1.2.3 Adorning the Mind
Irenaeus of Lyons and the Theology of the Holy Spirit either one. In his well-known description of the celebration of the Eucharist the officiant 'sends forth praise and glory to the Father of all things through the name of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.'23 Then comes the formula,
'we bless the Maker of all through his Son, Jesus Christ, and through the Holy Spirit.'24
Such statements may not be as revealing as other instances considered in this study, because Justin's understanding may reflect the ambiguity of New
Testament passages with regard to the roles of the Son and the Spirit in prayer.
In John 15:16, Jesus directs his followers to make their requests to the Father in his name, and in Eph. 5:20 believers should be 'giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.' Eph. 6:18 bears a similar thought with regard to the Spirit: 'with all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit.'25
Texts like these could account for Justin's approach, yet the liturgical practices Justin recounts have heightened the similarity of the roles of the Son and the Spirit. New Testament writings never instruct believers to pray in the name of the Holy Spirit, but that phrase is present in Justin as seen in the quotation from 1 Apol 65.3. While this move may indicate a desire to value the work and position of both the Son and the Spirit, the lack of differentiation in their roles limits the degree to which we may distinguish them.26
1.2.3 Adorning the Mind (Dial 4.1) 'Is there, then' [the Old Man] asked, 'in our mind such and so great a power–does not [the mind] quickly comprehend through the perception of the senses? Or will the human mind see God when not adorned (ŒŒ Å ) by the Holy Spirit?'
(Dial 7.1) Long before the time of all those called philosophers, a long time ago, there were those who were blessed and righteous and loved by God, who spoke by the divine Spirit and declared things to come . . . And they call them prophets . . . who spoke only that which they heard and saw when filled
(ºÅæøŁ ) by the Holy Spirit.
23 1 Apol 65.3: Øa F OÆ F ıƒ F ŒÆd Æ F ±ª ı IÆ Ø.
24 1 Apol 67.2: Pº ª F . . . Øa F ıƒ F ÆP F I F åæØ F ŒÆd Øa Æ F ±ª ı.
25 John 15:16. K fiH OÆ ı; Eph. 5:20: K OÆØ F Œıæ ı H Å F åæØ F; Eph.
6:18: K ÆØ. The use of K in these New Testament selections but Øa by Justin should not cause concern since each preposition refers to both the Son and the Spirit–so the roles are not distinguished by means of particular prepositions. Moreover, Col. 3:17 uses both prepositions to convey the same idea, revealing a certain degree of overlap in meaning and convention: 'And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus (K OÆØ Œıæ
Å F), giving thanks to God the Father through him (Ø' ÆP F).'
26 Cf. Kretschmar (1956: 190).
Justin Martyr and the Pneumatology of the Mid-Second Century
The earliest chapters of Dial feature the Spirit. Dial 4.1 contains Justin's conversion narrative in which he declares, through the voice of the Old
Man, that the Holy Spirit adorns the human mind in order to overcome its inability to see God. The statement of the Spirit's adorning activity in 4.1 follows Dial 3.7, where the philosophers cannot 'speculate correctly or speak truly of God'—those who have never seen or heard God can have no knowledge of him. The adorning activity of the Spirit in Dial 4.1 enables one to see
God and, the reader presumes, also enables one to hear from God. When in Dial 7.1 Justin continues the discussion of 4.1 and defines the prophetic prediction of future events as being what 'the prophets heard and saw when filled by the Holy Spirit,' he states that the adorning of the Spirit referred to in 4.1 has the same effect as the filling of the Spirit in 7.1. Dial 4.1 and 7.1 establish, then, that adorning activity is that activity, that particular 'filling,' whereby the Spirit empowers a person to hear and see divine things—the necessary precondition for one to 'speculate correctly or speak truly of God.' Therefore, the Spirit is a source of knowledge other than the human mind, the source of knowledge that grants insight into divine things.27 The prophets, filled with the adorning
Spirit, possess the source of knowledge needed for correct speaking and speculation, that the aforementioned philosophers do not. The activity of the Spirit in Dial 4.1 resembles the activity of Christ in Dial 7.3:28
Above all, pray for the gates of light to be opened for you, for [these truths] are neither visible nor comprehensible, unless God and his Christ give understanding
(fiH ıØ ÆØ).
Justin's reference to the activity of 'God and his Christ' at the end of Dial 7.3 prompts one to question whether Justin distinguishes the adorning activity of the Spirit in 4.1 and 7.1 from the activity of 'God and his Christ' in 7.3. In the last sentence of 7.3 Justin writes that knowledge of God and creation 'are neither visible nor comprehensible, unless God and his Christ give understanding.' God and Christ also act as a sourceof knowledge other thanthe human mind, a source that grants an insight similar to the Spirit's, into divine things.
I have shown that the adorning or filling of the Spirit is the difference between the philosophers who cannot see and hear God in Dial 3.7 and the prophets who foretell what they have seen and heard in 7.1. In this regard,
Justin's use of Œ ø for the activity of the Spirit in Dial 4.1 conveys the same idea as ºÅæø in 7.1. On the other hand, the role Christ plays in 7.3 is less
27 van Winden (1971: 70–1).
28 Stanton considers Dial 4.1 and 7.1, but he misses the connection between the adorning activity of the Holy Spirit in 4.1 and the activity of the prophets (filled by the Spirit) in 7.1. What is more important for our present study, he misses the resemblance between the adorning activity of the Holy Spirit in 4.1 and the activity of Christ in 7.3, stating instead that the activity of the Holy Spirit in 4.1 'foreshadows' that of Christ in 7.3 (Stanton 2004: 323–4).