THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
the simple statements of belief " in the Holy Ghost." The Nicene Creed as revised at Constantinople (381) has the fuller formula, [And we believe] " in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of life, who proceedeth from the Father, and with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified, who spake by the prophets." The personality of the Spirit is rejected by Sabellians, Arians, Socinians, and Unitarians, the Socinians representing the Spirit as an energy or power of God. The personality is proved by the following considerations: (1) The personal pronoun " he " is used of the Spirit (John xvi. 13). (2) He is expressly distinguished from God the Father and the Son (John xiv. 16, 26; I Cor. ii. 10). (3) Acts of will and intelligence are attributed to him, such as belong only to a personal agent (John xv. 26, xvi. 8, 13; Acts xiii. 2; Rom. viii. 26). (4) He is directly contrasted with Satan (Acts v. 3) and may be the object of blasphemy (Matt. xii. 31), falsehood (Acts v. 3), and grievance (Eph. iv. 30). (5) In the formula of baptism (Matt, xxviii. 19) and in the apostolic benediction (II Cor. xiii. 14) he is distinguished from the Father and the Son; so also in I Pet. i. 1-12 distinct functions are ascribed to the Father, Son, and Spirit.
II. Office and Work: Like the Father and the Son, the Spirit has ever been active. His personality and his work are brought out
Biblical clearly in the New Testament as effi-
Teaching. cient in the renewal of the soul and its sanctification. The fact that Christ promised to send the Holy Spirit and assured the disciples that they' should be filled with the Holy Spirit indicates that his temporal mission in the Church involved, if not some new element of activity, at least some increase in the efficacy of that influence which it has always been his office to exercise upon the hearts of men. According to the statements of the apostolic writers, he was the author of the light which the prophets of the Old Testament had of the coming of Christ (I Pet. i. 11) and of their inspiration (II Pet. i. 21). It might be possible to explain all passages of the Old Testament referring to the " Spirit of God " (Gen. i. 2, vi. 3; etc.) as meaning the influence of God upon the heart of man; but in view of the New Testament revelation the influence of the personal Holy Spirit appears in the operation of God upon the hearts of the Old Testament saints and prophets.
As for the New Testament, it is not always possible to determine with assurance whether the personal Holy Spirit is meant or the divine influence (cf. Luke iv. 18). But that he had a definite work assigned to him in the development of our Lord's life the language certainly implies (Matt. iii. 16, iv. 1; Luke i. 35). In his last discourses Jesus promised that the Spirit should come as his representative after his removal from the earth and the dispenser of the benefits of his life to the souls of believers (John xiv. 16, xv. 26, xvi. 7, 13; Acts i. 8). The Spirit is called the Spirit of Christ (Rom. viii. 9) because he holds the relation of a dispenser to the benefits of Christ's salvation. He has a relation to Christ similar to that which the Son has to the Father: as the Son reveals the Father (John
i. IS), so the Spirit reveals the grace and meritorious atonement and promises of Christ to the heart of the believer (John xvi. 15).
The Spirit, as promised, descended with power on the Day of Pentecost (Acts ii.). Since that day the Church has looked to the Spirit as The the source of all inner enlightenment, Descent without whose agency man neither of the knows Christ as his Savior nor can call Spirit. him Lord (I Cor. xii. 3). He is called the " Holy Spirit of promise " (Eph. i. 13) with reference to the new life of the believer and the new realm into which the believer is transferred. He is the originator of the conviction of sin (John xvi. 8-9) and the author of regeneration (John iii. 5). He promotes the sanctification of the soul (I Cor. vi. 11), and imparts to the Church his special gifts (I Cor. xii. 4) . The agency of the Spirit extends to assuring the believer of his union with Christ, and participation in the promises of eternal life (Rom. viii. 16). All spiritual blessings, righteousness, peace, and joy, come to the believer by reason of his reception of the Holy Spirit (Rom. xiv. 17; Eph. ii. 18). All kinds and degrees of sin may be forgiven, except the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (Matt. xii. 31, 32) . This sin is unpardonable, because it is the final rejection of the saving knowledge of Christ himself.
The present dispensation is called the dispensation of the Spirit because of the prominence given to his work and person. The Spirit's work, however, is in no sense an atoning work or a substitute for that of Christ. It is mediatorial between the Savior and the saved, realizing the salvation of Jesus in the lives and experiences of individuals. The manifestation of the Spirit continues, as on the Day of Pentecost, a manifestation of power — the power of a new life and spiritual energy (Acts i. 8). There is no indication in the New Testament that this manifestation of power was to be confined to apostolic times, though it is reasonable that the methods of the manifestation should be different in kind at different epochs. D. S. Schaff.
Bibliography: Of the Confessions the Westminster Confession as revised in 1903 by the Presbyterian Church contains the fullest treatment. Consult: A. Kuyper, The Work of the Holy Spirit, New York, 1900 (contains a bibliography of the older literature); J. Owen, Of the Holy Spirit, London, 1674 (the classic in English); R. Heber, Personality and Office of the . . Comforter, ib. 1S16; Pye Smith, On the Holy Ghost, ib. 1831; K. A. Kahnis, Die Lehre vom heiligen Geiste, Halle, 1847 (incomplete); J- Buchanan, Office and Work of the Holy Spirit, Edinburgh, 1856; J. Hare, The Mission of the Comforter, ed. E. H. Plumptre, ib. 1877; H. H. Wendt, Die Begriffe Fleisch und Geist im biblischen Sprachgebrauch, Gotha, 18 iS; G. Smeaton, Doctrine of the Holy Spirit, Edinburgh, 1SS-'; H. Gunkel, Die Wirkungen des heiligen Geistes nach der Anschauung der apostolischen Zeit und nach der Lehre des . Paulus, Halle, 1888; J. Robson, The Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, Aberdeen, 1893; A. J. Gordon. The Ministry of the Holy Spirit, New York, 1894; W. Koling, Pneumatologie oder die Lehre von der Person des heiligen Geistes, Gutersloh, 1894; J. P. Coyle, The Holy Spirit in Literature and Life, Boston, 1895; K. von Lechler, EM biblische Lehre vom heiligen Geiste, Leipsic, 1899; K. F. Nosgen, Geschichte von der Lehre vom heiligen Geiste, Giltersloh, 1899; idem, Das Wesen und Wirken des Heiligen Geistes, Berlin, 1907; F. B. Denio, The Supreme Leader, Boston, 1900; J. E. C. Welldon, The Revelation of the Holy Spirit, London, 1902; L. B. Crane, Teaching of Jesus concerning the Holy Spirit, New York, 19uo.