THE FIRST PRINCIPLE, HOLY SPIRIT. ORIGEN
INTRODUCTION.
One cannot talk about
Christianity or the Christian faith without talking about the Holy spirit. The
Holy spirit is one of the basic foundation of Christianity, as he is God
himself and was the one whom Christ sent to his apostle at the beginning of
Christianity. He ever abides with the church and with the faithfuls. This paper
is geared towards understanding the person of the Holy spirit with special
reference to the work of Origen; “the first principle”. To achieve the aim of
this paper we shall also be discussing the teachings of some of the fathers of
the church on the Holy spirit, the church’s teaching on the Holy spirit, with
special reference to the catechism of the catholic church and finally, the
concept of the Holy spirit in Nigerian concept.
The Holy Spirit
(Origen’s
work, The First Principle)
Existence Of The Holy Spirit.
Origen
started his work by proving the existence of the Holy spirit, this he did by
making reference to various passages in
the holy scripture where the holy spirit was mentioned. The passages include
the following;
1. The
fiftieth psalm where David said“and take not thy Holy spirit from me”.
2. The
book of Daniel where it is written “Holy spirit who is in thee”.
3. The
new testament. Here, he gave many passages
·
where the Holy spirit descended upon Christ
·
Where the Lord breathed on his apostles after
the resurrection and said ‘Receive the gift of the Holy spirit’.
·
Where the angel said to Mary,
the Holy spirit shall come upon thee.
·
Where Paul thought, that
no one can say that Jesus is lord except in the Holy Spirit.
·
In the acts of the
apostles where it was said,“the Holy spirit was given us in baptism”.
He used the passages mentioned above to at least prove
that there is a being in the scripture which is referred to as the Holy spirit.
The
Holy Spirit As A primordial Being
The
Holy spirit according to Origen is not a created being, it was it neither
formed from something, nor has it’s origin from another being. He said; and I
quote
“but
up to the present we have been able to find no passage in the holy scriptures
which would warrant us in saying that the Holy spirit was a being made or
created, not even in the manner in which we have shown above that Solomon speak
of wisdom, nor in the manner in which the expressions we have dealt with, such
as life, or word, or other tittles of the son of God are to be understood”[1]
He
further made reference to the beginning of the creation of the world, where it
was said that the Holy spirit was moving in the waters.
The
Holy Spirit As Omniscience
The
knowledge of the father, when the son revealed him was made known to us through
the Holy spirit. For the spirit searcheteverything
even the depth of God. For as the son, who alone knows the father, reveals him
to whom he will, in the same way, the Holy spirit, who alone searchet even the
deep things of God reveals God to whom he will. For the spirit breaths where he
willeth.
The
holy spirit as God
The
spirit does not know God as we do, for if he does, it simply means that he is
passing from ignorance to knowledge which will be so impious to say. Even if we
accept that something existed before the Holy Spirit, yet certainly not by a
process or development that he became the Holy Spirit, for he would never have
been included in the unity of the Holy trinity with the unchanging father and
his son, unless he had always been the Holy Spirit.
The
Holy Spirit Dwells Amongst Saints
The
holy spirit according to Origen dwells among saints, this he proved making
reference to the scriptures where it is written; at the time of the flood, when
all flesh had corrupted God’s way, it is written that God said, as if speaking
of unworthy men and sinners, ‘my spirit shall not remain in those men forever,
because they are flesh.
He
further made reference to the psalm where it is written, “thou wilt take away
their spirit and they will die and return to their earth, thou will send forth
thy spirit and they shall be created, and thou shall renew the face of the
earth. This he explains as the Holy spirit after sinners and the unworthy have
been taken away and destroyed, creates for himself a new people and renews the
face of the earth. The Holy spirit will not dwell in all men, nor in those who
are flesh, but in those whose earth has been renewed. It was for this reason
that the Holy Spirit was bestowed by laying on of hands by the apostles after
the grace and renewal of baptism.
He
points out that that is why our lord himself in the gospel said that new wine
could not be put into old wineskins and commanded that new wine skin be made.
