The Noble Results of this Species of PrayerSome persons, when they hear
of the prayer of silence, falsely imagine, that the soul remains
stupid, dead, and inactive. But, unquestionably, it acteth therein,
more nobly and more extensively than it had ever done before; for God
Himself is the mover, and the soul now acteth by the agency of His
Spirit.When S. Paul speaks of our being led by the Spirit of God, it is
not meant that we should cease from action; but that we should act
through the internal agency of His Grace. This is finely represented by
the Prophet Ezekiel's vision of the "wheels, which had a Living Spirit;
and whithersoever the Spirit was to go, they went; they ascended, and
descended, as they were moved; for the Spirit of Life was in them, and
they returned not when they went" (Ezek. i. 18). Thus the soul should
be equally subservient to the will of that Vivifying Spirit wherewith
it is informed, and scrupulously faithful to follow only as that moves.
These motions now never tend to return, in reflection on the creatures
or itself; but go forward, in an incessant approach towards the chief
end.This action of the soul is attended with the utmost tranquillity.
When it acts of itself, the act is forced and constrained; and,
therefore, it can the more easily perceive and distinguish it: but when
it acteth under the influence of the Spirit of Grace, its action is so
free, so easy, and sonatural, that it almost seems as if it did not act
at all: "He hath set me at large, he hath delivered me, because he
delighted in me" (Psal. xviii. 19).When the soul is in its central
tendency, or, in other words, is returned through recollection into
itself; from that moment the central attraction becomes a most potent
action, infinitely surpassing in its energy every other species.
Nothing, indeed, can equal the swiftness of this tendency to the
centre: and though an action, yet it is so noble, so peaceful, so full
of tranquility, so natural and spontaneous, that it appears to the soul
as if it did not act at all.When a wheel rolls slowly we can easily
distinguish its parts; but when its motion is rapid we can distinguish
nothing. So the soul, which rests in God, hath an activity exceedingly
noble and elevated, yet altogether peaceful: and the more peaceful it
is, the swifter is its course; because it is proportionately given up
to that Spirit, by which it is moved and directed.This attracting
spirit is no other than God Himself, Who, in drawing us, causes us to
run unto Him. How well did the spouse understand this when she said,
“Draw me, and we will run after thee† (Cant. i. 3). Draw me unto
Thee, O my Divine centre, by the secret springs of my existence, and
all my powers and senses shall follow the potent magnetism! This simple
attraction is both an ointment to heal, and a perfume to allure: "we
follow," saith she, "the fragrance of thy perfumes"; and though so
powerfully magnetic it is followed by the soul freely, and without
constraint; for it is equally delightful as forcible; and whilst it
attracts by its potency, it charms with its sweetness. "Draw me," saith
the spouse, "and we will run after Thee." She speaketh of and to
herself: "draw me," - behold the unity of the centre, which
attracteth! "We will run," - behold the correspondence and course of
all the senses and powers in following that attraction!Instead then of
promoting idleness, we promote the highest activity by inculcating a
total dependence on the Spirit of God as our moving principle; for it
is "in him we live, and move, and have our being" (Acts xvii. 28). This
meek dependence on the Spirit of God is indispensably necessary to
reinstate the soul in its primeval unity and simplicity, that it may
thereby attain the end of its creation.We must, therefore, forsake our
multifarious activity, to re-enter the simplicity and unity of God, in
Whose image we were originally formed. "The Spirit is one and manifold"
(Wisdom vii. 22), and His unity doth not preclude His multiplicity. We
enter into His unity when we are united unto His Spirit, and have one
and the same Spirit with Him; and we are multiplied in respect to the
outward execution of His will, without any departure from our state of
union: so that when we are wholly moved by the Divine Spirit, which is
infinitely active, our activity must, indeed, differ widely in its
energy and degree from that which is merely our own.We must yield
ourselves to the guidance of "Wisdom, which is more moving than any
motion" (Wisdom vii. 24); and by abiding in dependence on its action,
our activity will be truly efficient. "All things were made by the
Word, and without him was not anything made, that was made" (John i.
