The Mystery of the Temple

THE MYSTERY THE TEMPI OR The Manner of God's Presence to His Creatures

from Genesis

to the

Apocalypse

YVES M.-J.CONGAR,

O.P.

THE NEWMAN PRESS WESTMINSTER

.

MARYLAND

This Translation o/'Lc Mysldre du Temple {Lcs ]t/itions du Cerfy Paris) was made by Reginald F. Trevett

NIHIL OBSTAT: HXJBERTUS RICHARDS, S.T.L., CENSOR DEPUTATtJS

r~.s.$.

IMPRIMATUR: E. MORROGH BERNARD VICARIUS GENERAT.IS \VESTMONASTERIi: DIE 12aOCTOBRIS 1961 The NIhll obstat and Imprimatur arc a detltiratiun fhat a book or pam/>fih*t i con^nleft'd to be free from doctrinal ir mot at terror, ff r.v //<>/ itnrlu"t.i I hut thos who have granted the JSlihil obstat ant/ Impiiniuuir tiwi'i* with the
stateiJHentf! e.\pt\'sst'f/>

Les Editions du Cerf 1958 Gates Ltd. 1962 English Translation
&

PRINTED IN OREAT BRITAIN

CONTENTS Page

FOREWORD

ix

Par 1 1

THE PRESENCE OF GOD

IN

THE OLD TESTAMENT

Chapter I,

II,

III.

THE PRESENCE OF GOD

THE TIMES OF THE PATRIARCHS

3

THE PRESENCE OF GOD AT THE TIME OF THE EXODUS AND IN THE LIFETIME OF MOSES

7

IN

THE PRESENCE OF GOD IN THE TIME OF DAVID AND SOLOMON. The Prophecy of Nathan and the Building 20

of the Temple

Explanation of the text the history of the prophecy to David in its twofold evolution: royal messiamsm, and God's Presence among his people, pp, 2532. The later history of Nathan's prophecy, pp. 32-49. The significance of the building of the Temple by Solomon, pp, 49-53. ;

made

IV.

THE PRESENCE OF GOD ACCORDING TO THE PROPHETS (A) The attitude of the prophets towards the Temple and

its

(B)

54

worship., p. 54

The historical mission and place of the prophets,

or the prophetic stage in the revelation of the mystery of the Presence of God, p. 61

V.

THE TEMPLE AND THE PRESENCE OF GOD IN THE DEVOTION AND THOUGHT OF THE JEWS The Temple after the exile. The restoration of Zorobabel and that of Herod, p. 80. Jewish devotion to the Temple, p* 83. Ideologies of the Temple, p. 90. Note on the problem of the exact site of the sanctuary in the temples of Solomon, Zorobabel and Herod, p. 101.

80

Contents

vi

Chapter Part II

THE TEMPLE OR THE PRESENCE OF GOD IN MESSIANIC TIMES INTRODUCTORY REMARKS

VL

JESUS

107

AND THE TEMPLE

112

(A) Jesus's devotion to the Temple, p. 112. (B) Jesus announces that the religious system of the Temple has come to an end and is replaced by himself in person:

L

In so far as the Temple was a hieron and the

place where men met God, p. 117. Mary's purification and the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple, p. 119. Jesus's purification 2.

in

of the Temple, p. 120.

In so far as the Temple was a naos or a place God dwelt, p. 129.

which

In his teaching on the Temple (naos) Jesus reveals that (a) the true Sanctuary is the Body of Christ; (b) it is so only after it has been destroyed and raised up again, p. 138.

VII

THE CHRISTIAN AND THE CHURCH AS SPIRITUAL TEMPLES St Paul: (a) The body of the Christian, the temple of the Holy Spirit, p. 153; (b) The Community or the Church as the temple of God, The Epistle to the Hebrews,

p. 157. p. 173.

St Peter: Christ; the faithful; God's plan; the position of the Eucharist and the hierarchical priesthood^ p. 175

The dimensions of the spiritual temple. The spiritual is corporeal and concrete: it is the Church, p. 188. The spiritual temple has its history, p, 192. The breadth and the depth of the spiritual temple, p. 197. The Apocalypse. The eschatological temple, p. 204. (A) God's Presence or God's temple during the history of the world (1. Earthly events. 2, The heavenly temple and its liturgy. 3. Relations between the heavenly temple and earthly history of the Church and temple

the world), p, 205.

1

51

Contents

vll

Page

The Presence and the temple in God's eternity (1. The assumption into and the fulfilment by Christianity of the Old Testament prophecies. 2. The new state and the transcendent consummation: (a) the new Jerusalem comes down from on high from God; (b) in eternity there is no temple other than God himself, (B)

p. 213.

CONCLUSION; The Economy of Providence and God's Presence in the World

236

Appendices I.

II.

III.

Chronology of events and texts concerning the Temple The Virgin Mary and the Temple

249

254

God^s Presence and his dwelling among men under the Old and under the New and definitive Dispensation

262

GENERAL INDEX

300

INDEX OF AUTHORS

317

FOREWORD Lay People in the Church we continually came upon the idea that the essential point of God's plan and the place of the faithful within it could be well formulated in terms of a temple built of 1 living stones, for God's whole purpose is to make the human race, created in his image, a living, spiritual temple in which he not only dwells but to which he communicates himself and in turn receives from it the worship of a wholly filial obedience. intended to develop this great, amazingly comprehensive and

IN

We

unifying theme by following the stages of its revelation and realization, the stages in fact of the economy of salvation ; this of course by means of a study of Scripture which, inspired as it is and guaranteed by God, provides the evidence of the economy of grace he has freely willed. This economy develops along a line which embraces the whole of history and the world itself. It had a beginning and It will have an end, It began as a seed and it will reach a fullness of growth, and the whole process is dominated by the Person of Jesus Christ. Hence the story of God's relations with his creation and especially with man is none other than the story of his ever more generous, ever deeper Presence among his creatures. This story therefore Is, up to a point, coextensive with that of humanity itself, we may even say with that of the world. So Holy Scripture not only speaks to us of God's presence In all things, It also shows us God bestowing his Presence on the iirst fathers of the race in a manner that we may almost call familiar* 2 However, it Is not this particular chapter in the history of the divine Presence that we propose to write, but rather those which begin with the positive, collective economy of salvation when Abraham was called. Genesis 1

See especially pp. 54,57,61,96, 102-3, 113, 119-20, 121, 154 n. 78, 198,405. Adam enjoyed the familiar Presence of God in a way which the biblical account scarcely allows us to imagine with any degree of precision, but it does suggest it in a remarkably expressive manner. We arc then told that two of the Patriarchs who died before the Flood "walked with God", Henoch (Gen. 5. 21-4) and Noe (6. 9); the text belongs to the Priestly Code (cf. also Gen. 17. 1 [Abraham], 48. 15 [Abraham and Isaac], Mai. 2. 6 [Levi]). The Yahvist tradition anthe Elohist account of the revelation of the name Yahweh when it ticipates attributes to Henoch the privilege of having been the first to invoke the name of Yahweh (Gen. 4. 26), This Patriarch, of whom nothing else was known, is represented in a unique way by biblical tradition as the type of man who is pleasing to God and who lives In heaven rather than on earth. See also Ecclesiasticus 49. 16; Heb, 11. 5-6. This is why after he had lived on earth for a shorter time than the othersmerely three hundred and sixty-five years -he was taken by 31

God

into his (heavenly) dwelling.

M.O.T.

I

*

Foreword

x

to note that God himearly Fathers of the Church liked of the order through which men the establish to worship self wished were to honour him. 4 God himself took the initiative in indicating to his the Patriarchs and the leaders of the people he had chosen to be 12.

I.

3

The

manner he wished

servant and witness, by what name and in what to be adored, where and under what conditions he would come and dwell in the midst of his people. Israel, realizing that the history of the world was essentially to be the history of God's Presence, and

conscious of the decisive character of his inspirations, saw in the himself the decisive points in the places where God had manifested existence and expansion of the whole of creation. This was the case with the stone of Bethel and the Temple of Jerusalem. It is this

God's own gracious initiative in establishing his Presence among and with men, which it is our task to study. a series It is divided into a number of characteristic stages forming shall we deal these With in a continuous process of development. of Like of developnumber every process in a corresponding chapters. ment this one has moments of anticipation arid fresh starts, David, for instance, anticipates the stage of the prophets, and Nathan's

positive story of

be understood in its prophecy, which was addressed to him, can only as anticipating further stages right up to seen when sense prophetic that of the New Testament. But, at the same time, David initiated the building of the Temple and so prepared the basis of the ritual to react but which worship against whose dangers the prophets were for several centuries beyond the prophetic nevertheless prevailed

stage.

The

reality

of his Presence in the messianic era, that is, the stage Son of God in whom and by whom

opened by the Incarnation of the

3 The first eleven chapters of Genesis give what we should call the natural of explanation of the creation of the world. In chapter 12 we see the ^beginning the story of the positive economy of election, of the Word and of faith, the story, that is of God's people to which the whole of the rest of Scripture down to the last chapter of the Apocalypse is devoted. Cf. Lay People fn the Church, p. 312, 4 passage from the prayer for the consecration of a bishop in St Mippolytus's you who dwell in the Apostolic Tradition, c. 3, reads as follows: "(0 Father) heavens and look upon what is humble, you who know all things before they come into existence, you who have determined the bounds of your Church by the word of your grace, you who have predestined the race of the just, the sons of

A

.

.

.

all eternity, you who have established leaders and priests and your sanctuary without men to serve it, you who have been pleased, since the foundation of the world, to be glorified by those whom you have chosen, pour out at this time the power that comes from you, the sovereign Spirit whom you have given to your well-beloved Son Jesus Christ and whom he has given to the Holy Apostles who built your Church to take the place of your sanctuary for ,". Cf, Sacrament Serapionte* the glory and the continual praise of your name n. 14. We have the impression that St Paul's speech at Athens was on the same lines: Acts 17.22-31.

Abraham, from have not

left

.

.

Foreword all

xi

the promises are fulfilled, is found in the Church. Hence we shall Church In accordance with the texts of the New Testa-

describe the

ment which present her to us as the spiritual temple of God. Not that the reader should expect to find in these pages a study of the nature of the Church, still less a complete treatise. Nor will he find a complete Christology in the section where we treat of Christ

who

precedes the Church as the messianic temple. To deal with these subjects would involve many other matters which the reader will find dealt with elsewhere the hierarchical structure of the Church, her sacramental life, etc. Abstraction, said the scholastics, is not a

form of

lying. It is permissible not to say all that can be said on a topic, but to deal with it from one particular standpoint. Like all God's purposes, which this story of God's dwelling with

men

expresses in one of their deepest and widest aspects, the story moves towards a definite end characterized by the highest 5 possible degree of inward religion. Its stages are those of this in-

itself

They move from things to persons, from moments of God's Presence to a Presence that is lasting, from

creasing inwardness. fleeting

the simple presence of his action to a vital gift, inward communication and the joy and peace of communion. Their final word is

a

God

all in all" (1

mighty" (Apoc. 21.

