrian Judaism o f which Philo is
the best exponent and the Wisdom o f Solomon the
most valuable and best known single litera ry prod
In tracing the growth o f religious thought it
u ct
is always possible to treat such a development from
either one of its t wo s ides So Mohammedanism
may be regarded as a development o f Arabic r e
l i g io n under the inuence o f Jewish and Christian
i deas or as a Christian sect corrupted t o extreme
heresy b y Arabic paganism and Mohammed s b e
lief i n h is own inspiration In the study o f Alex
andrian Judaism the question i s further complicated
by the fact that the Greek elem ent comes into it not
in one pure strain but mingled in varying propo r
tions from at least three di fferent forms of Helleni c
though t : Platonic Stoi c and N eo Pythagorean
With these the student o f Greek philosophy must
deal in detail F or him Alexandrian Judaism is
the development of a somewhat confused system
o f Greek thou ght under He b rew in fl ue n c e We
.

86

A L EX AN D R IAN JE WI S H W RITI N GS

TH E

are to approach it as the development o f H e b rew

thought set i n a fram ework o f Greek philosophy
In this approach we are certainly at one with the
authors themselves Philo for example c o nceive d
of his own work as the legi t imate outcom e o f He
brew i deas H e a lways stood withi n the connes
of the Hebrew re l igion and his Greek forms o f
thought were only the platf o rm from which he
He
h oped to make himself heard by those outsi de

called Plato the great but Moses was the great

est and most perfect man that ever lived ( V ita

Mosis I I )
The God to whom he o ffered the
al legianc e o f his thought wa s always the Hebrew
Jahveh The problem be fore him was to make the
Hebrew religion spe ak Greek ; to S how that the
best Greek thought was essentially at one with the
eternal verities of the revelation of God through
Moses i n the Hebrew law
In this attempt he was seemingly hampered b y
an almost total disparity in content and purpose b e
tween the t wo Greek thought was largely s p e c u
lative
The Heb rew law when not ceremonial
was entirely eth ical I f he would link them together
he must either emphas ize th e ethi cal elements o f
Greek thought or nd speculation in th e He b r e w law
The practical demands o f his purpos e united w ith
his own philosophi cal inclination to lead h im t o the
latter choice
Y et Hebrew like he c o ntinually
re ferred to the divine demands fo r purity and right
e o u s n e s s and to the close relation be tween ethical
goodness and the possibility o f gainin g wisdom
.

87

T H E S P I R IT

GOD

OF

Philo used two general methods for the discovery

o f speculation in the Hebrew law : rst allegory
an instrument which the Greek interpreters of
Homer placed in his h and ; and second the eleva
tion of certain O ld Tes tament terms to a prominence
far greater than they occupied in Hebrew t hought
at the same time modi fying though never totally
trans forming thei r content These terms he uses
for the expression of the relation of Go d and the

world They are Wisdom and Word

The
former brought its speculative suggestion from the
rst nine chapters of Proverbs where Wisdom is
on one hand the creative expression of God ( 8
and on the other the divine i deal o f human l i fe ( 8
I
T he latter was drawn fro m the numerous
O ld Testamen t expressions o f God as uttering him
sel f i n his Word Both were fused with Greek ideas
that are only somewhat dimly shadowed in the
Hebrew uses o f the terms
As we hav e found Hebrew thought had already
a native term which admirably expressed the He
brew sense o f the relation between God and the

world This was the term the Spi rit of God

It had a real content o f thought was venera b le with
age and was found in every class o f Hebrew lit

O n the other hand Wisdom in a philo

e r a tu r e
sophical sen se was late in origin and narrow in
u sage being only found in one class of literatu r e ;

while W o rd must borrow from Greek sources

nearly all its speculative signicance Looking at
the matter from the H eb rew standpoint one would
,

88

THE

A L EX A N D RI N JE W ISH WR ITI NGS

A

expect to nd Spirit the gre a t term o f Philoni an

philosophy Two reasons may be suggested why
it was not : rst and most important the close a f

og
Wisdom (o o cpi a ) and Word
n i ty of
( y )
with Greek ph ilosophy ; second the very f act that

the term Spirit was so o l d and well xed in He

brew literature and had received so denite a con
tent u n tte d it for the use o f Philo The term was
no longer exible Its a fli ations were so closely
linked with Hebrew ideas that it could not readily
take new contents
Y et P hilo and hi s followers
di d not wholly abandon the older term though thei r
use of it is comparatively slight A study o f the
development of H ebre w thought on this subj ect
woul d be incomplete without the consideration o f
the form it assumes here
U sin g as nearly as p ossibl e the sam e c l a ss ic a
tion as in f ormer sections we nd the followin g uses
o f the Spirit o f God :
A Spirit used o f Go d actin g in the sphere o f
human li fe :
I F or endowmen t o f indivi d u als wi th c h a ris
mati c g i f ts :
( a ) P rophecy :

It is n o t law ful for a wicked man to b e an in

t e r p r e te r o f God as also no wicked man c a n be
sai d to b e inspi red
Accordingly all those
whom Moses descri b es as j ust persons he also rep

resented as inspired an d prophesying

He then
instances Noah Isaa c Jaco b A b raham and M ose s
himsel f ( Q uis rer div her
-

'

89

T H E S PIRI T O F GOD

In the prophetic trance which proceeds f rom i n

spiration
the mind that is i n us is removed from
its place at the arrival o f t he divine Spirit but is
again restored to its previous habitation when the
Spi ri t departs for it is contrary to holy l a w for

what is morta l to dwell with what is immortal

uis
rer
div
her
(Q

The beginning o f M o ses s di vine inspiration

was at the R ed Sea when the E gyptians pressed

from behind upo n the Hebrews

When the
prophet sa w the whole nation now incl osed like a
shoal o f sh and in great consternation he n o longer
remained master o f himself but became inspired

and prophesied ( V ita Mosis Lib III

Conj ectures that is in ferences are akin to

prophecy for the mind could never make such cor
rect and felicitous conj ectures unless it were a
divine Spiri t which guided thei r feet int o the way o f

truth ( V ita Mosis Lib III

( b ) Skill in artisan work This is not properly
a separate division here but is retained from former
classicati o ns for the s a ke of uni formity In the
cases cited the Spirit is obviously used only because
it is so used i n the O ld Testament text The in
stances are used to illustrate ( c ) below :

God summoned Bezaleel and lled him with his

Holy Spi rit and with wisdom and understanding
and knowledge to be able to dev ise every good

work ( D e Gigant

F or the divine Spirit is not a motion of the air

b ut intellect and wisdom ; j ust a s it also ows ove r
,

90

T H E A L EX AN DR IAN JE WISH WR ITINGS

-

the man who with great skill constructed the taber

n a c l e o f the Lord namely upon Bezaleel when the
S cripture says And he lled him w ith the divine

Spi rit of wisdom and un derstanding ( Q u a e st

I
( c ) Wisdom ( see also ( b ) ab ove )

The Spirit which is upon [ Moses or any other

subj ect o f inspi ration ] is the wise the divine the
indi visible the u n d i st r i bu ta bl e the good Spi rit the
1
Spiri t which is everywhere enti rely lled u p
whi ch while it benets others is not inj ured by

h aving a parti cipation in i t given t o another ( D e

Gigant

Th e holy spirit o f discipline will ee deceit and

remove from thoughts that are w ithout under

standing ( Wi s Sol I
I prayed and u n
d e r s t a n d i n g wa s given m e : I called upon God and

the spirit o f w isdom came t o me ( 7

F or in

her [ wisdom ] is an understanding spirit ( 7

Thy counsel who hath known except as thou g av

est wisdom and didst send thy Holy Spirit f rom

a b ove ? ( 9 I 7 )

The spirit o f wisdom ( text

4 M acc 7 I 4 :
n v s y a n ( St d 7 013 Ao wju o )
doubtful ; Lin reads
y
2
As the substrate o f rational li fe A use not
speci cally found in the O ld Testament :

In commenting on th e passage God breathed

into his nostrils the b reath o f li fe

The forma
tion o f the individual man perceptible by the exter
nal senses is a composition o f earthy substance and
,

On

the tex t

se e

rummond

91

P h t lo ?

u d a eu s ,

II

2 1

6,

T HE S PI R IT O F GOD

divine Spirit F or that the body was cre a ted by

the Creator taking a lump of clay and fashionin g
the human form out of it ; bu t th a t the soul pro
but from t h e
c e e d s from n o created thing at all
F ather and R u l er of a l l things F o r when he uses
the ex pression he breathe d int o e t c he means
nothing else than the divine S p irit proceeding from
t h a t h a pp y and blessed nat u re sent to take up its
habitation here on earth for the a dvant a ge o f our
race in o rder that even i f man is mort al accordin g
to that portion O f him which is visible he may at
all even ts be immortal according t o th a t portion
wh ich is invisible
H e is born at the sa me
time both mortal and immortal ; m o rtal as to his

body but immortal as to his intellect ( D e O pi f

Mundi

Man was n o t formed o f the dust alone b u t

also o f the divine Spirit ( F ragment from John of

1
D amascus )

The divine Spirit is the essence o f the rational

art
o
f
the
soul
for
it
is
said
God
b
r
eathed
]
p
[
into his face the breat h o f li fe
( F ragment
from John the Monk C o ncerning the Soul an d
M ind )

The essence o f the soul is truly and be yond all

q uestion Spirit
but has no independent p lace

but is m ingled with blood ( Q u a e st I I

I ordered my wisdom to mak e m a n from seven

substances
his spirit from my Spirit and from

wind ( Secrets o f E noch 3 0

R f er ce to F rag m ents are to the Tauchni t edi ti on
.

en

2
9

TH E

A L EX AN DR IAN JE WISH WR ITI NGS

B Spirit u sed o f God acting in the physical

world
I As the ba s is o f physical li f e This has n o sep
arate representation here It must be com b ined with
Go d a cting o n externa l n a tu r e a p art f rom m a n
B o th together make
2
Spirit used o f Go d in his relati o n o f cosmi cal
immanenc e :

The m ind which is i ntrinsically light can be

raised up by the nature o f the divine Spirit which
is able to do everything and to subdue all things b e

low as material things may be raised by the w ind

Though the di rect re ference
( D e Plant Noe

is to the m ind yet the words to subdue all things

seem to g o b eyond m e ntal action and to have a
cosmical signicance Y et perhaps the fact th a t
this is the only case o f s u ch a signicance in Phil o
should make us care ful not to insist too strongly
upon this interpretatio n

B ecause the Spirit o f the Lord h a th lled the

earth and that which su st a in e th the universe

wd v r a
the all ] hath knowledge o f the voice ( Wi s
Sol I

F or in her [ wis dom ] is an und e rstandin g

spirit
havin g all power O verseeing all things
and permeating all intelligent pur e and most subtile

spirits ( Wis S ol 7 2 2

F or thy incorruptible Spirit is in all things [ v

mi o w ]
Wis
Sol
1
2
I
(
)
GfOr r e r has pointed out that the Spi rit i s used
in Philo only where it is brou ght over from the O ld
.

93

T H E S PI RI T O F

GOD

Testament but cert a in di fferences in usage are

immediately obvious Th e rst is the great e m p h a
s i s On the connecti o n of the Spi rit with wis dom
The second is t h e l a ck of the national sentiment in
connection with the Spirit This arises from its
c l os e relation t o wisdom which followi ng out the
suggestions of the Wisdom l iterature is not con
c e i v e d o f as national
but as cosmic Philo s pur
pose also does n o t lead him to deal with the
national hope A consequ e nce of these things is
the tot a l disappea rance of the Messian ic h o pe and
s o of the Spirit as a f o rce in the Messiani c time
This takes away from the Alexandrian thought the
hope which always remained a living p o wer am i d
all the Pales tini a n dogma of a time in the future
when the Spirit should again be a p o tent fact in
actual li fe once more entering into experience in
new forms and with a more powerful en er g y than
1
ever before
The peculiarities of Phil o s ide a of the Spi rit as
related to God depend primarily up o n his cosmi c
conceptions In Palestinian Judaism there was as

we have seen a growth of the term Spirit

to mean God himsel f God s being ap a rt from God
c o nceived as acting God a b i n tr o Phil o does not
,

order to complete the uses o f S pi ri t the f ollo wi ng are added

C U sed of angels
The essence of angels Sp r tual b ut they are very oftenD made to
resemble the a p
of men (Fra gment f rom J ohn o f amascus ;
comp Q t
l
D U sed o f human b e n g s e q u valent to
It
S ol 7
Al l i ntell i g ent pu e and most sub t le S p r ts
(W
w ould b e possi ble to i nterpret / here o f angels or other non human
b ei ng s man
b ut there
seems to b e no real demand f or i t
W ckedness b ut the Sp r t when t hath
i ndeed k lleth i h
A
S ol 6 4 )
(W
g one f orth he b ri n g eth not b ack
1

In

'

is

eara n ce

u a es

so u s z

is

v e tJ t a r a

is

is

94

A LEX AN DR IAN JE WI S H W RITI N GS

TH E

use it in this sense for the reason that his c o n c e p

tion O f God did not a l low it The essence o f God
remains unknown That he e x ists i s evi dent but
what i s the noumenal content O f that existence must
remain hi dden He is without qualities The Spirit
which is the expression o f God cannot then be i den
tical with God a b i n tm since he in his real nature
is inexpress ible
But i f the Spirit is not u sed as the eq uivalent o f
God himsel f i n his eternal nature is i t equivalent
to the powers o f God ? That it stands in close con
with the t w o most prominent o f these
n e c t io n
powers Wis dom and the Logos is plain Is i t
identical with them thus forming a triad o f biblical
expressions for the relation o f God to the world
or is there such a di fference between them that the
relation becomes other than th a t o f mere parallelism ?
Certainly some passages seem to imply an actual
identity with W isdom It is directly dened in the
passage based on Bezaleel s possessi o n o f the Spirit

for work in the tabernacle as wisdom and under

standing and knowledge to be able to devise any

work
O nce again returning to the same incident

o f Bezaleel Philo s ays The divine Spirit is not a

motion o f the air but intellect and wis dom

Here
is an O bvious reference to the literal meaning o f
n v sp a as air
Ph ilo means that he is not using
the word i n this sense As Wisdom the Spirit can

not dwel l with man forever since the disposition

o f the esh i s inconsistent with wisdom ( D e

Gigant 5 ; Q u a e st I 9 0 ; in both the above cases
,

95

T H E S P IRI T O F GOD

he is commenting on Gen 6 8 My Spirit shall

not always dwell with
Spirit is then in
one o f its uses an equivalent of Wisdom as one of
the powers of God This identity is approached in

An u nderstanding spirit is in
W is Sol 7 2 2

wisdom ( some texts i s wisdom omitting v )

Still perhaps by reason o f its traditional Hebrew
use it is only i dentied with Wisdom when in r e
lation to the mind o f man T he distinction becomes
more sharp as we study the uses o f Wisdom itself
Wisdom has certain cosmical relations It stands
as the hi g hest o f the divine powers It is the me
The Spirit is not given such
d iu m o f c reation
cosmi c al relations Indeed it is never used at all
in this sense b y Philo although it is by the writer
o f the Wisdom o f Solomon T he fact that Philo
only u ses it where it is carried over f rom the O ld
T estament and that in the O ld Testament passages
which fall u nder his consideration the use is always
the charismati c would seem to explain his lack O f
the cosmical usage in connection with Wisdom
The denition o f this form o f the idea may be
stated as follows : The Spirit is Wisdom considered
as an endowment o f man s soul for speci a l ends and
at special times
The relation o f the Spi rit to the Logos depends
on the relation between the Logos and Wisdom for
the Spirit is never set in direct connection with the
Logos The q uestion o f the relation of the Logos
and Wisdom is not one belonging properly to this
st u dy and comprises such curious e q ualities and
.

96

A L EX AN DR IAN JE WI S H WR ITINGS

TH E

su b ordinations and seeming contrad i ctions that it

would demand more space than we could a fford i t
The matter is fully investigated in D rummond
P h i l o J u d a eu s II 2 0 1 2 1 3
The general conclusion
is that the Logos and Wisdom are ultimately iden
tical O ur interest in this is that the Spi rit is thus
made u ltimately identical in its essence with the
Logos
What now shall we s a y o f the relation o f the
Spi ri t to the created world ? We have seen that the
Hebrew conception o f the Spirit had its origin in
an explanation o f the relation of Go d to man and
that only in post e x ilic times was it use d with a
cosmi c s i gn ican c e
In Alexandrian Judaism it
i s also used in a c osmi c sense b ut only in the most
general way and in rare passa g es The reason for
the rarity o f its use is plain The Logos and Wis
dom have taken its place The emphasis o f it is
once more as i n ancient H e b rew thought thrown
u pon the inspiration o f man In Philo the Spirit

i s said to subdue all things

Here though the
context is o f the mind the Spi rit as a cosmi c f orce
would seem to be meant The Wisdom o f S olomon
gives a f ew more passa g es though almost as va gu e
and general Here it is sai d that the Spirit in wis

ll e th the
dom oversees all th ings ( 7

earth ( I
and i s an incorr u ptible Spirit in

all things ( 1 2 I ) That here is a side glance at

the Platoni c soul o f the universe may very likely
be true Plato s word for it is wo rk
He never
uses vw ezi ju a in the cosmic sense When the Alex
.

'

(7)

97

T HE

S PI R IT O F Go D

andrian writers thus us e it probably one must a l

ways see the reection o f Hebrew terminology As
al ready noted Philo never uses n v e p a except when
led to do so by the use o f the bibli cal passage upon
which he is commenting The auth o r Of Wis d o m
combines a Hebrew term with Greek thought
The fullest passage is that whose concludin g
clause is q uoted above ( Wis Sol I I 2 4 t o 1 2 I )

F or thou lovest all the th ings that are and a bhor

rest nothing that thou di dst make ; for i f thou hadst
hated anything thou wouldest not have made it
And how could anything have persisted i f it had
not been thy will or been preserved i f not called
into existence by thee ? But thou sparest all b e
cause they are thine O Lord thou lover o f souls
F or thine incorruptible [ deathless ci gbOa pr o v ] Spirit

is in all things
Th e loving care o f God over his
creation is due t o the fact that i t embo di e s his
Spi rit This is quite plainly a statemen t o f the
doctrine o f immanence The cosmos is God s own ;
it contains h is own expression ; his Spirit not only
created it but is in it Th is is the philosophi cal
s ide o f that conception o f relationship which h as its
ethical expression in the Hebrew notion o f holi
ness There it was the relation o f ownership based
on creation ; here it i s the relation o f ownership
based on consubstantiality ; but in both the e m ph a
sis is o n the relation not on its ground The prin
c i p l e of th e permanence of the cosmos is b ased upon
the idea of th e indwelling Spirit That Spirit is
deathless
Therefore since i t is i n the
.

8
9

T HE A L EX AN DR IAN JE WI S H W RITI NGS

-

universe the universe abi des Thus the ground o f

the uni formity o f l a w or in other words o f the
permanence o f phenomena is laid for this autho r
in the permanence o f God
Compare 7 2 2 2 7
where the permanence o f w is dom is d u e to a Spirit
in her
It is t o be remembered that the author o f Wisdom
is not dealing with the eternity o f th e c osmos or
with its independent existence b ut only with its
permanence i n the realm of experience
Philo
however deals w ith the pro b lem o f the eternity o f
the cosmos Th e treatis e on the Incorrupti b ility o f
the World rests under suspi cion Z eller supposes
it to b e the production o f a Peripatetic rev is ed by
a Jew o f the Alexand ri an s chool
S c h ii r e r says

that its genuineness has been generally given up

e
i
w
sh P e o p le
II 3 page
J
It deals with
(
th e relation o f God to the universe only in the
fashion o f a dialecti c on the per f ection o f Go d I f
the uni verse is destroyed it must b e either in order
th at no other may be produced or that a new one
may b e created
Both are impossible for b oth
would imply less than per f ection in the work o f
God ; the rst in his work i n the f uture the se c
ond in his work in the present
H ere there is
Ob viously n o kinship to the i dea th at the permanen ce
o f the cosm o s is b ecaus e o f the immanence o f the
Spi rit O f God in it
But aside f rom this more than doubt f ul treatise
the subj ect is touched though briey elsewhere
T he world is imperisha b le b ut be c ause i t is in a
.

99

TH E

S PI R IT O F GOD

state of constant ux not bec a use o f its stability ;

for it is not stable The creations o f God di ffer

from those o f man because the ends o f things God

c reates are the beginnings o f other things ( Leg

Alleg I
F or example the end of day is the
beginning O f night So transform a tion not d e st r u c

tion is the o rder o f the universe

It is by pro
port ion [ o f its elements ] that the whole world is
compounded together and united and endowed with
consistency s o as to remain rm forever proportion

having distributed equality t o all its parts ( Q uis

rer div her
Compare D e O pi f Mundi 2 7
where m an and heaven are placed in comparison
each as the best o f its kind : the heaven the best o f
incorruptible things ; man the bes t o f perishabl e
things
It is tempting t o s ay that the preeminence o f the
things of God s creatio n over those of man s as
presented in the rst p a ssage may b e due to the
fact that the Spirit o f God was conceived o f a s in
them but the second pass a ge seems to put it on
quite a di fferent ground namely the c onstit u tion of
the cosmos itsel f Indeed i f Ph ilo held to the eter
mity o f m atter and made the creation its organi z a
t ion not its ori g ination as D rummond suggests
I
there
is
little
chance
for
this
attractive
2
(
99
speculation to be true
O ne expects to nd Philo s treatment o f the Spirit
as a cosmic principle more fully expressed i n h is

comm e nts on Gen I 2 The Spirit O f God moved

upon the f ace o f the waters than a n ywhere els e

,

1 00

TH E

A L EX AN DR IAN JE WISH WR ITI NGS

-

But instead o f that he treats n v e na here simply in

its literal meaning of ai r which forms a third ele
ment with water and earth and no cosmic s ig n i
cance is given to the passage ( see D e Gigant
In the treatise D e O pi f M undi it is treated in the
same way There is no quotation o f the passage
itself but the following sentences seem to b e based

on it : In the rst place therefore from the model

o f the world perceptible only b y intellect the Cre
ator made an incorporeal heaven and an i nvisible
earth and the form o f ai r and o f empty spaces :
the former o f whi ch he called darkn ess because the
ai r is black by nature ; and the other he called the
abyss for empty space is very deep and yawnin g
with immense wi dth Then he created the incor
p o r e a l substance O f water and o f air and above
all he spread light
And air and light he
consi dered worthy o f preeminence F or the one he
called the breath o f God because i t i s a i r which
is the most li fe giving o f things and o f li fe the
cause is God ; and the other he called light because

it is surpassingly beauti ful

7
To conclude : In Philo the Spirit is used only
once o f the power o f God active in the world In
the Wisdom o f Solomon it is used in the same mean
ing with the added i dea o f the Spirit as inherent
in the cosmos thus forming the ground of c o n
dence in its permanence and its place in the power
o f God The conception o f the Spirit as the direct
cause o f particular phenomena in nature a use s o
frequent in Hebrew literature when the Spi rit rst
,

1 01

THE

S PI R IT O F

GOD

b egan to b e thought of as appl ied t o nature is

here as in Palestinian Judaism totally lacking
In the relation of the Spirit to man Hebrew
thought brought to Alexandrian Judaism two ele
ments : the Spirit as a permanent basis o f rational
li fe and the charismatic Spirit as the ground o f
special gi fts But Greek philosophy brought to it
what early Hebrew thought never possessed the
philosophic theory o f a soul We are not here con
cerned with the origin and constituent elements o f
this theory b ut with its form as found in Philo
The soul is used by Philo in t w o senses : ( a ) The
soul in its sensorium the sum total of living person
ality apart from the body ; and ( b ) the rational soul
the human spirit which constitutes the essential per
so n a li ty
The rst is shown among other passages

in the comments on Thou shalt not eat the esh

w ith the blood

F o r there are three divisi o ns
o f the soul : the one part nutritious a second
endowed with the outward senses and the third

endowed with reason

It is the second part o f

which the divine v y s izn a is the essen ce for it i s

s ai d
God breathed into h is face the brea th o f

li fe
D rummond ( I page 3 2 0 f ) maintains that
the meaning o f n v ena here is air and that the con
t in u a n c e o f the fragment in Armenian proves it
It is certainly in f avor of this interpretation that we
have n v ep a used in the sense o f ai r in a cosmi c rela
tion ; but compare D e Special L e g ibu s Concerning

the Li fe o f Man I : F o r the essence of the soul

o f man is the breath o f God
T hat which
,

1 02

T H E A L EX AN D RIA N JE WI S H W RITI N GS
-

was thus breathed into hi s face was mani festly the

breath of the ai r or whatever else there may be
which is even more excellent th an the breath o f
the ai r as being a ray emitted from the blessed and

thrice happy nature o f God

This seems to sug
gest that the principle of even the more i rrational
part o f the soul may be some substance o f which
ai r is only a coarser an d cruder representation O n
such matters it is not impossible that we may be
obliged to allow a certain vagueness in the ex pres
s ions of Philo
O f the rational soul however it is sai d that the

d ivine Spirit is its essence : The divine Spirit is

the essence o f the rational part
for he
says God breathed into his face the breath o f
li fe
Nay the soul is an immigrant into this
sphere of human li fe
It originally came down
from above and goes back to the place whence i t

came ( Q u a e st II I
S ouls are sent down from

heaven to earth as to a colony ( D e Conf Ling

This accounts for the longing they have to
return to thei r ori ginal country
Souls demons
and angels are really one and the same thing ( D e
Incor Mundi ) but souls have f or some u n e x
plained reason taken up thei r abode in mortal bod
ies as the others h ave not They are spi ritual ex
i st en c e s made in the likeness not o f the Most Hi gh
for that would not be tting but o f the Logos
B
e
F
ragment
from
E
us
Prep
o
f
the
Gospel
)
(
fore the fall the divine Spirit was more evident than
now ( F ragment from John o f D amascus )
The
,

1 03

TH E

S PI R IT O F GOD

Wisdom o f Solomon has also the same i dea o f the

soul as an immigrant from a region outside though
not saying in express terms that the soul is a spir

Being good I came into a bo dy

i tu a l essence

u n de le d
( Wis Sol 8
The di fference between Philo and the O ld Testa
ment thought is interesting In the O ld Testament
the Spirit is the trans cendental part o f man and o f
beast as well It is not in itsel f personal and could
never be called a soul It is not a separate entity
It is the power of God expressing itsel f in li fe
Without this power o f God there is no li fe When
that is withdrawn l i fe dis appears
In Phil o the
Spirit is not an impersonal power of God dependent
for i ts operation upon the divine will but a distinct
entity It is spiritual in its natur e that is it b e
longs to a class o f beings w hose essential quality is
that they partake o f the characteristi cs of the divine
Logos or Wisdom Q uite in accord with the gen
eral trend o f Alexand rian thought the emphasis is
no longer lai d on the direct communion o f God w ith
men but on the series o f gradations from God to
men
To represent it graphi cally Hebre w thought
makes the steps o f relation thus : God
Spirit )
men Alexandrian thought thus : God
Logos
Spirit )
souls
m en
In the later po rtions of the O ld Testament the
Spi ri t plays a vital part as the expression o f God
in creation Here that function is performed b y
the Logos and the Spirit in the c osmi c sen se is a
,

1 04

TH E

A LEX AN DR IAN JE WISH WR ITI NGS

-

supernum erary only used o f the c reation of the r a

t i o n a l soul and yet the Spirit is not di fferentiated
from the Logos in any essential manner The same
cannot be sai d O f the cosmic relation i n the Wisdom
o f Solomon where the Spirit fullls a real purpose
in relating the universe to God
The charismatic S p irit has a much narrower range
than in Hebrew literature o f either the earlier or
the later periods It concerns itself with two elds
only : the gi ft o f wisdom and the gi ft o f prophecy
The conne c tion o f the Spirit with wis dom has b een
already to u ched upon In Philo it i s a c ommon
thought and in the Wisdom o f Solomo n is not
in frequent ( see I 5 ; 7 7 2 2 ; 9
T here i t
is cons idere d as being sent from Go d ( 9 1 7 ) i n
answer to prayer ( 7
In Philo the typical instance twice used is that

o f Be z aleel It is as shown in this c ase wisdom

an d understandin g and knowledge to b e a b le to de

vise any work ( D e Gigant

T he divine Spirit
is not a m o tion o f the air b ut intellect and wisdom ;

j ust a s it ows over

Bezaleel ( Q u a est I
T his Spirit is a s ingle f or c e It is not sep
as when i t is taken f rom
a r a t e d b y b ein g divi ded
Moses and put in the seventy elders Like re it
can light others yet not be diminished itsel f ( D e
This l as t passage i s interesting as
Gigant 5
a reminis cence o f the O ld Testamen t conception o f
the Spirit o f God as the s i n gle basis o f a variety
o f phenomena We have seen that s eparate souls
take the pla c e o f the single divine Spiri t as the
,

1 05

S P I R IT O F GOD

TH E

ground o f rational li fe but as the ground of charis

matic gifts Philo still keeps the Old Hebrew idea
o f the single and indivisible Spi rit
Philo distinctly regards the charismatic Spirit as

temporary
The Spiri t comes upon men but does
not cont i nue or abide in them
b ecause they

are esh ( Q u a es t I
A passage already
quoted on page 9 0 would seem to suggest that
Philo may have regarded the charismatic Spirit as
a temporary substitute for the permanent possession
o f the Spirit w hich would have been man s priv
ilege had he continued without sin It is temporary
because o f the impossibility of the permanent con
n e c t i o n betwee n the Spirit and the esh
Possibly

the experience o f a temporary frenzy in prophecy

may have combined with the Philonian philosophical
positions in producing this i dea
Philo s doctrine of the Spi rit has been up to this
point a m atter of tradition and dogm a rather than
o f experience In the charismati c Spirit of p r o ph
e c y one approaches the eld o f his own experience
He himsel f had been a subj ect o f visions which
he could explain by no natural means Th ere had
b een moments when he had seemed li fted out o f
himsel f possessed by a powe r that was not himsel f
This could be none other than a work o f the Spirit
o f God The passage in which th ese experiences is
des cribed is worthy of being quoted in full :

I am not ashamed to relate what has happened

to me myself which I know from having e x p e ri
Sometimes when I
e n c e d it ten thousand times
,

1 06

T HE A L EX A N D RIA N JE WI S H WR ITI N G S
-

have desired to come to my usual employment o f

writing on the doctrines o f philosophy though I
have known accurately what it was proper to set
down I have found my mind barren and u n p r o
d u c t i v e and h ave been completely unsuccess ful in
my obj ect being indignant at my mi nd for the
uncertainty and vanity o f its then exi sting O pinions
and lled with amazement at the power o f the
1
living God by whom the womb of the soul is at
times opened and at times closed up An d some
times when I have come to my work empty I have
suddenly become full i deas being in an invisible
manner sho w ered upon me an d implanted in me
from on high ; so that through the inuence o f
divine inspiration I was lled with enthusiasm
and have known neither the place in w hich I was
nor those who were present nor mysel f nor what
I was saying nor what I was writing ; f or then I
have been conscious o f a stream o f interpretation
an enj oyment o f light a most penetratin g sight a
2
most mani fest ener g y in all that was to b e don e
having such an e ffect on my m ind as th e clearest

ocular demonstration would have on the eyes ( D e

M igration A b raham
F ew passages in the literat u re o f this s u b j e c t are
more important than this Here is a ph ilosopher
a care ful thinker capable o f introspection speaking
frankly o f his own experience as the illustration o f
h is conception o f the contact o f God with man It
H M WH
( D rummon d I
"
Rather re d p y
di sti nct vi e w o f the sub j ects treated (
Dr mmo d l
,

O IS

et a v ,

1 07

se e

TH E

S PI R IT O F GOD

marks the intensity and vividness o f this experience

that he drops his philosophy o f powers and en

ergies and speaks o f the contact with God as simply

and directly as any old Hebrew prophet It is not
Wis dom or the L o gos that came upon him b ut God

himself the all accomplishing F ather

He who

is
This is not dogm a but life
It is possible to make a psychological analysis o f
this experience It has several elements o f origin
The rst is i ntellectual The experience came at
moments when the mind was extremely active and
closely attentive to the subj ects o f its thought so
absor b ed in them that it b ecame oblivious to all
a b out
T he second element is one of feeling Ac
c ompan ying the stress o f attention was an emotion
which he recognized under the name o f enthusiasm
1
(uo pv a v r t d v ) W hile the su b j ective result was also
an emotion whi ch he seems to distinguish very

properly f rom the enthusiasm o f the process i t

sel f T he third element is the sense o f the wort h
o f the results considered not as o b j ective though t
products b ut as subj ective f eelings which have
their place in the highest ranges o f personal li f e
The fourth element is the sense o f the remoteness
o f this experience f rom the normal li fe
It is
not the usual mental processes that are the g round
o f this experience T hey o ffer n o analogy to it or
ex planatio n o f it
O ne hesitates at rst as to
whether this should not b e called rather an in fer
.

c i te

The use of thi s w ord wi th i t connotati on o f wi ld and uncontrol led e x

m
t
S g cant
,

en

is

ni

1 08

T HE A L EX AN DR IAN JE WISH WR ITI NGS

-

ence from the experience but i t seem s to b e so

interwoven into its emotional content that one is
compelled to regard it as a primary factor of the
experience and itself a ground for the f urther i n
tensity O f the ecstasy Philo s conclusion was that
the moments o f ecstasy into which these factors
entered were only to be acco u nted for as the direct
inspiration o f God
In the light o f this experience must be interpreted
all that Phi lo says o f Hebrew prophecy H is fullest
treatment o f it is given in connection with Moses
When Moses sa w the people entrapped at the R ed

Sea he no longer remained master of himsel f but

became inspi red and prophesied ( V ita Mosis I II

This was the beginning o f his divine inspira
tion In the speech th a t follows M oses is r e p r e
sented as seein g the E g yptians overwhelmed in the
R ed Sea S o in the destruction o f Korah he sa w
what immediately a f terward ha p pened
H e also
gave oracles about manna the S abbath the d e str u c
tion o f K orah and his own death A frenzy which
left no consciousness i s supposed The soul a b di
c a t e d its seat and the Spirit o f Go d took its place
using the body as the medium o f its supernatural
mani festations
What are the antecedents o f Philo s theory o f i n
sp i ration ? F i rst his o wn experi en ce
H owever
mechanical the a bo ve theory may have become when
held in modern dogmati c theology historical theol
o g y must never f orget that with Philo it was s imply
the application to t h e O l d Testament p r o ph et s o f what
,

1 09

T H E S PI R IT O F GOD

he believed to be h is own experience The strong

ethical element in prophecy was marked in h is e x p e
r i e n c e by the emph a sis on the religious and moral
worth o f the results It was marked in his con
c e p t i o n o f the O ld Testament prophecy by the de

N o wi cke d
mand for righteousness in the prophet

man can properly b e said t o b e inspired

for a
prophet says nothing o f his own but everything
which he says is strange and prompted by some one

else and it is not law ful f or a wi cked man t o b e

the interpreter of God ( Q uis rer div her
Here speaks the Hebrew with the ethical c o n c e p
tion o f God and so o f a prophet in connection with
God
A curious contradiction which perh a ps
marks the Greek element is found i n F l a c c u s 2 1 :

F or every man s soul is very prophetic especially

o f such as a re in mis fortune

Not only is every
man especially those in mis fo r tune given this gi f t
but the passage i s a b out F l a c c u s whom Phil o
especi ally hated as a monster o f iniquity With
this may be compared D e S o m n i is I I I where the
third class o f dreams are those in w hich the mind

is s et in motion by itsel f and lled w ith f ren z y

and inspiration s o as to predi ct future events w ith

a certain propheti c power

In both cases a closer

examination sho w s that the pr o phecy is wholly

lacking in the elements of moral and religious emo
tion whi ch are so strong in the narrative of P hilo s
experience God is not even mentione d In fact
the las t passage quoted m akes the power of p rOp h
e c y a q u a lity o f the soul itsel f
I t is simply f ore
.