3). God originally formed us in His own likeness; and He now informeth
us with the Spirit of His Word, that "Breath of Life" (Gen. ii. 7),
which was inbreathed at our creation, in the participation whereof the
Image of God consisted; and this life is a Life of Unity, simple, pure,
intimate, and always fruitful. The Devil having broken and deformed the
Divine Image in the soul, the agency of the same Word, whose Spirit was
inbreathed at our creation, is absolutely necessary for its renovation;
and it can only be renewed by our being passive under Him who is to
renew it: but who can restore the Image of God within us in its
primeval form, save He who is the Essential Image of the Father.Our
activity should, therefore, consist in endeavoring to acquire and
maintain such a state as may be most susceptible of Divine impressions,
most flexile to all the operations of the Eternal Word. Whilst a tablet
is unsteady, the painter is unable to delineate a true copy: so every
act ofour own selfish and proper spirit is productive of false and
erroneous lineaments; it interrupts the work, and defeats the design of
this adorable Painter; we must then remain in peace and move only when
He moves us. "Jesus Christ hath the Life, in himself" (John v. 26), and
He should be the life of every living thing.As all action is estimable
only in proportion to the dignity of the efficient principle, this
action is incontestably more noble than any other. Actions produced by
a Divine principle, are Divine; but creaturely actions, however good
they appear, are only human, or at best virtuous, even whenaccompanied
by Grace. Jesus Christ saith, He hath the Life in Himself. All other
beings have only a borrowed life; but the Word hath the Life in
Himself, and being communicative of His nature He desireth to
communicate it to man. We should, therefore, make room for the influx
of this Life, which can only be done by the ejection of the Adamical
life, the suppression of the activity of self. This is agreeable to the
assertion of S. Paul: "If any man be in Christ he is a new creature:
old things are passed away; behold all things are become new!" (2 Cor.
v. 17), but this state can be accomplished only by dying to ourselves
and to all our own activity, thatthe activity of God may be substituted
in its place.Instead, therefore, of prohibiting activity, we enjoin it;
but in absolute dependence on the Spirit of God, that His activity may
take place of our own. This can only be effected by the concurrence of
the creature; and this concurrence can only be yielded by moderating
and restraining our ownactivity, that the activity of God may gradually
gain the ascendancy, and finally absorb all that is ours as
distinguishable from it.Jesus Christ hath exemplified this in the
Gospel: Martha did what was right; but because she did it in her own
spirit Christ rebuked her. The spirit of man is restless and turbulent;
for which reason it does little, though it would appear to do
much. "Martha," saith Christ, "thou art careful and troubled about many
things, but one thing is needful; and Mary hath chosenthat good part
which shall not be taken away from her" (Luke x. 41, 42). And what was
it that Mary had chosen? Repose, tranquillity, and peace. She
apparently ceased to act, that the Spirit of Christ might act in her;
she ceased to live, that Christ might be her life.This shows us how
necessary it is to renounce ourselves and all our own activity, to
follow Jesus Christ; and we cannot follow Him without being animated
with His Spirit. Now that His Spirit may gain admission in us it is
necessary that our own proper spirit should be first expelled: "He that
is joined unto the Lord," saith S. Paul, "is one spirit with him" (1
Cor. vi. 17); and David said, "It was good for him to draw near unto
the Lord, and to put his trust in him" (Ps. lxxiii. 28). This drawing
near unto God, is the beginning of Union.Divine Union has its
commencement, its progression, and its consummation. It is first an
inclination and tendency towards God: when the soul is introverted in
the manner before described, it gets within the influence of the
central attraction, and acquires an eager desire after Union: on a
nearer approach unto God, it adheres to Him; and growing stronger and
stronger in its adhesion, it finally becomes one; that is, "One Spirit
with Him:" and it is thus that the spirit which had wandered and
strayed from God, returns again to its proper source.Into this process,
which is the Divine motion, and the Spirit of Jesus Christ, we must
necessarily enter. S. Paul saith, "If any man hath not the Spirit of
Christ, he is none of his" (Rom. viii. 9): therefore, to be Christ's,
we must be filled with His Spirit, and to be filled with His Spirit we
must be emptied of our own. The Apostle, in the same passage, proves
the necessity of this Divine influence or motion: "As many" saith
he, "as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God" (Rom.
viii. 14).The Spirit of Divine Filiation is then the Spirit of Divine
action or motion: he, therefore, adds, "Ye have not received the spirit
of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of Adoption,
whereby we, cry, Abba, Father."This Spirit is no other than the Spirit
of Christ, through which we ...

