Page 1 of 9 Original Research

‘Do not quench the Spirit!’ The discourse of the Holy

Spirit in earliest Christianity
Author: The Trinitarian discourse of the 4th and 5th centuries grew out of earlier developments,
Bert Jan Lietaert Peerbolte1,2,3 whilst at the same time reflecting a renewal over against the language of the earliest Christian
Affiliations: sources. This article reflects on the way in which early Christianity thought about the Holy
1
New Testament Studies, Spirit and developed a new discourse on the basis of earlier, Jewish traditions. It situates the
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, development of the idea of the Holy Spirit as God’s presence in past and present within the
The Netherlands
social history of the developing Christian movement, and shows how this idea was connected
to the concept of apostolic succession. Thus, emerging Christianity legitimised itself and its
2
Department of New
Testament Studies, Faculty social structures by the theology of the Holy Spirit. Its message was presented as old instead
of Theology, University of of new, as the Holy Spirit had foretold the Christ event. Its organisation was seen as divinely
Pretoria, South Africa inspired, because its leaders were thought to be endowed with the Spirit. In this development,
the narrative of Luke-Acts has thoroughly influenced the way in which Christianity developed
3
Research Fellow,
a new discourse to present itself as old.
Forschungszentrum
Internationale und
Interdisziplinäre Theologie
(FIIT), Universität Heidelberg,
Germany
Introduction
τὸ πνεῦμα μὴ σβέννυτε (1 Th 5:19)
Note:
Prof. Bert Jan Lietaert In the late 4th century, Christianity was profoundly divided over the question whether Christ,
Peerbolte a research the Son, should be seen as the first creature the Father had created, as Arius saw it, or was of the
associate in the project same substance of the Father and therefore ungenerated.1 This question, known as the Arian
‘Biblical Theology and
controversy, triggered the trinitarian debate that was already slumbering. The question whether
Hermeneutics’, directed by
Prof. Dr Andries G. van Aarde, God should be seen as One or as Three brought about more than headaches and sleepless nights –
professor emeritus and for many, it became a matter of life and death. The question was eventually answered by emperor
senior fellow in the Unit for Theodosius I (379–395). In the same year he turned Christianity into the state religion of the
Advancement of Scholarship
Roman Empire (380), he issued the edict of Thessalonica, that intended to finally settle the
at the Faculty of Theology
of the University of Pretoria, discussion between homoousians and homoiousians. As is well known, the iota was dropped and
South Africa. the homoousians won the debate. To quote from the imperial decree: ‘We shall believe in the single
Deity of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, under the concept of equal majesty and of the Holy
Correspondence to:
Trinity’.2 The emperor not only decided the trinitarian debate in favour of the Niceans, which was
Bert Jan Lietaert Peerbolte
a matter of great political importance to him, but he also called for a second ecumenical council,
Email: which he convened in Constantinople in 381. At that council the creed of Nicea was adapted, or
l.j.lietaertpeerbolte@vu.nl rather: further refined, and the Holy Spirit was explicitly recognised as one of the three persons
of God.3 The teaching of the Holy Trinity, and the Holy Spirit as part of that Trinity, became the
Postal address:
De Boelelaan 1105, 1081, orthodox, Catholic view of God.
Vrije Universiteit, HV
Amsterdam, The Netherlands The modern study of the Holy Spirit in early Christianity can take Hermann Gunkel as its point
of departure. In 1888, the then 26-year-old Gunkel published his Habilitationsschrift entitled Die
Dates:
Received: 30 June 2015 Wirkungen des heiligen Geistes nach der populären Anschauung der apostolischen Zeit und die Lehre des
Accepted: 21 July 2015 Apostels Paulus.4 The book, which was initially refused by the faculty of theology in Göttingen
Published: 30 Sept. 2015 because it was considered of poor quality, would eventually change the study of the Holy Spirit
in early Christianity profoundly.5 Gunkel laid the foundation for a whole new approach to the

1.On Arius and his ideas, see Williams (2001:95–116). Williams summarises Arius’s position in three statements: ‘(I) The Son is a creature,
that is, a product of God’s will; (II) “Son” is therefore a metaphor for the second hypostasis and must be understood in the light of
comparable metaphorical usage in Scripture; (III) The Son’s status, like his very existence, depends upon God’s will’ (p. 109; italics original).

2.Codex Theodosianus XVI, 1.2 as quoted by Lynch (2010:167), who refers to Pharr (1952:440).

3.Whereas Nicea confessed to believe ‘In the Holy Spirit’, Constantinople expanded this confession considerably: ‘And in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord and Giver of Live, who proceeds from the Father, who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified, who
spoke by the prophets.’

4.The English version: Gunkel (1979).

Read online:
Scan this QR 5.See the discussion of Gunkel by Levison (2009). My analysis depends on his.
code with your
smart phone or
mobile device How to cite this article: Lietaert Peerbolte, B.J., 2015, ‘“Do not quench the Spirit!” The discourse of the Holy Spirit in earliest Christianity’,
to read online. HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies 71(1), Art. #3098, 9 pages. http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/hts.v71i1.3098
Copyright: © 2015. The Authors. Licensee: AOSIS OpenJournals. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License.

