Other Early Saints and Sages

The two preceding chapters describe the deeper spiritual experiences of Bible characters. Doubtless there were many Spirit-filled saints, especially among the Gentiles in Old Testament times, whose names are not so much as mentioned in the Scriptures.

GENTILE SAGES TAUGHT BY THE SPIRIT.

A careful study of the writings of Socrates, Plato, and other great Greek and Roman philosophers, will reveal the fact that some of these sages had considerable knowledge concerning the true God. They may have received this knowledge through contact with the Jews, or by reason, or by direct revelation, or by all of these means.

Socrates, the famous Greek philosopher, seems not only to have had a knowledge of God, but he seems als@ to have realized something concerning the Holy Spirit’s power. He constantly affirmed that he was guided and taught by a “friendly daemon, or spirit, and to this fact he ascribed whatever wisdom he possessed (See Plato’s Apology for Socj-ates, Chapter xviii). It may be that the Spirit of God actually taught these great heathen philosophers many things, as He seems to have taught Cyrus, Nebuchadnezzar, and some other Gentile kings mentioned in the Bible.

The famous Greek philosopher and mathematician, Pythagoras, wdio laid the foundations of the higher mathematics of today, said, “Without light (illumination, or enlightenment) nothing is to be uttered concerning God.” This very much resembles what Paul taught when he said, “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (i Corinthians 2: 14).

The great Roman orator, Cicero, expressed the opinion that no man could attain to moral excellence “without a certain divine inspiration” (See Cicero’s Nature of the Gods, Book II).

The great heathen philosopher Seneca, writing to Lucilius. Epistle 61^ says, “God is present with us, He is with thee. He is within thee. This I say, Lucilius: a Holy Spirit dwelleth within us, of our good and evil works the observer and the guardian. As we treat Him, so He treateth us; and no man is good except God be with him. Can any rise above external fortunes, unless by His aid? He it is from whom every good man receiveth both honor and upright purposes.”

TESTIMONY OF THE EARLY CHRISTIAN WRITERS.

The early Christian writers, both the Greek and Roman Fathers of the Church, testify to the fact that in the second century and later, it was customary to pray for Christians to be filled with the Spirit, just as they were prayed for in Bible times. In the days of Tertullian, who wrote in the second century, it was customary also to anoint the baptized believers with oil before praying for them to be filled with the Spirit. The oil was used as a symbol of the Holy Spirit, as it is used all through the Scriptures, although there is no Bible example of anointing before prayer for the Holy Spirit.. In Old Testament times oil was used in anointing the priests and kings, as a symbol of the Holy Spirit’s anointing. In New Testament times it was used to anoint the sick before prayer was offered for their recovery (James 5: 14), thus symbolising that the’ Holy Spirit would do the healing. The custom of anointing persons before praying for them to be filled wnth the Spirit seems to have become common soon after the time of the apostles, as it was very widespread in the second century. As the water in baptism symbolised the washing or cleansing from sin, so the anointing with oil was used to symbolise the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

Tertullian, writing near the close of the second century, in his book on Baptism, Chapter vi., says: “The baptized, when they come up out of the bath, are anointed with the holy oil, and then the hand is laid upon them with the invocation of the Holy Spirit.” This is clear testimony from one of the earliest Christian wTiters to show that in his day it was customary to pray for the newly baptized converts to be filled with the Spirit. In the same book. Chapter viii., he also says: “After baptism the hand is imposed, by blessing, calling and inviting the Holy Spirit; then that most Holy Spirit willingly descends from the Father upon the bodies that are cleansed and blessed.” Again, in the same chapter, he says: “In baptism we do not receive the Holy Ghost, but being cleansed by baptismal water, we are disposed for the Holy Spirit under the hand of the minister.” A little further on he says: “Is it not lawful for God, by an instrument of His own under holy hands to accord the heights and sublimity of the Spirit?” Still further on in the same chapter, speaking concerning the happy condition of the church at Rome, which had not then become corrupt, he says: “She believes in God, she signs with the water, she clothes with the Spirit, she feeds with the eucharist, she exhorts to martyrdom; and against this order or institution she receives no man.” This means that, near the close of the second century, no one could become a member of the church at Rome (one of the largest and most influential churches) unless he believed in prayer for the newly converted and baptized to be clothed with the Holy Spirit. In his book on The Resurrection of the Bodyj Chapter viii., Tertullian thus explains the need of being filled with the Spirit: “The flesh is consigned or sealed that the soul may be guarded or defended; and the body is overshadowed by the imposition of hands, that the soul may be enlightened by the Holy Spirit.”

