The Form of the Holy Spirit
In my last post on the Ascension of Isaiah, I noted how in that document, Isaiah, while in the highest Heaven, sees a figure standing near God’s throne, which his angel guide informs him is “the angel of the Holy Spirit.” Isaiah sees him as a glorious standing figure comparable to the figure of the Beloved, Jesus. Later, Isaiah sees Him sitting down at the left hand of the Father’s throne (10:33). Isaiah apparently sees the Holy Spirit as a distinct individual in Heaven, with the form of a man/angel, and distinguishable from the Son and Father.
In light of this depiction, it is curious to note that the Holy Spirit is usually not depicted in this way, especially not in art, as can be seen in the icon accompanying this post. If anyone knows of a piece of Christian art in which the Holy Spirit is depicted as described in the Ascension of Isaiah, please let me know.
Usually, the Holy Spirit is shown as a dove, based on the story of Jesus’ baptism found in the Gospels. Depicting heavenly beings as birds is an ancient custom. But was the Holy Spirit believed to be, in reality, a dove? No, that was just a symbol or temporary manifestation.
As the trinitarian doctrine developed, there were many arguments over the nature and role of the Third Person of the Trinity. Augustine (De Trin., I, iii, 5) said: “In no other subject is the danger of erring so great, or the progress so difficult, or the fruit of a careful study so appreciable.”
According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, the folowing finally became the belief of the Roman Church:
The Holy Ghost is the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity.
Though really distinct, as a Person, from the Father and the Son, He is consubstantial with Them; being God like Them, He possesses with Them one and the same Divine Essence or Nature.
He proceeds, not by way of generation, but by way of spiration, from the Father and the Son together, as from a single principle.
This doctrine declares that the Holy Spirit is, in fact, a separate Person from Father and Son, yet He is “consubstantial” with them, being of the same Divine Essence (a principle which I cannot yet fully comprehend). I have not been able to find a clear declaration regarding the form of the Holy Spirit in Catholic belief.
It is in those faiths which do not profess a fully Trinitarian belief which we find the idea that the Holy Spirit is synonymous with the Father, or with Christ, that He is the Spirit of God Himself, or that He is simply the Power or Active Force of God. We also find among these the idea that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one Person. Certainly, those Christians who wrote the Ascension of Isaiah and other such documents did not hold this view of the Godhead.
Latter-day Saints, following the teachings of Joseph Smith, believe that the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are three distinct Persons.
The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s; the Son also; but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit. Were it not so, the Holy Ghost could not dwell in us (Doctrine and Covenants 130:22).
In the Book of Mormon, the “Spirit of the Lord,” generally understood to be the Holy Ghost, acts as Nephi’s angelus interpris, guiding him in his vision. Of this Spirit, Nephi says:
For I spake unto him as a man speaketh; for I beheld that he was in the form of a man; yet nevertheless, I knew that it was the Spirit of the Lord; and he spake unto me as a man speaketh with another.
In LDS belief, the Holy Spirit is a glorious spirit Personage that has the form of a human being. He would likely look much like other celestial spirits that could appear in this world.
Angelomorphic Holy Spirit
The identity of the Holy Spirit has been a difficult one for Christians. It is clear, however, that some of the earliest Christians saw the Holy Spirit as an angelic-type Being separate and distinct from the Father and Son, and often subordinate to them. The description of the Holy Spirit in angelic form (angelomorphic) not only appears in the Ascension of Isaiah, but in other documents such as the Shepherd of Hermas and the writings of Justin Martyr. In the Shepherd of Hermas, in the section on the “Eleventh Commandment,” it says:
When, then, a man having the Divine Spirit comes into an assembly of righteous men who have faith in the Divine Spirit, and this assembly of men offers up prayer to God, then the angel of the prophetic Spirit, who is destined for him, fills the man; and the man being filled with the Holy Spirit, speaks to the multitude as the Lord wishes.
This idea has been discussed by J.R. Levison (“The Angelic Spirit in Early Judaism,” SBL. SP 34 (1995) 464-493; See also his “The Prophetic Spirit as an Angel According to Philo,” HThR 88 (1995) 189-207, and “The Spirit in First Century Judaism” (AGJU 29) Leiden et alii 1997. See also Charles Gieschen’s discussion of “angelomorphic pneumatology” in Angelomorphic Christology: Antecedents and Early Evidence (AGJU 42) Leiden/Boston 1998, 114-119. See also Bogdan Bucur, who earned his PhD at Marquette University, here and here.
More on this topic later…
2 Comments
You can take the idea that gods like Hermes or Thoth, as the messenger/recorder of the Gods, also show the Holy Ghost in human form.
I would say that the Dove is merely His sign [maybe like His signature]…whereas the angel-form is what He actually looks like.
Kinda like Christ is a Lamb…but not really a Lamb.
Excellent observation, Justin! Hermes and Thoth are definitely seen as being in human form and have much the same role as the Holy Ghost. I like the comparison to Christ as the Lamb. Thanks for the insightful comment! By the way, I have added a link to your blog, Fighting the Good Fight at http://www.jayflow22.blogspot.com. It looks like a great site!