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subject by focusing on three elements of pneumatology The overall thesis of this essay is the following: the first
(Levison 2009:xvii–xviii). Firstly, he describes the Wirkungen Christians developed their discourse on the Holy Spirit in
des heiligen Geistes, instead of studying the Holy Spirit from direct continuity (and discontinuity) with their surrounding
a systematic perspective. According to Gunkel, the Spirit Hellenistic-Jewish context, and used it in order to explain
should not be regarded as a concept or a creed, but as a living that the new covenant that God had made with Israel, in
reality that the earliest Christians experienced. The Spirit was and through Christ, was thoroughly consistent with the old
seen as a source of empowerment, as inspirator, as Divine covenant – the consistent factor being the Holy Spirit. The
presence, as a Divine person. The second major change that discourse of the Holy Spirit enabled Christians to explain
Gunkel brought about was that he ushered in the so-called how God could work through Christ (Christ was inspired or
religionsgeschichtliche approach. What was so new in 1888 that even thought to have been generated by the Spirit), how old
it initially made Gunkel’s Habilitationsschrift unacceptable Scriptures could have new meaning (the Spirit had spoken
to established scholars has by now become part and parcel through the mouths of the ancients such as Moses and David
of the methods of biblical scholarship: the idea that the New and now the Spirit is responsible for the correct understanding
Testament should be studied as part of a broader corpus of of what he himself once said), and the church tradition that
early Christian literature – theologically speaking the canon develops in the early 2nd century is an institutionalisation
is the starting point for the Christian tradition, but historically of the power of the Spirit (through the concept of apostolic
speaking it is an anachronism in the 1st century. Gunkel succession).
translated this idea into the insight that the most important
context for the study of the New Testament is not the Old The Spirit in early Judaism
Testament, but is formed by the writings of early Judaism.
The abundance of writings passed on to us from early
Anyone who intends to reconstruct early Christianity and its
Judaism in the various languages in which they have been
beliefs and practices has to take early Judaism into account.6
transmitted shows a variety of ideas on God’s spirit (Levison
The third major change that Gunkel brought was the fact
2010:1252–1255). The first thing to notice, is that there is no
that he distinguished between Paul and the apostolic church.
fixed terminology. The preferred combination that the early
According to him, Paul was part of the apostolic church,
Christians gradually begin to use ([τὸ] πνεῦμα [τὸ] ἅγιον) is not
but the two did not coincide. There are continuities and
at all widespread in early Jewish sources. Philo and Josephus
discontinuities to be discerned if one compares Paul to the
prefer the combination of πνεῦμα and θεῖον, and many other
development of the early church in general.
forms of πνεῦμα occur. Especially the combination of the
noun and a genitive (e.g. the ‘spirit of deceit’, ‘spirit of anger’,
Almost 130 years of scholarship have passed since Gunkel
but also ‘spirit of holiness’) occurs.
wrote his landmark Habil. For this article I gratefully use
the works of especially James D.G. Dunn (1970), Gordon Fee
The idea that human beings live in a world of spirits that
(1994) and John R. Levison (2009).7 Instead of summarising
intend to influence their behaviour (spirits of truth versus
their findings here at the outset, I will focus on the main
spirits of deceit) is attested by a number of the writings
question that should be addressed here and refer to their
from Qumran. The Rule of the Community 3:13–4:26, for
works in the footnotes. The present article will explore a few
example, contains an instruction for new members to make
steps in the development of the discourse of the Holy Spirit in
them aware of the fact that they live in a world where the
the New Testament and the early church. Thus it will discuss
spirits of darkness and deceit consistently try to cause them
the discourse of ‘the Holy Spirit’ in its Jewish context, Paul’s
to stumble, whereas God assists them by his Spirit. Since this
usage of the Spirit, and the Spirit in Luke-Acts. A quick scan
instruction grants us direct access to the world in which the
of the evidence will point us in the following direction. The
early Christians developed their discourse on the Holy Spirit
New Testament authors describe the Spirit in terms that they
it is worth quoting a phrase from it here:
knew from their Jewish surroundings. The discourse of the
The Instructor should instruct and teach all the sons of light
Holy Spirit is an open discourse, in the sense that there is not
about the nature of all the sons of man, concerning all the
a uniform, preconceived idea of the Spirit, let alone as part
ranks of their spirits, in accordance with their signs, concerning
of the Holy Trinity. Instead, the early Christian movement
their deeds in their generations, and concerning the visitation
develops its own language on the Holy Spirit and in this of their punishments and the times of their reward. From the
language the dynamic aspect is of the utmost importance. God of knowledge stems all there is and all there shall be. […]
The Holy Spirit is seen as the dynamic presence of God in He [God] created man to rule the world and placed within him
people’s lives and in the church communities. The Spirit is two spirits so that he would walk with them until the moment
also a source of power, of authority, of strength. The final of his visitation: they are the spirits of truth and of deceit. [...]
part of this essay will focus on developments in the 2nd However, the God of Israel and the angel of his truth assist all
century, and finally some general conclusions will be drawn. the sons of light. He created the spirits of light and of darkness
and on them established every deed […]. (Martínez &Tigchelaar
1999:77)
6.Gunkel’s view of early Judaism was rather negative, and it seems that he was
profoundly influenced by the general cultural bias against Judaism that colored
much German scholarship of his day. The picture is clear: God has planted two spirits in every
human being, and these spirits respond to the evil or good
7.From a systematic point of view, a vital contribution to the study of the Spirit is
Michael Welker (1992). spirits in the outside world that they encounter. Other