I IO

TH E

A L EX AN DR IAN JE WISH WR ITI NGS

-

tellin g ( comp

S i by l li n e Or a c l e s

II I 8 1 6 f 2 9 7
ff 1 6 3
It nds its appropriate representa

tive i n the widespread belie f in second sight

Th is i dea o f prophecy also was founded on ex
i
ff
n
e
r
n
c
but
experience
of
quite
a
di
ere
t nature
e
e
p
from Philo s lo fty j oy in conscious communion with
God Philo then like Hebrew history has t wo
kinds o f prophecy a higher and a lower and the
two sets o f terms used in describing it show that
he meant q uite d i fferent things by the t wo kinds
o f use
It is usually held that this theory o f inspi ratio n
rested upon Greek sources Beyond doubt Greek
ideas we re factors in it Th e inspi ration o f the
oracle is like the inspi ration o f M o ses A f ren zy
is the accompaniment of inspiration A state o f
trance is natural t o it There c an be no doubt that
the phenomena o f prophecy as Philo consi dered it
take much o f their coloring f rom Greek conceptions
The same i dea appe ars i n the S i by ll i n e Or a c l es
( III 8 1 2
.

"

Oth e r s

am

a Sib y

an

sa y

f C ir c e b o rn

An d fa t h e r Gn o s t o s r a v i n g m a d a n d fa se
Bu t a t t h e t i m e wh e n a l l t h i n g s c o m e t o p a s s
Y e wi m a k e m e n t i o n o f m e ; n o o n e m o r e
,

Wi ll

ll

ca

ll m

m a d b u t Go d
,

g r e a t p r o p h e t e ss

Less o b vious are the Hebrew sources o f Phil o s

idea Certainly such descriptions o f the propheti c
method as are given i n connection w ith the li fe o f
M oses are enti rely as ide f rom the H ebrew narra
f ive s o f the same events
Th ey are not compatible
.

I I I

T HE S PI R IT O F GOD

with the facts o f higher prophecy They are how

ever closely akin to the conceptions o f t h e lower
cruder Hebrew prophecy o f the earlier period
Saul among the prophets E lish a under the spell of
music Balaam compelled to speak the thing he
would not are best explained by some be lief kin
dred to Philo s We have seen that w ithout doubt
this was the early H ebrew conception of the source
o f prophecy a conception based upon an experience
comparable in its fundam ental factors to that of
Philo But still it does not follow that Philo drew
his conceptions from these sources O ne c a n hardly
however use the fact that he never cites these cases
to prove that he did not dra w from them for h e
doe s not deal in his extant writing with these
portions o f S cripture
The fact is that the Greek o racle represented
the same sta g e o f religious thought as the early
Hebrew prophet
I n Gree ce prophecy remained
permanen tly cry stallized in its l o wer and cruder
form The Hebrew records h a ve nothing to a d d to
that form which could not be gathered from the
fuller and clearer experience of Greek li fe It is
not necessary then to po sit the early O ld Test a
ment form o f prophecy as one o f Philo s sources
especially as we have n o evidence th at he ever gave
c o ns cious at ten tion to the parti cula r cases which
might have served as ground for his concept
Philo s idea o f the action o f the Spirit in prophecy
forms a backward movem ent in the history o f the
idea o f the connection of Go d with m a n It b e
.

'

1 12

T H E A L EX AN DR IAN JE WISH WR ITI NGS

-

comes important however in the study o f the i n

t e r p r e t a t i o n which the writers o f the early church
put upon certain events in the history of the rst
It was an essenti al facto r in
C h r i s t i a n c e n tu r y
the preparation o f conditions out o f which the later
Christian theological conception o f the Spirit arose
Many of the modern theories o f the Spi rit s activity
notably certain post reformation theories o f b iblical
i nspiration allow o f explanation only on the basis
o f the conception o f the Spirit in Al exandrian
Judaism
,

(8 )

1 13

PA R T I I
T H E S P I R I T O F GO D I N N EW
T E S TA M E N T T H O U G H T

CHAP TER I
In tro du c t io n

T HE RE are only four possible f act ors i n the origin

o f New Testament theological conceptions They
are ( I ) the Hebrew tradition in which is in cluded
both Palestinian Judaism and the O ld Testament
system of thought ; ( 2 ) Greek inuences ; ( 3 ) the
teachin g o f Christ ; ( 4 ) the experiences of the early
Christians i n which are included the experiences o f
the writers o f the New Testament Alexandrian
Judaism comes in some things under the Hebrew
tradition and in others under t h e Greek inuence
according to the a fli ation o f the particular elements
w ith Hebre w o r Greek thought In some cases the
Christian thought is not the represe n tative o f any
thing existing i n contemporary H ebrew conceptions
b ut reects by a sort o f intellectual at a vism the
i deas o f ancient Hebrew thought Such leaps in
the heredity o f religious thought are not uncommon
where there are sacred books to furn is h links o f
connection
Some phase o f experience or o f
thought may produce a revival o f an i dea o b s cured
b y time and hal f forgotten
This is sometimes
only a passin g phase where a conception out o f
harmony with the present is merely galvani zed
into an articial semblance o f li fe but o ften i t is
the application to present conditions o f an ol d i dea
which has actual vital content In su c h cas es the
.

1 17

THE

S PI R IT O F GOD

once anti q uated i dea becomes a new f orce and

enters on a new career o f trans formations and his
tori c inuences
Such a movement however has its real cause
in some contemporary development of religious li fe
A partial illustration o f this is the attempted r e
resulting in t h e real revival o f
v i v a l o f Mosaism
Scribism in the Puritan movement when there was
an attempt under the inuence o f a very genuine
religious impulse to mold the state and certain
social and religious customs after the supposed de
mands of the O ld Testament O utside o f Chris
t i a n i ty the present V edantism and the Ary a Somaj
o f India furnish illustrations They are attempts
to revive H indu philosophy as the basis o f moder n
religious movements Theosophy is in like manner
based less on present Buddhism or Y o g a is m tha n
on an attempt to interpret the classic books of these
religions Whether any o f these will prove t o b e
more than the attempted galvanism o f dea d i deas
remains yet to be seen Something of this harking
back to earlier thought one nds in certain New
Testament ideas perhaps nowhere m o re than in
the conception o f the Spi rit There is a li f e a vivid
ness and force about the New Testament teaching
regarding the Spi rit that one does not nd elsewhere
this side of the ancient Hebrew prophetic literature
The likeness of i dea was caused by the likeness o f
experience In both periods belief in the possession
o f the Spirit was a factor in actual li fe Thus the
He b rew tradition and the experience of the Ch ris
,

1 18

I NT R O D U C T I ON
tia n church com b ine in the shaping o f this i dea
F or the rest the idea depends largely on c ontempo
rary Palestinian Jewish ideas
The chie f points of the Palestinian Jewish con
c e p t i o n of the Spirit were
as we have seen the
withdrawal o f the activity o f the Spirit from phys
ical nature the limitation of its oper a tion to the
range o f human activities the use o f i t to explai n
the ancient national history and literature the de
nial o f its activity in contemporary li fe and the
expectation that it would once more operate i n the
future Messianic kingdom A l l thes e assumptions
lie in the background o f the earlies t New T esta
ment thought on the subj ect Here to o it is used
only o f man never of nature Its applicatio n to
the history and wri tings o f ancient Israel is one o f
the mos t fre q uent New Testament usages while the
idea o f the working o f the Spirit as a part o f the
M essianic program is the m ain taproot from wh ich
springs the entire growth o f the peculiar New
Testament doctrine o f the Spi rit Two elements o f
Jewish conception w hi ch may seem at rst sight
contradictory to the New Testament doctrine are
the moral and religious work o f the Spi rit and the
denial o f the Spirit s operation in present li fe The
last however is only a seeming dis crepan cy fo r
the Christian b elief that the Messiani c age had come
carried with it on the presupposition o f Judaism
the idea o f the present operation o f the Spirit The
Spirit as working in the purely ethi cal and religious
realm was not a tho u ght that was parti c ularly dom
.

1 19

T HE

S PI R IT O F GOD

in a n t

i n later Jud a ism The course o f development

whi ch was begun in P s a 5 1 and 1 3 9 never reached
i n Judaism its full fruition
There is no eviden c e
that i n the rst Christian c entury it f ormed any
appreciable elem e nt o f Judai c thought We shall
not be s u rprised then to nd that early Christianity
ignores it It is taken u p and developed by Paul
but under inuen c es so new that when we come to
its cons ideration we shall need to raise the q uestion
whether there is in it any element o f old Hebrew
thou gh t
The portions o f the con c eption which are due to
the other three elements va ry much in quantity and
import a nce G reek thought coming through the
mediu m o f Alexandrian Judaism contributed very
sl ightly i f at all It inuenced later philosophy in
the mechani cal dictation theory of the inspi ration
o f S cripture b ut few distinct traces o f this appear in
the writings o f the New Testament The teaching
o f Jesus emphasi zes certain elements b ut strangely
enough adds nothing that i s essentially new and
is f ar less important fo r the geneti c study o f the
doctrin e than one would naturally expect in the
case o f an element o f Christian theolo gy which
h a s held so important a position in the strue
ture of the Christian system The element o f ex
was
much
more
si
gnicant
Without
r
i
n
e
e
c
e
p
the widespread an d rmly xed belie f in the early
church that certain phenomen a o f thei r religious
li fe were produced b y the Spirit of God the doc
trine o f the Spi rit woul d have taken an entirely
.

'

120

I NT R O D U C TI O N
di ff erent f orm and would have had a very di ff erent
history This was the warp into which the woo f
o f traditional concepts from whatever source they
came was woven This experience is worthy o f
the most care ful study The neglect of this study
of actual li fe has been one reason for so much i n
t e r p r e t a t io n of this doctrine which has been me
c h a n i c a l and unpsychological and which h as re f used
to lend itself to the demands of pro g ress ive theolo g
ical thought
The term for the Spirit whi ch has b ecome almos t
the peculiar characteristi c o f the Christi a n litera

ture namely
Holy Spirit ((3 w rrv e p a ) i s a
direct bo rrowing from Judaism The contribution
o f Christianity to the thought o f Go d is not h is
holiness b ut his F atherhood The peculiarly Ch ris

tion addition to terminology is the Spiri t o f

Ch rist
Holy as t h e quali fyin g adj ective o f

Spi ri t b elongs to the cycle o f Hebrew thought

Its origin preceded the Christian period and yet its
development is not wholly easy to trace The term
appears rst in the later O ld Testament literature
( P s a 5 1 1 1 ; Isa 42 I ) In the Jewish literat u r e
it became more common
Two reasons for the growth o f the term may b e
On e is the Je wish hes itancy to use the
found

name o f God As Heaven and the Most Hi g h

and sometimes the Holiness came to be used for

E lohim and Jahveh so the Holy Spi rit came to

be used for the Spirit of E lohim and the Spirit o f
Jahveh The su b stitution wa s not universal i n the
.

12 1

T H E S PI R IT O F GOD

one c as e more than in the other but in both it was

so general as t o make a distinct usage which con

1
forms to a well marked type
That Holy
was chosen as the quali fying adj ective is in accor d
w ith the Jewish exaltation of holiness as the chie f
characteristic of God It is a part o f the large u m
conscious tribute o f Judaism to the work and
inuence of the prophets The second re a so n for

the growth o f the term Holy Spirit is the devel

o p m en t of the idea o f the spirits which a r e not o f
God The Jewish mythology o f angels and demons

had made the ol d term the Spirit vague an d a m

That we nd this term use d later in
bi g u o u s
Christian literature is due to the fact that while
there was i n early Christian thought n o decrease
o f belief in the existence Of evil spirits there w as
at the sam e time a great emphasis on the work o f

the Spi rit o f God ; s o that the Spirit came to b e

used comm o nly of the Holy Spirit pa r ex c e l len c e

How di fferent this fam iliar Christian usage is from
the Jewish and how the demon mythology assisted

in the development of the term Holy Spirit is

shown by D alman : The Targums have conj oined

m " [ Spirit ] wherever in the O ld Testament it is
not expressly called the Spirit o f God either with
to make it clear what spirit
[ Holy ] or
was contemplated
In Jewish literature it
,

the com mon Je wi sh ex pressi on : and

when Jesus uses E w by
the ori gi nal w ould b e the
( M att
A ama c N123 1 : h :
un
l ess the pre f erence w ere g i ven to the f uller f orm
7
suggested b y M att
he en ( Dal
b y the S p i ri t o f m y F ather i
m
p
W d fy
1

Uq

R11 5 }: n th

n ot

ve

is

an

1 2

an

or

s o

10

es us .

2 0,

122

av

'

I NT R O D U C TI O N
is so u nheard o f to speak o f the Spirit VIM T when
the Spirit o f Go d is meant that the single word
Spirit would much rather be taken to mean a

demon or the wind ( Wo r d s o f J es u s page 2 03

E ng
In Christi an literature the use or omis

sion o f the adj ective Holy is q uite incidental

The meaning is not there b y a ff ected

12

CHAP TER II
Th e Sy n o p ti c Go sp e ls

I T HE TE A C HI N G O F JE S U S
I T is necessary to distinguish i n the synopti c
gospels between the teaching o f Jesus and the con
c e p t i o n s o f the writers of the gospels or o f the
sources which they used E ven in subj ects regard
ing which the teaching of Jesus was entirely or even
largely original t h is problem of distinction i s not
always easy In those regarding which early Chris
tian thought contained a large infusion o f inherited
Jewish ideas the problem becomes very important
and sometimes very di fcult Nor can this dis
tinction always b e the same as that drawn between
the words of Jesus and the narration o f the evan
l
i
e
s
It
is
always
possible
that
in
the
transmiss
ion
t
g
of the words of Jesus some infusion of Christian
interpretation or of Jewish inheritance may color
the impression w hic h the words leave upon the
reader even i f it has not modied in some measure
the record of the words themselves
The words o f Jesus recorded in the synoptists

give the following uses o f the term the Spi rit

( 0 w e ap on) in the sense o f the Spirit of God :

Matt 1 0 2 0 : It i s not ye that speak but the

Spirit of your F ather that speaketh in you ( par

allels Mark I 3 1 1 ; Luke 1 2

Matt 1 2 3 1 3 2 : E very sin and b lasphemy

.

I 24

S Y N O PTI C G O SP E LS

TH E

shall b e for gi ven unto men ; but the b las phemy

a gainst the Spirit shall not be forgiven ; and whos o
ever shall speak a word against the Son o f man it
shall b e f orgiven him ; b u t whosoever shall speak
against the Holy Spirit i t shall not b e f or g iven

him ( parallels L u ke 1 2 1 0 ; M ark 3

Luke 4 1 8 in the q u otation from Isa 6 1 1 de

s cribin g th e Servant
I will put my Spirit u pon

him

M att 1 2 2 8 : I f I by the Spi rit o f Go d c ast o u t

demons then is the kin g dom of God come upon

you ( parallel L u ke 1 1 2 0 by the n ge r o f Go d

i nstead o f b y the Spirit o f

Luke 1 1 1 3 : How much more shall yo u r h ea v

e mly F ather give the Holy S pirit to them that a sk

him ( parallel M att 7 1 1 g ood thin g s inste a d

o f the

M att 2 2 43 : How then doth D avi d in the Spirit

c all him Lord sayin g ( parallel M ar k 1 2 3 6

D avi d himsel f saith i n the Holy

M att 2 8 1 9 the b aptismal formul a : Into t h e

name o f the F ather and o f the Son and o f the Holy

Spirit
A ttention is immediately drawn to th e two p a s
sages where men tion is not m ade o f the Spi rit in
the parallels : M att 1 2 2 8 and Luk e 1 1 1 3
M att
12
2 8 as c ri b es the power t o c ast o u t demons to

the Spirit o f God Luke 1 1 2 0 to the n g er o f

God
There are n o other cases in which Christ
ascri b es the miraculous elements in his ministry to
the Spirit Th e S pirit as the divine gu i din g powe r

'

12

T H E S PI R IT O F GOD

in the M essianic career is however expressed in the

quotation from Isa 6 1 I ( Luke 4
It is then
quite possible that such an expression as is used in
Matt 1 2 2 8 may have come from Christ The
question comes to b e one o f probabilities rather than
one in which we can expect to nd absolute proof
O n the principle that the more di fcult reading

is probably original Luke s phrase the nger of

God w ould b e preferred It is also true that it is

easier to suppos e the change o f this more unus u al

phrase to the very common Christian term the

Spi rit than to suppose the opposite change p a r ti c u

l a r l y in Luke who uses the Spi rit with such i r e

q u e n c y E specially is this change probable in a
passage which a moment later implies the Spirit s
power in healing demoniacs At the same time
there is a certain liking for O ld Testament phrase
olo gy shown by the Lucan editor and this phrase
has its prototype in E xod 8
Th e question is
then one whi ch does not admit of absolute decision

The probability remains against the phrase the

Spirit of God
That Christ does not elsewhere
lay stress upon the Spirit as the source o f the power
o f his mi raculous works makes the probability yet
stronger
The second text in which the parallel passage
does not sustain the u s e of the Spirit is Luke 1 I 1 3

the promise that the F ather will give the Holy

,

H oltz mann notes the L ucan fondness for certa n p l t i p w

l ik e the arm and h and of G d ( Luke 5 6 6 7
H e st l l more
Acts
f ond ho wever o f the express on the iS pi r t as i t f re q uent
show s That he has not used i t here a somewh t stron g arg ument f or
the ori gi l ty o f the f orm he does

na i

u se

12

"

ex

is

as

u se

r e ss

in

ns

S Y N O PTI C

TH E

Go s P EL s

Spi rit to those that ask him The parallel passage

Matt 7 I I promises instead the gi ft o f good

things
This cas e seems to be less doubtful than
the one j ust considered It is a promise of the Holy
Spirit to the disciples ; yet not t o the disciples in
any time o f great future need or for the advan c e
o f the M essianic kingdom but at any time and for
the behoo f o f the personal relation between the b e
liever and God a use not made o f the conception o f
the Spirit elsewhere in the teaching o f Christ and
hardly in the literature representing the primitive
Christian idea o f the Spirit Bes ides the gi ft o f the
Spirit i n response to the prayers o f the disciples is
more akin t o later Ch ristian i deas than to the teach
ing o f Christ In that teaching the expression has
no parallel In John 1 4 1 6 w hich is most nearly
akin the Spirit is promised in response to the prayer
o f Christ We conclude then that the insertion o f

the common Christi an term o f the Spirit in the

synopti c source or by the Lucan editor with whom
it is a favorite is more pro b a b le than i s the opposite
l
change
H aving then excluded thos e two passages on
the b asis o f the parallel texts let us gather up the
u ses in the remaining passages :
1
The Spirit is used only in respect to the Me s
s i a n i c kingdom and in respect to the inspi ration o f
the O ld Testame n t writers
,

and Co d d t Ori g read

but doub tless n uenced b y
the text o f Matthe w L ucan f orms o f text are also seen i dp x w ( L k e
ses th rty three t mes) and i the attracti on o f 6 (i f 6 i to b read) i the
phrase 6 p
dd
D

ov

a vov

iau

12

T H E S P IRIT O F GOD

It is used by implication o f the Messi ah s

activity i n t h e quotation from Isa 6 1 I ( Luke 4
and somewhat more directly in Matt 1 2 3 1
2

It
is
used
of
the
divine
po
w
er
w
hich
will
here
3
a f t er help the disciples in their labor and i n thei r
witness for the Messiani c kingdom ( Mark 1 3
S o far the representation is entirely Palestinian
Jewish The Spirit is not regarded as the origin
o f the external world It is limited enti rely to the
divine inuence upon human activity It is a tem
ra r
gi
ft
for
special
needs
not
a
permanent
pos
o
p
y
s ess ion I t is not the b asis o f a moral or mystical

new li f e
All thes e are m arks of the Palestinian
Jew ish phase o f thought Christ neither introduced
original interpretations into this conception nor di d
he go back to those O ld Testament elem e nts which
had d ropped out o f the Jewish usage H is expres
sion was quite that o f contemporaneous thought
It i s n o tab le however that i f we lay aside M att
12
2 8 his teaching never ascribes the unusual the

mere wonders to the Spirit Standing between

the Jewish conception o f the wonder working Spiri t

and the later emphasis i n the church u pon the gi fts

of the Spirit the moderation o f Christ in this r e

1
spect is notable
I t forms the link be twe e n the
Jewish conceptions and the later development o f an
W endt ( G p l f y h p 8 ) calls attenti on to what h re g ard s a mark
of the sub apostol i c or gi n o f the ed tor s frame work o f J ohn as di sti ng shed
forom
the apostol c source i that the f ramework emphasi z es the value
fdi vChr
i st s Si gns
w
h le the source keeps to the eth i cal ev d ence o f the
i n ty o f Chri st s m i ssi on
Wh ether W endt s anal ysi s o f the g ospel b e
correct or not the dependence u
the eth i cal evi dence i i g reater
harmon wi th the sy nopti c teac g o f J esus than i an emphas s upon
externay ig
.

os

'

u i

on

n s.

12

S Y N O PTI C

TH E

Go s p E L s

ethical doctrin e o f the Spi rit under Pau l Whether

or n o t the teaching o f Christ contained elements
more closely in harmony w ith the l ater Pau l ine doc
trine i s a question w h i c h arises more distinctly in
the consideration o f that teaching as presented in
t h e fourth gospel I f there were such teachings it
is certainly s ingu l ar but yet not wholly im possible
that they should not appear i n the synoptic gospels
The obscure saying about blasphemy against the
Holy Spiri t ( Matt 1 2 3 1 3 2 ; Luke 1 2 1 0 ; M ark
2
3
9 ) is connected in both Matthew and Mark with

the charge that Jesus cas t out demons by Be e l z e

bub the prince o f the demons

It is seemingly an
assertion o f the Spirit as the source o f the miracles
o f Christ F rom it one might even gather a some
what strong impli cation that the healing o f the de
m o n i z e d was the one great proo f that Christ s work
proceeded from t h e Spi rit Y et h e wh o could say

o f the exorcism of demons I f I by Beelzebub cast

out demons by whom do your sons cast them out ?

There fore shall they be your j udges could hardly

have given such a unique and transcendent impor
tance to this parti cula r miraculous work as the lim
i t a t i o n o f this saying to that work alone woul d i m
ply Nor do we nd that elsewhere Christ places
his mi raculous works upon so h i gh a plane It is
likely then that Christ in this saying had in mind
not merely the phenomenon which formed the occa
sion o f the saying but that he included in his mean
ing rather the sum total o f the evi denc e for h is
Messiani c mission
I
2
(9 )
9
.

S P I R IT O F

TH E

GOD

The saying i s o f further signicance as marking

Christ s conception of the transcendent importance
of the Spirit s work That conception nds its best
explanation in the idea that Christ here speaks in
the langu age o f Palestinian Jewish notions of the
Spirit F or l ong generations the Spirit had been
withdrawn from the world F rom the close o f pro
p h e t i c times it had been reserved f or the Messianic
period When it was now once more operative in
Israel when i t was present in the fulllment of the
long desired Messianic hope for Jewish leaders to
deny its mani festations was a S i n o f peculiar hei
n o u sn e s s
The saying gets its sting not from its
comparison o f blasphemy against the Spirit and
against Jesus but from the Judaistic b ackground o f
the connection o f the Spirit with the national Mes
s i a n i c hope
F or Christ s conception o f the work of the Spirit
the most central synoptic teaching is Mark I 3 1 1 ;
Luke 1 2 1 2 ; Matt 1 0
The Spirit here is the O ld Testament Spirit o f
inspi ration Compare for example the ide a in the
Balaam fra g ment where Balaam waits upon the
word of Jahveh ( Num 2 2 8 ; 2 3 3 ; and especially
24
True it is here promised by Jesus not for
prophecy but for testimony ; but Christian testi
mony is the correlative o f t h e O ld Testament p r o p h

l b ert ( Th R l ti f
p 9 7 ) supposes the teach n g to have
and Luke
seem to
b een g ven on t w occas ons but M att
7
bHeoltparallel
W th Mark 3
and to b e a doublet o f M att 4 9 4 (
z mann i l ) Only the occasi on suggested i the latter passage
fourn
shes a p roper h stor cal b f or the teach ng g eneral The prom se
f the S pi r t also p m t to a t me when the M essi an c nat re o f Chr st s
m ssi on w well understood b y the apostles
1

Gi

es u s ,

1 0

1 2

2 2

1 2

se e

o co

on

eve a

a Si s

in

as

13 o

'

T HE SY N O PTI C G OSP E LS
e cy

T he apocalypti c writer was but following the

lead o f this teaching o f Christ when he wrote The

testimony of Jesus is the S pirit o f prophecy ( R ev

,

The work o f the Spirit is connected with the de

v e l o p m en t of the Messiani c kin g dom
not with the
safety o f the individual disciple The purpose o f

the speaking is fo r a testimony to those before

whom the disciples will be brought
( Luke s
1
thought i n 2 1 I 3 i s as Wendt suggests a change
not in stri ct accord with the teaching of Christ ; see
also Holtzmann i n l o c o ) But the testimony o f the
disciples in the New Testament has f or its pur po se
the advance o f the Mess iani c knowledge and belief
( I Cor 1 6 ; 2 I ) Mark I 3 1 2 shows that the
result o f the gu idan c e o f the Spirit is not personal
safety
The guidance of the Spirit is for special needs
The promise i s not for general assistance nor fo r
a continual control but only for gui dance o n p a r t i c
ular occasions It is the particular charismatic use
Th e promis e o f the Spirit is a promise o f divine
help when human resources f ail T he simple dis
c i p l e s might well b e alarmed at the prospect o f
facing the religious and civil power o f their own
nation and o f the R oman empire ; for thus they
must have understood J esu s s words H is promise
was obviously th at o f help where thei r own r e
sources o i wisdom and elo q uence were too feeble
to a v a
I p
E g t
hi g f 3
T
3 8 note
I3 I
,

e ac

esu s ,

T HE S PI R IT O F GOD

The promise was not of the Spi rit as ground

ing the ethical li fe but of the Spirit as inspiring
for utterance which wi l l further the purposes o f
God as in the O ld Testament prophecy In fact
the closest a fnities of this thought are with the
ideas o f O ld Testament prophetic inspiration
The intimate association o f the Spirit with th e
activity o f the disciples is marked by as strong an
emphasis as the most anthro po morphic O ld T esta

ment writer could use

It is not ye that speak but

the Holy Spirit

It is a most absolute expression
o f the doct rine o f the individual as the instrument
of the Spirit In Luke 2 1 1 5 the same guidance
is assigned not to the Spirit but to Christ himsel f
This unication o f the two is quite in line with the
early Christian thought which spoke o f the Spirit

as the Spirit o f Christ

T h is passage may be
summarized as follows : The Spirit so inspires the
disciple o f Christ that his natural powers are sup
l
e
m
n
t
e
d
whenever
the
needs
of
the
Messiani
c
e
p
kingdom demand i t T h is is then the conception
o f a supernatural inspiration akin in psychological
character to the O ld Testament prophetic inspira
tion a temporary gi ft for special occasions
In Luke 4 1 8 Jesus applies to his mission the de
scription o f the Servant in Second Isaiah ( 6 1
He uses it a s a Messiani c passage in w hich the
entire Messianic mission is ascribed to the Spirit
This was one o f those indirect and tentative claims
to the Messiahship w h i c h were frequent in t h e early
middle period o f J e su s s ministry It is possible
I3 2
,

T H E S Y N OPTI C G OS P E LS

that some inkling of his high claim p en etrated the

minds o f the men o f Nazareth on that occasion

for J esu s s refusal to repeat the things done in

Capernaum here in his o wn country could not

have been thrown cavalierly upon a friendly audi
ence It is not improbable that the outbreak o f
wrath which followed h i s address may have pro
c ee d e d in part from his claim o f the Spirit s guid
ance which could have meant to a Palestinian audi
ence nothing but an assumption of the Messianic
mission E ven John the prophet o f the wilderness
had been careful not to arrogate to himsel f the pos
session of the Spirit Who was this fellow th a t he
should claim that which only belonged to th e Mes
siah or to the Messiani c era ? The Messiah was
not yet come D id he himsel f claim to be that per

son ? And they were lled with wrath

There remains the formula o f baptism in Matt

28
19 :
Into the name o f the F ather and o f the

Son and o f the Holy Spi rit

D oes this proceed
1
?
from Jesus
The fact that the full formul a is not
elsewhere given in the New Testament creates a
probability against it but by no means mak es as
is often assumed a conclusive O bj ection to it E lse
w here in the New Testament we have no occasion
for a full formula The inciden tal references to
baptism do not demand the formul a At the same
T
he nvest gat ons of C yb
publ shed the Z t h r ft f di
N T W
h f and i
the l bb t ? m l V l I and summar z ed b y
Professor L ake h i naugural lecture at the Un vers ty o f L eyden J an
uary 7
throw g rave cr t cal dou bt upon the tri n tar an formula as
a part o f the or g nal text T here seems reason to b h that the early
church f athers kne w the text wi thout t h formula S hould the pos t on b e
proved the pro b lem o f the use o f the S p r t i th s text d sappears f or
b b l cal theolo g y
,

'

es s e n s c

in

e a re

on

ou

3 3

ev e

ur

is

9 04 ,

er

e i sc

in

TH E

S PIRIT O F

GOD

time the slight re ference to baptism in the activity

o f Christ ( baptism seems to disappear totally from
Christ s work after the beginning of the Judean
ministry ) the fact that Christ so lled the content
of the religion o f the early church coupled w i t h
the use o f Christ s name only in all references to
baptism make it probable that the trinitarian for
mula does not come from Christ
Th e study of the use o f the Spirit furnishes a
more sure ground o f conclusion on this subj ect than

does historical criticism What co u ld baptism into

the name o f the Spirit have meant in the mouth o f

Jesus j udging by his use of the same term elsewhere
in the synoptists ? What but baptism into the o c
c a s i o n a l possession o f a divine power in times o f
great need when ordinary human abilities di d not
?
f
su ce to advance the Messianic purposes of God
O ne may well questi o n whether Christ would have
put a term with th is meaning by the s ide o f God
and the Messiah in a solemn formula of baptism
I f on the other hand w e could suppose it to have
been in some sort a synonym for the p o wer or

name o f God a meaning sanctioned by neither

the teaching o f Jesus nor the remains of contempo
rary Jewish literature it would still be di fcult to
account for the use o f synonyms in this way We
can explain this formula neither from the use o f

the term the Spirit in the words o f Jesus nor

from its use in Palestinian Jewish writings It is
how e ver not di fcult to explain i t from the p o int o f
vie w o f the early church No sooner did Chris

13

T H E SY N O P TI C G O S P E L S
t i a n i ty

p a ss from the Jewish into the Gentile world

than the belie f in God the F ather became an article

o f Christian faith in a much more important sense
than among monotheistic Jehovah worshiping Jews
The Spirit too as the basis of the new li fe as both
the essence and the e v i dence o f the connection of t h e
Christian with the supreme God as the divine guiding
power of the Christian community in all its e c c l e s i
a s t i c a l organism and its missionary activity came to
be an essential e l ement o f Christian belief It meant
a rich heritage a precious experience a high voca
tion It meant a form of divinity not less divine
than God the F ather or t h an Christ It is not sur
pris ing that the church embodied its conscious
ness o f the value o f this relationship to the di v ine
in the formula o f baptism To nd its value how
ever we need to go not to the teaching of Christ
b ut to the thought and li fe o f the early church F or
these reasons as well as for those w h i ch historical
criticism more o ften presents one is compelled to
withdraw the formula in Matt 2 8 1 9 from the
genuine words o f Jesus
T h ere remain then as p robably genuine words
o f Jesus regarding the Spiri t : 1 Mark 1 2 3 6 ( par
allel Matt 2 2
a re ference to the O ld Testa

2
ment writers as speaking in the Spi rit
Matt
the
12
3 1 3 2 ( parallels Luke 1 2 I I ; Mark 3
sin against the Holy Spirit 3 Luke 4 1 8 the Mes
1
1
uoted
from
Isa
connecting
6
s i a n i c Spirit
q
the Spirit with the mission o f the Messiah
4
Matt 1 0 2 0 ( parallels M ark 1 3 1 1 ; Luke 1 2
-

13

TH E

S PIRI T O F

GOD

the promise o f the aid of the Spirit to the disciples

in future times o f need
Summarizing the teaching of Christ in the synop
t is ts : The Spirit is a manifest revelation of God
present in the work of the Messiah and guiding his
action It will also furnish needed divine power to
the members of the Messianic kingdom when Christ
is absent and their own powers no l onger s u fce
It is not a new li fe or the basis of a new li fe but
a special gift superadded to the ordinary li fe
T his is thoroughly Palestinian Jewish Th ere is
here no hint of the peculiar Pauline development
T h e whole conception is in line with that of the early
Jewish a postolic church
There is elsewhere in
t h e synopti c teaching of Jesus the equiv a lent o f
Paul s i dea of the new li fe in the Spirit It is
expressed as coming into the kingdom ; as a li fe
with new aims and purposes ; as the li fe o f faith
its ethical aim righteousness its inspiration trust ;
as the gift o f God its connection be ing with God
directly not with the Spi rit of God
The sm a l l part which t h e Spirit plays in the teach
ing of Christ needs exp l anation It certainly c an
not be taken as indicating that Christ placed little
value on the i dea w h ic h that term r epresented The
intimate relation between God and m an which this
term h a d indicated in the Heb rew literature was
exactly that w h i c h Jesus was most concerned to
bring about It may very possib l y be his clear reali
z a t i o n of this relation that led to the rare use o f

the t erm Spirit of God t o expr ess it

Ch r ist
.