Cor. 22).

temple is the Lord God Ala divine story filling the religious

15. 18), "Its

Truly this

is

soul with love and strength! We hope that we shall not disappoint the expectations of souls such as these. Yet the circumstances and the manner in which this

study has been written its first outline goes back to lectures given during the Cours Saint-Jacques in 1947 have obliged us to be somewhat technical in our approach. Not that we can claim that we are capable of writing a study of the Scriptures by utilizing all the scientific resources of exegesis. Far from it. However, we have attempted to use a method that is valid from the point of view of exegesis and so historically accurate. Hence 9 we have, in the first place, followed a chronological order. This is why, since the readers for whom we are writing are not familiar with the chronology of biblical events and writings, we have provided in an appendix, a very brief chronological table. It is far from complete, limited as it to what is necessary in order to follow the story we shall recount. It makes no claim to give dates determined with absolute precision nor to pronounce on matters still open to discussion on various points between specialists. It is merely intended to offer a framework is

for a historical reading of the texts. 8

Cf. Vrate etfyusse rdforme dans

Pffiglise,

pp. 136 seq.

Foreword

xii

have also added a short explanation In the matter of the date at which the first six books of the Old Testament were composed and the use we have made of them. It is in this Appendix that the terms reader must look for the explanation and the reason for such are which tradition, Elohist as Priestly Code, Yahvist tradition,

We

Y

and E respectively, familiar letters P, are versed in these matters, but doubtless unknown to the majority of our readers. As our writing progressed, we moved away from the summary and generalized treatment we had first intended to use in this work tudes conjoint es promised in Lay People in the for the volume

sometimes referred to by the to those

who

Church, p. xxix. The present book on the theme of the temple was written at Jerusalem and acquired proportions and a method that decided^ us to contribution in the field of publish it separately as an independent du biblical studies, les Editions Cerf kindly agreed to include it in the Lectio divina series. The aim of this series is the same as our

a faithful and intelligent reading of Holy is, to promote that great undertaking, the Jerusalem Scripture. With this aim in view, conclusion. "We ourselves have a successful to Bible, has been brought this work that we dedicate the present study from much so profited

own, that

to

its

translators

friend,

and to the

man who

inspired the undertaking,

our

Fr Thomas Chifflot

Save where otherwise indicated, we have always quoted from the 6 text of the Bible de Jerusalem ( ~ BJ). word As a general rule, we have used the "Temple" (with a capital the same way as "the much in of Jerusalem, T) for the temple word is written elsewhere the whereas St of used is Paul, Apostle" with a small

letter.

7 will is obviously far from exhaustive, we However add in the text. successive in the found be quotations here a list comprising a few studies covering roughly the same ground as our own and also the full titles of certain works fairly frequently

The bibliography, which

quoted: 6 As the English

version of BJ is not yet in print, the translator has used Mgr Knox's translation of the Vulgate except where this version differs considerably from BJ. [Where two numbers arc used of a Psalm, the first refers to the Vulgato enumeration, the second to that of the Hebrew text-^TransIator.] 7 We were unable to use, for instance, the following foreign works; W* H. Dumphy, The Living Temple, Milwaukee, 1933; E. C, Dewick, The indwelling God, Historical Study of the Christian Conception of Immanence and Incarnation, London, 1938; A. Cole, The New Temple, London, 1950; Th. Hannay, "The Temple", in Scottish Journal of Theology, 3 (1950), pp, 278-87; H, Prey, Das Buck der Gegenwart Gottcs unter seiner Gemeinde. Kapitcl 2S-4Q des zweltcn Mose, Stuttgart, 1953. Occasionally though in fact, rarely wo have quoted at second hand.

Foreword J.

DANI^LOU, Le Signe du Temple on de

xiii

la Presence de Dictt (Coll,

catholiqite), Paris, Galllniard, 1942.

"Le temple du Dieu vivant'% in Pretre et Apotre Bonne Presse), 1947, pp. 103-5, 135-7, 166-9, 181-4. M. FRAEYMAN, "La spiritualisation de 1'idee du temple dans les H.-3VL FHRET, (Paris,

epitres pauliniennes'% in Ephemerides Theologtcac Lovanienses* vol. 33 (1947), pp. 378-412, published also in Analccta Lovansiensia Blblica et Orient alia. Series 2, part 5. J. PEDERSEN, Israel, ffs Life and Culture* 4 vols. in 2 books, London (O.U.P.) and Copenhagen, 1926, reprinted in 1946. W. J. PHYTHI AN- ADAMS, The People and the Presence. A Study of the At~one-ment, London, O.U.P., 1942.

M. SCHMIDT, Prophet und TempeL Erne

Studle

zum Problem

der

Gottesnahe im Alten Testament, Zollikon-Zurich, Bvangclischer Verlag, 1948.

H. STRACK and P. BILLERBECK, Kommentar zum Neuen Testament aus Talmud und Midrasch^ 5 vols. in 6 books, Munich, Beck, 1922-8. H. WENSCHKEWITZ, "Die Spiritualisierung der Kultusbcgriffe Tempel, Priester und Opfer ini Neuen Testament," in APFEAOS, 4 (1932), pp. 70-230 (also published as Beiheft 4 of this review, from which our quotations are taken). Y. M.-J. Cougar. Jerusalem, April-September 1954.

Part One

The Presence of God

in the

Old Testament

Chapter

1

THE PRESENCE OF GOD IN THE TIMES OF THE PATRIARCHS story of the Patriarchs which is for all practical purposes contained in that of Abraham and of Jacob-Israel for little is said of Isaac except in the story of his father and that of his son offers a kind of recurrent rhythm. God appears and intervenes in the life of ,the Patriarchs. These men, nomads or semi-nomads, meet God at such and such a place where they pitch their tent. They erect a stele or an altar, call upon God and offer sacrifice. Both on God's side and on that of Abraham and Jacob, there is a specific loyalty towards the most important of these places- Sichem., Bethel, Bersabee At the very beginning is the word from God which Abraham heard at Haran in the north of Mesopotamia: "Leave thy country behind thee, thy kinsfolk, and thy father's home, and come away into a land I will shew thee." Abraham set out for this Promised Land and entered it by the north road on his way from Damascus. 1 The first "appearance" of, or encounter with, God took place at Sichem at the oak of Mor6: **Here the Lord appeared to Abram, promising to give the whole land to his posterity and this appearance he commemorated by building the Lord an altar there" (Gen.

THE

.

.

.

12. 6-7).

He built another between Bethel and Hai (12. 8) and probably at each place where he camped on his way to the south. Later, when Abraham came up from the Negeb towards the north, he returned to this same spot in the neighbourhood of Bethel, "with the altar still standing there, as he had built it and there once more he invoked the Lord's name" (13. 4). He then went down towards Hebron and camped at the oak of Marnbre; "and there he built an altar to the Lord" (13. 18). Further south at Bersabee, he later planted a tamarisk and called upon Yahweh, "the Lord God eternal" (21. 32, 33). 1 Perhaps along the Jordan valley and the Ouadi Fr*ah. Abraham, as a breeder of small livestock, required a minimum of grazing and water, no more than 250 mm. of rain per annum. It is very interesting to note that Haran, then the road from Haran to Damascus and, in the Promised Land, the area in which lie the places where the Patriarchs halted (Sichem, Bethel, Bersabee, Hebron) are in a zone where the rainfall is from 250 to 500 mm. cf. R, de Vaux, "Les Patriarches h6breux et les decouvertes modernes", VII, "Le milieu social**, in Revue bibliqm, 56 (1949), pp. 5 seq, (rainfall chart, p. 13), :

The Mystery of the Temple

4 It is

His

certain that

God

is

7,

Abraham

did not yet

El Shaddai*

He

is

know

the

name of Yahweh.

in a real sense the

Abraham, Isaac and Jacob", the God who

lives

and

4t

God of who

acts,

intervenes decisively in the story of Abraham in order through him to inaugurate both the revelation and the realization of his economy of grace, whose history we shall attempt to trace from the stand-

point of God's Presence or dwelling among men. At the point we have now reached, God does not yet dwell among men. He docs not even announce his intention of doing so. He has not yet established his dwelling-place on earth. He is in heaven, he is the "Most High

God" invoked by Melchisedech (14.

18-20).

He

only reveals himself

he only "appears". 3 In the life of Abraham, Yahweh intervenes in a vision and makes his double promise of an inheritance and an heir (15), and this promise is accompanied by a covenant sealed during a sacrifice by Yahweh's appearance under the form of 4 fire. At the oak of Mambre, Yahweh shows himself in human form. He is one of the three men to whom Abraham offers hospitality. God is a passing "guest". But he remains for two days at least whilst the two other men go on to Sodom, and Abraham speaks to him with that familiarity full of both assurance and respect, which is revealed to us in the admirable scene of his intercession on behalf of Sodom (Gen. 18, Yahvist tradition). As Jacob's story unfolds, we see a similar pattern of relations with God. For the most part, the Patriarchs love to "consult Yahweh" in the same places (Gen. 25. 22). When the aged Jacob goes down into Egypt to be reunited to his son Joseph, he stops at Bersabee to offer sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac (46. 1). It was at Bersabee that Yahweh had appeared to Isaac in order to renew the promise. Isaac had built an altar there and had called upon the name

on

of

earth,

Yahweh

(26. 23-25).

Jacob does likewise at Sichern when he is on his way back from Paddan-Aram with Lia and Rachel and his flocks. He buys the piece of land where he pitched his tent and erects on it an altar which he calls "El, the God of Israel" (33. 18-20). But it is above all at Bethel that Jacob meets God, There he sees in a dream (28. 10-22) a ladder linking heaven and earth and angels going up and down it as a token of the familiar lasting relations between the Most High God and mankind. Hence Jesus, in order to show Nathanael that with his a

Gen. 17. 1 ; cf. 28. 3; 35. 11 ; 43. 14; 48. 3; 49, 25. The meaning of Ei Shadkki in dispute ("God of the Mountain *?). 3 If we may risk the comparison, somewhat as Jesus after his resurrection "appears" to his disciples, 4 See eh. 17 for the second account of the promise and of the covenant. In is

this chapter, there is

1

a shade less familiarity on God's part (the Priestly Code),

In the

Times of the Patriarchs

5

coming, we pass from prophecy

to the reality of God's (Jesus's) refers to Jacob's vision presence, (John 1.51). Jacob set up the stone that had been his pillow at the place of the vision and consecrated it with oil. It was to be the dwelling-place or house of God-El, beit-EI, (J and E traditions) derives from Jacob's act the name Bethel for the place that had apparently been previously known as Luz (35. 1). Later God would speak to Jacob saying: "I am the God of Bethel" (31. 13). He will invite to return there (35. 1). He will

and the Bible

Mm

show himself again

name El Shaddai (35. 11, Priestly obvious (and the text definitely gives this impression) that Jacob had there a very vivid experience of God's Presence, and the liturgy is not mistaken when it borrows from Genesis (28. 17) the words used at the dedication of a church. "What a fearsome place is this! This can be nothing other than the house of God; this is the gate of Heaven." Jacob's experience at Bethel stands as a type of the real Presence of God among men, Moreover it is marked by two characteristics whose union is typical of the Judeo-Christian religious economy, namely transcendence and proximity, or better, transcendence and communication. The God of Abraham and of Jacob is the Most High God but he is at the same time the God who comes to meet us and enters into our history. The Most High God is "my God", "the God of my salvation"., who casts his eyes on me and looks after me as if I were infinitely precious to him. The psalms are full of this twofold feeling. Better than all else they educate us in that sense of the two values of infinite respect and of tender confidence which determine the impulse of the religious soul and "our consciousness of God". From as far back as the age of the Patriarchs, God, at the very moment when he intervenes in their story and follows their only too human activities, reveals himself to them as the Most High God and inspires in them a religious awe and at the same time a feeling of his nearness to them. The Gospel, when its time comes, will reveal all the depth and truth of these two inseparable values which Jesus will bring together in his prayer with sublime simplicity. He will teach us to say "Our Father" but only by making us add at once "who art in Heaven", At one and the same time he will reveal to us that God is a Father in the mystery of his transcendent life and that by virtue of this very fatherhood of his, he communicates himself to men in a way we should never have dared to imagine. Distances are abolished, communication between heaven and earth is established in Jesus, the Code).

