Augustine’S Spirit-Soul Analogy: And Its Implications for Communion Ecclesiology

By Gabriel Mendy

"Fr. Dr. Mendy offers us a provocative insight into communion ecclesiology by indicating the relationship between the presence of spirit in both a person's body and in the Church. His text informs and invites us to deepen our understanding of Theological Anthropology and Ecclesiology in an interrelational mode. Most importantly, Mendy brings to bear a more "African" understanding of Spirit which stretches and expands traditional western views."
Prof. George Worgul, Professor Duquesne University

"Gabriel Mendy's book represents a significant contribution to Pneumatology by being rooted in the tradition of the Church, in dialogue with contemporary theologians, Catholic authoritative statements, and the African context. Those interested in recent developments in Pneumatology, the dialogue between Church Fathers and modernity, as well as issues of inculturation, will find Mendy's book extremely captivating."
Dr. Radu Bordeianu, Associate Professor, Duquesne University

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Aug 29, 2013
• ISBN: 9781483687032

Gabriel Mendy

Born in The Gambia, the author is a Catholic priest of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit Fathers and Brothers (Spiritans). He holds a B.A (Phil.), B.A (Rel.) M.A (Theo.), and Ph.D. in Systematic Theology. Since his ordination in 1997, he worked in Sierra Leone and in 2004 he began his doctorate studies in Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, USA. After his graduation in 2009, he ministered in Our Lady Star of the Sea Parish, New York, USA. The following year, he was appointed lecturer in Spiritan International School of Theology, Enugu, Nigeria and since 2012, he is the Vice Rector of this Catholic Seminary. The courses he lectures include Ecclesiology, Fundamental Theology, Theology of Worship, Liturgy, and Catechetics.

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Copyright © 2013 by Gabriel Mendy Ph.D.

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Contents

Dedication

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Chapter One:       THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE IMMANENT TRINITY

A.   Augustine’s Trinitarian Presuppositions

1.1 The Divine Persons And Their Common Substance

1.2 The Equality Of The Father, Son, And Holy Spirit

1.3 The Unity Of The Divine Persons

1.4 The Father, Son, And Holy Spirit Work Inseparably Ad Extra

B.   The Spirit’s Distinctive Nature

1.2.1 The Spirit Proceeds From The Father And The Son

1.2.2 The Common Gift Of The Father And The Son

1.2.3 The Bond Of Love Between The Father And The Son

1.2.4 The Communion Between The Father And The Son

C.   Augustine’s Notable Perspective About The Holy Spirit

1.3.1 The Spirit’s Timeless And Simultaneous Procession As A Gift

1.3.2 The Spirit Through Whom The Triad Dwells In The Church

1.3.3 The Spirit Also Gives Himself As God

Chapter Two:       THE MISSION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

