Aphrahat Demonstration Six
- Spirit and Trinity
Aphrahat, Persian Christian theologian, (IV Century) on the Holy Spirit
Our Lord took from us a pledge
when He went, and He left us a pledge of His own when he ascended. He
that was without need, because of our need devised this expedient.
What was ours was His even from the beginning, but that which was
His, who would have given us? But true is that which our Lord
promised us:- Where I am
there ye also shall be.
(.e. when He took a nature which was not originaly His.) For whatsoever He took of ours,
is in honour with Him, and (as) a diadem is bound upon His Head. So
also that, which of His we have received, we ought to honour. That
which is ours is held in honour with Him who was not in our nature:
let us honour that which is His in His own nature, If we honour Him,
we shall go to Him, Who took upon Him of our nature and so ascended.
But if we despise Him, He will
take away from us that which He has given us. If we deal fraudulently
with His pledge, He will there take away that which is His, and will
deprive us of all that He has promised us. Let us magnify gloriously
the King's Son Who is with us, because a hostage for Him has been
taken from us. Whoso holds the King's Son in honour, shall obtain
many gifts from the King. That of ours, that is with Him, has sat
down in honour and a diadem is bound upon His head, and He has sat
down with the King. And we who are poor, what shall we do to the
King's Son Who is with us? He needs nothing from
us, but that we should
adorn our temples for Him; that when the time is accomplished and He
goes to His Father, He may give thanks to Him because of us, because
we have honoured Him. When He came to us, He had nothing of ours, and
also we had nothing of His, though the two natures were His and His
Father's. For when Gabriel made announcement to the Blessed Mary who
bore Him, the word from on high set out and came, and the word became flesh and dwell in
us. (John i. 14) And
when He returned to Him that sent Him, He took away, when He went,
that which He had not brought, as the Apostle said:- And when He went to His Father,
He sent to us His
Spirit and said to us He is sufficient above and
beneath, by the wisdom of His Father. And He dwells in many, though
He is one, and all the faithful each by each He overshadows from
Himself, and fails not, as it is written:- And though He is divided among
many, yet He sits at the right hand of His Father. And He is in us
and we are in Him, as He said:- 11. And if anyone, whose
conscience lacks knowledge, should dispute about this and say:- And how do righteous men become
temples for God
that He should dwell in them? If then it is thus,
that to each several faithful man there comes a several Christ, and God Who is in Christ,-if it is so, there
are for them Gods
many and Christs
without number." But hear, my beloved, the
defence that is suited to this argument. From that which is visible
let him that has thus said receive instruction. For every man knows that the
sun is fixed in the heavens, yet its
rays are spread out in the earth, and
(light) from it enters by many doors and windows of houses; and
wherever the sunshine falls, though it be but as (the measure of) the
palm of the hand, it is called the sun. And though it
fall in many places, it is thus called, but the
real
sun itself is in
heaven. Therefore, if it is so,
have
they many suns? Also
the water of the sea is vast, and when thou takest one cup from it,
that is called water. And though thou shouldest divide it into a
thousand vessels, yet it is called water by its name. Also when thou
kindlest fire from fire in many places, the place from whence thou
takest it, when thou kindlest it, lacks not, and the fire is called
by one name. And because thou dividest it into many places, it does
not on that account become possessed of many names. And when thou
takest dust from the earth, and castest it into many places, it is
not a whit diminished, and also thou canst not call it by many names.
Thus also God and His Christ,
though they are One,
yet dwell in men who are many. And they are in
heaven in person, and
are diminished in nothing when they dwell in many; as the sun is not
a whir diminished in heaven, when its power is poured out in the
earth. How much greater then is the power of God, since by the power
of God the very sun itself subsists. 12. Again I will remind thee,
my beloved, also of that which is written. For thus it is written,
that when it was a grievous burden to Moses to lead the camp alone,
the Lord said to him:- Lo! will take
away of the Spirit that is upon thee, and will put it upon seventy
men, elders of Israel.
(Num. xi. 17.) Moreover the blessed apostle
also said:- But all these
worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man
severally as he will. 1 Cor 12:11 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many,
are one body: so also is
Christ. 1 Cor 12:12
Our bodies have many parts, but
the many parts make up only one body when they are all put together.
