On the signification of the word spirit dependeth that of the word inspiration;which must either be taken properly,and then it is nothing but the blowing into a man some thin and subtle air or wind in such manner as a man filleth a bladder with his breath;or if spirits be not corporeal,but have their existence only in the fancy,it is nothing but the blowing in of a phantasm;which is improper to say,and impossible;for phantasms are not,but only seem to be,somewhat.That word therefore is used in the Scripture metaphorically only:as where it is said that God inspired into man the breath of life,no more is meant than that God gave unto him vital motion.For we are not to think that God made first a living breath,and then blew it into Adam after he was made,whether that breath were real or seeming;but only as it is "that he gave him life,and breath";that is,made him a living creature.And where it is said "all Scripture is given by inspiration from God,"speaking there of the Scripture of the Old Testament,it is an easy metaphor to signify that God inclined the spirit or mind of those writers to write that which should be useful in teaching,reproving,correcting,and instructing men in the way of righteous living.But where St.Peter saith that "Prophecy came not in old time by the will of man,but the holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit,"by the Holy Spirit is meant the voice of God in a dream or vision supernatural,which is not inspiration:nor when our Saviour,breathing on His Disciples,said,"Receive the Holy Spirit,was that breath the Spirit,but a sign of the spiritual graces he gave unto them.And though it be said of many,and of our Saviour Himself,that he was full of the Holy Spirit;yet that fullness is not to be understood for infusion of the substance of God,but for accumulation of his gifts,such as are the gift of sanctity of life,of tongues,and the like,whether attained supernaturally or by study and industry;for in all cases they are the gifts of God.So likewise where God says,"I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,your old men shall dream dreams,and your young men shall see visions,"we are not to understand it in the proper sense,as if his Spirit were like water,subject to effusion or infusion;but as if God had promised to give them prophetical dreams and visions.For the proper use of the word infused,in speaking of the graces of God,is an abuse of it;for those graces are virtues,not bodies to be carried hither and thither,and to be poured into men as into barrels.
In the same manner,to take inspiration in the proper sense,or to say that good spirits entered into men to make them prophesy,or evil spirits into those that became phrenetic,lunatic,or epileptic,is not to take the word in the sense of the Scripture;for the Spirit there is taken for the power of God,working by causes to us unknown.As also the wind that is there said to fill the house wherein the Apostles were assembled on the day of Pentecost is not to be understood for the Holy Spirit,which is the Deity itself;but for an external sign of God's special working on their hearts to effect in them the internal graces and holy virtues He thought requisite for the performance of their apostleship.