A.   The Gift Of The Father And The Son To The Church

2.1.1 The Holy Spirit Is Not Conjoined To Its Bodily Forms

2.1.2 Christ’s Anointing By The Spirit Prefigures The Church

2.1.3 The Spirit Is The Supreme Gift To All Members Of The Church

2.1.4 Source Of The Church’s Charismatic Gifts

B.   Augustine Against The Donatists

2.2.1 The Donatists’ Stance On Rebirth In The Spirit

2.2.2 The Spirit And The Sacraments Of The Church

2.2.3 Why The Donatists Do Not Have The Holy Spirit

2.2.4 Schism: A Sin Against The Holy Spirit—An Act Against Love

C.   Augustine’s Spirit-Soul Analogy

2.3.1 The Animating Principle Of The Church’s Unity

2.3.2 The Spirit Gives Life To The Members Of The Church

2.3.3 The Church Speaks All Languages Because Of The Spirit

2.3.4 Unity Is The Finality Of The Spirit’s Gifts

Chapter Three:       DIVERGENT AND COMPLEMENTARY INTERPRETATIONS OF AUGUSTINE’S SPIRIT-SOUL ANALOGY

A.   Shifts In The Magisterium’s Understanding Of The Analogy

3.1.1 Leo Xiii’s Encyclical: Divinum Illud Munus (1897)

3.1.2 Pius Xii’s Encyclical: Mystici Corporis Christi (1943)

3.1.3 Vatican Ii: Lumen Gentium (1964)

3.1.4 John Paul Ii’s Encyclical: Dominum Et Vivificantem (1986)

B.   Congar’s Perspective On The Function Of The Spirit In The Church

3.2.1 A Functional And Not An Ontological Analogy

3.2.2 The Spirit Animates And Dwells In The Church

3.2.3 The Spirit Co-Institutes One, Holy, Catholic, And Apostolic Church

3.2.4 The Church Invokes The Spirit—The Event

Of The Spirit

C.   The Question Of The Autonomy Of The Spirit

3.3.1 Developments In Congar’s Perspective

3.3.2 Freedom Of The Spirit—Insufficient Formula For Ecclesiology

3.3.3 The Word And Spirit Work Together To Build Up The Church

3.3.4 Preserving The Charismatic Element Of The Church

Chapter Four:       THE SPIRIT AS THE SOURCE OF COMMUNION BETWEEN THE UNIVERSAL CHURCH AND LOCAL CHURCHES

A.   The Nature Of The Universal And Local Church

4.1.1 The Nature Of The Universal Church

4.1.2 The Nature Of The Local Church

4.1.3 The Mission Of The Universal And Local Church

4.1.4 The Debate Over The Ontological Priority Of The Universal Church

B.   Implications Of The Spirit As The Source Of Communion

4.2.1 The Concept Of Communion—A Mystery

4.2.2 A Communion Of Unity And Diversity Of Gifts

4.2.3 A Communion Of Mutual Interiority Between The Universal And Local Churches

4.2.4 Communion Between The Universal And Local Churches—A Sign Of The Spirit

4.2.5 The Spirit Guarantees The Infallibility Of The Church

4.2.6 Renewal Of The Church In The Spirit

4.2.7 Ecumenical Dialogue And Inculturation

C.   What Communion In The Spirit Means For The African Church

4.3.1 Participatory Structures Of The African Family-Church

4.3.2 The Particularity Instead Of Autonomy Of African Church

4.3.3 Use Of Gifts And Resources For The Whole Church

4.3.4 The African Church—An Instrument Of Reconciliation

CONCLUSION

Summary

Appraisal

Further Research

BIBLIOGRAPHY

The Church as a Communion was one of the key models used by Vatican II to describe the Mystery of the Church as—‘a people made one with the unity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit (L.G.4)’. In his book, Fr. Gabriel Mendy explores this model using St. Augustine’s Spirit-Soul Analogy. In such a communion, we are told, there is unity in diversity because the Spirit who is the source of all gifts also gathers together the different members of the Church in unity.

+ Bishop Robert P. Ellison, Bishop of the Diocese of Banjul.

Fr. Gabriel Mendy has done us all a wonderful service in providing a very careful and balanced analysis of St. Augustine’s Pneumatology and Ecclesiology, and their interrelationship. One could hardly ask for a better point of entry into these issues of great importance for today’s Communion Ecclesiology.

W. Thompson-Uberuaga, emeritus professor, Duquesne University

DEDICATION

This book is entirely dedicated to my immediate and extended family, the Church in The Gambia, and all God’s people of good will who are united in faith and love in the Spirit.

By what is common to them both, the Father and the Son wished us to have communion both with them and among ourselves… to gather us together and make us one, that is to say, by the Holy Spirit who is God and the gift of God. By this gift we are reconciled to the Godhead, and by this gift we enjoy the Godhead.

—Augustine: Sermon 71.18

I have sought you and desired to see intellectually what I have believed and I have argued much and toiled much… Let me remember you, let me understand you, and let me love you. Increase these things in me until you fashion me entirely.

—Augustine’s Prayer in Epilogue of De Trinitate 51

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

As a sign of appreciation to those who nurtured and shaped my vocation and ideas about the nature, life, and mission of the Church, I would like to acknowledge their vital contribution towards this project on the Spirit as the source of communion in the Church. First of all, I am most grateful to my deceased parents Lawrence and Neneh M. Mendy, deceased members of my family, my brothers and sisters in Lamin, my extended family, Fr. Reginald Gillooly C.S.Sp and parishioners of my home parish living and deceased, my teachers and colleagues in St. Peter’s Primary and St. Peter’s High Schools. All of you made it possible for me to experience the unity and love the Spirit creates in the Church and you continue to be a source of inspiration to me in my missionary endeavors.

