A Book of Christian Sonnets

by William Allen

A lately deceased philosopher of Scotland, Sir W. Hamilton, seems to concur in the catholic notion of the contradiction of faith and reason. He lays down a certain new, strange, unproved, incredible principle, called "the law of the conditioned," that "the conceivable always lies between two contradictory extremes;" and then concludes as "the one true and only orthodox inference" that we must believe in the infinity of God, which by us cannot be comprehended or conceived. "Faith,—Belief,—is the organ, by which we apprehend what is beyond our knowledge." But how can this be correct? When we exercise faith in God's testimony,—when we exercise belief in his word,—when we receive the very truth, which he presents to our understanding or reason and brings to our knowledge,—do we not know it? Do we thus apprehend any thing "beyond our knowledge?" When Christ prayed—"sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth;"—did he not refer to truth known? What God reveals must be revealed to our belief, to our reason. Although we pretend not to comprehend perfectly the attributes and ways of the infinite God; yet what he has disclosed we may know; and we may know the meaning of right and wrong, of truth and falsehood, of faith and unbelief, of reason and contradiction or absurdity. It cannot then be a right inference—if the author had such a meaning—that any doctrine concerning the nature of God may be true, although not conceivable, because God is infinite.

God's scheme of mercy towards sinful man is accomplished by the wide-spread power and triumphs of Truth. But what are the Truths, that bear intimately on human welfare? Surely it is not a matter of indifference what is received for truth; men are not safe, because they think they are so. No bigoted despotism; no boasted liberalism; no banded relationships of interest or honor; no infidel companionship or self-applauses can convert error into truth or render it harmless. Whatever monstrous or astounding notions, whatever wild, fanatical, profligate, misleading doctrine may be sent forth, no glozing words can render it otherwise, than that error and falsehood are God's abhorrence and a delusion of the devil.

As I have in other notes dwelt upon the character and offices of the Son of God, the Mediator and Redeemer, I desire now to advert to the all-important divine teaching concerning God's Spirit, grace, and power in renewing and sanctifying the depraved and lost soul of man. "God hath mercy on whom he will have mercy." Rom. 9th. Christ taught, John 3d, the necessity of being "born of the Spirit" in order to salvation. John the Baptist predicted of Christ, that he should baptize men "with the Holy Spirit;" and thus his coming was signalized by "the Spirit like a dove descending upon him," and God's voice from heaven said, "Thou art my beloved Son." All the powers therefore, prophetical, miraculous, renovating, and sanctifying, implied in the full endowment of the Holy Spirit, were possessed by Christ.

The primitive meaning of the word Spirit is air or breath. Some of its meanings in scripture are wind; the living soul in man and animals; the mind, or man's intelligent part and also its various faculties and powers; an intelligent spirit, simple, superior to man's, not allied to matter; it is applied to angels good and evil; and also to God, as we read, "God is a spirit." It means also the divine power, given to Christ, by which he wrought miracles and fulfilled God's purposes on the earth, as Matt. 12:28, "if I cast out devils by the spirit of God," compared with Luke 11:20, "if I with the finger of God cast out devils." In the same sense is "holy spirit," with which Jesus was filled used, Luke 4:1.—"The holy spirit" and "spirit" alone relating to the same matter are found in Mark 12:36, and Matt. 22:43: "doth David in spirit call him Lord;" that is, David was under divine inspiration is the one meaning of the two expressions.

In our inquiry concerning the import of the phrase, "the holy spirit," in scripture it may be of some consequence to bear in mind, that there is one peculiarity in our English Bible, which distinguishes it from other modern European translations; that while the Greek testament has but one word for Spirit, which is translated by one word,—in German by Geist, in Dutch by Geest, in French by Esprit,—the same is rendered by our translators into English by two words at their option, namely, Spirit and Ghost. And in what cases did they choose the latter word? It would seem that they translated by Holy Ghost and not by holy spirit whenever they supposed the phrase had reference to an intelligent, divine Being and not to a gift, endowment, or power received from God. Thus it is, that the phrase has got an established meaning; which shows indeed the judgment of our old translators 250 years ago, but proves nothing as to the true meaning. It might then be well, if the old word Ghost were laid aside. Indeed they have not chosen to say, Gala. 4:6, "the Ghost of his Son," nor in v. 27, "born after the Ghost," but have used the word "Spirit." If one should take up his New Testament and read in English in Matthew's first chapter concerning Mary,—"she was found with child of the Holy Ghost," and then again, "that which is conceived of her is of the Holy Ghost," he would be likely to attach a meaning to the scripture, which he reads, different from the truth. For as the Testament was written in Greek, we may learn from that language, the translation should not have been "the Holy Ghost," and not even "the Holy Spirit," but "a holy spirit," for here the word for spirit has no article before it in the Greek, as would be requisite if "the Spirit" were meant; and the meaning is, as learned critics have showed, simply, "a divine energy or power." Just so in Mark 1:8 and Luke 1:35, the same Greek phrase has no article; and the apostles do not allude to a great personage or supposed well known, mighty Being, called "the Holy Ghost," but refer only to God's miraculous power in respect to the birth of Christ. The verse in Luke 1, proves this—"a holy spirit shall come upon thee and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee,"—both phrases referring to the same energy of almighty God.

