Catholic Nick over at his webpage has stumbled on to a very interesting phrase in Scripture that may point towards a Scriptural affirmation of the Filioque clause in Latin theology. The Filioque refers to a phrase inserted into the Constantinopolitan-Nicene Creed in the Latin West during the Middle Ages to say that the Spirit proceeds from the Father AND the Son. It is a difficult theological question and deals with the theology of the Trinity. There is another very good reference and explanation of this in a Catholic website as well.
Here is the phrase and segment in Scripture:
Revelations 22:1-5
1 And he showed me a river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. 2 In the midst of the street thereof, and on both sides of the river, was the tree of life, bearing twelve fruits, yielding its fruits every month: the leaves of the tree for the healing of the nations. 3 And there shall be no curse any more: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it. And his servants shall serve him. 4 And they shall see his face: and his name shall be on their foreheads. 5 And night shall be no more. And they shall not need the light of the lamp, nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God shall enlighten them. And they shall reign for ever and ever.
The significance is that the river of living water is perhaps a reference to Christ's discussion of living water in the Gospels (listed below).
John 7: 37-39
37 And on the last, and great day of the festivity, Jesus stood and cried, saying: If any man thirst, let him come to me and drink. 38 He that believes in me, as the scripture says: Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. 39 Now this he said of the Spirit which they should receive who believed in him: for as yet the Spirit was not given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
37 And on the last, and great day of the festivity, Jesus stood and cried, saying: If any man thirst, let him come to me and drink. 38 He that believes in me, as the scripture says: Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. 39 Now this he said of the Spirit which they should receive who believed in him: for as yet the Spirit was not given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
And
John 4: 13-15 regarding Christ telling the Samaritan woman of a fountain of water that grants everlasting life
13 Jesus answered and said to her: Whosoever drinks of this water shall thirst again: but he that shall drink of the water that I will give him shall not thirst for ever. 14 But the water that I will give him shall become in him a fountain of water, springing up into life everlasting. 15 The woman said to him: Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come hither to draw.
Patristic References to the Holy Spirit as operating in the living water:
However, a free online search on Biblindex, a resource for searching of Biblical phrases in the Church Fathers, has yielded some interesting results [I will note them in the Notes section].
St. Basil of Caesarea writes in his On the Holy Spirit in Chapter 14 and 15 explains, that this phrase relates both to Christ who gives Himself as a drink and living water (as prefigured in the desert from the Rock who gave water to the Israelites) and of the Holy Spirit, but the two in the manner that as St. Paul says in Romans 6, we are baptized into Christ's Passion and death that we die to our old sinful selves, and are renewed in the Holy Spirit, given new life, whereby water is a symbol of life. This then is how Christ meant in John 3:5 that we must be born of water and the Holy Spirit, where the Holy Spirit is principally involved in renewing us in life to share in the grace that Christ offers us. Or so this is my understanding of his two chapters from his work. The work says far more, but this will serve as a helpful statement.
St. Ambrose writes most cogently in his On the Holy Spirit, Book III, putting together John 7:37-39 AND Revelations 22:1-2, saying in Chapter 20
"The river flowing from the Throne of God is a figure of the Holy Spirit, but by the waters spoken of by David the powers of heaven are intended. The kingdom of God is the work of the Spirit; and it is no matter for wonder if He reigns in this together with the Son, since St. Paul promises that we too shall reign with the Son.
153. And this, again, is not a trivial matter that we read that a river goes forth from the throne of God. For you read the words of the Evangelist John to this purport: And He showed me a river of living water, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street thereof, and on either side, was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruits, yielding its fruit every month, and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of all nations. (Revelation 22:1-2)
154. This is certainly the River proceeding from the throne of God, that is, the Holy Spirit, Whom he drinks who believes in Christ, as He Himself says: If any man thirst, let him come to Me and drink. He that believes in Me, as says the Scripture, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. But this spoke He of the Spirit. (John 7:37-38) Therefore the river is the Spirit.
155. This, then, is in the throne of God, for the water washes not the throne of God. Then, whatever you may understand by that water, David said not that it was above the throne of God, but above the heavens, for it is written: Let the waters which are above the heavens praise the Name of the Lord. Let them praise, he says, not let it praise. For if he had intended us to understand the element of water, he would certainly have said, Let it praise, but by using the plural he intended the Powers to be understood.
156. And what wonder is it if the Holy Spirit is in the throne of God, since the kingdom of God itself is the work of the Holy Spirit, as it is written: For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. (Romans 14:17) And when the Saviour Himself says, Every kingdom divided against itself shall be destroyed, (Matthew 12:25) by adding afterwards, But if I, by the Spirit of God, cast out devils, without doubt the kingdom of God has come upon you, (Matthew 12:27) He shows that the kingdom of God is held undivided by Himself and by the Spirit.