So it is with the "body" of Christ 1 Cor 12:12LIV And Christ was in nothing
injured, for it was not
by
measure that His
Father gave unto Him the Spirit. (John iii. 34.) By this reflection
thou canst comprehend that Christ dwells in faithful men; yet Christ suffers no loss though He
is divided among many. For the Prophets received of the Spirit of
Christ, each one of
them as he was able to bear. And of the Spirit of Christ again there
is poured forth to-day upon all flesh, (Joel ii. 28, 29.) and the
sons and the daughters prophesy, the old men and the youths, the
men-servants and the hand-maids. And Christ received the Spirit
not by measure, but His Father loved Him and delivered all into His
hands, and gave Him authority over all His treasure. For John said:- Not by
measure did the
Father give the Spirit to His Son, but loved Him and
gave all into His
hands. (John
iii. 34, 35.) For he whom God hath sent
speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure
unto him. John 3:34 ........ The Father
loveth the Son,
and hath given all things into his hand. John 3:35 It is the spirit that
quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto
you, they are spirit, and they are life. John 6:63 For in him dwelleth all the
fulness of the Godhead bodily. Col 2:9 And also our Lord said:- Again he said:- Again also the Apostle
said:- Everything shall
be made subject unto Christ except His Father Who hath subjected all unto Him. And when everything
is made subject unto Him by the Father, then He also shall be made
subject to God His Father Who subjected all to Him, and God shall be
all in all, and in every man. ( 1 Cor. xv. 27, 28.) 13. Our Lord testifies
concerning John, that he is the greatest of the Prophets. Yet he
received the Spirit by
limit, because in that
measure in which Elijah received the Spirit, (in the same) John
obtained it. And as
Elijah used to dwell in the wilderness, The birds sustained Elijah, Elijah had his loins girded
with a girdle of leather; Jezebel persecuted Elijah, Elijah reproved Ahab, Elijah divided the Jordan, The spirit of Elijah rested
twofold upon Elisha, Elijah opened the heavens and
ascended; Elisha received twofold the
Spirit of Elijah; Elisha took the mantle of
Elijah, Elisha made oil from water, Elisha satisfied with a little
bread a hundred men only; Elisha cleansed Naaman the
leper, Elisha cursed the children and
they were devoured by bears, The children reviled
Elisha, Elisha cursed Gehazi his
servant, Elisha raised to life one dead
man only, On the bones of Elisha one dead
man revived, And many are the
signs that the Spirit of
Christ wrought, which
the Prophets received
from Him. 14. Therefore, my beloved, we
also have received of the Spirit of Christ, and Christ
dwelleth in
us, as it is written
that the Spirit
said this through the mouth of the Prophet: - Therefore let us prepare our
temples for the Spirit of Christ, and let us not grieve it that it may not depart
from us. Remember the warning that the Apostle gives
us:-Grieve not the Holy
Spirit whereby ye have been sealed unto the day of
redemption.
For from baptism do we receive the Spirit of Christ. For in that hour in which the priests
invoke the Spirit, the heavens open and it descends and
moves upon the
waters. (Gen. i.
2.) The Spirit of Christ is love,
joy, peace and etc., because in baptism there is assurance that you
have obeyed Christ's commandment. The resulting "salvation" includes
the freedom from guilt. As a result there is not a running to and fro
looking for something to make the believer feel good. More importantly, "conscience"
also implies "consciousness." That is, in the words of Peter the word
means that we have "a clear view" or that we are "co-perceivers." By
having the Mind of Christ dwell within us we are the dwelling place
or temple of God. And those that are
baptized are clothed
in it; for the Spirit stays aloof from all that are born of the
flesh, until they come to the new
birth by
water, and then they
receive the Holy Spirit. For in the first
birth they are born with an animal souls which is created within man and is not thereafter subject to
death, as he said:
-Adam became a living
soul. (Gen.ii.7.)
But in the second birth, that
through
baptism, they received
the Holy Spirit from a particle of the Godhead, and it is not again subject to death. For when men die, the animal
spirit is buried with the body, and sense is taken away from it, but
the heavenly spirit that they receive goes according to its nature to
Christ. And both these the Apostle has made known, for he
said:- The body is
buried in animal
wise, and rises
again in spiritual wise. (1
Cor.xv. 44.) The Spirit goes back again to
Christ according to its nature, for the Apostle said
again:-When we shall
depart from the body we shall be with our Lord. ( 2 Cor. v.8.) For the Spirit of
Christ, which the spiritual receive, goes to our Lord. And the animal
spirit is buried in its nature, and sense is taken away from it.