The English translators, although they have employed the phrase, "the Holy Ghost" about 90 times in scripture, have not once in the Old Testament, although they have three times there used "the holy spirit" relating to God's gift, or endowment, or power bestowed: Ps. 51:1. Isa. 63:10, 11. The same phrase, meaning God's gift to believers, is in the New Testament: Luke 11:13. Eph. 1:13-4:30. 1st Thess. 4:8. God gave "his spirit without measure" to Christ; John 3:34; and he also gave "the spirit of his Son," "the holy spirit," to believers: Gal. 4:6. The "gifts of the Holy Ghost," in Heb. 2:4, should have been, "distributions of a holy spirit or divine power;" for the phrase has no article in the Greek, so that the verse might properly read, "God bearing them witness both with signs, and wonders, and with divers miracles, and distributions of a divine power." In like manner there is no article in Acts 11:16, and 24, and other passages, translated "the Holy Ghost." The meaning is plain, v. 24, "a good man, and full of a divine power and of faith,"—Yet for the purpose of emphasis the article is often used.

The importance of the doctrine concerning the spirit or the holy spirit in the gospel scheme, importing God's holy influence on the soul, is evident by the injunction of Christ as to baptism in the faith of it: "teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, &c."

Matt. 28:19, does not indeed present a form of words to be used, nor does it relate to the authority, by which baptism is to be administered, for the Greek preposition is not en, "in the name," but eis, into; which is the same as "to baptize into Christ," Rom. 6:3, i.e. into a profession of faith in Christ, as taught by bishop Pearce. That he had himself all authority was first asserted by Christ; then he enjoined baptism under a profession of belief in the three great points of his teaching,—as to the one God of Israel,—as to himself, God's Son from heaven,—and as to the Spirit, which "God gave to him without measure,"—giving it also to his disciples,—making him indeed the great teacher and Savior of the world. He finally commanded his apostles, not only thus to baptize, but also to teach all nations to observe whatever he had enjoined. A passage of similar import is at the close of II Corinth., where Paul wishes his brethren may experience the grace of Christ, and the love of God, and might have a common participation of the holy spirit, of the miraculous and sanctifying divine power.

It is worthy of remark, that while Paul begins each of his Epistles, written to brethren of very different nations on the earth, with asserting, that his authority as an apostle was derived from God and from his Son, or with wishing his brethren grace, mercy and peace from God the Father, and from his Son, by whom he created, and governs, and will judge the world; yet he never in this manner connects "the holy spirit" with the name of God and of his Son our Lord Jesus Christ: no prayer is thus addressed to a holy spirit or to the holy spirit, or Holy Ghost, although we find the translation "the Holy Ghost," nearly 100 times. This is called a gift of God, and God is prayed to for it; and it is declared, that God anointed Jesus with the holy spirit, that is, with the wonderful powers expressed by the phrase. A multitude of passages speak of the Spirit as a divine power and a divine gift: the following are some of the expressions used—"the Spirit of your Father;"—"the Spirit of God;"—"God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts;"—"how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him;"—"he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever;"—"renewing of the Holy Ghost (or of a holy spirit or the divine power) which he shed on us abundantly;"—"how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power;"—"upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost: John 1:33." Therefore one plain meaning of the holy spirit is a miraculous and wonderful power, communicated by God from heaven to Jesus Christ when he appeared on the earth in the form of a man, designating him to be the promised Messiah.