5

there under the

It is

Word made flesh. But Jesus in whom the two &

Verses 6a 9-13 and 1 5 belong to the Priestly the previous episode of the dream.

are joined

becomes the

Code (P) and are a duplication of

The Mystery of the Temple Inner principle of our own life and at the same time is for us an object of faith and adoration Ilu solus Altissimus, Jesu Christe* Between the two occasions when Jacob came to Bethel there comes the long episode of his twenty years of flight from Esau and of his years of service under Laban. It is on his way back from PaddanAram that there occurs the strange appearance of God at the ford of Jaboc (32. 23-31): as he is on the point of re-entering the land of promise, Jacob is assailed during the night by a man in whom he recognizes a divine manifestation. After he has wrestled with him the whole night he forces him to give him his blessing. This helps us to understand that there is no Presence of God unless God intends there to be one, unless he makes demands of us, unless too he puts us to the proof of suffering. Many of the appearances of God, and of the meetings of the Patriarchs with him throughout their history, are not purely "religious", their purpose is not personal communion and adoration, they are part of the "economy" by which God gives effect to his plan and his will. And for these men of faith, the will of God was made known in suffering. The theme of God as testing those who are near to him is one that constantly recurs in the

6

Scriptures.

6 *

This

is

expressly stated in Judith

8.

25-7.

Chapter

1

1

THE PRESENCE OF GOD AT THE TIME OF THE EXODUS AND IN THE LIFETIME OF MOSES are not concerned here with a straightforward factual is, with a reconstruction of facts based on documents that have been duly submitted to critical appreciation of their value as evidence for these facts. The documents available to us fixed the Mosaic traditions at a relatively late period.

WE

history, that

texts in which we read of God's "Dwelling-Place" or the tabernacle and the way in which it was constructed, the permanent presence of the Cloud above it and the exclusive service of the Levites, all these derive from the Priestly Code and their final written form is post-exilic. They are therefore direct expressions, from the historical point of view, of the priestly theology of the temple restored by ZorobabeL But this theology in the form in which Scripture has integrated it into itself is inspired so that it may tell us what God's purpose was in the Mosaic stage of his revelation and its realization. It is this purpose which we learn from Scripture taken as a whole and including other traditions that were fixed in more ancient times. shall therefore try (1) to analyse the data and the scriptural terms in which is defined the manner of God's presence during the Mosaic stage of the exodus; (2) to bring out their character and meaning.

The

We

The first datum is the religious personality of Moses together with the revelation and experience he had on Mount Sinai. This is the beginning of, and the motive force behind, all the rest. Moses, first in the scene of the burning bush where he was alone (Exod. 3), then after he had become the leader of the people as its guide and lawgiver^ had an exceptionally profound experience of the Presence of God as living and active and revealing his will in regard to Israel. This will, revealed by Moses, together with the two terms covenant and law which are its expression, formally constitutes Israel as a people and as the people of God. This experience of the Presence of God is linked in the case of Moses to two points of time or to two places Sinai and the desert. On Sinai **the mountain of God", God manifests himself in fire, thunder and earthquake, in a word we have here the first revelations of "the glory of God" (the Burning Bush

The Mystery of the Temple

8

1 gift of the Law). In the desert, we have Moses's visits to the "tabernacle" (the tent of meeting), his talks with God, God's manifestations in the "Cloud" or the "pillar of fire". 2 Thus the tabernacle is the place where it is possible to encounter

and the

Yahweh, Linked to the person and the mediation of Moses there is, therea Presence of God as conveying his wishes to his people, as guiding it and marching with it: "I will be with thee"(Exod.3, 12: JE), my presence shall go before thee" (33, 14; cf. 34, 9: J). So Moses sings after the passage of the Red Sea: 'Thy mercy had delivered Israel; thy mercy should be their guide; thy strong arms should Passage thy carry them to the holy place where thou dwellest people should have, and a home on the mountain thou claimest For thy own, the inviolable dwelling-place, Lord, thou hast made for thyself, the sanctuary thy own hands have fashioned The reign of the Lord will endure for ever and ever" (1 5. 1 3 and 1 7-1 8 J E slightly 3 altered), We have here the promise of a lasting dwelling of God fore,

.

.

.

!

;

among

his people.

The expression "thy

dwelling-place",

makhdn

point and in the 4 prayer of Solomon at the dedication of the temple, In the Canticle of Moses there is certainly a literary anticipation of this, but there is also an anticipation in his thought because, in the very profound experience Moses had undergone and in the history of the exodus, there was an initial manifestation of God's Presence and almost of

leshivtekhd, is

found in the Old Testament only at

this

we turn from the field of exegesis should say that for the first time the Holy Spirit came down on Moses and on the Israel of the exodus as upon a church (une premiere venue eccUsiale), for there is a striking his dwelling

among

to that of theology,

parallel

1

between the

his people. If

we

effects attributed

by the

New

Testament to the

Some

authors (von Gall, Eichrodt, von Rad) insist on the fact that; in the "Glory of God" is always linked to an external meteorological phenomenon (storm, etc.). This is certainly the case in Exod. 19. 16; Deut 33, 2; Judges 5. 4-5; Ps. 17(18); 28(29). 3-5; 67(68); 76(77), 17-21; 96(97). 35 and again in Hab. 3. 3, etc. Cf. also S. Grill, Die Oemtte^Theophanic itn A.T. /uvvr*fpre-exilic texts, the

ische Studie, 2nd edition, 1943, and in A. M, Ramsey, The Glory of God . London, 1949, pp. lOseq., for reconsideration of this interpretation. 2 Cf. Ex. 33, 7-11; Num. 11. 16-30; 12, 1-10 seq. these texts belong to the Yahvist-Elohist tradition. From the same tradition, see Exod, 16, 10 seq,; 29. 43: .

.

AH

Num. 8

14. 10; 17. 7 seq., etc. See also Lev. 26. 1 1-12 (P): "I will

make my dwelling among you, and never my love cast you off, still coming and going in the midst of you, 1 your God, and you my people." Cf. Num. 35. 34 (P). 4 shall

6.

3 Kings 8, 13 (30,39,43,39) and there is a parallel passage in 2 Paralip, 2 (21, 30, 33 9 39). The verb iashav originally meant to sit down, to be seated, and

so to dwell.

The Exodus and Moses

9

5 Spirit and those of the Presence of God during the exodus. Moses's personal role and Ms stupendous mediation were to pass away but the people which had been brought into being through him was to endure. It was therefore necessary that his experience should lose something of its individual nature and that there should be a certain institutional form, so to speak, of the Presence of God and the transmission of his will This fact, which leads to other aspects of Israel's life (cf. Deut. 18 for instance), will have its counterpart in the early days of the Church during the period of transition from the apostles themselves to the post-apostolic Church. The Jewish institutions are connected with Moses through a development of the terms or the realities by means of which the Presence or the dwelling (up to a point) of God among his people had been expressed. These

Holy

realities are

the following:

The Cloud^ We have seen that Moses encountered God in the tent of meeting and that when he did so the pillar of cloud hovered over the latter. Other texts belonging to the Yahvist-Elohist tradition (Exocl. 13.21 cf.Num. 12. 5; 14. 14; cf.Deut. 31. 15) orto thePriestly Code which links the Cloud to the tent or God's dwelling-place (Num. 9. 15 seq.; 10. 11-12; Ex. 40. 36-38: the last words in the book) show the Cloud as a presence and a permanent manifestation of God guiding Israel day and night. The last passage in Exodus (40. 34-35 P) shows the Cloud halting above the tabernacle, the first rough model for the Temple, and filling it in such a way that not even Moses could enter. The Temple not only succeeds Moses, ;

:

it

also transcends him.

The Cloud

is

1 always linked to a manifestation of God.

It

5 There is a great deal of work to be done on this subject. We can only give a few indications here: Guidance: the rdle of the Cloud during the exodus (Num. 9. 15 seq.,, etc.) and of the Holy Spirit in the Acts. Indwelling (this is said of the Holy Spirit; we are the temple of the Holy Spirit). Baptism "in nube et in marl" (L Cor. 10. 2); "in aqua et Spiritu" (John 3. 5, etc.). The transformation of the face of Moses in the presence of the Glory of God (Exod. 34. 39: P); so too is the Christian transformed by the Lord who is Spirit (2 Cor. 3. 7 to 4. 6). Finally, just as the Glory of God triumphed not only over Moses but also over Israel, when God vindicated himself at the Waters of Rebellion (Num. 20. 7-13: cf. the note in the Jerusalem Bible on v. 13), so too the Holy Spirit in order to vindicate Jesus triumphs over the world and over the apostles' hesitations (John 1 6, 8-1 1 and M. F. Berrouard, "Le Paraclet deTenseur du Christ devant la conscience du

16. 8-11] in Rev. Sc.phi. theol, 33 [1949], pp. 361-89). Cf. also 13, n. 8. the Cloud cf. Oepke, art. v&p&q in the Tkeol Worterb. z. N.T., t. 4,

croyant" [John

Mow p. 8

On

A

pp. 907-12; H. Riesenfeld, J&us transfigur^ (Acta Semin* Neatest Upsala., 16), Copenhagen, 1947, pp. 133-45 (this study labours under a somewhat exaggerated tendency to discover symbols and references to public worship). 7 Cf. A, Feuillet, "Le Fils de 1'homme de Daniel et la tradition biblique", in Rev. bibl, 60 (1953), pp. 170-202: cf. pp. 187-8.