Whosoever guards the Spirit of Christ in purity,
when it returns to Christ it thus addresses him:-"The body into which
I went, and which put me on from the water of the baptism, has kept
me in holiness." And the Holy Spirit will be
earnest with Christ for the resurrection of that body which kept Him
with purity, and the Spirit will request to be again conjoined to it
that that body may rise up in glory. And whatever man
there is that receives the Spirit from the water (of baptism) and
grieves it, it departs from him until he dies, and returns according
to its nature to Christ, and accuses that man of having grieved it.
And when the time of the final
consummation shall have come, and the time of the Resurrection shall
have approached, the Holy Spirit, that was kept in purity, receives
great power from its nature and comes before Christ and stands at the
door of the tombs, where the men are buried that kept it in purity,
and awaits the (resurrection) shout. And when the Watchers shall have opened the doors of heaven before the
King, (I Thess. iv. 16.) then the cornet
shall summon, and the trumpets shall sound,
and the
Spirit that waits for
the (resurrection)
shout shall
hear, and quickly shall open the
tombs, and raise up the bodies and whatsoever was buried in them, and
shall put on the glory that comes with it. And (the Spirit)
shall be
within for the
resurrection of the body, And the animal spirit shall be swallowed up in the
heavenly
Spirit, and the
whole man shall become
spiritual, since his
body is possessed by it (the Spirit). And death shall be swallowed up
in life, (2 Cor. v. 4.) and body shall be swallowed up in Spirit.
For in this we
groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is
from heaven: 2 Cor 5:2 If so be that being
clothed we shall not be found naked. 2 Cor 5:3 For we that are in this
tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be
unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of
life. 2 Cor 5:4 Now he that hath
wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us
the earnest of the Spirit. 2 Cor 5:5 And by the power of the Spirit,
that man shall fly up to meet the King and He shall receive him with
joy, and Christ shall give thanks for the body that has kept His
Spirit in purity. 15. This is the Spirit, my beloved, that the Prophets received, and thus also have we received. And it is not at
every time found with those that receive it, but sometimes it
returns to Him that sent it, and sometimes it
goes to him that receives it. Hearken to that which our Lord
said:-Despise not one of
these little ones that believe on Me, for their
angels in heaven
do always behold
the face of My Father.
(Matt. xviii. 10.) This Spirit then goes frequently and stands before
God and beholds His face, and whosoever injures the temple in which
it dwells, it will accuse him before God. 16. I will instruct thee of
that which is written, that the Spirit is not at every time found
with those that receive it. For thus it is written about Saul,
that the
Holy Spirit, which he received when he was
anointed, departed from
him, (1 Sam. xvi. 14,
ff) because he grieved it, and God sent to him instead of it a
vexing spirit. Ruwach (h7307) roo'-akh, roo'-akh; from 7306;
wind; by resemblance breath, i. e. a sensible (or even violent
exhalation; fig. life, anger, unsubstantiality; by extens. a region
of the sky; by resemblance spirit, but only of a rational being (includ. its expression and functions): - air, anger,
blast, breath, * cool, courage, mind, * quarter, * side, spirit
([-ual]), tempest, * vain, ([whirl-]) wind (-y). An evil or
vexing spirit is not another person, therefore, a holy spirit is not
another person: Ra (h7451) rah; from 7489; bad or (as noun)
evil (nat. or mor.): - adversity, affliction, bad, calamity, /
displease (-ure), distress, evil ([-favouredness], man, thing), /
exceedingly, * great, grief (-vous), harm, heavy, hurt (-ful), ill
(favoured). / mark, mischief (- vous), misery, naught (-ty), noisome,
/ not please, sad (-ly), sore, sorrow, trouble, vex, wicked (-ly,
-ness, one), worse (-st), wretchedness, wrong. [Incl. fem.
raÇýoh , as adj. or noun. And whenever he was
afflicted by the evil
spirit, David used to
play upon the harp,
and the Holy Spirit, which David received when he was anointed, would
come, and the evil spirit that was vexing Saul, would flee from
before it. So the Holy Spirit that David
received was not found with him at every time. As long as he was
playing the harp, then it used to come. For had it been with him
always, it would not have allowed him to sin with the wife of Uriah.
For when he was praying about
his sins, and was confessing his offences before God, he said
thus:- Take not Thy
holy spirit from me. (Ps. li. 13.) Also concerning Elisha it is thus
written, that, You
will note that, like Saul, the king wanted to defeat Moab to get the taxes he
thought was owed them. God sent a VEXING spirit into him by Elisha's
musical prophecy and all of the good things they wanted were
destroyed. And also when the Shunamite
came to him because of her son that was dead, he said thus to
her:-The Lord hid it
from me and did cause me not to know it. (1 Kings iv. 27.) Yet, when the King of Israel sent
against him to slay him, the Spirit informed him before the messenger
came upon him, and he said:-Lo! this son of iniquity has sent to take away my
head. (2 Kings vi. 32.)