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passages in the Qumran documents confirm this picture: divine spirit (ἀναπλήσας ἐνθέου πνεύματος), chose him to be the
God’s spirit is only one out of many spirits, and even though interpreter of His sacred utterances. (Philo, Decal. 175, translation
a ‘spirit of holiness’ is mentioned,8 this is far from the idea Colson [1939])
of the ‘Holy Spirit’ as one of the three persons in the Holy
Trinity. We encounter a theme here that will prove important later on
in this essay: the idea that God can inspire a prophet through
The case of the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs is his Spirit in order to use him as an ‘interpreter’ (ἑρμηνεύς) to
exceptionally important to the present topic. This document communicate God’s will. This idea, on the one hand, takes
is a Christian pseudepigraphon in which older, Jewish human agency as its point of departure, whilst on the other
traditions have been reworked. It shows us not only the rich hand, it sees inspiration through the Spirit as essential in the
diversity of views of the 1st centuries of the Christian era, process of divine communication. Both themes will prove to
but also indicates that the discourse on the Holy Spirit that play an important role in the early Christian discourse of the
led to the establishment of the trinitarian dogma was not the Holy Spirit.
only way in which early Christians spoke about the Spirit of
God. The ideas we find here are very similar to what we saw One more document to mention here is the Book of Wisdom.
in the Rule of the Community of Qumran: ‘Man is portrayed In the opening section it describes how ‘a holy and disciplined
as possessing seven (or eight) spirits (i.e. the senses; TReu spirit will flee from deceit’ (ἅγιον γὰρ πνεῦμα παιδείας φεύξεται
2:2–9); these “are commingled” with seven other “spirits of δόλον;1:5). Here, the anarthrous use of πνεῦμα seems to
error”’ (TReu 3:3–6) (Kee 1983:778). Joseph is described as ‘a indicate that the noun refers to a human spirit and not to the
good man, one who had within him the spirit of God’ (TSim divine, but later on in the same document ‘Solomon’ prays
4:4), but God’s spirit is not exactly the only spirit around. to God and indicates that the Holy Spirit is instrumental in
Human beings have to shield themselves against ‘the spirit the transmission of wisdom: ‘Who has learned your counsel,
of deceit’ (TSim 3:1) and the ‘spirits of error’ (TSim 6:6). A unless you have given wisdom and sent your Holy Spirit from
telling example is found in TLevi 2:3, where Levi describes an on high? (ἔπεμψας τὸ ἅγιον σου πνεῦμα ἀπὸ ὑψίστων; 9:17’).10
insightful moment as follows: ‘a spirit of understanding from
the Lord came upon me’. This scanty and all too brief survey of a number of Jewish
texts from around the beginning of the Christian era shows
At the same time, there are also texts, especially from us that there was great diversity in the ways in which people
Hellenistic Jewish authors, that move into a direction familiar spoke and thought about the spiritual world. The world
to what happens in early Christianity. A passage in Philo (De was seen by many as occupied by a large crowd of spiritual
Specialibus Legibus I.65) refutes the traditional idea that Jews beings. The Spirit of God was considered one of many spirits,
in general thought that prophecy had ceased from Israel.9 but the examples we saw do indicate that this Spirit guides
Philo explicitly describes what happens when a prophet people morally, empowers people by communicating divine
speaks on behalf of God: revelations, and inspires prophets and writings. The Spirit
can be seen as the source of wisdom and knowledge, but also
A prophet possessed by God will suddenly appear and give
as the generator of ecstacy and authority. Though the early
prophetic oracles. Nothing of what he says will be his own, for
he that is truly under the control of divine inspiration has no Christians do not simply copy the language of their Jewish
power of apprehension when he speaks but serves as the channel context, they do take up a number of these themes and use
for the insistent words of Another’s prompting. For prophets them to interpret, communicate, and legitimate the Christ
are the interpreters of God, Who makes full use of their organs event. Let us for that reason turn to the earliest Christian
of speech to set forth what He wills. These and the like are his author we know, who happened to be so Jewish that he did
injunctions as to the conception of the one truly existing God. not even know the term ‘Christian’: Paul.
Having opened with them, he next proceeds to indicate how
the honours due to Him should be paid. (Philo, Spec. Laws 1.65,
translation Colson [1939]) The Spirit in Paul
Dealing with Paul and the Spirit in just a couple of pages
This passage is all the more interesting if one takes into is virtually impossible. Gordon Fee needed 915 pages to
account that Philo uses the same language of prophetic discuss the most important passages on the Spirit in the
inspiration for the provenance of the Laws. In case of the corpus paulinum, and there is a good reason for this: the
Decalogue, he ascribes these commandments explicitly to Spirit is the single most important element in Paul’s epistles,
Moses’s inspired status: after Christ, that should be studied in order to understand
For it was in accordance with His [God’s] nature that the his ministry and his ideas. The legendary New Testament
pronouncements in which the special laws were summed up scholar F.F. Bruce (1977) had a good reason to choose the title
should be given by Him in His own person, but the particular of his monograph on Paul: Paul – Apostle of the Free Spirit.11
laws by the mouth of the most perfect of the prophets whom
He selected for his merits [Moses] and having filled him with the 10.Unless otherwise indicated, translations are taken from the NRSV.

11.The book opens with the magisterial dedication: ‘To my grand-daughters Helen,
8.To mention a few examples: 1QS 4:21; 9:3; 1Q28b 2:24; 4Q258 7:4. Anna, Esther and Winona Mary. And to my grandsons Peter, Frederick, Alan and
Paul. Bearing in mind T.R. Glover’s comment on a Roman Emperor’s condemnation
9.Levison (2009:109–221) correctly refutes the wide-spread perception of early of the Apostle to the Gentiles – that the day was to come when men would call
Judaism as a period in which prophecy had ceased. their dogs Nero and their sons PAUL’.