read more »

The Noble Results of this Species of PrayerSome persons, when they hear
of the prayer of silence, falsely imagine, that the soul remains
stupid, dead, and inactive. But, unquestionably, it acteth therein,
more nobly and more extensively than it had ever done before; for God
Himself is the mover, and the soul now acteth by the agency of His
Spirit.When S. Paul speaks of our being led by the Spirit of God, it is
not meant that we should cease from action; but that we should act
through the internal agency of His Grace. This is finely represented by
the Prophet Ezekiel's vision of the "wheels, which had a Living Spirit;
and whithersoever the Spirit was to go, they went; they ascended, and
descended, as they were moved; for the Spirit of Life was in them, and
they returned not when they went" (Ezek. i. 18). Thus the soul should
be equally subservient to the will of that Vivifying Spirit wherewith
it is informed, and scrupulously faithful to follow only as that moves.
These motions now never tend to return, in reflection on the creatures
or itself; but go forward, in an incessant approach towards the chief
end.This action of the soul is attended with the utmost tranquillity.
When it acts of itself, the act is forced and constrained; and,
therefore, it can the more easily perceive and distinguish it: but when
it acteth under the influence of the Spirit of Grace, its action is so
free, so easy, and so natural, that it almost seems as if it did not
act at all: "He hath set me at large, he hath delivered me, because he
delighted in me" (Psal. xviii. 19).When the soul is in its central
tendency, or, in other words, is returned through recollection into
itself; from that moment the central attraction becomes a most potent
action, infinitely surpassing in its energy every other species.
Nothing, indeed, can equal the swiftness of this tendency to the
centre: and though an action, yet it is so noble, so peaceful, so full
of tranquility, so natural and spontaneous, that it appears to the soul
as if it did not act at all.When a wheel rolls slowly we can easily
distinguish its parts; but when its motion is rapid we can distinguish
nothing. So the soul, which rests in God, hath an activity exceedingly
noble and elevated, yet altogether peaceful: and the more peaceful it
is, the swifter is its course; because it is proportionately given up
to that Spirit, by which it is moved and directed.This attracting
spirit is no other than God Himself, Who, in drawing us, causes us to
run unto Him. How well did the spouse understand this when she
said, "Draw me, and we will run after thee" (Cant. i. 3). Draw me unto
Thee, O my Divine centre, by the secret springs of my existence, and
all my powers and senses shall follow the potent magnetism! This simple
attraction is both an ointment to heal, and a perfume to allure: "we
follow," saith she, "the fragrance of thy perfumes"; and though so
powerfully magnetic it is followed by the soul freely, and without
constraint; for it is equally delightful as forcible; and whilst it
attracts by its potency, it charms with its sweetness. "Draw me," saith
the spouse, "and we will run after Thee." She speaketh of and to
herself: "draw me," - behold the unity of the centre, which
attracteth! "We will run," - behold the correspondence and course of
all the senses and powers in following that attraction!Instead then of
promoting idleness, we promote the highest activity by inculcating a
total dependence on the Spirit of God as our moving principle; for it
is "in him we live, and move, and have our being" (Acts xvii. 28). This
meek dependence on the Spirit of God is indispensably necessary to
reinstate the soul in its primeval unity and simplicity, that it may
thereby attain the end of its creation.We must, therefore, forsake our
multifarious activity, to re-enter the simplicity and unity of God, in
Whose image we were originally formed. "The Spirit is one and manifold"
(Wisdom vii. 22), and His unity doth not preclude His multiplicity. We
enter into His unity when we are united unto His Spirit, and have one
and the same Spirit with Him; and we are multiplied in respect to the
outward execution of His will, without any departure from our state of
union: so that when we are wholly moved by the Divine Spirit, which is
infinitely active, our activity must, indeed, differ widely in its
energy and degree from that which is merely our own.We must yield
ourselves to the guidance of "Wisdom, which is more moving than any
motion" (Wisdom vii. 24); and by abiding in dependence on its action,
our activity will be truly efficient. "All things were made by the
Word, and without him was not anything made, that was made" (John i.
