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The Holy Spirit in the Ancient Church

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The Holy Spirit in the Ancient Church THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE ANCIENT CHURCH A STUDY OF CHRISTIAN TEACHING IN THE AGE OF THE FATHERS BY HENRY BARCLAY SWETE, D.D., D.Litt. REGIUS PROFESSOR OF DIVINITY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE HON. CANON OF ELY : HON. CHAPLAIN TO THE KING TO TTvev/ia Kol Jj vv/KJiri MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED ST. MARTIN'S STREET, LONDON 1912 S TO THE MEMORY OF ERNEST STEWART ROBERTS, M.A. MASTER OF GONVILLE AND CAIUS (1903— 1912) PREFACE * I ""HIS book is a sequel to a Study of primitive Christian A- teaching upon the Holy Spirit which was published three years ago. Like its predecessor, it is not a formal contribution to the History of Doctrine, and does not claim the attention of professed students of theology. Some attempt was made to supply the needs of students in my two early books, On the Early History of the Doctrine of the Holy Spirit (1873), and On the History of the Doctrine of the Procession (1876). Both are now out of print, but their substance is accessible in an article (HOLY Ghost) which may be found in the third volume of the Dictionary of Christian Biography (1882); and to that article I must refer those who desire a fuller or more exact treatment of certain aspects of the subject than this book can offer. In the present Study I have had in view chiefly those readers of The Holy Spirit in tlie New Testament who may wish to pursue the subject into post-apostolic times, but for various reasons are unable to examine the original docu- ments for themselves. With the view of preparing for this book I have read again all the more important Greek and Latin patristic authorities of the first five centuries, and a few which belong to the sixth, seventh, and eighth, and have sought to form my impressions afresh. For the viii Preface translations I am myself responsible, except in a few speci- fied instances. I have purposely adopted a somewhat free rendering, and occasionally I have preferred a paraphrase or a summary to a more exact reproduction of the original words ; the footnotes, however, give the latter when they are of special importance, and references are added in all cases, so that readers who may wish to verify or to push their enquiries further will always be able to do so. My friend the Dean of Lichfield (Dr H. E. Savage) has done me the great kindness of reading the proofs of this book at an early stage of its passage through the press, and verifying a large proportion of the references. To his lists of corrigenda he has added from time to time valuable suggestions, most of which I have gladly accepted. I desire also once more to place on record my indebtedness to the unfailing attention of the officers of the University Press. Nearly forty years have passed since the Press printed my first book upon this subject, and I am thankful that it has been permitted to me to entrust to the same careful and efficient hands that which in all probability will be my last. H. B. S. Cambridge, St Peter's Day, 1912. CONTENTS PAGE FOREVlfORD . 3 Part I. II Part II. 163 Part III. 359 Appendix of Additional Notes . 411 Indices 421 s. a. c. ecTiN...TTNeYMik NoepoN, AfioN, MONopeNec, TToAyMepec, AenroN, eyKfNHTON, Tp&NON, AMOAyNTON, Ca.(t>eC, ATT^MANTON, <i>tKd,fd,dON, ol-i, (jJKtiAYTON, eyeprsTiKON, 4)iAANepconoN, BeBAiON, ACcjjaiAec, AMeplMNON, TTANTOAyNAMON, TTANeTTfCKOTTON, Kdkl Ali TTANTCON XWpOyN nNeyM&TOiN NOeptON K&eAptON AeTTTOTATWN. Wisdom of Solomon. FOREWORD. When the student of early Christian literature passes from the New Testament to the post-canonical writers, he becomes aware of a loss of both literary and spiritual power. There is no immediate change in the form of the writings ; the earliest remains of the sub-apostolic age consist of letters addressed to churches or individuals after the model of the Apostolic Epistles. But the note of authority which is heard in the Epistles of St Peter, St Paul, and St John has no place in those of Clement of Rome and Ignatius of Antioch^ ; and there is little evidence in the latter of the originality or the inspiration by which the leaders of the first generation were dis- tinguished. The spiritual giants of the Apostolic age are succeeded by men of lower stature and poorer capacity. Nor does the fresh power of the first century altogether return to the Church in the years that follow. A higher literary standard is reached in the second century ; the third is adorned by the great name of Origen ; the