That prayer for the Holy Spirit was no mere form in the second century is evident from the testimony of Irenseus. Writing about the middle of the second century, or about 150 A. D., he tells us that in his time, “When God saw it necessary, and the church prayed and fasted much, they did miraculous things, even of bringing back the spirit to a dead man.”

Theophilus of Antioch, writing about A. D. 170, or not long after the time of the Apostles, says that the name Christian is derived from the Greek word for oil, chrism, and means “anointed one,” referring to the fact that the followers of Christ were anointed with the Spirit. Living at so early a day, and in the city where they were first called Christians (Acts 11: 26), his explanation seems to be a reasonable one. Perhaps it was because Christ was commonly called “The Anointed” (that is what the word Christ means) which led to Christians being called “Anointed Ones,” or Christians. Theophilus says: “We are called Christians because we are anointed with the unction of God.” With regard to the need of this unction, he says: “For who is there that enters into contention or athletic combats, but is anointed with oil?” This refers to the ancient custom that athletes had of anointing their bodies with oil before entering into contests or combats. The oil was supposed to add to their strength and suppleness. Theophilus suggests that Christians should be anointed with the Divine oil of God’s Holy Spirit before entering into spiritual combat.

Clement of /Alexandria, writing about the close of the second century, or soon after apostolic times, tells how the Apostle John delivered a young man to the care of a bishop, who baptized him, and “afterwards he sealed him with the Lord’s signature, as with a safe and perfect guard” (see account in Eusebius, Book III., Chapter 17). The filling of the Spirit is commonly called “The Lord’s seal,” or “The Lord’s signature,” by the early Christian writers. After the church began to anoint persons with oil before praying for them to be filled with the Spirit, the ceremony of anointing with oil was called signaciilum, or sealing. The term “sealing” was probably derived from Ephesians 1:13, where Paul speaks about the Ephesians being sealed with the Holy Ghost after they had believed. He probably refers to the time when they were filled with the Spirit in answer to his prayer, as recorded in Acts 19, and to other similar experiences. However this may be, it is certain that the early Christian writers called the filling of the Spirit the “sealing of the Spirit.”

The great writer Origen, about A. D. 210, also refers to the custom of praying for the newly baptized to be filled with the Spirit. In his Seventh Homily on Ezekiel, he says: “The unction of Christ, of holy doctrine, is the oil by which the holy man is anointed, having been instructed in the Scriptures, and taught how to be baptized; then changing a few things he (the minister) says to him, Now you are no longer a catechumen, now you are regenerated in baptism; such a man receives the unction of God.” This quotation shows, as all students of church history know, that in the time of Origen the church was rapidly losing her simplicity and power. The doctrine of baptismal regeneration was very widespread, and the church was beginning to attach .more importance to forms and ceremonies than to a living faith in Christ. She had become so wrapped up in the symbols as to forget the things they symbolized. Even prayer for the Holy Spirit was becoming a mere form, which in the following century was named Confirmation. In Bible times any Spirit-filled Christians could pray for others to be filled with the Spirit, as Ananias, who was not an apostle, prayed for Paul. But gradually the Western Church, which afterward became the Roman Catholic, came to believe that only bishops had the power or authority to pray for others to be filled with the Spirit, and bishops no longer held the humble offices that they held in the early church, when there seems to have been several bishops, or elders, in each church (see Phil. i:i; Acts 20:17, 28; and so on). The Eastern Church, which afterward became the Greek Church, has always held that any ordinary priest has the right to lay on hands in prayer for the Holy Spirit.

