We answer that in John iii., 13 the " Son of Man" is said to have come down from heaven, and to be in heaven. But surely Jesus, as Son of Man, was not omnipresent. In Acts xx., 28 God is said to purchase his church with his own blood ; but surely Christ, as God, did not shed his blood. The explanation of this is that it is the common usage of Scripture to designate the single person of the God-man by a title belonging to him as the possessor of one nature, while the condition, attribute, rela- tion, or action predicated of him is true only of the other nature. Thus in the passages in question he is called " Son of God," be- cause he is the eternal Word, while at the same time he is said to be inferior to the Father, because he is also man and mediator.
70: What is the true explanation of Luke i., 35 ?
That Jesus was revealed as the Son of God, and proved to be such by his miraculous conception. It is not probable that it is meant he was called Son because of that event, since his human nature was begotten by the Holy Ghost, and yet he is never called the Son of the Holy Ghost.
But even if it were affirmed that he was called Son of God for that reason, it would still remain true, as above shown, that he is revealed as from eternity the Son of God for an infinitely higher reason.
(II.) The relation which the third person sustains to the first and second, or the eternal procession of the Holy Ghost.
71. What is the etymology of the word Spirit, and the usage of its Hebrew and Greek equivalents ?
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The English word spirit is from the Latin spiritus, breath, wind, air, life, soul, which in turn is from the verb spiro, to breathe. The equivalent Hebrew word, fivi, has a perfectly anal- ogous usage. 1st. Its primary sense is wind, air in motion, Gen. viii., 1 ; then, 2d, breath, the breath of life, Gen. vi., 17 ; Job xvii., 1 ; 3d, animal soul, vital principle in men and animals, 1 Sam. xxx., 12 ; 4th, rational soul of man, Gen. xli., 8, and hence, meta- phorically, disposition, temperament, Num. v., 14 ; 5th, Spirit of Jehovah, Gen. i., 2 ; Ps. li., 11. — Gesenius' Lex.
The equivalent Greek word, nvevim, has also the same usage. It is derived from, nvecj, to breathe, to blow. It signifies, 1st, breath, Eev. xi., 11 ; 2d, air in motion, John iii., 8 ; 3d, the vital principle, Matt, xxvii., 50 ; 4th, the rational soul spoken (1.) of, the disembodied spirits of men, Heb. xii., 23 ; (2.) of devils, Matt., x., 1 ; (3.) of angels, Heb. i., 14 ; (4.) the Spirit of God, spoken of God, a, absolutely as an attribute of his essence, John iv., 24 ; and b as the personal designation of the third person of the trinity, who is called Spirit of God, or of the Lord, and the Holy Spirit, and the Spirit of Christ, or of Jesus, or of the Son of God, Acts xvi., 6, 7 ; Kom. viii., 9 ; 2 Cor. iii., 17 ; Gal. iv., 6 ; Phil, i., 19 ; 1 Pet. i., 11.
72. Why is the third person of the Trinity called the Spirit ?
As the one indivisible divine essence which is common to each of the divine persons alike is spiritual, this term, as the personal designation of the third person, can not be intended to signify the fact that he is a Spirit as to his essence, but rather to mark what is peculiar to his person, i. e., his personal relation to the Father and the Son, and the peculiar mode of his operation ad extra. As the reciprocal epithets Father and Son are used to in- dicate, so far forth, the mutual relations of the first and second persons, so the epithets, Spirit, Spirit of God, Spirit of the Son, Spirit which proceedeth from the Father, are applied to the third person to indicate, so far forth, the relation of the third person to the first and second.
73. Why is he called Holy Spirit ?
As holiness is an attribute of the divine essence, and the glory equally of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, it can not be applied in
154 THE HOLY TRINITY.
any preeminent sense as a personal characteristic to the third person. It indicates, therefore, the peculiar nature of his opera- tion. He is called the Holy Spirit because he is the author of holiness throughout the universe. As the Son is also styled Logos, or God, the Kevealer, so the Holy Spirit is God, the Operator, the end and glory of whose work in the moral world is holiness, as in the physical world beauty.
74. Why is he called the Spirit of God ?
This phrase expresses his divinity, his relation to the Godhead as himself God, 1 Cor. ii., 11 ; his intimate personal relation to the Father as his consubstantial spirit proceeding from him, John xv., 26 ; and the fact that he is the divine Spirit, which pro- ceeding from God operates upon the creature, Ps. civ., 30 ; 1 Pet. iv., 14.
75. Why is the third person called the Spirit of Christ ?