But the people, when once acquainted with the import of the name, should, first of all, be taught that he is equally God with the Father and the Son, equally omnipotent, eternal, perfect, the supreme good, infinitely wise, and of the same nature with the Father and the Son. All this is, obviously enough, implied by the force of the word "in," when we say: "I believe in the Holy Ghost;" which, to mark the particularity of our faith, is prefixed to each Person of the Trinity; and is also clearly established by many passages of Scripture: when, in the Acts of the Apostles, St. Peter says: " Ananias! why hast thou conceived this thing in thy heart?" he immediately adds: "thou hast not lied to men but to God;" [1] calling him, to whom he had before given the name Holy Ghost, immediately after, God.
The Apostle, also, writing to the Corinthians, interprets what he says of God, as said of the Holy Ghost: "There are," says he, " diversities of operations, but the same God, who worketh all in all;" " but," continues he, " all these things one and the same spirit worketh, " dividing to every one according as he will." [2] In the Acts of the Apostles, also, what the prophets attribute to one God, St. Paul ascribes to the Holy Ghost; thus Isaias had said: " I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: Whom shall I send? and who shall go for us? and I said: Lo! here am I, send me. And he said: Go, and thou shalt say to this people: Blind the heart of this people, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes: lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears:" [3] Having cited these words, the Apostle adds: "Well did the Holy Ghost speak to our fathers, by Isaias the prophet." [4]
Again, the Sacred Scriptures, by annexing the Person of the Holy Ghost to those of the Father and the Son; as when baptism is commanded to be administered, " in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost," leaves no room whatever to doubt the truth of this mystery: for if the Father is God, and the Son God, why not confess that the Holy Ghost, who is united with them in the same degree of honour, is also God? Besides, baptism administered in the name of any creature, can be of no effect: "Were you baptised in the name of Paul?" [5] says the Apostle, to show that such baptism could have availed them nothing to salvation. Having, therefore, been baptised in the name of the Holy Ghost, we must acknowledge the Holy Ghost to be God.
But this same order of the three Persons, which proves the divinity of the Holy Ghost, is observable in the epistle of St. John: " There are three who give testimony in heaven; the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost; and these three are one;" [6] and, also, in that noble eulogy, or form of praise to the Trinity: " Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost," which closes the psalms and divine praises.