The Mystery of the Temple

10

both presence and transcendence, it presupposes that God comes down to earth but that he & in heaven. This is why in Jewish and then Christian eschatology the cloud is the sign of heaven de8 scending to earth or of a return to heaven. This twofold movement materializes in Jesus Christ and this from the moment of his coming among us in the flesh (John 1. 51 with its reference to Gen. 28. 10-17). Again this is why the Cloud veils God's presence even while

signifies

manifests it. The critics agree in acknowledging the authenticity of the words spoken by Solomon in the form of a rhythmic poem when Yahweh takes possession of the Temple: "Where the cloud is the Lord has promised to be" (3 Kings 8. 12). It expresses the idea of the transcendence of God who, even when he becomes present and remains so, yet does not forsake the order of his being which is above all things. The word used in this passage, *<2 raphdl, almost always means "dark cloud". 9 The Cloud in which God comes to his people and reveals himself, also envelops his transcendence. In a passage which hymns this transcendence, St Paul also writes that "God's

it

dwelling is in unapproachable light" (1 Tim. 6. 16). The Glory is a reality closely allied to the Cloud. In a sense, it is the same thing. Hence, the passages which mention the Glory are often combined with those that mention the Cloud. 1 Yet there are certain slight differences in meaning. The Cloud is rather the phenomenon in and by means of which the Glory is revealed (cf. Exod. 16. 10; 40. 34 seq,; P).The Glory is in a sense nearer to God: "Give me the sight of thy glory," asks Moses (Exod. 33. 12-23 J slightly :

The identity between Yahweh and his Glory is more marked than that between Yahweh and the Cloud; cf. Lev. 9. 4 and 6. Moreover, when the Glory is not God himself or one of his personal attributes but only his visible manifestation, it may include the Cloud altered).

although

it

surpasses

it.

It is

a fuller manifestation

(cf.

Deut

23

5.

seq.) and often characterized by a sudden burst of flame either in order that God's sovereign presence may be revealed (Exod. 19. 16 8 Cf. Dan. 7. 13 (Cf. 4 Esdr. 13. 3); Mt. 21. 27; 24. 30 with the note in the Jerusalem Bible; 26. 64; Mk. 13. 26, and for the return to heaven, Mt. 17, 5; Mk. 9. 6; Acts 1. 9. Cf. Apoc. 10. 1 14, 14. 8 Cf. Deut 4. 11; 5. 19; Jer. 13. 16; Isa, 60. 2; Ezech. 34. 12; Joel 2. 2; Soph, 1. 15; Ps. 96(97). 2; Job 22. 13seq,;38.9(cf. M. Schmidt, Prophet und Tempel ., p. 231, n. 11). But the word usually used for "cloud" is Yman; see for instance ;

-

3 Kings

.

8. 10, etc.

x

Thus, for example, Feuillet in the article quoted previously, pp, 200-201. On the Glory (Kabod; d6%a), cf. G. Kittel, art, M(a in TheoL Wartsrh* z. M71, t. 2, JAHWEH und seine Bcdeutung ftir pp. 237-41: E. Stein, Der Begriff die alttestestamentL Gotteserkenntnis^ Emsdetten, 1939; Riesenfeld, J&ws tmnsfigurd, pp. 97-114 (bibliogr.; the same remark as above) ; Eichrodt, Theologte des A.T., pp. 9 seq.; G. R. Berry, "The Glory of Jahweh and the Temple**, in Journal of Biblical Literature, 56 (1937), pp. 115-17.

KBO>

R

The Exodus and Moses

1 1

seq.; Lev. 9. 23-24), or else to announce or execute punishment: Lev. 10. 1-3; Num. 14. 10; 16. 19 seq.; 17. 7 seq. In his glory, his Kabod, Yaliweh makes his transcendent Majesty his Presence visible to men by means of a phenomenon of light connected with some sacred reality Mount Sinai (Exod. 24. 1 5-1 7 P), the tabernacle (Exod. 29. 42; Num. 14. 10; 16. 19and42[Heb. 17. 7]; 20. 6: all these passages belong to the Priestly Code), and later, the Temple (3 Kings 8. 10-11; 2 Paralip. 5. 13-14; 2 Paralip. 7. 13). This manifestation of God, confined during the period of the exile and of the Temple to the chosen people, will later be spoken of by the prophets as destined to "spread wide as earth" ; the book of Numbers

and

:

:

2 (14. 21) already says this and uses the present tense. The link between the glory of and his presence and dwelling among his people, clearly shown as it already is in the Bible at the

God

was stressed by the fact that the same Greek word to both the biblical term kabod, glory and to the $o|a corresponded

stage of the exodus,

Aramaic or Mishnaic Hebrew word shekinah, presence, indwelling. 3 This latter word is not found in the Bible but played a great part in Rabbinical theology. Moreover, the LXX translated the Hebrew verb shakanfto dwell, by KaraaKrivoftv, whilst the corresponding noun GKyv/ji tent, dwelling-place, was used to translate either the Hebrew word for the tent of meeting (cf. below), or again the Aramaic further reason for this is that there is a similarity and shekinah.* a resemblance in sound between the two words sklne and Sekinah* 7 It has been pointed out that these ideas of glory and indwelling are found again in the prologue of St John's Gospel where they are used of the Incarnate Word: 6 Myog cret/> ey&ero Kal laKrjvcoaev Iv v/dvy Kal lOeacfd/tsOa vf/v d6av a&rov (John 1. 14).

A

.

Jesus

the true temple (2. 19 seq.)

is

.

.

.

.

.

We shall return

to this later.

9

no mention of this in the Yahvist tradition. In the Elohist and Deuteronomic traditions, Moses is accustomed to go to the tent of meeting and to speak there with God. As we have seen, on these occasions the presence of God The

tent

of meeting^ ohelmo'ed. There

is

a

Cf. for the prophets, Isa. 6. 3; 40. 5; 59. 19; 60. 1 seq.; Ps. 56(57). 6, 12; Hab. 2. 14; etc. M. Ramsey, The Glory of God and the Transfiguration of Christ, London, 1949, pp. 20 seq. and below, pp. 12, 17-18, 93-94. 4 It is used, e.g., in Exod. 25. 8; 29. 45; Lev. 26. 11, 12.

71(72). 19; 3 Cf. A.

fi

6

op. cit^ p. 25. Cf. Black, An Aramaic

Ramsey,

Approach to the Gospels and Acts. Other examples of kind of assonance which doubtless influenced the choice of words are: Qahai txxfai
memra 7

gfjfut.

La Bible et FEvangile. Le sens de FEcriture: du Dieu qui parle au homme (Lectio divina, 8), Paris, 1951; F. M. Braun, "In Spiritu et

L. Bouyer,

Dieu fait

veritate", in

Revue thomiste, 1952, pp. 246 seq. (who gives further

references).

The Mystery of the Temple

12

is made manifest through the Cloud: cf. Exod. 33. 7 seq. Thus the emphasis here is on Moses and his relations with God. In the Priestly Code, on the other hand, the emphasis is on the tent itself which is also called the Dwelling-place (cf, below). Although the tent was called the tent of meeting as though the people were to assemble 8 there, the people did not in fact enter it. It was the place where Yahweh was consulted and in which he uttered his oracles. 8* It

was also, or rather became in the priestly tradition, the place in which the ark of the covenant was kept. It is doubtless for these two reasons (oracles: the ark of the covenant) that the LXX translation of *ohel mo'ed, tent of meeting, is
Ark means

(Tent, Tabernacle) of the Testimony. To testify (verb *ud) in Hebrew to express a wish. witness is a man who ex-

A

who

what he would like done, and this statement corresponds to (or contradicts, and then he is a false witness) his wish or the positive assertion he makes on the matter in regard to which he is testifying. God's will for his people had been expressed in the Ten "Words", the juridical basis of the Covenant. The Commandments were initially known as the Testimony. This word was presses a wish,

states

42 (P): the expression 'ohel mo'ed is characteristic of the Code. Mo'ed means a fixed time, an epoch, a meeting (hence a rendezvous, such as that granted to Osee, 12, 10). 8a Cf. Exod. 33.7 seq.; Num. 1.1 ;7, 89; lU6seq.; 14. 10; 20. 6seq.; Lev. L 1. 9 Cf. R. Asting, Die Verkundigung des Worths im Urchrtstmtum, dargestittt an dmBegriffen "Won Gottes", "Evangelium" und "Zeugn&\ Stuttgart, 1939, Cf. Exod. 25. 22; 29.

Priestly

p. 566.

The Exodus and Moses then extended to the whole

1

3

Law

of God, the written code handed Exodus, Numbers, Leviticus and Deuteronomy, and later still, to the law of God in the most general sense, that is, the revelation of his plan and his will communicated through the prophets (cf. for instance, Jer. 44. 23). x

down by Moses and

fixed in the text of

Hence the Ark was

also called the

Testimony

either, in the first

2 place, because in it Yahweh revealed his will and uttered his oracles, or because later the tables of the law given to the people through

the instrumentality of Moses were preserved in it (Deut. 10. 5). The Ark therefore contained the Testimony properly so called and in its

permanent form. But it was believed that God revealed himself (by making known his will) "from that throne of mercy, between the two cherubim that stand over the ark of the Testimony" (Exod. 25. 8 22). This was the place where he dwelt. He sat (verb shakav; cf. p. 8, note 4) above the cherubim of the ark. That is why the ark will later be called God's footstool (1 Paralip. 28. 2; Ps. 98(99). 5; 131(132). 7. Cf.

below, p. 66, n.

1.)

Tables of the Testimony, 4 Ark of the 6 7 Tabernacle of the Testimony, Testimony, Tent of the Testimony.

Hence the expressions 6

Now that we have analysed the data and the terms defining the Presence of God at the time of the exodus, we may attempt to descry the principal characteristics and the meaning of this Presence. In the miracles of the exodus and in the stupendous manner in which God was present in the Cloud, there was an element of im~ permanence. The Cloud, like the manna, ceased to exist when the Israelites reached the frontiers of the Promised Land. 8 The Presence continued in the ark and later in the Temple which in1

On

these points, see R. Asting, op. cit., pp. 496 seq.; cf. B. F. Westcott, to the Hebrews, p. 237. Cf. Asting, op, dL t p. 497 (with references to other works). *Cf. Num. 7. 89; Lev. 16. 2; 1 Kings 4. 4; 2 Kings 6. 2; 4 Kings 19. 15; Paralip. 13. 6; Isa. 37. 16; Ps. 17(18). 11; 79(80), 1; 98(99). 1; Ecclus. 49. 8; all

The Epistle B

1

3. 2 (LXX); Dan. 3. 55 (LXX); Heb. 9. 5. The verb shakav means to lie down, to be lying down. Sometimes it is active and takes the accusative, as if God dwelt in the cherubim. On the cherubim, cf. Gen. 3. 24; Exod. 25. 18, together with the notes in the Jerusalem Bible. Cf. Apoc. 4. 6 (the cherubim are $a). * Exod. 3L 18a; 34. 29; etc. (Priestly Code). Cf. Exod. 25. 16, 21; 32. 15; 34.

Hab.

29; 40. 20; Lev, 16. 13. 8 Exod. 25. 22; 26. 33 seq. ; 27. 21 ; 30. 6, 26; 39. 35 ; 40. 3, 5, 21 ; Num. 4. 5 ; 7. 89; Jos. 4. 16 (Priestly Code). 6 Ex. 38. 21; Num. 1. 50, 53; 9. 15; 10. 11; 17. 22, 23; 18. 2 (Priestly Code);

2 Paralip. 7

24, 6.