157. But what is more foolish than for any one to deny that the Holy Spirit reigns together with Christ when the Apostle says that even we shall reign together with Christ in the kingdom of Christ: If we are dead with Him, we shall also live with Him; if we endure, we shall also reign with Him. (2 Timothy 2:11-12) But we by adoption, He by power; we by grace, He by nature.
158. The Holy Spirit, therefore, shares in the kingdom with the Father and the Son, and He is of one nature with Them, of one Lordship, and also of one power.”
This is so far the most convincing evidence for a connection between John 7:37-39 and Revelations 22:1-2.
St. Gregory Nazianzen, notes in his 29th oration that this verse relates more to Christ Himself who grants living water, though He was baptized as a man, He granted remission of sins as God. Though in the 31st oration, he makes mention of 1 John 5:8 whereby it is said that the Holy Spirit, water, and blood are one, which though he does not mention it, is a reference to baptism.
From St. Gregory of Nyssa we have in his
“Then let us look to this too. In Holy Baptism, what is it that we secure thereby? Is it not a participation in a life no longer subject to death? I think that no one who can in any way be reckoned among Christians will deny that statement. What then? Is that life-giving power in the water itself which is employed to convey the grace of Baptism? Or is it not rather clear to every one that this element is only employed as a means in the external ministry, and of itself contributes nothing towards the sanctification, unless it be first transformed itself by the sanctification; and that what gives life to the baptized is the Spirit; as our Lord Himself says in respect to Him with His own lips, It is the Spirit that gives life; but for the completion of this grace He alone, received by faith, does not give life, but belief in our Lord must precede, in order that the lively gift may come upon the believer, as our Lord has spoken, He gives life to whom He wills. But further still, seeing that this grace administered through the Son is dependent on the Ungenerate Source of all, Scripture accordingly teaches us that belief in the Father Who engenders all things is to come first; so that this life-giving grace should be completed, for those fit to receive it, after starting from that Source as from a spring pouring life abundantly, through the Only-begotten Who is the True life, by the operation of the Holy Spirit. If, then, life comes in baptism, and baptism receives its completion in the name of Father, Son, and Spirit, what do these men mean who count this Minister of life as nothing? If the gift is a slight one, they must tell us the thing that is more precious than this life. But if everything whatever that is precious is second to this life, I mean that higher and precious life in which the brute creation has no part, how can they dare to depreciate so great a favour, or rather the actual Being who grants the favour, and to degrade Him in their conceptions of Him to a subject world by disjoining Him from the higher world of deity. Finally, if they will have it that this bestowal of life is a small thing, and that it means nothing great and awful in the nature of the Bestower, how is it they do not draw the conclusion which this very view makes inevitable, namely, that we must suppose, even with regard to the Only-begotten and the Father Himself, nothing great in Their life, the same as that which we have through the Holy Spirit, supplied as it is from the Father through the Son?”
Though not concerning immediately these phrases, St. Gregory is quick to make the point that eternal life is given in the washing of baptism through the Holy Spirit, the Lord the giver of life, Who springs forth from the mission of Christ’s Incarnation, as the water from the fountain, and Christ Himself of course from the Father, though the Spirit supplied to us as from the Father through the Son. Though this concerns more the mission of the Spirit in the economy of salvation, it bears some similarity to the Filioque clause.
The final phrase then to show that living water refers to the Holy Spirit, especially His operation in baptism then will be from St. Cyril of Jerusalem in his Catechatical Lectures,this one being the 16th:
“11. Let then thus much suffice concerning those outcasts; and now let us return to the divine Scriptures, and let us drink waters out of our own cisterns [that is, the holy Fathers ], and out of our own springing wells. (Proverbs 5:15) Drink we of living water, springing up into everlasting life ; but this spoke the Saviour of the Spirit, which they that believe in Him should receive. For observe what He says, He that believes in Me (not simply this, but), as the Scripture has said (thus He has sent you back to the Old Testament), out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water, not rivers perceived by sense, and merely watering the earth with its thorns and trees, but bringing souls to the light. And in another place He says, But the water that I shall give him, shall be in him a well of living water springing up into everlasting life,— a new kind of water living and springing up, springing up unto them who are worthy.
