This has already been discussed in [Chapter XXI.], where we showed that Christ claimed to be not only Superhuman, but Divine; and that this is how His contemporaries, both friends and foes, understood Him. The doctrine is also asserted by St. Paul, as well as by St. John, who in the opening verse of his Gospel, states it very concisely, saying that the Word (i.e., Christ) was with God, implying a distinction of Persons, and was God, implying a unity of Nature; which is the exact doctrine of the Creed.
(2.) The Divinity of the Holy Spirit.
This also follows at once from the New Testament. For the Holy Spirit is called by Divine names, such as God and Lord; He is given Divine attributes, such as Eternity and Omniscience; and He is identified with Jehovah, the Lord of Hosts, of the Old Testament.[463]
[463] Acts 5. 3, 4; 2 Cor. 3. 17; Heb. 9. 14; 1 Cor. 2. 10; Acts 28. 25; Isa. 6. 5-10.
And yet, He is a distinct Person: for, to quote a decisive text,[464] Christ prays the Father to send His disciples another Comforter when He goes away; thus showing that the Holy Spirit is a different Person, both from the Father and the Son. And elsewhere we are told that the Spirit makes intercession for us, which again shows that He must be a different Person from the Father, with Whom He intercedes.[465] While in another passage blasphemy against the Holy Ghost is said to be the worst of all sins;[466] which shows both that He is a Person, or He could not be blasphemed; and that He is God, or blasphemy against God would be a greater sin.
[464] John 14. 16, 26; 15. 26.
[465] Rom. 8. 26.
[466] Matt. 12. 31, 32; Mark 3. 28, 29.
No doubt the actual word Person is not applied to the Holy Spirit in the New Testament, just as it is not applied to either the Father or the Son, but it cannot be thought inappropriate, provided it is not taken in a literal, or human sense. For the relations between Them closely resemble those between human persons, as They love one another, speak to one another, and use the personal pronouns I, Thou, He, and We.