As we have

seen, this is the expression used in the Septuagint to translate *ohet mo'ed, the tent of meeting. 8 useful parallel can be drawn with the beginnings of the Church. Here again the Holy Spirit played a part similar to that of the Cloud (above, p. 9,

A

note

5).

The Mystery of the Temple

14

directly succeeded the "tabernacle" (tent) of the desert. The tabernacle was constructed In accordance with a model from heaven, It

wasand

the

Temple

after

it

would

bea

kind of sacrament of

the heavenly temple, the only perfect one in which God dwells in the full sense of the word. God is transcendent, he dwells in heaven. He has no abiding place here in his earthly temple, except through his

Name and

Power. 1 It is important to determine in what sense there was and in what sense there was not a local presence of God in the tent or the ark and later in the ark and the Temple. There was a certain local presence. God was there, since he acted and manifested his will there, God really sat upon his throne above the cherubim* We find Ezcchiel shows us with astounding realism Yahweh leaving his dwelling-place in the Temple (Ezech. 9. 3; 10. 18 seq.). But he is not locally present absolutely speaking as were the pagan gods represented in their idols. In the first place, there must not and there could not be any pictorial 2 representation of God: Exod. 20. 4 seq.; 32; Deut. 5. 8-10/ But above all, Yahweh is the mighty, the living God who intervenes and acts here below but who is not bound to any particular place. The gods of paganism were bound to particular places and, generally speaking, their powers were confined to them. There was a god of this spring, that tree, a god who cured men of such and such a disease in such and such a place, etc. 3 But Yahweh is the one, omnipresent and all-sovereign God. It may be that at the time of the exodus we find explicit statements concerning only the worship of the one God whilst monotheism as a doctrine appears later in the form of an explicit theology. Yet the wry fact of the deliverance "in manu forti" from Egypt (the plagues, the passage of the Red Sea), and the fact of the exodus, loudly proclaim that Yahweh reveals himself and acts everywhere. It is no mere chance that the other great man who prayed on Sinai, the prophet Elias, the heroic champion of the uniqueness and the sovereignty of Yahweh, exercised his ministry beyond the frontiers of Israel, just as the God of Israel sought his people in a far place and revealed himself to them outside the Promised Land* It is of the nature of Yahweh to be transcendent, spiritual, to possess 9

his

25. 9, 40; 26. 30 (P); Wisdom 9, 8; cf. Acts 7. 44 and above all Heb. 8, This is the openly expressed theology of the book of Kings: 3 Kings 8* 27, 30 seq. (Solomon's prayer); cf, 8. 16 together with the note in the Jerusalem Bible;

Exod.

1

cf. 11, 36. a

Glory of God has become physically visible and God himself though not abolished, has been altered, we hope to show elsewhere, either when dealing with the transfiguration of Christ

How,

since the

has put on our

flesh, this stipulation,

or with the question of images. 3

1

See, for instance, 18 seq., 147-8.

Fr

Heiler,

La prtere. French

translation. Paris, 1931. pp.

The Exodus and Moses

15

sovereign and universal power, and not to be bound to any particular place. Yet, in a sense, his Presence is localized above the cherubim and in the tent (the temple). The truth is that where his people is, there is Yahweh. He marches with them. As we have seen, the passages conveying the priestly tradition are relatively late and read back into the tent in the desert a Levitical theology of the 4 temple. The Yahvist and Elohist traditions have less to say about a stable and, as it were, an institutional Presence, than about a

Manifestation of

God

to Moses, his servant, in the tent of meeting.

more pure and more ancient version that we also meet in the admirable words of Nathan's prophecy (2 Kings 7. 5-7; text below, p. 24. Its meaning, brilliantly and prophetically restated by It is this

Nathan, is that God dwells, not in one particular place, even a temple, but among his peopled We shall find this truth repeated and ^expanded by the New Testament: God's temple is his people. But* we have still a long way to go before we reach this conclusion. God is in the midst of Israel because Israel is his people, and in order to make Israel his people. His presence is active and commanding among them, and this follows from the nature of God and from his revelation of himself to Moses when he appeared to him in the bush on the Mountain of God "I will be with thee . . ." (Exod. 3. 12). Then, when Moses asked God his name, the answer came "I am who 1 am" or "I am he who is" (v. 14) 6 but also for the word is exactly the same as in v. 12 "I shall be what I shall be", and this will be clear to you from what I shall do and from the manifestation of my will to you, God is there to act and to make known his will; he is in the midst of his people and with them so as to fulfil his 7 undertaking to lead them to the Land of promise, :

;

*

But even here there are expressions of the 4

essential idea.

Thus

in

Exod. 25.

me

a sanctuary, so that I can dwell among them" ; 8, we read *I mean them to build this is a passage belonging to the Priestly Code and it uses the word miqdas, which ,

suggests the idea of a building.

6 Cf. W. J. Phythian-Adams, The People and the Presence: A Study in the At-one-ment, London, 1942, pp. 12-17. 6 In the original, this second phrase is "Je suis celui qui sufs". Obviously, this is far nearer the mystery of absolute being. If we say "I am he who ft" there still remains a suggestion that God is an object, whereas he is the absolute SUBJECT and there can be no meeting with him as with a mere object of our knowledge. are only in so far as our being is received from him. Translator's note. 7 These active, militant signs of God's Presence are underlined in Deut. (1. 30, 42; 7. 21 ; 31. 3) and in Josue (3. 10; 6. 23, 3, all passages of Yahvist or Elohist tradition). The book of Josue is hardly aware of the aspect of worship or of any other save a militant Presence (it is by the power of Yahweh linked to the ark that Israel crosses the Jordan and captures Jericho). The only mention of the "house of God" found in this book (9. 23: JE) concerns the service of the Gabaonites. The passage dealing with the altar across the Jordan (22. 9-34) is from the Priestly Code.

We

The Mystery of the Temple

16

This Presence of "consecrates".

It is

God

holy and confers holiness or rather it word since it avoids the amwhich awakens in our minds the idea of is

better to use this

biguity of an expression inner moral sanctity, giving a special character to the persons who receive it and giving it to them as persons. But the Israelites continue that to be full of all kinds of uncleanness (cf. Lev. 16. 16). The truth is as a people, considered as the totality his God dwells

among

people

which has been the object of his choice, rather than in the soul of any individual person. St Cyril given member of his people, of any given the spiritual (pneumatic) not was "Israel wrote: Alexandria of . Those who of God, God did not dwell in them dwelling-place lived before the Incarnation did not share in the

.

Holy

8

Spirit",

that is a very developed theological formula which presupposes the difficult question of grace before the coming of Christ has been discussed and resolved, or rather the question of the extent to which and the way in which the Holy Spirit was given before Christ. St Cyril also wrote, in connection with the temple, that the prophets received sufficient light from the Holy Spirit merely to enable them to understand the future of the economy of salvation, whilst the

This

faithful possess the Holy Spirit as a guest who dwells within "hence we are called (in the Scriptures) temples of God, whilst

never

known

that

them; it was

any of the holy prophets was called a temple of

1

God". At this point we shall not go into the question of the grace received the conby the just in the Old Testament. We shall merely summarize clusions that emerge from our inquiry. There was never any question of the Holy Spirit or of God taking up his dwelling in souls as persons who are his temple. His presence is a collective one and is conferred on his people as such, 2 It is not so much an indwelling of souls as a presence which guides men and strengthens them so that they may implement a plan which is God's. It is certainly true that one of the characteristic affirmations made from the time of the exodus onward is that Yahweh is an accessible God, The very words "tent of meeting" or "tent appointed as a meeting place" (Deut. 21. 14) express the fact of accessibility. Deuteronomy, whose religious feeling is so like that of Jeremias, loves r. in Genes., 1,5; P.O., 69, 233 A. See below. Appendix 3. In Joannis Ev. lib, 5: P.O., 73, 757 B, Cf. Tcrtullian, De Pudfa 6, 17. 2 This obviously does not prevent a man like Moses from being a friend of God's in a sense so deep that few souls have equalled it. Scripture itself praises him as "a man of God" (Deut. 33. 1 [N.B. Knox translates "God's servant"]), who had seen God face to face (34, 10) and spoken to him face to face (Num. 12. 1-8), "well loved by God, well loved among men" (Eccius, 45, 1; cf. Judith 8.

1

9

23), etc.

The Exodus and Moses

17

to insist on this characteristic: "No other nation has gods that draw near to it, as our God draws near to us whenever we pray to him" 3

Yet, the mediation of Moses is essential receives the law, intercedes, obtains forgiveness, is told in the tent of meeting what God wishes to be done, judges, provides water, manna or various other types of food, All Israel's relations with its God exist through the mediation of (4. 7; cf. 4. 29,

throughout.

He

33~34).

it is

who

.

.

.

Moses. 4 One of the merits of the Priestly Code is that it declared from the beginning that God had promised to dwell with his people "And I will dwell in the midst of the Israelites, and be their God; and they shall know me for the Lord God that rescued them from the land of Egypt, so as to abide among them, their Lord and their God" (Exod. 29. 45-6), and there is the passage in Lev. 26. 11-12 which, together with Ezech. 37. 27, the Jews loved to quote as a promise of :

the messianic temple: 5 "I will make my dwelling among you, still coming and going in the midst of you, I your God, and you

people." This theme

is

.

.

.

my

taken up again by the prophets of the post-

exilic restoration. 6 It is

obvious that there

is

a development from the appearances

that were characteristic of the epoch of the Patriarchs to the permanent dwelling of God among his people in the Mosaic period, when

he marches "in person" with them and is himself their strength and through a presence which is already in some sense abiding. Yet we are still far from the indwelling that will result from the realities and the gifts of the messianic era. Newman speaks of an intermittent presence of God, for instance in miracles and in prophecy. It would seem characteristic of the epoch of the Patriarchs (and of the situation of a man like Balaam) up to the time of the exodus. 7 The position is already quite different in the Mosaic period. Yet Newman adds that even in the theology of the shekinah, God has no real union with his temple the position is similar their guide

:

8

Cf. Exod. 33. 16; 34. 10 (Yahvist tradition); 2 Kings 7. 23. See in particular Exod. 19. 3b-8; 20. 18-22 (cf. Gal. 3. 19). When Moses had died the need of a mediator continued in the Old Testament; cf. Deut. 18. 6 Cf. L. Cerfaux, La thfologie de rglise suivant S. Paul (Unam Sanctam, 10), Paris, 1942, p. 125; M. Fraeyman, in Ephem. Theol Lovan., 23 (1947), p. 391 4

(quotation from the Book of Jubilees,, 1, 17), 8 Joel 2. 7; Ezech. 43. 6 seq.; 48. 35; Aggaeus

2.

4-5; Zach.

2. 9,

14-17;

8. 3,

etc. 7

Cf.

Num. 22 and 32 (Yahvist-Elohist tradition). Balaam seems to have worGod El (Num. 23. 22; 24, 4, 8, 16) or El Shaddai (24. 4), or El Elidn

shipped the (24. 16).

We

to be back in the epoch of the Patriarchs or, if we prefer, practising the religion of the Western Semites, as it was before revelation.

Balaam was the Mosaic

seem

still

1

The Mystery of the Temple

8

to that of a Nestorian system, that

is,

there

is

a presence but no

8 ontological union.