12. And why did He call the grace of the Spirit water? Because by water all things subsist; because water brings forth grass and living things; because the water of the showers comes down from heaven; because it comes down one in form, but works in many forms. For one fountain waters the whole of Paradise, and one and the same rain comes down upon all the world, yet it becomes white in the lily, and red in the rose, and purple in violets and hyacinths, and different and varied in each several kind: so it is one in the palm-tree, and another in the vine, and all in all things; and yet is one in nature, not diverse from itself; for the rain does not change itself, and come down first as one thing, then as another, but adapting itself to the constitution of each thing which receives it, it becomes to each what is suitable. Thus also the Holy Ghost, being one, and of one nature, and indivisible, divides to each His grace, according as He will (1 Corinthians 12:11) and as the dry tree, after partaking of water, puts forth shoots, so also the soul in sin, when it has been through repentance made worthy of the Holy Ghost, brings forth clusters of righteousness. And though He is One in nature, yet many are the virtues which by the will of God and in the Name of Christ He works. For He employs the tongue of one man for wisdom; the soul of another He enlightens by Prophecy; to another He gives power to drive away devils; to another He gives to interpret the divine Scriptures. He strengthens one man's self-command; He teaches another the way to give alms; another He teaches to fast and discipline himself; another He teaches to despise the things of the body; another He trains for martyrdom: diverse in different men, yet not diverse from Himself, as it is written, But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. For to one is given through the Spirit the word of wisdom; and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another faith, in the same Spirit; and to another gifts of healing, in the same Spirit; and to another workings of miracles; and to another prophecy; and to another discernings of spirits; and to another various kinds of tongues; and to another the interpretation of tongues: but all these works that one and the same Spirit, dividing to every man severally as He will.”
Here of course St. Cyril explains that water is that thing by which everything subsists and receives life, and so too it is with the soul that must receive life from the Holy Spirit in baptism.
There are some other authors who wrote on these of course, one interesting one will be Didymus the Blind’s Trinitate, of the same segment that I’ll talk about later in this post.
I hope this suffices for an explanation that references to living water in Scripture are connected to holy Baptism and to the operation of the Holy Spirit in the regeneration, the new life, attained in Baptism.
Patristic references to Revelations 22:1-2
Going back to Revelations 22:1-2, however it is perhaps, an allusion to baptism, or to the Holy Spirit Whose operation in Baptism is to grant life in the sinner or to Christ Himself, whomever eats and drinks of Him shall have eternal life.
He is depicted as proceeding both from the throne of the Father and from Christ the Lamb. It is particularly interesting in that there is a similar tie in with the servants seeing His face and serving Him without any curse, and that God’s name shall be on their foreheads, perhaps an indication or nodding towards holy baptism or holy confirmation, both intimately tied with the reception of the Holy Spirit. Much more bears to be said regarding this.
Now more fully, though we saw a glimpse from St. Ambrose on Revelations 22:1-2, I’ll try to put down some more direct relations in the Church Fathers regarding Revelations 22:1-2.
St. Victorinus of Pettau [from before 270 AD to ~304 AD]
One ought to take great caution in reading the commentary on Revelations of this saint, since Pope Gelasius I who deigned that some of the thoughts on the reign of Christ discussed in Revelations were not to be followed, as this commentary and other early Church Father commentaries had discussed. The specifics are not entirely important however. The commentary is worth reading for itself though, since the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit as identified in the book of Isaiah are mentioned here, along with many other common Catholic teachings.
16. And the city is placed in a square. The city which he says is squared, he says also is resplendent with gold and precious stones, and has a sacred street, and a river through the midst of it, and the tree of life on either side, bearing twelve manner of fruits throughout the twelve months; and that the light of the sun is not there, because the Lamb is the light of it; and that its gates were of single pearls; and that there were three gates on each of the four sides, and that they could not be shut. I say, in respect of the square city, he shows forth the united multitude of the saints, in whom the faith could by no means waver. As Noah is commanded to make the ark of squared beams, that it might resist the force of the deluge, by the precious stones he sets forth the holy men who cannot waver in persecution, who could not be moved either by the tempest of persecutors, or be dissolved from the true faith by the force of the rain, because they are associated of pure gold, of whom the city of the great King is adorned. Moreover, the streets set forth their hearts purified from all uncleanness, transparent with glowing light, that the Lord may justly walk up and down in them. The river of life sets forth that the grace of spiritual doctrine flowed through the minds of the faithful, and that manifold flourishing forms of odours germinated therein. The tree of life on either bank sets forth the Advent of Christ, according to the flesh, who satisfied the peoples wasted with famine, that received life from One by the wood of the Cross, with the announcement of God's word. And in that he says that the sun is not necessary in the city, he shows, evidently, that the Creator as the immaculate light shines in the midst of it, whose brightness no mind has been able to conceive, nor tongue to tell.