That is; man should walk in newness of life in order to receive (new wine), the
newness of the Holy Spirit’s grace.
The working of the power of God the father and
the son is spread indiscriminately over all created beings, but a share in the
Holy spirit is possessed by the saints alone.[2]
He
who sinned against the son is worthy of forgiveness, but he who sinned against the
Holy spirit cannot be forgiven, and one sins against the Holy spirit when he/she is counted worthy to share in the Holy
spirit and then turns back again.
The
Holy Is Equal To The Father And The Son
Origen
pointed it out clearly that the Holy spirit is equal to the father and the son,
and so one should not therefore think that the Holy spirit is exalted above the
father and the son, or that his dignity is greater, because he is bestowed on
the saints alone, while the blessings and activities of the father and the son
is bestowed both on the saints and the sinners, just and unjust. They are all
of the same substance, he was only trying to describe the peculiar grace and
work of the Holy Spirit, for according to him, nothing in the trinity can be
called greater or lesser.
Activities
Of The Different Persons Of The Trinity
God
the father bestows on all the gift of existence and a participation in Christ
in virtue of his being the word or reason, makes them rational. Accordingly,
there is also available the grace of the Holy spirit, that those beings who are
not holy in essence may be made holy by participating in this grace, by this
they become capable of receiving Christ afresh in his
character of the righteousness of God.
Some Fathers Of The Church Concept
Of The Holy Spirit
Irenaeus: His concept of the Holy spirit is that the Holy spirit is eternal,
existing in God (ante omnemconstitutionem), and produced by him at the
beginning of His ways. Considered with regard to the Church, the Holy Spirit is
truth, grace, a pledge of immortality, a principle of union with God;
intimately united to the Church, He gives the sacraments their efficacy and
virtue.[3]
It
is quite obvious that Origen and Iranaeus have some similarity in there concept
of the holy spirit. They all believe that the Holy spirit was there at the
beginning of time, they equally agree that the Holy spirit gives grace to the
church.
St. Gregory Thaumaturgus: his concept of the Holy trinity [4]
is that in the three persons of the blessed trinity, "One is God, Father
of the living, Word of the subsisting Wisdom. . . . One the Lord, one of one,
God of God, invisible of invisible. . .One the Holy Ghost, having His
subsistence from God. . . . Perfect Trinity, which in eternity, glory, and power, is neither divided, nor
separated. . . . Unchanging and immutable.
Here, one can clearly see the emphasis of St. Gregory on the
equality of the three persons of the blessed trinity, which Origen clearly
stated.
Tertullian:
In his work "AdversusPraxean"
sees the Holy Spirit as God;
of the substance
of the Father; one and the same God
with the Father and the Son; proceeding from the Father through the Son;
teaching all truth.[5]
Tertullian
notion of the Holy spirit is equally in accordance with Origen for they all
agree that the Holy spirit is God, from the same substance the father and the
son.
St. Epiphanius
writes (Ancor., viii, in P.G., XLIII, 29, 30) that the Holy spirit "is not
to be considered as unconnected with the Father and the Son, for He is with
Them one in substance and divinity", and states that "He is from the
Father and the Son".
The
Teachings Of The Catholic Church On The Holy Spirit.
(With reference to the Cathechism of the catholic
church)
The
church teaches that it belongs to the holy spirit to rule, sanctify and animate
creation, for he is God, consubstantial with the father and the son…….that
Power over life pertains to him, for being God he preserves creation in the
father through the son [703].
The
church further stated that through his grace, the holy spirit is the first to
awaken faith in us and to communicate to us the new life, which is to “know the
father and the one whom he has sent, Jesus Christ [684].” And by the working of his grace he educates
us in spiritual freedom in order to make
us free collaborators in his work in the church and in the world [1742]. He
equally helps us In our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought,
but he himself intercedes with sighs too deep for words [741].
