While
the early Fathers do not give as much attention to the witness of the Spirit in
the life of the believer as they do to his witness in Scripture, their comments
are extremely important. From the earliest days of the sub-apostolic age there
are passing references to this work of the Spirit, but as the century progresses
the challenge of Monarchianism (the emphasis upon the unity of God) tended to
focus more clearly upon the Spirit as the source of enlightenment. Later still
the church came to be considered the depository of the Spirit. As early as
Ignatius we find testimony to the work of the Spirit in all the faithful
because it is the Spirit who brings the soul into vital contact with the redemption
provided by Christ (Eph. 9). Later this seminal thought spirits up in
Justin’s writings. He had encountered the idea from his earliest contact with
Christianity. His unnamed friend by the seashore laid great stress upon the
inward testimony of the Spirit. When Justin quotes Plato to the effect that God
can be apprehended only by the mind, the old man replies, “is there then in our
minds a power such as this and so great as this? Will the human mind ever see
God unless it is furnished with the Holy Spirit?” (Dial. 4).
Then
as the two are about to depart the elderly stranger urges Justin, “Pray that
the gates of light may be opened to you; for these matters cannot be perceived
or comprehended by any unless God and His Christ give power to understand” (Dial.
7). Apparently Justin did not forget these words, for he writes of baptism, “This
bath is called ‘illumination,’ since those who learn these things have the mind
illumined” (I Apol. 61).
The
development of the Trinity resulting from Monarchian teaching added to this
idea that the Holy Spirit is the internal witness. In his Against Praxeas Tertullian
speaks of our being taught by the Paraclete who leads us into all truth (ch.
2). And Hippolytus writes in his treatise Against Noetus: “He who
commands is the Father. He who obeys is the Son. He who gives understanding is
the Holy Spirit.” A bit later he adds, “What the Father wills, the Son translates
into an act, and the Spirit manifests” (8;14). Thus the office of the Spirit is
that of enabling the human understanding to grasp the revelation of the Father’s
will brought by the incarnate Son.
Toward
the close of the second century and the beginning of the third this view of the
Spirit’s ministry continues to appear. For example, Clement of Alexandria
writes: “The Lord . . . invites all men to come to the knowledge of the truth,
and has sent the Paraclete for that end” (Exhort, IX, 85). And Origen
explains how this work of the Spirit is fulfilled: “We pray that the light of
the knowledge of the glory of God may shine in our hearts, the Spirit of God
resting on our imaginations and enabling us to imagine the things of God” (Against
Celsus IV, 95). (Bruce Shelley, By What Authority? The Standards of
Truth in the Early Church [Exeter: The Paternoster Press, 1966], 155-56)
