The Holy Spirit in the
teaching of the
Church
A Survey
of
Historical
Theology
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Patristic Thought
 The early church reflect the NT idea that the Spirit is
operative in the church, inspiring prophecy and otherwise
working within individuals (Barnabas 12:2; Ignatius, Phil .
7:1).
 Itinerant Christian prophets are dealt with as a present
reality in the Didache, but as time passes, such charismata
are treated as theoretical.
 The view that the spirit of OT prophecy is one and the same
Holy Spirit that inspired the apostles is encountered (Justin,
Dialogues 1-7; 51; 82; 87; etc.; Irenaeus, Against Heresies
II, 6.4; III, 21.3-4), and the apostles emerge as the "Spiritbearers" (pneumatophoroi), a designation given to the OT
prophets (Hos. 9:7, LXX).
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Theophilus and Tertullian
 Even though the "trinitarian" formula of Matt. 28:19 is
found in the apostolic fathers, the word "trinity" is first
applied to the Godhead by Theophilus of Antioch (To
Autolycus 2:15).
 Tertullian taught the divinity of the Holy Spirit. He wrestled with
the problem of the tension between the authority of the Spirit in
the church versus apostolic tradition and Scripture as received
revelation.
 He espoused Montanism for a time, a system which placed
primary importance on the current inspiration of the Spirit
in the body. The church, however, rejected Montanism in
favour of the objective authority of apostolic tradition as
reflected in Scripture, and Montanism eventually died out.
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Montanism
 Montanism was an early Christian sectarian
movement of the mid-2nd century A.D., named
after its founder Montanus.
 It flourished mostly in and around the region of
Phrygia, where early on its followers were
called Cataphrygians; although it spread
rapidly to other regions in the Roman Empire,
and at a time before Christianity was generally
tolerated or legal.
 Although the orthodox mainstream Christian
church prevailed against Montanism within a
few generations, labeling it a heresy, the sect
persisted in some isolated places into the 8th
century.
 Some people have drawn parallels between
Montanism and Pentecostalism (which some
call Neo-Montanism). Survey of Christian Doctrine
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The end of prophecy?
 The church's stand against the Montanist heresy
was largely responsible for the demise of
Christian prophecy and other charismata.
 The Muratorian Canon states that the number of
prophets is settled, and even the Apostolic Tradition
of Hippolytus, which elevates charismatic leadership
above ecclesiastical structure, restricts the term
"prophet" entirely to the canonical prophets.
 In the late fourth century John Chrysostom could
speak of the spiritual gifts as belonging to an age in
the past.
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The Church Councils
 The Nicene Creed confesses faith in the Holy Spirit,
but without any development of the idea of the
Spirit's divinity or essential relationship to the
Father and the Son.
 This question became a major issue within the church
in the late fourth century and following, and the
Council of Constantinople added to the words of
the Nicene Creed, describing the Holy Spirit as "the
Lord and Giver of Life, proceeding from the Father,
to be worshiped and glorified together with the
Father and the Son.“
 A controversy developed concerning whether the Spirit
was "proceeding from the Son."
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The Medieval period
 Following Augustine's teaching, the phrase
filioque ("and the Son") was added by the
Western church to the Nicene creed at the
Council of Toledo in 589. The Eastern church
rejected the filioque doctrine, and the creed
constituted confessional grounds for the split
between East and West which had already
taken place in practice.
 Anselm of Canterbury brought the debate into
the era of scholasticism and filioque remained
the standard of the church.
 The fourth Lateran Council again espoused
Trinitarianism and filioque. Aquinas affirmed
that the spirit proceeds from the special
relationship that exists between the Father and
the Son.
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The late Middle Ages
 Such discussions as this continued into the fifteenth
century, when the Council of Florence again
attempted to unite the Western and Eastern
churches. The filioque idea was reaffirmed and,
although a cosmetic change of wording was made in
an attempt to satisfy the Eastern church, the Greek
Orthodox Church rejected the substance of the
creed.
 The position of the Roman Catholic Church has
remained essentially unchanged, and the rift
between East and West over this issue remains
to the present.
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The Reformation
 Although other aspects of the Spirit's
work were of importance in medieval
theology, including sanctification and
illumination, it was not until the
Reformation that the work of the Spirit in
the church was truly rediscovered.
 The Reformers stressed sola Scriptura
and the work of the Spirit in salvation
independent of tradition.
 While Luther rejected "enthusiasm" (the
subjective claim of direct guidance by the
Spirit), he understood the Spirit to be
at work through the Word, primarily in
preaching, and in the sacraments.
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Calvin
 Calvin taught that the Spirit works in
regeneration to illumine the mind to
receive the benefits of Christ and seals
them in the heart. By the Spirit the heart
of a man is opened to the penetrating
power of the Word and sacraments.
 Calvin went beyond Luther in asserting
that not only is the preached Word the
agent of the Spirit, but the Bible is in its
essence the Word of God (Genevan
Catechism). The Spirit works in the
reading of Scripture as well as in the
preaching of the Word, and the Word,
preached or read, is efficacious through
the work of the Holy Spirit.
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Arminius
 A seventeenth century
reaction to strict Calvinism
arose in Holland among the
followers of James Arminius.
Arminius rejected strict
predestination, allowing for
man's freedom to reject God's
offer of grace. The Arminian
position was denounced by the
Synod of Dort, but had great
influence in England.