In a special way, I am also indebted to the Congregation of the Holy Spirit Fathers and Brothers for my spiritual and academic formation and commitment to the Church’s mission. As a Spiritan, I am deeply grateful to all the Spiritans who toiled and are still working in The Gambia, especially, Bishop Maloney (R.I.P), Bishop Cleary, Bishop Ellison, Fr. White (R.I.P), Fr. Carroll (R.I.P), Fr. Comer (R.I.P), Fr. Fagan, Fr. Conaty, Fr. Sharpe, Fr. Casey, and Fr. Murphy. My fellow Gambian Spiritans are equally dear to me for their solidarity and support as well as my former superiors in WAP and the USA province who sponsored and facilitated my Ph.D. program in Duquesne University from 2004-2009. During this period, I was privileged to experience the fraternal support of my confreres in Laval House and Trinity Hall and I deeply value their encouragement.

Given the support and motivation I received from the Catholic community, I want to register my gratitude to The Gambian Clergy and missionary Congregations working in the Diocese of Banjul. Above all, I sincerely treasure the interest and concern of the lay faithful in the diocese and my family friends in Atlanta, Maryland, New York, and Ohio. As a Gambian priest, I am profoundly inspired and motivated by their commitment and participation in the life of the church in The Gambia. The prayers and good intentions of the priests, religious, and parishioners of St. Martin’s, Holy Trinity, and St. Mary’s in Sierra Leone equally spurred me to examine the source of our unity in the Church.

In many ways, my studies in Duquesne University were enhanced by several acts of kindness I was privileged to experience from close friends and well-wishers. The faculty, staff, and students of the Theology Department in Duquesne University truly earn my highest esteem and appreciation for their professionalism and cordial assistance in my intellectual pursuit. I am deeply humbled and grateful to all, especially, Prof. Worgul, Dr. Radu Bordeianu, Dr. Amiée Light, Dr. Marie Baird, Dr. O’Brien, Dr. Bailey, Dr. Bodoo, Dr. Wright, Fr. E. Uzukwu, Prof. Thompson-Uberagua, Prof.M. Slusser, Prof. Hannigan, Dr. Anne Clifford, Dr. Donovan, Dr. Karen Hoover (R.I.P), Dr. Kelly, Fr. Sean Kealy, and Fr. Luke Mbefo. In addition, I cherish the insights and contributions of Jill Dishart and Fr. John Geary C.S.Sp. who both read and corrected the original manuscripts of this volume. Please be assured of my prayers and gratitude because of your contribution to this study on Augustine’s Spirit-Soul Analogy and its Implications for Communion Ecclesiology. My holidays were fruitful and fulfilling because of the bond of love the Spirit created between me and the priests, staff, and parishioners of Our Lady Star of the Sea in Staten Island of New York Archdiocese. I am extremely grateful to all, especially, Msg. Jeff Conway, Fr. Joe McLafferty, their parochial vicars, and loving parishioners.

28th August, 2013

Feast of St. Augustine of Hippo

INTRODUCTION

Among the many challenges facing the Church today, the most central and urgent of all is the consolidation of the bonds of communion among its diverse members and between the universal Church and the local churches. This task is foremost, in my view, because it bears positive and far-reaching consequences on all aspects of the Church’s life and mission. At this crucial moment when there is an evasive spirit towards authority, vocations are in decline, parishes are closed, and the Church is searching for a renewal of religious fervor and witness, only the bonds of communion that transcend and cut across suspicions and differences can restore harmony in the Church. The source of the Church’s bonds of communion and the nature of this communion is what I intend to articulate in this book. Specifying the unifying and animating principle of the Church’s communion is vital now because in most cases it is the visible hierarchical structure of the Church that is mainly identified as the source of communion for the members.

