Chapter VI.
The Spirit rebukes just as do the Father and the Son; and indeed judges could not judge without Him, as is shown by the judgments of Solomon and Daniel, which are explained in a few words, by the way; and no other than the Holy Spirit inspired Daniel.
35. do we
reject like words when we assert the oneness of power, since the
oneness of power extends so far that the Spirit rebukes, as the Father
rebukes, and as the Son rebukes. For so it is written: “O Lord, rebuke me not in Thine anger, neither chasten me in Thy displeasure.” Then in the forty-ninth [fiftieth] Psalm, the Lord speaks thus: “I will rebuke thee, and will set thy sins before thy face.” And in like manner the Son said of the Holy Spirit: “When I go away, I will send the Paraclete to you. And He, when He is come, will rebuke the world, concerning sin, and concerning righteousness, and concerning judgment.”
36. But whither is the madness of faithless
men leading us, so that we appear to be proving, as if it were a matter
of doubt, that the Holy Spirit rebukes, whereas judges themselves are
unable to judge, except through the Spirit. Lastly, that famous
judgment of Solomon, when, amongst the difficulties arising from those
who were contending, as one, having overlain the child which she had
borne, wished to claim the child of another, and the other was
protecting her own son, he both discovered deceit in the very hidden
thoughts, and affection in the mother’s heart, was certainly so
admirable only by the gift of the Holy Spirit. For no other sword
would have penetrated the hidden feeling of those women, except the
sword of the Spirit, of which the Lord says: “I am not come
to send peace but a sword.” For
the inmost mind cannot be penetrated by steel, but by the Spirit: “For the Spirit of understanding is holy, one only, manifold, subtle, lively,” and, farther on, “overseeing all things.”
37. Consider what the prophet says, that He
oversees all things. And so Solomon also oversaw, so that he
ordered that sword to be brought, because while pretending that he
intended to divide the infant, he reflected that the true mother would
have more regard for her son than for her comfort, and would set
kindness before right, not right before kindness. But that she
who feigned the feelings of a mother, blinded by the desire of gaining
her end, would think little of the destruction of him in regard to whom
she felt no outgoing of tenderness. And so that spiritual man, that he might judge all things (for he that is spiritual judgeth all things), sought in the feelings the natural disposition which was concealed in the language, and questioned tenderness that he might set forth the truth. So the mother overcame by the affection of love, which is a fruit of the Spirit.
38. He judges in a prophet, for the word of
wisdom is given by the Spirit; how, then, do
men deny that the Spirit can rebuke the world concerning judgment, Who
removes doubt from judgment, and grants the successful
issue?
39. Daniel also, unless he had received the
Spirit of God, would never have been able to discover that lustful
adultery, that fraudulent lie. For when Susanna, assailed by the
conspiracy of the elders, saw that the mind of the people was moved by
consideration for the old men, and destitute of all help, alone amongst
men, conscious of her chastity she prayed God to judge; it is
written: “The Lord heard her voice, when she was being led
to be put to death, and the Lord raised up the Holy Spirit of a young
youth, whose name was Daniel.” And
so according to the grace of the Holy Spirit received by him, he
discovered the varying evidence of the treacherous, for it was none
other than the operation of divine power, that his voice should make
them whose inward feelings were concealed to be known.