3). God originally formed us in His own likeness; and He now informeth
us with the Spirit of His Word, that "Breath of Life" (Gen. ii. 7),
which was inbreathed at our creation, in the participation whereof the
Image of God consisted; and this life is a Life of Unity, simple, pure,
intimate, and always fruitful. The Devil having broken and deformed the
Divine Image in the soul, the agency of the same Word, whose Spirit was
inbreathed at our creation, is absolutely necessary for its renovation;
and it can only be renewed by our being passive under Him who is to
renew it: but who can restore the Image of God within us in its
primeval form, save He who is the Essential Image of the Father.Our
activity should, therefore, consist in endeavoring to acquire and
maintain such a state as may be most susceptible of Divine impressions,
most flexile to all the operations of the Eternal Word. Whilst a tablet
is unsteady, the painter is unable to delineate a true copy: so every
act of our own selfish and proper spirit is productive of false and
erroneous lineaments; it interrupts the work, and defeats the design of
this adorable Painter; we must then remain in peace and move only when
He moves us. "Jesus Christ hath the Life, in himself" (John v. 26), and
He should be the life of every living thing.As all action is estimable
only in proportion to the dignity of the efficient principle, this
action is incontestably more noble than any other. Actions produced by
a Divine principle, are Divine; but creaturely actions, however good
they appear, are only human, or at best virtuous, even when accompanied
by Grace. Jesus Christ saith, He hath the Life in Himself. All other
beings have only a borrowed life; but the Word hath the Life in
Himself, and being communicative of His nature He desireth to
communicate it to man. We should, therefore, make room for the influx
of this Life, which can only be done by the ejection of the Adamical
life, the suppression of the activity of self. This is agreeable to the
assertion of S. Paul: "If any man be in Christ he is a new creature:
old things are passed away; behold all things are become new!" (2 Cor.
v. 17), but this state can be accomplished only by dying to ourselves
and to all our own activity, thatthe activity of God may be substituted
in its place.Instead, therefore, of prohibiting activity, we enjoin it;
but in absolute dependence on the Spirit of God, that His activity may
take place of our own. This can only be effected by the concurrence of
the creature; and this concurrence can only be yielded by moderating
and restraining our own activity, that the activity of God may
gradually gain the ascendancy, and finally absorb all that is ours as
distinguishable from it.Jesus Christ hath exemplified this in the
Gospel: Martha did what was right; but because she did it in her own
spirit Christ rebuked her. The spirit of man is restless and turbulent;
for which reason it does little, though it would appear to do
much. "Martha," saith Christ, "thou art careful and troubled about many
things, but one thing is needful; and Mary hath chosen that good part
which shall not be taken away from her" (Luke x. 41, 42). And what was
it that Mary had chosen? Repose, tranquillity, and peace. She
apparently ceased to act, that the Spirit of Christ might act in her;
she ceased to live, that Christ might be her life.This shows us how
necessary it is to renounce ourselves and all our own activity, to
follow Jesus Christ; and we cannot follow Him without being animated
with His Spirit. Now that His Spirit may gain admission in us it is
necessary that our own proper spirit should be first expelled: "He that
is joined unto the Lord," saith S. Paul, "is one spirit with him" (1
Cor. vi. 17); and David said, "It was good for him to draw near unto
the Lord, and to put his trust in him" (Ps. lxxiii. 28). This drawing
near unto God, is the beginning of Union.Divine Union has its
commencement, its progression, and its consummation. It is first an
inclination and tendency towards God: when the soul is introverted in
the manner before described, it gets within the influence of the
central attraction, and acquires an eager desire after Union: on a
nearer approach unto God, it adheres to Him; and growing stronger and
stronger in its adhesion, it finally becomes one; that is, "One Spirit
with Him:" and it is thus that the spirit which had wandered and
strayed from God, returns again to its proper source.Into this process,
which is the Divine motion, and the Spirit of Jesus Christ, we must
necessarily enter. S. Paul saith, "If any man hath not the Spirit of
Christ, he is none of his" (Rom. viii. 9): therefore, to be Christ's,
we must be filled with His Spirit, and to be filled with His Spirit we
must be emptied of our own. The Apostle, in the same passage, proves
the necessity of this Divine influence or motion: "As many" saith
he, "as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God" (Rom.
viii. 14).The Spirit of Divine Filiation is then the Spirit of Divine
action or motion: he, therefore, adds, "Ye have not received the spirit
of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of Adoption,
whereby we, cry, Abba, Father."This Spirit is no other than the Spirit
of Christ, through which we ...

