P. ThLic. Michael Špaček
If we look into the guides of spiritual life written in past centuries, as well as in more recent times (e.g. in the work of R. Dacík The Sources of Spiritual Life, Olomouc 1947), we find discussions about the enlightenment by the Holy Spirit and about its gifts, but not about its person. How is this possible when the Holy Spirit is the source of all our spiritual life? This question was addressed by Father Tomáš Špidlík in relation to the historical development of the doctrine of grace.
He states that in the Christian environment (in the earliest Christian writings, such as the Ascension of Isaiah or Hermas' Shepherd), there were ancient formulas that spoke of the “angel of the Holy Spirit.” The angel comes (so to speak from above), stops in front of the doors of the heart; he brings a message, demonstrates power. In such an expression, however, the Holy Spirit is perceived only as an external agent, as someone who comes from the outside, and it is up to the person whether to accept or reject his command.
On the other hand, the apostle Paul lists in the Christian “spirit, soul, and body” (1 Thess 5:23). And the word “spirit” for Paul does not denote just a mere part of human inner being, as in ancient philosophy, but it is the inner place of connection between man and God.
For Origen, “spirit” is something “more divine” within us than soul and body. The Church Fathers, in accordance with Scripture, speak of the fact that “the Holy Spirit dwells in us” – even as if the Holy Spirit were part of ourselves.
In Irenaeus of Lyons (Against Heresies V, 9, 1-2) we read:
“The perfect man is composed of three elements, of body, of soul, and of Spirit; he who brings us salvation and gives us form is the Spirit; that which is connected with him and is formed is the body; the soul is in the middle, because sometimes it joins with the Spirit and is lifted up by it, and sometimes it yields to the body and falls into earthly desires. Many people do not have the Spirit who brings salvation and form; they are those whom Paul calls flesh and blood… But all who fear the Lord, who believe in the coming of his Son, and who have provided a dwelling for the Spirit of God in their hearts through faith, they deserve to be called spiritual, for they have the Spirit of the Father, who cleanses man and raises him to the life of God.”
Irenaeus here distinctly distinguishes between Spirit, soul, and body in man. In this so-called trichotomous view, which we find also among other Eastern Fathers, the Holy Spirit is an inner component of the Christian's person. St. Basil compares the indwelling and action of the Spirit in the purified soul to the ability to see, present in a healthy eye, or to the artistic skill hidden in the personality of the artist. Theophan the Recluse, who thoroughly encompassed the teachings of the Church Fathers and spiritual authors, expresses it clearly: “The Holy Spirit is as if the soul of our soul.” Prayer and other acts of devotion are then as if the breathing of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us.
Origen describes our connection with the Holy Spirit as a mixture, a blend (anakrasis). The mixture preserves the elements that compose it, not destroying them, so in it they do not cease to be themselves. Gregory of Nazianzus uses this term – anakrasis – to explain the connection of soul and body in man, to clarify the connection of divinity and humanity in Christ, and also the divine-human connection between the Holy Spirit and man in the being of the Christian, as we are now addressing. We can say that the Greek and generally Eastern Fathers speak of the Holy Spirit as the internal cause of our sanctification. And our connection with him is personal – meaning that the Holy Spirit himself dwells in us, not just some of his gifts. Latin scholastic theologians express it differently: they prefer to speak only of grace, of the created gift or supernatural habit (habitus) in us – as if they were afraid to speak of the personal indwelling of the Holy Spirit in our innermost being.
If the Holy Spirit is indeed present in us as a person, a difficulty arises: how can spiritual life be called our life, if its principle is actually “someone else”? Therefore, the scholastics said that the presence of the Holy Spirit in us, which Scripture speaks of, should be understood only “approximately,” in a figurative sense. For, if the Holy Spirit himself were in the heart of man, we would all be as holy as the holy God in heaven. Whereas, if we understand grace in us only as a “gift” from the Holy Spirit, there are as many differences as there are possible gifts.
In medieval scholastic theology, they thus began to distinguish between uncreated grace, which is God himself: the Holy Spirit who bends down to us, his presence or indwelling in us – and on the other hand created grace, which refers to what the Holy Spirit operates in the soul: the imprint of his image, his gift that renews the soul and enables it to live a Christian life in relation to the Spirit, simply the sum of gifts that arise from the work of the Holy Spirit in us. In simplified terms: the concept of uncreated grace means the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in us, while created grace is the effects of this indwelling. How to reconcile the different Eastern and Western perceptions of the work of the Holy Spirit? A simple yet beautiful explanation is provided by the German theologian Scheeben: the soul
is like wax. The Holy Spirit (uncreated grace) is the seal ring that imprints his image into it (created grace). The ring departs, but the image remains. So it is in the material world. In the spiritual, however, presence is inseparably connected with action. If the Holy Spirit were to depart, neither would his seal, grace, remain in the soul. We can therefore say both: we are the temple of the Holy Spirit and simultaneously this Spirit transforms us, adorns us, and endows us – with his grace, his light.
The mystery of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the innermost of man is, therefore, a mystery of connection but also of distinction. There are moments when it seems that the human spirit is so united with the Holy Spirit that they are indistinguishable, yet immediately afterward they are separated by an insurmountable chasm of weakness and ignorance. According to Pseudo-Macarius, the grace of the Holy Spirit in the heart resembles the flickering flame of an oil lamp: it emits much light, yet with the constant danger of being extinguished.
In human words, the mystery of the indwelling and action of the Holy Spirit in us cannot be expressed, therefore scholastic theology rightly renounced it; it truly cannot be grasped in terms of reason. Yet it can certainly be said that the Holy Spirit is present as a person who acts. And the effect of his action is then the transformation of man, the sanctifying grace. And just as well, the hesitation of the Eastern authors between dichotomy (man is soul and body) and trichotomy (the already mentioned: spirit, soul, body) is very instructive: the Holy Spirit comes to us “from the outside,” and yet belongs to our “I.” He is therefore our spirit and the Spirit.
And from this mystery arises the personal adventure of the spiritual life of each of us.