Consequently, the overarching theme of this research on Augustine’s theology of the Spirit and ecclesiology is the unique function of the Spirit in the Church as the source of the Church’s life, unity in diversity, gifts, and mission. The respective actions the Spirit performs among the members of the Church, will, equally be discussed in detail. The Spirit will not, therefore, be depicted as an external additional force dwelling in the Church. Rather, the Spirit will be identified as an indispensable principle of the Church’s constitution, communion, and mission. The Church clearly depends on the Spirit as its source of unity and life. This fact was adequately stated by Augustine in his Pentecost sermon when he analogically compared the function of the Spirit in the Church to the soul in the body. Based on Augustine’s Spirit-Soul analogy, I will examine in this book the Church’s communion in the Spirit and its implications for the life, identity, and mission of the Church. The subject-matter of this research, therefore, covers the following important issues of interest, namely, the unifying and animating functions of the Spirit in the Church, the universal and local churches’ communion in the Spirit, the particularity of the African church, and the charismatic structure of the Church.

As the source of the Church’s unity in diversity, the Spirit is the one who enriches each member with different charismatic gifts for the good of the whole Church. For this reason, no member of the Church is clearly endowed with all the charismatic gifts of the Spirit. I would, therefore, argue that the Church is inherently a unity in diversity in its constitution and all members of the Church should fully participate in the life of the Church according to their gifts and charisms. In addition to its unifying function, the Spirit is also identified in this book as the animating principle who gives life to the members of the Church. Those who are united in the Church are equally alive in the Spirit because the Spirit is the one who empowers them with its life-giving breath.

The communion that exists between the universal Church and local churches is also associated with the Spirit in this volume because the Spirit is uniquely the bond of love and the source of unity. Since the Spirit is the communion between the Father and the Son, I would argue that the communion between the universal Church and local churches is equally modeled on the communion of the divine persons of the Trinity. The form of this communion between the universal Church and local churches should be a communion of mutual interiority in which both are inseparably united and at the same time distinct in their relationship. An exchange of gifts and resources and a spirit of solidarity should ultimately prevail in this communion the Spirit creates in order to strengthen the universal Church and local churches’ communion.

As a result of the Spirit’s function as the source of communion and the uniqueness of its charismatic gifts, I will argue that in communion with the universal Church, the local church in Africa should discover and treasure its particularity. For the Spirit is the one who confers on each local church the ecclesial, liturgical, and cultural heritage it acquires as a community of faith. At the same time, the Spirit is also the one who preserves the diversity of the local churches in communion for the good of the whole Church. The Spirit’s charismatic gifts to the African church are, accordingly, different from the gifts of other local churches. These gifts that characterize the local church in Africa include: Africa’s diverse cultural and social heritage, the African sense of community life, the centrality of life and family in African culture, the liturgical celebrations of Africans and the symbols and spirituality of the African world-view.

Each of these gifts represents the identity and particularity of this local church in communion with the universal Church but they are meant for the good of the whole Church. They should, accordingly, be shared as gifts in order to consolidate the communion of the universal Church and African church. By sharing its gifts, the latter is in a position to assert its identity and influence the life and ministry of the whole Church. The emphasis, from my perspective, should ultimately be on the African church’s particularity and not its autonomy because the latter is not obtainable where the Spirit is the source of communion. For this reason, I will propose that the African church should appreciate its particularity and use its unique gifts to strengthen its communion with the universal Church. The task of the bishops, clergy, and theologians of the African church is to discover and define the particularity of this local church.

Adequate consideration is similarly given to the charismatic structure of the Church on account of the Spirit’s role in the constitution of the Church. Both the hierarchical and charismatic structures are, accordingly, presented in this book as constitutive features of the Church that must equally be valued. An attempt to suppress or render the Church’s charismatic structure ineffective is, in my estimation, a direct opposition to the Spirit who endows the members of the Church with charisms for the good of the whole. Like the hierarchical members of the Church, the charismatic members of the Church should also participate in the life and ministry of the Church according to their vocations. The lay faithful should, therefore, be encouraged to discover their unique charisms and offer themselves at the service of the whole Church. This would not only enrich the life of the Church, it would also enable these members to be available and obedient to the Spirit who is present and active in the Church.