13

TH E

S Y N O PT I C G OS P E LS

taught a perfect harmony with God He himsel f

stood in such a relation H e desired it for hi s fol
lowers He would have his disciples brought into
direct and immediate connection with God himsel f
E ven so thin a veil as the idea o f the Holy Spirit
might tend to obscure the relation O f the cl a sses
o f instances which can be traced undeniably to his
use one is o f the past when the Spi rit spoke through
Hebre w inspiration ( Mark 1 2
one is o f the
future a fter his departure ( M ark 1 3
and the
third is such a statement as could by no possibility
obscure the fact o f an immedi a te relation between
God and men ( Matt 1 2 3 1 f ; Luke 4 1 8 and
parallels )
It is s igni cant th a t in no case does Christ speak
o f the Spirit as acting upon his followers wh ile
he is present with them He w ould keep the thought
O f the disciples xed upon himsel f as the revelatio n
o f the F ather It is only when his thoughts recur
to the gloomy future that he appeals in either the
Johanne a n or the synoptic tradition to the Jewish
thought o f the Spi rit as an elem ent o f com fort to

the orphaned disciples E ven this use o f it i s

in the nature o f a concess ion to Jewish us a ge
R eally his disciples had what was b etter than the
Spirit ; they had Christ himsel f E ven after his de
parture the presence o f the Spi ri t would still be his
own presence s o that he could s a y i f we may trust

the Johannean tradition I will not leave you o r

h
a
n
e
d
I will come unto you
It is i n line with
p
this that Luke sub stitutes f or the promise o f the
.

3 7

S PI R IT O F GOD

TH E

Holy Spirit to the disciples when brought before

kings and rulers on account of the gospel the

words I will give you a mouth and wisdom which

none of your adversaries shall be ab l e t o withst a nd

Certain l y Christ s teaching resulted in the con
s c i o u sn ess of the presence n o t only of the Spirit
but o f Christ himsel f active and energizing in the
Christian church O ne queries i f this may not be
due at l eas t in part to Christ s sparing use o f the
Spirit and his great emph a s is on the direct and
immediate relation O f the b eliever to himself and
to the F ather
,

II T H E S Y NO P TI C N A RR ATI VE
There is one section of the gospel narrative which
represents entirely Jewish thought except as it may
h a ve been colored by the Christian medium through
whic h it has passed T h i s is the preaching of John
the Baptist Th e Jewish element is seen in all the
concepts o f John s te a ching The Messiah as the
purier o f his people ( Mark I 8 ) the need of r e
n c e as the preparation for his coming ( Matt
n
t
a
e
p
i
n
the
Messiah
as
being
present
but
hidden
8
)
3
obscurity until the time o f his man i festation ( John
2 6 ) are all common Jewish id e as
The one ref
1
erence to the Spirit w hich the tradition of John s
preaching has preserved in the gospels is also who l ly

Jew ish : I b aptize you with water : he shall baptize

you with the Holy Spirit and with re ( Matt

3 1 1 ; Mark I 8 ; Luke 3 1 6 ; comp Acts
It is wort hy o f note also that the idea of the Spirit
.

13

T H E S Y N O P T I C G O SP E LS

is Jewish rather than Hebrew even though one

nds in other elements of John s teaching a revival
of Hebrew concepts F or example his sense of his
own propheti c mission is Hebrew not Jewish
Judaism as we have seen did not thus interpret

its religious experiences John feels that he is a

voice through whom God speaks

He is now

ready to say I say unto you ( Luke 3

quite
in the manner o f the ancient prophet O ne can
only think o f him as recognizing within himsel f
that divine gui dance which made the prophetic con
Y et with all his claims for himsel f he
s c i o u s n ess
did not claim to possess the Spirit Th at he keeps
w ith characteristic Jewish reverence for the idea
exclusively for the operation of God i n the fully
developed Messiani c kingdom S o thoroughly was
he imbued with the Jewish idea o f the Spirit as
being the peculiar property o f the Mess iani c king
dom in the future that the old prophetic language
which called the prophet the man upon whom the
Spirit of God had come was no longer the natural
language to use H e is a prophet but the Messiah
will have the Spirit
While this conception o f the Spi rit is Jewish still
its interpretation is bas ed on Hebrew prophecy
The Messiah is regarded as mediating the Spi rit to

his followers
I baptize you with water : but he
shall ba ptize you with the Holy Spirit and with

re
The gure o f baptism in the Spi rit ( v
Wt e p a r t ) i s not to be carried too fa r
as though
the Spi rit were an element by means of which the
,

13

T HE S PIRIT O F GOD

M essiah would accomplish his purpose a s water

is the element of baptism The use of re in the
same phrase shows that the whole double gure
must be taken in the broad sense o f its inner g

It is as though John said I

u r a t i v e meaning
am placing you in relation to God by a symbol
which expresses your desire for purication from
sin The Messiah will place you in a relation to
God which shall exceed what I can o ffer as much

as purication by re exceeds washing by water

Not only wi l l it be di fferent in power but in con

tent
Y our baptism expresses your own purpose
T h e Messiah will o ffer you a baptism in which
God s power shall meet with your purpose The

purication shall be God s work not your s only

Nor was the idea o f purication the only o r per
haps the most important i dea o f the Baptist in his
use of the Spirit The promise of the Spirit con
stituted a claim for the fulllment o f the old pro
p h e t i c promise o f the return of the Spirit to the
people It was the a frm a tion in an other form that
the Messianic age was at hand
Cl o sely akin to this M essiani c teaching is the
incident of the vision at J esu s s baptism M ark our
rst source for this tradition makes this a vision
without h o wever implying
o f Jesus ( I 9
that John di d not also se e it Matthew follows
Mark i n part In Luke the rhetorical g ure o f the

Spirit des cending like a dove is tran s formed int o

literal fact in bodily form as a dove John I 3 3

I sa w the Spirit descending as a dove out o f

,

I 40

T HE S Y NOPTI C G OSP E LS

heaven contains a rem iniscence o f the same gure

O ne would not press t h e phrase as a clove here

or elsewhere as necessarily from the Baptist ; but
i t seems not impossible that the vision m ay have
1
b een to the Baptist and that the fourth gospel
may have at the basis o f its account the most cor
rect form o f tradition when it puts the story o f
the vision o f the Spirit in the mouth o f the Baptist
It would at least be in perfect accord with his Jew
ish conception o f the Spirit as a peculiar possession
of the Messiah
When we pass in the earliest gospel sourc e from
the tradition of the Baptist to the narratives o f the
ministry of Christ we are struck by the meagerness
o f referen ce to the Spirit We might expect that
in the light b oth of the Jewish Messiani c idea and
o f the late r Christian experience there would be an
abundant use o f the Spiri t to explain the li fe and
2
works o f Christ
O n the contrary the narrative
portions o f the oldest tradition present only one
pass a ge aside from the story of the baptism men
t i o n e d above in w hi ch this explanation is o ff e red
for an event i n Christ s li fe T hat is the t e m p ta
tion ( Mark I
an event not a part o f the
expected Messi ani c activity So f ar then as our
,

l i ttle use i try i n g to rati onal i z e th i s account or to di scuss

vari ous v s on hyp otheses i connect on W th t H e wh reco g n i z es ho w
e s ly the per ods o f rel gi ous enthus asm evolve psycholo gi cal experi ences
wh ch take the f orm of si ons and also how easi l y events b ecomei throw n
i nto vi si on f orm i the tell n g w i ll b e b ut l ttle ncl ned to dog mat z e a b out
thi s dove The i mportant thi ng i the concepti on o f the S p r t The g ure
o f the dove may have come i nto the narrati ve i y one o f several w a y s
The f w re ferences Acts must b e from a later date They occur i
later documents wh ch use the S p ri t very f reely as an explanat on o f l l
Chri sti an phenomena T he same w oul d o f cou se appl y to the J ohannean
l terat re ( f or example J ohn 3
I4I

There

is
i i

Vi

an

in

T HE S P I R IT O F GOD

literature allows us to j udge the earliest Christian

thought d i d not explain the Messianic work as being
due to the possession of the Spirit by Christ This
paucity of use may be due to two inuences : the
very meager use which Christ himself m ade of the
conception in explaining his work and the feeling
that Christ stood so close to God that there was no
need fo r the intervention of the Spirit This would
have been quite in accord with the Jewish notion
of the Spirit Th e Spirit was God s medium for
the inspiration of the prophets and other men
through whom he wrought his will upon earth S o
long as the Messiah had been thought of as he was
by Hebrew prophet and Judaistic scr ibe as a
prince prophet a man whose o fcial position deter
mined the relation i n w hi c h he stood to God so
long he had like other prophets and national lead
ers been regarded as holding this o fcial pos ition
by the gi ft o f the Spirit There is abundant e v i
dence however that with the disciples wh o had
known Jesus the personal element dominated the
o fcial He was the Messiah to them having all
the Messianic o fces ; but as he had seldom i f ever
spoken to them o f the Spirit as the source o f his
reve l ation o f God but rather of his relation as being
immediate l y w it h the F ather himself so the dis
c i p l es found no need of supplying in thei r thought
of him a medium o f connection with God through
the Spiri t Another e l ement seems to have assisted
in this change from Jewish i deas : that the teach
ing of Christ himself took up the Jewish concepti o n
,

1 42

T H E S Y NOPTI C G O SP E LS

o f the Spi rit in the Messiani c time b ut applied it

especially to the time following the earthly presence
o f t h e Messiah In that time the disciples would
need the Spi rit to assist them in the m idst o f en e
mies ( Mark 1 3
Here also belongs as will be
shown more fully later the conception o f the Spirit
whi ch is found in the last discourses of John the
account o f J e su s s breathing upon his disciples and

saying R eceive ye the Holy Spi rit ( John 2 0

and the instructions to the disciples given at
the ascension as told in Acts 1 ; all o f wh ich are
in harmony with the teachings o f Christ a b out the
Spirit and doubtless rest upon genuine tradition
The reference to the Spirit as driving Christ into
the wi lderness to be tempted seems to have been
made under the impulse o f the des ire to account for
such an unexpected circumstance as a tempt a tion o f
the Messiah E ven this temptation the author o f
the narrative wishes to a frm was not apart f rom
1
the divine plan of his work
The Matthean account of the nativity u nites with
the Lucan account in ascribing the divine agency
in the b irth o f Christ to the action of the Hol y
Spirit ( Matt 1 1 8 2 0 ; comp Luke 1
The
whole critical question o f the stories o f the nativity
,

S i nce the account of the temptati on must i f i has hi stori cal biasi s
at all have come i some form f rom Chri st h msel f there a poss b l t
that thi s re ference to the S pi r t i also to b e ascr b ed to hi m Al l the pro b
ab l i t es ho wever are otherw se The pauc t o f the re ferences o f h i
w acti vi t
to the S p r t un tes W th the great i mprob ab l t that he
w ould assi g th s event to the S p ri t when he does not so ass g ni h i g reat
w orks of grace and teach ng s o f mercy iO the other
hand noth n g w oul d
b e more prob able than that early Chri st an tradi t on should attr b ute th s
event stran ge so
the career o f the M ess ah to the d rect
d
act on o f the S pi r t of G under the feel i n that i stood i pec l ar need
o f an element o f de fense
1

i i

so

u n ex

ec te

43

in

is

an

u i

T HE S P IRIT O F GOD

is involved in any discussion o f this matter With

out entering here into an extended treatment of the
subj ect one may assume that they do not represent
in thei r present form the earliest period of the apos
tolic church
They are attempts to account for
the unique personality o f Christ They must have
taken literary form after the personality of Christ
had become in some measure a problem for t h e
church The i dea o ften advan ced that these narra
t i v e s i n thei r present form belong to the earliest
1
stage o f Christian tradition seems hardly bo rne
out by a close study It is true that the Messianic
mission o f Jesus appe ars prominently in both narra
t iv es
This would however hardly need a birth by
the Spirit o f God
Nothing in Jewish thought
would demand that Nowhere in Judaism is the
Messiah a perso n o f supernatural birth though
sometimes he is regarded as a supernatural person
come down from heaven The Spirit however is
nowhere connected with his personal appearance
O n the other hand a vivid realization o f the won
d e r fu l character of Jesus demanded an explanation
o f his person It is this explanation rather than the
recognition o f Jesus as the Messiah which woul d
give occasion for the publication of the narrative
2
o f the miraculous birth
F
example i H asti n gs s Bi bl D i ti ry arti cle H oly 8 m t p 5
D
H ob en ( The V rg n B th i Th Am r
f Th l g y
7 mm
J ul y i ) suggests
three poss ble concepti ons as nd n g explanati on
the m raculous bi rth the moral pur ty o f Chr st h M essi an c m ss on
and h i moral l ikeness to G d H e excludes the explanat i on o f the d v ne
nature o f Chri st f rom the purpose o f the g ospel w i ter W hat sa d ab ove
w ould serve to exclude the M essi an c m ssi on also from the l sts and w ould
leave the explanat on o f the un q ue personal elements o f Chr st s char
acter h i moral puri ty and moral l keness to G d as the reason f or the
rrat e o f the story o f the m i raculous b rth
.

or

ir

02

"

on a

ic an

na

eo o

is

iv

1 44

in

is

40

"

'

T H E S Y NO PTI C G OSP E LS

conception o f the Spirit presented in th e gos

pel o f the infancy is unique di fferent from any that
preceded it In the broad sense it is charismati c
and connected with the element o f character At
the same time the Spirit s e ems t o be regarded as
the origin o f the phys ical body o f Christ and so
i t connects with the middle Hebrew idea o f the
Spi rit o f God active i n the physical world There
however it was God moving upon the physic a l
world directly and for the s ake of an end within that
world Here it i s for the sake o f the religious
1
rather than of the phys ical an idea more in the
line o f later Judaic thought O ne may perhaps call
this the earliest attempt to explain t h e person o f
Christ The explanation is in accord with the Juda
i s t i c Christian ideas o f the Spirit
Nor despite the unique character o f the c o n cep
tion is it di fcult t o see why the Spirit is used as
the active agency o f God in the birth o f Christ I t
lay so closely related in Jewish thought to the Mes
s i a n i c o fce that it o ffered an easy and natural term
to use for the explanation o f his person In this
Th e

There seems to b e no doub t that the creati on o f Chri st s ph dsi cal

h
bI ody i ncluded the act on of the S pi ri t W alker ( Th S p i ri
r i p ) says o f the ord a understand n g o f the passage that
seems an rrupt on o f the spi ri tual and the d vi ne i nto the ph si cal and
natural sphere so ent rel out o f harmon W th the i dea of evoluti on as an
orderly process b y means o f resi dent f orces as to b e i ncred ble P erhaps
that r b ut the story seems nevertheless to mean j ust that W alker
calls
a narrat ve the nai ve b bl i cal style expressi n g i sem i
l f orm the great f act that underla the second creati on i
Chri st
wl ould nd S g fi cance the entrance i nto the w orldi i o f a d
ne w and h gher k nd of b ei ng man wholly a fter the S p r t man as
the S on f G d
the Di vi ne L fe real i zi n g tsel f as man T o make
th s a na ve poet cal account o f so pro found a truth i to deal wi th the N w
T
m
out o f all accord W th the type o f l terature
u a w
sents I not easy to b el eve that the early church e i ther had such an
elab orate theor o f the person o f Chr st or that i f they had the w ould
l
1

'

is

in

nc a n a t o n

02

in

is
i

ue,

in

o eti c a

ni

"

ts

t e

ry

an

in

is

ti n ct y

e st a

en

u
i

na

y,

is

re p re

have taken th s en g mat c w y to express i t

m g rat onal sm
1 45
( I O)
i

"

iz

It

looks too much l ke P h

.

i on

TH E

S PIRI T O F GOD

way too the Christian church avoi ded the o ffensive

physical conceptions o f t h e F atherhood o f God
w h ich would otherwise have lain so near the sur
1
face and which Pro fessor Curtiss shows to be within
the actual range o f the Syrian peoples Without
the idea o f the Spirit the thought o f the divine Son
ship o f Christ had it ever been carried into the
physi cal realm at all would almost certainly have
become a conception o f mythical nature not essen
t i a l ly unlike Greek and Hindu myths o f divine h u
man beings
E ven as i t is the enemies o f Christianity actually
charged this myt hical belief against the church It
was possible to avoid this physical mytholo g y and
yet to express the pro found truth o f Christ s unique
personal relation to Go d by the use of that c o n c ep
tion of the Spirit which the H ebrew religion had
developed Without the use o f this inherited term
and the i dea which it represented the Christian
conception o f the person of Christ would have be en
either much lower or vastly poorer and more bar
ren than it has been With it the early church
could think o f its Messiah as coming body and soul
from God yet perfectly h uman and could so c o n
c e i v e his nature as neither t o lower his character nor
make an ide a impossible t o pictur e from their Jew
ish point of V iew It was only when Greek met a
physical notions entered Christian thought and the
simple Hebrew conception of the Spirit as the divine
power dropped away before a metaphysic a l ideal
P ri m i t
T d y
S m i t R li g
,

i ve

ic

1 46

i on

TH E

S Y N O PTI C G O SP E LS

ism that the person o f Christ became a mystery

To the theologians who discussed the person of
Christ i n the terms o f h o m o o u s i o s and h o m o i o u s i o s
the Spirit o f God was a term o f hi dden meaning
The explanation which had met the rs t needs of
the Jewish Christian church pl a yed absolutely no
part in the great class ic theological debates regard
ing the divinity o f Christ D oubtless the scholar
ship o f the world can never retreat from complex
and philosophi cal to na i ve answers to its riddles
b ut meantime the great mas s o f the church will
continue to nd i f not a complete y e t a satis f actory
provisional answ e r to its questions o f the person o f
Christ i n the earliest Jewish Christian explanation

conceived by the Holy Ghost even i f it is not able

to comprehend speculations o f s cholas tic theolo g y
As one follows the attempts o f other religi o ns to
express kindred ideas o f thei r leaders a n d divine
heroes one is thankful that the providence o f God
furnished the Christian church with this old He
brew term for the divine activity operatin g in the
world
In spite o f thei r great di ff erences there seem s to
b e some relation bet ween the M atthean an d Lucan
accounts o f the in fancy The resembl ances are t o o
great t o perm it the view that the accounts have an
entirely disconnected origin Whether that c o nnec
tion be in a form o f an original Jerusalem Be th l e
1
hem saga as W e r n l e suggests or in some other
way is a pro b lem which would lead us far a eld
.

D i e S y n o p ti s c he F r a g e

I 47

89 9

TH E

S P I R IT O F

GOD

Certainly the original form contained the reference

to the Spirit which is common to the two accounts
ac
Matt
Luke
1
The
Lucan
2
0
1
1
8
;
(
count has been largely expanded The annuncia
tion of the birth o f Jesus has been balanced by an
annunciation o f the birth o f John the Baptist and
a di fferent cycle o f stories o f the infancy of Jesus
has been employed The history o f these changes is
at least in the present state of the study a hopeless
problem There is however a series o f phrases in
the Lucan narrative whose afnities reve a l thei r
origin with su fcient plainness : Luke 1 I 5 ( John )

shall be lled with the Holy Spirit

1 41
( E lisa

b eth ) was lled with the Holy Spirit

2
2 5 (of

26
S imeon ) The Holy S p irit was upon him
2

It had been revealed unto him by the Holy Spirit

2 27
He came in the Spirit into the temple
These are all the references to the Spirit in the
infancy passages aside from the one common to the
two accounts To these may be added the Luca n
phrases inserted in the Christian tradition : 4 1

r
e
Jesus full o f the Holy Spirit
Jesus
1
4
4

turned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee

10

2 1
Jesus rej oiced in the Holy Spirit
Whether in the infancy narratives the insertio n
o f the references which we call Lucan was made
by the editor o f the writings is a question w hich
belongs to criticism rather than to biblical theolo g y
It may be that the Lucan story o f t h e infancy was
a part of the document which furnished the material
f or the rst part o f Acts I f so the likeness o f
.

1 48

S Y NOPTI C G OSP E LS

TH E

phrases in the two sections is there b y accounted

for as the mark of the source common to both

F illed W ith the Holy Spi rit ( En l o q i rv c i zil a r o g

d y i o v ) occurs in Luke 1 I 5 4 1 6 7 ; Acts 2 4 ( in

7 9
nl
o e i g or 111 77
F
ull
o
f
the
Spirit
I
1
9
7
( n
p ) 4 3
m ze i i iu a r o g) occurs in Luke 4 I ; Acts 4 8 ; 6 3 ; 7
2
I
I
Some
o
f
these
however
1
I
;
;
;
4
55 9
7
3 9
as Acts I 3 9 cannot belong to the source common
to Luke and Acts i f indeed such a source is to
be assumed but must be the work o f the Lucan edi
tor R eferences to the Spirit are far more abundant
in the earlier portion o f Acts than in the later
and they are akin in c hara c te r to those in the i n
fancy accounts They are mostly statements that
indivi duals were possessed o f t h e power o f the
Spirit or acted either h a bitually or on occasion
under the Spi rit s impulse O f the same sort are
all the references in the infancy accounts which are
peculiar to Luke T h ese give no new material for
the history o f the concept in general They simply
add further instances of the common Christian idea
o f the charismatic Spirit which we have already
seen sparingly expressed b y Jesus and w hich we
shall nd abundantly used in the literature r e e ct
ing the thought o f the early church
The only
peculiarity is that they ascribe the propheti c Spiri t
to individuals in the pre Christian period ; but this
is limited to those who had to do with the fulllment
o f God s plans for the Messi a h John E lisabeth
S imeon The passages could not have originated
in Judaism for in Jewish literature as our st u dy
.

1 49

TH E

S PI R IT O F

GOD

o f it has S hown the Spirit is never ascribed to con

temp o raries
They represen t the reection of
Christian Messianic thought upon the period o f the
beginning o f t h e Messiah s l i fe
,

50

CH AP TER III
Th e P ri m i t i v e C h r is ti a n C on ce p tio n

study o f our subj ect in the N ew Testament

literature presents a wholly new phenomenon There
is a mass of conceptions perfect l y explicable b istori
cally covering the entire period o f the early church
and appearing in all its literature In the midst of
it appears like the little horn of th e apocalypti c
vision a new conception speaking things that for
the history o f religion are truly great It is not
easy to trace the history of its growth It belongs
to genius and genius is never amenable t o the
common laws o f evolution But bes i de it in the
same composite li fe nay e v en in the same mind
t h e old i deas still stand and pass on to the n e xt
age with no one not even he who originated the
new perceiving that they are merely relics of the
past doomed to be silently pushed aside without even
a ch a nce to arm themselves for the battle of sel f
preservation
Such a phenomenon i s not uncommon in the his
tory o f religion The growth o f h i gh religious ideas
has always been due to persona l religious insight
whether one calls that insight genius o r inspi ra
tion A course of religious growth will often pro
c e e d naturally and explicably for a
certain dis
tance
Th e student almost feels that he can
calculate its orbit and proj ect its future cours e
TH E

'

S P I R IT O F GOD

TH E

when suddenly and u n ex p e c te d ly h e nds that the

i dea has come into the grasp o f some new person
a l i ty and has shot o ff from its former course at a
most inex p licable tangent F or the psych o logist
here lies the spo ntaneity of personality R eligion
has always explained such events as showing the
inspiration o f the divine It is at le as t noteworthy
let us repeat that every lo fty religious ide a which
h a s passed into the world s possession has been thus
struck out at a ash from the religious insight o f
some lofty soul It would be possible to divi de
n o t religions indeed
for they are always complexes
o f the lower and the higher but religious c o n c ep
tions into lower and high er according as they were
the gradual developments o f reli gious thought
inuenced by environment or the sudden trans
formation o f old i deas in the mind o f some reli gious
genius Such a di v ision would be t h e modern cor
relative o f the old distinction between natural and
supern atural religion The former m ight be called
racial religious concepts ; the latter personal r e
l i g i o u s concepts
The new i deas o f the Spi rit were the Pauline ;
the o l d those which we may for want of a b etter
name call primitive Christian
We shall attempt
rst t o trace the connection and gr o wth o f these
older i deas They are found in all parts of the early
Christian literature It so chances that Acts fur
nishes the best examples but no portion of the lit
not even the Pauline epistles is wh o lly
e r a tu r e
without its additions to this phase o f thought
.

1 52

TH E

PR I MITI VE C H R ISTIAN C O N C E P TIO N

Th e

following classications m ay be made :

A The Spirit used o f God acting i n the individ
ual li fe :
I In the endowment o f individuals w ith charis
m a ti c gi fts :
( a ) Prophecy : Act s 1 1 2 8 ; 2 0 2 3 ; 2 1 4 1 1
comp
R
ev
2
and
p
a
rallels
I
2
2
1
;
4
(
7
3
( b ) Tongues : Acts 2 4 3 8 ; I 0 44 ff ; 1 1 1 5 f ;
1

ff

10

2 1

( c ) Wisdom : Acts 6 1 0
( d ) Power to perform miracles : Acts 1 3
( e ) V ision : Acts 7 5 5 ; Rev 1 1 0 ; 4
3 ;

17

( f ) Power in Christi an testimony on speci c

occasions : Acts 4 8 3 1
( g ) Spe cic or general di rection i n the pro g ress
o f Christi an activities : Acts 8 2 9 3 9 ; 1 0 1 9 ; I I
12 ;
4;
7 ; 2 0 2 8 ; Jude 2 0
( h ) Charismata w ithout more specic d e n i
tion : Acts 5 3 2 ; 8 1 5 f
2
In the more continuous and perm an en t control

o f individuals
F ull o f the Spirit used only by
Luke o f the indivi dual as a mark o f character but
not resulting in any spe cied charismatic power
An approach t o the ethical meanin g possibly i n
u e n c e d by the Pauline us e : Acts 6 3
5 ; 9 17 ;
I I 2 4 ( comp Heb 6 4 ; see also corresponding
Lucan usage in Luke I 1 5 4 1 ; 4 I )
B The Spi rit used o f God a ctive in the church
Thi s li st o f p assages i f rom the extra P l i e p t i o f the N w
T estament outs de the g ospels F the correspon d ng P aul ne us g e
p
.

2 02

or

1 53

au

or

ons
i

se e

T H E S P I R IT O F GOD

as a whole especially for the dev el o pmen t o f its

Messiani c testimony : Acts I 8 ; 2 3 3 ; 5 3 9 3 2 ;
I Pet 1
I 2 ; 4 I 4 ; Jude 1 9
C The Spirit as present in Christ guiding
hi s Messianic activity : Acts I 2 ; 1 0 3 8 ; He b
,

14

D The Spirit used as the medium o f revelation

in the O ld Testament : Acts 1 I 6 ; 4 2 5 ; 7 5 1 ; 2 8
2
I
I
I
O
Pet
Pet
2 5 ; Heb 3
1
1
1
8
;
;
;
;
5
7 9
.

2 1

E The seven Spirits o f God used sym bo lically

for the complete sel f revelation of God
A use
peculiar to apocalyptic symbolism : R ev 1 4 ; 3
.

; 4

5 6

I f w e compare the use o f the Spirit here with

that in earlier periods of Hebrew history we nd
that the growth has been inten s ive rather than ex
tensive N 0 new use has a p peared O n the other
hand there has been a very full development o f
certain of the older uses The Spirit now means
not something di fferent from what it did formerly
but means in th e large the same things not now
as matters o f memory or o f hope but o f a vital
vivi d experience in actual li fe
I
The use o f Spi rit for God a b i n tr o has entirely
disappeared yet the identication o f God and the
Spi rit o f God is m o re close than in Pal estinian
Judaism God as mani festing himsel f in the new
Messiani c movement as active in the Christian com
munity had very largely taken the place of the d is
,

54

PR IM I T I VE C H R I S T IA N C ON C E PTION

TH E

tant abstract D eity whom the Jew worshiped The

result was a new sense of relation to Go d a closer
drawing together o f God and man and because of
this a greater unication o f God in his essence and
God in his active and intimate connection with
man that is o f God an d the Spirit
Here as in Palestinian Judaism the S p irit
2
acts only upon man never as i n earlier periods
upon nature Here however there is a still further
narrowing The Spiri t is no longe r conceived as
acting on any man or for any divine purpose but
only on Christ the believer in Christ and the writ
ers o f the O ld Testament who prophes ied of Christ
The hu m a n use has become narrowed t o the
Messi a nic
The Judaistic Messianic conception was na
3
t io n a l
The Spi rit was an expression for the future
guidance o f God over the whole people which cor
responded to the past guidance o f God in for
example the Mosaic period In the earliest Chris
tian conception it i s still national for the Messiah

is the hope o f Israel b ut the pos session o f the

Spirit belongs only to Christians They are now
the part o f the nation through which God works
O ther Jews are urged to become believers in the
Messiahship o f Jesus in order that they too may
share in the possession o f the Spirit ( Acts 2
Not only is the trend o f the entire con ception o f t h e
Spirit national b ut the individual conception prop
erly so called is entirely abs ent The Spi rit never
comes upon any m an for any indivi dual purpose
.

55

T HE

S PI R IT O F

GOD

but only for the development o f the purpose o f God

in connection with the Messiani c kingdom
4 Th e conception of the Spirit as the bas is o f
human li fe enti rely drops out o f view in this litera
ture It had already disappeared i n the period o f
Palestinian Judaism Its disappea rance wa s prob
ably due at least in part to the inuence o f the
growing hesitancy to a frm union between the err
ing spirit o f man and the holy Spirit of God Such
hesitancy b elongs to the deistic thought of Judaism
rather than to t h e ri ch experience of the li fe of early
Christianity The us a ge is l acking in the latter
rather because the early church had no need for it
The whole eld in which it stood had dis a ppeared
God s relation to th e spirit o f man was now thought
of under the category o f direct creation O ccasion
for the former phase of th o ught has dropped out
of existence and with it the usage has disappeared
We have seen that the early Christian conception
o f the Spirit took its point o f departure from Pales
tinian Judaism but even this statement is too broad
to express the facts The Jewish element in the new
thought o f the Spirit came exclusively through its
Messiani c side We have seen in former chapters
how the Spirit came to b e to the Jew only the mem
ory o f God s activity in the past periods o f his
history and a hop e fo r his activity in the Messianic
future To the Jewish believer in Christ this future
had become present and all the promises and hopes
of the Messianic Spirit he claimed for himsel f All
else suddenly drops out o f sight This s itu a tion
.

1 56

P RI MITI VE C H R ISTI A N C ON C E PTI O N

TH E

shows the overpowerin g e ffect o f the belie f that

Jesus was the Messiah All thought all li fe all
pers o nal ex p erience all past history all i dea o f
God s activity was interpreted by the ea rly Chris
tian in the light o f that belie f God himself was

trans formed from the God o f Is rael into the God

and F ather o f our Lord Jesus Christ

All his
activity that is his Spi rit was reckoned a s hav
ing to do with the Messiah This simply means
that the Christi an looked not backward but for
ward and stood in a light o f truth so intense tha t
all the rest o f the world becam e for the mom e nt
darkness ; and when later Christian thought was
again attracted to the world wi de activity o f God
it bore this light with i t as an e xplanatio n f or God s
work in the w o rld
But Palestinian Judaism even though on the
basis o f in frequent O ld Testament proph ecy it h a d
emphasized here and there the i dea o f the Spi ri t
i n Messianic times can never in itsel f account for
the superabundant use of the Holy Spirit in the
literature o f early Christianity I f that literatur e
represents with any adequacy the li fe o f the early
church that li fe was full of the thought that the
Spi rit was an actual possession o f the Christian
Th e Spi rit mani fested itsel f in every church and
was a part o f the common experience of m a ny
Christians
Its gi fts were so frequent that they
served as the main test fo r the approval of the
churches and individual Christians by God ( Ga l
No inherited belie f will a c
3 2 ; Acts 1 1 1 5
,

S7

TH E

S P IRIT O F

GOD

count for such a state o f things That c an rest

only on experience
Next to the conceptions borrowed from Pal es
tinian Judaism the experience o f the e a rly church is
the most import a nt factor in the study of the growth
of the Christian idea o f the Spirit The experience
which connects itsel f most closely with that of the
former periods o f history is prophecy The mere
use o f the word in the New Test a ment however
does not o f itsel f give the key to its description
We h a ve found in Hebrew thought two distinct
kinds o f prophecy : one earlier cruder w ith less
ethical import and more ecstatic impuls e ; the other
that which pr o duced our prophetic literat u re where
the element o f ecstasy was reduced to the va nishin g
point and a de ep religious and ethical conviction
too k its place We have then seen what was essen
t i a l l y the rst element reappearing part l y under
the inuence o f the Greek or a cle in Alexandrian
Judaism
Meantime Palestinian Judaism partly
because it had little experience o f a lo fty and i n
tense religious emotion ; partly perhaps because o f
its reve rence for the M o st High forb a de the pro
p h e t i c explanation o f whatever pro found religious
experience still persisted These h indrances must
h a ve been great for it is plain that the nation at
large longed for prophecy Suddenly and it would
seem almost unexpectedly the barriers were broken
down in the Christian commun ity It could have
been nothing less than a great ood that swept away
the o b stacles which h a d so long hindered the o w
.