read more »

The Noble Results of this Species of PrayerSome persons, when they hear
of the prayer of silence, falsely imagine, that the soul remains
stupid, dead, and inactive. But, unquestionably, it acteth therein,
more nobly and more extensively than it had ever done before; for God
Himself is the mover, and the soul now acteth by the agency of His
Spirit.When S. Paul speaks of our being led by the Spirit of God, it is
not meant that we should cease from action; but that we should act
through the internal agency of His Grace. This is finely represented by
the Prophet Ezekiel's vision of the "wheels, which had a Living Spirit;
and whithersoever the Spirit was to go, they went; they ascended, and
descended, as they were moved; for the Spirit of Life was in them, and
they returned not when they went" (Ezek. i. 18). Thus the soul should
be equally subservient to the will of that Vivifying Spirit wherewith
it is informed, and scrupulously faithful to follow only as that moves.
These motions now never tend to return, in reflection on the creatures
or itself; but go forward, in an incessant approach towards the chief
end.This action of the soul is attended with the utmost tranquillity.
When it acts of itself, the act is forced and constrained; and,
therefore, it can the more easily perceive and distinguish it: but when
it acteth under the influence of the Spirit of Grace, its action is so
free, so easy, and so natural, that it almost seems as if it did not
act at all: "He hath set me at large, he hath delivered me, because he
delighted in me" (Psal. xviii. 19).When the soul is in its central
tendency, or, in other words, is returned through recollection into
itself; from that moment the central attraction becomes a most potent
action, infinitely surpassing in its energy every other species.
Nothing, indeed, can equal the swiftness of this tendency to the
centre: and though an action, yet it is so noble, so peaceful, so full
of tranquility, so natural and spontaneous, that it appears to the soul
as if it did not act at all.When a wheel rolls slowly we can easily
distinguish its parts; but when its motion is rapid we can distinguish
nothing. So the soul, which rests in God, hath an activity exceedingly
noble and elevated, yet altogether peaceful: and the more peaceful it
is, the swifter is its course; because it is proportionately given up
to that Spirit, by which it is moved and directed.This attracting
spirit is no other than God Himself, Who, in drawing us, causes us to
run unto Him. How well did the spouse understand this when she
said, "Draw me, and we will run after thee" (Cant. i. 3). Draw me unto
Thee, O my Divine centre, by the secret springs of my existence, and
all my powers and senses shall follow the potent magnetism! This simple
attraction is both an ointment to heal, and a perfume to allure: "we
follow," saith she, "the fragrance of thy perfumes"; and though so
powerfully magnetic it is followed by the soul freely, and without
constraint; for it is equally delightful as forcible; and whilst it
attracts by its potency, it charms with its sweetness. "Draw me," saith
the spouse, "and we will run after Thee." She speaketh of and to
herself: "draw me," - behold the unity of the centre, which
attracteth! "We will run," - behold the correspondence and course of
all the senses and powers in following that attraction!Instead then of
promoting idleness, we promote the highest activity by inculcating a
total dependence on the Spirit of God as our moving principle; for it
is "in him we live, and move, and have our being" (Acts xvii. 28). This
meek dependence on the Spirit of God is indispensably necessary to
reinstate the soul in its primeval unity and simplicity, that it may
thereby attain the end of its creation.We must, therefore, forsake our
multifarious activity, to re-enter the simplicity and unity of God, in
Whose image we were originally formed. "The Spirit is one and manifold"
(Wisdom vii. 22), and His unity doth not preclude His multiplicity. We
enter into His unity when we are united unto His Spirit, and have one
and the same Spirit with Him; and we are multiplied in respect to the
outward execution of His will, without any departure from our state of
union: so that when we are wholly moved by the Divine Spirit, which is
infinitely active, our activity must, indeed, differ widely in its
energy and degree from that which is merely our own.We must yield
ourselves to the guidance of "Wisdom, which is more moving than any
motion" (Wisdom vii. 24); and by abiding in dependence on its action,
our activity will be truly efficient. "All things were made by the
Word, and without him was not anything made, that was made" (John i.