In order to fully understand in proper perspective Augustine’s theology of the Spirit and the Spirit’s role in the constitution and life of the Church, it is imperative to also examine his trinitarian theology. For the latter is the original corpus in which he established the Spirit’s consubstantiality and its inseparability from the Father and the Son, as well as the Spirit’s distinctive function in the Trinity. I will, therefore, examine Augustine’s understanding of the function of the Spirit in the Church in light of his trinitarian presuppositions concerning the Spirit because the latter informs the former. There is clearly a connection between Augustine’s trinitarian theology and ecclesiology because the same Spirit functions as the source of communion between the divine community and the whole Church. From his trinitarian theology, one can equally deduce not only the distinctiveness of the Spirit’s function in the Church, but also the trinitarian origins of the Church from the communion of the divine persons. The method of approach in this study will, therefore, be deductive in nature since the function of the Spirit in the Church reflects what the Spirit does in the immanent Trinity.

For the sake of clarity and insight into the nature and activity of the divine persons, analogies were used by Augustine to illustrate how three entities can be united and yet distinct in their relation. He even utilized the analogy of lover, beloved, and the love to signify the Spirit’s function as the bond of love between the Father and the Son. The analogical sense in which Augustine made these comparisons is particularly emphasized in this volume as a caveat against a literal interpretation of these analogies. There is no substantial identification as such between the divine persons and any particular aspect or component of the analogies. Augustine would even maintain that the Spirit is not conjoined to its bodily forms because the Spirit remains the Spirit of the Father and the Son. Therefore, it is my conviction that Augustine did not intend the Spirit-Soul analogy to be interpreted in a literal sense or be understood as an ontological analogy because the Spirit is not substantially the soul of the Church. An attempt will, therefore, be made in this book to correct interpretations of the analogy that exceed the limits of what the analogy represents.

In all, this volume is divided into four chapters, a conclusion, summary, and appraisal of the whole work. The general topic of the first chapter is the Holy Spirit in the immanent Trinity. Since the Spirit is a divine person of the Trinity, Augustine’s trinitarian presuppositions on the nature, unity, and equality of the divine persons form the starting point of this scholarly work. Based on their consubstantiality, Augustine would argue that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are divine, united, and equal in nature. The divine persons are, therefore, one in nature and the Spirit is not subordinate in nature to the Father and the Son. In addition to their unity and equality, the divine persons are also distinct in their relations. However, the unity that exists among the divine persons is essentially a unity of equals as well as a unity of diversity that will be presented in this book as the model of the Church’s unity in diversity. As a result of the divine persons’ unity in nature, Augustine would also maintain that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit work inseparably ad extra. This indicates that Augustine is trinitarian in his perspective in affirming that the divine persons work together with the cooperation of all.

In view of the divine persons’ distinctiveness, the Spirit’s particular nature and function in the immanent Trinity will be examined in this chapter. For the Spirit is identified in Augustine’s trinitarian theology as the common gift, the bond of love, the communion between the Father and the Son, and the one through whom the whole triad dwells in the Church. These characteristics of the Spirit are fundamental to his trinitarian theology and ecclesiology because they provide an insight into who the Spirit is and what the Spirit does in the Trinity and the Church. As such, the Spirit is the communion between the Father and the Son, and the divine community and the Church. In this communion, the Spirit is the unifying and animating principle of their unity in diversity.

The second chapter specifically concerns the mission and function of the Spirit in the Church where the Spirit unites the members of the Church in a communion of love. The Spirit’s indispensable role in the life and unity of the Church and the obligation of the members of the Church to preserve their communion in the Spirit will equally be discussed. First of all, the Spirit is presented as the gift of the Father and the Son to the Church and is meant to empower and prompt the members of the Church to live in unity and love. This Church was prefigured, according to Augustine, at the baptism of Christ when he was anointed by the Spirit to fulfill his mission. Therefore, the members of the Church should also receive the Spirit in order to be effective. As the gift of the Father and the Son to the Church, Augustine would argue that the Spirit is the supreme gift of God who is common to all the members of the Church. The members are ultimately gifted and equal on account of the Spirit because the Spirit is not reserved to a select few based on their holiness as the Donatists claimed.