58

TH E

PR I MITI VE C H R ISTIAN C O N C E PTI O N

o f the sense o f p r Op h e t i c inspiration Two things

both elements o f experience seem to have caused
this o o d : O ne was the feeling that in Christ God
had once more come close to the race o f men ; the
Judaistic Most High had become the F ather Th e
other was based upon this fact an d grew out o f
it ; it was the intensity o f the newborn experiences
the strong emotion which could only nd its ex
planation in the belief that its origin was not human
but divine When an experience becomes s o emo
t i o n a lly intense that one can s a y o f it as Paul did

that it took place whether i n the body or out o f

the body I cannot tell it has reached a pitch where

some explan ation asi de from the ordinary is im
i
e
r
a
t
v ely
demanded
In a period when li fe is
p
dominated by religious thought the religious e x p l a
nation is sure to be the one applied
All this has to do with much else besides p r o p h
but it applies with pe culia r force to prophecy
e cy
the traditional Hebr e w means o f divine c o m m u n i c a
tion with man The question arises as to the kind
o f prophecy w e nd in the New Testament Where
shall we classi fy it ? D oes it fall under either of the
ol der categories or must we make a new place for
it ? The New Testament o ffers no full description
o f its prophecy but it gives us several instances o f
it a n d such touches o f description as allow us to
draw i nferences with consider able fullness
We
must start with the common New Testament i n
Here we
t e r p r e t a t i o n o f Ol d Testament prophecy
nd represent a tions which suggest the mechanical
.

59

TH E

S PI R IT O F GOD

ideas o f prophecy characteristic o f Philo There is

in the New Testament however no pass a ge so
extreme as many in Philo w h o teaches t h a t the
prophet becomes s imply the unconscious mouth
piece o f th e Spirit The writers conceive of the
Spirit as speaking through the O ld Testament
prophet o f future tim e s ( 1 Pet 1
with espe
We
c i a l reference to the work o f the Mess iah
cannot minimize the ide a underlying the frequently

recurring that it might be fullled

Beyond
doubt the writers o f the New Testament considered
O ld Testament prophecy as h a ving been given u n
der such a guidance of the Spirit that its words
without regard to their immediate historical ref
erence had reference to the M essianic future of
Israel The method o f inte r pretation was rabbin
ical The main idea o f prophecy was dr a wn from
orthodox Judaism but the details o f interpretation
were determined by the Christian Messi anic con
s c i o u sn es s
The early C hristi an understan ding of
prophetic inspiration as repres e nted in the O ld T e s
tament then was that it was God s absolute control
o f the prophetic utterance for M e ssiani c purposes
When we pass over t o the C hristian li fe what
kind o f experience shall we ex pect to nd receiving
the interpretation o f prophecy ? O bviously it must
be utterance controlled by the Spi rit for God s Mes
s i a n i c purposes ; or what wa s for the Ch ristian the
same thing for the purposes o f the Christian ch urch
This dene s prophecy in two directi o ns : O ne is that
o f experience ; it must seem to th e subj ect o f it an d
.

1 60

TH E

P RI MI T I VE C H R IS T I A N C O N C E PTI O N

to others to be superhuman The other is that Of

purpose ; it must be for the good o f the church It
14
I Cor
is possible to lay down other lim its

suggests that prophecy is not only for e d i c a

tion
that is for the good o f the chur c h b ut a l so

with understanding an d subj ect to the conscious

control of the prophet

The spirits o f the prophets

are subj ect to t h e prophets so that the coming of

a revelation into the mind o f a prophet does n o t
involve unseemly interruption of other teachers in
the Christian congregation ( 1 Cor 1 4 2 9
This presents a picture fa r di fferent from that o f
the i rresponsibl e frenzy o f the early H ebrew pro
p h e t i c companies o r o f the rapt experience which
Philo relates The New Testam ent nowhere con
s iders prophecy to be uncontrollable rhapsody I n
this respect early Christian prophecy is not to b e
classed with the early Hebrew prophecy O n the
other hand there is a certai n external an d mech a n
ical element in the early Chri stian concepti o n o f the
content o f the message It sometimes deals with

the future and is to a certain extent history r e

lated beforehand ( for examples see Acts 2 1 1 0

II 11 27
Nay the oracle m a y be one wh o se
signicance is not perceived by the prophet himsel f
i f he is not i n accord with th e will o f God ( John
1 1
It is neither wholly the older cruder
47
Hebrew ecstas y nor wholly th e later higher p r o p h
e cy
It is much nearer the last than the rst with
mechani cal elements which come from the r a bbin
ical interpretation o f O ld Testament prophecy and
1 61
(II)
.

TH E

S P IRIT O F

GOD

all fused in a re of actual experience and fervent

zeal w h i ch transformed inherited do gmas o f i n
spiration int o vital facts of personal religious li fe
There w as no wholly novel element either of belief
o r of experience but there was such a new com
bination o f old factors that one must make a new
category for Christian prophecy It will not fall
under any that earlier He b rew history provides
Closely connected with prophecy stan ds the ex

r
i
e
n
c
w
h
ich
New
Testament
writers
call
speak
e
e
p

ing W ith tongues ()La l ei v y l/di o o a t g 01 y l cbo o zy)

If
one may j udge from t h e frequency of refe rences to
it in the literature it was common in the Christian
communitie s and was much desi red n o t only by the
ambitious and factious but by the most s incere a nd
devou t as well Paul thanks God that he speaks
with tongues more than all the Corinthi a ns It was
used as a common test o f the believers acceptance
Probably this is
by God ( Acts 1 0 4 5 47 ; 1 9
also the correct interpret a ti o n o f the gi fts o f the
Spirit i n Acts 8 I 8 and Gal 3 2 ( comp Acts 1 1
15 ; 15
It was the spiritual gi ft pa r e x c e l l en c e

the spiritual
so that those who had it were called
as in medi aeval Christianity w ith its idea o f
monasticism as the reli gious life pa r ex c e l l e n c e

monks and nuns were the religious

That such
a usage shoul d aris e indicates that the experience
was not only much desi red but very common
Th e nearest a p pr o ach to a description o f it is
in 1 Cor 1 4 The most evident thing about i t is the

lack of reas o n in its utterances It is without

.

I 62

P RI MI T I VE C H RI S T I A N C O N C E PTI O N

TH E

signicance like a trumpet which gives a blast

that is n o recognized call ( verse
It is a sort
o f prayer a natural utterance of the spirit o f man
guided by the Spi rit of God but is not edi fying to
the hearers ( verse
To one not accustomed
to the phenomenon it m ight as well be a word in
a foreign language I f he is inclined to be hostile
to the Christian community he m a y ch a rge th o se
who speak with tongues with insanity or drunken
ness ( Acts 2 I
It arises under inuences o f
strong religious em o tion the pentecostal fellow
ship o f the early Christia n church ( Acts
the
enthusiasm o f newly a wakened faith in Jesus as
the Christ ( Acts 8 1 7 ; 1 0 44 ; 1 9
or the excite
ment o f a religious assembly ( I Cor
In at
least the rst and last cas e s ( Acts 2 and I Co r
1 4 ) we perhaps s ee the inuence o f the po w er of
suggestion O n the b asis of the New Testament
description and leaving out of account n o w som e
elements o f the pentecostal phenomen a in Acts 2
one may dene t h e glossolalia as the em otional ex
pression o f religious feeling uncontrolled by the
1
reason
In the lack o f the control o f reason lies
the di fference be tween speaking with tongues and
New Testament prophecy The l a s t was always
for e d i c a t i o n ; it appealed to the reason ; it con
v e y e d a message that could be understood
,

p
The gi ft consi sted
ecstat c utterance not necessar l y i any recogni z ed lang ua g e and not
usually ntelli gi b le to hearers
T he speaker w not master o f
h msel f ; he w carr ed headlon g as if d en b y a m i ghty wi nd ; he w as
subj ect to stron g emoti ons wh ch must nd vent somehow b ut w hi ch
could not b e made to n
also E y l
y accustomed channel
(
B bl art cle S p tual
p d
1

in

B u e (S
r

Paul

'

C o n c e p ti o n

f C hr i s ti a n i ty
i

as

as

u y

ia

ic a

ru

in

"

an

ir i

1 63

se e

nc

c o

TH E

S PIRIT O F

GO D

Having arrived at this denition a host of anal

ogies in re l igious history immediat ely o ffer them
se l ves We nd that instead o f being as has been
so often assumed a thing unique in the hist o ry of
religion it is quite i dentical with very widespread
elements of religious li fe w h ich are found in
a l l periods o f religious history and that it has
analogies i n many religions in all parts o f t h e
world O ne nds it connected with ancient Hebre w
prophecy itself The wors h ip o f the schools of the
prophets was much more analogous to the phenom
enon of tongues than to that o f later prophecy
O ne recalls too that to prophesy was to play the
madman ( comp 1 Cor 1 4
So o f the Greek
oracles
called p ri m i g by the l a ter Greeks )
whose meaningless sounds must be interpreted as
Paul advises that the utterances o f the tongues
shou ld always b e In the Ch risti an church p r Op h
e c y has o ften been the name applied to what was
1
essentially this phenomenon Weinel has very prop
erly recognized this and has gathered instances of
the use o f incoherent and me a ningless expressions
from the Gnostics o f the early church from the
Camisards of southern F ran c e and the I rvingites
o f E ngland John Wesley re counts thus an inter

view with o n e o f th o se comm o nly called F ren ch

Pr o phets
Presen tly after she leaned back in her
chai r and seemed to have strong workings in h er
breast with deep s i g h i n g s intermixed Her head
and hands and by turns every part o f her body
d d
Wi rk g d G i t
G i t r p 7 3 if
,

'

un

en

es

e s es u n

1 64

er

e s e

T HE P RI MI T I VE C H RI S T I A N C O N C E P TI O N

seemed also to be in a kind o f convulsive motion

This continued about ten minutes ti ll at six s h e
began to speak ( though the workings s i g h i n g s and
contortions of her body were s o intermixed w i th
her words that she seldom spoke half a sentence
together ) with a clear strong voice F ather thy
will thy wi ll be done
She spoke much ( all
as in the person o f Go d and mostly i n Scrip
ture words ) o f the fullling o f the prophecies the
comin g o f Christ now a t h a nd and the spreading

o f the gos p el over all the earth ( J o u r n a ls Janu

I
1
W
73 9 )
Although Wesley do u bts the divine source o f
these mani festations h e h as no doubts when kin
dred experiences come in connection with his own
preaching In the midst o f a theological contro

one who sat at a distan ce felt as it were

v e r sy
the piercing o f a sword and before she could be
b rought to an o ther house whither I was going
could not avoid crying out aloud even in the

street ( J o u r n a ls March 8
A few months

later ( O ctober 2 8 ) certain persons fell int o a

strange agony
The violent convulsions all o ver
their bo dies were such as w o rds cannot descri b e

T h ei r cries and groans were horri d to be borne

The whole J o u r n a l furnishes a museum o f religious
emotions wo rking in all degrees of intensity and
producing a wide variety of p hysi cal and mental
results
It is not strange that Wesley regarded
the experiences as mani festations o f the Spi rit kin
dred to those of the New Testam ent tim e On th e
.

1 65

'

T H E S PI R IT O F GOD

side at least of psychological phenomen a h e was

correct in his opinion that they were alike

The use o f prophecy for such experiences

began very early Weinel notes ( page 7 5 ) that

Iren aeus speaking of Acts already uses prophesy

ing (n po q e i i o w e g) for spe ak ing with tongues

1
but he does n o t raise the
1 013 1 7 611 y ll i o a a t g)
(h a /
question of the cause for this change It l ies i n
the fact that the Christian church inherited the
Alexandrian Jewish idea o f prophecy as be ing a
possession of the body by the divine Spirit t o the
exclusion of the huma n cons ciousness Prob a bly
however this came into the church n o t from the
direct inuence of Alexan drian Judaism but
through the Gno stic sects with thei r large infusion
o f ideas from Greek conceptions o f the o racles The
rst generations of Christians understoo d the r e
l a ti o n s o f prophecy to human conscious n es s be t
ter for they drew more largely from Hebrew
sources o f thought This inheritance o f semi Greek
conceptions has gre a tly obscured th e study both of
prophecy and o f the glos s o la li a in the Ch ristian
church
Christianity however has frequently had the
same phenomenon without designating it prophecy
The excitement connected with the worship o f the
madmen o f M ii n ste r in the R eformation and th e

strange hysterical sou n ds called the holy laug

in the revivals o f K entucky in the early part o f the
.

ren Ad H aer I I I
I III
5
speak W th tong ues re ferr g to the d
1

"

1 2

in

66

1 2

ay

Iren us uses the ex pressi on

o f P entecost
1

ae

TH E

PR IMITI VE C H RI S T IA N C O N C E PTI O N

nineteenth century belong to the same c a tego r y

When in the excitement of revivals in the e a r l y and
middle part o f the l ast century the people rose up
and gave express ion to the intensity o f their r e
l i g i o u s em o tion in incoheren t shouts or detached
exclamati ons o f praise or prayer neither the feeling
nor its expressi o n seems t o be essential l y di fferent
from those which issued in the early Christian
speaking with tongues Here again o n e also nds
the fr e quent temptation on the part both o f the
subj ect of the experience and o f the believing o b
servers to regard this peculi ar gi f t as the supreme
test o f spirituality The very name most commonly
used for it in America among the classes w hic h h a ve
emphasized this experience po ints in the same d i r e c

tion It is the power as though this was the

mani festation o f the Spirit pa r e x c e lle n c e
Th ere are few religi o ns making much o f the facts
o f emotio n where one does not nd emotion ex
pressed i n some form o f sounds uncontrolled by rea
so n
The groans and cries o f a S iberian shaman
o r an Indian medicine man the shouts o f a H indu
s a n i y a s i n as he follows the car of a god at some
great temple feast the indescribable nois es w hic h

m ingle with the cries o f Allah in the worship

of Mohammedan dervishes and the m eaningless
shrieks a n d yells o f religious orgies over whose end
all civili z ation gladly dra w s a veil are all to be
put in th e sam e psychol o gical c a t e g o r y wi th the
speaking with tongues But b ecause the dragnet
brings i n such a heterogeneous collection o f goo d
,

1 67

T H E S P I R IT O F GOD

and bad alike its contents are not all to be treated

as of the same m o r a l value The ethical w ort h of
religious phenomena depends on the ethi cal worth
of the re l igion rather than on the psychological
nature o f the phenomen a And yet it is true that
the emotion ungoverned by the reason is a dan
r
force
The
higher
exponents
o
f
religion
have
e
u
s
o
g
always be en like Paul distrustful of an emotion
whose expression to others breaks away from the
bo unds of reason It places too strong a force i n
t h e han ds o f a single one of the factors of the human
soul M o ntanist prophecy and Gnosti c ravings may
have played a more imp o rtan t part in pers o nal r e
l i g i o u s development than the history of Christian ity
has sometimes been willing to admit but the line o f
growth in religi o n has after al l not lain through
them
It is poss ible th at this comparative study may
help us t o some further knowledge about the early
Christian glossolalia
We nd every w here that
this emotional expression ranges itsel f under two
categories ; rst disconnected words and phrases
more or less exclamatory in form ; and second
sounds w h ich in themselves are meaningless The
less extreme forms of the phenomenon particularly
w h ere it appears under t h e criticism o f modern
civili zation with its exalt a tion o f reason are apt
to take the rst form Certain modern revivals

with thei r shouts of Amen

Glory to God

Come Lord Jesus

the last descended from the

ancient M aranatha which was itself perhaps an

.

1 68

T H E PR I M ITI VE C H RI S T IAN C O N C E PTI O N

expression of the glossola l ia are examples S o are

the Allah Al l ah
Hassan Hosein Hosein Has

S iva S iva
R am R am
Hara Hari
sa n
of the Mohammedan and H i n du dev o tees
The
more extreme forms produce naturally m eaning
less expressions where the intense emotion com
l
banishes
the
desire
and
sometimes
ev
n
the
l
t
e
e
e
p
y

possibility o f reasoned utterance

The
holy

laugh and the unintelligible cries and moans like

those o f wild beasts which have accompanied cer
tain religious gatherings among the lower classes
o f America are illustrations Schmidt ( Gn o s tis c h e
S c h r i f te n i n ko p ti s c h e r S p r a c h e 1 8 9 2 ) has gath

ered a list o f such senseless combinations of vowels

and consonants ( quoted in Weinel page 77 note )

( so v a
t ea
wt e o v l e o v
t
etc As i n
pc
this case such words are usually vowel sounds like

O
Ah or such repetitions o f consonantal voca
1
bles as the organs most easily produce
There is every reason to Suppose that as indeed
usually happens the early Christia n glossolalia
combined both these elements 1 Cor 1 2 3 sug

gests that Jesus is Lord (K epi o g I na o ii g) was a

common exclamation and under a perverse i n u
ence not unknown in other religious gatherings but
naturally ascribed by the Christians to a demon

Jesus is anathema (dv d aena I no o og) was not

wholly unknown And yet the expressions could
not all have been of this intelligible sort Leaving

Compare however the lang a es o f the medi um H elen S m i th i

Fr m I d t th Pl t M and H en s L L g g M t
y

F l o u rn e

ia

ane

ar s,

1 69

ri

'

an

a r i en .

TH E

S P IRIT O F

GOD

aside the presumptive j udgment of insanity which

Paul says the stranger might pass upon the phe
n o m en o n
the symbols w hic h Paul uses would seem
rather to indicate meaningless words He speaks
o f them as like the meaningless blast o f a trumpet
the speech o f a barbarian the pipe or harp sounded
t o no tune and contrasts them with voices that
have signicance
Nay the utterances o f the
tongues unlike a series o f exclamations which have
acquired a sort o f symbolic signicance to the as
are here s o meaning
s e m b l y accustomed t o them
less that t h ey cannot even elicit the response of

Amen
It is also easier to explain the origin
o f the story about other languages i n Acts 2 i f
we assume the phenomenon to include meaningless
sounds than i f we only assume signicant exclama
tions Such indications as we possess then lead
to the same conclusion to which the analogi es o f
comparative study point namely that both kinds o f
phenomena were found in the glossolalia
There is one narrative o f the New Testament
that has long been recognized as containing factors
impossible to harmonize with the uni form r e p r e
se n t a t i o n o f speaking with tongues elsewhere
I
refer to the account o f the Pentecost in Acts 2
T he comparative study which we have instituted
leads to the same suspicions o f the accuracy o f the
account which have long found expression in the
works o f New Testament critics The implications
o f the narrative are perfectly obvious The editor
o f the b ook or o f the source used sees in this event
,

0
7

PR I M ITI VE C H R I S T IA N C O N C E P T IO N

TH E

a speaking in other languages so that those fro m

di fferent countries h eard persons speaking in thei r
own tongues
To assume a m iracle o f hearing
rat h er than o f speaking o ffers no help and is a at
contradiction of the meaning o f the editor in saying

that they spoke with other tongues ( verse

Not only however is this a unique event in New
Testament story an d unprovi ded for in any promise
o f Christ but the histori cal study o f religion which
nds the glossolali a a quite common phenomenon is
able to bring n o thing to compare with this The
glossolalia is psychologically expli cable as the tem
r
a
r
dominance
o
f
the
person
by
emotion
The
o
p
y
account in Acts is totally inexplicable by psychol
o gy No religion ever wrought thus anywhere els e
in the world T his story is not supernatural ; it i s
u nnatural
The comparative study of religion whi ch we have
been using takes one step further along the road
with the literary critical study of the New Testa
ment O ne deals somewhat cautiously w ith minute
analysis of Acts and yet it cannot but be observed

that i f other (r ga l g) in verse 4 is taken out and

also ver ses 6 1 1 we have a narrative which accords
exactly not only with the experience of speaking
with tongues elsewhere in the New Testament but
with all that the study of other religions can bring
in comparison Add to this the fact that Peter s
speech ( verses 1 4 3 6 ) knows nothing o f a gi ft o f
languages and the presumption o f interpolation
becomes very strong O ne would not say that this
,

171

THE

S PI R IT O F GOD

proves an interpolation into a fairly correct nar

r a t i v e rather than a legendary development o f the
narration as a whole but i f the textual critic can
make a case for editorial additions the student o f
the history of religion will certainly stand ready
to furnish some ai d to his claim We can at le a st
s a y w ith assurance that w hen the portions s u g
gested above are omitted we have le ft a narrative o f
glossolali a perfect l y explicable and quite credible
The interpolations are often assumed to be proo f
that the editor lived in a day when these ap p ear
anecs were no longer known ( so Weinel ) b ut pos
It may b e
s i b l y that conclusion is not necessary
that to him or to the author o f his source the oc c a
sion seemed as it has seemed to so many modern
c ommentators to be so great so s i gni cant in the
light o f the past promise o f Christ and the future
growth o f the church that he could easily have i n
s e r t e d elements o f a traditi o n already f or the same
reason taking shape in the church which made the
uniqueness of the mani festation c orrespond to the
uniqueness o f the occasion
It is easy to see w hy the whole g roup o f phenom
ena called glossolalia was assigned to the Spirit
Th e experience was the result o f an emotion so
strong that it seemed extra human It was inti
mately connected with the ch u rch the real m o f the
Spirit s activity It was a witnessing for Christ
for which purp o se the Spirit was poured out upon
the church The very gr eat dominance o f the fac
tor o f e motion in the experience then soo n led i t
'

1 72

T HE PR I MITI VE C H R ISTIAN C O N C E PTI O N

to b e regarded as a b ove a l l other experiences the

mani festation o f the Spirit
It is at rst sight rather surpris ing that the use
o f the term should have disappeared so early
A fter the earlier New Testament times it is never
heard o f again A f a c tor in this dis appearance is
doubtless the emphasis put by the church upon i n
s tru ction as over against em o tion
following the
spirit o f Paul s words to the Corinthians B ut the
emotional elements persisted in the Montanists and
yet the term disappeared The si g nicant thing
however is that the experience did not disappear
1
2
It pers isted in Montanism and Gnosticism under
the name o f prophecy It was the Greek and Alex
andrian Jewish i dea o f prophecy entering the church
which made unnecessary the continuance of this
term f or that i dea included within itself the earlier
g lossolalia T he use o f prophecy in this sense was
a kind o f histori cal atavism a looking ba ckward to
an earlier and more amorphous condition o f reli
g io u s experience Christian prophecy and glossolali a
actually b elon g to two quite di fferent categories
o f religious expression Greek inuence b oth di
r e c t l y and through Philo wa s responsible f or a long
continued use o f ideas in Christian thought which
Hebrew conceptions had already in the New Testa
ment times outgrown The result in religious li fe
has been the occas ional attempt to exalt under the
properly revered name o f prophe cy a type o f
.

S ee E HAdE V 6 and especi all T ertulli an

S ee Iren
H aer I
u s.

13

73

Ad v

M arc

V 8
.

TH E

S PI R IT O F

GOD

pression which a c tually belongs to a very low grad e

of religion and experience The result in theolog
ical thought has been that the crude conceptions
o f this lower grade o f religious li fe have been a p
plied to the higher biblical prophecy and extended
from that to all the biblical writings and a theory
o f biblical inspiration has been built up which i s
b ased on these emotional crudities It has in i t
more o f the Greek conception o f the oracle than o f
the Hebrew conception o f the Spirit o f Go d
Somewhat more vague is the express ion of the
c onnection o f the Spirit with mi raculous manifesta
tions
In the inception o f the Samaritan church
there were wrought signs and great powers ( Acts
8 I 3 ) and yet the Holy Spirit is not connected
b y the writer immediately with them More inti
mate is the relation mani fested in the account of
the blinding of Bar j esus ( Acts 1 3 9
but even
there the Spirit is the origin o f the prophetic word

while the m i raculous act is ascribed to the hand

o f God
T he one miracle for which an explana
tion is given in Acts the healing of the lame
man at the gate is ascri b ed by Peter not to the

Spirit o f God but to the name o f Jesus Christ of

Nazareth ( 4
It accords w ith this that a

distinction is drawn b etween the Spirit and pow

ers (do n ati n g that is mi racles in Christ himsel f

8
Act
h
power
o
f
Acts
I
prom
1
0
T
s
e
(

ised to the apostles after the Holy Spirit h a s

come upon them is not the miraculous power but

the power for witness as the next c lause shows
.

1 74

TH E

PR I MITI VE C H R I S TIAN C O N C E PTI O N

There is then a relation o f somewhat pecul iar com

plication here The Spirit is the cause o f visions
tongues prophecy but is not directly a frmed to
be the cause of healing and other m iraculous mani
fe st a t i o n s o f divine power in the external world
through the hands o f the apo stles Thes e are as

the hand o f God or the name

c r i b e d directly to

o f Jesus
And yet the Spi rit is so o ften mentioned
in connection with them that there must have been
in the mind o f the early church some relation The
early church uses the Spiri t for the mani festation
o f God in subj ective experience like vis ions and
i n the immediate outcome o f that m ani festation in
personal expression like prophecy and tongues
T he facts with regard to m i racles would seem to
S how that when the results passed into the realm
o f li fe outside o f the perso n the event was not
thought of as due to the action o f the Spi rit even
though as in the case o f Paul s word to Bar j es u s
it to o k place as the result o f an experience which
was ascribed to the Spirit
This careful limita
tion o f the Spirit to the personal experience is a n
other mark o f the f reshness power and intensity
o f the early Christian religious li fe T he limitation
di d not last very long T he distinction is a ne one
and yet the New Testament writers seem to draw it
somewhat clearly
The power to per form the
miracle and the impulse to use that power were the
working o f the Spirit T he mi racle itsel f the actual
external event was the work n o t o f th e Spirit b ut
of God
,

7S

TH E

GOD

S PI R IT O F

c onsidere d

All the charismata which have b een

thus far are plainly those which would be classed

by most students o f this subj ect as gi fts of new
powers We now come to a group which it would
b e possible to regard a s augmentations of the natu
ral powers namely wisdom and boldness in utter
ance ( Acts 6 3 5 I o ; 4 8 ; I 3
Compare also
the e ffect o f the Spirit on the whole church in 4 3 1
and the entire resultant impression o f the events
of chapter 2 This distinction however is not one
o f any great value Perhaps Gunkel is right i n
assuming that all mani festations o f the Spirit in
the New Testament were supposed to be the gi ft o f
new powers and yet it would be hard to prove that
this position is correct It is true that Paul speaks

o f a wisdom not of this world especially shown

among the perfect b ut i t is di fcult to se e in the

desire o f the apostles that the seven should be men

full o f the Spirit and o f wisdom or i n t h e irre

wisdom with which Stephen met his

s i st ibl e
disputants o f the synagogue any idea other than
that o f superlatively good j udgment in the a ffai rs
concerned It is not mere intellectual knowledge
to b e sure b ut rather the He b rew idea o f Ho kh
mah as practical skill in meeting the actual needs
o f li f e There is no reason to suppose this to b e
a new power inserted from without into the Spirit
l l e d man
Indeed that would inj ect an unnatural
meaning into the word which the exegesis o f the
narrative in no way demands
Th e disti nction b etween sup e rnatural powers
I 76
.

TH E

PR I MITI VE C H R ISTIAN C O N C E PTI O N

directly given and natural powers augmented is

articial The only form i n w h ich it could be de
fended aside from an unreal supernaturalism
would be to show that from the point o f view of
the early church such a distinction could be made
Probably they made no such distinction D oubtless
in a rough way all S piritual phenomena seemed to
them to be directly supernatural in origin but it
is certai n that they did not draw ne lines of dis
tinction upon the basis o f introspective psychology
Certainly we can make f rom the modern po int o f
v iew
no absolute distinction All the mani festa
t ions have alike a psychologi cal basis
Even such
phen omena as visions and the speaking w ith
tongues are in reality as much the augmentation
o f natural powers as are wisdom and bol dness o f
utterance
The reason f or the ascription o f wisdom and

b oldness to the Spirit is easy to see

Wisdo m

and boldness are never ascribed to the S pirit ex

cept when they are a part o f the means of develop

ment o f the church

T he wisdom is skill in
making arguments for the Christian belie f ; the

b oldness is boldness in pleading the Ch ristian

c ause in the face o f popular hostility We may
well surmise however that in addition to this r e
lation to Christian progress there must have been

a relation t o Christian experience The wisdom

and boldness must have b een accompanied by an

emotional element to have caused their assi gnment
to the Spirit T he narratives themselves give some
.

77

T HE

S PI R IT O F GOD

i ndications w hich woul d lead us to j udge that this

is so especially in the case o f boldness Th e i n
stances cited above occur i n connection with events
w hich would be the nat u ral causes o f em otional
excitement : a crisis in the li fe o f the c o mmunity
a
common
prayer
with
all
the
Acts
4
(
5
accompaniments o f cont a gious enth u siasm ending
in an occurrence which seemed to them to be mirac

the place was shaken

and as the result
u lo u s
o f t h is experience which could not but have had a

they were all lled

s trongly emot ional element

with the Spirit and spake the word with boldness

The connection of the Spirit with
( Acts 4

com fort ( Acts 9 3 1 ) and j oy ( Acts 1 3 5 2 )

also indicates emotional experience like that which
is assigned to the Spi rit
When therefore w e gather up all these gi fts o f
the Spirit and ask ourselves the question What
were the experiences for which the early church
gave this explanation ? we nd a certain comm o n
underlyi ng ground : Th e S p i r i t wa s u s e d a s th e
.

or

a ssu m e d

l ie

to

em o

s tr o n g
e x tr a

th e d i v i n e

n ame

th o s e

e l e m en t

o r ig i n ,

hu m a n

wa s th e

be n e a th

ti o n a l

wh i c h th e

c a use

ex

c hu r c h

p e r i e n c es

wh o s e

s e em ed

th e i r

mark

to

p r o v i d e n ti a l

wh o s e

an d

e a r ly

en d

M e ss i a n i c lei n g d o m

f
The two essential elements o f this denition are :
Compare G k l de ni ti on The w orki ng s o f the H ol y S pi i t are
certa n myster ous po wers operat ng the ran ge o f the l fe o f men w h ch
stand i a certa n de n te relat on to the l fe o f the Chr st an cong re g ati on
wtheh chnam nno
case work damage to men wh ch t q t l y take place under
g of G d or Chr st and all cases b elong only to such men as
are t unw orth y o f a connect on W t h G d ( p
T h s i ncludes the
tw o essent al elements noted
the f l l wm g paragraph b ut seems to
nclude ce ta n nonessent al
m p mm
t as w ell
a d v a n c em en

un

in

n o

in

re

u en

a cco

1 78

en

in

in

th e

'

TH E

PR I MITI VE C H R ISTIAN C O N C E PTI O N

F i rst the fact of em o tional ex p erience The proo f

o f the possession o f the Spirit lies within the li fe o f
the feeling This was the case from the beginni n g
o f the Hebrew usage of the word The earlies t
pr o phets beli eved that the Spirit of Jahveh had
come u p on them bec a use o f what they felt with
in thei r own consciousness
In this res pe ct the
primitive Christian conception is in the clos est pos
s ible relation t o the primitive Hebrew c o nception
It represents the sam e fund am ental i dea
The
second essential element is the Messiani c purpose
o f the experience This is the direct outgrowth o f
the Hebrew Mess iani c hope but to sa y it r ep r e
sented only that hope would be to put much too
narrow an i nterpretation on it We h ave seen that
from the rst an d especi ally at th e rst the i de a
o f the Spi rit o f Jahveh working in the mind o f
man was only applied t o such experiences as coul d
be interpreted to have in some way a b earin g upon
the development o f the purposes o f Jahveh Th ey
must be religious or national and we remembe r
that those ideas were not two b ut one T o the
early church the reli g ious a n d nation al purpo s e o f
God summed itsel f up in the development o f his
Messiani c purpos e through Christ It is of interest
to note th at the Spirit th u s really plays the same
r Ol e in the early church that it does in the early
Hebrew nation It h as al re a dy be en n o ted that the
Spirit had also in the early church retur ned once
more to i ts ancient limitations It now meant only
the divine working in man h a ving lost the wider
.