And again he made known about the abundance that came about in
Samaria the day after. And again the Spirit informed him when Gehazi
stole the silver and concealed it. 17. Therefore, my beloved, when
the Holy Spirit departs from a man who has received it, until it returns
and comes to him, then Satan draws near unto that man, to cause him
to sin, and that the Holy Spirit may leave him altogether.
For as long as the Spirit is
with a man, Satan fears to come near him. This, then, is the way with
man; that in the hour in which he perceives in himself that he is not
fervent in the Spirit, and that his heart is inclining to the thought
of this world, he may know that the Spirit is not with him, and may
arise and pray and keep vigil that the Spirit of God may come to him,
that he be not overcome by the adversary. A thief does not dig into a
house, until he sees
that its master is departing from it. Thus also Satan cannot draw near to that house
which is our body, until the Spirit of Christ departs from it. And be
sure, my beloved, that the thief does not certainly know whether the
master of the house is
within or not,
but first
he applies his
ear, and looks. If he
hears the voice of the master of the house within it saying:-"I have
a journey to go," and when he has searched out and seen that the
master of the house has set out to perform his business, ........ then the thief comes and digs into the
house and steals. But if he hears the voice of
the master of the house admonishing and commanding his household to
watch and guard his house, and saying to them, "I also am within the
house," then the thief will fear and flee, that he may not be taken
and captured. Thus also Satan, he has not the
knowledge beforehand to know or see when the Spirit will depart, that
so he may come to rob the man; but he too listens and watches, and so assails. But if he hears a man in whom
Christ dwells speaking
shameful words, or
enraged, or quarrelling, or contending, then Satan knows that Christ
is not with him, and he comes and accomplishes his will in him.
For Christ dwells in the
peaceful and the meek, and lodges in those that fear His word, as He
says through the prophet:- On whom shall I
look, and in whom shall I dwell, but in the peaceful and the
meek who
fear
My
word? ( Is.
lxvi. 2.) And our Lord said:- Whoever walks in
My commandments and keeps My love, We will come to him and make Our
abode him. ( John xiv.
23.) But if he hears from a man that
he is on his guard and is praying and meditating in the Law of his
Lord by day and by night, then he turns back from him, for he knows
that Christ is with him. And if thou shouldest say, "How manifold is
Satan! for lo! he fights with many;" then hear and learn from that
which I proved to thee above concerning Christ, that no matter to
what extent He is divided amongst many, yet He is not a whit
diminished. For, as the house, through the
window of which a little
sunlight enters, is
altogether illumined, so the man into whom a little of Satan enters,
is altogether darkened. Hear that which the Apostle said:-
If Satan is
transfigured to an angel of light, it is no wonder if his ministers
also are transfigured to ministers of righteousness. (2 Cor. xi. 14, 15.) And again our Lord said to His
disciples:- Lo, I have given
you authority to tread upon the power of the
adversary. (Luke x.
19.) And the Scriptures have made
known that he has power and also ministers. Moreover Job said
concerning him:-God
made him to wage his war. ( Job
xl. 14.) These ministers then that he
has, he causes to run in the world, to wage war. But be sure that he
will not fight openly; because from the time of the coming of our
Saviour, (God) has given authority over him. But he will surely
plunder and steal. 18. But I will explain to thee,
my beloved, concerning that word which the Apostle said, by which can
be weighed the doctrines that are instruments of the Evil One and
doctrines of deceit. For the Apostle said:- There is an
animal body and there is a spiritual body, seeing that it is thus
written:-The
first Adam became a living soul and the second Adam a quickening
spirit. (1 Cor. xv. 44,
45) So they (heretics) say that
there will be two
Adams. But he
said:- As we have put on the image
of that Adam who was from the earth, so we shall put on the image of
that Adam who is from heaven. (1 Cor. xv. 49.) For Adam who was from the earth
was he that sinned,
and the Adam who is from heaven is our Saviour, our Lord Jesus
Christ. They then that receive the
Spirit of Christ, come into the likeness of the heavenly Adam, Who is
our Saviour, our Lord Jesus Christ. For the animal shall be
swallowed up in the spiritual, as I wrote unto thee above.