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The Spirit is crucial to Paul’s thought and ministry. In fact, There are several passages where Paul unequivocally speaks
it is worth emphasising again that for Paul the Spirit was far of the importance of the Spirit and it will not be possible to
more than a concept – it was the term by which he described deal with all of them in any degree of detail here. The few
the experiential dimension of his theology, a lived reality passages that must be referred to here are the passages in
instead of an abstract concept.12 which Paul speaks of the Spirit in relation to the Mosaic Law,
passages where Paul mentions the Spirit as indication of
In his opus magnum, Fee gives a detailed exegesis of every God’s direct presence within the congregation, and the signs
single passage in the corpus paulinum that possibly refers of an apostle Paul mentions as evidence that he was actually
to the Spirit. For this moment, it may suffice to summarise inspired himself and thus should indeed hold authority.
his findings in short. According to Fee (1994:803–826), the
first dimension about the Spirit in Paul is eschatological in
Spirit and Law
character. The Spirit is the fulfilment of the eschatological
promise that God would speak directly to his people, In two famous passages in his letters Paul deals with the
through the Spirit, in the final days of history. Paul uses relation of the Spirit and the Mosaic Law: Galatians 4:12–5:
three main metaphors to explain the function of the Spirit: 26 and Romans 8. A few brief observations have to suffice.
the Spirit is a down payment, firstfruits, and seal of God. The First of all, it is evident that for Paul the Spirit is granted to
first two metaphors indicate that the presence of the Spirit is, the believers because of and through Christ. Paul carefully
on the one hand, a fulfilment of an old promise, but on the crafts his argument: the Spirit stood at the origin of the Law
other hand, points to the future in which the remainder of (Rm 7:14), but now, in Christ, the Spirit brings a new Law:
the promise shall be fulfilled. The ‘seal’ metaphor refers to ‘For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you
ownership: ‘we’ are sealed with the Spirit, and this means free from the law of sin and of death’ (Rm 8:2). Thus, the
that God has indicated that we belong to him. Since the Torah Spirit brings a solution to a theological problem Paul has to
was inspired by the Spirit, a spiritual reading of Torah after face: how should the Christ movement interpret the Law?
the Christ event actually reveals the true nature of Torah. In concreto, Paul is dealing with the reality that God has
opened up Israel to the Gentiles and now it is Christ, and
The second role of the Spirit in Paul is to establish God’s no longer the Law, that determines whether or not someone
personal presence (Fee 1994:827–845). It is as though belongs to Israel. If this is the case, did God change his mind
in early Judaism people had come to regard God as so and abolish the Law now that the Messiah has come? Paul
transcendent in character, that only the dynamic presence solves the problem of renewal in God (did the Almighty
in the form of the Spirit was acceptable to Paul and many change his mind?!) by means of the Spirit: it was the Spirit
of his contemporaries. The Holy Spirit figures as a person who had brought the Law, it is the Spirit through whom
in Paul, and this person equals God.13 The third concluding the Law should be interpreted now, and the community of
chapter in Fee’s monograph describes the Spirit in its believers in Christ centres on the Spirit. In fact, the Spirit
soteriological function: the Spirit saves (Fee 1994:846–895). even enables Paul to make the argument that the Law
One of the saving functions of the Spirit is the role the Spirit should be read spiritually, as he takes up the prophetic
plays in the process of revelation. Here, Fee’s Paul closely motif of ‘circumcision of the heart’: ‘Rather, a person is a
approaches the ideas of Philo on prophecy and inspiration: Jew who is one inwardly, and real circumcision is a matter
the mystery of history has been concealed from the human of the heart—it is spiritual and not literal’ (περιτομὴ καρδίας
eye for centuries, but now, in Paul’s day, the Spirit has ἐν πνεύματι οὐ γράμματι – Rm 2:29).
revealed that Christ has always been intended in the history
of Israel. It is the Spirit who leads to conversion, and a life in
Presence in the congregation
the Spirit eventually consists of a life of sanctification. This
life, naturally, is not an individual life, but a community It is clear that Pauline congregations were charismatic
life. The Spirit is present within the community and the best communities in the sense that the presence of God was felt
proof of this is the presence of prophecy and glossolalia in directly and interpreted as the influence of the Spirit. In 1
the congregations.14 Corinthians Paul admonishes the congregation of believers
in Corinth. In chapter 12 he explicitly deals with the variety of
χαρίσματα in the congregation and there he uses the metaphor
12.For the argument that Paul’s ideas should be read from the perspective of his of the ‘body of Christ’ (12:12, 27). In the often overlooked
experiential context, see Lietaert Peerbolte (2008:159–176). Paul’s predisposition
for ecstatic experiences is analysed by Shantz (2009). opening statement to his argument, Paul introduces his view
13.In his commentary on Isaiah 40.9, Jerome says of the Holy Spirit that it proves that
succinctly:
God has no gender (in divinitate enim nullus est sexus), because in Greek the Spirit
is referred to as a neuter (τὸ πνεῦμα), in Hebrew the Spirit is mostly feminine (‫)חור‬, Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by
and in Latin the Spirit is male (spiritus). Interestingly enough, Jerome makes this the Spirit of God ever says ‘Let Jesus be cursed!’ and no one can
remark as comment on the fact that Jesus calls the Holy Spirit his ‘mother’ in the
Gospel according to the Hebrews. This feminine understanding of the Holy Spirit is say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit (διὸ γνωρίζω ὑμῖν
preserved in early Syriac literature; see Brock (1990:73–88). ὅτι οὐδεὶς ἐν πνεύματι θεοῦ λαλῶν λέγει Ἀνάθεμα Ἰησοῦς, καὶ οὐδεὶς
14.Even though I consider Fee’s book a more than excellent study, I part ways with δύναται εἰπεῖν Κύριος Ἰησοῦς, εἰ μὴ ἐν πνεύματι ἁγίῳ – 12:2).
him when he speaks of the ‘Trinitarian presuppositions’ to Paul’s theology and his
‘Trinitarian understanding of God’ (e.g. 1994:898). The concept of the Trinity is a
later, patristic concept, and although Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are of the utmost The crucial expression here is ἐν πνεύματι θεοῦ λαλῶν: these
importance to Paul, the usage of this terminology obfuscates rather than clarifies
what is happening in Paul. words clearly indicate that for Paul the confession of Jesus as