Urban the First, one of the earliest bishops of Rome, writing about A. D. 225, says: “All faithful people ought to receive the Holy Spirit by imposition of the bishop’s hands after baptism” (see Binius’ General Councils, Tome L, page 293).

The great St. Cyprian, writing about A. D. 250, tells how the officials of the church in his day prayed for the newly converted and baptized to be filled with the Spirit. Speaking concerning the Bible account of how Peter and John prayed for the Samaritan disciples to be filled with the Spirit (Acts 8), he says: “The faithful in Samaria had already obtained baptism; only that which was wanting Peter and John supplied, by prayer and imposition of hands, to the end the Holy Ghost might be poured upon them. Which also is done amongst ourselves, when they which be already baptized are brought to the rulers of the church to obtain by our prayer and imposition of hands the Holy Ghost” (see Cyprian’s Epistle 7J, To Jubiamis). Cyprian, with his colleagues, wrote to Cornelius, Bishop of Rome, saying “that those whom they would have to he safe against the corruptions of their adversaries, they should arm them with the guards and defenses of the Lord’s fulness” (see Cyprian’s Epistle 74). In Epistle 72, to Stephanus, Cyprian contends that prayer for converts to be filled with the Spirit is necessary “to complete man’s sanctification.”

Eusebius, the historian of the early church, writing about the close of the third century, in his Church History, Book vi., Chapter xliii., tells how Novatius was baptized while sick, but was not prayed for that he might receive the Holy Ghost. On account of this he was censured by Cornelius, Bishop of Rome, “Because,” says Eusebius, “when he recovered he did not receive those other things which by the rule of the church he ought to have received, he was not consigned with the Lord’s signature by the hands of the bishop, which having not obtained, how can he be supposed to have received the Holy Ghost?” These words of Eusebius show that in his day the Western Church, afterwards the Roman Catholic, had already become so formal as to imagine that the Holy Spirit could only be obtained through the prayers and imposition of hands of a bishop. They also show that it was the rule of the church in the third century that all baptized converts should be prayed for that they might receive the Holy Ghost. We have already shown that this was the custom of the church in the first and second century. Eusebius, the early church historian, writes again concerning prayer for the Holy Spirit, in his Church History, Book iii.. Chapter 23, where he calls the filling of the Spirit, through laying on of hands in prayer after baptism, “a perfect phylactery or guard, even the Lord’s seal.”

Firmilian, writing also in the third century, quoted by Cyprian in Epistle 75, compares St. Paul’s “confirming” of the disciples at Ephesus (Acts 19) to the confirming of people in his own time. Firmilian and St. Ambrose seem to be among the first to use the word “confirm,” or “confirmation,” to describe the laying on of hands in prayer for the Holy Spirit. The term is doubtless derived from 2 Corinthians 1:21, 22, “Now he which stablisheth (or con-Urmeth, as it is rendered in the ancient Latin versions) us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.” The ancient writers of the church believed that the stablishing, anointing, and sealing referred to in these verses meant the filling of the Holy Spirit; and in the time of St. Ambrose the Latin word confirmatio, which means confirmation, or establishing, began to be the common word for describing imposition of hands in prayer for the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit does confirm, or establish, people; and the word confirmation is a good word to describe the filling of the Holy Spirit; but the word has been used so much to describe what is often a mere form or ceremony administered sometimes by wicked and corrupt popes, cardinals, and bishops, that it has lost much of the simplicity and power of its meaning.

Melchiades, about 320 A. D., in his epistle to the Bishop of Spain, thus describes the need of being filled with the Spirit, which he calls “confirmation.” “What does the mystery of confirmation profit me after the mystery of baptism? Certainly we did not receive all in our baptism, if after the washing we want something of another kind. Let your charity attend. As the military order requires that when the general enters a soldier into the list he does not only mark him but furnishes him with arms for the battle; so in him that is baptized this blessing is his ammunition. You have given a soldier, give him also weapons. And what will it profit him if a father gives a great estate to his son if he does not care to provide a tutor for him? Therefore the Holy Spirit is the guardian of our regeneration in Christ, He is Comforter, and He is the defender.” The above comparison of the regenerated person who is not filled with the Spirit to a soldier without armor or weapons is not only a striking one, but it is also Scriptural. Paul exhorts Christians to put on the whole armor of God (Ephesians 6). Melchiades also says: “Although to them that die presently the benefits of regeneration are sufficient, yet to them that live the auxiliaries of confirmation are necessary” (quoted by Gratian, On Consecration, Division 5, on “The Holy Spirit”).

