June 19th, 2018

A few comments on Book I of St. Ambrose's “On the Holy Spirit”

*Overview*

Ambrose spends most of the first book outlining basic elements of Pneumatology. In particular,
Amrbose is concerned with demonstrating that the Holy Spirit: is not a material thing; is not a created
thing at all; that the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit constitutes just one name, not three; the
function of the Holy Spirit with regards to God's grace; the role of the Holy Spirit in baptism; and so
forth.

*A strange matter of exegesis*

In Chapter VIII Ambrose makes a great deal out of the wording of Joel 2:28.

```
Who, then, can dare to say that the substance of the Holy Spirit is created, at Whose shining in our
hearts we behold the beauty of divine truth, and the distance between the creature and the Godhead,
that the work may be distinguished from its Author? Or of what creature has God so spoken as to say:
“I will pour out of My spirit”? He said not Spirit, but “of My Spirit,” for we are not able to receive the
fulness [sic] of the Holy Spirit, but we receive as much as our Master divides to us of His own
according to His will (Phil. 2:6). For as the Son of God thought it not robbery that He should be equal
to God, but emptied Himself, that we might be able to receive Him in our minds; but He emptied
Himself not that He was void of His own fulness [sic], but in order that He, Whose fulness [sic] I could
not endure, might infuse Himself into me according to the measure of my capacity, in like manner also
the Father says that He pours out of the Spirit upon all flesh; for He did not pour Him forth wholly, but
that which He poured forth abounded for all.
```

I checked the RSV, the NRSV, and the Douay-Rheims, and all three of them render Joel 2:28 as “I will
pour out My spirit.” I'm not immediately sure what to make of this seeming discrepancy.

Why I find this so interesting is because of the indirect import of the language of Kenosis. Kenosis
typically refers to some sort of divine self-limiting, emptying, or abasement with regards to the
Incarnation of the Word. I haven't yet heard of it being used with respect to the Holy Spirit. While it's
true that the gifts of the Holy Spirit aren't given in equal quantity to all, on account of the inability of
people to *receive* those gifts in the same capacity, I can't quite figure out how that would relate to a
Pneumatological kenosis. Opinions would be welcome here.

*Our ascent to the Holy Spirit versus its coming forth to us*

Ambrose later on in chapter IX clarifies some language in scripture, specifically concerning the spirit
coming forth. He links the question to John 16:28 where the Word says “I came forth from the Father
and am come into the world.” Ambrose uses this passage to emphasize that the Spirit is not *in* any
particular location, not could the Spirit move from one location to another. Rather, therefore:

```
He exists then, and abides always, Who is the Spirit of His mouth, but He eems to come down when we
receive Him, that He may dwell in us, that we may not be alien from His grace. To us He seems to
come down, not that He does come down, but that our mind ascends to Him.
```

I intend to get through Book II tomorrow. Stay tuned