1.2.1 Rebuking the People of God
Irenaeus of Lyons and the Theology of the Holy Spirit restricts the number of divine beings by challenging Trypho to state whether the 'Holy Spirit calls God and Lord any other besides the Father of all things and his Christ.'21 Thus, the Holy Spirit holds a unique position of importance: his activity stands behind the texts of Scripture Justin uses to illustrate the divinity of the Father and his Word. Moreover, the casual manner in which Justin affirms statements about the Holy Spirit indicates that such an understanding of the importance of the Spirit is not a contested, or even a foreign, concept to the Jews as represented by Trypho.
Thus, Justin's writings evince his Trinitarian convictions in his references to the liturgy of the early Church, in his testimony concerning Christian beliefs, and in passages containing his own theological constructions. He considers the Spirit to be distinct in identity from the Father and the Son, and he regards the Spirit as following the Father and Son in rank, but grouped with them. He also distinguishes the activity of the Spirit when he refers to the testimony of the Spirit about the Father and the Son. The following sections will explore and explain, nonetheless, how Justin's account of the Spirit does not provide adequate support for his Trinitarian convictions.
1.2 THE INDISTINCT ACTIVITY OF SPIRIT
AND WORD: BINITARIANISM IN CONFLICT
WITH TRINITARIANISM
Despite the Trinitarian convictions documented in the first section of this study,
Justin seldom ascribes distinct activity to the Spirit. Though many have described
Justin's theology of the Spirit as confused because of his failure to distinguish the activities of the Spirit and Word, no one has demonstrated that Justin consistently fails to distinguish the activity of the Spirit. As a result, the binitarian orientation in Justin's logic has gone unnoticed. This has kept us from recognizing that the inadequacies of his approach to the Spirit are explained by the existence of a binitarian schema alongside Justin's Trinitarian beliefs. In this section of this chapter I will examine four discussions in which Justin does not distinguish the work of the Spirit and Word—evidence of a persistent binitarian tendency.
1.2.1 Rebuking the People of God Several times in 1 Apol 63 and once in Dial 38.2, Justin uses the term Kº ªåø to say the Spirit rebukes the Hebrews for not knowing God or his Word. In 21 See also Dial 32.3, 33.2, 36.2, 36.6, 61.1, 124.4.