Page:The Paraclete.djvu/29

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THE HOLY GHOST VERY GOD
17

while the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are One God, the Holy Ghost is not the Father, or the Son, or a mere influence proceeding from Them.

1. With regard to the Divinity of the Holy Spirit as distinguished from His personality, we do not suppose that there will be any difference of opinion among professing Christians, who are believers in the authority of the New Testament. Indeed it is somewhat difficult to understand how any of those who profess dependence for divine knowledge upon the canonical Scriptures can deny the doctrine of the Holy Trinity. We do not mean to say that any individual Christian who might take up his Bible without previous knowledge of these doctrines would at once discover them there. As a matter of fact, we know that it was only after three centuries and many anxious controversies that the Church promulgated these doctrines in the form in which they are now received. But we must hold it for certain that whoever does sincerely, devoutly, and without prejudice search the Scriptures will find sufficient and convincing testimony to the Divinity and Personality of the Holy Ghost, as these doctrines are set forth in the Catholic Creeds.

We shall find, in the Old Testament as well