Eusebius Emesenus, about A. D. 350, in his Sermon on Pentecost, says: “That which imposition now gives to every one in confirming neophytes, the same did the Holy Spirit then (on Pentecost) confer on all believers. But because we have said that imposition of hands and confirmation confers something on him that is born again and regenerated in Christ; perhaps someone wall be ready to think with himself, and say, ‘What can the ministry of confirmation profit me after the mystery of baptism?’” He then proceeds to show, like Melchiades, that regeneration makes us soldiers, but the filling of the Spirit clothes us with armor and weapons.

Gregory of Nazianzen, about A. D. 370, in Discourse xL, Chapter 4, says, concerning the imposition of hands in prayer for the Holy Spirit: “We therefore call it a seal or signature, as being a guard and custody to us, and a sign of the Lord’s dominion over us.” In his Exhortation to St. Lavacrium, Discourse xL, Chapter 15, he says:

“How shall the angel know what sheep belong to his charge, how shall he snatch them from the enemy, if he does not see their mark and signature?” The mark and signature he refers to is the seal of the Holy Spirit. Many of the early Christian writers refer to the filling of the Spirit as the Lord’s seal. -They believed that in regeneration they became the Lord’s, but that the filling of the Spirit was the Lord setting His seal or brand on them just as a man might brand the sheep that were already his.

St. Ambrose, another great Christian writer, about A. D. 370, in his book on the Sacraments, Chapter 2, calls the reception of the Holy Spirit through imposition of hands and prayer, “a spiritual seal remaining after baptism that perfection may be had.” In his book Concerning the Mystery, Chapter vii., commenting on the words of Paul, “He that confirmeth us with you in Christ, is God,” he says; “Remember that thou who hast been confirmed, hast received the spiritual signature, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and godliness, the spirit of holy fear; keep that thou hast received; the Father hath sealed thee, and Christ thy Lord hath confirmed thee.”

The celebrated St. Chrysostom, writing about A. D. 375, in his Homily xiii,, on Acts, says: “For it is not all one to obtain remission of sins and to have received this virtue or power from above.” In Homily xviii., on Acts 8: 16-21, he says: “But they, it says, having come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Ghost; for as yet he was fallen upon none of them. Then laid they their hands upon them, and they received the Holy Ghost. Seest thou not that it was not to be done in any ordinary manner, but it needed great power to give the Holy Spirit? For it is not all one, to obtain remission of sins, and to receive such power.” In his Homily xix,.

2, on Acts 8:31-40, he takes it for granted that the Ethiopian eunuch was filled with the Spirit after his baptism. “And he went, it says, on his way rejoicing. This hints, that he would have been grieved (at the taking away of Philip), had he known; for the greatness of his joy, having had the Spirit also vouchsafed to him, he did not even see things present.” In his Commentary, on Hebrews, 6:1, 2, Chrysostom, speaking concerning the six foundation principles of the Gospel mentioned in those verses, says: “All these are fundamental articles; that is, that we ought to repent from dead works, to be baptized into the faith of Christ, and be made worthy of the gift of the Spirit, Who is given by imposition of hands, and we are to be taught the mysteries of the resurrection and eternal judgment.”

