It would however have been wiser in the first instance to examine into
the degree of confidence due to the real or pretended writings of this
wonderful man, whose history we have been developing. Before disputing
it would have been better to have been certain of the authority of an
Apostle whose works appear to us infallible only on his own word, or on
that of the written to whom we owe the Acts of the Apostles. In fact we
are told that St. Paul was inspired by the Holy Ghost. But what is the
Holy Ghost? How can it inspire a man? What certainty have we that it has
ever inspired anyone? By what signs shall we distinguish these invisible
inspirations? As it is upon these inspirations only that the Christian
religion is established, these questions are well worth the trouble of
being discussed.
There is no mention made of the Holy Ghost in the Old Testament; there
is mention made of the spirit of the Lord, which possessed, or resided
in the prophets, and other holy personages charged with speaking to the
Jewish people; but in no place of the Old Testament is the Holy Ghost
announced as a being distinct from the Divinity, it is only in the New
Testament that we find this metaphysical being deified, or this divine
breath personified. In fact it is only in the history of Jesus Christ,
that the Holy Ghost begins to perform, a part; we there find him
commissioned to overshadow Mary, and produce the savour of the world,
who was, as we are told, begotten by the operation of the Holy Ghost.
This same Holy Ghost descended in the form of a dove upon Jesus Christ
at the moment of his baptism in the river Jordan by John the Baptist.
In the Gospel according to St. John, the author of which appears to have
drawn his ideas from the platonic philosophy, there is much talk of the
Holy Ghost which is never defined. Jesus promises to send him to the
disciples when he himself shall have left them. This spirit is described
under term of the Paraclete or Comforter. Jesus assures them that he
proceeded from the father, and that he will send him on the part of the
father, to bear witness of him Jesus. Further on he promises them, that
when this spirit shall come, he shall guide them into all truth.
According to the promise of Jesus, this comforter did in fact descend
upon the Apostles at the feast of Pentecost, see Acts ari. ver. 2, 3,
13. Many were astonished at the prodigy there related, but it seems not
to have convinced others, who had probably less faith than the first.
These sceptics pretended that the inspired Apostles were drunken with
new wine. But Peter filled with the spirit, made them a long prophetic
harangue; which, according to the author of the Acts, produced a great
effect upon many of his hearers, who were converted upon the spot.
In consequence of the descent of the Holy Ghost, the Apostles received
the power, not only of speaking divers tongues, but likewise of driving
out devils and performing miracles. However we do not find by their
history, though written by one favourable to their cause, that the
Holy Ghost gave them the power to cast out the demon of incredulity,
especially from the minds of the Jews; these resisted constantly the
Holy Ghost and made those who said they were filled with it, to suffer
cruel treatment.
the Apostles had not only received the Holy Ghost, but they had also
received the power of communicating it to others by the imposition of
hands. It is difficult, without a submissive faith, to conceive a clear
idea of this invisible communication of the Holy Ghost, or the manner
in which an indivisible spirit, divides itself among so many
different individuals. However it is not allowed us to doubt that
this transmission of the Holy Ghost has been perpetuated down from the
Apostles to our time. It is still by imposition of hands that the guides
of the Christian Church receive the Holy Ghost, and the right to teach.
If our bishops and and priests who represent in our eyes the Apostles
and disciples, have not received the gift of tongues and miracles they
have, at least, received the faculty of pretending, that the Holy Ghost
does not cease to illuminate them, in their frequently contradictory
decisions, which ought to be regarded as a great prodigy.
A Christian would run the risk of being damned if he should dare to
doubt, that the Holy Ghost invisibly presided in the church and will
reside in the brains of its chiefs until the consummation of all things.
What can be more calculated to inspire us with regard and respect for
those, who themselves assure us, that they are the living temples of
the Holy Ghost. In gratitude for these advantages which the Holy
Ghost procured to the ministers of the Christian religion, they felt
themselves bound to deify him. It was the least they could do for a
being from whom their power clearly emanated. In fact if the Holy Ghost,
charged with inspiring the church had not been a God, the authority of
the church might have been contested. But it being clearly decided,
that the Holy Ghost is a God, men are no longer permitted to dispute his
rights; it only remains to them to subscribe blindly to the decisions of
those whom he has chosen for his organs; to contradict them, would be to
revolt against God.
We see then how important it was to the heads of the church to
apotheosise the Holy Ghost. It was necessary to make him a God at
any rate; otherwise the church would not have been infallible, its
infallibility being founded, solely on the continued inspirations of the
Holy Ghost; and that he himself should be infallible, it was necessary
that he should be a God. Thus the church has wisely made the God which
makes her infallible.
However useful this deification was to the church, it was attended with
some difficulties. In fact how could they reconcile this new God, this
Mercury, this messenger of the father and son, with the unity of God?
To cut short all dispute upon so important a matter, the heads of the
church decided that the Holy Ghost proceeded from the father and son,
and yet made but one God with them. They closed the mouths of those
who cried out against this unintelligible oracle, by saying it was a
mystery, that man was made to adore and believe, without being able to
comprehend; they added that the church was infallible had thus decided,
that being inspired by the Holy Ghost (i.e. by a God) it was impossible
to avoid believing that she had the right to decide, that the Holy Ghost
was a God.
This is sufficient to show us upon what the authority of church, and the
divinity of the Holy Ghost is founded. The church has deified the Holy
Ghost, and the divinity of the Holy Ghost serves as the basis of
the authority of the church. We thus see the true foundations of
Ecclesiastical power; we see the solidity of the titles of the church,
we see the true origin of the mystery of the trinity, now held in such
veneration by the faithful. In short we see what we ought to think of
the inspirations of the Holy Ghost from the time of its origin until
now.