The work of the Holy Spirit - pagina 168

—

XXVII.

The Signs

of Pentecost. " Signs in the earth beneath." Acts

ii.

19.

tis now consider the signs that accompanied the outpouring Holy Spirit the sound of a rushing, mighty wind; tongues of fire and the speaking with other tongues which constitute the fourth difficulty that meets us in the investigation of the events of Pentecost (see p. 113). The first and second precede, the third

Let

—

of the

—

;

follows the outpouring.

These signs are not merely symbolic.

The speaking with other

tongues, at least, appears as part of the narrative.

Symbols are

intended to represent or indicate something or to call the attention to it; hence it may be omitted without affecting the matter itself.

A

symbol

is like

a finger-post on the road:

without affecting the road.

If

it

may

be removed

the Pentecost signs were purely

symbolic, the event would have been the same without them

;

but

the absence of the sign of other tongues would have modified the

character of the subsequent history completely.

two preceding signs were fact that neither of them strengthens the supposition for a symbol must symbol apt an This

justifies the supposition that the

also constituent parts of the miracle. is

speak.

The

;

The

finger-post that leaves the traveler in doubt concern-

ing the direction he

is to

take

is

no

finger-post.

Considering the

have been unable to ascertain the significance of the so-called symbols with any degree of certainty, it must be acknowledged that it is difficult to believe that the apostles or the multitude understood their significance at once and in the same way. The issue proves the contrary. They did not understand the signs. The multitude, confounded and pc-plexed, said one to another: "What meaneth this?" And when Peter arose as an apostle, enlightened by the Holy Spirit, to interpret the miracle, he made no effort to attach any symbolic signififact that for eighteen centuries theologians

Deze tekst is geautomatiseerd gemaakt en kan nog fouten bevatten. Digibron werkt voortdurend aan correctie. Klik voor het origineel door naar de pdf. Voor opmerkingen, vragen, informatie: contact.

Op Digibron -en alle daarin opgenomen content- is het databankrecht van toepassing. Gebruiksvoorwaarden. Data protection law applies to Digibron and the content of this database. Terms of use.

Printen