The Holy Spirit
Spirit and Prophecy
51 passages, 8 quoted here · Broad agreement in this library
The Holy Spirit spoke through the prophets and apostles, and still gave prophecy in the early churches.
Where they stood
Each row is one claim. Each name is a writer, placed at the date of the passage. Select a name to read what they said.
2 of the 3 writers here teach: “The Spirit / Word spoke in the prophets.” They answer a rival view: “The prophets spoke only their own words.”
teaches it partly rejects it later writer, summary only
Apostolic FathersApostolicBefore NicaeaBefore NicaeaNicaea to ChalcedonNicaea to 451After ChalcedonAfter 451
The Spirit / Word spoke in the prophets2 teach
True and false prophets are tried by life1 teach
The prophets spoke only their own words1 reject
100 AD200300400500Nicaea 325
Where this divides churches today: Do gifts such as tongues, prophecy and healing continue in the Church today, and is speaking in tongues the sign of a baptism in the Spirit?
What each writer said, earliest first
He showed me people sitting on a bench and another man sitting on a chair, then said, "Do you see those sitting on the bench?" I answered, "Yes, Lord." He replied, "These are faithful, but the one on the chair is a false prophet who destroys the minds of God's slaves. He ruins the double-minded, not the faithful.
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Greek
Ἔδειξέ μοι ἐπὶ συμψελλίου καθημένους ἀνθρώπους καὶ ἕτερον ἄνθρωπον καθήμενον ἐπὶ καθέδραν, καὶ λέγει μοι: Βλέπεις τοὺς ἐπὶ τοῦ συμψελλίου καθημένους; Βλέπω, φημί, κύριε.
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…
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“.
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.
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“.
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…
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…
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…
Other passages filed here (43)
- Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho 43c. 100–c. 165 AD
- Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho 49c. 100–c. 165 AD
- Justin Martyr, First Apology 35c. 100–c. 165 AD
- Justin Martyr, First Apology 40c. 100–c. 165 AD
- Justin Martyr, First Apology 63c. 100–c. 165 AD
- Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies 4.33c. 130–c. 202 AD
- Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies 3.11c. 130–c. 202 AD
- Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies 3.1c. 130–c. 202 AD
- Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies 4.20c. 130–c. 202 AD
- Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies 5.6c. 130–c. 202 AD
- Theophilus of Antioch, To Autolycus 9fl. c. 180 AD
- Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor 5c. 150–c. 215 AD
- Clement of Alexandria, Miscellanies 11c. 150–c. 215 AD
- Clement of Alexandria, Miscellanies 21c. 150–c. 215 AD
- Tertullian, Against Marcion 8c. 155–c. 220 AD
- Tertullian, On Baptism 10c. 155–c. 220 AD
- Tertullian, On Baptism 12c. 155–c. 220 AD
- Tertullian, On Baptism 13c. 155–c. 220 AD
- Tertullian, On Baptism 14c. 155–c. 220 AD
- Tertullian, On Baptism 15c. 155–c. 220 AD
- Tertullian, On Baptism 16c. 155–c. 220 AD
- Tertullian, On Baptism 17c. 155–c. 220 AD
- Tertullian, On Baptism 18c. 155–c. 220 AD
- Tertullian, On Baptism 19c. 155–c. 220 AD
- Tertullian, On Baptism 1c. 155–c. 220 AD
- Tertullian, On Baptism 20c. 155–c. 220 AD
- Tertullian, On Baptism 2c. 155–c. 220 AD
- Tertullian, On Baptism 3c. 155–c. 220 AD
- Tertullian, On Baptism 4c. 155–c. 220 AD
- Tertullian, On Baptism 5c. 155–c. 220 AD
- Tertullian, On Baptism 6c. 155–c. 220 AD
- Tertullian, On Baptism 7c. 155–c. 220 AD
- Tertullian, On Baptism 8c. 155–c. 220 AD
- Tertullian, On Baptism 9c. 155–c. 220 AD
- Origen of Alexandria, On First Principles 4c. 185–c. 254 AD
- Origen of Alexandria, On First Principles 7c. 185–c. 254 AD
- Origen of Alexandria, Against Celsus 3c. 185–c. 254 AD
- Cyprian of Carthage, Treatises Treatise 1c. 200–258 AD
- Cyprian of Carthage, Treatises Treatise 3c. 200–258 AD
- Cyprian of Carthage, Treatises Treatise 4c. 200–258 AD
- Cyprian of Carthage, Treatises Treatise 8c. 200–258 AD
- Hippolytus, Commentary on Daniel Preface (fragments)c. 170–c. 235 AD
- Novatian, On the Trinity 29fl. c. 250 AD