79

T HE S P I R I T O F

GOD

meaning o f God in nature that it had ac quired in

the m iddle Hebrew thought
This spiral movement o f thought is not without
its reason The early Hebrew i de a aros e because
o f pro found emotional experiences for whose origin
men felt that they must posit a power o f God Not
less profound were the emotional experiences of the
early church whi ch they assigned to the Spirit of
God while the connection of these experiences with
the plans and purposes o f God was to them even
plainer than it had been to the early Hebrews Ex
r
i
e
en
c e s o f the sam e nat u re suggested religious
p
1
thoughts o f the same purport
We are here only
following once mo re a common movement in the
history o f religion It has already be en illustrated
so fully that we hardly need again t o return to it
A great emotion must have a great occasion It
must also have a great outcome in li fe All men
o f strong religious feeling in all races have felt
that their prof o under emotions could have no occa
si o n less than the working o f a god and no out
come i n li fe less than the great purpose o f fullling
his designs The man who interprets in this way
the sti rring in t h e depths o f his soul cannot but
feel himself to be inspi red V isions as in the case
o f Moham med and Buddha
not to men tion many
a saint of the Christian church have often been the
.

the pri nc i ple here expressed of l i ke results from l ike psy cholog i cal
causes had a l w ay s b een adhered to t w ould have saved a vast amount o f
frui tless lab or the eld of rel g ous h story The fut le attempt to trace
h stori c con ecti ons b etween W dely scattered myths l ke that o f a ood
or o f a rst man or f the d v n ty o f the sun or o f r tes l ke totem sm
or sacr ce has b een a w ork o f supererogati on L ke ca ses produce l i ke
results the m nds o f prehi sto i c men well as those o f later ag es
1

If

in

as

1 80

in

in

TH E

PR I MITI VE C H R I S TIAN C O N C E P T I O N

product o r the accompaniment o f the feeling b u t

back of the vision has lain the divine force o f an
emotion without which the vision would never
have been interpreted as containing a divine
message
Herein lies the j ustication for placing the mod
ern experience o f emotional conversion in this
chapter o f common religious history It is essen
t i a l l y the same mighty emotional experience inter
r
t
e
e d religiously as the presence and power o f God
p
in the soul
Traditional theolo gy has made a
correct use o f the term from the point o f view o f
the earliest Christian terminology when it has
called this the work o f the Spi rit We shall s e e
later that Pauline theology contributes an element
to this phraseology but the Pauline element except
where it is a mere phrase o f dogma has come to
b e fused in the alem b i c o f religious feeling ; indeed
i t had its origin w ith Paul in religious feeling I t
matters little that in the early church the emotion
an d its accompaniments which were called the gi f ts
o f the Spirit usually came not at b ut after con
vers ion With the Jewish Christian the moments
o f strong religious feeling were usually experienced
a f ter conversion as h e came somewhat slowly t o
realize the bearin g o f his new found faith in Jesus
as the Messiah on the national hope and on his r e
l i g i o u s li fe
In the modern world the moment o f
strong religious emotion usually comes i f it comes
at all at the moment when a person realizes the
con q uest o f e g oisti c impulses b y the higher li f e o f
I8I
,

TH E

S PI R IT O F

GOD

an altruistic sympathy that is when he purposes

that God rather than self shall rule his li fe D oubt
less the average Jew who b ecame a believer i n
Christ had no such b attle to ght between the
fundamental forces o f human nature
Not until
somewhat later in the church did the q uestion o f
self or not sel f become the supreme test o f Chris
t i a n i ty
T he Jew to Whom Christianity made its
appeal was already religious The problem which
it presented to him was not ethical b ut intellectual
namely Was Jesus the Messiah ? I f he were then
the Hope o f Israel ha d drawn near the last days
were at hand and the more the Christian be he
e
J w or Gentile in origin s a w the full b earing o f
this the more motive his religious f aith presented
not only for an urgent activity but for a mighty
emotion So it comes about that the New T estament
emphasizes the working o f the Spirit not so often
at the moment o f conversion as on later occasions
under the impulse o f Christian la b or or in the sy m
pathy of Christian fellowship
There is a group o f experiences referred to the
Spirit the psychological nature o f w hich is less easy
to ascertain than that o f those we have been con
s i de r i n g
T his is the group in which the author
o f the book o f Acts assigns to the Spirit the guid
ance o f the church in its progressive expansion
The purpos e o f Acts has been much debated and
this is n o t the place to enter upon any extended
study o f it It i s necessary for us however to note
tha t at least a part o f the evident desi g n o f the

1 82

TH E

PR IM ITI VE C H R I S TIAN C O N C E PTI O N

writer is to show that the progress o f Christianity

f rom a Jewish sect to a universal religion was made
under the direct guidance o f God It was not at
all according to the plan o f man but of God In
hi s emphasis o f this polem ic purpose the author
returns with constant reiteration to this point
Again and again at cruci al periods o f the history he
marks how God led the church into some new eld
o f expansive labor
These marks o f divine guidance fall under t wo
categories : the provi dential control o f ci rcum
stances as when the persecution a t Jerusalem drove
the church into Judea and S am aria ( chapter
and the g uidance o f di rect divine suggestion as
where two visions and a message o f the Spirit insure
the preaching o f the gospel to Cornelius and his
f riends S uch circumstances o f g ui dance are usually
assi gned to the Spirit
In Acts 2 the rst expansion of the church is as

Stephen was full o f the Spi rit

c r i be d to the Spirit
When the disciples driven from Jerusalem
(6
b y the persecution which arose about S tephen s
death preached at S amari a the gi ft of the Holy
Spi rit marked God s approval ( Acts 8
The
conversion o f the eunuch by Philip was under the
di rection o f the Spirit ( 8 2 9
In verse 2 6

an angel of the Lord implies a vision Peter s

preaching to Cornelius an d his f riends was pre
pared for by a message o f the Spirit and conrmed
by the gi ft o f tongues f rom t h e Spirit ( 1 0 I 9
The b eginnin g o f P aul s missionary j ourneys
.

1 83

THE

S PI R IT O F GOD

was the res u lt o f a message from the Spirit ( 1 3

and the passa g e into E urope was the result of
hindrances o f Paul s plan by the S pirit ( 1 6 6
These events include prophetic utterances of the
Spirit and the phenomenon o f the tongues but most
o f the indications are so vaguely given that we c an
only surmise what experiences they represent We
may make such surmises on the ground of our
study for we have found the classes o f experience
fairly well dened It may be regarded as pro b able
that the gi ft o f the Spirit t o the Samaritans was th e
glossolalia as Gunkel surm ises
This would a c
count for the desire o f S imon Magus that he might
possess the powe r t o give the Holy Spirit It is
probable that the message o f the Spirit to Philip
and Peter is to be interpreted as o f the nature o f
O ne can se e its psychological
p r o p h et i c i m p u l s e
origin i n the suggestion o f circumstances When
Philip is already in the presence o f the eunuch the
impuls e comes to j oin him as a traveling com
1
panion
As the story o f Cornelius lies at present
in the narrative the impression is conveyed th a t
the message o f the Spirit to Peter contained in

formation supernaturally supplied

Three men
wait thee Go with them nothing doubting for

I have sent them We certainly cannot s a y with

any assurance however that this would be the i n
t e r p r e t a t i o n of the facts i f we had them as they
Possi bl y the menti on of the S pi ri t i an edi tori al i nserti on i accord
wwiasthunder
the concep ti on of the author o f A cts that all pro g ess o f the church
d ne g i dance T he element o f emoti on whi ch was usuall y
the cause o f a b eli e f i spi ri tual s ggest on i not ev dent on the f ace of
the narrati ve ; st ll i t m y ha e b een present i nduced b y some c i rc m
stance to us u k now n
.

"

'

i vi

1 84

T HE PR I MITI VE C H R ISTIAN C ON C E PTI O N

occurred
The knowledge that three men had
presented themselves in search of h im lies so near
the surface that one cannot claim its supernatural
impartation to Peter as any part o f the necessa r y
interpr etation o f the story What is essential in
b oth these cases is an impulse s o strong that it
seemed to those who received it to possess a divin e
force It came from God It was a voice o f the
Whether that interpretation would hav e
S pi rit
b een given to the experience had it not resulted in
C h ristian progress is a q uestion which we have no
data to answer

What shall we sa y o f such an express ion as the

S pirit caught away Philip ? What kind o f an ex

?
r
i
e
n
e
c
does
this
indicate
It is not necessary to
e
p
suppose that it indi cated any direct e ffect of the
Spirit upon the material b ody
It contains a
super cial resem b lance to such uses as 2 Kings 2
1 6 w ith its su g gestion o f the Spirit o f Jahveh as
a physical force transporting human bodies at will
Possibly its form may have b een su g gested by that
But it b elongs to a period w hi ch possessed an e u
t i r e l y di fferent conception o f the Spirit f rom that
o f the time o f E lij ah T o put this interpretation
u pon it would remove it f rom the analogy o f N e w
T estament usage and that should only b e done as
a last resort The same propheti c impulse which
suggested to Philip that he should j oin the eunuch
seem s to have impelled his hastenin g away at the
"

Hpi m o ev ( caught
end o f the interview
which implies a hasty or violent sn a tchin g away
.

1 85

T HE S PI R IT O F GOD

a supernatural physi cal action as well as a propheti c

impulse is prob a bly due to the development of tra
dition We have seen in the cas e of the Pentecost
narrative that the editor o f Acts is not always
critical in his treatment of the phenomena o f the
Spirit especially when they m a rk the divine guid
ance o f the progress o f C hristianity
E ven more undened is the experience which lies
b ehind Acts 1 6 6 f Paul and his companions
sought to preach the word in Asia and later in
Bithynia b ut the Spiri t in each case hindered them
T hat it is called in one place the Holy Spirit and in
the other the Spirit o f Jesus cannot be supposed to
indicate any di fference in the experience r e p r e
sented O ne may surm ise a prophetic message or
impulse to some member o f the party like the one
which came to Paul on the voyage to R ome ( 2 7
or a v ision like the one which soon a fter
called them to Macedonia The mere force of cir
c u m s t a n c es is hardly a su fcient explanation unless
the references to the Spirit be assigned to the tradi
t i o n a l development for wherever its meaning c a n
b e ascertained a message o f the Spirit i s found to
stand for some personal religious experience
These indenite references require no change in
the denition of the charismatic Spi rit given above
The charismatic gi fts were not the common pos
session o f all Christian s They did not ow di
r e c t l y from the fact of Christian faith as the phrase

faith and the Spi rit S hows The Spirit was never
regarded in the pre Pauline church a s an essential
,

1 86

PR IMITI VE C H R ISTIAN C ON C E P TIO N

TH E

part o f the ordinary Christian li fe but as a d o n u m

In every instance which is recorded
s u pe r a d d i tu m
the charismata came i n special circumstances where
strong emotional feeli n gs w ere natural The com
pany o f the disciples the combat o f strenuous con
t r o v e r sy prayer in a time o f crisis the suggested
opportunity of Christian work such as these are
the occas ions which produced the gi fts o f the Spirit
Nowhere in the book o f Acts is there proo f that
the author regarded the Spirit as th e basis of the
ordinary religious li fe In this respect t h e book
is not Pauline The only phrase w hich points in
a Pauline direction is one w hich is used of the body
o f disciples in 2 4 ; 4 3 1 ; I 3 5 2 ; o f Peter in 4 8 ;
o f the seven in 6 3 ; of Stephen in 6 5 ; 7 5 5 ; o f
Paul in 9 1 7 ; o f Barnabas in I I 2 4 It occurs
most f requently in the earlier part o f Acts but this
is true also o f all uses o f the Spiri t It is con
n e c t e d in som e places with particular charismati c
g i fts which were temporary in thei r nature ; as the
gi f t o f tongues at Pentecost Peter s speech on th e
same occasion the vision o f Stephen 7
Paul s
propheti c words to B ar j esus ( I 3
boldness o f
preaching on the part o f the disciples ( 4
The

fullness
o f the Spi rit seems sometimes
to be only an emphati c way o f expressing the action
o f the Spirit in various charismatic gi fts T h ere
is no reason to suppose that these parti cular gi fts
seemed to Ch ristian tradition to be o f more power
or strangeness in themselves or o f any greater i m
portance in the development o f the characte r than
,

1 87

TH E

S PI R IT O F GOD

gi fts which are not so designated There are how

ever cases o f the use o f this phrase which seem
to connect it with the description of character and
to make the Spirit a permanent abiding element o f
the Christian li fe
This would be the most natural interpretation o f

the phrases full of faith and the Holy Spirit

full o f wisdom and the Spirit
a good man and

lled with the Spirit where the Spirit is correlated

w ith permanent elements of character Such a use
sugg ests Pauline a fnities It is probable that a
Pauline element is to b e recogn ized here T he com
parison of the gospel o f Luke with the gospel
sources shows that the phrase when used in the
thi rd gospel b elon gs to the vocabulary o f the
author rather than to that o f the original sources
When Acts was written the Paul ine use o f the term
as the basis of Christian li fe and character must
certainly have been common in the Christian church
This author seems to make use of it on occasion i n
a Pauline way but without careful discrimination
and without holding i n mind i n any clearly dened
way the Pauline use as a part o f his c onscious
1
Th e use o f the phrase in
theological furnishing
Acts then is not uni form ; b ut the element o f
Pauline use is slight The general thought of early
Christianity as represented i n the book is very
clearly that o f the Spi rit as a temporary possession
o f particular men the evidence o f which consisted
.

no t

Thi s w ould poi nt tow ard an author wh k e w Paul ine terms but was
thorou hl m b ued W th Paul i ne thought
n

1 88

T H E PR I MITI VE C H R I S T I A N C O N C E PTI O N

in particular powers that came and went in ways

which seemed to the early church to be u n a c c o u n t
a b le and so supernatural
The relation o f the Spirit to Christ als o takes its
startin g point from charismatic usage We have
found the Messianic signicance to b e one o f the
most fre q uent uses in Palestinian Jewish literature
The hope for the presence of God in the future his
tory o f Israel was correlative with the memory of
his presence in past history in the work o f the

prophets and the same term the Spirit was used

o f both In early Christian usage Christ was a

person who had the Spirit o f God

God anointed

him with the Holy Spirit and with power ( Acts

10
Acts 1 2 after he had given command

ment through the Holy Spirit indicates the same

thing The words o f Christ are the words o f the

Spirit Nor does 1 6 7 the Spirit o f Jesus need

an interpretation essentially di fferent
It i s the
Spirit o f God i n its Messianic activity called the
Spirit o f Jesus b ecause o f its mission in developing
the work which Jesus b egan The use is aki n to
that i n 2 Cor 3 1 7 1 8 without b eing in any way
a direct borrowing o f the Pauline usage
Is the Spirit used in primitive Christian thought
for God a b i n tr o ? We found in the middle period
of the O ld Testament the b eginnin g o f the use o f
Spi rit for God a b i n fr a This use di d not grow
late r It tended rather to disappear inhibited b y
t h e growing transcendental idea o f God in Judaism
Now that the b el ie f in Christ as th e Messiah and
,

1 89

S P IRI T O F

TH E

GOD

the appearance of phenomena regarded as spiritual

in human li fe had once more brought God near to
man one would naturally expect the use of the
Spirit for God a b i n tr a to be revived There is
evidence that such was the tendency although the
cases are not so clear as to make it more than a
tendency Passages w h ere the words o f Jahveh in
the O ld Testament are ascribed to the Spirit should
1
not be used in this connection
The conception of
the Holy Spirit as the active originator of the O ld
Testament and the Hebre w institutions does n o t
amount to identication o f the Spirit with God
The i dea o f the Spirit a s the source of the O ld
Testament writings had its rise in the most barren
periods o f Judaism when all the tendencies o f
thought w ere a gainst any i dentication o f the Spirit
and God There is no evidence that its us e in the
New Testament will bear any di fferent interpreta
tion from that in the preceding Judaism O cca

s i o n a l ly the writers s a y
the Holy Spi rit spake
and at other times assign authorship
( Acts 2 8
to Jahveh ( I 3 47 ) yet at still other times a
writing is ascribed to D avid ( 2 2 5 ) or a pro p het
2
All these are condensed expressions
(
When the writers become denite they specically
recognize the three elements o f the O ld Testament
revelation : God the Spirit o f God as inspiring
the writers the writers themselves Compare Acts
,

eni o ( Th S p m L d p 8 ) so uses such cases as H eb 9 8

The H ol y S p r t the author of the Ol d Testament regulat ons as to w
sh p the authorsh p o f wh ch attr b uted verse to G d I A cts
8
6 6
4
7 the utterance o f J ehovah ( I
) i called that o f the H oly
gp t
1

in

"

ea

er

is

re

o r

is

sa

in

1 90

1 0

2 0

P RI MITI VE C H R I S TIAN C O N C E PTIO N

TH E

O Lord thou who didst make the heaven

and the earth and the sea and a l l t h at i n them is :

4,

by the Holy Spirit by the mouth o f D avid our

7 023
n a r og i7
d
i d i r v e ii a o g
father didst say
p
v
n
1
With this
d y i o v a oua o g Aa v e i d wa l d o; a o u s i rrd w)

accords 2 Pet 1 2 1 F or no prophecy ever came by

the w ill of man ; but men spake from God bein g

moved by the Holy Spirit

This passa g e probably
represents the conscious j udgment o f the early
church more nearly than any other in the New Tes
tament and here God and the Spirit are as clearly
distinguished as in any Hebrew or Jewish writing
We must b e care ful not to use popular condensed
expressions as the scientic statements o f complex
ideas especially w here exact distinctions are at best
drawn only w ith di fculty
Not less erroneous is it to assume that because
the Spirit does the work of God it i s therefore equiv
a l e n t to God a b i n tr o
The case in Acts whi ch comes
nearest to the use o f the Spirit for God a b i n tr o is
i n the story o f Ananias and S apphira D eceit i s
against the Spirit for the Spirit is the controlling
f orce in the Messianic movement ( 5
but verse
a
f
rms
that
this
is
also
a
s
in
against
God
And
5
yet it is easy to press even this case farther than
the facts will allow The starting point is not God
but God s active working through the
a b i n tr o
Spirit as g ui ding the destinies of the c h urch It
was this Spi rit that Ananias attempted t o deceive
dy
The text presents vari at i ons b ut i t i st i ll poss b le that d d
dy
S ee W estcott and H ort note i V l
g all b elon g to the ori gi n l
I I ; Bl
A t Ap t l
m i l
also note i S tuttg art e d ti on N T
wh o

'

Or

aro

'

ass s

c a

o s o a ra

i ru
n

oco

19 1

S P IRIT O F

TH E

GOD

But this Spiri t was divine a n d the most natural

contrast between i t and men would be i n the terms

used
thou hast not lied unto men but unto Go d
It hardly a frms s o conscious a theology as is i m
plied by the equation the Holy Spirit
God a b
i n tr a
The thought is still m o v m g l n the realm o f
the Spirit as the Messiani c activity of God and does
not go beyond it The identity of the Spirit with
God is not neces sarily an identity o f essence but
of operation and interest
The introduction to the decision o f the council

in I 5 2 8 i t seemed good to the Holy Spiri t and

t o us
bears essentially the same signicance I t
is a recognition o f the Spirit s active operation in
the church Its special interest lies not in the i d e n ti
c a t i o n o f th e Spirit and God but of the Spirit and
the thought o f the church in the condence with

which they venture to interpret the mind o f the

Spirit
O ne questions whether it doe s not imply
the experience o f some prophetic impulse or other
mani fested phenomenon in the assembly o f the
church which authenticated to them their decis ion
as th a t also of the Spirit It is not certain that thus
early in the church the mere unanimous decision of
a Christian assembly without prophetic or other
veri cation would be so pointedly identied with
1
that o f the Spi rit
The older commentators inter
I f as W i k
and others suppose t h deci si on must b e put at a later
m h Chr sti ans seem to assume
time ( comp
t i sa d the
5 w here
that Paul has not heard o f the decree ) t statement w ould st ll b e true
I t w ould need modi cati on only i f the text i the product o f post P aul ne
Chri sti ani ty E ven then i t w ould b e an unusual f orm i W t h to state
the b el e f that a mere d i o f j udgm ent w made under the g u dance
H ol y S pi ri t I t parallel i f t h b e the m m g
not k now n
th
ef were
,

e zs

2 1

er

18

e c rs o n

as

se

=
192

ea

15

T H E PR I M ITI VE C H R I S TIAN C O N C E PTIO N

quite naturally the Spirit in us but this

is not what the passage says nor would the analogy
of usage elsewhere seem to warrant this In fact
later scholars usually rej ect it In some marked
way the decision must have b een approved by the
Spirit This interpretation pla c es the passa ge in
the class o f charismati c uses
O nly one other passage needs attention here : 7

1
Y
e
always
resist
the
Holy
Spirit
as
your
5

fathers so also ye
In this we have plainly the
prophetic Messianic use linking together the word
o f the Spirit through the prophets and the word
through the Messiani c activity of the church In
neither case is there an i dentication o f the Spi rit
with God in any di fferent sense than in all propheti c
charism
That the Spi rit was divine goes without saying
The entire signicance of all the experience we have
been studying was that its subj ects be lieved that
they were directly moved upon by God himself The
experience was thei r closest personal relation to

God That their gi fts were the di re c t result o f

the operation of God they no more dou b ted than
they doubted the evidence o f their senses
The
immediate in ference from the phenomena to its
divine causation was to them perfectly evident
With simple na i vete they found no di fculty in sup
posing that the great God himsel f was stirring in
them And yet they were not so narrow and sel f
condent as might be made to appear It was not
to use the phrase one sometimes hears that God
I 93
(13 )

r
t
d
e
e
,
p

S P I R IT O F GOD

TH E

was concerned with thei r a ffairs ; they were

concerned with God s a ffairs
The Spirit never
came for their individual behoof or advantage It
was only when their labor was in behalf o f the
progress o f the cause o f the Lord that God moved
upon them
That God should under those cir
personally direct their lives to the
c u m s t a n c es
f ul l lment of h is own great purposes o f cosm ic i m
portance seemed to them to be no strange thing ;
nor for that matter di d they nd much skepticism
in the li fe about them so far as it inuenced them
Jewish Sadduceeism and Greek E pi cureanism prob
ably had little weight i n the classes from which
Christianity drew its rst converts
God actin g
upon men through their conscious experience was
the Spirit
They drew no n e spun distinctions
between God acting and the activity o f God T o
use a R itschlian phrase the Spirit had for them the
value of God even before that could be sai d of
Jesus the Messiah F rom the rst God came nearer
to them personally by the Spirit than he did by
the Christ This does not make the Spirit b istori
cally more important for the explanation o f Chris
t i a n i ty because the Christ stood behind the Spirit
The ground for the explanation o f these experiences
through the Spirit lay in the fact that the Messiah
had come and God was therefore revea ling him
sel f more clearly to men than ever b efore Certainly
the Spirit was God But quite as certainly the
di fference drawn in modern theology between the
Spirit as God and the Spirit as the inuence o f

I 94

PR I M ITI VE C H R I S TIAN C O N C E P TIO N

TH E

God would have been meaningless to the early

church The Spirit was both
They unied or
separated the Spirit and God in a way that is very
puzzling to a logical theology but very reasonable
when we take our stand on expe r ience rather than
on dogma
We have found the beginning and the end o f all
our explanations here as in the O ld T estam ent in
the study o f experience
The test to whi ch all
theories must b e brought is D O they help to e l u c i
date the experience O f the early church ? I f not we
may pass them by as i rrelevant to an historical
study In this light certain questions which have
b een prominent in the history o f the doctrine o f
the Spi rit become meaningless They have to do
with logi c rather than li fe
It is well for us to emphasize the religious value
o f these experiences which the early Christians as
c r i b e d to the operation o f the Spi rit
To f eel that
they were standing in immediate relation to the
great purposes of God ; that they were working in
accord with those purposes ; and that he himsel f
at times consciously and visibly moved i n thei r li fe
made the presence and power o f the Almighty ex
c ee d i n g l y real
Add to this the belief that the di rect
channels o f the revelation o f God to man which had
been known to the ancient prophets were once more
O pened an d that too under a movement of vastly
more importance and speaking reverently o f more
concern to God than was that o f the prophets and
we have an impulse for the religious interpretation
.

9S

TH E

S P I R IT O F GOD

o f experien c e richer fresher and more command

ing than the world has ever seen before or since
Weinel suggests that the rst century of the Chri s
tian era saw an epidemic of nervous disorders like

the medi aeval S t V itus s dance and the prophecy

o f the Camisards assisted by su ggestion and auto
suggestion and stim u lated by the expectation o f
the speedy end o f the world ( pages 2 1 9
It
may be Certainly psychology has not yet spoken
i ts last word upon the interrelations o f the nervous
and the religious li fe But n o psychological inter
i
t
a
t
r
e
o n o f the phenomena of the rst Christian
p
century will be complete which leaves out o f account
the tremendous power o f the religious convictions
as aids to the explanation not merely of the s ig n i
cance but o f the facts o f those experiences which
the early church called spiritual
L eavin g aside
the fact o f chronological ne a rness to the li fe o f
Christ it is not surprising that an age which r eal
i ze d s o intensely its nearness to the divine should
have produced a religious literature which later
ages have never been able t o s u persede It is o f
little use for the church o f one age to s imulate the
phenomena o f another E ach age must interpret
li fe into its own language B ut the principle of r e
l i g i o u s li fe ever stands the same in all ages and all
faiths It is found in that contact o f the divine
and the human which the early church called the
Holy Spi rit The section o f literature which we
have be en studying does not represent the highest
mark o f its reali z ation for it discovered the evi
,

196

TH E

PR I M ITI VE C H R ISTIAN C O N C E P TI O N

dence o f that contact only i n marked and e x t r a o r

d i n a r y experiences not in the facts of daily li fe ;
but its intensive power made up in a measure for
its lack o f extensive application We shall nd the
completion o f this i dea in the writin gs o f Paul
,

97

CHAPTER IV
Th e Pa u l in e

Wr i ti n g s

A M ONG the many contributions o f Paul to the

developed thought o f Christianity only one that of
the universality of the gospel apart from the law
is more striking in itself or more far reaching in
its e ffects than his theory of the Spirit It is very
natural that the doctrine o f the Spirit in Paul should
have received much careful and elaborate study
So prominent has the Pauline phase of the doctrine
b een in the Christian church that it has practically
oversh a dowed every other and the theory of tradi
t i o n a l orthodoxy has been consciously based on
what it supposed to be the teaching o f Paul the rest
o f Scripture being used simply to illustrate or sup
port Pauline thought The older theology with its
i deas of mechanical unity in S cripture interpreted
the O ld Testament as containing the same doctrine

a s the writings O f Paul only not so clearly r e

vealed while all the New Testament was inter

as
containing
a
doctrine
exactly
identical
r
e
t
e
d
p
w ith Paul s Later scholarship has lai d aside so
unnatural a theory o f the unity of S cripture and
yet has not always gained as much as it might from
its recognition of the variety of biblical ideas
E specially has the doctrine o f the Spirit lacked the
light whi ch might have come from more careful
,

1 98

TH E

P A U LI N E WR ITINGS

attention to its genetic development The rich con

tent o f the fu ll y developed Pauline thought can
never be properly understood unless we take into
account the stages by which it grew and its relation
to the experience not only o f Paul himself but o f
the Hebrew nation and the Christian church Then
only can the doctrine be seen in its proper relations
and each o f its factors receive due emphasis Then
only also can w e avoid the danger o f interpreting
Paul s thought by the subj ective j ud g ment o f later
Christian thought as to what is important or rea
sonable in the spi ritual li fe a danger t o which the
doctrine o f the Holy Spiri t with its a fnities fo r
m ysti c a n d piet isti c thought has b een peculiarly
liable

Paul s uses o f Spirit and its derivative a dj e c

tive spiritual have been o ften gathered

Any

attempt to state them i n summary must present

material o ften be fore collected in various ways It
must proceed upon certain assumptions o f exegesis
for nowhere in the enti re treatment o f the subj ect
do we meet so many pass ages where the meaning

o f Spirit is O bscure or in dispute The question

has been asked whether Paul may not have covered
two or more meanings in the same use of the word
The problem was raised in an essay in J o we tt s
.

C o m m e n ta r y
Ro ma ns

on

Th e ssa l o n i a n s

Ga la ti a n s

and

and is treated at len g th and somewhat

cavalierly in D ickson s S t P a u l s Us e o f F l e s h a n d
S p i r i t ( page 9 8
D ickson asserts that there
can be in the m ind o f a writer b u t one meaning o f
,

99

TH E

S P I R IT O F

GOD

a word in each o f the cases of its use and that we

must not attribute the indecision o f the exegete to

the mind o f the author

Exegesis can only address
itself t o its task with any hope or condence of a
success ful result on the assumption that the author
whom it seeks to interpret has not thus played fast
and loose w ith language but has attached to it in
each instance a denite mean ing not mani fo ld but

one ( page 1 0 1
In a general way this principle o f exegesis is
sound but in the application o f it certai n modi fying
facts must be borne in mind F irst not every writer
thinks so clearly as never to mingle t wo shades of
meaning in one instance of the use o f a word Cer

t a i n ly Philo s use o f Logos was not always either

personal or impersonal
It may be q uestioned
whether even in so vigorous a thinker as Paul wo rds
are always used with sharply dened distinctions

Is it always true in Paul s e p istles that law for

example means one o f two quite separate things
either the law of Moses o r the divine commands
revealed through conscience and nature ?
In the second place inclusiveness o f meaning is
di fferent from a m b i g u i ty o r d u p l i c i ty o f meaning In
c l u s i v e n ess is very common and perfectly legitimate
In such cases there is a unity in which the two mean
ings combine i n the mind o f the writer In such

cases we do not say either o r b ut both and

The ideas are combin e d in a concept not vague and
undened b ut denitely gathering both in a hi gher
u nity It is b y a concept of this nature that we
,

Z OO

TH E

P A U LI N E WR ITINGS

interpre t Christ s me an ing in the ph rase the king

dom o f God
The meaning is both moral and
eschatological yet not as distinct from each other
but as both included in a more complete conception
than either alone represents We d o not speak in
such cases of vagueness but o f comprehensiveness
Whether there is any such higher unity back o f
Paul s uses o f the Spi rit it will b e our duty later
t o inquire
Y et again modern distinctions o ften the result
o f ages o f philosophical thinking and long courses
O f thought
did not always exist for th e ancient
thinker The modern interpreter will not i f he
wishes to become a true interpreter carry back mod
ern distinctions and a ttempt to make them apply
to ancient l iterature H e will bear in mind the
simpler stage o f thought that his author represents
O ften the thought o f an ancient writer was vague
as is that of childhood and words were used upon
which w e now sometimes put distinctions o f mean
ing not present to those who rst spoke them F or
example it is q uite possi b le that to Philo strange
as the i dea may be to us the Logos may have been
neither personal nor impersonal because the con
c e p t i o n o f personality had not yet clearly dened
itsel f A modern case in point would be the p o pu

lar use o f th e theological term the Trinity

Is it
certain th a t the Christian i n the pew or even always
in the pulpit attaches either a tritheistic or a mono
theisti c concept to the term or may it b e that he
sometimes uses it in so vague a way that his thought
.

2 01

S P I R IT O F GOD

TH E

does not penetrate t o the distinction o f one and

three ?
The following are the uses of the Spirit in the
sense O f the divine Spirit in Paul s writings :
A The Spirit used for God acting in the indi
vidual li fe :
1
In the endowment o f individuals with charis
matic gi fts :
( a ) Prophecy : I Thess 5 1 9 ; 2 Thess 2 2 ;
I Cor 1 2 to 1 4 p a ssi m ; I Tim 4 1
( b ) Tongues : 1 Cor 1 2 to 1 4 p a s si m
( c ) Wisdom : 1 Co r 2 6 1 3 ; 7 40 ; 1 2 8 ( comp

also the word o f knowledge I Cor 1 2

( d ) P owe r to perform mi racles : 1 Cor 1 2 9
IO
( e ) D iscernin g of spirits : I Co r 1 2 1 0
( f ) Interpretation o f tongues : I Cor 1 2 1 0
( g ) F aith : 1 Cor 1 2 9 ; 2 Cor 4 1 3
( h ) S pe cic or general direction in the progress
o f Christian activities : E ph 3 5 ; R om 8 2 6 ; E ph
,

18

Boldness in Christian testimony :

Cor

f
( j ) Charismata without more specic d e n i
tion : I Th e ss I 5 ; 4 8 ; R om 1 5 1 9 ; I Cor 2
Cor I 2 2 ; 5 5 ; I I 4 ; Gal 3 2 5 ; E ph 1 1 3
B The Spi rit used o f God as th e originating
force of the Christian li fe and as mani fest in its
ethi cal and religious development : I Thess I 6 ;
2 Thess
2
1 3 ; R om 5
5 ; 8 2 6 9 I I I4 f
16
Cor 2 1 0
1 7,

2 02

P A U LI N E WR ITINGS

TH E

19

6;

12

8;

13

14

Cor
Gal 3

;
;

22

14

; 3

; 4

8,

6; 5

f ;
1 6h ;

1 7,

5,

E ph 2 1 8 2 2 ; 3 1 6 ; 4 3 f 3 0 ; 5 1 8 ; 6
I ; 3 3 ; Col 1 8 ; 2 Tim
19 ; 2
1 7 ; Phil I
Titus 3 5
I f we as before compare th is use with earlier
periods o f H ebrew thought we nd that a s ide from
the one great new feature o f use the ethical usage
the former tendencies have continued to develop
1 The use o f the Spirit for God a b i n tr a has now
completely disappeared E ven such identications
as Acts 5 where a lie t o God is a lie to the Spirit
are not found in Paul s writings Clear thinkin g
has taken a step forward There was a possi b ility
in early Hebrew post exilic literature that God act
ing would come to be so i dentied with Go d in e s
sence that the advantage which He b rew thought pos
sessed in a distingu ishing term might be lost This
di d not take place In the Pauline thought the sep
aration wa s made so plain that the danger p assed
entirely b eyond the horizon In H indu thought the
procedure was in the opposite di re c tion
F irst
there was a monotheistic i denti cation o f all divine
power T his included within itsel f b oth the rst
cause and its mani fested activity ; in Hebrew
terms both God and Spirit Then S ince result is
an essential part o f mani festation and since as in
dreams the essence whi ch is also the active power
is the sole cause of the seeming material product
cause actor and result were all identied and pan
theism was the outcome This pantheism b e c am e
6 8;

2 03

TH E

S P I R IT O F GOD

the more completely impo ssible to the He b rew even

had he been inclined t o philosoph ize because he had
a term which as thought develope d led to a sharp
distinction between the rst cause and its mani
,

fe s t a t i o n

Here as i n Palestinian Judaism the Spirit

acts only upon men ; an d as everywhere else in the
New Testament only u po n the believer in Christ
and upon men in the eld of Hebrew history The
enti re usage is Messianic As the idea of the o r
n i z e d church evolved we nd the Spirit used with
a
g
growing frequency for the divine control o f the
church as a whole This use however is the same
that occurs in the document which is incorporated
in the early p art o f Acts The basis of the c o n c e p
tion is always individual
The church has the
Spirit because its members have it The idea that
the church is its e l f an entity independent of its
mem be rship and that its members have the Spirit
because the church has it is a ction which it is
impossi b le to take as reality s o long as we keep

Paul s gure o f the body th e c h u r c h where he

himsel f keeps it in the realm of illustration Th e
church as the repository o f the Spirit is a Greek
notion wh ich rests on Platonic idealism and nds
no sanction in Paul s theology He knows of no
Spi rit ll e d substance called the church b u t only
of Spirit ll e d persons who together make up the
church
T
he
positions
with
re
ard
to
the
Messiani
c
g
3 4
conception and t o th e Spirit as the origin o f physical
2

'

2 04

TH E

P A U LI N E WR ITI NGS

li fe are identical with those o f primitive Christia n

usage ( see page 1 5 5
Paul s i deas o f the Holy Spirit grou p abo ut one
conception that o f God mani fest in the i ndividual
li fe of the Christian This is shown ( a ) with r e
gard to the beginning o f the Christian li fe T o
the Spirit is due its inception ( R om 8
( b)
It s a n c t ies the li f e ( I Cor 6
Th e holiness
and the ethical value of the li fe are due to the Spirit
( 6 ) It directs all the expressions o f the Christian
li fe whether o f prayer o f publi c worship or o f any
form o f witness for Christ No part o f the religious
li f e is outside the range o f the Spirit s activity At
the same time there is a speci al emphasis on the
Spirit as the source o f s a n c t i c a t i o n N o w sancti
c a t i o n is considered by Paul not prim arily as an
element in the witness o f the church although it
has its value for that but as the essential o f the li f e
that is related to God T he Christian is holy b e
caus e Go d is holy ; h is body is a temple o f the Spiri t
o f God and s o must be holy T he whole matter
o f sa n c t ic a ti o n is an immedi ate in ference from the
holiness o f God
This takes the subj ect out o f the range o f Chris
tian witness where the conception o f the Spirit
had be fore rested in the early church but not out
o f the range o f the pr o gress o f the Messianic king
dom The Spirit is still conceived of as working
for that and for th at only B efore only the work
o f the Messiah h imsel f and the propa g ation o f the
kingdom in the lines o f its e x ternal growth had
,

2 05

S P I R IT O F GOD

TH E

been assigned to the Spirit Paul has now b rought

int o account the internal development o f the king
dom i n the individual li fe These are the two hemi
spheres which together make the entire content of
the kingdom o f the Messiah All h as now been
brought within the range of the Spirit s activity
Paul has made complete the theoretical a pp r e h e n
sion of the envelopment o f the w o rld s religious
progress within the folds of the purposeful activity
o f God under the nam e of the Spirit The progress
o f the conception has reached perfection so far as
its denition as a conception is concerned The
only possible enlargement beyond the Pauline i de a
is in the b roadening o f the denition o f religious
progress That progress remained for him as for
the rest o f the early church limited to the work o f
the Messiah through the Christian church
No question o f genesis in the entire range o f this
study h as received so much attention as has the
problem of the origin of the peculiar Pauline con
In fact i t is the o nly question
c e p t i o n of the Spiri t
of genesis in the history o f t h l s subj ect which has
received any treatment that could b e called at all
adeq u at e
The possibl e sources o f Pauline religious ideas
are Greek Alexandrian Jewish Palestinian Jewish
the O ld Testament t h e tradition and the ex p e r i
ence of the Christian church and Paul s own ex
T o each o f these excepting the rst and
p e r ie n c e
third the origin o f the Pauline i dea has been
ascribe d
.