Here St. Victorinus of Pettua discusses that the river of life that sets forth from the throne of God and from the Lamb of God is that it goes forward in order to grant the grace of spiritual doctrine to flow within the hearts and minds of the faithful. This stream also sets out a flourishing of various kinds of odors that spring from the faithful, perhaps as they become likened to the great odor of Christ’s love and sacrifice in His Passion. This all may be the operation of the Holy Spirit in St. Victorinus’ work, but the reference is perhaps too obscure to say definitively.
Didymus the Blind [~318 AD to 398 AD]
One can easily find much information on Didymus the Blind, who was a student of Origen, though blind at a very early age. Didymus the Blind is responsible for writing many treatises against the Arians (who were rampant during his age), writing on the Holy Spirit, the Trinity, against the Manicheans, on the Psalms, and on many, many other topics. Here is one of his references to Revelations 22:1-2 from his De Trinitate, Book II, 1-7.
Unfortunately I can’t find it for free on the Internet but if somebody could enlighten me and show me how to get it, I would be quite happy.
St. Hilary of Potiers [~300 AD to ~368 AD]
Here is an extract from his Homily on Psalm 1 [the reference I suspect regards the tree and the waters in Psalm 1]:
17. Now that the leaves of the tree we speak of are not valueless but are a source of health to the nations is testified by St. John in the Apocalypse, where he says: And He showed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb; in the midst of the street of it and on either side of the river the tree of life, bearing twelve manner of fruits, yielding its fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree are for the healing the nations Revelation 22:1 .
Bodily manifestations so reveal the mysteries of heaven that, although matter by itself cannot convey the full spiritual meaning, yet to regard them only in their material aspect is to mutilate them. We should have expected to hear that there were trees, not one tree, standing on either side of the river shown to the saint. But because the tree of Life in the sacrament of Baptism is in every case one, supplying to those that come to it on every side the fruits of the apostolic message, so there stands on either side of the river one tree of Life. There is one Lamb seen amid the throne of God, and one river, and one tree of Life: three figures wherein are comprised the mysteries of the Incarnation, Baptism and Passion, whose leaves, that is to say, the words of the Gospel, bring healing to the nations through the teaching of a message that cannot fall to the ground.
It is interesting here too that St. Hilary considers that there is a baptismal reference, where upon the one Lamb upon the throne considers the mystery of the Incarnation, the one river considers holy Baptism, and the one tree of Life that bridges each side of the river is the Passion (from which blood and water came out, not just blood, but water too, for that is why Baptism is efficacious for wiping away sins). Though the reference here is to Baptism, the claim is not explicit that this refers to the Holy Spirit, and perhaps more refers to the Divine sending rather than procession itself.
St. Clement of Alexandria [~150 AD to ~215 AD]
Though the Latin Church has somewhat suppressed the cult of St. Clement of Alexandria, or Eastern Catholic brothers still do, so I shall keep him here as a saint.
The reference to Revelations 22:2 is found in his Stromata, but I have been unable to find it.
St. Gregory of Nyssa [~ 335 AD to ~395 AD]
A saint recognized for his expounding of the nature of the Holy Trinity, no introduction is truly necessary for him.
Apparently there is a reference to Revelations 22:2 in his Eight Homilies on the Beatitudes, but I do not have access to any copy of it.
As well there is supposedly a reference to Revelations 22:2 in his 15 Homilies on the Song of Songs. Just the same, I cannot find a free copy online.
St. Epiphanius of Salamis [~310 AD to 403 AD]
The reference in St. Ephanius of Salamis to Revelations 22:2 is found in his Panarion. I’ve had trouble finding a copy of this as well, but it is referenced from what I can see according to some strange beliefs that certain persons had regarding it.
Conclusion:
All and all I’m still missing a lot of texts in order to really find out much about how this text was used, but hopefully in due time people will be kind enough to search for these things and hopefully give me a heads up. I expect that Didymus the Blind’s De Trinitate will be the most promising, but St. Ambrose's reference is clear that in the early West there was a strong consideration of the Holy Spirit proceeding from the Father and the Son, though whether this was a consideration as strong in the East, yet remains to be seen. I think the Patristic evidence seems to indicate though that Revelations 22:1-2 is a consideration of the Holy Spirit's proceeding forth from the Father and the Son, though whether this is only in the consideration of the economy of salvation or a consideration of the inner-Trinitarian life, is difficult to say, at least for this writer. God bless.
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WOW, that St Ambrose quote was amazing!
ReplyDeleteTHANKS for the BibleIndex website as well!
I look forward to folks hopefully being able to find those sources.
Sure thing Nick,
ReplyDeleteI stumbled upon the St. Ambrose quote when looking for John 7:37-39, but it did not show up for Revelations 22:1-2 on my search, so the program is not perfect yet, give it a few years though and I expect it to be quite astounding.
God bless,