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Lord was not a human effort, but inspired speech by the Holy Summary
Spirit. As a result, we have to say that πίστις is not just a human
For Paul the Spirit is of the utmost importance. The Spirit
response to the Christ event, but a gracious gift of the Spirit.
warrants the continuity with the past, since it is by the Spirit
For Paul, the Spirit is thus present in every believer. Life as a
that God has spoken and still speaks through the Law and
believer is therefore a vibrant state of existence in which the
the Prophets. The Spirit is quintessential for the existence
human being is taken up in the community of Christ through
of the communities of believers and the Spirit pervades the
the Spirit. The community of believers is therefore a Spirited
lives of the believers, both individually and collectively.
community and God himself is present in its life. Not just
Inspiration by the Spirit leads to the performance of the
in its worship, but in all activities of the community. This
gospel in word and deed, and as an apostle Paul claimed to
is the reason why, especially in 1 Corinthians, Paul puts so
have an especially privileged position thanks to the Spirit.
much emphasis on sanctification and ethics. To put it bluntly:
1 Corinthians indicates that, according to Paul, the Spirit is
even present when people are having sex, and for this reason The Spirit in Luke-Acts
there is no single area of life that should not be sanctified by The letters of Paul may be the oldest documents that we
the correct halakha. can retrospectively label as ‘Christian’, but the history of
Christianity of course begins with the ministry of Jesus.
Spirit and power Given the fact that the reception of that ministry in the
early Church was highly influenced by the characteristics
Traditionally, the Spirit is seen as a source of power and
described in Luke-Acts, for the present purpose we must turn
authority. This clearly comes to the fore in the gospel
our attention to the way in which these two works depict first
narratives about Jesus, but also in Paul this theme is present.
the ministry of Jesus and then the growth of the Church as
In the many debates about Paul’s apostolic authority, Paul
the result of the Spirit’s presence.
could explicitly refer to the fact that he had performed the
‘signs of an apostle’ within the Corinthian congregation
The Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts both ascribe the
(2 Cor 12:12). These ‘signs’ are further explained as ‘signs,
cause of the major events in their narratives to the Spirit.
wonders, and mighty works’ (σημείοις τε καὶ τέρασιν καὶ
When the angel Gabriel announces the birth of John the
δυνάμεσιν). The combination of σημεία καὶ τέρατα is a fixed
Baptist to Zechariah, it is the Spirit who is introduced as the
expression stemming from the Exodus tradition and referring
decisive factor: ‘even before his birth he [John] will be filled
to the liberating presence of God as shown in wondrous
with the Holy Spirit’.17 When the same Gabriel announces
deeds.15 To this fixed combination, Paul adds the word
the birth of Jesus to Mary, he again refers to the Holy Spirit,
δυνάμεις, which is closely connected to the Spirit. The signs of
but here the Spirit does not just fill Jesus, he actually begets
the apostle Paul here refers to, whatever their character may
him:
have been, are thus an expression of the fact that an apostle
was apparently seen as especially gifted with the Spirit. An The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most
High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be
apostle was therefore a charismatic preacher and miracle
holy; he will be called Son of God. (1:35)
worker. This observation is confirmed by Paul’s words in
Romans 15:18–19. Here, Paul looks back at his ministry so far
It is thus the Holy Spirit who puts John and Jesus where they
and characterises it as follows:
should be, and from here onward the story can begin.
For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has
accomplished through me to win obedience from the Gentiles,
After the story of Jesus’ birth is narrated, Luke continues
by word and deed, by the power of signs and wonders, by the
with the dedication of Jesus in the temple (2:22–29). Jesus
power of the Spirit (of God), so that from Jerusalem and as far
and his parents are met by the old Simeon, who is introduced
around as Illyricum I have fully proclaimed the good news of
Christ. as ‘righteous and devout, and the Holy Spirit rested on him’
(2:25). The Spirit had revealed to Simeon that he would see
His ministry did not just consist of preaching (‘word’) but the Messiah, and now the Spirit had guided the old man into
also of actions (‘deed’). To characterise his actions Paul uses the temple. There he takes Jesus in his arms and praises God.
the exact same combination of words as in 2 Corinthians The narrative function of this episode is important: first the
12:12 (ἐν δυνάμει σημείων καὶ τεράτων), this time explaining Spirit has caused Mary’s pregnancy, and now the same Spirit
that ‘power of signs and wonders’ as the ‘power of the Spirit speaks through Simeon and confirms the identity of the child
[of God]’.16 It is clear that Paul thought of himself as inspired Jesus.18
by the Holy Spirit, not just in his preaching, but even more
so in his deeds. In 3:1–22, Luke describes the actions of John the Baptist, a
description that results in the baptism of Jesus by John. As
15.According to Meeks (1967:162–165), the performing of ‘signs and wonders’
in Mark, Luke’s source for this account, Jesus’ baptism ends
ultimately goes back to the Exodus traditions on Moses. Based on these traditions, with the Holy Spirit descending on him in the form of a dove,
the expectation grew that a new ‘prophet like Moses’ would also support his
actions by ‘signs and wonders’, thereby proving his divine commissioning.
17.Luke-Acts is consistent in its use of the term πνεῦμα ἅγιον, either anarthrous or
16.The genitive θεοῦ is absent in codex Vaticanus, and a large number of manuscripts with the article.
have ἁγίου instead. P46 ‫ א‬D1 L P Ψ 1175. 1241. 1505. 1506 M b sy read θεοῦ and
this is the most likely reading. 18.The prophetess Anna repeats the confirmation of Jesus’ identity in 2:36–38.

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and a voice from heaven addressing Jesus as ‘my Son’. It is whom are still alive, though some have died. Then he appeared
important to see that Luke here changes the account over to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely
against the version of Mark. In Mark, it is Jesus who sees born, he appeared also to me.
that the heavens are being torn apart, and the descent of the
Spirit thus becomes a visionary experience by Jesus. Here in In Paul’s letters the concept of apostleship appears rather
Luke, the event is clearly visible for all present. Thus, Jesus’ fluid: not just he himself claims apostolic authority, but he
baptism functions as the narrative confirmation of the fact does so also for Barnabas (1 Cor 9:6), and even for Andronicus
that he is empowered by the Spirit. and Junia (Rm 16:7). All in all it is clear that in Paul’s day
the title ‘apostle’ was not restricted to the twelve disciples
This sets the stage for the action to begin. First the Spirit who had been Jesus’ closest followers (Lietaert Peerbolte
guides Jesus into the desert, where the Devil tries to beguile 2003:177–190).
him. After Jesus has resisted the Devil’s temptations, he
returns to Galilee, ‘filled with the power of the Spirit’ (4:14). In the gospel of Luke the term ‘apostle’ is applied to the
He there begins his public ministry in the synagogue of twelve disciples of Jesus upon their return from their
Nazareth. The passage that Jesus reads to the synagogue is mission to preach on Jesus’ behalf. Jesus sends them out by
Isaiah 61:1: giving them ‘power and authority’ (ἔδωκεν αὐτοῖς δύναμιν
καὶ ἐξουσίαν, 9:1), terms that are immediately connected to
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me
the discourse of the Holy Spirit, and has them proclaim
to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim
release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the gospel, cast out demons, and heal the sick. When they
the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. return, Luke all of a sudden refers to them by the term
‘apostles’, meaning of course ‘envoys’: ‘On their return the
Jesus hands back the scroll, sits down, and just says: ‘Today apostles told Jesus all they had done’ (καὶ ὑποστρέψαντες
this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing’. A clearer οἱ ἀπόστολοι διηγήσαντο αὐτῷ ὅσα ἐποίησαν; 9:10). From
narrative introduction to the ministry of Jesus as guided this point onward, Luke restricts the term ‘apostle’ to
by the Holy Spirit is impossible. For Luke Jesus so much the twelve disciples. In the opening lines of the Book of
represents God that the only way he can narrate the story Acts, Jesus’ teaching is referred to as ‘giving instructions
of his ministry is by assigning Jesus’ power and even his through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had
provenance to the Holy Spirit. chosen’ (ἐντειλάμενος τοῖς ἀποστόλοις διὰ πνεύματος ἁγίου
οὕς ἐξελέξατο). Jesus’ commissioning of the apostles and
the instructions he gave them are thus both related to the
Interestingly enough, the Holy Spirit hardly features in
Holy Spirit, and this puts the twelve apostles in a position
the rest of the gospel of Luke, but returns full force in the
of authority. This position of authority is subsequently
opening section of the Book of Acts. Here, too, the Spirit
strengthened and confirmed at the events of Pentecost
functions as the originator of the action. It is the Spirit who
(Ac 2:1–13). There, the apostles receive the Holy Spirit and
guides the apostles, they receive and transmit the Spirit, and
from that moment onward they are described as people in
it is the Spirit who eventually communicates God’s decision
a position of authority. It is up to them to hand on the Spirit
to open up the Christ movement to the Gentiles. Then after
by the laying on of hands (cf. Ac 8:14–17).19
a consensus is reached at the apostolic council in Jerusalem,
the decision made by the apostles is communicated as a
decision by the Holy Spirit: ‘it has seemed good to the Holy ‘It has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to usʼ
Spirit and to us to impose on you no further burden than (Ac 15:28)
these essentials [...]’ (Ac 15:28). Various elements of the After the apostles have received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost,
account of Acts are worthy of our attention, but for now two Peter preaches a sermon to those present in the temple. There,
elements of the story should be mentioned in particular: the he indicates that he speaks through the power of the Holy
introduction in Luke-Acts of the idea of a confined group of Spirit and that the Holy Spirit had announced the events
twelve apostles who were divinely inspired by the Spirit, and that had taken place in Jesus’ life. The sermon first interprets
the notion that they hand on the Spirit by means of the laying the events taking place in the temple as the fulfilment of the
on of hands. prophecy of Joel concerning the eschatological outpouring of
the Spirit. Peter’s sermon ends with the call for obedience to
The Apostles in Luke-Acts all present and the invitation to be baptised ‘in the name of
Jesus’, and subsequently ‘receive the gift of the Holy Spirit’
In his description of the resurrection appearances in 1 (Ac 2:38).
Corinthians 15:3–8 Paul explicitly distinguishes between ‘the
Twelve’ and ‘all the apostles’: As the rest of the story is told, the Spirit proves to be the
For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn decisive factor in many events. After Peter’s vision in chapter
had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with 10, the ‘circumcized believers were astounded that the gift
the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles’
on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he
appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to 19.For a discussion of how baptism and Spirit related in Acts 8, see Dunn (1970:55–
72). It is evident that Luke’s account intended to convey the message that only the
more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of apostles have the authority to confer the Spirit.