The great St. Jerome, writing about A. D. 275, in his Disputation Against the Luciferians, represents a Lucif erian asking why he that is baptized in the Church does not receive the Holy Spirit but by imposition of the bishop’s hands. The answer is, “This observation for the honor of the priesthood did descend from the Scriptures.” Later, he says, “If you ask where it is written, it is in the Acts of the Apostles.” He then goes on to show that if there were no Scriptural authority for it, “the consent of the whole Christian world in this article ought to prevail as a commandent.” This would indicate that in the time of Jerome “the whole Christian world” believed in the laying on of the bishops’, or elders’, hands in prayer for the Holy Spirit. It also indicates that this had become so much of a form or ceremony that many imagined that God would not give the Holy Spirit except through the laying on of hands and prayer by the bishops, or elders. The simple New Testament form of church government had already grown into a great ecclesiastical hierarchy seeking to usurp power over both the souls and bodies of men. The Catholic Church was losing sight of the grand simplicity of God’s promises to pour His Spirit upon every hungry, thirsty believer. In New Testament times the elders, or church officers, usually prayed for persons to be filled with the Spirit, because the most spiritual men were selected for church officers. But that God never meant to confine this authority, or privilege, to any individuals or class of individuals is proved by His promise, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Ha son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an ^gg, will he ofifer him a scorpion? li ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him” (Luke 11:9-13).

The celebrated St. Cyril, writing in the fourth century, in his Catechetical Lectures, Hi., Section 21, speaking concerning Jesus, says: “When He truly was baptized in the river of Jordan, He ascended out of the waters, and the Holy Spirit substantially descended upon Him, like resting upon like. And to you also in like manner, after ye have ascended from the waters of baptism, the unction is given, which bears the image or similitude of Him by Whom Christ was anointed; that as Christ after baptism and the coming of the Holy Spirit upon Him went forth to battle and overcome the adversary; so ye also, after holy baptism and the mystical unction, being vested with the armor of the Holy Spirit, are enabled to stand against the opposite powers.” In the same lecfure. Section ii., Cyril describes how the church of his day anointed the baptized with oil before praying for them to receive the Holy Ghost, and he also explains the meaning of the ceremony. “They were first anointed in the forehead,” says he, “to wipe away that shame which the first man, by his transgression had contracted; and that they might now, w ith open face behold the glory of the Lord. Then they were anointed on the ears, that they might have ears to hear the divine mysteries. After that, on the nose and heart; that they might be a swxet savor unto the Lord; and being armed with the breastplate of righteousness, might be able to stand all the insults of the devil.” In Bible times the anointing with oil seems usually to have been the pouring or placing of a little oil on the head, or forehead; but in Old Testament times the blood of the consecration offering was applied to the right ear, thumb, and great toe of the high priest to symbolize his entire consecration (Lev. 8: 24). The church of Cyril’s day seems to have had a much more elaborate ceremony with the anointing oil to symbolize what the Holy Spirit would do for those in whom He came to dwell.

St. Hilary, writing in the fourth century, speaking concerning Christ receiving the anointing of the Spirit after •His baptism, says: “The Father’s voice was heard, that from those things which were consummated in Christ we might know that after the baptism of water the Holy Spirit from the gates of heaven flies unto us; and that we are to be anointed with the unction of a celestial glory, and be made the sons of God by the adoption of the voice of God, the truth by the very effects of things prefigured unto us the similitude of a sacrament.”