2 06

TH E

P A U LI N E WR ITINGS

( P hi l o s o p h y

P e i d e r e r

page 1 6 1 )
f
nds the origin in the A l exandrian dualism o f esh
and Spirit the heavenly and the earthly world and
compares in proo f 1 Cor 2 and Wis Sol 8 and 9 ;

but this dualism

and this is what is distinctively

new in his view

was overcom e i n principle in the
one p erson o f Jesus Christ the spiritual man wh o
sprang from heaven and was elevated to heaven ;
an d from this one histori cal point the advancing
subduing o f it through the abiding dominion of the
Spirit o f Christ in the Christi an community is once
1
for all secured
The derivation o f Paul s i dea from Palestinian
Judaism is never claimed for there was nothing
in that form of Jewish thought from which Paul
could have immediately derived his conception
D ickson ( S t P a u l s Us e o f th e Ter m s F l e s h a n d
S p i r i t page 1 46 ff ) assigns the origin of Paul s
use to th e O ld Testament not merely as furnishing

the language but also the warrant and encourage

ment to give the lan g u age the wider scope which

Paul d o es D ickson nds this warrant in the pro
h
t
i
e
c use of the Spi rit as the power o f God in th e
p
Messiani c kingdom The di fculty with this posi
tion is that it really o ffers n o origin The charis
mati c Spi rit and the S pirit as the basis o f physical
and m ental li fe are the only uses whi ch were known
to the prophets
All thei r Messi ani c references
nd explanation under these categories and indeed
o

R e l ig i o n

should how ever com p are

me mod cat on o f thi s pos t on
On e

so

P e i d e r e r

2 07

'

Hi bber t Lec tu res (

62)

f or

THE

be

st at ed

in

o r d er

to

S P IR I T

be

OP

a o ce p t er

GC D

a ul

oo n si

TH E

er ed

th e

ki n g

th e

C hri s

spea

th e

t h e r s t

P A U LI N E

c:

se c o n

es
u
g

ea r

\ s a rr n r os

be

to

to n

n e i t h er
r

an

wi t h

sn n a t es

cer t a in t h a t
o

'

: 9

Chm

P a i r:

no

d g en

ph e

t en m u c h o f a

r st

an

se c c rx i ca us es

f e ri n

o th er

as

ci

g LC

was
he

o t h er

13

sn a n

m a d e hi s p r l oa
A; th e

era t i o n s

H e b r ew

tn

sna n

f t h e S p i r i t : 1: a n y s a sh

i
w
ers
c
o m en a o f l f e w er e
p

was

di s n
r

Op il jf o
n

i r a cu l c u s

f Go d

"

P au l
b e w ee n

an

to

f d e r ir

a ri o n

Ol d

om

T es ta m en t

h r l o g i ca l p r o c es se s i s fl a t su g g es oed h r Be r
( B i h l i m i Th o l n g y, H 2 08 f , E n g tr
s chl a g

i d ea

Th e h u m a n pn en in a L: t o h i m [ P err i ] : r i g i n a ll r an
i
i n d ri i n a i i z ed sp a k c f t h e d i v i n e w i c h h o w er er
r

ce u

an

n ew
an

is

o f th e

p r essi n

li fe w h i c h
.

S p ir i t

b e ca us e i t i s
he c n in es

Ol d

l if e

S p ir it

w o ul d t r a ce th e

t h eo r y

t r in e t o t h e

as

be c a u s e

?
i t h e m in;
Bi n t h er e co m es
es h
i t th e po w er o f t h a t T err Spi r i t fr x n w hi ch i t
h
a
d
t
h
e
s
m
o
ki
n
w
i
t
a t e l em e n t 1 :
k
i
n
c
g
g

d th e

Thi s

rn i n a n c e :

d d:

up on
sp ra

bu r s t i n t o a m e

: ot

f Go d is h o l y

of

sa n c t ifi ca ti o n

o rig n

i aea

cf

Pa ul

d oc

f t h e sp i r i t o f ma n
c o mi n g fr o m Go d
Th e gr ea t o b j ec ti o n t o t hi s
tha t i t l e a r es o ut o f a cco n n t t h e ce n ti n n i t v o f

Tes t am

en t

co n ce p t io ns
i
o f h s o wn da r t o t ur n ba ck t o o l d er i d ea s w h o se
po w er an d ev en w h o s e pr es en ce ca n n o t be t r a c ed
i n th e li t e ra tu r e whi c h r e ect s hi s i mm ed i a t e m e n tal
2 09
( 14)

an

as s u m es

th a t P a u l

a a nd o n e

th e

S P I R IT O F

TH E

heritage

GOD

That is not the way thought usually pro

c eeds
The charismati c Spirit had completely dis
placed the cosmi c Spi rit in Jewish thought and one
looks with suspicion on any theory o f Pauline origin
which ignores this displacement
Still a nother type o f reference of this idea to
1
the O ld Testament is that o f Wendt
According
to him Paul derives his doctrine from the ethi cal
religious ( sittli ch r e l i g i Ose n ) activities o f the Spiri t
in the O ld Testament Gunkel obj ects to this that
the fundamental thought o f the apostle must com e
not from reading but from experience ( page
In addition however one may obj ect that the eth
i cal religious is after all not prominent in the O ld
Testament and that the early Jewish Christia n
thought had almost i f not entirely ignored it The
theory encounters as does that o f Be y sc h l a g the
di fculty o f assum ing that Paul quite ignored the
Judaic a n d Christian thought on this subj ect leap
ing in an unexpected way to an old and never
prominent usage o f a limited period o f He b rew
literature
with his emphasis on the
Gunkel ( pa ge 7 9
envi ronment o f Paul a n d the Jewish meaning o f
the Spirit in extra Paulin e parts o f the New Testa
ment naturally makes much o f Paul s own e x p e r i
enc e as the source o f his doctrine o f the Spi rit
This must on any hypothesis have been a large
factor Paul s doctrines were never scholastic or
l o gi cal They all represented li fe and that li fe his
.

D i e B e g r i e F l e i sc h

2 IO

an

d Ge i s t

TH E

P A U LI N E WR ITI N GS

own H is b elief was a lways the explanation o f h is

own li fe but to understand his li fe one must take
into account his surroundings Two questi o ns then
arise : What was the contribution o f Paul s environ
ment to his i dea o f the Spirit ? and What elements
?
did his own experience furnish
The environment o f Paul contained two f actors
w hi ch inuenced h is reli gi o us thi nkin g : Judaism
and the Ch ristian church
Paul s dependence upon the th eo logy o f Judaism
is most o ften thought o f in a negative w ay H e
revolted from it we say and struck out his own
path o f thought through much mental stri f e An d
yet a fter all that is only true o f certain phases o f
it espe cially o f thos e which were intimately con
n e c t e d with th e results o f the belief in Jesus as th e
M ess iah It is true chiey o f i deas o f s alvation and
o f the function o f the law ; in general of the realm
o f soteriology In relation t o other subj ects it i s
doubtful i f his i deas could b e des cribed as more than
a very slightly modied Judaism In everythin g
not a ffected by the b elie f that Jesus was the Messiah
he stoo d to the end on the tradition a l ground o f
Judaism Witness his c o nception o f i dols as the
representations o f demons o f the O ld T estam ent
l
S criptures o f e s c h a t o l o gy
W e may then expect to nd the Palestini an Jew
ish idea o f the Spirit at the basis o f his conceptions
on this su b j ect In this he simply shares the con
.

'

Re
er

admi rab le presentati on o f th i s whole sub j ect has b een made i Th

tw
f S t P l t C t mp
y y w h Th
g h t b y H S t J ohn T hac k

An
a

n o

au

on e

or a r

Z I I

i s

ou

S P I R IT O F

TH E

GOD

dition o f the early church He presents the same

ide a of the Spirit as connected with the Messi a nic
the s am e ascription of pecul i ar
m ani festation
wis dom or mental gi fts to its power the same be lie f
that the history of the O ld Testament times and
especially the writers o f the O ld Testament wer e
under its guidance Not less is the Judaistic lim
i ta t i o n o f the Spirit seen
It is not operative upon
nature but only upo n man and is limited in history
to Is rael with a wide expansion o f mani festation
in the Messiani c time That Paul was dependent
upon Jewish rather tha n Alexandrian ideas is seen
most conclusively in his utter neglect o f one i m
portant element characteristi c of that system o f
thought the Spirit as a cosmic power P e i d e r e r
sees dependence for the antithesis o f o d pE and
WVEDHG upon the Wisdom of Solomon yet it is this
very book which mo re than any other extant work
o f the Alexandrian Jewish school emphasizes the
Spi rit as a cosmic power Now Paul seems not t o
have been without glimpses o f cos mic relations in
the purpose o f God as in R om 8 2 2 b ut h e never
places the Spirit in any c onnection with them Th e
Spirit is as in P alestini an Judaism reserved solely
for divine action upon hum an hearts
When Paul came int o the Christian church
bringing with him the belie fs o f his Jewish theol
ogy he came into a community which had already
moved somewhat from his own former Jewish
point of view Its progress had been along the
most direct and simple l ines T he Messi anic tim e
.

'

2 12

P A U LI N E W R ITINGS

TH E

was to be a period o f remarkable mani festations o f

the Spirit That time h a d now come Moreover
the experi ence o f the Christi an community pre
sented a wealth of phenomena explicable most easily
b y this belief in the Spirit The belief and the
experience acted and reacted upon each other The
explan a tion which was ready to hand furnished a
ground o f ex p ectation for more phenomena and
the great abundance of charismata in the early
Christian church followed
I t may be that Paul s convers ion is to be put
within the rst two y e ars a fter the crucixion
Whenever i t was the time was so early that Paul
c ame into the Christian church whil e its c o n c ep
tions o f the Spi rit were in the formative period
H is own conceptions followed for a time the same
di rect path As we have seen he shared to the end
in all the ideas o f the Spirit current in the early
church It is impossible to di fferentiate between
the Jewish basis and the early Christian develop
ment o f the doctrine o f the Spirit except to say that
the pneumatic experiences of the early church made
a vivid present reality out of what had before been
a dogma o f mem o ry from the national past and o f
hope for the national future There is every reason
to suppose that Paul was largely inuenced in the
form o f his beliefs b y the Christian churches w ith
which he was in contact It is inconceivable that
several years o f intercours e with the churches of
Syria and Ci licia should have left no molding im
press upon the str u ct u re o i his thought His c laim
.

2 13

S P I R IT O F GOD

TH E

o f independence in the auto b iographical sections o f

Galatians does not imply any such unnatural
severance from the inuences o f environment
That claim of independence has to do with the origin

o f his gospel and is limited to his conception of

the method of salvation
But Paul di d not depend for his conception o f
the charismata o f the Spirit simply upon Jewish
tradition and the experiences of his fellow Chris
tians He himself was as all scholars recognize
a pneumati c of the highest degree To the Corin
thian church a church in which spiritual gifts
seem to have been somewhat unusually abundant he

says I thank my God that I speak with tongues

more than you all ( I Cor 1 4

H e had
visions ( 2 Cor 1 2 I
Th e ground of his
Christianity was itsel f a revelation ( Gal 1
The most striking and popularly valued gi fts of the
1
Spirit were parts o f his own experience
Thus far Paul s thought followed the channels of
Th e problem o f
Ordinary early Ch risti an ideas
real di fculty comes in the attempt to pass from
this common i dea over to the conception of the r e
lation of the Spirit t o the personal reli g ious li fe
The psychology of religi ous leaders an i nterest ng study F w have
b een
W
thout i i o s or the r psychologi cal e u valents Nearly f not
add t on
I
q ui te all o f the H eb re w prophets come nto th s cate g ory
one may ment on Z oroaster f one may trust not merely trad t on b ut the
G th
( see Y asna ""I ") ; B uddha w hose enl ghtenment w evi dently
o f the nature o f a w ; the H ndu ph losophers
whose w orks the
terms used o f the percept on o f the truth are such as to presuppose a k
dred exper ence ; the Y o s wh a med d rectly at the product on o f such
psych cal phenomena ; M ohammed whose b est rel g ous utterances w ere
all the result of s ons ; P h lo ( p o 6 f The Chr st an w orld fur shes
such class c examples Franc s o f A I I B ernard S t Franc s "av er
L oyola
L
uther E dwards W esle y i all o f w hom w fi nd essenti all y the
m
l phenomena o f
and revelati ons wh ch P aul
p y h l g
descr b es
Cor as a part o f hi o wn exper ence
.

Is

V s

as

sr o n

gi

as

in

in

in

o o
2

i ca
.

se e

as

SS S

sa

Vi

2 14

ni

v i si o n s

1 2

"

P A U LI N E WR I T I N GS

TH E

as a permanent re l igious force rather than as a

temporary charismatic gi ft
Whenever Paul originates new theological con
c e p t i o n s i t is worthy o f note that he takes his point
o f departure from what he conceives to be the cen
tral s ignicance o f the subj ect in question N o w
the central signicance o f the Spirit in Christian
thought lay in its relation to the development of the
Messianic mission It furthered this development
in three ways : rst by its w itness to the believer
that God had approved his service ; second by the
direct guidance of particular plans or lines of labor
which the church or its members undertook ; third
by the witness to Christianity which unusual and
peculiar phenomena not humanly explicable o ffered
be fore the non Christian communities
When the question was raised of what events in
the religious li fe could be interpreted as proceeding
from the Spirit two possible tests could b e applied :
O ne was the test which Judaism had never passed
beyond that simply o f the unusual and e x t r a o r
Whatever in the li fe lay outsi de the usual
d in a r y
and normal belonged to the activity o f the Spirit
This test seemed very obvious It made its spec
t a c u l a r appeal
It was in accord with the only con
c e p t i o n o f the Spi rit s work whi ch the early church
had brought ove r from Judaism and for some time
i t seems to have been the only test that the churches
consciously applied But it had about it an u n c e r
tain penumbr a O ther spirits bes ides the Spirit o f
God might p roduce like results ; nor was i t always
.

2 1

S P I R IT O F

TH E

GOD

f
ossible
as
in
the
case
the
maid
at
Philip
i
o
p
p
Acts
16
16
to
precipitate
a
direct
conict
o
f
(
strength between the spirits It was also external
There was something profounder something more
in accord with the emphasis which Christ laid upon
the internal rather than the external This was
brought t o light in the second test that of value
and result To this test we nd Paul pas sing Any
event or experience which served to further the
interests of the Messiani c movement might prop
erly be explained by the Spirit even though it were
not unusual nor extraordinary The entire discus
sion o f gi fts of the Spirit in I Cor 1 2 to 1 4 with its
emphasis on the various values o f the gi fts its i n
sistence upon ranking these gi fts according to thei r
use in e dic a tio n shows a complete abandonment
o f the Ol d Jewish test and a denite acceptance o f
a ground which so far as we know was new among
the Christian churches
The application of such a test however made a
further departure from the O lder application of the
Spi rit to the range o f experience It made the gi fts
o f teachin g o r of administration or o f any other
things b y which the church might prot part o f
the S piritual charismata standing by the side o f
the charismata o f prophecy and the glossolalia and
claiming equal rank and dignity with them
But among all these elements of the Christian li fe
what was Of the highest value ? Not external gi fts
however important they might be for the churches
but the religious li f e with its outcome in the ethical
,

2 16

TH E

P A U LIN E WR I T I NGS

li fe T his formed the center o f the Christian li fe ;

this connected that li fe most closely w ith the li fe
o f God As Paul labored in the Gentile world t h i s
sanctity o f li fe came to be seen ever more clearly
to be the most important element that Christianity
had to present It meant the most for the advance
o f the Messiani c movement It too then must be
under the guidance o f the Spi rit
It may be that with this argument from the test
o f value must be coupled as usually in the develop
ment o f the idea o f the Spi rit an argument from
experience Paul had himsel f struggled for holi
ness o f li fe His struggle had seemed hopeless u m
ti l he had found help i n the faith o f Christ R om
We can hardly suppos e that the
7 tells the story
help to holiness o f li fe came without a sense o f
emotion V ict o ry in a long fought mental battle
as both psycholo g y and common expe rience tell us
always comes with emotion To Paul this emotion
must have seemed akin to that whi ch accompanied
the gi ft of the Spi rit Both reason and experience
then united in urging Paul to b rin g the religio u s
and ethical li fe into the sphere o f the action o f the
Spi rit
Thus we may account for the religious use Of the
Spirit How di d he come to use the Spirit also as
the divine force in the origin o f the Christi an li fe ?
Several elements may be discerned here O ne is
the mere logical inference from the Spirit as the
s ource of the religious li fe I f f rom th e time o f its
inception the Spirit has been the controlling divine
.

2 17

S P I R IT O F GOD

TH E

power o f this li fe must not the Spirit also b e the

source o f its beginning ? The religious and moral
li fe i s not a temporary en dowment to come and go
at will ; it is a permanent possession I f its mani
fe s t a t i o n is of the Spirit its origin must also be of
the Spirit
O ne may well suppo se that Paul s procedure was
not by means o f the conquest of territory step by
step His system of thought was never a bill of
particulars constructed inductively from details
It was rather a deductive construction Thus his
conception of Christ is not a conclusion from the
details o f the l ife o f Christ but a deduction from
It is probable
t h e principle o f his Messiahship
that his conception of the work o f the Spi rit was
also deductive The principl e was that o f the unity
o f the Christian li fe The li fe as a whole makes its
appe al fo r Christianity It cannot be divided in
i ts witness
Now that which constitutes the cen
tral fact o f a li fe cannot be mere endowment given
from without to come and to go at the command
o f an external will ; it must be the principle o f li f e
itself H ere is psychological insight But Paul s
psychology is not a matter o f inference and cer
ta i n l y not o f philosophy b ut o f his own personal
experience U nity o f l i fe as a matter o f experience
means an absorbing intensity o f interest in one
thing the domination o f li fe by one idea It means
a concentration o f purpose and attention which can
only take place in intense natures A nature how
ever i n which this is possi b le is of ne c essity strongly
,

2 18

TH E

P A U LI N E WR I T I N G S

emotional and th e unication o f li fe in experien c e

is o f necessity linked with emotional experiences
Thus it was with Paul His own li fe was caught
up and absorbed in the thought of the revelation of
God through Christ That had made li fe new for

him He was in his own consciousness a new cre

ation
Ti des o f strong emotion that could only
come from God had set through his soul and turned
its channels in new directions They were tempo
rary prophetic ecstasies but back of them there was
an abiding force which not only made his li fe new
but was itsel f that new li fe l iving itsel f out in his
li fe A man o f less intense experience might have
b alanced the elements o f this li fe so much d i v i n e s o
much human Paul could not do this The li fe was
too much o f a unit for that and his sense O f God in
it was too large It could not be divided except
s o far as elements o f temptation and s i n showed

that the O l d man still pers isted The new li fe

the li fe in Christ was also the li fe in the Spi rit It
was all the mani festation o f God S O out of the
intensity and strength o f his emotions there came a
new step in the psychological interpretation O f the
revelation o f God to man
In some such way as this we may venture to
suppose the rich religious experience of Paul
wrought with the logical processes o f his mind t o
b ring about his new conception o f the range o f the
Spirit s working i n the l i fe o f man It grew directly
out o f the older conceptions
I t is evi dent that
Paul did not regard it as contradictory to thes e
,

2 19

TH E

S P I R IT O F GOD

older ideas f or he held the two t o gether ; nor i f

the above account of its origin is in a n y measure
correct was there any contradi ction between them
The new i dea was only more comprehensive and it
easily replaced the O lder i de a by a more sta b le and
a more satisfactory conception ; but there is no r ea
son to suppose that for Paul it had the great s i g n i
cance of a new and radi cal departure which it has
for us
When we come to consi der the expression o f the
li fe o f the Spirit we nd it p a ss ing beyond the mere
range o f witness though th a t is never e n tirely a b
sent into the range o f ethical li fe for its own sake
Two thoughts combine to produce this result : that
the Messianic kingdom is a holy kingdom and that
the Spirit is a holy Spirit Both these belong to
Jewish theol o gy but ho w for the rst tim e they
could come to ethical realization They had both
been ancient prophetic thoughts whi ch might h ad
prophecy advanced to its n a tural end undisturbe d
by either priestly or n a tion a listic developments
have come by the natural processes o f gro wth to
P aul s ethical position
When however the priesthood placed its cere
monial denition o f holiness by the side O f the
prophet s ethical deniti o n emphas is began to be
unduly placed on the priestly side This was natu
r al
U su a lly in anci e nt religi on s the ceremonial
overcame the ethical when the t wo were placed in
competition Perh a ps however it would be m o re
true to s a y that the mass o f men were unab le to
,

220

P A U LI N E W R ITI NGS

TH E

draw a distinction between them and that the

priests themsel ves by the very tendencies which
produced a priesthood were o f necessity b lind lead
ers o f the blind The very essence o f the priestly
tendency i s the obscuration of the distinction b e
tween ethics and ceremoni al Wherever that dis
tinction has not yet arisen in a religion the priest
hood is i n the line o f natural religious progress
After it has arisen and ethical i de a s have been
clearly and distinctly s e t forth as they had been
in Israel b y th e prophets the rise o f a priesthood
to prominence is inevitably a religious r e t r o g r e s
s ion There are m an y cases as that o f Israel itsel f
where history may j usti fy it as seemingly necessary
f or the building O f a shell so hard that it c a n pro
t e c t the li fe within from external assault but it is
religious retrogression notw ithstanding
The prophets had s u ggested an ethical i n te r p r e
t a t io n o f all the li fe
The priests had inhibited its
growth and the power o f priestly ideas must be
b roken through before it could b ecome a fruitful
religious principle Paul had to d o what the dis
c i p l e s o f Jewish prophets should have been able to
do several hundred years before Not that ethical
i deas had b een entirely lost They still formed the
com fort o f many religious souls and inspi red psalm

and prayer in those who hum b ly w aited for the

redemption o f Israel Without them Paul himsel f

would never have attained his freedom from Phar
i se e i sm
But in general they h ad b een over g r o wn
b y a rank b ram b le o f priestly notions
,

'

22 1

TH E

S PI RI T O F

GOD

I f this seems too ha rsh a j udgment on the Jewish

priesthood we m a y remind ourselves that other r e
l i g io n s compel us to make the same estimate o f the
priest as after a certain period in religious growth
a religious disaster Th e Ga th a s bear evidence of
an ethical phase o f thought in the g rowth of Z oro
a st r i a n is m
When however Magism i ntervened
and purity was conceived o f as h a ving t o d o with
earth and re rather than with characte r then
Zoroastri a nism developed into a bu rdensome ritual
a hard merciless persecuting religion only able t o
sustain itsel f because lik e Judaism it had linked
to itsel f the natural loyalty of nationalism
Not less is the principle illustrated by the con
i c t o f the ages which has been waged in H induism
between ethics and the priesthood H indu panthe
ism combined with what s eems almost a racial
genius for assimilation and syncretism obscures
the con ict but it is still there The result as
u sual has been for the vast mass o f its people the
complete o b literation o f the ethical element of its
philos ophy by the priestly doctrin e o f caste and
sacrice The pers istence of the ethical still con
t i n u e s to mani fest itsel f in such movements as the
S o m a j e s and in many humbler and more individual
e fforts to nd and to do the right It is not n e c e s
sary t o go so far from home except t o show how
widely this same l a w works The Christian church
has in all ages furnished only too many il l ustrations
of the p o wer of ceremonial religion to inhibit ethical
growth
,

222

P A U LI N E W R ITINGS

TH E

In Israel a nationalism which like the priesth o o d

is a normal element o f an earlier period o f growth
combined with priestly domin a tion to still further
hinder ethical growth Judaism never wholly re c
the legal the national and the ethical
o n c il e d
elements of its religious inheri tance but be yond
doubt the ethi cal ideas of the Spirit which Paul
developed might have appeared much earlier h a d
prophetism not been partially overthrown by the
persistence and the dominance of these other i n c o n
r
elements
It
was
not
that
the
S
pirit
and
the
u
s
o
u
g
Messiani c kingdom were not recogn ized as holy
but that as always priesthood and nationalism had
forced upon the people their own unethi cal m agi c al
denitions o f holiness
Now at last we have a clear answer to the q ues
tion which we have raised at various former stages
o f our study : Is the Spirit a permanent element o f
character or a temporary endowment ? So long as
it was an endowment at all the q uestion was always
de b atable In most cases it was temporary In the
primitive Christian church that was probab ly always
the f act In other cases it has seemed more d i f
c ult to come to a decision yet the presumption must
always be in favo r o f the interpretation o f it as
a
temporary endowment except where P a uline
thought has itself m o died the earlier conception
This is not true o f P aul s conception o f the Spi rit
T he ethi cal foundation o f char a cter is not an e n
dowment ; it is an essential elemen t of the pe rson
T his psychologi cal truth Paul attempts to expres s
,

22

S P I R IT O F GOD

TH E

in his mystic realism o f the li fe in the Spi rit

or in Christ for since Christ a n d the Spirit are

both expressions o f God s relation to man they are
us ed in this sense interchange a bly
In former sections questions o f ontolo gy have
not been raised The Hebrews did not discuss the
problem o f the ultimate nature of God man or
the world and it is fruitless for us to attempt to
dene thei r thought when they left it undened
All that we have been able to s ay was that the Spirit
wa s God working without attempting a sh a rper
distinction
In the consideration o f Pauline
thought however the question arises whether we
may not at last try t o dene the n a ture o f the Spirit
Here is where speculative theology has found its
main b i b lical basis for doctrines o f the nature of
the Spiri t and here i f anywhere we shall nd such
a doctrine
The nature o f the Spirit admits o f discussion
u nder the following divisions : 1 The Spirit as a

heaven ly su b stance 2 The relation of the Spirit

to God ; 3 The relation of the Spi rit to Christ
1
That the Spirit represents a sort o f substan c e
1
i s held b y Holsten and Pe i d e r e r
The latter

argues that the use of speech i n the term a spir

i tu a l body ( I Cor I 5 44 ) implies a spiritual ma

te r i a l
Gunkel ( page 5 9 ) compares the psychical

body
As the body is the natural organ O f the
soul so the spiritual b ody is the natural organ o f
the spirit b ut that does not imply that the S pi rit
,

lS e e Gl o e l D er He i l i ge Ge i st
,

224

3 72

TH E

P A U LIN E WR ITI NGS

is a substance The meanin g of spiritual here is

s een by comparing ot h er cases w here the adj ective
is used : R om I 5 2 7 t h e Genti l es partak e o f the
sp i ritua l t h ings o f Je w is h c h urches ( so I Cor 9
I I ; 10 3
I Cor
1 5 44 4 7
a S piritua l body ;
Ep h
I 3 sp i ritual b l essings ; 5 1 9 spiritual
songs ; 6 1 2 sp i ritual hosts ; Col I 9 spiritual
wisdom Th e adj e c tive describes that w hic h the
Spir i t produces or uses for the advancement o f the
Messianic kingdom It keeps P a ul s test i n view
It is sai d that ancient thought cou l d not conceive
o f a thoroughly i mmaterial substance that a be ing
of any sort w as p l aced by the necess ities o f thei r

thought under t h e category of s ta ff

It may be
Certain l y one cannot pro v e t h a t it is not so Then
one may specu l ate about the Spi rit as being an ethe
rea l substance like air o r re But a l l this can
only be speculation and it may be d o ubted whether
the writers in question e v er made any such onto
logi cal distinctions as these theories w ould credit
them w it h Hebre w w ritings deal with phenomena
rather than with substance
Is the Spirit God himsel f ? U p t o this point
2
in our study the Spi rit has every w here be en God
considered as active in the w orld The distinction
bet w een Spirit an d God has b e en a distinction o f
function rat h er t h an o f substan ce Traditional the
ology h a s maintained that at least in t h e writings
o f Paul th e distinction becomes one o f substance
It must be granted that Paul l ike the other early
C hristi ans takes his i de a o f the Spirit from a s ys
1
2
2
5
( )
5
.

TH E

S P I R IT O F

GOD

tern o f thought in w hich a d i fference between God

and the Spirit cou l d o f necess i ty be on l y funct i onal
T h e monot h eism o f t h e Je w s forbade t h e dist i nct i on
T h ere i s no evidenc e
o f persons in t h e D i v i ne Being
t h at t h e pr i mitive C h r i stian churc h es h ad as yet any
ide a on t h i s subj ect d i fferent from thei r Jewish heri
tage
It may be fair l y claimed h o w e v er t h at w i th
t h e origina l ity o f Pau l s concepti o n of the function
of the Spir i t a new conception of its ontology m i ght
possib l y arise
Paul s use o f the Spirit presents the foll o win g
phenomena as concerns the re l at i on o f the Spirit to
God : ( I ) Pau l ascribe s the same results to God and
to the Spi rit ( R om 1 5 I 6 ; I T h ess 5
( 2 ) An
analogy is drawn bet w een the spirit o f a man and
the Spirit of God ( I Cor 2 I I ) The Spirit o f
God sustains the same relation to his personality
t h at the spirit o f a man does to his ( 3 ) The func
tions o f God are assigned to the Spirit
It wou l d seem then that Paul s p o sition is that
the Spirit is God Th i s indeed is the statement of
the creeds but the creeds d i st i nguish between the
Spirit and God No w Pau l distinguishes between
them a ls o on l y in a di fferent w ay The creeds
make an onto l ogical d i stinction ; there is a di fference
a b i n tr o bet w een them
Paul makes a d i fference
not a b i n tr o but e x o fc i o bet w een them Paul
uses the Spirit for God concei v ed as energizing in
a certain way ; but God thus energizing is not lim
i te d t o this term for Paul is free to use the term

God itsel f fo r the same divine activity That

.

2 26

TH E

P A U LIN E W R ITI N GS

is the Spirit and God are not mutual ly e x clus ive

The Spirit di d not mean one thing and God another

The inc l usive term w as God

T h e Spirit might
b e used for a spec i a l w ay o f divine energizing or it
might not T h at was immater i a l The essential
thin g was the rea l ization that the Spirit s w orking
was the actual moving o f God u pon the hea rt God
not the Spirit w as the ultimate thought
T h is disposes of t h e question of the person a lity
of the Spirit Certain l y i t was personal for God is
personal It w as personal as a man acti v ely i n u
Con fessed l y this i n
e n c i n g h is friend is personal
t e r p r e t a t i o n o f personality is not that o f the creeds
The question is i f it is that o f Pau l E ve n i f i t
is that does not o f necessity condemn the creeds
Paul s thought may not be na l It may be a stage
on the r o ad by w h i ch logic is advancing and a
stage at which it is imposs ible to rest But at l east
as interpreters w e must not try to read the resu l ts
of later Greek speculations on the Trinity back into
the simpli city o f his Jewish thought
And as
C hristian t h inkers we s h ou l d not set up as a test
o f Christianity a belief w hich ar o se after h i s day
even i f w e ourselves a l ong with the historic c h urch
believe it to be the l ogical outcome o f h is thought
O rt h o doxy can hard l y dra w lines w hich w i ll shut
out its o w n great the o l ogi cal protagonist and w ith
1
h i m the entire early church
.

m st p ot st g i st h t h omm o ss mp t io t h t if
x g t d o s t d t h m o d sh p t h ol ogi l di st i t i o s
bib
li l
w it t b s of hi s d ll ss Th phil osoph m k s o sp o d
d t h i t p t t i o of Pl t o
th
st d t of lig o
g d m
i t p t t io of t h V di hym s W
ot t oft p t t h t
th
1

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S P I R IT O F

TH E

GOD

What is the relation o f the Spirit and Christ ?

