Further, the irvevfiaTiKoi as a special class bring out the difference between the religious life of the Christian Church and that of the Synagogue. The prophet was then unknown in the latter, and the Divine word came to it exclusively through the Scriptures. Now, however, the prophetic VOL. I.— 37
word taken over from Israel was supplemented in the Church by an operative utterance of God. And just as the Rabbis did not arrogate to themselves the inspiration of prophecy, so they disclaimed the power of working miracles. They did, however, always recognize a supernatural factor in the order- ing of human aflairs, and in prayer, in dreams, in times of distress, the thoughts of the devout often dwelt upon the Divine omnipotence. On the other hand, the need of ascertaining the Divine will from signs, of interpreting dreams, of listening for Divine utterances, of inferring from one's feelings in prayer that the prayer was heard, of deducing the eternal destiny of the dying from their last words — of all this the NT knows nothing, and tiiat not in spite of, but precisely in virtue of, its doctrine of the Holy Spirit. Inasmuch as the Spirit brings men into conscious union with God, there is no further need for signs — such need having a place in religion only so long as men bow before an unknown God and an inscrutable will. The certitude of the NT worker of miracles who felt that he had a right to invoke the aid of Omnipotence forms the counter- part to the certitude of the prophet who was con- vinced that he spoke under a Divine compulsion, and it sprang from a conviction that held good for all, viz. that God had revealed Himself in Christ in such a way that the personal life of the believer was rooted in His perfect grace.
III. Different types of the doctrine of THE Spirit in the NT period.—!. The Pauline. — The considerations by which St. Paul was led towards his new and distinctive theology prompted him also to frame a doctrine of the Spirit.
(a) The Spirit and the Law. — For St. Paul the religious problem had assumed the form : Either the Law or Christ ; and he efi'ected his union with Jesus by a resolute turning away from the Law. A religious life based upon the Law forms a clear antithesis to life in the Spirit, for a law externally enjoined upon man — the transgression of which was guilt, and obedience to which was desert — excludes the idea that God Himself acts upon man inwardly. The Law, in short, sets man at a distance from God, making him the creator of his own volition and the originator of his own sin and righteousness. In this fact the Apostle, as a Christian, saw the plight of the Jews, and of mankind in general ; for righteousness can be won, not by any performance of the Law, but only by a manifestation of the righteousness of God. Thus from man's own spiritual state arises the problem of how he is to be brought into that relationship with God which is grounded in God's own work and the gift of His grace. The gift of His grace cannot consist merely in a change of man's external condition, as if he had only to look forward to a transformation of nature and a re-organization of the world. To seek for help in that direction would be to deny the Law, the holiness of which consists precisely in this, that it makes obedience to God the condition of His fellowship with man. Hence the grace of God must move man from within, and must so act upon him as to make him obedient to God. That opera- tion of God in man in virtue of which man sur- renders himself to God the Apostle finds in the work of the Holy Spirit (Ro 8l-^ Gal 5^^^-). Subjec- tion to the Law is thus superseded by subjection to the Spirit (Ro 7^), and legal worship gives place to worship ottered through the Spirit (Ph 3*). Chris- tians are thus absolved from the Law in such a way that the Law is reallj^ fulfilled.
(b) The Spirit and the Scriptiires. — The obedience rendered by the Jews was based upon their belief that the Divine will had been revealed to them in the Scriptures. The knowledge of God was there- fore to be obtained by study of the holy writings delivered to them. The Law produced the scribe,
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HOLY SPIEIT
HOLY SPIEIT
the theolo.irical investigator (1 Co 1^). As a Chris- tian, St. Paul, however, rejected this method of seeking tlie knowledge of God as decisively as lie rejected the meritorious character of Pharisaic works. How is man to become possessed of the knowledge of God ? He knows God only when he is known by Him. But how is he to acquire a knowledge of God tiiat does not come to him tlirougli Scripture or tradition, but is given by the Divine leading of his inner life? The knowledge of God is shed forth in man by the Spirit (1 Co 2'\ 2 Co 2'-* ; cf. 3^). Here we have the root of that vital contrast between the letter and the spirit wliich forms one of the distinctive features of the Pauline theology (Ro 7«, 2 Co 3«).