Furthermore, the Spirit is recognized as the source of the Church’s charismatic gifts, as well as the efficient cause of the sacraments of the Church. For Augustine, the Church is like the human body with different members who have diverse gifts, vocations, and languages. In the case of the Church, it is a living and united Body of Christ with all the members actively functioning in harmony because the Spirit is the unifying and animating principle of the Church. The latter is, therefore, a unity in diversity in which all are alive in the Spirit. In that sense, the Spirit is the one who enables all members of the Church to be united in love and to speak the languages of all the nations while preserving their communion in the Church.

In the third chapter, the divergent and complementary interpretations of the Spirit-Soul analogy by the Magisterium and Congar will be examined. The ways in which this analogy was interpreted in selected documents will be discussed in order to outline the shifts in the Magisterium’s understanding. In Divinum Illud Munus, Pope Leo XIII would identify the Spirit as the soul of the Church. This is, in my view, a shift from Augustine’s analogical sense because the Spirit is not in itself a soul. His position clearly limits the Spirit to the Church and makes the Church essentially a divine institution. In similar fashion, Pope Pius XII also adopted a literal interpretation of the analogy in Mystici Corporis Christi. He affirmed that the Spirit is present and active in the inferior members through the ministry of the higher members. This statement is clearly at odds with Augustine because for him the Spirit animates and vivifies all members of the Church.

Vatican II was, rather, more faithful to Augustine in analogically comparing the function of the Spirit in the Church to that of the soul in the body. This Council attempted to even express what was not so explicitly represented in Augustine’s analogy, namely, the Spirit’s relationship to Christ. For Pope John Paul II, the Spirit’s function as the Lord and Giver of life also includes sanctifying and teaching the members of the Church because it is through the Spirit that they are adopted as children of God. Although Congar would evoke the analogy between the Spirit and the soul, he cautioned that it is a functional and not an ontological analogy because the latter amounts to ecclesiological monophysitism. Moreover, he considered the Spirit as the co-instituting principle who works together with the Word in forming the Church. The assumption that the Spirit functions in an already constituted Church and the charismatic and hierarchical elements of the Church are opposed to each other will be addressed in this chapter.

The fourth chapter deals with the Spirit as the source of communion between the universal Church and local churches and its implications in the life and mission of the Church. As a result of the Spirit’s function in the Church, the nature of both the universal Church and local churches will be examined to highlight the origin and constitution of the whole Church. The significance of Augustine’s and Congar’s insight on this subject would, therefore, be emphasized for the Spirit is the one who constitutes and preserves the Church’s communion in unity. Based on Augustine’s trinitarian theology, I would argue that the Church derives its origin from the divine persons of the Trinity. I would also assert that the Church’s unity is not solely the work of the Church’s hierarchical structures, but the Spirit who is the source of the Church’s visible and invisible communion. The local churches are, accordingly, manifestations of the universal Church and they bear the elements of the latter. Each of these churches is, however, particular in identity based on the liturgical and spiritual gifts the Spirit confers on them.

As a result of the Spirit’s function as the source of communion between the universal Church and local churches, their communion should become a unity in diversity of gifts. There should also be a spirit of solidarity and charity between them based on their mutual interiority. The members of the Church should equally be more receptive to its teaching on account of the Spirit who guarantees the Church’s infallibility. On its part, the Church is required to renew itself in the Spirit and be involved in ecumenism and inculturation in order to promote the unifying mission of the Spirit. For the local church in Africa, I would argue that proper participatory structures should be created so that the members can use their charismatic gifts at the service of the Church and its mission. The African church’s particularity needs to be greatly emphasized and it should use its resources to strengthen its communion with the universal Church.

Since the focus of this volume is on the Spirit as the source of communion based on Augustine’s Spirit-Soul analogy, the subject-matter imposes some limitations on this book. What this research specifically examines is only the unifying and animating functions of the Spirit as the source of communion between the universal Church and local churches and between the hierarchical and charismatic members of the Church. Consequently, the Spirit’s mission in creation and the world at large is not a major issue in my analysis of its functions as the gift of the Father and the Son to the Church. In fact, the analogy of the Spirit in the Church and the soul in the body largely concerns the function of the Spirit in the Church than its presence in the world. Even so attention is only given to specific activities the Spirit fulfills in the Church in its distinctive role as the source of communion. The focus then is precisely on the Spirit’s unique function in the Church even though the trinitarian nature of the divine persons’ work is noted in this book. The function of the Spirit is greatly emphasized in order to account for the Spirit’s indispensable role in the origin, life, and mission of the Church.

