58. It is, however,
asked by our opponents, how it is that Scripture nowhere describes the
Spirit as glorified together with the Father and the Son, but carefully
avoids the use of the expression “with the Spirit,” while
it everywhere prefers to ascribe glory “in Him” as being
the fitter phrase. I should, for my own part, deny that the word
in [or by] implies lower dignity than the word “with;” I
should maintain on the contrary that, rightly understood, it leads us
up to the highest possible meaning. This is the case where, as we
have observed, it often stands instead of with; as for instance,
“I will go into thy house in burnt offerings,”
Ps. lxvi. 13, LXX. instead of with burnt offerings and
“he brought them forth also by silver and
gold,”
Ps. cv. 37. that is to say
with silver and gold and “thou goest not forth
in our armies”
Ps. xliv. 9. instead of
with our armies, and innumerable similar passages. In
short I should very much like to learn from this newfangled
philosophy what kind of glory the Apostle ascribed by the word
in, according to the interpretation which our opponents
proffer as derived from Scripture, for I have nowhere found the
formula “To Thee, O Father, be honour and glory, through Thy
only begotten Son, by [or in] the Holy
Ghost,”—a form which to our opponents comes, so to say,
as naturally as the air they breathe. You may indeed find each
of these clauses separately, In
Eph. ii. 18 they are combined, but no
Scriptural doxology uses ἐν of
the Spirit.
but they will nowhere be able to show them to us arranged in this
conjunction. If, then, they want exact conformity to what is
written, let them give us exact references. If, on the other
hand, they make concession to custom, they must not make us an
exception to such a privilege.