fourth and fifth centuries can boast of an Athanasius, a Basil, a Gregory Nazianzen, a Chrysostom, an Augustine. But none of these classical authors of Christian ^ Cf. Ign. Rom. 4 ov\ us IleTpos koI naCXos huxraa-trofuxi. i5yu,as' eKeivot airo<rTo\ot. 4 The Holy Spirit in the ancient Church antiquity profess to originate or to reveal ; all recognize in the Apostolic writers their masters, and their best work is done in the field of New Testament exposition or in expressing New Testa- ment doctrine in the terms of a later theology. It may be asked whether it is needful to pursue the study of the doctrine of the Holy Spirit into a period which cannot claim to teach with either the authority or the creative power of the Apostolic age. The answer is that no Christian doctrine, as it is now expressed, can be rightly understood without some knowledge of the history of Christian thought. The Christianity of the present day has not been evolved directly out of the New Testa- ment, but is the product of the gradual assimilation of the original deposit by a long succession of Christian generations. Nor is this fact to be regretted. Those who accept the teaching of the fourth Gospel will not doubt that the process of assimilation has been guided as a whole by the same Power that inspired the first age. The world-long experience of the universal Church, of which her literature is the abiding record, is the best interpretation of the Apostolic tradition. It has taken the original tradition, written and un- written, out of the setting which belonged to a single age and to conditions that have long vanished, and has brought it into relation with successiye developements of thought and life, by which it has been prepared for the use of still later generations. ; Foreword 5 In this volume the history of the doctrine of the Holy Spirit is carried to the end of the Patristic period, which is generally held to terminate with Gregory the Great in the West and John of Damascus in the East. This period falls naturally into two large sections, divided by the rise of Arianism ; the former is dealt with in the first part of the book, and the latter in the second. A third part collects the teaching of the whole period under its principal heads. It may be convenient to readers who are not familiar with the general history of doctrine if a sketch is given here of the results reached in each of the two subdivisions of our period, so far as they relate to the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. I. In the pre-Arian age the question of the relation of the Holy Spirit to the Father and the Son does not become acute. The nature of the Spirit, which in the New Testament had received little direct treatment, continues to be unexplored with a few partial exceptions. In early creeds and doxolo- gies, as in the form of Baptism on which they are based. He is associated with the Father and the Son and His place in the Divine Trinity is vindicated by great writers such as Tertullian and Origen, each of whom endeavours, more sua, to formulate some state- ment of the relation of the Third Person to the First and the Second. Pre-Arian heresy also attempted to find a place for the Spirit in the schemes of doctrine by which it sought to protect belief in the Unity of God. But throughout the Ante-Nicene age the 6 The Holy Spirit in the ancient Church Person of the Son was chiefly discussed, and the question of the Godhead and personal distinctness of the Holy Spirit continued to be subordinate. Mean- while the Christian consciousness realized the para- mount importance of the work fulfilled by the Spirit in the life of the Church and her members. A rapidly growing Christian society interpreted afresh in the light of its own experience the teaching of the New Testament on the grace of the Sacraments, the rela- tion of the Spirit to the Body of Christ, and the mystery of the inner life. But there was an uneasy sense that questions remained which the Church could not leave unanswered, and for which as yet no answer had been found. 2. Arianism, if carried to its logical conclusion, would from the first have attributed a created nature to the Holy Spirit ; and there is reason to believe that Arius definitely took up this position. But once again the question of the Spirit's nature was postponed in view of the immediate necessity for arriving at a settlement on the subject of the Person of the Son. After this had been gained, as it seemed, by the action of the Council of Nicaea, fresh compli- cations arose which delayed the consideration of the Person of the Spirit for more than thirty years.
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