In fact, if we examine the historians of Judaism, we find that the shekinah adds to the idea of a presence that of a connection with a place 9 and, in this respect, is akin to an indwelling. But we should say that the indwelling in question does not imply a genuine and com-

immanence, since God is present to manifest his will, to support, and command, and not in order to communicate himself personally or to give inner gifts to the soul 1 This is the root of the matter. God does not dwell fully and perfectly among his people because he is not yet fully given or communicated to

plete

strengthen, guide

them.

But it becomes increasingly certain that he planned to do this. In relation to this plan, the Mosaic stage is of decisive importance. It has become a commonplace to say that the events of the exodus type, that is they were an initial carrying into or a preliminary sketch of what God was later to do, of what fundamentally he will always do, for us. With this in mind, we are thinking above all of the exodus proper, the Paschal deliverance from servitude, the long journey across the desert, the manna and the water from the rock, the entry into the Promised Land. We should think too of God's dwelling among his people, of the tent of meeting, of the Cloud. In the analysis we have made, we have not concealed the debt the information we have on this subject owes to the theology of the temple as it was elaborated in the Levitical and priestly tradition. But long before any priestly tradition or any post-exilic ideology came into existence, there were the facts of the exodus, the religious personality of Moses and his decisive role as mediator. There was the experience of the desert bound up with the tent of meeting, with

had the value of a effect

8

Cardinal Newman, "Christ" (Sermons). "This Hebrew word (Shekinah) should be translated by indwelling rather than

It indicates that God takes up his abode in some given place and dwells there. Whilst the word 'presence' does not imply any place, any attachment, any preference, Indwelling* presupposes that there has been a choice of a place in which to remain." ML-J, Lagrange, Le judo-fame avant Jfous-Christ* Paris, 193 1, p. 446.

by presence.

1 "The Shekinah, certainly is a sign of God's corning and of his presence, yet nothing allows us to say that it implies his immanence. The opposite is true, since this personification of God's presence, although not an intermediary agency, yet tends to emphasize the distance between him and man and to diminish the dangers or the impropriety of a direct contact with him. The face of the Shekinah can be seen but not God. The proselyte is not brought into touch with God, he is placed beneath the wings of the Shekinah" Lagrange, op. r//., p. 450. "It must not be forgotten that the normal expression is: the face of the Shekinah, that is, the Shekinah is a light which illumines, not an interior grace which sanctifies"

(p. 451).

The Exodus and Moses

19

the Presence of God above the tent or the ark. These facts lead to new stage in the history of God's Presence among his people, and for all the time that was to follow, they would have the value of a type. The future would, in fact, seize on this value and

a

develop

it.

M.O.T.

2

Chapter III

THE PRESENCE OF GOD IN THE TIME OF DAVID AND SOLOMON THE PROPHECY OF NATHAN AND THE BUILDING OF THE TEMPLE the period of the Judges, which lasted for 160 or 180 years (from about 1220 to 1040 B.C.), the ark was at Bethel (Judg, 20. 27). Neither the Israelites nor the Judges seem to have bothered a great deal about it. The ideal of one unique sanctuary did not exist at that period and it was to be a long time before 2 3 1 it did. Yahweh is consulted. Yahweh (or his angel) intervenes. He it is who fights for Israel and gives Israel the victory. 4 are dealing here with military values rather than with those of religion and of forms of worship. The new idea of the "spirit of Yahweh", which we now see appearing, is of the same kind. The point is that a man is suddenly in the grip of a force which makes him a powerful instrument for some military enterprise and yet leaves him on the same moral plane as before. It does not dwell in him, in order to bring into an intimate relation of communion with God. 5 Moreover, the Judges are men of war or charismatic liberators whom God raises up and whom he uses. The logic of the "event", as understood by K. Barth and J. L. Leuba, has never been so well verified. This situation was to continue, in many respects, under Saul, who was as much the last of the Judges as the first of the kings. Saul too is seized by the spirit of Yahweh but not so much for a warlike as for a prophetic purpose. This new phenomenon should be noted, Yahweh. is consulted. 7 There is no question of any single sanctuary,

DURING

We

Mm

1

Cf. Judg. 6. 24; II. 11

;

17 (the story of Michas); 18. 30 seq. (the children of

Dan). Cf. Josue 24. 26. s Judg. 1. 1; 4. 8 (and the note s

4 6 6

in BJ); 18. 5; 20. 18, 23. Judg, 2. 1;6. 11; 9. 22; 13.3. Judg. 4. 8; 5 (the canticle of Dcbbora); 6. 16; 7. 18. Judg. 3. 10; 6. 34; 11. 29: 13. 25; 14. 6, 19; 15. 14. 1

Kings

10. 10; 11. 6; cf. 19. 20, 21, 23.

The

spirit

of

Yahweh withdraws

replaced by an evil spirit also sent from Yahweh: 16. 14; 18. 10 to 19. 9. Pedersen (Israel, II pp. 43-6) also notes that Saul's place is in the line of the Judges rather than in that of the newly established kingship. 7 1 Kings 10. 22; 14. 18, 36; 23. 2, 9 seq.; 28. 6; Yahweh continues to be consulted in David's time: 30. 8; 2 Kings 2. 1 ; 5, 19, 23; 21. 4; 1 Paraiip. 14.

from Saul and

is

MV,

10, 14,

The Prophecy of Nathan

and

sacrifices are offered in various places. 8

that the ark plays

21

What

is

so striking,

no

greater part under Saul (cf. I Paralip. 13. 3). It was first at Silo, not in a tent but in a building. 9 It was thither that the Israelites, doubtless remembering how, at the time they is

passed over Jordan and stood before Jericho, the ark had brought them victory, went to fetch this their guarantee of safety, after their defeat (1 Kings 4. 3). But in this self-seeking movement Yahweh saw that the pure faith of Josue was missing. The ark was captured by the Philistines and placed as a trophy in the temple of Dagon (4 and 5). "The splendour had passed away from Israel" (4. 21-2). In the temple of Dagon and among the Philistines, the ark proved itself

a source of disasters. Seven months later it was sent back to the Israelites together with an offering to make amends. The ark reached Bethsames, and was then housed at Cariathiarim, where it was to remain for a long time without anyone apparently bothering about it. Even Samuel, whose vocation originated in the near neighbourhood of the ark, from within which it would seem God had called him (1 Kings 3. 3), does not seem to have been at all anxious on its account. The religious revival he instigated and inspired some twenty years after the return of the ark was not centred on the latter (2 Kings 7. 2 seq.). There was all the more reason therefore why Saul never at any time showed any thought for the ark. warrior and a liberator in the manner of the Judges, he was fundamentally not very religious in the sense in which religion is genuinely a matter of faith, and he exhibited little concern for God himself. Under David there was a change (about 1010 B.C.). His political

A

sense and, at the same time, his very profound and sensitive religious led him fairly soon to turn his attention to the ark.

spirit,

His political sense was not some sordid calculation but providentially atune to God's plans for his people and in keeping with the new stage Israel was to live through. If we are to understand this we must remember what Israel's situation was. The stories of the march and the camps of the exodus, above all those of the settling in the Promised Land and the conquest of it under Josue, then the incessant struggles in the time of the Judges, show that Israel was far from being a united people. Each tribe lived its own life in its own territory. The people's unity was merely that of autonomous and sometimes rival groups. It only took effective shape when faced with an immediate and common peril, on the plane of military operations, 8

Samuel

9. 12); there

Masphath (7. 7 seq.; 10. 17), at Ramatha (7. 17; was a place at Bethel where Yahweh was worshipped (10. 3), and at

offers sacrifice at

Gilgal near the Jordan (10. 8; 11. 15). Cf. again 14. 35 (Saul); 16. 2; 20. 6. 9 1 Kings L 3 and 7 (note in BJ).

The Mystery of the Temple

22

or else in the worship of Yahweh. In reality the real principle of among the tribes was their recognition of the same God together with their common origins and their common blood. M. Noth has made an excellent analysis of this situation and has com1 pared the system with that of the Greek amphictyonic towns. Among the eleven tribes (Levi had no territory or life of its own),

unity

Juda, from which Simeon was practically indistinguishable since it shared roughly the same territory, had had from the outset a fairly characteristic

life

of

its

own. 2 David had

first

been proclaimed

king at Hebron where he reigned for seven years to all intents and purposes over Juda alone. The northern tribes remained for a long time faithful to Saul's descendants (cf. 1 Kings 2. 12-32; 3. 1) and it was only after the latter were practically exterminated and Abner murdered, that the North recognized David (2 Kings 5. 1-3). In spite of a unity whose centre was David's royal person and soon after, his capital and the dwelling-place of Yahweh, the differences between north (Israel) and south (Juda) remained and were responsible for the inherent and continual threat of a breach, which became a fact after the death of Solomon. 3 Once the North had recognized him as king, David could not maintain his capital at Hebron. The capture of Jerusalem on the border between Juda and Benjamin gave him a capital which could be a centre of unity, rather as the Memphis of Pepi I had proved a suitable capital for northern and southern Egypt. Having made Jerusalem "the city of David", the king of all Israel had to turn his attention to the transfer to the new centre of unity of the worship of Yahweh, which was, or at least could and ought to be, the concrete symbol of the very principle underlying this unity, a principle which, as we have seen, was religious. The transfer of the ark to Jerusalem was certainly an act of political significance 4 and it is 1

M. Noth, Das System der zwdtfStamm Israels Stuttgart, 1930. The Judeans had lived apart under the Judges (Juda and Simeon do not figure in the canticle of Debbora: Judg. 4 and 5) and under Saul. Cf, J, Pedersen, >

2

London, 1940, III-IV, pp. 6-7, Cf. J.-L. Lcuba, "Le dualisme Israel Juda: Expos6 d'histoire et dc th into whose hands he placed his life for him to direct as a whole and in every detail* Israel, 3

WV,

The Prophecy of Nathan

23

not easy to imagine that this aspect of the matter escaped David's notice.

For a man like David, however, the religious motive was paramount, all-inclusive and absolutely pure. We have only to read the accounts of his life for direct evidence of this. In them David appears from beginning to end as a man who loves Yahweh and whose devotion to him is of incomparable tenderness and purity. His dance before the ark, when he brought it from Cariathiarim to Jerusalem, daughter Michol, a woman with very little religious sense, the pain he felt on hearing her mundane comment, reveal in all their shining splendour the deep religious feelings with which he his reply to Saul's

performed this act and established the ark, for so long neglected, in the midst of his people in that predestined city Jerusalem 6 which from then onwards would deserve to be called the Throne of Yahweh (Jer, 3. 17), Yahweh-is-there (Ezech. 48. 35), City of Yahweh, Sion dear to the Holy One of Israel (Isa. 60. 14). It is at this juncture that we meet the prophecy of Nathan, one of

most important passages in the Scriptures and the starting-point of the Messianism which is linked with the person of David. There is one circumstance that should be noted immediately, since it is of great importance if this episode is to be understood. And we the

shall return to

it later.