The re l ation o f God and t h e Spirit is not one d i f
cult to understand We have the entire history and
literature o f t h e Je w ish nation to aid us as we ll as
innumerab l e ana l ogi es from ot h er re l i g ions Not
so w ith the relation of C h r i st and t h e Spir i t This
has no para ll el e l se w h ere It w as a problem new
to the C h ristian church It had inherently several
possib l e so l ut i ons
N o r is i t easy to kno w j ust
what the tendencies o f the primitive c h urch regard
ing it w ere
S o far a s those pa r ts of Acts w h i ch reect the
ear l y church gi v e us any information Christ was
the recipien t of the Spi rit as a charismatic gi ft ( 1 0
The connection o f t h is gi ft w it h t h e Mes

s i a n i c o fce is ind i cated by t h e verb

anointed
a term rarely used o f the be l ievers T h e
Mess i a h recei v ed t h e Spirit by his Messianic o fce
and thus far i s unique but there is not h ing t o show
that t h e pr i m i ti v e C h ristians thought of C h rist as
standing in any di fferent ontological relation to
the Spiri t from other men The idea is dominated
by the conception o f the relation o f Christ to God
S o long as that w as the rel at i on on l y o f t h e Je w i sh
w mg t h o g ht
th
o
s
s
of
di st i t io s w hi h
th
t om of l o g o
g
ot b xp t d t pp i w i t i gs t h t h v h t it h t d t hi s
l bo t dis i mi t io Th d m d f t b l o gs t t s g of s i
t
m g w hi h
dopt d t h box box t h o
b
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t h o g ht of t h
k wi t h l l t b
h s d t wigs yt l l y mbo di d
th
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w
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lly xi st i g
; of t h
i mi i t
i
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th
l t
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I t is
t
t
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is A t s ogI i dh ist it ly o ggiv i domm
st tdm wh h ot hg ht tihs foHolyd S pi it
C
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It
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d di t io of t h book t t h h st o y fo d h so s
3

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P A U LI N E WR ITI N GS

TH E

Messi a h the S pi rit could only be the traditi o nal

c h arismat i c presence o f God in t h e Messia h H o w
e v er muc h the e ffect o f t h at presence may di ffer
from t h e tradit iona l conception o f w h at i t s e ffect
w ould be or from w h at its e ffect actua l ly wa s in ot h er
men the re l at ion itse l f is not t h ereby made di fferent
in kind There i s not h ing t h a t l eads us to suppose
t h at the conception of th i s relation had reac h ed a n y
point o f change in t h e pre Pau l i ne church
O ne comes t h en untramm e l ed to the Pauline
writings The facts regardin g Paul s usage are as
fol l o w s :
I Th e Spirit and Christ a r e i dentied directly in
activity ( 2 Cor 3 I 7
Pau l has said that i f
the ministration o f the letter w h ich came t h rough
Moses was w ith glory m u c h more must t h e min
i s tr a t i o n o f the Spirit be w ith g l ory
T h is minis
t r a t i o n o f the Spi rit is t h e ministration o f t h e Lord

S o fa r as the ministrat i on is concerned t h e Lord

and the Spi rit are coequal terms It i s to b e

remembered ho w ever that the whole range o f
thought i n this passage lies in the sphere not o f

substance b ut o f operation ( comp R om 8 2 Th e

law o f the Spi rit o f li fe in J e sus Christ and 8

2
Indirectly as well as directly the working o f
the Spirit and o f Christ are identied as in Gal 4
6
R om 8 9 I I i denties the li fe o f Christ in
1
Th e
t h e Christian w ith t h at o f the Spirit in him

Christian l i fe may be spoken o f as a li fe in C h rist

D m o ( Th S p m L d
p 5 ) s y s of t h is p ss g Th is io
th
b
i g of t h S
wo
k s w ll
d t h H o l y S pi t
d
th i
b t h
p ss m k s st t m t g di g b i g Th t h o g h t li s
th
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th
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.

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TH E

S PIRIT O F

GOD

or in the Spirit
Both Sp i rit and Christ are con
n e c t e d w i t h t h e l i fe ( comp Co l 3
4 w i t h Gal 5

f
i
i
i
T
h
e
Sp
r
t
C
h
rist
R
om
This
s
o
8
3
(
ho w e v er i s true because t h e Spirit is t h e e n e r g i z
ing of God for the de v e l opment of the Mess i anic
k i ngdom
4 T h is ident i cation o f working is not abso l ute
Paul o ften dist i ngu i s h es t h e t w o It is on l y loose l y

that the t wo c a n be said equa ll y t o revea l God

Christ is t h e obj ect i ve revelation of God but this
o bj ect i ve re v e l ation is made e ffective in the heart
through the w orking of the Spirit o f God F aith is
in Christ not i n the S p i rit ( Gal 2
Grace is
from God s h o w n t h rough Christ ( Gal 2
The
Spirit is t h e gi ft o f God to develop t h is fa i t h to open
the heart to t h e apprehens i on of this g race ( Gal 4
6; 5
A l l are c o mbining for one result but
t h e i r identity i s not abso l ute God is t h e ground
o f a ll spiritual inuences Christ is the obj ective
e xhibition o f the love and purpos e o f God The
Spirit is the sum of all di v ine inuences acting upon
man to make e ffective this revelation in the l i fe of
man It is this l i f e w hich is so far as man is con
cerned the obj ect o f al l these o p erations O ne may
then w hen spe a king in terms of this li fe speak o f
God o f Christ or o f t h e Spirit as its source The
Christian li fe may w ith equal propriety be s aid to
be in God or in C h rist or i n the Spirit But t h at
by no means argues that each is conceived to be of
the same substance w ith th e o ther
At the same time it w ould be e qually wrong t o
.

TH E

P A U LI N E WR I T I N GS

make a metap h ys i ca l separat i on bet w een God acting

and God as t h e source o f act i on and not l ess w rong
to make suc h a metap h ys i ca l separat ion bet w een
God revea l ing h i mse l f t h rough C h r i st and t h at
di v ine act ion on t h e h eart o f man w h ic h g i v es h im
po w er t o grasp fo r h imse l f and to exhibit to ot h ers
t h is d i v i ne re v e l at ion
The Sp i rit is w i der than
the i nuence of t h e persona l Jesus C h rist ; a l though
fo ll o w i ng Je w i s h l i mitations of thoug h t Paul con
nes i t to t h e Mess i an i c p l an o f God and so nds
roo m fo r t h e O l d Testament inspiration I t is not
s imp l y the risen C h rist but it i nc l udes t h e sum total
o f i nuen ces w hic h come from h im and from the
histori c purpo ses o f Go d w hic h prepared for him
F or Pau l it includes on l y these
5 In no case is t h e question o f the i dentity o f
essence in Christ and the Spirit touc h ed upon Th e
ent i re thought lies w ithin the range of acti v ity
rather than of essence ; o f funct ion not o f substance
I f one choose t o proceed to an i denticat i on o f the

Spi rit and the pers o na l ity in w hich God was i n

c a r n a t e d and through w hi ch the Spirit w as mani

fested as does Wa l ker in Th e S pi r i t a n d th e I n

c a r n a ti o n that is perfectly legitimate as a Ch ristian
speculation but it is not biblical theolo g y Paul
does not raise the problem o f a metap h ysica l Trin
ity ; nor w hate v er w e may feel compe ll ed to do as
the logica l result o f his expressions is there any
e v idence that he h imse l f w as conscious l y nearer to
i t than were the Je w is h Christians in the rst decade
a fter the death o f Christ
,

TH E

S P I R IT O F GOD

The entire problem o f the ontology of the Spirit

remains to the last where it stoo d at the rst O n
this point Pau l has n o t ad v anced one step beyond
the most primitive Hebrew ideas The Spirit h ad
always been God h imself t h erefore a l ways personal ;
but it had always been and w as sti l l God dynamic
and not God stat i c God in mani festation not God
in essence W h at Paul would h a v e done w i th th i s
idea had he been a Greek or even an Alexandrian
Je w does not concern bib l ica l theo l ogy Wheth er
the inferences dra w n by theo l ogi ans trained in
Greek t h ought from the postu l a tes o f h i s posit i ons
were correct or not is a l so a question with which
biblical theology does not concern itself Paul was
a Je w and h is t h ough t clothed itse l f in Je w ish form
It w as not speculative but practical and dealt with
religion rather than with metaphysics Thus it w as
made a po w er in the ethical li fe and Christianity
was saved even when placed under the inuence o f
Greek speculative thoug h t from the fate which
overtook both Greek and Hindu philosophical r e
li g i o n of trans ferring salvation from a matter of
character to a matter o f knowledge
.

C HAPTER V
Th e J o h a n n ea n

Writ in g s

the synoptic gospe l s w e treated the teachin g

o f Jesus and the synoptic narrative i n d i fferent sec
tions In t h e fourth gospel t h at method is not avai l
able
The Johannean aut h or has so assim ilated
the teaching of Jesus in both style and content with
his own t h eo l ogica l thought that no mere mechan
i cal separation bet w een the sections o f Christ s
discourses and the gospel narratives will serve to
dist i nguish bet w een the thoug h t of Jesus and that
o f the author The gospel must be rst treated as
a whole Then we may properly raise the critical
problem which in any case stands sti l l in the bac k
ground whether we can distinguish in the thought
o f the Johannean author any denite factors o f t h e
teaching o f Christ The question w ill arise in the
form o f the pro b lem o f Johannean origins How far
are the peculiar elements o f the Johannean doctrine
b ased on the teaching o f Jesus ? With the gospel
the epis t les o f John m ay be coupled It i s certain
that they proceed from the same source and r e p r e
sent the same system o f thought
In the former classications we have d istin
i
u
g sh e d the Spirit w hen used to represent God
acting upon individuals from the Spi rit when i t
represents God acting upon classes o f persons like
the Jewish community in the Messiani c time o r the
IN

'

3 3

S P I R IT O F GOD

TH E

Christian church Both uses are charismatic b ut

on l y t h e rst is original t h e other being a secondary
development
In the Johannean l i terature how
ever it becomes imposs ib l e to app l y t h is distinction
T h e Spirit is represented as given to i ndiv i dua l s but
not t o individuals as distingu i s h ed f rom t h e Chris
tian commun i ty R ather is t h e g i ft made to i n
d i v i d u a l s because t h ey are members of the com
munity The gi ft is in the mind o f t h e author
primari l y to the church and is on l y indi v idual in
that the recip i ent of an individual relation and the
possession o f the Spirit is al w ays an individual r e
lation can never be the community as apart from
the individuals w hich compose it
The divisions w hich have been classied as A
and B then here fall together into one I f we use
the sym b ol AB it will cause no confusion and will
e xpress this unication o f mean ing
God active in the
AB The charismatic Spi rit
C hristian church for the development of the Mes
I 7 ; 15 2 6 ; 16
s i a n i c community : John 7 3 9 ; 1 4
24; 4 : 3
I 3 ; 2 0 2 2 ; I John 3
C: The Spirit used in connection w ith Christ :
John I 3 2 3 3 Spirit at baptism o f Christ 3 3 4

God givet h not t h e Spirit by measure ( usually

interpreted of Christ ) 6 63 Christ s words are

Spirit
D The Spirit as the b asis O f Christian li fe : John
.

5 6
,

s
s
w i i g s of
1

No

t n

ca

or

a re

th e

fo pi di ofs hd ofS pGoi id

S
t

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as

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so Goofd hS piQ lid

u rce

'

is

e st a m e n

(4

4)

is

TH E

J O HAN N E A N WR ITI NGS

I f we compare the use o f the Spirit here with

that in ot h er New Testament literature we nd a
d i fference o f emphasis rat h er than a d i fference of
content In the general eld o f Christia n ideas
with its common background o f Jewish concept
certain phases o f the Spiri t here gain promi
Som e di fferences o f use occur but mod
mence
i fy old uses rather than present any uses which a r e
new
I The most n o ta b le di fference is the total dis
appearance o f the use o f the Spirit for individual
endowment o f miraculous charismati c g i fts Y et
we cannot b e sure that this di fference is not rather
s ee min g than real The Spirit is thought o f as
endo w ing the Christian community w hich mean s
nothing else than the endo w men t o f individual
I f there is no mention of th e Spi rit i n
C hristians
connection with prophecy vision wisdom o r othe r
things which Je w ish an d early Ch ristian though t
commonly explained by spiritual inuence it is be
cause there are no instances recorded where such
interpretation is called for The one case o f p r o p h
c ey which the Johannean writings narrate is that
o f the high priest Caiaphas ( 1 1
A Christia n
w riter to whom the Spirit had come to b e intimately
connected w ith devotion to the s acred memory o f
his Lord might well hesitate to ascribe this pro phecy
to the Spi rit even while reco gn izin g that Go d wa s
,

o ig h
of Go d ff i g hh m h o d of
wo shi p
o i g h S p i i of Go d Th h o gh of p ss g is
h God b i g s pi
l h h m i l m s b p o h d by
wo ship wh os o l i spi i l h h m i p Th p ss
d o s t p op l y f l d
s bj
a i r m a t i o n

an

at

n ot

e n

no

n cern n

er

n c ern n

tu a
n ten t
ri

un

n a tu re

er

t
t

tu a

rat

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as
e

a ter a

an

rat

ect.

3 5

er

an

ect n

a t er a

et

ac

a.

age

S P I R IT O F

TH E

GOD

a b le to ma k e the enemy of the Mess i ah utter a divine

1
oracle
2
There is here n o re fer e nce t o the O ld Testa
ment as t h e w o rd o f the Spirit This di fference i s
probably also purely incidental It is hard l y con
c e i v a b l e th a t the w riter did not hold the general
Jewish and Christian conception that the O ld Test a
ment w riters w ere under the gu i dance o f the Spirit
3 T h e l imitation o f the Spirit to the Mess iani c
usa g e is the same as in other Christian writings
4 T he conception o f the Spirit as t h e basis o f
phys ical li fe is als o a b sent here as in o ther C hristia n
literature
The Johannean teaching o f the Spirit with all
its pecu l iarity is less remote from the commo n
C hristian teaching than it seems to be upon rst
impression Its beginning is the ordinary Christian
Messianic concep tion o f the Spirit The rel ation Of
the Spirit to the Messiah himsel f is not essentially
di fferent from t hat in the syn o ptists or in the writ
ings o f Paul God gives the Spirit without measure
to the Messiah and through him it is medi ated to
the disciples All th is rests ultimately on Je w ish
hopes such as are expressed in Joel 2 2 8 W e hav e
seen such hopes in the late Jewish and early Chri s
tian l iteratur e Th e f u nction o f the Spirit is to
W dt ( G p l f 9 h p
g dsit h f tht h t t ht is i
f E g t )
th
di s o s
fo st i g of t h os mi l o s g ft s f t t S pti i whi h
pl y d so g t
p ost oli d b p ost oli C h is i i y
t i
l m t f p oof t t t h so
f
o
m whi h t h y w t k o s p o d s
s bst t i ll y t t h t hi g of C h ist H g ds 6 3 Hd W ll sh ow
s ti omof
idi odi pt i g p oph ist i p oss
p vi sio
b
lo gi g
t hi
y
i bl h ow v t h t t h
t
th
d t
th
t
It
(
wo d s m y t b
mi
of p di t iv p ow b t of spi it l i sightt
i t o th sig i
w om i g
W s
f t h t f t wh i h is v
(
.

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no

eac

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c an c e o

2 02

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ca

r.

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re

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tt m 106 0)

6
3

er,

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TH E

J O HAN N E AN W R ITI NGS

g uide the disciples i n thei r w itness for the M essiah

Here again the idea d i ff ers i n no essential respect
from that o f the syno p tic teaching of Chr i st or from
the conceptions expressed by Pau l or other Chris
tian writers on the same subj ect The Spirit
conned in its direct working to the Christian
disciples Y et God designs to bring the w hole wor l d
to himself The Spirit is given t o the C hristian
then not for his own behoo f or delectation b ut that
he may the better bear w itness for Christ The
S pirit witness es to him and h e to the world ; and
so the Spirit works upon the world
Al l this thou g ht o f the Spirit with the e x ception
1
of 3
5 8 starts from the i dea o f charismati c gi fts
I t has its historical origin in the O ld Testament
conception o f p rophecy turned t o New Testam e nt
Messiani c uses In one respect however i t di ffers
from the primitive C hristian i dea This gi ft o f the
Spi rit is not special and t e mporary given for the
needs o f a special occasion and pass ing away when
its purpose is fullled ; it is an abidin g gi ft Its
value is for the permanent structure of th e Christian
li fe The older Je w ish c o nnection o f the Spirit with
the e x traordinary and unusual has been en tirely
displaced by its connection with th e usual and
normal
In this respect the Joh a nnean position takes a
step b eyond that o f Paul though makin g n o new
progress in thought Paul regarded the Spirit as
.

Th e

ur

p p os

rea
,

an

d wi ll
er

is no

ll t h t t h is wo d m s
t li m i t d t t h m i
lo s
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3 7

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ec a

S PIRIT O F

TH E

GOD

a permanent part o f C h ristian l i fe but he also held

and f ree l y ex pr e ssed t h e o l der J e w is h i dea O f t h e
Spirit as an occas i ona l c h a r i smat i c g i ft
There
w as no express contradiction bet w een t h e t w o but
on the ot h er hand there w as n o attempt t o un i fy
them The Jo h annean position drops t h e o l der s i de
alto get h er and on l y keeps the ne w er Al l this makes
an h armon iou s picture It i s not quite t h at o f t h e
primiti v e C h r i st i an thought ; it is not quite t h at o f
t h e Pau l ine thought ; but it is sel f consistent an d
perfect l y exp l icab l e f rom the trend O f early Chris
t i an conceptions At one point h o w ever the Johan
nean l i terature is brough t into sti ll closer relati o n to
the Paul i ne The pecu l i ar i ty O f Pau l ine thought is
its conception o f the Spirit as not only the abiding
power but the sourc e o f the Christian li fe I n
one passage the Johan nean gospe l takes the s am e
V iew
Jo h n 3 5 8 can be explained only as ex
pressing the i dea t h at the Spirit is the source o f the
Christian li fe Instead o f coming only after the
departure of Jesus as in 1 6 7 t h e Spirit i s present

then or at any time w hen any soul enters e te r n a l

l i fe
It is not impossibl e that the form o f expres

s ion water and the Spirit may b e suggested by

John s promise o f the Mess iah s b a p tism by the

Spirit ( Be y s c h l a g I
Th e i dea o f the Spirit
a s the source o f Christian l i fe
ho w ever does n o t
nd expression else w here in the N ew Testament
except in Pau l ine t h ought
Whence come these Johannean c o nceptions ?
Many Of them occur in the discourses o f Jesus
,

3 8

J O HAN N E AN WR ITI NGS

TH E

Ma y it not be that the peculiar Johannean view o f

the Spirit comes from the teac h ing O f Jesus ? I f
then the Pauline doctrine h as som e basis in the
so
words o f Jesus and the high water mark of Chris
tian thought on this subj ect was reached by our
Lord himself
It is not a violation o f the proper obj ectivity o f
scholars h i p to say that it w ould be a grateful r e
sult could this be found to be the case T h e loyal
discip l e o f Christ w ould be g l ad t o see the hig h est
development o f a course o f thought on so important
a religious subj ect mani fes t in germ even i f n o t
nding complete expression in the teachings o f the
M aster rather than in the thou ghts of even his most
honored disciple The question is whether the facts
so far as they can now b e recovered
would allow
this view t o b e tak en
Let us g ather up th e us es o f the Spirit which
occur i n the Johannean r epresentation o f th e teach
ing of Ch rist We nd that they include the follow
ing classes o f Johannean usage :
AB Th e charismati c Spirit : 1 4 1 7 ; 1 5 2 6 ; I 6
,

'

13

20

22

C The Spirit as the b asis of Christian li fe :

.

6, 8

5,

John 3 5 6 8 representin g the Spirit as the

origin o f the Christian li fe is at the farthest r e
mo v e fr o m the synopti c teachin g o f Christ Oh
v i o u sl y i t will not do to say that this i dea o f t h e
S pirit could not have stood in the preaching o f
C hris t b y the side o f the ordinary Jewish charis
.

3 9

S PI RI T O F

TH E

GOD

matic V iew We nd that the two did so stand

together in the w r i tings o f Paul But even so t h e
c a ses are not para ll el The S p irit wa s an e l ement
o f very great importance in Pau l s system o f
thought It l led a l arge measure of the horizon
in t h e expl anat i on of Christ i an p h enomena bot h for
himsel f an d for h i s c o ntemporaries We can s e e
how this new facto r of his thou g ht on the subj ect
t oo k s h ape
With the teac h ing o f Jesus i t was
di fferent The Spirit w as not prominent It w ou l d
b e imposs i b le to exp l ain how a new interp retat i on
o f the Spi ri t cou l d ha v e gro w n u p in the m i nd O f
Jesus The Pauline idea w ou l d be unnatura l i n the
teaching o f Jesus an isolated p h enomenon w ithout
connection
It is also strange i f t h is be a rea l
fact o r in Christ s teac h ing o f t h e Spi rit t h at only
the fourth g ospel contains any a l lusion to it Gun
kel ( page 8 2 ) naturally questions i f such teac h ing
can b e that of Christ an d decides that it must rather
1
Whatever its origin it is i m p r o b
be the auth o r s
ab l e that i t b elonged to the ori g inal teaching o f
Jesus
Th e references t o the Spi rit in t h e last discourses
o f Jesus b elon g to a di fferent class o f ideas The
Spirit is here the Messianic charismati c Spi rit given
not only to comfort the disciples but through thei r

testimony to convict the wor l d ( 1 6

It will
come only a fter the departure o f Jesus ( 1 6
and promises to the disciples the divine g uidance
b t
W dt i t is t
m k s it p t of his p ost ol i f
(p
s pp osi t i o t h t t h S p i it is h p sy h ol ogi l t t h ol ogi l
th
sp o ds t t l lif
d o
7 63
.

'

en

on

an

rue

rre

e ern a

ar

so u r c e

ere

as in

40

ca

no

ca

TH E

J O H AN N E AN WR ITI NGS

i n thei r future need It is thus far the correlative

o f Christ s prom i se in the synoptists that when
a fter h is departure the discip l es are brought befor e
kings and ru l ers for his sake t h e Spirit shall speak
through them O nly in one respect is t h e Johan
nean representation an advance upon the synoptic
There the Spi rit is evident l y a charism atic gi ft upon
occasions o f need
Here i t is represen ted as a

divine po w er w hich w ill be w ith them forever ( 1 4

w hich wi ll abide w ith them ( 1 4

in

contrast to Christ w ho must go away

There
we h a v e only the Je w ish charismatic Spirit Here
we have a factor of the Pauline e l ement o f the Spi rit
as an abiding presence controlling the li fe not
merely i n cases o f special need but in its continual
C h ristian acti v ity ; mani festing itself not merely i n
occasional miraculous express ions b ut in a con
t i n u a l divine teaching ( 1 4 2 6 ; I 6 1 3 ) o f the si g
n i c a n c e O f Christ s message to the churc h a n d the
world John gi v es us this much o f the Pau l i ne i dea
as distingu ished from the Je w ish but Paul s i de a
o f the bas is O f this permanence o f the Spirit in
Christian li fe namely that the Spirit is itsel f the
origin o f the li fe is not found in John s account Of
t h e last discourses Ho w can we explain this min
g l ing O f uses ? Is it possible that it may go back
to t h e teac h ing o f Jesus ? I f s o it m ight have
arisen f rom an expansion o f the ordina ry Je w ish
temporary charismati c conception into the co n c ep
tion of the Spirit as a permanent charismati c gi ft
Th is would b e a natural evolution o f thou ght and
2 41
( I 6)
.

S P I R IT O F

TH E

GOD

would t the general character of Christ s teachin g

Je w i sh thought had approached the line of d i st i n c
tion between t h e t w o ideas before i f indeed i t h ad
not as some h ave maintained actua l ly crossed it
in its thought of the Sp i rit as the source of w isdom
and prudence
Certa i nly w e cannot condently
a frm that this could not have been a teaching o f
Jesus
I n S pite o f this however the probabilities seem
to be against its being a teac h i ng o f Jesus for t h e
follo w ing reasons : 1 It is not found i n the synop
tic teaching o f Jesus
2
T h e de v e l opment o f
thought usua ll y takes p l ace in topics w h ich are
W it h in t h e center o f attention In C h rist s teach
ing the center O f attention w as not occupied by the
Spir i t 3 T h e idea o f the Spirit as a permanent
possession being common in the Christian w or l d
b efore the w r i t i ng of the fourth go spe l it w ould be
natural that it s h ou l d enter this gospel as one of
the uncons cious mod i cations o f the original teach
ing o f Jesus Since t h en it is di fcult to account
for t h e idea as a part o f the teaching of C h rist but
easy t o account for it as a C h ristian addition the
probab i l i ty l i es against its coming from Christ
D oes t h is carry w ith it h o w ever the proba b ility
that t h e enti re teach i ng of John 1 4 t o 1 6 regarding
the Sp i rit did not originate w ith Ch rist ? Not at
all T h ere is n o adequate reason w h y the central
thought o f the charismatic Spi rit may n o t be l ong
t o Christ s last talk w ith his d i sc i ples
In fact
such a th o ugh t a s this w ou l d be a most natu
.

42

J O HAN N E AN WR ITI NGS

TH E

ral one might almost sa y an inevitable element

in a fare w e ll discourse o f Jesus to them
We
may go farther There are t w o lines o f thoug h t
regard i ng the future relation o f Christ to his
d i scip l es running through this discourse
Ac
cording to one Jesus himsel f will return to his
orp h aned followers According to the other the
F ather wi l l at h is request send the Spirit
No w
i f one fee l s compelled on account of a sense of their
lack O f harmony to deny one or the other o f these
elements to the original teaching of Jesus it must
b e the rst not the last Christ s future presence
w ith his disciples belongs to the author s Christo
logical scheme but the Spirit as the future gui de
of the disciples is veri ed as Christ s teaching by
the synoptic go spels and the natur a l conclusions
from Je w ish Messianic thought Not on l y then is
there no ground for rej ecting from Christ s teach
ing the general doctrine of the Spirit in John 1 4 to
1 6 but t h ere is e v ery ground for retaining it
But
the prob abilities are that the Spiri t was origina ll y
as in the synoptists a temporary gi ft for spe cial
needs
I f after passing through the Johannean
medium the Spi rit appears in these chapters as a
permanent p ossession o f the Christian there has
only happened to it what has happened t o other fac
tors o f Christ s teaching i n the fourth gospe l
There has not unnatura l ly gathered about it a
penumbra o f early Christian thought and i n te r p r e
As in other cases also the question o f
ta tio n
separation b etween the original teaching and t h
,

43

TH E

S PI RI T O F

GOD

addition is not one of t h e dissect i on o f words

and clauses l i ke t h e ana lys is of t h e Pent a teuc h
but o f t h e dissect i on of t h ough t It is not a prob
l em of documentary criticism but o f historical
criticism
Whence di d the Johannean author obtain the
Pau l ine e l ement s in t h e v i ews w h i c h h e presents ?
This is a question in v o lv ed in the general prob l em
o f the origin o f Jo h annean t h eo l ogy a prob l em
w hich has not e v en yet recei v ed an adequate a n
s w er Wit h out doubt t h e Jo h annean aut h or w as a
re l igious genius from w hos e deep mystical nature
there came an emp h asis on certain aspects o f C h ris
tian life and thoug h t t h at needs no other exp l ana
tion But back o f a l l emp h as i s lies the question o f
a t h eo l ogica l substrate E ven a mystic does not
disco v er theology by intuition
T h e po w er o f a
re l i gious genius lies rather in the d i scernment of
certa i n re l ations and the abi l ity to make prominent
certain e l ements in the common rel i g i ous though t
o f h is time Such po w er our aut h or S ho w s w ith
a clearness that fe w h ave eq ua l ed He forces r e
l i g i o u s t h ought to the central idea o f unio n w it h
God
This wou l d ho w e v er le a d to no new or
original conception of the Spirit In fact it w ould
i f it had any e ffect tend to m i nimize that idea to
make the Sp i rit o f less import a nce as the soul a p
r
o
a
h
d
God more c l osely T h is aut h or is hin
c
e
p
dered by n o Je w i s h fear for the dignity o f God
w h i ch s h ou l d make h i m hesitate to br i ng God into
contact with man He uses the same freedom of
,

44

TH E

J O HA N N E AN WR ITI NGS

express ion for the c l ose relation the union o f God

and man which mystics have ever used The use
o f the Spirit by such a writer can only be tradi
t io n a l
His o w n thought does not need it Weiss

0
II
Th e full j oy o f be l ievers is not as
4
(
9 ) says
w ith Paul a work o f the Sp i rit but a resu l t o f abid
ing in Christ ( 1 5
o f thei r own prayers being
heard ( 1 6
and o f Christ s intercession ( I 7
T his is the true mysti c position Weiss
draws the distincti o n bet ween the outpouring o f
the Spirit in 3 5 as the s ta r ti n g po in t o f the moral
n e w birth
and the Pauline conception o f the Spirit
as the pr i n c i pl e o f the ne w moral li fe But wh e r
ever the Spirit occurs in early Christian thought it
i s not treated as occasion but as cause It stands
in a causal relation to w hatever phenomenon is
ascribed to it whether that b e a temporary gi ft or
a permanent li fe O ne can hardly conceive that in
the Je w ish b ackground o f Christian thought it
should not always have been regarded as a cause
When it came to be applied to Christian li fe it could
hardly have been regarded otherw ise than as the
cause O f that l i fe Such w ou l d also be the most

natural meaning o f 6 6 3
My w ords are Spirit and

li fe interpreted by the preceding clause It is the

S pirit that quickeneth

To state it in other w ords : T h ere are two pos
sible w ays o f expressing the di v ine origin o f the
n ew rel ig i ous li fe o f the C h r i stians
On e is t o
regard it as proceeding directly from the soul s r e
lation to God This i s the method natural to the
,

45

S PIRIT O F

TH E

GOD

mystic The other is to make not God but the

Sp i r i t of God its sourc e
This be l ongs to t h e
Juda i c Pau l ine gro w th of C h ristian expression
No w bot h t h es e are found i n Jo h n T h e great body
o f t h e gospe l be l ongs to t h e rst c l as s T h e ent i re
express ion o f t h e epist l es also be l ongs to t h e rst
c l ass Iso l ated expressions o f t h e second c l ass l ie
in thei r context qu i te unass i mi l ated T h ey are not
a part o f t h e author s system o f t h oug h t Whence
d i d they come ? They occur in t h e d i scourses O f
Jesus but as w e have seen the i r P a u l i ne e l ements
are quite as much out o f accord w ith h is teac h ing
as w ith t h at o f t h e author They must h o w ever
ha v e come to t h e aut h or as a part of t h e teaching o f
Christ but mo l ded and co l ored somewhat by a de
v e l o p e d Christian thought
So fa r as w e can trace
t h eir origin it is Pau l i ne Ho w w i de l y the Pau l ine
conception h ad become extended in the Christ i an
church by the time o f the w r i ting o f t h e fourth
gospel and by w hat means it h ad molded t h e ex
pression o f t h e discourses o f Jesus found in this
gospel are questions to w hic h no ans w er can be
1
given The facts h o w ever seem fairly c l ear
.

k f
v ws of 3 5 B y h l g g d s
P li
oh
P l t h Ii l y S pi it i s t h p
J oh s id
f
o
m th t l
p l of t h li f f o m Go d w hi h di st i g is h s t h C h s t i
l w ly
W i ss s y s Th Hol y S pi it i
v
m
(I I
W it h P
g d d t h p i i pl of t h w m o l li f i ( I I h
ot )
l
w b s d t h id t i t y of t h S p i t wwt h t hgl o itt d
B y hl g
W i ss sh pl y d i st i g i sh s b t w
t
T
l
C h i st w hil
th
si m IsIt hi t ot d o bl otwioh olofidt h bof sisb iofgCbo
h i st i li f t h foll ow
of Got d i s p m ll y
A th
t )
(
3 75
so t h i d o i g i t h p h s of C h s oft h b g bo
J oh
of w t d t h S pi i t ( 3 5 ) is owh f I t h
li d b y
p ost l
W iss is h
di st i g shi g b t w wh t h v ll d t h my st i
of i mm di t l t i o of t h b li v t h Go d Sd t ht J d i
pt
P li o pt io of t h t l t i o m di t d by t Holy pi it W iss
h ow v do s t
f t h I t f ll og i i o s m s
t h t di st i
t io
xpl i t h p l o t di t i o J oh
t
b th o ly w y t
1

W e iss a n d

Cl

an

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ea

sc

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a

er

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an

n o

re a

u se

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eec

ur

n as

ur

46

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er

er.

ra

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rn
"

ca

er

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ze

ca

e in

ri

an

4 09

u ra

exc u s

as

ri

r ea

ri n

e na

er

ar

rn

ecu i ar c

ne

een

er

an

re

ra

e n

e re

nc

een

re a

ere

ea

c cu rr n

ri

en

sc

e ne

ea

er,

on

e n

n ce

ar

r nc

an

au

as

is

Vi e

ar

ee

re

ce

"

au

B e y s c h l a g t a e di f e r e n t i e

n e
n
In J
a s in
au
as
au

co n

a c

ee

J O H A N N E AN WR ITI NGS

TH E

t h e criticism o f the Johannean

writings must enter into the nal sett l ement o f t his
problem I t is t h e quest i on o f the A l exandrian
characte r o f these writings That certain factors
in them n otably the Logos doctrine h ave at least
Alexandrian a fn i ties has l ong been admitted
How far this Alexandrian inuence goes ho w much
o f the thought o f the gospel it a ffects whether it
is only a touc h o f the environment in w hich the gos
pel was produced or is an essential part o f the a u
t h or s menta l furnishings are sti l l open problems
i
u
Q te as open but lying in another sphere is the
question o f whether th e gospel cannot be divi ded
and the Alexandr i an element traced only in o n e
source or group o f sources Th e full consi deratio n
o f these prob l ems lies outside o f our investigation
The g eneral question ho w ever o f Alexandrian
material in the gospe l enters into the problem o f
the doctrine of the Spi rit in the Johannean w ritin gs
It is possible to discuss the relations o f Alexandrian
thought to the doctrine o f th e Spi rit without a fr m
ing any certain conclusions regarding the q uestions
o f detai l suggested above The problem of Alexan
d rian a fnities i n the fourth gospel has been largely
discussed on the basis o f the doctrine o f the Logos
in the Prologue But i f th e gospel is s o thorough ly
Alexandrian as som e have asserted not only the
Logos doctrine b ut other elements o f thought
would natural l y be a ffected Among these w e might
naturally expect to nd the Spi rit U pon examina
tion however the Johannean doctrine o f the Spirit

O ne element

47

S P I R IT O F GOD

TH E

does not prove to be Alexandrian The followin g

di fferences are noted :
I A l exandrian t h ought consi dered the workin g
of the c h arismatic Spir i t to lie w h o ll y in the sp h ere
o f t h e unusual and extraordinary It pertained to
prop h ecy ex ce p tional ski ll and w isdom and the
l i ke It was not a part o f t h e menta l furnis h ing
o f every good man or of every wors h iper of Ja h
veh Johannean thought on the other hand has
ceased t o emphas ize t h e unusual as a proof of the
Sp i rit s possession The Spirit is a necessary and
normal element in the Christian s li fe Without
it he w ould be left in ignorance ( John 1 4 2 6 ; I 6
without proof of God s abiding in him I
John 4 I 3 ) and without po we r to advance the
Messiani c kingdom ( John 1 6
In the matter
o f the function o f the charismatic Spirit the Johan
nean theo l o g y is more nearly akin to Pauline t h an
to Alexandrian thought T his leads naturally to
the second distinction
2
Alexandrian thought treated the ch arismati c
Spi ri t as necessarily only a temporary possession
It might have been a permanent possession had man
not sinned but having sinned he has lost the abi d
ing presence o f the Spiri t ( s e e page
The
Johannean writings a s we have seen represent t h e
Spi ri t as the permanent gi ft o f God t o the be l iever
T his di fference is dependent on the preceding po int
for it belongs rather to problems of the function
than o f the nature o f the Spi rit
Ale x andrian thought regards the Spirit a s
3
.