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Wesley
 For Wesley, God acts in cooperation with, but not
in violation of, free human response in the matter
of saving faith. God does not merely dispense
upon man justifying grace, nor does man simply
acquire such grace by believing. There is rather a
unified process of God's giving and man's
receiving.
 The Holy Spirit convicts of sin and also bears
witness of justification. Thereafter the Holy Spirit
continues to work in man in sanctification, such
that the believer feels in his heart the workings of
the Spirit.
 Sanctification, the renewal of man in the image of
God, in righteousness and true holiness, is
effected by the Spirit through faith. It includes
being saved from sin and being perfected in love.
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The Modern Period
 Seventeenth century radical Puritanism produced the
Quakers with their emphasis on subjective experience
of the Holy Spirit (the Inner Light of George Fox), such
that Scripture is only a secondary source of knowledge
for faith and practice (Robert Barclay Apology)
 Eighteenth century Methodism expressed a more
balanced approach to the work of the Spirit. The focus
of later Methodism on the work of the Spirit after
conversion as an experience of divine grace has found
development in the modern Holiness Movement,
represented by churches in the Christian Holiness
Association
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Pentecostalism
 Stemming from earlier emphases upon "second
experience," Pentecostalism has placed great
importance upon the "baptism of the Holy Spirit," which
is seen as the completion of a two-stage process of
salvation.
 Since the inception of this modern movement at
the turn of the century, speaking in tongues has
been proclaimed as the main sign of Spirit baptism,
although other "gifts of the Spirit", notably healing, are
also emphasized.
 From its fundamentalist beginning the Pentecostal
movement has grown into what is loosely called the
charismatic movement, which now touches all of
Protestantism and has made inroads into Roman
Catholicism.
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Karl Barth (1)
 Barth was largely responsible for socalled dialectical theology. Barth
broke with liberalism, denying
liberalism's theology of pious
religious self-consciousness,
(Schleiermacher; Ritschl) to
emphasize the "infinite qualitative
distinction" between man and God,
and proclaimed God's nein to all of
man's attempt at self-righteousness.
Barth's Letter to the Romans
sounded this note of man's "crisis",
the acknowledgement that what
man knows of God, God has himself
revealed.
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Karl Barth (2)
 Barth developed his idea of God's self-revelation in terms of the
doctrine of the Word of God (Church Dogmatics I/1 and I/2).
 First and most importantly, Jesus is the incarnate Logos, the Word
of God. The Word of God is subsequently found in the preaching
of the gospel, and "among the words of Scripture" (cf. Luther's
doctrine of Spirit and Word).
 The Word of God is God himself in Holy Scripture. Scripture is
holy and the Word of God, because by the Holy Spirit it became
and will become to the church a witness to divine revelation. This
witness is not identical to the revelation; it is not itself revelation,
but the witness to it.
 Faith in Jesus as the Christ, specifically in Jesus'
resurrection, is effected through the work of the Holy Spirit.
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Karl Barth (3)
 The subjective "in Spirit" is the counterpart
to the objective "in Christ".
 God's grace is manifested both in the
objective revelation of God in Christ and
man's subjective appropriation of this
revelation through the Spirit. According to
Scripture, God's revelation occurs in our
enlightenment by the Holy Spirit to a
knowledge of God's Word. The outpouring
of the Spirit is God's revelation.
 In this reality we are free to be God's
children and to know, love, and praise him.
The Spirit as subjective reality of God's
revelation makes possible and real the
existence of Christianity in the world. God in
his freedom discloses himself to man and so
makes man free for him (Evangelical
Theology, pp. 53ff.).
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Concluding reflections
 This sketch shows some of the diversity in the
development of Christian thinking about the
Holy Spirit.
 It is ironic that God's eschatological gift to man
has so often been a point of contention and
division among Christians.
 Since the road ahead appears no less difficult
than the way we have come, we would do well
to be humbly mindful of God's sovereignty and
of our weakness.
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Confessional response
 Because God in Christ has initiated the messianic age
with its outpouring of the Spirit, man's relationship to
God has been forever changed.
 No longer can the law be used as a means of exclusion
and oppression of the disenfranchised: Jesus has
preached the messianic gospel of release to the
captive, sight to the blind, and good news to the poor;
the new law of life has been written on the hearts of
men.
 Thus we must abhor any new legalism which uses the
Scripture to exclude and oppress, this is to turn the
good news of Christ into "the letter that kills."
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 We must, rather, recognize the "God-breathed"
character of Scripture, and the "Spirit that makes alive."
Only so will the Scripture be profitable. Conversely,
the Spirit cannot be claimed as the mark of an elite,
as that which distinguishes and divides.
 The gospel of Jesus Christ includes the message that
the Holy Spirit has been poured out on all flesh. All
abuses of Scripture and the Spirit must hear God's
message: "The promise is to those who are near, and
to those who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God
will call."
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For further reading
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C. K. Barrett, The Holy Spirit and the Gospel Tradition;
F. D. Brunner, A Theology of the Holy Spirit;
J.D.G. Dunn, Baptism in the Holy Spirit and Jesus and the Spirit;
M. Green, I Believe in the Holy Spirit;
H. Gunkel, The Influence of the Holy Spirit;
G. S. Hendry, The Holy Spirit: Growth of a Biblical Tradition;
C. F. D. Moule, The Holy Spirit;
P.D. M. Ramsey, Holy Spirit;
E. Schweizer, The Holy Spirit;
H. B. Swete, The Holy Spirit in the Ancient Church and The Holy
Spirit in the New Testament;
 H. Watkins-Jones, The Holy Spirit from Arminius to Wesley.
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