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(Ac 10:45). The Gentile mission is thus introduced and development of institutionalisation in Luke-Acts over
legitimated by the Holy Spirit. against the situation depicted in the letters of Paul.
Apparently the emerging Christian movement felt the need
When eventually the apostles convene in Jerusalem, together to organise itself and its history around the principle of the
with Paul and Barnabas, to settle the dispute over the Mosaic handing on of the Holy Spirit. Perhaps even in reply to the
Law, they introduce their apostolic decree as a decision by charismatic chaos of the Corinthian congregation Luke-Acts
the Holy Spirit and them: intends to organise the Christian movement according to
For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to impose the principle of Spirit endowment: it was God who, through
on you no further burden than these essentials: that you abstain the Spirit, chose Jesus, Jesus who, again through the Spirit,
from what has been sacrificed to idols and from blood and from chose the Twelve Apostles, and these Twelve Apostles who,
what is strangled and from fornication. If you keep yourselves again through the Spirit, accepted the ministry of Paul and
from these, you will do well. Farewell. (Ac 15:28–29) opened up the Christian movement to the Gentiles. The
fact that Luke-Acts organises the history of the Christian
As will be argued in the final part of this article, this would movement around the Holy Spirit as its main protagonist
prove to be a successful idea: the gathering of church officials would have enormous consequences, as the final part of this
who unanimously settled a theological debate would later be article will show.
seen as proof of the presence of the Holy Spirit.
Developments in the 2nd century
Summary: Luke-Acts The 2nd century is an often overlooked, but massively
In Luke-Acts the Holy Spirit plays a crucial role in the entire important period for the development of Christianity and its
narrative structure. The Spirit stands at the origin of John the beliefs and practices. A number of authors speak about the
Baptist and even generates Jesus’ birth. The Spirit empowers Holy Spirit in ways that are clearly indebted to some of the
Jesus to perform his ministry, and after the resurrection the ideas that we encountered in Paul and Luke-Acts, and that
Spirit empowers the twelve apostles to perform signs and can be seen as steps in the direction of the fully developed
wonders. It is the Spirit who guides the apostles in their Trinitarian theology of the 4th century. The three elements
actions, and it is the Spirit who opens up the Christ movement in the discourse on the Holy Spirit that are especially worth
to the Gentiles. Thus, in Luke-Acts the Spirit is actually the mentioning are the Spirit as God’s empowering presence in
most important force behind Jesus’ ministry and behind the a line of apostolic succession, the Spirit as the inspiration of
ministry of his successors, the apostles. the Holy Scriptures, and the Spirit in relation to the Father
and the Son.
So far: The Holy Spirit as dynamic
empowerment A writing that was probably written in the last decade
The evidence surveyed thus far enables us to draw a few of the 1st century, and is usually reckoned amongst the
preliminary conclusions. In the first place, it is evident that so-called ‘Apostolic Fathers’, is the letter known as 1
the Christian discourse of the Holy Spirit developed out of Clement.20 In this letter bishop Clement of Rome, who is
existing Jewish traditions. It refers to texts and traditions unmentioned in the document itself but identified already
in the Jewish Bible, the Old Testament, but it should also at an early stage as the author of the letter, addresses
be understood within the context of Hellenistic-Jewish the Christian congregation of Corinth. Clement claims
speculations on the presence of God in a world filled apostolic authority for himself and sees the Holy Spirit
with spirits. At the same time, this contextualisation as speaking through him. He can refer to the prophets of
indicates that the Holy Spirit is certainly not just a figure of Israel as ‘those who administered the gracious gift of God’
speech. (οἱ λειτουργοὶ τῆς χάριτος τοῦ θεοῦ) who ‘spoke through the
Holy Spirit about repentance’ (8:1; see also 13:1; 16:2; 45:2).
A second conclusion to be drawn here, is that the orthodox In 63:2, Clement explicitly refers to his own writing as
view of God as the Holy Trinity consisting of the Father, the inspired by the Holy Spirit:
Son, and the Holy Spirit, developed out of a discourse that For you will make us joyful and happy if you become obedient to
is found in the apostolic writings the collection of which what we have written through the Holy Spirit (ὑπήκοοι γενόμενοι
became known, in the same period in which the concept of τοῖς ὑφ᾽ ἡμῶν γεγραμμένοις διὰ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος) and excise the
the Holy Trinity was formulated in its authoritative form, as wanton anger expressed through your jealousy, in accordance
the ‘New Testament’. Important elements in the discourse with the request we have made in this letter for your peace and
of the Holy Spirit are the concepts of empowerment, the harmony.
dynamic presence of God, and the authority granted to
people by the Holy Spirit. Jesus’ ministry is depicted, It is clear that Clement sees himself as standing in the
especially – though not exclusively – in Luke-Acts, as tradition of the apostles, and it is not by accident that
evoked by the Spirit. Clement is the first Christian author to describe the
principle of apostolic succession. In 42:1–44:6, too lengthy
A third conclusion that is warranted on the basis of
the material discussed so far, is that we can discern a 20.Passages from the Apostolic Fathers are quoted from Ehrman (2003).

