2.

Now, what the Holy Spirit is, we are taught in many passages of Scripture, as by David in the fifty-first Psalm, when he says, "And take not Thy Holy Spirit from me;" ¹ and by Daniel, where it is said, "The Holy Spirit which is in thee." ² And in the New Testament we have abundant testimonies, as when the Holy Spirit is described as having descended upon Christ, and when the Lord breathed upon His apostles after His resurrection, saying, "Receive the Holy Spirit;" ³ and the saying of the angel to Mary, "The Holy Spirit will come upon thee;" ⁴ the declaration by Paul, that no one can call Jesus Lord, save by the Holy Spirit. ⁵ In the Acts of the Apostles, the Holy Spirit was given by the imposition of the apostles' hands in baptism. ⁶ From all which we learn that the person of the Holy Spirit was of such authority and dignity, that saving baptism was not complete except by the authority of the most excellent Trinity of them all, i.e., by the naming of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and by joining to the unbegotten God the Father, and to His only-begotten Son, the name also of the Holy Spirit. Who, then, is not amazed at the exceeding majesty of the Holy Spirit, when he hears that he who speaks a word against the Son of man may hope for forgiveness; but that he who is guilty of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit has not forgiveness, either in the present world or in that which is to come! ⁷