The Holy Spirit

Spirit and Prophecy

8 passages · 44 more listed below · Broad agreement in this library

Spirit in prophets and apostles.

  1. 2nd century8 passages

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Hermas Teaches: Try prophets

fl. c. 140 AD · Shepherd, Mandate 11

These, says he, are the faithful, and he who sits on the chair is a false prophet, ruining the minds of the servants of God. It is the doubters, not the faithful, that he ruins.

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Justin Martyr Teaches: Spirit in prophets

c. 100–c. 165 AD · Dialogue with Trypho 7

Long before all these so-called philosophers, there were certain people—older, blessed, righteous, and beloved by God—who spoke by the divine Spirit and foretold the things that are to come, which are now happening; they are called prophets.

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Greek

Τίνι οὖν, φημί, ἔτι τις χρήσαιτο διδασκάλῳ (??) πόθεν ὠφεληθείη τις. εἰ μηδὲ ἐν τούτοις τὸ ἀληθές ἐστιν; Ἐγένοντό τινες πρὸ πολλοῦ χρόνου πάντων τούτων τῶν νομιζομένων φιλοσόφων παλαιότεροι, μακάριοι καὶ δίκαιοι καὶ θεοφιλεῖς, θείῳ πνεύματι λαλήσαντες καὶ τὰ μέλλοντα θεσπίσαντες…

Justin Martyr Teaches: Spirit in prophets

c. 100–c. 165 AD · First Apology 33

God declared through the prophetic Spirit those things that human beings considered unbelievable and impossible, so that when they came to pass they would not be dismissed but believed precisely because they had been foretold.

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Greek

Καὶ πάλιν ὡς αὐτολεξεὶ διὰ παρθένου μὲν τεχθησόμενος διὰ τοῦ Ἡσαΐου προεφητεύθη, ἀκούσατε. Ἐλέχθη δὲ οὕτως· „Ἰδοὺ ἡ παρθένος ἐν γαστρὶ ἕξει καὶ τέξεται υἱόν, καὶ ἐροῦσιν ἐπὶ τᾷ ὀνόματι αὐτοῦ Μεθ᾿ ἡμῶν ὁ θεός“.

Justin Martyr Teaches: Spirit in prophets

c. 100–c. 165 AD · First Apology 36

When you hear the prophets' words spoken as if from a person, do not suppose that even the inspired prophets themselves are the ones speaking; rather, it is the divine Word that moves them.

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Greek

Ὅταν δὲ τὰς λέξεις τῶν προφητῶν λεγομένας ὡς ἀπὸ προσώπου ἀκούητε, μὴ (??)π᾿ αὐτῶν τῶν ἐμπεπνευσμένων λέγεσθαι νομίσητε, ἀλλ᾿ ἀπὸ τοῦ κινοῦντος αὐτοὺς θείου λόγου.

Justin Martyr Teaches: Spirit in prophets

c. 100–c. 165 AD · First Apology 44

The holy prophetic Spirit taught us these things. Through Moses he spoke to the first created man, saying, "Behold, the good and the evil are before you;

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Greek

Ἐδίδαξε δὲ ἡμᾶς ταῦτα τὸ ἅγιον προφητικὸν πνεῦμα, διὰ Μωϋσέως φῆσαν τῷ πρώτῳ πλασθέντι ἀνθρώπῳ εἰρῆσθαι ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ οὕτως· „Ἰδοὺ πρὸ προσώπου σου τὸ ἀγαθὸν καὶ τὸ κακόν, ἔκλεξαι τὸ ἀγαθόν“.

Athenagoras Teaches: Spirit in prophets

fl. c. 177 AD · Plea for the Christians 10

I have adequately demonstrated that we are not atheists, since we acknowledge one God — ungenerated, eternal, invisible, impassible, incomprehensible, and uncircumscribed — who is apprehended only by mind and reason and encompassed by light, beauty, spirit, and indescribable power, under whom all things came to be…

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Greek

Τὸ μὲν οὖν ἄθεοι μὴ εἶναι, ἕνα τὸν ἀγένητον καὶ ἀΐδιον καὶ ἀόρατον καὶ ἀπαθῆ καὶ ἀκατάληπτον καὶ ἀχώρητον, νῷ μόνῳ καὶ λόγῳ καταλαμβανόμενον, φωτὶ καὶ κάλλει καὶ πνεύματι καὶ δυνάμει ἀνεκδιηγήτῳ περιεχόμενον, ὑφ᾿ οὗ γεγένηται τὸ πᾶν διὰ τοῦ αὐτοῦ λόγου καὶ διακεκόσμηται καὶ…

Athenagoras Teaches: Spirit in prophets

fl. c. 177 AD · Plea for the Christians 7

Nearly everyone agrees, even against their will, that a single divine principle underlies the origins of all things; we insist that the One who ordered the whole world is this God.

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Greek

Ὅταν οὖν τὸ μὲν εἷναι ἓν τὸ θεῖον ὡς ἐπὶ τὸ πλεῖστον κἂν μὴ θέλωσι τοῖς πᾶσι συμφωνῆται ἐπὶ τὰς ἀρχὰς τῶν ὅλων παραγινομένοις, ἡμεῖς δὲ κρατύνωμεν τὸν διακοσμήσαντα τὸ πᾶν τοῦτο τοῦτον εἶναι τὸν θεόν, τίς ἡ αἰτία τοῖς μὲν ἐπ᾿ ἀδείας ἐξεῖναι καὶ λέγειν καὶ γράφειν περὶ τοῦ θείου ἃ…

Athenagoras Teaches: Spirit in prophets

fl. c. 177 AD · Plea for the Christians 9

But the voices of the prophets confirm our thoughts—and I assume even you, so devoted to learning and knowledge, are not unacquainted with Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and the other prophets.

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Greek

Εἰ μὲν οὖν ταῖς τοιαύταις ἐννοίαις ἀπηρκούμεθα, ἀνθρωπικὸν ἄν τις εἶναι τὸν καθ᾿ ἡμᾶς ἐνόμισε λόγον. Ἐπεὶ δὲ αἱ φωναὶ τῶν προφητῶν πιστοῦσιν ἡμῶν τοὺς λογισμούς (νομίζω καὶ ὑμᾶς, φιλομαθεστάτους καὶ ἐπιστημονεστάτους ὄντας, οὐκ ἀνοήτους γεγονέναι οὔτε τῶν Μωσέως οὔτε τῶν Ἠσαΐου…

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