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a passage to quote in its entirety, Clement describes how first apology, Justin ascribes the Books of Moses to the Holy
God sent Jesus and Jesus sent the apostles: ‘they went Spirit:
forth proclaiming the good news that the Kingdom of God And the Holy Spirit of prophecy taught us this, telling us by
was about to come, brimming with confidence through Moses that God spoke thus to the man first created: ‘Behold,
the Holy Spirit’ (μετὰ πληροφορίας πνεύματος ἁγίου ἐξῆλθον before thy face are good and evil: choose the good’. (Justin, 1
εὐαγγελιζόμενοι; 42:3). It is therefore to the Holy Spirit that Apol. 44)24
Clement ascribes the history of God’s communication with
humankind, because not only Jesus and the apostles were Justin frequently mentions the ‘(Holy) Spirit of prophecy’
inspired by the Spirit, but also the ancient scriptures are, as the originator of the books of the Old Testament and in
as is Clement himself! In 45:2 Clement describes how the the conversation with Trypho he stresses that the Holy Spirit
Corinthians have read their Bible: ‘You have gazed into the generates knowledge of God: ‘Will the mind of man see God
holy and true Scriptures that were given through the Holy at any time, if it is uninstructed by the Holy Spirit?’ (Justin,
Spirit’ (ἐνκεκύφατε εἰς tὰς τὰς ἱερὰς γραφάς, τὰς ἀληθεῖς, τὰς Dial. 4). The prophets of old have spoken through the Holy
διὰ τοῦ πνεύματος τοῦ ἁγίου). The Trinitarian view emerges Spirit (cf. Dial. 7, 25, 32), and the perception of what they
in Clement’s language, as he instructs the Corinthians: ‘For wrote by the reader is made possible through that same Holy
God the Father is alive, and the Lord Jesus is alive, and the Spirit.
Holy Spirit!’ (ζῇ γὰρ ὁ θεὸς καὶ ζῇ ὁ κύριος Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς καὶ
τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον; 58:2).21 Later authors in the 2nd century develop a more elaborate
theology of the Holy Spirit. Thus, Tatian, a student and
The rise of the Trinitarian discourse can also be seen in the successor of Justin, speaks about the necessity for human
early church manual known as the Didache. For the practice beings to unite with the Holy Spirit. In his anthropology
of baptism, the Didache gives a simple instruction: ‘Having Tatian is convinced that God had given life to human beings
said all these things in advance, baptize in the name of the by giving them his breath (Spirit; Gn 2:6):
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, in running But further, it becomes us now to seek for what we once had,
water’ (βαπτίσατε εἰς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ καὶ τοῦ but have lost, to unite the soul with the Holy Spirit, and to strive
ἁγίου πνεύματος ἐν ὕδατι ζῶντι; 7:1). This reference clearly after union with God.25
indicates the usage of Trinitarian language in the ritual
context of baptism, which is of course already present in the Tatian here distinguishes between the ψυχικοί and the
missionary command with which the gospel of Matthew πνευματικοί, in the sense that the first category consists of
closes (Mt 28:19–20). people who are not filled with the Holy Spirit whereas
people in the second category are. According to Tatian, the
The letters of Ignatius, probably written in the first decade of endowment of the Spirit even helps people to see the demons
the 2nd century,22 reflect the same development. Here, too, others (the ψυχικοί) cannot see!26
the Holy Spirit is mentioned on the one hand as inspirator
and God’s empowering presence, and on the other hand as In his Apology, chapter 10, Athenagoras explicitly describes
the ultimate originator of the prophecies of the Jewish Bible. the Holy Spirit as part of God. He refutes the allegation that
Ignatius refers to Jesus’ birth as generated by the Holy Spirit Christians are atheists and describes God as the triune ruler
(Eph. 18), and even calls Jesus ‘God’ (Smyrn. 1). The battle of the spiritual world:
between right and wrong is a battle between Simon Magus The prophetic Spirit also agrees with our statements. ‘The Lord,’
and the Holy Spirit (Phil. 6:1). it says, ‘made me, the beginning of His ways to His works.’
The Holy Spirit Himself also, which operates in the prophets,
In Justin Martyr’s perception, the Old Testament is a we assert to be an effluence of God, flowing from Him, and
collection of divinely inspired writings that predict the Christ returning back again like a beam of the sun. Who, then, would
event, and it is the Holy Spirit who filled their authors at not be astonished to hear men who speak of God the Father,
the time they wrote and made them predict the advent of and of God the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and who declare
Christ.23 This comes especially to the fore in the Dialogue with both their power in union and their distinction in order, called
atheists? Nor is our teaching in what relates to the divine nature
Trypho, in which Justin debates the interpretation of the Old
confined to these points; but we recognize also a multitude
Testament with Trypho. According to Justin, it was the Holy
of angels and ministers, whom God the Maker and Framer of
Spirit who spoke through the writings of the prophets. In his
the world distributed and appointed to their several posts by
His Logos, to occupy themselves about the elements, and the
heavens, and the world, and the things in it, and the goodly
21.Although Clement clearly uses this Trinitarian language, he can also refer to God as
the ‘ruler of the spirits’ (δεσπότης τῶν πνεύματων; 64:1). ordering of them all.27
22.Ehrman (2003:205, vol. 1): ‘Eusebius indicates that it occurred midway through the
reign of Trajan (98–117 CE; Eccl.Hist. 3.36).ʼ
24.Translation Ante Nicene Fathers.
23.For a detailed analysis of Justin’s ideas on the Holy Spirit, see Briggman (2012:9–
31), who especially focuses on the interplay of Spirit theology and christology in 25.Tatian, Exhortation to the Greeks, 15; translation Ante Nicene Fathers.
1 Apol. 33 and Dial. 87–88 and concludes that although Justin does use the later
Trinitarian discourse, his theology of the Holy Spirit is not yet as fully developed 26.Tatian, Exhortation 15,7. Trelenberg (2012), 127, note 178, refers to Tertullian who
as it would be in the 4th century. Briggman (2012:31): ‘we cannot […] condemn a argues a similar idea in De anima 8,5.
theologian of the second century for failing to meet the standards of the fourth
century’. 27.Translation Ante Nicene Fathers.