The

perpetuity promised to David's line

is

inseparable from the transfer of the ark to Jerusalem, which now becomes God's dwelling-place. It is essential to print this great passage here and it will be useful to give it in the two versions that have come down to us, the one from 2 Kings and the other from

Paralipomena.

6

8 It is probable that It was in the near neighbourhood of Jerusalem that Melchisedech "king of Salem" had met Abraham and given him his blessing Jewish tradition used in certain passages of the Bible (2 (Gen. 14. 17-20), Paralip. 3. 1) but which is no more than a probability, placed the site of the Temple itself on the mountain in the land of Clear Vision to which Abraham had come to sacrifice Isaac: cf. L. H. Vincent, "Abraham a Jerusalem" in Revue biblique, 58 (1951), pp. 366-71. 8 See also in addition to the various allusions we shall mention, Ps. 88(89) which according to Kessler (Die Psalmen) and Briggs (The Psalms), in loc., dates from the last years of the Judean monarchy. See below, p. 33, note 6. Books and articles on the subject in addition to those quoted below, p. 26 and p. 33, note 8, Chr. Dieckmann, Die erste Weissagung vom Davidssohn, Leipzig, 1903 (Catholic); L, Rost, Die Ueberlieferung von der Thronnachfolge Davids (Beitr. z. Wiss. v. A. u. Mr., 3, Folge, H. 6). Stuttgart, 1926, pp. 47-74 (Protestant, historical and critical); H. M. F6ret, "L'6conomie providentielle dans la tradition biblique", in Forma Gregis, Dec., 1950 ("Le cycle de David. Grandeur proph6tique et messianique de David") and Dec. 1952~Jan. 1953 ("Lemessianisme davidique"}: a historical study of great religious and theological depth, in which there is special emphasis on the place and the part played by sin. These are central in the mystery of David's descendants with whom Nathan's prophecy is concerned.

A

:

The Mystery of the Temple

24 2 Kings 7 king had

own

now

1

a palace of

his

and the Lord kept him safe, on every side, from all his enemies. ^Whereupon he said to the prophet Nathan, Here am I dwelling to dwell in,

house all of cedar, while God's ark has nothing better than curtains of hide about it! 3 And Nathan answered, Go thy own way, fulfil thy

am

own

2 And Nathan own purpose;

purpose; the Lord is with thee. But that same night the divine word came to Nathan, 5 Go and give my servant David a message from the Lord: 6 Dost thou think to build a house for me to dwell in? House was never mine, since I rescued the sons of Israel from Egypt; still in a tabernacle, a wanderer's home, I came and went. 7 This way and that the whole race of Israel journeyed, and I with

them; now to this tribe, now to that, I gave the leadership of the rest, and never did I reproach any of them for not building me a house of cedar. a This message, then, thou wilt give to my servant David from the Lord of

Out in the pasture-lands, where thou wast tending the sheep, I sumhosts:

moned

thee away to bear rule over my 9 people Israel; go where thou wpuldst, I was ever at thy side, exterminating thy enemies to make room for thee, granting thee such renown as only

comes 10

to

the

greatest

on

earth,

my

people are to have a settled home, taking root in it and remaining in undisturbed possession of it, no longer harassed by godless uas they have been ever neighbours, since I first gave Israel judges to rule them. No longer shall thy enemies trouble thee; and this too the Lord promises, that he will grant thy line continuance. "So, when thy days are ended, and thou art laid to rest beside thy fathers, I will grant thee for successor a son of thy own body, estab-

Henceforth

lished firmly on his throne. 18He it is that shall build a house to do name honour. I will prolong for ever his royal dynasty; he shall find in me a father, and I in him a son.

my

I4

lf

he plays

me

false,

be sure

a palace of his

he said to the prophet Nathan, here I dwelling in a house all of cedar, while the ark that bears witness of the Lord's covenant has nothing better than curtains of hide to cover it!

in a

4

Paralip. 17

'Now that David had own to dwell in,

answered, Fulfil thy the Lord is with thee. 3 But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan, 4 Go and give my servant David a message from the Lord: Not thine to build me a house 6 to dwell in. House was never mine, since I rescued the sons of Israel from Egypt; still in a tabernacle, a wanderer's

home,

I

journeyed

this 6

way and

Now

to this that, ever at Israel's side. ruler, now to that, I gave the leadership of people Israel, and never did

my

reproach any of them for not building a house of cedar. 7 This message, then, thou wilt give to my servant David from the Lord of Hosts: Out in the pasture-lands, where thou wast tending the sheep, I summoned thee away to bear rule over my people 8 Israel; go where thou wouldst, I was ever at thy side, exterminating thy enemies to make room for thee, granting thee such renown as only comes to the greatest on earth. ^Henceforth my people are to have a settled home, taking root in it and remaining in tindisturbed possession of it, no longer harassed by godless neighbours, w as they have been since I first gave Israel judges to rule them. Now, I have crushed all thy enemies, and this too thou must know, that the Lord means to grant thy line continuance. "So when thy days are ended, and thou hast become part of thy race, I wilt grant thee for successor a son of thy own body, established firmly on his throne," He it is that shall build me a house. I will prolong for ever his royal dynasty; **he shall find in me a father, and I in him a son. I

me

I will

punish him; ever for man the rod, ever for Adam's sons the plagues of 15 but I will not cancel my mortality; merciful promise to Saul, the king that

I will not cancel my merciful promises to him, as I cancelled my promise to the king who went before thee.

The Prophecy of Nathan 25 u Sovereignty undisturbed I will give him among this people of mine, for

was banished from my favour. "Through the ages, far as thy thought can reach, dynasty and royalty shall remain for ever unshaken.

The

text itself calls for

ever; his throne, to endless time, secure.

a few remarks.

If the

is

two accounts are read

carefully, quite considerable differences become evident. 2 Kings states that the fact that David himself did not build the temple and

immediately, was due to the wars in which he had found himself involved (v. I). 7 Further 2 Kings 7 envisages (v. 14) punishment meted out to David's line (v. 12), that is, to the Judaean monarchy, if it should do evil, but this punishment will be restricted and on a human scale, that is, it will not destroy the line. God will treat David's descendants as a father treats his children. Everything points to the .fact that this passage was written before the capture of Jerusalem. 8 Paralipomena omits this intimation of punishment to come., This is doubtless because the passage was written after the restoration in the heyday of Judaism 9 (about 300 B.C.). But above and here we find the most remarkable difference between the all two accounts, a difference affecting the meaning itself of the prophecy and which therefore we cannot avoid mentioning it is because Paralipomena applies to Solomon in particular as the builder of the temple, a statement which Kings applies to the whole of David's line, to all his descendants collectively. The only exception to this in Kings is verse 13 which concerns Solomon, As this verse cuts across the general sense of the passage, and verse 14, as we have seen, links up with verse 12 (which deals with David's line) while verse 13 interrupts the sense (since it deals with Solomon alone) we consider

7

Kings 8. 17. The idea occurs in Deuteronomy, cf. Deut. 12. 10. In same way, according to Deut., it was because Israel found rest in Sion that God chose this place to be the dwelling-place of his name; cf. M. Schmidt, p. 94. On the other hand, Paralipomena (1 Prophet u, Tempd ... Paralip. 22, 8; 28. 3) states that the reason was that David had shed too much Cf. 3

the

blood. $ The ancient and primitive character of 2 Kings 7, whatever minor corrections were eventually made in later times, is shown also by the fact that it does not presuppose the division of the tribes nor the exile, and Nathan appears in the chapter in an uncouth manner which would have been modified at a later date. We may also note that Ps. 88(89) and Ps. 131(132) are clearly connected with the version in Kings and not with that in Paralipomena. There is general agreement with the view that, in spite of later modifications, the nucleus of the account in 2 Kings 7 goes back to the time of David: cf. L. Rost, op. ciY., pp. 47 seq,; M. Noth, Histoire derail, French translation, Paris, 1954, pp. 233-4. 8 Judaism here has its original sense of the religion and polity of Israel after the return from Babylon. It was from this time onward that the Israelites became

known

as Jews.

Translator's note.

26 this verse 13, as

gloss in praise of

The Mystery of the Temple

do many commentators Solomon.

since

Wellhausen/ as a

This being the case, it seems to us that the 2 Kings text is the authentic and corresponds more closely with the prophecy as actually made to David by Nathan. In any case, this is the generally accepted view. One Catholic critic has recently attempted to reverse this opinion and to show that Kings is the text that has been added to and embellished whilst Paralipomena, especially in the Greek 2 This author has many version, is more close to the original. observations of considerable interest and value in regard to matters of detail in the two versions. Yet in our opinion they do not go beyond the level of composition and style. In this respect it is certain that the Kings text contains additions which are evidence of later 3 editing and a few traces also of the vocabulary and themes of 4 Deuteronomy, which show that the text was worked over under Ezechias or later. But far deeper than the level of composition, there is the level of

more

thought and its direction and intention. The direction and intention of the prophecy in 2 Kings point to the following idea: "You want to build a house for me, but it is not you who will build me a house, 1 E,g. Budde, Ldlir, Smith, R. Kittel, Nowack, Gressmann; E, Dhorme, Les livres de Samuel (tudes bibliques), Paris, 1910, p. 328; A. Schulz, Die Mucker Samuel (Exeg. Handb. z. A.T., hrsg. v. J. Nikel, VIII), t 2, MUnster, 1920, p. 81; L. Diirr, Ursprung und Ausbau der israelitisch-judtechen ffe Handserwarttwg, Bin Beitrag zur Theol des A.T,, Berlin, 1925, p. 69; W. J. PhythianLondon, 1942, pp. 158 seq. ; R. de Vaux, Adams, The People and the Presence in Bible de Jerusalem, m loc.; M. Simon, "La prophetic de Nathan et le temple," in Rev. d'HisL et Philos. relig,, 32 (1952), pp. 41-8. A. Mtedebielle, in La Saint* Bible (Pirot-Clamer), t. 3, Paris, 1949, p. 492, defends the authenticity of the verse but nevertheless puts it in brackets. Van den Bussche (see next note), p. 34, objects to this critical attitude towards verse 13, 2 H. van den Bussche, "Le texte de la proph6tie de Nathan sur la dynastic davidique," in Eph. Theol Lov. r 24 (1948), pp. 354-94 and in An&L Lovaniensia bibl et orient. , ser, 2, fasc. 7, Louvain, 1948: for a criticism of this view see M. Simon, article quoted in the preceding note. It is to be noted that A. Brunei, "Le Chroniste et ses sources" (Rev. bibl, 60 [1953], pp. 481-508; cf, pp. 504-5) holds a very different view from that of V.d,B. on the relation between 2 Kings and 1 Paralip.; J. L. McKenzie, S.J., "The Dynastic Oracle: II Samuel T\ in Theological Studies, 8 (1947), pp. 187-218, discusses the literary problem of 2 Kings 7* and 1 Paralip. and Ps. 88(89) and gives the fourth century B.C. as the date of their composition. He shows that the three versions have used each in its own way and freely, an original account dating from I>avid*s reign. Ps. 88(89) follows this more faithfully than the other two in the sections it quotes* but omits all reference to the Temple. 8 Van den Bussche finds signs in 2 Kings of a tendency to clarify and explain .