St. Augustine, the most celebrated of all the early Christian waiters, writing about A. D. 380, in his work Against the Donatists, Book ii.. Chapter 6, says: “At the first times the Holy Spirit fell upon the believers, and they spake with tongues which they had not learned, according as the Spirit gave them utterance. They were signs fitted to the seasons; for so the Holy Spirit ought to have signified in all tongues, because the gospel of God was to run through all the nations and languages of the world; so it was signified, and so it passed through. But is it expected that they upon whom there is imposition of hands that they might receive the Holy Spirit that they should speak with tongues?” In his book on The Trinity, Book XV., Chapter xxvi., Augustine says: “In propriety of speech, neither the apostles or any other man, but Christ alone, as He is God, could give the Holy Ghost; for the apostles only laid hands on men, that the Holy Ghost by their prayers might descend upon them; which custom the church now observed and practised by her bishops and governors also.” Commenting on John 6, and speaking concerning the Holy Spirit descending on Jesus, Augustine says: “The dove in Christ’s baptism did represent and prefigure our unction that is the Holy Spirit coming upon us after baptism.” In his work On Baptism Book iii., Chapter xvi., he says: “For by the Holy Spirit, which is given only in the Catholic Church by imposition of hands, our forefathers would have us to understand that which the apostle says, ‘The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.’” In Sermon XLIX., on Luke vii., Augustine takes it for granted that the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8) received the Holy Spirit after his baptism. After speaking about Peter and John praying for the Samaritan disciples to be filled with the Spirit, he refers to the case of the Ethiopian eunuch, and says: “When the mystery of the sacrament of baptism had been accomplished, that the gift of the Holy Ghost might not be thought to be of men, there was no waiting, as in the other case, for the apostles to come, but the Holy Ghost came forthwith.” In Sermon XXL, on The Blasphemy Against the Holy Ghost, Augustine explains Acts 2: 37, 38, as follows: “And Peter said to them, Repent, and he baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. In the Church truly in which was the Holy Ghost, were both brought to pass, that is, both the remission of sins, and the receiving of the gift,” This is indisputable evidence that the Church of the fourth century believed in both the remission of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit. Augustine himself seems to have felt that the Holy Spirit was leading and directing him. In the sermon above referred to, on The Blasphemy Against the Holy Ghost, he says: “I did not think I could do justice to that understanding of it (his subject) which was in some degree opened to me, by words suggested at the moment. But as I listened to today’s lesson, upon which it was my duty to discourse to you, as the Gospel was being read, there was such a beating at my heart, that I believed it was God’s will that you should hear something of the subject by my ministry.”

Pacianus, Bishop of Barcelona, -who died about A. D. 390, writing on Baptism, says: “In baptism our sins are cleansed, in confirmation the Spirit is poured upon us; and both these are obtained by the hands and mouth of the bishop.”

Asterius, Bishop of Amasea, about A. D. 400, compares the gift of the Holy Ghost, through the laying on of hands after baptism, to the ring which the father put on the finger of the prodigal after his return.

Theodoret, in the fifth century, commenting on Canticles i. 2, says: “Remember that holy mystagogy, in which they who were initiated, after the renouncing that tyrant (the devil) and the confession of the true King, have received the chrism of spiritual unction like a royal signature, by that unction, as in a shadow, perceiving the invisible grace of the most Holy Spirit,”

Pope Leo the Great, about A. D. 460, in Epistle lxxix., Chapter 7, writing to Nicetas, Bishop of Aquileia, commands that heretics returning to the church should have hands laid on them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, for, says he, “they have only received the form of baptism without the virtue of sanctification.”

Lucherius Lugdenenses, also writing in the fifth century, says: “The same thing that is done now in the imposition of hands on individual persons, is no other than that which was done upon all believers in the descent of the Holy Spirit; it is the same ministry, and all derived from the same authority,”

In the writings usually attributed to Dionyisius the Aeropagite, and probably written about A. D. 600, in The Ecclesiastical Hierarchy Chapter ii., there is a description of how prayer was offered for the baptized, that they might receive the Holy Spirit. “Then (after baptism) they bring them again to the bishop, and he consigns them with the most divinely operating unction,” Further on we read: “But even to him who is consecrated in the most holy mystery of regeneration the perfective unction of chrism gives him the advent of the Holy Spirit,” The learned Church of England bishop, Jeremy Taylor, in his “Discourse on Confirmation,” explains how the imposition of hands in prayer for the Holy Spirit came to be known as “the sacrament of chrism,” which is the term used in the writings just quoted. He says:” It was very early in the church that to represent the grace which was ministered in confirmation, the unction from above, they used oil and balsam, and so constantly used this in their confirmation that from the ceremony it had the appellation: sacramentiim chrismatis (the sacrament of anointing)/’