2 48

TH E

J O HA N N E AN WR ITINGS

ultimately equivalent to the Logos I t is one o f

the powers of God all representing essentially t h e
same rea l i ty ( see page 9 5
O ne might well
expect t h erefore i f the Alexandrian a fnities are
strong that the author o f the fourth gospel wou l d
regard t h e t wo as equiva l ent ; but there is not h i ng
i n his use o f the Logos and the Spirit to lead us to
suppose that he di d The fact that on the points
noted above Johannean thought does not agree w i th
Alexandrian a l so makes against the agreement of
the t w o on this point S o does the fact that t h e
Christian author de v elops his thought in the l ight
o f the h i storical person o f Christ F or the Alex
andrian writers speculative truth was the most i m
portant thing in the horizon F or the Johannean
writer all thought and all sp e c u l a t i o n we r e d o m i n a te d
b y the gure O f the man Jesus Christ Along w ith
this there was the common Christian emphasis on
the Holy Spirit as present in the Christian church
C h rist and the S p irit w ere to Christian thought
more distinct and living ideas th a n w ere the Logos
and the Spirit to the speculati v e thought o f Alex
andrian Je w s The distinctness o f the gures of
C hris t and the Spirit would tend against the i d e n t i
c a t i o n o f thei r natures as Alexandrian thoug h t
identied the Logos and the Spirit O nly a w riter
in w hom the philosophical feeling dominated the
histori cal could so far isolate himself from the i n
u e n c e of his Christian surroundings as to lose the
sense o f ontological distinction bet w een the glori
That th is author uses
h e d Christ and th e Spirit
.

2 49

TH E

S P I R IT O F GOD

the return o f Christ and the coming o f the Spirit

as di fferent expressions for the s ame historical proc
ess does not argue t h e ontological identity o f Christ
and the Spirit but only t h at thei r function is in
t h at respect t h e same O n exegetical grounds ther e
seems t o be n o reason to regard the re l ation Of
C h rist and the Sp i ri t a s d i fferent here from that r e
lation in other parts o f the New Testament On
the w hole A l exandrian philosophy throws no light
on t h e origin or the m eaning o f the Johanne an doc
trine of t h e Spirit There is n o evidence that the
t w o systems o f thought were at this point in the
least a f l iat i on
When we turn to consider the place of the Spi rit
in the Johannean system o f thought three subj ects
present themse l ves : the relation o f the Spirit to the
b eliever the relation of the Spirit to Christ and th e
relation of the Spirit to God
It was sai d above that the thought foremos t i n
the mind of the author is the Christian community
not the individual belie v er
Y et the individual
does not disappear and the problem o f divine rela
tion remains as it must always remain a personal
problem The author s concept ion is not out o f
accord w ith the historic Je w ish conception o f the
Spirit as God guiding and lies within the Christian
idea Of the Sp i rit as God guiding the development
o f the Messianic kingdom through the believers
He lays emphasis upon the i dea that the Spirit takes
the place o f the embodied C hrist but this is not
wholly new The rst t w o chapters o f Acts e x
,

50

TH E

J O HAN N E A N W R ITI NGS

He
press the same idea ( Acts 1 2 5 8 ; 2
a l s o ho l ds that a l though t h e Messiah had the Spirit
r s till a fter
it
w
as
not
given
to
the
be
l
ieve
3
Christ s resurrection ( I 4 1 6 f ; 1 6 7 ; 2 0
I t could not then be t h e causal principle o f the
C hristian li fe for t h at l i fe of union w ith God whi ch

he calls the eternal li fe w as open to all men in

all time According to the Pro l ogue ( 1 9 ) this
li fe depends on the Logos wh o has ever been the
light o f God not upon the Spirit The Spiri t is
pecu l i arly the divine means o f extending the wor k
o f Christ
His function is entirely subordinate
H is w ork is as Be y s c h l a g puts it ( I
propheti c
rather than ethi cal It is to instruct the believers
to call to mind what Christ has taught to lead them
out into a fuller revelation o f God that God may
through them convict the w orld w it h out W e notice
a distinction between this and the Pauline view
T here th e Spi rit is also for the development o f
the kingdom o f the Messiah but by means o f the
development o f the ethical li fe o f the indivi dual be
liever The religious li fe w as the Spirit o f God
living itsel f out in the b elie v er The Johannean idea
is o f the Spi rit as preparing men for w itness We
see also a di fference between this and the prim itive
C h ristia n i deas as for example in the Lucan w rit
ings There the Spi rit lls men fo r w itness di rectly
leads them to thei r w ork and gui des them in its per
fo r m a n c e
That is Jewish in its content gro w ing
directly out o f the old charismati c conception Here
it stan ds at a farther remove from the Ol d c o n c ep
,

TH E

S P I R IT O F GOD

tion T he Spirit instructs as well a s g uides w hile

the init i ation of Christian action lies w ith the sou l in
communion w ith t h e F ather t h rough Chr i st T h i s
also is in accord w ith t h e common mystic thought
Another and kindred funct i on in the e pistles is
that o f t h e Spirit as a w itness and p l edge o f the
acceptance o f the be l iever by God ( I John 3 2 4 ; 4
13 ; 5 7
These passages imp l y som e means o f
j udg i ng of the possession o f the Spirit w hether
b y the exhibition o f spiritual gifts or by a mystical
consciousness or in whatever way it may be
Probab l y the author has in mind the possess i on of
love as the pledge o f the Spirit s presence ( I John
H e w ho has Christian love m ay t h ereby
4 7
k now that the Spi rit d w ells in him 1 John 4 1 6
couples w ith the assurance of the Spi rit s possession
the con fession of Jesus as the Mess iah As a matter
Of cours e the who l e Ch ristian l i fe in its power for
witness is based on that con fession The Spirit is
here as in the last dis courses in th e gospel charis
mati c It fo l lo w s upon fai th rather than supplies
the ground of it The Spirit is the result o f t h e
abidin g o f Christ in the believer and it is also t h e
W itness o f that abiding Paul like w ise ( R om 8
1 6 ) uses the i dea of the Spirit as w itnessing in t h e
heart o f the beli e v er but there the Spirit is t h e
origin o f the li fe of faith ; here that li fe is produced
b y God and th e S p i r it comes charismatica l ly not
1
to cause the li fe but to strengt hen i t
.

e
e

s
pp osi v i w H do s d h f l l
h
p osi io h h S pi i o
s h C h s i li f h
m i
ss s h i I J oh
h
)
(p

B e y s c hl a g ( I I 4 5 2 ) t ak e

xp ssi o of t h
p ist l s b t h
re

ert

t e
n t at t
t at n

52

te
t
2

ri g i n a t e
2o

7 t

an o

no

ri

an

t ng

e in

a'u a

J O HAN N E AN WR ITI NGS

TH E

Passin g from the relation between the Spirit and

the believer to that bet w een the Spiri t a n d Christ
we enter upon a eld w hi ch has received much study
and in w hich diametri cal l y oppo site opinions have
T wo views h ave been held : one
b een advanced
that the Spirit is but a personication o f the glori
e d Christ ; the other that the Spi rit repres ents a
distinct personality Th e rst is held by Be ys c h l a g
and is the controlling element in his entire inter
r
t
t
i
e
a
o n o f the Johannean conception o f the Spirit
p
The teaching o f Jesus he ho l ds contained two g
u res to express the future relation o f the Messi ah
t o his fo ll owers : one that o f t h e continued pr e s
ence o f the M essiah w ith his dis ciples ; the other
that o f the Holy Spirit which w ou l d be pres e nt with
the disciples The last was founded on the O ld
Testament prophecy of the Messiani c time Thes e

t w o modes o f teaching mutually exc l ude each other

as forms o f representation
Th e co ntradiction c a n
o f necessity ho w eve r be only one o f form ; the u n
d e r ly i n g i de a must be a unity The H o ly Spi rit i n
t h e believer an d Christ in him must be one and the

same thin g
He is the S p irit and the li fe o f Christ
in the believer ; he is and this is the solution o f
the whole ri ddl e the Ch rist in us ( R om 8 9 ;
comp vers e
The S pi rit cannot c o me until
C h rist has departed b ecause th e Spirit is the glori
,

fi f s h S p i i d h
h o si mpl y p s pp os s h s
h
id of h p oss ssio of h S pi i
W hy m k him h
B
hl
os
w
h
h
ow
h
l
s
pi
s
l
xp
ss
s
k
s
h
?
p oi i g
h C h is i
m
of
lf b
h S pi i
h so
h
i d i s h S pi i d h gl o i d C h i s I f h i d i i o
p d B hl
i p
io f ll s wi h i
to

re er

yi

ng

to
t

t,

an

t n
e
en t
e
n o t acce te
an

at

t
r t

ea n

e y sc

t
t

ere

at

an

ag s

in

t
t

t e
n ter

as

au t

t e

r et a t

53

re

at

an c

ere

r e su p

e y sc

u rce

re u

r
"

ag

t an

ta

i e

en t

th e

ec a u

cat

se
is

TH E
e d C hrist

S P I R IT O F GOD

pictorial r epresen tation o f his pres

ence Y et there remai ns a t w o fo l d distinct i on

between the gure and its reality : F irst the gu re

is nar row e r than the reality

Christ is n o t limited
to the Spirit but als o remains in h i s perfect per

sonal existence with the F ather a bove th e world

Second the acti v ity o f the Spi rit is depen dent on
the historical personality of Christ
The Spirit
can bring nothing new into the world b ut can only
develop the meaning o f Christ R euss als o holds
that the Johannean auth o r attempts t o m a ke no
personal distinction between Christ a n d the Spirit
The view that the fourth gospel makes a personal
distinction bet w een Christ and the Spirit is pre
sent ed b y Stevens in his J o h a n n e a n Th e o l o g y
The argument as formulated is
( page 1 9 4

The Spirit is called another com

e xegetical

177m g Christ himsel f being one

forter dMLo g i m pair/
accordin g to 1 John 2 I and is distinguished from
Christ by his dependence on Christ I f a person
at all then he cannot be the same person as Christ
T he use o f pronouns indic a tes personality fo r

John except w hen prevented from s o doing by

the g ramm a tical gender O f rrv ei i p a ( S p irit ) uni
formly design ates the Spirit by mas culine prono u ns

imp lying personality ( p age

A series of
activities only appropriate to persons is ascribed to
him speaking teaching bearing testimony hold
ing fellowship with the disciples a n d the like
Th ese are the w el l kno w n exegetic a l arguments
for the personality O f the Holy S p irit They do

54

TH E

J O HAN N E AN W R ITI NGS

not meet the position taken b y Be ysc hl a g o f the

Spi rit as a pictori al representation w here all the

elements o f personality are confessed l y present but
o f course o n l y as a part o f the gure
O ne i s led to question w hether either o f these
views takes into account su fciently the Jewish
historical b ackground o f the doctrine
Had the
doctrine o f the Spirit begun with Christianity it
must have m eant eithe r a rep resentation o f Christ
o r a distinctly separate person Bu t it came into
Christiani ty with its content alrea dy formed Th e
Spirit was not on l y the representative o f God ; it
was God himsel f acting in th e w orld through the
Messiani c kingdom As far as t h e Mess iah r e p r e
sen ted God so far the functions o f the t w o w ere
the same ; but there is n o reason t o suppose that
the problems of persona l ity entered t h e t h ought o f
the writer at all Be y s c h l a g an d t h ose wh o think
w ith him are right in afrmin g that the presence
o f the gloried Christ and o f the Holy Spirit in
the w orld must be one in s ignicance I t is true
that the Spirit and Christ are both representations
o f the divine care for the disciples and o f t h e di v ine
control o f the M essianic kingdom O ne form of
e x pression comes from the teaching o f C h rist and
the feeling o f the va l ue o f the histori c person o f
Jesus for Christian li fe and th e other from th e
traditional Je w ish ideas molded by Christian con
c ep t s and als o expressed although not prominen tly
in the teaching o f C h rist himsel f Bu t becaus e the
two expressions rep resent the same divin e move
,

55

S P I RI T O F

TH E

GOD

ment in history it does not fo l lo w that they r e p r e

sent t h e same persona l i ty i n t h e usua l sense o f the
w ord D oubt l ess i t w ou l d be more l og i ca l t h at
they shou l d but concept i ons determ i ned by trad i t i on
do not always fo ll o w t h e l i ne o f least l ogi ca l resist
ance It w ou l d h a v e been some w hat unnatural i f
t h e trad i t i ona l dist i nctions bet w een t h e Spirit and
t h e Mess i ah had been so speed i l y s w a ll o w ed up in
t h e personal i ty o f the Mess i ah
D oes it fol l o w t h en t h at t h e Spi rit and the
?
i
Messiah were concei v ed o f a s d stinct persona l ities
O ne fai l s to see that t h e Jo h an nean t h eo l ogy makes
a stron ger demand for t h i s t h an does t h e Pau l i ne
t h eology or the conceptions of primiti v e C h ristian
ity The expression i n t h e Johannean theology is
some w hat di fferent from th a t in t h e last two b u t
the essence of the idea l ying be h i nd the expression
seems not diverse
As the Jo h annean thought
dra w s toget h er C h rist and God so it dra w s to
get h er C h rist and t h e Sp i rit the h istoric express i on
for God acting yet w it h out making philosop h i cal
a frmation about their persona l ities
T h e Johannean w ritings add not h ing to t h e com
mon C h r istian i dea concerning the relation o f the
Spir i t to God T h e Sp i r i t comes f rom God ; he is
t h e Spirit o f truth because h e w itnesses to the trut h
o f God i n the be l ie v er ; h e i s t h e p l edge o f t h e abi d
ing presence of God in t h e heart T h e re l ation of
God to the Spirit h o w ever seems to be no more
one o f i dentity t h an i t i s e l se w h ere i n C h rist i an
writings It is true as Wa l ker in Th e S pi r i t a n d
.

6
5

TH E

J OHAN N E AN W R ITI NGS

says that we cannot draw d istin c

tions between God Christ and the Spirit That
ho w ever is true only in a dynamical and not in a
statical sense
In one sense the Spirit is God
acting in the world That lies in t h e eld of opera
tion o f phenomenon ; that is dynam ical In t h e
e l d o f ontology t h e stati cal sense there is no a f
The
r m a t io n o f either distinction or i dentity
question of i dentity and distincti o n O f s u bstance
had not yet arisen Christianity w as as yet u n
philosoph ical
I t is of little use to force b ack later theological
distinctions into the more na i v e and simple litera
ture o f th e New Testament The assumption some
times m ade that the Johannean w ritings may be
e x pected to yield a ground for such ne philosoph
ical distinctions because they are more o r less
tinctured w ith an A l exandrian phi losophical avor
is quite w ithout warrant O n the subj ect o f t h e
Spi rit moreover the Johannean author is not
Alexandrian philosophy also itsel f
Alexandrian
is peculiarly vague on the point of the personality

o f its divine p o w ers

That philosophy had evi
d e n t l y not only never come to any clea r concl u
sions on the subj ect o f the personality o f the Logos
the Spi rit and the other po wers o f God b ut had
not even been conscious of any question regarding
it
Neither his Pal estinian nor his Al exandrian
a f l iations then would lead us to expect clear
statements on the subj ect O f the personality o f the
Spirit from the writer o f the Johannean books
2 57
( I 7)
th e I n c a r n a ti o n ,

TH E

S P I R IT

OF

GOD

A fter all his contribution to Christian thought lies

in quite a di fferent eld from the conc e ption of
the Spirit R ega rding t h at subj ect Pau l not the
Johannean writer took the last step o f b iblical
progress
,

58

PART III

TH E key to th e

enti re history o f th e d evel o p m en t

o f the i dea o f the Spi ri t is e x perience Th e study
o f this developm e nt is primari ly a psycholo g ical
s tudy
M en expl a ined t h e origin o f certain ex p e
r i e n c e s which were t o them vital
vivi d pro foundly
real and religiously si gnicant by the th o u ght th a t
God was m o ving i n them This was the idea as
far b ack in Semiti c antiquity as w e can trac e th e
conception o f the Spirit This is the idea i n th e
New Testament period when once more men felt
themselves to be the subj ects o f the di rect activity
o f God who was workin g out h is eternal purpose s
by means o f thei r lives
But it was not upon any and all sorts o f expe r i
e n c e s that men felt they could place this e x planation
o f divine origin a n d force ; it was only upon th o se
e x p eriences in which for som e reason they believed
that the hand o f God could b e seen Primarily that
m ea nt upon ex periences accompani ed by strong e m o
tion It wa s preeminently s o at the rst The ea rli e st
applicati o n o f the idea of the Spi rit o f Go d that we
c a n nd in He b r e w history is to the pr o pheti c c c
stasy This wa s supremely emotional TO understand
its meaning to those who ex p erienced or w itnes sed
it we must le a ve our modern realm of logic and r e a
s o n a n d tr a ns fer ourselves int o an earlier an d c ruder
.

61

TH E

S P I R IT

GOD

OF

t ge o f thou ght where emotion and ima g in a tio n

r uled supreme
In this sta g e men surrendered them
s elves t o emotion as they do n o t in our day
There
was the same tendency to be swept away by emo
tion th a t one nds in childhood All early history
an d all crude races in l ate history show tha t same
subj ection to emotion Thei r e xperiences under i ts
inu e nce had to them supreme value Th ey wer e
the most intense e x periences i n their lives Natu
rally they were reg arded as o i the most valu e That
n ecessarily meant fo r a reli gious race th a t a reli
i
o
u
s
interpretation was put upon them and that
g
they were thought o f as comin g fro m God In a l l
periods Of Hebrew hist o ry wh e n there wa s a vi go r
ous doc trine Of the Spirit there were also intens e
emotional e x periences This was not less true Of
the New T estament period than o f e arly He b rew
history It is probably di fcult for u s to ex a g g e r
ate t h e depth and stren gth of the em oti o n of the
rst generatio n O f Christi a ns as they thought o f
how God had at last once more come close to man
chosen them personally for his high mission a n d
would in a f e w years close the
a s they believed
history o f this a g e with th e c o min g of the Messiah
Should we
an d the establishment O f his kingdom
be inclined t o depreci a te a time becaus e i t made
emotion so prominen t it might be well to remember
that in a ll periods even in our own boasted age o f
reason the supreme importance has after all been
attached to thin gs O f the em otions
People will
i
sist
b
elievin
g
that
p
etry
s highe r tha n prose
o
i
n
r
e
p
s a

62

C O N C L U SI O N

and that love is worth more than logic It is not

then a degradation O f the i dea o f the Spirit O f Go d
to recognize that it had its origin as it has a l ways
had its best appreciation in periods rich with emo
tion and that any adequate study o f i t is primarily
a study o f human emotions
T here are however elements in its h istory whi ch
are not emotional When the Spi rit w as assigned
to artisan work like that o f Bezalee l emotio n could
hardly have been thought to p l ay a part i n it But
such a use h a s an important limitation The Spirit
was never s o used by any person o f h is own e x
r
i
e
e
n
c
or
that
o
f
his
contemporaries
In
all
cases
e
p
in Hebre w literature where li v ing experiences were
explained as coming from the Spirit o f God there
was an element o f emotion to serve as the basis of
that exp l anation All these things lead us to the
assertion made above that the key to the enti re
history o f the concepti o n o f the Spi ri t o f God is
experience and w e may now add emotional
experience
Takin g this a s the starting point let us review
briey the stages o f development through which
the idea passed The concept seems to have b een
used rst for the intense emotions w hich induced
or accompanied the early ecstatic prophecy that a p
pears i n such narrations as I Sam 1 0 Ho w far
back int o the pre literary period this use extends it
i s impossible to s a y nor is the question one o f spe
c i a l importance
In some o f the earliest strata Of
the Hebrew historical b ooks we nd th e term a l
,

63

TH E

S P I R IT O F

GOD

ready extended from ecstatic prophecy t o warli k e

pro w ess The popular h ero w ho l ed the nation in
war or did deeds o f mig h ty v a l or was also said t o
b e under the power of the Spirit thoug h he ne v er
c l aimed the exper i ence fo r himse l f Here a l so one
need not look far to nd an emot i onal content He
w h o kno w s his Iliad w il l not need to be reminded
of t h e erce frenzy of the ancient warrior Bu t
no w there begins to appear the second factor in
the de v e l opment o f this idea that it must have a
value for the national re l igious li fe
F rom the

point o f vie w o f the period the w ord nationa l is

superuous Al l re l igion w as national never merely
indi v idual Whatever emotional experience he l ped
the growth O f the nation w as from the national
God ; it w as the po w er o f the Spirit o f Jehovah
But w ith the gro w th of an ethi cal religion the
Ol d ecstati c prophecy fell into a measure o f d i s r e
pute
There was a stri fe o f prophecy against
prophecy and the older and cruder w ent down b e
fore high er ideas But the O lder prophet because

o f his ecstasy had b een peculiarly the man of the

Spirit
The later prophets used the Spi rit less as
the explanation o f thei r propheti c activity so that
in the D euteronom i c literature the term has quite
1
disappeared in this sense
But meantime a n e w
emphasis has been thrown u p on it w hich intr o
duces another factor in the development of the idea
The idea h as been on the human side emotion
A h
b show b y D S h o m k i Th U of f h i t h Ol d
T st m t d of i p i t h N w T st m t S m l f B bl i l
.

as

en

e en

an

i rv s i

r.

er

64

en

se

"

ou

ca

C O N C L U SI O N
reli g iously interpreted But it is also possible to
look at i t from the divine s ide Here it is and
this is the t h i rd factor God active in the human
l i fe When h o w ever the idea be gan to be used
less o ften for the exp l anation o f individual e ffort
i t was natural that the limitation o f its meaning
t o the human li fe shou l d disappear and that it
shou l d be thought o f as God active in any sphere
o f h is creation This is what took place in t h e
exi l i c period : The Spirit o f God brooded o v er
chaos and made creation
God sends forth his
Spirit and the beasts o f the eld live ; h e withdra w s
it and they di e All the history o f Israel has been
under the guidance o f the Spirit The Spirit led
them i n the wilderness The Spirit will be with
the Messiah at his coming and in that Messiani c
age God will give the Spirit to all
By the time o f the post exili c period the e m p h a
s i s o f the i dea had passed quite denitely from the
notion o f emotional experiences to the notion o f God
acting ; and s ince there had also been a gro w th o f
rever ence for God w hich had resulted in p ra c t i
cally putting him a far Off from man it now b e
came impossible to interpret present e x periences as
from the Spirit Even w hen the deep springs o f
religious and patriotic heroism were touched as
in the Macca b ean revolt the Spirit was not used of
their origin Thus widely had th e term departed
from its original use On e might well suppose that
it had entered upon a new eld s o rem o te fro m th e
Ol d that it would never return
.

65

TH E

S P I R IT

OF

GOD

O n its human side then the Spiri t as the e x

,

planation o f experience became in the Je w ish period

a memory o f the past and a hope for the future
O n its d ivine side as a name for God acting i t
became a dogma As a do gma one step more w as
possible for it The distinction b etween God act
ing and God absolute bet w een the dynamic and th e
static might be lost and the Spirit come to be used
as the exact equivalent fo r God
In Hebrew
thought this step wa s never taken There were a p
p r o a c h es to it but the absolute identi cation o f the
Spirit and God was avoided
That combination o f Gr e ek and Jewish thought
which we call Alexandrian Judaism added no new
facto r to the history o f the development It went
back under the inuence o f i deas borro w ed from the
Greek conception o f the oracles to the earlie r and
cruder Hebrew stage in w hich the Spi rit was used
to explain ecstasy ; then it used that cruder c o n c ep
tion i n an attempt to explain all the prophecy Of
the O ld Testament In this way it became the p r e
cursor o i much l ater theo l ogical doctrine o f inspira
tio n but it contri b uted nothin g to the b iblical
development O f the idea
Thus the matter stands at the b e g innin g o f th e
New Testament period T he Spirit is a m emory o f
God s presence w ith his people in the past and
a hope for his presence once mor e in the p erson o f
the Messiah w ho should come in the future The
i dea O f the Spi rit a s God acting in the e x ternal
world seems already to have disappeared
It i s
.

66

C O N C LU SI O N
thou ght Of only in connectio n with G od s actio n on
men
Now comes Christianity with i ts clai m o f Jesus
as the Messiah With it ther e is a new wealth o f
emotional experiences
S ince the Messiah has
come all these experiences may once more be inter
r e te d as from the Spi rit
m
ay
all
e
x
periences
S
O
p
wh ich advance th e purpos es o f God in the new
Messianic movement Theoretically this opens the
way for the assignment to the Spirit o f much
b esides the emotional Practically it would seem
that in the rst few years o f Christian history the
Spirit was kept some w hat closely for the explana
tion o f those experiences of the Christian church in
which there was at least an elemen t o f emotion
Still such factors o f e x perienc e as wisdom and
j ud gment were occasionally assi gned to the Spirit
T he tendency to e x pansion wa s present There is
however no hint in our literature that any tend
ency e x isted toward a form o f e x pans ion upon which
Hebrew thought had once entered and then drawn
b ack that o f the explanation o f the cosmic process
as the work o f th e Spirit
The thought o f th e
C hristian church connected the Spirit t o o closely
w ith human e x perience to allow o f this
The
thou ght o f the Spirit in the world outside o f m an
can only a rise under one o f two condition s : eith e r
when the connection O f the Spi ri t with e x perience
has b een lost and the ide a h a s b ecom e a name
for God acting as wa s the cas e i n the e x ilic and
p o st e x ili c He b rew pe riod ; or when the d ist in c

67

S P I R IT O F GOD

TH E

tion b etween the relation of God to persons and

his relation to the impersonal parts o f the creation
has been lost Christian theolo gy has never lost
sight of that distinction It is to be hoped that it
never w i l l T he Spi rit o f God belongs of right on l y
to the action o f God on human h earts It is a term
for the action o f the divine Person on human per
sons Such is i ts New Testament meanin g and its
only correct use
Now with its meanin g fairly xed to human
experiences the l as t fact o r in its developme n t e n
ters I have spoken of it as belonging to e x p e r i
in the plural
It was the explanation o f
en c es
speci c events i n li fe o f special mental po w ers
or em o tion al periods cons i dered individually
Through out its history the Spirit had been in large
measure God acting in temporary endowments In
large measure I say for even Hebre w thought had
touched now and then in its later periods the i dea
o f the Spi rit as an abiding ethical force in li fe in
the sam e way that it had touched many things that
w ere fundamental in later Christian l i fe and ethics
But as w ith s o many o f these things that i dea
was so rare that it could almost b e ca l led sporadic
It di d not become dominant Paul grasped the i de a
of the unity o f the religious li fe and spoke O f the
Spirit not merely as God actin g in an occasional
extraordinary and emotional experience but as
being the divine source and basis o f all the Chris
tian li fe F o r him the Holy Spirit is the cause
not only o f rel igious experiences but of religious
.

68

C O N C L U SION
e x perienc e T he test o f the Spirit o f Go d in a m a n
is n o lon g er subj ective emotion but the Obj ectiv e
value o f his li fe for the progress o f the will o f Go d
Emotional
as w o rkin g itsel f out in the church
experiences do not indeed lose thei r value ; they a r e
still g i fts o f th e Spirit b ut are not to b e reckone d
as o f rs t importance
T he place o f prime im
portan c e is held by the religious ethical li fe in its
unity conceived as divinely originated and g uided
The unication o f all the religious li fe under t h e
Spirit is the last sta g e in the b iblical development o f
the idea It is the last stage that ever can com e i n
its development unless there b e retro g ression ; fo r
nothin g more complete in the relation o f Go d t o
the human soul can b e conceived than the i dea tha t
the entire reli g ious l i fe originates from and is
gui ded b y Go d actin g immediately on th e hum an
spirit In b i b lical literature itself then the c o n c ep
tion o f the Spirit reaches its perfect end
Bu t what O f the theological doctrine of the
Spi rit ? What o f the personality o f the Spirit in
the Godhead and the procession o f the Spirit ? W ith
these things this study has nothin g to do I t leaves
them to historical and speculative theolo gy They
b elon g to the ages a fter the bibli cal writings hav e
closed
Pro fessor Clarke begins his Ou tl in es o f

C h r i s ti a n Th e o l o g y with this sentence : Theolo gy

is preceded by religion as b otany by the li fe o f
plants R eligion is the reality o f which theology is

the study
T he subj ect with which we have be en
concerned in this b ook is religi o n not speculativ e
.

69

TH E

S P I RIT

GOD

OF

with i ts distinctions draw n fr o m Gr e ek

It is a very fund a mental fact o f r e
p hil o sophy
l ig i o n
Ther e can b e no reli g ion at all in any stric t
s ense without the reco gnition of the primal fact o f
God actin g in the heart o f man which the He b rew s
T he b ibli cal w riters d o not a t
called the Spirit
t e mpt to e xplain this fact T hey b elieve it they use
i t for the e x planation o f the phenomena o f li fe they
nd religious stren gt h and com fort in it ; b ut they
do not philosophize a bout it In th e s e nse in whi ch
the word is used a b ove there i s littl e b iblical the
O lo g y Of the Spirit o f God W h at th e ologi cal i n
fe r e n ce s men drew later from the b ibli cal religious
use o f this i dea and whether those inferences were
correct or not are subj ects whose discussion does
T hat pur
n o t l i e w ithin the purpose o f this b ook
pose i s to deal with the religious fact which the
b iblical writers explained by the Spirit O f God
I f this little book has helped to mak e that fact
mor e vivid or the development o f its meaning i n
the b i b lical l iterature mor e clea r it has served its
purp o se
M ay th e people of God se e with ever growing
clearness what is meant by the mos t complete N e w
Testament e xpression o f thi s b asa l reli g i o us i deal

Live in the Spirit "

th eo l o gy

"

0
7

BI BL I O G RAPHY

T H IS B i b lio g raph y does not profes s to b e c o m

p l e te an d e x cludes all b ooks whose chie f value i s
,

devotional r ather th a n scien ti c It aims to furnish

a g uide t o the literature whic h i s m o st u seful fo r a
critica l study of t h is s ub j ect
.

S PEC I AL

BO O KS T R E A T I N G

OF

S PI RI T

THE

OF GO D

Gunk el Di e W irkungen des h e iligen Geistes nac h

d e r p o p u lar e n Anschauun g der apostolische n
Z ei t un d der Lehre des Apostels Paulu s
,

GOtti n g e n ,

1 89 9

W einel D i e W i rkungen des Geistes und der Geiste r

,

im

n a c h a p o s to l i s c h en

Z eitalter

I r e n au s

b is au f

F reibur g I 8 9 9
W endt D ie Begri ffe F leisch und G eist i m b i b lische n
Sprachgebrauch Gotha 1 8 7 8
Sokolowski D ie Begri ffe Gei st und Le b en b e i
Paulus GOtt in g e n 1 9 03
Gl o l D er heilige Ge ist in der He il sv e r kii n d i g u n g
des Paulus H alle I 8 88
Denio T he Supreme Leader B oston 1 9 00
W alker The Spi rit a n d t he In carnation Edin
burgh 1 89 9
Di c k son St Paul s U s e o f the Ter m s Fl esh a n d
S pirit G las g ow 1 88 3
.

'

1
7

'

S P I R IT O F GOD

TH E

Sme a ton Doctrin e of the H o ly Spirit

b urgh 1 88 2
,

Edi n

I I M O R E GE N E RAL BO O K S T R E A T I N G OF
S PI R I T OF GO D

THE

S c h u l t z, Ol d
1 g9 2

Tes tam e nt Theo logy

E dinburgh ,

D avi dson T he T heology o f the O ld Testam ent

N e w York 1 9 04
W eiss B iblical T heology of the New Testam e nt
E dinbur g h 1 8 8 9
Beys c l l a
New T e stament T h eology E din b ur gh
,

g
,

1 9

The Theol o gy o f th e New Testam ent

N e w Y ork 1 8 99
T he P a uline Theo logy N e w Y ork 1 89 2
Th e J o hannine T h eo l o gy N e w Y o r k 1 8 9 4
Gilb ert The R eve l ation of Jesus N e w Yo rk 1 8 99
The F i rst Interpreters o f Jesus New Yo rk
Stevens

1 901

Bruce St Paul s Conception

Yo rk 1 8 9 4
.

Christianity

New

ART I C L ES
in the O l d Tes ta ment

III

B ri ggs U s e o f r un
Journal
of Biblical Literature vol xix

Shoemak er T h e U se o f ii i : in the O ld Testamen t

and of m ani a in t h e New Tes tament Jou r na l
of Biblical Literature v o l xxi ii
K leinert Z u r Alttest a men tlichen Le h re v o m Geiste
Go ttes J a h r b ii c h er fii r D eu ts che Th e o logi c
,

72

B I BLI O G RA P H Y
Articles i n Hastings s B ible D ictionary ; En cy c l o

p ae d i a

B ibli ca ; Crem er s B ibli c o Th e ol o g ical

Lexicon of the N e w Testamen t Greek ; Th a yer s
Ne w Testament Lexicon ; Ges en i u s s Hebrew
L exicon ed Brown D river and B ri ggs

IV

BI B I OG

RA P HI ES

Appended to articles H o ly S pi rit Hastin g s s Bible

D i ctiona ry ; Spirit Spiritual Gi fts En c y c l o
i
d
a B iblica
a
e
p
D e nio The S uprem e L e a d er p a g e 2 3 9 ff A full

bib l iography ; includ e s

Bibli cal
b esides

H i sto r i ca l
D o ctrinal
and
Pr a ctical
,

ii

s tS

73

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