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It would be enticing to also look into the writings of Irenaeus

and Tertullian,28 but for the present purpose the above survey
Acknowledgements
will have to suffice. It is clear, from the evidence presented, Competing interests
that the discourse of the Holy Spirit further develops in the The author declares that he has no financial or personal
2nd century into a direction what would eventually shape the relationships which may have inappropriately influenced
creed of the Holy Trinity as formulated in the Constantinople him in writing this article.
revision of Nicea.
References
Conclusion Briggman, A., 2012, Irenaeus of Lyons and the theology of the Holy Spirit, Oxford
University Press, Oxford.
Given the broad scope of this contribution, its conclusions
Brock, S., 1990, ‘The Holy Spirit as feminine in early Syriac literature’, in J. Martin
can only be tentative in character, but the following points Soskice (ed.), After Eve. Women, theology, and the Christian tradition, pp. 73–88,
Marshall Pickering, London.
should at least be mentioned. The discourse of the Holy
Bruce, F.F., 1977, Paul. Apostle of the free spirit, Paternoster, Exeter.
Spirit as part of the Holy Trinity develops in the first four
Colson, F.H., 1939, Philo, vol. 8, Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press,
Christian centuries from an open and diffuse discourse Cambridge.
in the 1st century into the formulation reached in the Dunn, J.D.G., 1970, Baptism in the Holy Spirit. A re-examination of the New Testament
teaching on the gift of the Spirit in relation to Pentecostalism today, Westminster,
Constantinople revision of the Nicean creed. This discourse Philadelphia, PA.
is firmly rooted in Jewish soil and speaks of the Holy Spirit as Ehrman, B.D., 2003, The Apostolic Fathers, vols. 2, Loeb Classical Library, Harvard
University Press, Cambridge.
God’s immanent presence in Israel, in the Scriptures, and in
Fee, G., 1994, God’s empowering presence. The Holy Spirit in the letters of Paul,
the Christian communities and even in individual believers. Hendrickson, Peabody, MA.
The possible reproach that Christianity was a new movement Gunkel, H., 1979, The influence of the Holy Spirit. The popular view of the Apostolic
Age and the teaching of the Apostle Paul, transl. R.A. Harrisville & P.A. Quanbeck
was countered by the interpretation of the Scriptures of II, Fortress, Philadelphia, PA.
Israel as inspired by the Spirit and pointing at Jesus Christ. Kee, H.I., 1983, ‘The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs’, in J.H. Charlesworth (ed.),
The Spirit had spoken in the past and the Spirit was seen as Old Testament Pseudepigrapha –Apocalyptic literature and testaments, vol. 1, pp.
775–828, Doubleday, Garden City, IL.
providing the Christians with the correct understanding of Levison, J.R., 2009, Filled with the Spirit, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company,
what he himself had once said. But not only was the Spirit Grand Rapids, MI.
thus used to claim authority for the Jewish Scriptures and Levison, J.R., 2010, ‘Spirit, Holy’, in D.C. Harlow & J.J. Collins (eds.), The Eerdmans
dictionary of early Judaism, pp. 1252–1255, William B. Eerdmans Publishing
their Christian interpretation, the Spirit also legitimised Company, Grand Rapids., MI
church structures. The concept of Luke-Acts in which twelve Lietaert Peerbolte, L.J., 2003, Paul the missionary, Peeters, Leuven. (Contributions to
biblical exegesis and theology vol. 34).
apostles continue the ministry of Jesus influenced the growth
Lietaert Peerbolte, L.J., 2008, ‘Paul’s rapture: 2 Corinthians 12:2–4 and the language
of the church through the principle of apostolic succession. of the mystics’, in F. Flannery, C. Shantz & R.A. Werline (eds.), Experientia – Inquiry
into religious experience in early Judaism and Christianity, vol. 1, pp. 159–176,
This principle in itself was foundational for the idea that SBL, Atlanta, GA.
church councils were divinely inspired, by the Holy Spirit, Lynch, J.H., 2010, Early Christianity. A brief history, Oxford University Press, New York,
and that their decisions were thus acts of divine revelation NY.
Martínez, F.G. & Tigchelaar, E.J.C., 1999, The Dead Sea Scrolls study edition, Brill,
through the Spirit. The developments of the 1st centuries can Leiden.
also be characterised as an attempt to canalise the activity of Meeks, W.A., 1967, The prophet-king. Moses traditions and the Johannine Christology,
the Spirit and to use the authority of the Spirit to legitimise E.J. Brill, Leiden. (Supplements to Novum Testamentum 14.)
Pharr, C. (transl.), 1952, The Theodosian Code and Novels and Sirmondian
power structures that slowly developed through the offices Constitutions, Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ.
of especially bishops and priests. It is clear that the Spirit will Roberts, A. & Donaldson, J., 1885, The Ante-Nicene Fathers: The writings of the
never be restricted by human offices, and thus mystics and Fathers down to A.D. 325, Ante-Nicene Christian library, T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh.

charismatics have challenged the structures of the catholic Shantz, C., 2009, Paul in ecstasy. The neurobiology of the Apostle’s life and thought,
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
church straight from the beginning. This, however, is a Trelenberg, J., 2012, Tatianos. Oratio ad Graecos Rede an die Griechen, Mohr Siebeck,
different subject. Tübingen. (Beiträge zur historischen Theologie 165).
Welker, M., 1992, Gottes Geist. Theologie des Heiligen Geistes, Neukirchener,
Neukirchen-Vluyn.
28.On Irenaeus see especially Briggman (2012:32–305). Briggman (2012:206–215)
discusses Origen, Tertullian, and Novatian. Williams, R., 2001, Arius. Heresy and tradition, 2nd edn., SCM, London.

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