Pope Innocent III., in the twelfth century, in Constitutional Decrees, Book i., Chapter 83, thus explains the meaning of the anointing with oil in confirmation: “By anointing the forehead the imposition of hands is designed, because by that the Holy Spirit is given for increase and strength,” Rabanus Maurus, writing about 800 A. D., says: “In baptism the baptized was anointed on the top of the head, in confirmation on the forehead; by that was signified that the Holy Ghost was preparing a habitation for Himself; by this was declared the descent of the Holy Spirit with His seven-fold gifts with all fulness of knowledge and spiritual understanding” (see Maurus’ Clerical Institutes, Book i., Chapter 30). In the time of Maurus, when the Roman Catholic Church had almost reached the summit of its ritualism and ceremonialism, a double anointing with oil was practised. As Maurus explains, the baptized wxre anointed with oil on top of the head in baptism, to signify that the Holy Spirit was preparing Himself a dwelling place within them. In confirmation they were anointed on the forehead, to signify that the Holy Spirit was coming in with His gifts and power. At the present time both the Roman Catholic and Greek Churches anoint with oil before confirmation, or prayer for the Holy Spirit. They anoint the person to be prayed for on the forehead, and give them a slight blow on the cheek to signify that henceforth they will be more able to suffer for Christ.

John of Damascus, about A. D. 700, in his work on The Orthodox Faith, Book iv., Chapter 10, mentions the in-coming of the Holy Spirit. He says: “He (the Lord) makes us His anointed ones, and by His Spirit He declares His eternal mercy towards us.”

Amalarius, in the ninth century, in his work on The Offices of the Church, Book i.. Chapter 2y, affirms that Pope Sylvester, “forseeing how dangerous a journey he takes who abides without confirmation, brought remedy as far as he could and commanded that in the absence of bishops they should be anointed by the priest.” He then goes on to explain how the custom of laying on of hands in prayer for the Holy Spirit’ was derived from the apostles themselves.

CEcumenius, in the tenth century, commenting on Hebrews vi., 2, calls the laying on of hands for the Holy Spirit “perfection” (telioteta). No doubt this was because the Holy Spirit was given “for the perfecting of the saints” (Eph, 4:12).

We have traced the doctrine of the filling of the Holy Spirit through the first thousand years of the history of the Christian church, by means of the testimony of her great writers. Many volumes might be filled with the testimony of later writers on the same subject, but space will not permit. Accounts might be given of the confirmation of Constantine the Great, of Pepin, of William, Earl of Surrey, and of many other famous persons, who were prayed for that they might receive the Holy Spirit; but we will close this chapter with an account of the decisions of some of the more important church councils concerning prayer for the Holy Spirit.

ANCIENT CHURCH COUNCILS ON THE FILLING OF THE

SPIRIT.

THE COUNCIL OF ELVIRA, in the fourth century. Canon ^8, decreed concerning anyone baptized in time of sickness, if he should recover: “Let him be brought to the bishop that he may be perfected by the imposition of hands.” The y/th Canon of the same Council says: “The bishop must perfect those (who have been baptized) by his benediction.”

THE COUNCIL OF LAODICEA, in the fourth century, in Canon 48, decreed: “All that are baptized must be anointed with the celestial unction, and be partakers of the kingdom of Christ.”

THE FIRST COUNCIL OF ARLES, A. D. 314, decreed concerning the Arians, that they were not to be rebaptized if they had been baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; but “Let them be confirmed, let there be imposition of hands that they may receive the Holy Spirit.” The Second Council of Aries, A. D. 353, made a similar decree concerning Bonosiaci.

THE GENERAL COUNCIL OF CONSTANTI-OPLE, A. D. 381, in Canon vii., explained how the church received heretics, after anointing them with oil “as a seal of the gift of the Holy Ghost.”

THE COUNCIL OF ORLEANS, in the sixth century affirmed that he who was baptized could not be a Christian, doubtless meaning a mature Christian, “unless he have the unction of episcopal confirmation.”

In a late SYNOD OF BOURGES, curates were commanded to threaten all who were not confirmed, that they should not be allowed to partake of the Lord’s supper or to marry.

THE SYNOD OF PARIS declared concerning confirmation, “If there be an opportunity it must not be neglected.”

THE SYNOD OF SENS said concerning the attitude of Christians toward confirmation: “They are bound to receive it, or at least not to despise it.”

The ancient ritual known as THE ORDG ROMANUS, probably belonging to the fifth century, says: “We must by all means take heed that the rite of confirmation be not neglected, because in that every true baptism is ratified and confirmed.”

