By Henry Aloysius Barry
St. Irenaeus—(adv. haeres, 3, 16)—makes the remark that neither Our Lord nor the Holy Ghost nor the apostles employ the name of God in a definite, absolute way except to have it apply to the true God—"I am the Lord thy God, Who brought thee out of the land of Egypt." (Exod. xx, 2.) Yet Isaias the prophet, referring to this same occurrence, says: "The spirit of the Lord was their leader." (lxiii, 14.) Is not, then, the divinity of the Holy Ghost diaphanous?
"You slighted the commandment of the Lord thy God, and did not believe me." (Deut. ix, 23.) Alluding back to this indiscretion the prophet Isaias says of the Jews: "They afflicted the spirit of His Holy One." Nicetas, St. Jerome and St. Athanasius, following the Septuagint, here render the text: "They afflicted the spirit of the Holy Ghost." The prophet David says: "The spirit of the Lord hath spoken by me and His word by my tongue.
The God of Israel said to me, the strong one of Israel spoke." (II. Kings xxiii, 3.) Here we find the Holy Ghost called out and out God, the God of Israel. "I saw the Lord," says Isaias, "sitting upon a throne, high and lofty, and He said to me, 'Go, and thou shalt say to these people, hearing, hear, and understand not, and see the vision and know it not.'" In referring to this, St. Paul says: "Well did the Holy Ghost speak to our Fathers by Isaias the prophet, saying, 'I go to this people, and say to them, with the ears you shall hear and shall not understand, and seeing you shall see and shall not perceive.'" (Acts xxviii, 25, 26.)
Let us now veer off to the consideration of the divine attributes. Under this head we find, first of all, "Immensity." "Do I not fill heaven and earth?" (Jer. xxiii, 24.) We find in the second place "Goodness" —"None is good but one, that is God." (Mark x, 18.) The Douay annotation reads: "None is good of himself entirely and essentially, but God; men may be good also, but only by participation of God's goodness." (Inf. pag. Mark.) We find next on the list of divine attributes "All-powerfulness " —"And there is no other almighty God besides Him." (Tobias xiii, 4.) We find in the next place "Wisdom"—"And of His wisdom there is no number." (Ps. clvi, 6); "God the only wise." (Rom. xvi, 27.) Now, no creature could possibly have these attributes, and yet the Holy Ghost does, as a matter of fact, possess them. Let us see— "Immensity " belongs to Him—"the spirit of the Lord hath filled the whole world." (Wis. i, 7.) "Goodness " belongs to the Third Person—"O how good and sweet is Thy spirit, O Lord." (Wis.xii, 1.) "Thy good spirit will lead me into the right land." (Ps. cxlii, 10.) "How much more will your Father in heaven give the good spirit to them that ask Him." (Luke xi, 13.) The Holy Ghost is "omnipotent"—"The spirit of understanding—having all power." (Wis. vii, 2, 3.) "Wisdom" is an attribute of the Holy Ghost;—"the spirit searcheth all things, even the profound things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man but the spirit of a man that is in him? So the things that are of God no man knoweth, but the Spirit of God." (II. Cor.ii, 2, 3.) Add to these attributes the "resurrection" and "vivification" of the body, which is plainly a divine work—"He that raised up Jesus Christ from the dead, shall quicken also your mortal bodies because of His spirit that dwelleth in you." (Rom. viii, 12.)
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| The martyrdom of St. Irenaeus |
St. Irenaeus—(adv. haeres, 3, 16)—makes the remark that neither Our Lord nor the Holy Ghost nor the apostles employ the name of God in a definite, absolute way except to have it apply to the true God—"I am the Lord thy God, Who brought thee out of the land of Egypt." (Exod. xx, 2.) Yet Isaias the prophet, referring to this same occurrence, says: "The spirit of the Lord was their leader." (lxiii, 14.) Is not, then, the divinity of the Holy Ghost diaphanous?
"You slighted the commandment of the Lord thy God, and did not believe me." (Deut. ix, 23.) Alluding back to this indiscretion the prophet Isaias says of the Jews: "They afflicted the spirit of His Holy One." Nicetas, St. Jerome and St. Athanasius, following the Septuagint, here render the text: "They afflicted the spirit of the Holy Ghost." The prophet David says: "The spirit of the Lord hath spoken by me and His word by my tongue.
The God of Israel said to me, the strong one of Israel spoke." (II. Kings xxiii, 3.) Here we find the Holy Ghost called out and out God, the God of Israel. "I saw the Lord," says Isaias, "sitting upon a throne, high and lofty, and He said to me, 'Go, and thou shalt say to these people, hearing, hear, and understand not, and see the vision and know it not.'" In referring to this, St. Paul says: "Well did the Holy Ghost speak to our Fathers by Isaias the prophet, saying, 'I go to this people, and say to them, with the ears you shall hear and shall not understand, and seeing you shall see and shall not perceive.'" (Acts xxviii, 25, 26.)
Let us now veer off to the consideration of the divine attributes. Under this head we find, first of all, "Immensity." "Do I not fill heaven and earth?" (Jer. xxiii, 24.) We find in the second place "Goodness" —"None is good but one, that is God." (Mark x, 18.) The Douay annotation reads: "None is good of himself entirely and essentially, but God; men may be good also, but only by participation of God's goodness." (Inf. pag. Mark.) We find next on the list of divine attributes "All-powerfulness " —"And there is no other almighty God besides Him." (Tobias xiii, 4.) We find in the next place "Wisdom"—"And of His wisdom there is no number." (Ps. clvi, 6); "God the only wise." (Rom. xvi, 27.) Now, no creature could possibly have these attributes, and yet the Holy Ghost does, as a matter of fact, possess them. Let us see— "Immensity " belongs to Him—"the spirit of the Lord hath filled the whole world." (Wis. i, 7.) "Goodness " belongs to the Third Person—"O how good and sweet is Thy spirit, O Lord." (Wis.xii, 1.) "Thy good spirit will lead me into the right land." (Ps. cxlii, 10.) "How much more will your Father in heaven give the good spirit to them that ask Him." (Luke xi, 13.) The Holy Ghost is "omnipotent"—"The spirit of understanding—having all power." (Wis. vii, 2, 3.) "Wisdom" is an attribute of the Holy Ghost;—"the spirit searcheth all things, even the profound things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man but the spirit of a man that is in him? So the things that are of God no man knoweth, but the Spirit of God." (II. Cor.ii, 2, 3.) Add to these attributes the "resurrection" and "vivification" of the body, which is plainly a divine work—"He that raised up Jesus Christ from the dead, shall quicken also your mortal bodies because of His spirit that dwelleth in you." (Rom. viii, 12.)
