3. The Holy Spirit as the Paraclete (of the apostles in their work). — In the last discourse of Jesus, as found in the Fourth Gospel, the name ' Paraclete ' is given to the power that secures for the disciples the presence of the Holy Spirit (Jn 1416.50 is'.'S jg7)_ Abstractly, it is not impossible that the Spirit Himself is here called the Paraclete because He too keeps the disciples within the Divine grace through which they are forgiven ; here, in point of fact, the term applies to Jesus
no less than to the Sjiirit, for the latter is called 'another Paraclete'; and thus the intercessory function of the Spirit on behalf of the disciples is conjoined with that exercised by Jesus until His departure. The leading thought underlying the passages in question, however, is in conliict with this interpretation, as Jesus is there speakin" of how His disciples shall be enabled to complete their task and, as His messengers, to gather. His community together. His words serve here to define the authority of the apostolic office, and therefore also of the Church. The relation of the disciples to God is regulated and assured by their union with Jesus, and no account is taken of the possibility that they may rupture that relation by Iresh transgression. The parting utterances of Jesus speak of His fellowship with His disciples as indestructible ; as perfected, not impeded by His death. He remains in them, and they remain in Him, and they are thus encompassed by the Divine love. This relationship, however, lays upon them their special task — that of living and witnessing for Him, of pleading His claims, and of calling upon men to have faith in Him. As branches in the true Vine they have now the power, as they have also the duty, of bringing forth fruit. This brings them, however, to take part in a dire struggle, and the last discourse of Jesus affirms in words of deep impressiveness that He has made every provision for their warfare with the world and their victory over it. Even now, indeed, their standing is being contested — not, certainly, their standing before God, sinners though they are, for that matter is settled by their fellowship with Jesus, but the sanction of that profession of faith in Him by virtue of which they glorify Him as the Christ.
Now the question whether, and how, the apostles are able to fulfil their mission, and how they may convince the world that their message is true, is solved for them by the fact that the Spirit is with them. The Spirit is their Paraclete because He is the evidence of their standing, the efficacy of their words, the source of their authority, and the guarantee of their success. The reason why they now require another Advocate — a new Paraclete, distinct from Jesus Himself — is that while hitherto Jesus, by His word and His works, vindicated the rights of their faith, and by His presence protected tliem against all assailants, He can no longer, now that He has passed into the unseen, be their Advocate in His own Person. They require an evidential force which will still be recognizable, a power tliat will constantly be with them, and become manifest to all to whom they proclaim the word. The historical ground of their authority — the fact, namely, that they had companied with Jesus — is not thereby invalidated (15-''), but it is not in itself sufficient. Their utterances regard- ing Jesus are free from every limitation. Thus they describe Him as the Eternal Sou, through whom the whole work of God is eft'ected ; as the ever-present One, who is in perfect unity with His people ; as the One who now worketh, bestowing light and life upon the world. To the historical foundation of the apostolate and the Church, therefore, there must necessarily be added the pneumatic foundation ; and the deep significance that attaches to the term ' Paraclete ' lies in the distinct expression which it gives to the fact that the historical sanction of the apostles and the community finds its requisite supplement and con- firmation in their inward experience and the spiritual possessions they now enjoy.
4. The Deity of the Spirit.- One result of this proce.ss of thought was the fresh emphasis laid upon the idea that the Sjiirit shares fully in tlie nature of God. It is true that even in the earliest
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stapes of Christianity, as elsewhere, the Spirit was spoken of as ])ossessing the quality of Deity ; in kno\vle(lj;e, in will, in work. He lias part in the creative glory of the Divine power, liut the fact that the Spirit now came to be conceivt'd as the Paraclete of the disciples provided a peculiarly cogent reason why He should be thought of, not as a mere propertj' of man's inner life, or as a force that enters into man, but as fully possessed of the Divine power which, coming from above, encom- passes man, and so animates all things from within. For the prerogative of Jesus and His dis- ciples was made manifest only when it was proved to be Divine. The disciples cannot demonstrate the Divine status of Jesus by appealing to what thej^ are in themselves. Such demonstration could be given only if it were made manifest that the cause of Jesus was the cause of God. The Spirit is the Advocate of Christians simply because in His work it becomes clear to all that He comes from above and is no merely human possession. Nevertheless He could not be the Advocate of the disciples un- less His presence and action were unmistakably related to Jesus ; and this relation is made mani- fest by the fact that the Spirit is possessed by the disciples only, and not by the world (14" 16'), and that He speaks as the witness of Jesus, and creates faith in His mission (15*' IB"). He causes the word of Jesus to become eS'ective in the disciples, so that it becomes the basis of the teaching wliich reveals to them the will of God in their present situation (14-*). Hence the granting of the Spirit causes no separation between the disciples and Jesus, nor does it cut the Church apart from its historical roots ; on the contrary, that which had been perfectly wrought by Jesus is brought to its full realization by being renewed in the inner life of the disciples, in their knowledge and in their work. In this connexion, too, we note the emer- gence of triiiitarian formulae, as, e.g., 'the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name' (14-*^). Since Christ and the Spirit both carry out the one purpose of God, and combine their opera- tions in a perfect unity, the work accomplished by Jesus remains permanently effective, and is in reality completed, not superseded, by the work of His disciples.