THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE OTHER NEW TESTAMENT BOOKS.

The main teaching on the Holy Spirit is found in the writings of St. Paul and St. John. In the Epistle to the Hebrews there are seven references to the Holy Spirit, but, as Swete says, ' In Hebrews there is no theology of the Spirit.'1 And he quotes Westcott as finding a reason for this in the design of the Epistle whereby

' the action of the Holy Spirit falls into the background... from the characteristic view which is given of the priestly work of Christ.'2

Denney goes so far as to say that

' the New Testament books which were written under Pauline influence scarcely call for independent consideration.'3

The seven passages may be distinguished as three referring to the Holy Spirit in relation to inspiration (ch. iii. 7; ix. 8; x. 15): three referring to the Spirit in New Testament times (ch. ii. 4; vi. 4-6; x. 29). This leaves ch. ix. 13, 14, in which there is a reference to the ' eternal Spirit ' in relation to the Atonement. Some writers interpret this of the Holy Spirit, by Whose presence Christ's offering became efficacious as the Atonement, But perhaps it is better to associate the term with our Lord's own spiritual nature, signifying that which gave to His sacrifice ' infinite worth and eternal validity.'4 Swete refuses both as too definite, and prefers to take the words ' in a more general and non-technical sense,' implying that our Lord offered His sacrifice in a spirit not of the world, but one that ' takes its standpoint in the invisible and the eternal.'5

The references to the Holy Spirit in the Catholic Epistles do not call for much more than a bare mention.

(a) In James iv. 5, R.V., we have an interesting and novel thought about the Holy Spirit.

' The Spirit which God has planted within Christians yearns for the whole-hearted devotion of the hearts in which it dwells, with a jealous love which will not tolerate an intruder.'6

(b) In the Epistles of St. Peter the Spirit of God is associated with the Old Testament in 1 Pet. i. 11 and 2 Pet. i. 21; while the Spirit is associated with the Gospel in 1 Pet. i. 2, 12 and 1 Pet. iv. 12 ff.

(c) In the Johannine Epistles we have the unction of the Spirit in i John ii.; the test of the Spirit in ch. iv.; and the witness of the Spirit in ch. v. But it has been rightly said that the theology of the Holy Spirit in this Epistle does not call for separate treatment.

(d) The only allusion to the Spirit in Jude's Epistle is that in which they are mentioned who are ' sensual, not having the Spirit.'

The Spirit in the Apocalypse is depicted as related both to Christ and to the Church. The seven Spirits round the Throne seem to suggest the Spirit in His fulness as possessed by the Lord Jesus Christ;7 while the Spirit in relation to the Churches implies the thought of a Divine personal address from the Throne to the people of God.'8

Literature. — Swete, The Holy Spirit in the New Testament, p. 254; Welldon, The Revelation of the Holy Spirit, p. 213; Smeaton, The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit, p. 86; Downer, The Mission and Ministration of the Holy Spirit, ch. vi.; Moule, Veni Creator, p. 158; Downer, Article ' The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit in the Epistle of St. James,' Churchman, June, 1906.

1 The Holy Spirit in the New Testament, p. 249.

2 Westcott, Hebrews, p. 331. Quoted by Swete, op. cit. p. 249, note.

3 Denney, Article ' Holy Spirit,' Dictionary of Christ and the Gospels, p. 739.

4 Bruce, Epistle to the Hebrews, pp. 337, 347.

5 Swete, op. cit. p. 252.

6 Swete, op. cit. p. 258.

7 Swete, op. cit. p. 275.

8 Swete, op. cit. p. 276.