And the man that
grieves the spirit of Christ, will be animal
in his resurrection; And whosoever honours the
Spirit, and it is guarded in him in purity, in that day the Holy
Spirit shall protect him, and he shall become altogether spiritual,
and shall not be found naked; as the Apostle said:-And when we shall have clothed
ourselves, may we not be found naked. ( 2 Cor. v.3.) And again he
said:-We shall all
sleep, but in the resurrection we shall not all be
changed. (1 Cor. xv.
51. This transposition of the
negative is supported by many Greek and Latin authorities, but not by
the Peshitto.) And again he said:- This which dies
shall put on that which dies not, and this which is corruptible that
which is incorruptible, and when this which dies shall have put on
that which dies not, and this corruptible that which is
incorruptible, then shall be accomplished that word which is written
that death is swallowed up by victory. ( 1 Cor. xv. 53, 54.) Again he said:-Suddenly as the twinkling of an eye, the
dead shall rise incorruptible and we shall be
changed. (1 Cor. xv.
52.) And they who shall be changed
shall put on the form of that heavenly Adam and shall become
spiritual. And those who shall not be changed, shall continue animal
in the created nature of Adam, namely, of dust; and shall continue in
their nature in the earth below. And then the heavenly shall be
caught up to heaven and the Spirit that they have put on shall cause
them to fly, and they shall inherit the kingdom that was prepared for
them from the beginning. And they that are animal shall remain on the
earth by the weight of their bodies, and shall turn back to Sheol,
and there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Counter added 12.11.04 10:00 p
424
........He has taken us up and seated us with
Himself in the heavens.
(Eph. ii. 6)
........
I am with
you till the
world shall
end.
........ ........
For Christ sitteth at the right hand of His Father,
........ ........
and Christ dwelleth among men. (Lk 22:69.)
........ I will divide Him among
many. (sIs. liii. 12.)
........ Ye are in Me and I am in
you. (5 John xiv. 20.)
And in another place He said:-I and Father are one. (John x. 30.)
........
"Since Christ is one
and His Father is one,
........
how does Christ dwell, and His Father
dwell, in faithful men?
........
But when He took away
some of the Spirit of Moses, and the seventy men were filled with
it,
........ ........
Moses nothing lacked,
nor could it be known that anything was taken away from his
Spirit.
........ God divided of the of Christ and sent it
into the Prophets. (
Cf. 1 Cor. xii. 11, 28, and Rom. xii. 36.)
........
Something
of
Christ is in us, yet
Christ is in heaven at the right hand of His Father.
........ All things have been delivered unto Me
by My Father. (Matt.
xi. 27)
........ The Father will not judge any man, but
all judgment will He give unto His Son. (John
v.22.)
........
so also the
Spirit of
God led John into the
wilderness,
........
and he used to dwell in
the mountains and
caves.
........
and John used to
eat locusts that
fly.
........
so John had his loins
girded with a cincture of leather.
........
and Herodias persecuted John.
........
and John reproved
Herod.
........
and John opened up
baptism.
........
so John laid his hand
on our Redeemer, and He received the Spirit not by measure.
........
and John saw the
heavens opened, and the Spirit of God
........
which descended and
rested upon our Redeemer.
........
and our Redeemer
received that of John and that of heaven.
........
and our Redeemer the
imposition of the hand of the priests.
........
and our Redeemer made
wine from water.
........
and our Redeemer
satisfied with a little bread five thousand men besides children and
women.
........
and our Redeemer
cleansed the ten (lepers).
........
but our Redeemer
blessed the children.
........
but the children
glorified our Redeemer with Hosannas.
and our Redeemer cursed Judas
His disciple and blessed all His (other) disciples.
........
but our Redeemer raised
up three to life.
........
but when our Saviour
descended to the abode
of the dead,
........
He quickened many and
raised them up.
........
I
will dwell in
them and will walk in them. (Levit. xxi. 12.)
........
and the glory shall be
without for the adornment of the body.
........ while he played upon his harp, then the
spirit came to him and he prophesied and said:-
........ Thus saith the Lord, ye shall not see
wind nor rain, yet this valley shall be made many
pits.
........
(2 Kings iii. 15-17.)
And observe, my beloved, that our Lord also,
........
Who was born from the
Spirit, was not tempted by Satan
........
until in baptism He
received the Spirit from on high.
........
And then the Spirit led
him forth to be tempted by Satan.
because the heavenly
spirit is not with him,
that the animal might be swallowed up in it.
But when he shall arise he shall continue in his natural state, naked
of the Spirit. Because he stripped off from him the Spirit of Christ,
he shall be given over
to utter nakedness.