He is the source of all holiness [749]. and
the communion of the Him in the church
restores to the baptized the divine likeness lost through sin [734]. He is the
living water welling up to eternal life in the hearts that prays [2652]. And he
dwells only in those who believe in Christ [687].
The
church made reference to the scriptures where it says, ” No one can say ‘Jesus
is lord’ except by the holy spirit”. God has sent the Holy Spirit of his son
into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father! This knowledge of faith is possible
only in the Holy spirit: because to be in touch with Christ, we must first have
been touched by the Holy Spirit. He comes to meet us and kindles faith in us.
By virtue of our baptism, the first sacrament of the faith, the Holy Spirit in
the church communicates to us, intimately and personally, the life that
originates in the father and is offered to us in the son [683].
THE HOLY SPIRIT IN OUR
NIGERIAN CHURCH
Most of the church if not all the church in Nigeria accepts the Holy
spirit as God, second person of the blessed Trinity. And equally believe that
it dwells with the faithful. But the question is;is the holy spirit still active
in our church today? Many will say yes, and this will bring up the
second question, if it is still active, which churches is the Holy spirit active and
in what ways do we feel it’s presence?
Many catholics may not be able to justify or give a solid reason for
their answer, but the truth is that the Holy spirit is still very alive and
active in the catholic church, and this is seen in the transubstantiation; when
the bread and wine are changed into the body and blood of Jesus Christ, which
happens when the Holy spirit is called upon (epiclesis). The works of the Holy
spirit is equally seen when the priest blesses either the people or sacramental
or sacred images and things. For these things
a priest cannot do by his own power but by the power of the Holy spirit.
it is the Holy spirit who actually blesses and sanctifies and not the priest,
the priest is only standing on behalf of the Holy spirit who does it.
The Holy spirit is not
entitled to the Priests alone, for as Origen rightly said, the Holy spirit
dwells in the saints. The saints he meant in this context are those who believe
in Christ and not only believe but also struggle to maintain a pure and holy
life. It is among the people of that sortthe Holy spirit dwells in. He comes to
them giving them the grace to fight and overcome the inclinations of the flesh
and leads them to perfection.
Everybody is entitled to receive the Holy spirit at his baptism,
when one rejects Satan and his works and pumps, for doing that shows that the
person believes, and rejectingSatan implies that the person has accepted to live
a pure life, thereby becoming the saint which Origen tell us that the Holy
spirit dwells in. We receive the Holy spirit when we were baptized, and at
confirmation the Holy spirit strengthens and give us the courage and other
gifts needed to carry out the work of the lordas Christians, children of God
and soldiers of the church.
The Holy Spirit In The Context Of An Average Nigerian
The Holy spirit in the catholic church seems to be so quite as if it
doesn’t even exist, for the works are not seen manifesting physically; Some
Pentecostals will even say that the Holy spirit doesn’t even exist in most of the catholic churches.That is part of
the reasons why Catholics are always candidatesfor conversion. the presence of
the Holy spirit in their own understanding has a lot to do with physical
manifestation which include: speaking in tongues, interpreting tongues,
prophesy in terms of seeing both the future and the past, healing, dreaming (…).
it equally include conversion of sinners, for if the above mentioned are not
seen, then the Holy spirit is not present. And that is why, wherever there is
manifestation of the gifts of the Holy spirit, a lot of people flock there for
God to answer their prayers for they believe that God is there.
REFERENCE
Kevin Knight,Catholic
Encyclopedia: Holy Ghost - New Advent
Copyright © 2012.www.newadvent.org/cathen/07409a.htm
Origen
on the first principles, translated by G.W BUTTERWORTH, published by Harper and
Row, publishers, Incorporated. 49 East 33rd Street New York, N.Y.
10016.
The
catechism of the catholic church, revised edition.
[1]Origen, the first principles, Harper and Row publishers, Page 31
[2]Origen, the first principles, Harper and Row, publishers, Page 36
[3]Kevin Knight,Catholic Encyclopedia: Holy Ghost - New Advent
www.newadvent.org/cathen/07409a.htm
[5] ibid
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