CHAPTER ONE

THE HOLY SPIRIT

IN THE IMMANENT TRINITY

An account of the nature and function of the Spirit that adequately represents Augustine’s perspective on the Church’s communion will definitely include his theology of the Spirit in the immanent Trinity and the Church. The former will, therefore, serve as the starting point of this book on the distinct nature and function of the Spirit in the Church. This quest is significant at the same time complex because the Spirit who functions in the Church as source of communion is itself a divine person of the Trinity. An attempt will, therefore, be made in this chapter to establish the Spirit’s divinity and its distinctiveness in relation to the Father and the Son in order to understand in proper perspective the Spirit’s function in the Church. For that reason, I will argue that the Spirit is not subordinated to the Father and the Son because the Spirit is divine, equal, and inseparably united with them. Secondly, I will highlight the distinctive nature of the Spirit as the common gift, the bond of love, and the communion between the Father and the Son. Finally, I will explain how Augustine’s notable perspective properly articulates the unique function of the Spirit in the divine community of the Trinity and the Church.

The development of trinitarian theology in both East and West was largely due to the Arian controversy. This controversy was generated by Arius who claimed that the Son of God cannot be of the same essence or substance with the Father. Therefore, the Son is not equal with the Father in his nature and knowledge. The Council of Nicea in AD 325 would categorically condemn Arius for denying the divinity and equality of the Son with the Father. Against Arius’ position, the Council would teach that the Father and the Son are one and the same substance as God from God and light from light. The defining concept was homoousios, but "homoousios needed clarification because it could be wrongly understood to support a Sabellian doctrine about the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit constituting an identical and undifferentiated unity, with the persons as being no more than mere names or modes."¹ The controversy, therefore, extended beyond the Council of Nicea because "a neo-Arian position spear-headed by Eunomius (d.c.394) asserted that the human intellect can know the ousia (essence) of the Father through an understanding of the term ‘ungenerate,’ God’s… fundamental characteristic."²

While the divinity and equality of the Son were denied and questioned by the Arians and the neo-Arians, the status and divinity of the Spirit was also questioned and rejected by the fighters against the Spirit, also known as Pneumatomachians. The latter regarded the Spirit as a mere creature that is subordinate to the Son just as the Son is subordinate to the Father. For that reason, the Spirit cannot be worshipped and glorified in the same way the Father and the Son are worshipped and glorified as God. The Spirit’s divinity and equality with the Father and the Son also had to be defined and defended by the Cappadocians against the Pneumatomachians’ objections.

St. Basil would address these objections in his treatise On The Holy Spirit. The question he posed was, when the Lord established the baptism of salvation, did he not clearly command his disciples to baptize all nations ‘in the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit’? He did not disdain his fellowship with the Holy Spirit.³ In the above statement, Basil appealed to the Scriptures to show that the Spirit is equal to and, therefore, of the same nature with the Father and the Son. In so doing, he was able to establish the fact that the Spirit shares the same fellowship or communion with the Father and the Son because it is in their name that believers share God’s divine life through the sacrament of baptism. The Spirit is inevitably united to the Father and the Son in sharing the same communion and is equally divine in nature.

Both Gregory Nazianzus and Gregory of Nyssa maintained the same position against the teachings of Eunomius and the Pneumatomachians. On his part, Gregory of Nyssa would limit his own argument against Eunomius to these two related themes: namely that the idea of God should not be unreservedly connected with the first person of the Trinity—it belongs to all three and the divine nature itself cannot be defined and any attempt on the part of Eunomius to do so is ill advised.⁴ God is, therefore, infinite and incomprehensible to the human person. The position of the Cappadocian Fathers will eventually prevail over the controversies generated by Arius, Eunomius, and the Pneumatomachians at the Council of Constantinople in AD 381. The divinity and equality of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit was not only reaffirmed; the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed also professed faith in the Spirit as the Lord and