George
Holley Gilbert (1854-1930), in his The
Revelation of Jesus Christ (1899) wrote the following affirming the personality of the Holy Spirit:
In regard to the personality of the Spirit, it is plain that this is everywhere
assumed in the statements of Jesus. Thus He says that the Spirit teaches (Jn.
xiv. 26); that He witnesses of Jesus (Jn. xv. 26); that He convicts of sin, of
righteousness, and of judgment (Jn. xvi. 8); that He speaks what He hears (Jn.
xvi. 13), and that He takes of the things of Jesus and declares them to the
disciples (Jn. xvi. 14-15). Now all these expressions are such as would be used
of a person; and, indeed, most of them are actually used in regard to Jesus.
Not only do these expressions imply personality, but so in like manner does the
relation of the Spirit to Jesus. He is represented as taking the place of Jesus; and it seems obvious
that an impersonal principle could not take the place of the personal Jesus.
The work of the Spirit in the disciples is
represented as simply a continuation of the work of Jesus. The Spirit is, as it
were, the other self, the alter ego,
of Jesus, and He carries forward what Jesus began. He teaches the disciples,
and this teaching consists in an unfolding of the meaning of all that Jesus had
said to them (Jn. xiv. 26). He takes of Christ’s things and shows them to the
disciples, thus glorifying Christ (Jn. xvi. 14), even as Christ in the same way
glorifies the Father (Jn. xvii. 4). Like Jesus, the Spirit does not speak of Himself, but speaks what He hears,
that is, what He hears from Jesus (Jn. xvi. 13). It is suggested that He
supplements the teaching of Jesus (Jn. xvi. 12-13), but this is not by
communicating doctrines not found in the Master’s words. The name of the Father, the entire name, Jesus had Himself made
known (Jn. xvii. 6). All the things
which He had heard from His Father, He had made known to His disciples (Jn. xv.
15). The name which the Father had
given to Him, and He to the disciples, is thought of as a complete revelation,
for Jesus prays that the disciples may be “kept” in it unto a spiritual unity,
and may be “sanctified” by it (Jn. xvii. 11, 17). Moreover, this word which He
has given to His disciples is one through which others are led to believe in
Jesus (Jn. xvii. 20). (George Holley Gilbert, The Revelation of Jesus: A Study of the Primary Sources of Christianity
[London: Macmillan Company, 1899], 305-6, italics in original)
I quote this
section of his book as many Unitarians are fond of appealing to Gilbert as he
did not believe that John 8:58 and 17:5 supported the personal pre-existence of
Jesus (e.g., Buzzard and Hunting, The
Doctrine of the Trinity, pp. 212-13, 221). Notwithstanding, Gilbert’s work
was not always in support of their theology, in this instance, their denial
that the Holy Spirit is a person.
Of course,
this is not to fault Unitarians who appeal to Gilbert—one can appeal to an
author without having to agree with them on every point. Furthermore, and more importantly,
Gilbert (and Unitarians like Anthony Buzzard) are wrong in rejecting the
personal pre-existence of Jesus being affirmed in John 8:58 and 17:5. For
articles on these two texts, see:
