[PDF]Four conferences touching the operation of the Holy Spirit, delivered at Newark, N.J.

[PDF]CONTENTS. FIRST CONFERENCE. GENERAL WORK OF THE SPIRIT BEFORE PENTECOST, AMONG THE JEWS AND THE HEATHENS AND OUTSIDE OF THE CHURCH SINCE PENTECOST. I. Introductory Remarks.— Churchmen supposed by non-Churchmen to substitute a mechanical or magical use of the Sacraments in place of the work of the Spirit— Possibility that Churchmen and non-Churchmen mutually misunderstand each other— What non-Catholic Christianity seems to Churchmen to teach— Catholic teaching touching the Holy Ghost may seem to non-Churchmen to imply too much of scientific system— But simplicity of religion and complexity of Catholic Theology not really opposed to each other 3-9 The Holy Ghost before the Fall, as full Illuminator and Sanctifier of Adam— Lost at the Fall as Personal Indweller— But restored at Pentecost—His influences, however, meantime never withdrawn 9-13 When restored, given chronologically, first, to Christ's Human Nature in fulness ; secondly, to the Church at Pentecost in fulness ; thirdly, but in measure only, to the Baptized man— Reply to one of the conclusions drawn by critics from a position assumed by the author in the previous course of Conferences 13-15 The Church— Explanation of the Catholic's idea of It, and why he speaks of It as distinct from the members subsisting in It— How, therefore, it is possible, under the Catholic view, for It to be both Holy and Infallible, when all Its members put together are not holy and are quite fallible 15-35 II. The Spirits General Work.— 1st Among the Heathen — Catholics do not teach that the heathen were deprived of the General Influences of the Spirit, nor the horrible doctrine that all of them are damned by a loving God 26-29 2d. Among those outside of the Church since Pentecost — Catholics do not teach that they are without the Spirit's General Influences, or even that they are all totally cut off from many of His Special Influences, and that there is no salvation whatsoever outside of the Catholic Church — Even the Romanists do not teach this 29-31 3d. Among the Jews prior to Pentecost — The Holy Ghost prepared Judaism to be the womb of Christianity — His work in inspiring individuals — His work in inspiring the Old Testament 31-34 Marvellous external structure of the Old Testament — Its marvellous internal structure 35-36 a. Its topic and great character is The Coming Christ 37 b. Two developing lines in the Old Testament, the one spiritual, the other earthly ; the one begins in Adam and Abel to culminate in Christ and the Church ;the other begins in Satan and Cain to culminate in the Man of Sin 37-39 c. Again, the Old Testament concentrates itself about a model nation, and contains God's revealed will to the nations of earth as such ; what they shall do for earthly prosperity, and what, on their part, must lead to earthly adversity. While the New Testament concentrates itself about a single model individual 40-43 d. The Old Testament tilled by the Holy Ghost with a store of spiritual meaning for all ages 43-44 SECOND CONFERENCE. SPECIAL WORK OF THE SPIRIT IN THE CHURCH. The Spirit, lost to human nature at the Fall by sin, restored to the earth ; given to Christ's Human Nature at the Annunciation, descending thence at Pentecost and filling the Catholic Church — The necessary effect of this the Illumination and Sanctification of Christ's Body Mystical, the Church, in the same degree that Adam was illuminated and sanctified before the Fall 45-45 The Catholic Church, therefore, the Divine Teacher of the world — Each man must either receive the truth from the Church, or fall off and try to be an original discoverer of it out of the Bible, and in his separate fallibility the supreme judge for himself as to what the truth is — The latter process dislocates the Bible, making it serve a purpose for which it was never written — The former, the Divine plan — The Pulpit, therefore, as incongruous with non-Catholic systems, as is the Altar — Its logical change, therefore, to a lecturer's desk, and its abolition by the still more logical Quakers 47-51 I. The Spirit's Special work as Illuminator of the Church.— 1st. The Church in existence and endowed by Him with the Truth before a line of the New Testament was written — The Christian truths planted ineradicably by Him in Her Sacraments, Liturgy, Creed, and whole Apostolic structure — She went forth without the New Testament, east, west, north, and south, and, for years, baptized and taught men these truths. 51-56 2d. The Spirit subsequently moved Apostles and other holy men to write very many letters to private individual Christians, and to sundry local churches — Thus, innumerable more or less holy writings, some with errors in them and some free from error, were in existence in different parts of the Church — It was not till near the beginning of the fourth century that the question was forced upon the Church, by Diocletian's demand that Christians should give up their holy writings, "Among all the innumerable more or less holy writings in our possession, which are My Sacred Scriptures that are free from error?" 57-59 3d. The Spirit, as Illuminator, then guided the Church as She tested the various holy letters by Her truth, and selected those which She was to declare thenceforth to be Her canonical New Testament— It was not till near the opening of the fifth century that the final and irreversible decision was reached by the Church 60-62 4th. The Spirit, as Illuminator, guided the Church to define precisely Her truths against the destructive teachings of Heresiarchs — How this was done — General Councils not always necessary to formulate Her definitions 62-65 What is the Ecclesia Docens? — The Roman fallacy in the premises 65-72 II. The Spirit's Special work as Sanctifier of the Church : — Sanctity flows to us from the Spirit through the Sacraments and other Means of grace, which the Spirit makes holy 73-80 The Spirit a necessity to man's spiritual life, equally with the God-man. 78 III. The Spirit the source also Of the Unity, the Catholicity, the Apostolicity and the Perpetuity of the Church 80-81 THIRD CONFERENCE. SPECIAL WORK OF THE SPIRIT IN THE SOUL OF THE BAPTIZED INDIVIDUAL. I. Prevenient and Cooperative Graces prepare a man for and lead him to Holy Baptism — Why we need Christ's pure Human Nature to penetrate ours, in addition to the action on us of the Holy Spirit — Each mutually helps the other — Either alone would be ineffectual 83-87 II. Special operation of the Spirit at Baptism : Three elements of the natural man, Intellect, Will, and Affections, each wounded at the Fall — The wound of each and its effects — Cure of each wound must be supernatural— Cure begun at Baptism — Its continuation before and after death — Prayers for the departed 87-89 Faith given at Baptism to the wounded Intellect for its cure, Hope to the wounded Will, and Charity to the wounded Affections 90 Re-creation and Rebirth — The man, after Baptism, fitted by his Baptismal endowment of Faith to deal with both the natural and the supernatural realm of Truth — Catholic teaching as to Baptismal Regeneration true, under whatever aspect we may view the Fall, whether as a chronological or as a logical fact 91-96 III. Supernatural organs or powers of Faith, Hope, and Charity, given at Baptism only in germ-form — In this respect the new Spiritual man is the analogue of the old natural man — Birth ushers the old natural man into the world, whose influences are calculated to develop the mere germinal natural powers— Rebirth ushers the new Spiritual man into the Church, whose influences are calculated to develop the germinal spiritual powers — Natural powers will surely develop under the strong influences of the world — Every infant and child corresponds with those influences — But every Baptized person does not necessarily correspond with the influences of the Church — Without such correspondence with the Means of grace, the spiritual germs will remain in mere infantile condition only — Hence possibility of intellectual greatness combined with utter spiritual imbecility and incompetency — There are idiots spiritually as well as intellectually — Such men awake on one side of their being and great in reference to the facts and laws of nature, but dormant, incompetent and miserably ridiculous in presence of the invisible facts and laws of super-nature — No real conflict between the natural and spiritual realms of fact and laws - The conflict brought about by half-men on both sides ; by the spiritually-idiotic, intellectual giants and leaders on the one hand, and by the intellectually-unfurnished or intellectually - incompetent spiritual leaders on the other — Why Infant Baptism is not only reasonable but necessary 96-98 IV. Are Faith, Hope, and Charity given in equal measure? — Is each Baptized man an equal recipient of them with every other? — Testimony of St. Augustine — God loves variety — Man the author of repetitions and sameness— No two men originally alike in natuial character and gifts —No two Baptized men originally alike in spiritual character and gifts — Further causes of variety in spiritual character 98-103 V. Is faith the Foe or the Ally of Intellect? - Faith does best with the help of Intellect — Intellect does best with help of Faith — St. Thomas, St. Augustine, St. Athanasius, etc., men of both mighty intellect and mighty power of Faith — Intellect without the organ of Faith issues in infidelity — Faith with feeble intellect tends to superstition — The Reason darkened by sin — But a tolerable guide in matters within its range - Its horizon, however, bounded — Faith added to it lifts it and widens its horizon so as to include new and modifying facts — The natural eye and ear and heart "cannot see, nor hear, nor understand" the things of the Spirit, because they are, not naturally, but "spiritually discerned" and "God hath given us the Spirit that we might know, etc." — Effect of Faith on Reason 103-106 Nor is Charity the foe of our natural sympathies and antipathies, but it is the cure of our Affections wounded at the Fall — What the law, then, "Love your neighbor as yourself" means — It does not demand that we shall love the stranger as we love with natural affection wife, child, friend, or self — The manner, then, in which we are to love the neighbor exactly as we love ourself? 106-113 VI. How God carries on His double work of restoration: 1st. Of Illumination — He illuminates the Church fully; and through the Church He illuminates the individual ; causing the Church to approach the individual with the truth, and giving the individual inner powers to accept and love that truth 113-114 2d. Of Sanctification — He sanctifies the Church fully, and Her Sacraments and other means of grace ; and through the Church the individual — The process. 115-118 FOURTH CONFERENCE. CONTINUATION OF THE SPECIAL WORK OF THE SPIRIT IN THE SOUL OF THE BAPTIZED INDIVIDUAL. Besides the endowments of Faith, Hope, and Charity, the Holy Ghost imparts at Baptism the Seven Gifts — Testimony of St. Thomas — But the Gifts also imparted in germ-form only — Each can be cultivated by use, or injured by abuse or neglect 119-122 Definition of a Gift — Difference between a Virtue and a Gift — Sanctifying grace of the Spirit — It operates upon the Gifts and thus elicits acts from the Faith, Hope, and Charity according to the several functions of the latter 122-123 Each individual receives every one of the Gifts, but they are not combined in the same way in any two persons 123-125 St. Thomas Aquinas the authors teacher and guide in this treatment of the Gifts and the functions of each 125 I. Faith acts speculatively — aided in this function by the Gifts of Understanding and Wisdom 126 1st. What, precisely, is the Gift of Understanding? — A penetrative and analytic faculty — Its object. Dogmatic Truth, which it receives and sees clearly, but does not judge — How this Gift is developed, and how abused and paralyzed — Where largely imparted and well cultivated it has given to the Church Doctors of Dogmatic Theology — Remarks of St Thomas and St. Gregory Great on this Gift 127-130 2d. What, precisely, is the Gift of Wisdom, and how does it differ from Understanding ?— What are its objects — A testing and judging faculty — Its normal effects in the character and life when it is cherished and cultivated — It has raised up Doctors of Mystical Theology 130-137 II. Faith acts practically — Aided in this function by the Gifts of Knowledge and Counsel 137 3d. Definition of the Gift of Knowledge — In what respects it is similar to and in what it differs from both Understanding and Wisdom — St. Thomas on this Gift — It translates abstract Truth and Law into duty — It is both speculative in its functions and practical— Wisdom sees Creation in God ; Knowledge, reversing this, sees God in Creation — By it we know ourself, and our threefold relationship, practically, to God, the neighbor, and other creatures— How it is cultivated and how injured- It has raised up Doctors of Moral Theology and Missionaries — It is the mother of repentance. 137-144 4th. Definition of the Gift of Counsel — Strictly practical — Difference between Precepts and the Counsels of Perfection — How universally the Gift is misused and injured— Manner in which it should be cultivated - It has raised up Doctors of Ascetic Theology and Religious Orders of men and women. 144-148 III. Hope .- Aided by Ghostly Strength, True Godliness, and Holy Fear. 5th. Definition of Ghostly Strength — St. Dionysius on this gift — It is the Gift both of spiritual courage and of spiritual fortitude — Christ the Strong Soldier— It has raised up martyrs and confessors — It adds Strength to the Hope 149-150 6th. What, precisely, is the gift of True Godliness? — Its Anglican title vague — Piety, or the love of His children for the All - Parent the better title — St. Thomas' close definition — Liturgies, litanies, offices, rosaries, and chaplets of prayer, ornate cathedrals, churches and altars, modes of meditation, outward acts of reverence, religious painting and statuary, etc., the products of this Gift — It gives Tenderness to Hope. 150-155 7th. Definition of the Gift of Holy Fear — Division of Fear by early Church into slavish and chaste — St. Thomas' further and more exact subdivision — His description of the four kinds of Fear, and his full definition of the Gift It gives Intensity to the Hope 155-157 IV. Charity :— Aided by Ghostly Strength, which gives to it Strength ; by True Godliness, which gives to it Tenderness ; and by Holy Fear, which gives to it Intensity 158 V. Definition of a Fruit of the Spirit — Difference between a Fruit and a Good Work — Divine process by which the Fruits are produced — Definition of each of the Twelve Fruits — The Law, "Fruits first ; Works afterwards" — How this law is violated, and the feeble practical results of "Works first" — How this law is observed and the admirable results — The branches from which, according to St. Thomas, the several Fruits spring 159-164 VI. The Cardinal Virtues— Why four only— We have these by nature 165 VII. Summary :— The complete inner structure of the spiritual man — The operation upon it of the Sanctifying Grace of the Spirit ; correspondence on the part of the man— The results in character (Fruits) and action (Works)— The end, the Beatific Vision 165-168. Digitized by Google. Written from an Anglo-Catholic point of view Description based on print version record Electronic reproduction Master and use copy. Digital master created according to Benchmark for Faithful Digital Reproductions of Monographs and Serials, Version 1. Digital Library Federation, December 2002 digitized