3). God originally formed us in His own likeness; and He now informeth
us with the Spirit of His Word, that "Breath of Life" (Gen. ii. 7),
which was inbreathed at our creation, in the participation whereof the
Image of God consisted; and this life is a Life of Unity, simple, pure,
intimate, and always fruitful. The Devil having broken and deformed the
Divine Image in the soul, the agency of the same Word, whose Spirit was
inbreathed at our creation, is absolutely necessary for its renovation;
and it can only be renewed by our being passive under Him who is to
renew it: but who can restore the Image of God within us in its
primeval form, save He who is the Essential Image of the Father.Our
activity should, therefore, consist in endeavoring to acquire and
maintain such a state as may be most susceptible of Divine impressions,
most flexile to all the operations of the Eternal Word. Whilst a tablet
is unsteady, the painter is unable to delineate a true copy: so every
act of our own selfish and proper spirit is productive of false and
erroneous lineaments; it interrupts the work, and defeats the design of
this adorable Painter; we must then remain in peace and move only when
He moves us. "Jesus Christ hath the Life, in himself" (John v. 26), and
He should be the life of every living thing.As all action is estimable
only in proportion to the dignity of the efficient principle, this
action is incontestably more noble than any other. Actions produced by
a Divine principle, are Divine; but creaturely actions, however good
they appear, are only human, or at best virtuous, even when accompanied
by Grace. Jesus Christ saith, He hath the Life in Himself. All other
beings have only a borrowed life; but the Word hath the Life in
Himself, and being communicative of His nature He desireth to
communicate it to man. We should, therefore, make room for the influx
of this Life, which can only be done by the ejection of the Adamical
life, the suppression of the activity of self. This is agreeable to the
assertion of S. Paul: "If any man be in Christ he is a new creature:
old things are passed away; behold all things are become new!" (2 Cor.
v. 17), but this state can be accomplished only by dying to ourselves
and to all our own activity, that the activity of God may be
substituted in its place.Instead, therefore, of prohibiting activity,
we enjoin it; but in absolute dependence on the Spirit of God, that His
activity may take place of our own. This can only be effected by the
concurrence of the creature; and this concurrence can only be yielded
by moderating and restraining our own activity, that the activity of
God may gradually gain the ascendancy, and finally absorb all that is
ours as distinguishable from it.Jesus Christ hath exemplified this in
the Gospel: Martha did what was right; but because she did it in her
own spirit Christ rebuked her. The spirit of man is restless and
turbulent; for which reason it does little, though it would appear to
do much. "Martha," saith Christ, "thou art careful and troubled about
many things, but one thing is needful; and Mary hath chosen that good
part which shall not be taken away from her" (Luke x. 41, 42). And what
was it that Mary had chosen? Repose, tranquillity, and peace. She
apparently ceased to act, that the Spirit of Christ might act in her;
she ceased to live, that Christ might be her life.This shows us how
necessary it is to renounce ourselves and all our own activity, to
follow Jesus Christ; and we cannot follow Him without being animated
with His Spirit. Now that His Spirit may gain admission in us it is
necessary that our own proper spirit should be first expelled: "He that
is joined unto the Lord," saith S. Paul, "is one spirit with him" (1
Cor. vi. 17); and David said, "It was good for him to draw near unto
the Lord, and to put his trust in him" (Ps. lxxiii. 28). This drawing
near unto God, is the beginning of Union.Divine Union has its
commencement, its progression, and its consummation. It is first an
inclination and tendency towards God: when the soul is introverted in
the manner before described, it gets within the influence of the
central attraction, and acquires an eager desire after Union: on a
nearer approach unto God, it adheres to Him; and growing stronger and
stronger in its adhesion, it finally becomes one; that is, "One Spirit
with Him:" and it is thus that the spirit which had wandered and
strayed from God, returns again to its proper source.Into this process,
which is the Divine motion, and the Spirit of Jesus Christ, we must
necessarily enter. S. Paul saith, "If any man hath not the Spirit of
Christ, he is none of his" (Rom. viii. 9): therefore, to be Christ's,
we must be filled with His Spirit, and to be filled with His Spirit we
must be emptied of our own. The Apostle, in the same passage, proves
the necessity of this Divine influence or motion: "As many" saith
he, "as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God" (Rom.
viii. 14).The Spirit of Divine Filiation is then the Spirit of Divine
action or motion: he, therefore, adds, "Ye have not received the spirit
of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of Adoption,
whereby we, cry, Abba, Father."This Spirit is no other than the Spirit
of Christ, through which we ...

read more »