THE APOSTOLIC CONSTITUTIONS, probably belonging to a period about the third century, in Book vii.. Chapter 22, prescribe concerning the bishop or presbyter, after baptizing the convert, “last of all, thou shalt sign him with the holy chrism;” which means, with the anointing oil, as a symbol of the filling of the Spirit.

THE COUNCIL OF NEOC^SAREA, about A. D. 314, and the COUNCIL OF ELVIRA, about A. D. 300, both had canons which forbade the offices of a minister to those who had not received the Holy Spirit by imposition of hands.

THE SYNOD OF RHEMES, while admitting that a person might be a Christian without confirmation, said, “Yet he receives more strength and grace for sustaining and overcoming the temptations of the flesh, the world, and the devil, only by the imposition of the bishop’s hands.”

The laws of the Church of England in King Edgar’s time, about 967 A. D., Chapter 15, commanded “that none should too long put off his being confirmed by the bishop.”

REFORMED CHURCHES AND THE FILLING OF THE SPIRIT.

We have given abundant evidence to convince any reasonable person that both the Eastern and Western Churches, from apostolic times to the present, have prayed .for converts to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost; although the prayer has often been in a ritualistic, formalistic, and purely ceremonial way. The ceremony of laying on of hands in prayer for the Holy Spirit has been maintained through all the centuries of the Christian era by the Eastern churches and sects, and by the Roman Catholic church and the early sects in the West. It was a quarrel concerning the anointing oil used in this ceremony which led to the division of the Catholic Church into the Eastern Church and Western Church, which are now known as the Greek Church and the Roman Cathohc. For a long period the Greeks obtained anointing oil blessed by the bishop of Rome, who on account of Rome being the leading city of the world was rapidly coming to be recognized as the pope, or father, of all the churches. But when the Latins demanded four-score pounds of gold and some other gifts in exchange for the anointing oil, the Greeks rejected the authority of the bishop of Rome, and began to consecrate their own oil, and since that time the two great churches have remained separate.

When infant baptism became common in the church, infant confirmation and infant communion also became common. In the time of St. /Vugustine infants received both confirmation and communion after baptism. But they often vomited the wine and bread of the communion, which were forced into their mouths, and this led the Roman Catholic Church to stop the practise of infant communion, although it is still the rule and practise of the Greek Church. Both the Greek and Roman Catholic Churches decided that it would be better not to continue the practise of confirming little infants, and both those great churches now wait until children have reached the age of accountability before confirming them.

The Protestant Churches, formed during and since the great Protestant Reformation, are divided with regard to the practise of confirmation. The Lutheran and Church of England retained the practise, while most of the other Protestant churches rejected it as an empty form, or ceremony, and adopted nothing in its place. Calvin, the great reformer, acknowledged that the custom of praying for converts to be filled with the Spirit was derived from the apostles, and that the Protestant churches ought to have something in the place of it, and yet he seems to have made but little effort to impress the need of it upon the churches with which he had a greater influence than had any other man. In his Commentaries, commenting on Hebrews vi. 2, he says, with regard to the laying on of hands in prayer for the Holy Spirit: “This one passage abundantly testifies that this rite had its beginning from the Apostles, which afterwards, however, was turned into superstition, as the world almost always degenerates into corruptions.... Wherefore the pure institution at this day ought to be retained, but the superstition ought to be removed.” The Quietist movement in the Roman Catholic Church, which centered around the great Frenchwoman, Madam Guyon, and the Quaker movement among Protestants, were two great and sincere efforts to make the Roman Catholic and Protestant Churches feel the need of being filled with the Spirit and led by the Spirit. Both these great spiritual movements have had a tremendous influence for good in deepening the spiritual life of the churches. Although a firm believer in the outward ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s supper, the writer cannot but believe that the Lord raised up the Quakers to call the churches away from dependence on outward forms and ceremonies, and to emphasize the thought that “The kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost” (Rom. 14: 17). After the Quaker, or Friends’ movement, came the great Methodist movement. Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement, made a great effort to restore the Bible doctrine of prayer for the Holy Spirit under the name of sanctification. At one time during the life of Wesley, or so he states in his Journals, almost as many people were seeking and claiming entire sanctification as were claiming salvation in connection with the meetings of the Methodist societies.