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Matthew
Sullivan
wrote:
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Hi, guys —
In the Book of John, at the baptism of Jesus,
John states:
32 I saw the Spirit come down like a
dove from the sky and remain upon him. 33 I did not know him, but the one
who sent me to baptize with water told
me,
'On whomever you see the Spirit come down
and remain, he is the one who will baptize
with the Holy Spirit.'
John 1:32-33
The phrase: the one who sent me to baptize with water
told me is confusing to me.
- Who is St. John speaking of in this phrase and subsequently prophesied Jesus baptizing
in the Holy Spirit?
Thanks,
Matthew
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{
Who
is St. John speaking of in John 1:32-33 and can you point me to scholarly writings in this area? }
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John
replied:
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Hi, Matthew —
John is speaking of God, Himself.
God, through the Third Person of
the Holy Spirit, told John
to baptize with water and so
on.
Remember, John was filled with the
Holy Spirit in his mother's womb,
hence he was led by the Holy Spirit. He was like any of the Old Testament
prophets. They received messages
from God.
This is not at all strange or foreign
to Christianity. God speaks to us.
We receive the Holy Spirit through
the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation.
The Holy Spirit gives us gifts and
charisms through which He leads us.
He gives us prophecy and word of
knowledge along with the gift of
discernment. Our faith, at it's most
foundational level, is supernatural.
We believe that the Holy Spirit transforms
Bread and Wine in the Body, Blood, Soul,
and Divinity of our Lord yet we have
difficulty believing God speaks to
people directly.
Of course He does. Half the time,
we just aren't listening.
John
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Matthew
replied:
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Dear John,
I thought he was speaking of God
as the Holy Spirit. I was just stymied
by the fact that He used the phrase:
the one
in lower caps. I was reading the
Fireside New American Bible.
I really liked the closing portion
of your answer regarding God speaking
to people directly but that we
don't listen. It made me think of
how we can hear; but
not listen in
everyday life. I was just thinking
about this the other day.
I am researching a variety of information
(books, religious texts, etc.) constructing
a novel pertaining to Purgatory,
albeit, the topic I asked about may
not seem related; but, is in my novel.
As a Catholic, I really appreciate
the time you took to answer my question
along with the promptness of your
reply.
One last thing: I was wondering if
you can point me in the direction
to any scholarly writings from the
Catholic Church on:
- the lost years of Jesus
- Simon of Peraea: false prophet,
messiah or what? and,
- the assertion by some, even
in our Church, that lucifer and
satan are different entities?
I'm having trouble finding something
credible on these topics and want
to write my novel in keeping with
the teachings of the Church.
Based on your previous response,
I can tell you are very knowledgeable
and really like your web site. I
just found it today.
God Bless,
— Matthew
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John
replied:
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Hi, Matthew —
On the issue of the use of Caps:
Unfortunately, none of the Catholic
translations capitalize pronouns
or other nouns that refer to God.
However, the original Greek manuscripts
are written entirely in CAPS, so
that doesn't help.
Regarding your other questions, I'm
not surprised you can't find anything
credible, since there is no early
source for Jesus' early years that
the Church has not condemned as heresy;
the same holds true with the nonsense
about satan and lucifer being two
different entities.
The only material about Jesus' early
childhood that might
be rooted in some truth,
is anything coming from the oral
tradition of the Coptic Church (not
to be confused with the Coptic Catholic
Rite). The Coptic Church, went
into Schism at the Council of Chalcedon
circa 351 A.D. over a Christological
dispute.
They are, what we call, Monophysites.
They deny that Jesus had two wills
and two natures, thus rejecting the
hypostatic union: that is, as we
believe, Jesus is One
Divine Person with
two
natures fused together
with two
wills: one human and one
divine.
Anyway, these Coptics are based in
Alexandria, Egypt so there is a tradition
there of Jesus' childhood but this
is not to be confused with the Gnostic
Gospel of Thomas or any other Gnostic
writings that came out of Egypt.
The Coptic stuff might be reliable,
but certainly not authoritative.
John
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Matthew
replied:
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John —
Thank you so much for all your help.
God Bless,
Matthew
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