,

,

M

*

as well as to embellish the primitive text.

* Budde and Dhorme note that the manner neighbouring enemies is mentioned is in the 25. 19; Josue 21. 42; 23. 1 (D). In David*s Deuteronomic themes, references to which are

in

which freedom from attack by

Deut Cf. Deut. 12. 10; prayer (7. 23-4), there are also given in the various editions. style of

The Prophecy of Nathan

27

it is I who will build one for you, namely, a line that will never dis5 appear." This was what David understood Nathan to mean (v. 19). The direction and intention in Paralipomena point, on the other hand, to this idea: "You want to build me a house, but it is not you who will build it for me, it is your son (Solomon)." And this is a

completely different story. 2 Kings was certainly written, at least in its essentials, before the exile, since its version of the prophecy is the source of all the subsequent royal Messianism and since too it was revived by prophets and in psalms before or during the exile. 6 Paralipomena, on the other hand, is post-exilic and reflects the theocratic ideology that followed the restoration under the influence of Esdras. The book has a far more ideological "construction" than 2 Kings, it develops the ideal of theocracy of which David was the type. 7 In its view, David made all the preparations for Solomon's temple, he commissioned Solomon to implement his plan and even settled in the minutest detail the whole organization of worship in the building and its staffing from the cantors down to the porters (1 Paralip. 23. 2-26, 28; 28. 1-20), Hence we should follow the text of 2 Kings, in spite of literary editing, as giving the more authentic version of the great prophecy of Nathan. In regard to the words used, we should note that "house" corresponds to the Hebrew bait (Greek; o&coc), which means the house, the fixed abode in which a man lives. Tent corresponds to yeri'ah, rather a rare word in this sense; 8 to dwell corresponds to the verb iashav (see above, p. 8, note 4); residence [Knox translates "for me to dwell in" Translator's note] corresponds to leshivti, an infinitive derived from the same verb iashav, with a first person pronoun used as a suffix. Hence the literal meaning is the for me to dwell in. So all the words are very simple and offer no difficulty. We already know that the tenor of the prophecy of Nathan is as follows "you want to build a house for me, but it is I, Yahweh, who will build one for you." The change-over from the meaning of a :

5 So also Ps. 88(89). 30-3. *Isa, 11. 1 seq.; Jer. 23. 5; 33. 15; Ezech. 34. 23; Ps. 88(89); 131(132), a later work. Cf. 2 Kings 23. 5; 3 Kings 2. 4; 8. 15-26; 11. 38. 7 Cf. A. Noordtski, "Les intentions du Chroniste", in Rev. bibL, 49 (1940),

pp. 161-8. 8 The normal meaning of the word is a tent made of goat's hair, like that used by the Bedouins. "The word yeri'ah for the tabernacle belongs to P: cf. Ex. 26. 1 seq.; 36. 8 seq.; Num. 4. 25", says Dhorme, op. cit. p. 326. But in our texts, the provisional resting-place of the ark when brought back to Jerusalem is in question, not the tent of the exodus. The LXX translation is good: :

9

t%

axrjvfjs, in

M.O.T.

2*

the middle of

[in]

the tent.

The Mystery of the Temple

28

of a house in the sense of lineageas "house" used in the Middle Ages and still is today, was (French "mesnie") for instance, in the term "The House of Austria" is very frequent in

house to

live in to that

the Bible. 9

It is at

the root of Nathan's prophecy.

Not

that the

which God will God. That will 1 come, but not yet. For the moment, God says to David: "It is not you who will provide me with shelter or offer me sumptuous hospitality. I have no need of this and I did not ask Moses or the Judges for a house to dwell in. It is I who will treat you munificently in your descendants and in your (my) people, as I have begun to do in your own case, since I chose you when you were watching over your sheep, and I have made you the head (the shepherd) of my people and have been with you in all your undertakings. This munilatter expressly states that the "house and family" give to David will be the "house and temple" of

show towards you will consist in granting stabiland to your descendants." This is the initial meaning of the prophetic announcement. This was what David understood it to mean before all else, as is shown by his great and exquisitely beautiful prayer of thanksgiving (2 Kings

ficence that I shall

ity (permanence) to the people

But the text implies another purpose and another intention. For when God disposes of the idea that David is to build him a temple, he gives as the reason for what amounts to a refusal the fact that he has never lived in a "house" from the day when he brought the Israelites out of Egypt He was in temporary camps (literally, "he came and went", the reflexive form of the verb halaq, to go) in a tent ('ohel: cf. above, p. 11), under shelter (mishkan 2 cf, p. 12). We have already seen what this means. It mattered little whether God was in this place or that, he wanted to be with his people. This is why he dwelt with them in a tent since they were a wandering 7. 18-29).

:

The following examples are chosen at random: Gen, 7. 1; ExodL L 21 (with the note in the Jerusalem Bible); 19. 3; Num. 18. 1; Judges, in which families are called bait * house; 1 Kings 3. 12-14; 2 Kings 2. 10; 3. 1 and 6; 12, 10 and 11; 3 Kings 2. 24; 11. 28; 12. 19, 20; 14. 10; Jer. 12. 25; Ruth 4. 11 where the meaning changes in the same verse. In non-biblical Hebrew, cf. for instance the Damascus Document, III, 19. Cf, the expression "house of Israel" (Jen, Ezech. and elsewhere) and in the N.T., Matt, 10, 6, 12-13, 25, Israel is the "house 1 * a family to be ruled and managed) of God: Num. 12. 7; Osee 8, 1 ; Jer. ( 12. 7; Heb, 3. 5-6. 1 1 take this to be the meaning of A. Gelin's criticism of the Flchc spirltuelle de rA.C.J,F. No. 18 (1949) in which I had explained Nathan's prophecy by comparing the two senses of the word "house". This comparison is obvious and valid, it is at the basis in fact of the whole prophecy, but it does not directly give the declaration found in John 2. 21, etc, 2 Cf* above, p. 12. Dhorme notes, p, 237, that mishkan is connected with *ohel in Ps. 77(78), 60 (we could add 1 Paralip, 6. 17) and that in Ezech. 25. 4 the word indicates a nomad's tent. 9

The Prophecy of Nathan

nomads. 3

29

We

are not yet told that God is in men, people he wants to be with them. But verse 7 in our text4 is very similar to certain passages in the prophets declaring that there is no true sacrifice other than man himself, e.g. "What, men of Israel, did you like the

spend forty years in the desert, ever for me your burnt-sacrifice, ever me your offerings? ." (Amos 5. 25); "Burnt-sacrifices, offerings, not of these was my theme when I gave commandments to your fathers at the time of their deliverance from Egypt" (Jer. 7. 22). That David had a profound grasp of the fact that beyond the promise of munificent treatment, for which he gave thanks, lay God's desire to be with his people, is suggested we believe by an episode during the time of his flight from Absalom, itself so full of deep religious meaning. When the king was crossing the torrent of Cedron before climbing the Mount of Olives, Sadoc and the Levites were seen carrying the ark of God and ready to accompany David in his flight. But he, as though his faith and love discreetly wished to leave it to God to acknowledge those who were his own, sent the ark back for

.

to Jerusalem. 5

.

We

may gauge the extent of the deepening process at in David's soul as a result of his loyalty, his prayers and his trials, by returning to a scene which took place in his youth, when

work

from Saul, he had the latter at his mercy and yet as the anointed of the Lord and the sign of his will. The religious attitude of the young David fleeing from Saul and David in his old age fleeing from Absalom, is all of one piece. David during his respected

flight

him

had reproached the obsessed and jealous king for the way in which he had forced him into exile: "they had exiled me this day from the Lord's domain, bidden me go and worship alien gods" (1 Kings 26. 19). At that time David apparently shared the common belief which Israel itself was to find so difficult to abandon Israel too will need to go into exile in a foreign land and according to which the Godhead was linked to a specific place. 6 But, as we have already 3

Fr Lagrange puts this well in the passage following that quoted above, p. 18, note 9; "According to Old Testament history, the choice of place is really a secondary matter. God wanted to be with the children of Israel when he became their God on Sinai, and so he made his dwelling with them. As they were nomads, he dwelt in a tent and was not attached to any particular place (Ex. 25. 8). When they eventually settled, God chose a place in which to dwell" (Le judaisme avant Z-C, p. 446). We shall see what reservations have to be made in regard to this last sentence,

"This way and that the whole race of Israel journeyed, and I with them; now now to that, I gave the leadership of the rest, and never did I reproach any of them for not building me a house of cedar." 5 2 Kings 15, 24 seq., which it is essential to read in this connection. 6 Examples of this belief are found in the Bible: cf. David's words in 1 Kings 26. 19; 3 Kings 20. 23 (here it is the Syrians who are speaking); 4 Kings 5. 17 (in the case of Naaman the Syrian); 17. 16 and 29 seq. (where the belief is 4

to this tribe,

The Mystery of the Temple

30

meaning of the tent in the desert and of that induced the LXX to translate the Hebrew of which God presence verb shakan by the Greek KaraaKrjwvv, to live in a tent, "to tabernacle", is that Yahweh is the one sovereign God and so is not linked, like the seen, the innermost

false

gods and the idols, to any particular place.

He is always Yahwch-

who-brought-Israel-out-of-the-land-of-Egypt, the living God who is with his people, provided they are truly his, as their God of strength 7

salvation. He is and will always be he who, on Sinai, the place of decision and of the establishment of Israel as the people of God, revealed himself in the words, "I shall be who shall be," The phrase has the verb in the hiphil mood and so suggests causality, the God who is the cause of being. It is not therefore man's place to build a temple for God. Yahweh himself makes his own temple by dwelling in the midst of his people, and his presence cannot fail to be supremely active. Hence, when Yahweh answers David by saying: "You are not going to build a

and

house for me, it is I who will make one for you/* he is implicitly proclaiming, by designating David's house as the place where above all his sovereign generosity will be at work, that the temple he will erect for himself will be this house of David in which his generosity will manifest itself in all its splendour. The messianic meaning of the text becomes evident once we have explained its most obvious sense. It looks forward to the reign of God himself as it will materialize In Jesus Christ. But this reign of God could not be clearly revealed except as a prophecy, for it only existed at the time in a prophetic manner,

David was a prophet,, Nathan too, whilst Solomon was no more than "a wise man". It has been very rightly observed that his reign was characterized by the absence of prophetic activity. 8 The promise Yahweh had made that he would dwell among the children of Israel, a promise he renewed to Solomon (3 Kings 6. 12-13: verb tfakari), was understood by the latter to have been fulfilled once the temple he undertook to build in about 960 B.C. was actually in being. He thought he had fully achieved what Nathan had foretold to expressed among the Assyrians in the matter of the settlers in Samaria); Ruth 1. 15 to 2. 12; Ezech. 11. 51 (cf. perhaps 33, 24) where we find it among the Jews remaining at Sion after the capture of the city and the deportation of the best elements of its population, Cf. again the terms of the edict of Cyrus as reported in 1 Bsdras 1. 2 (cf. 7. 15). See J. Pedersen, Israel, pp. 632 seq., 650, 7 There is no end to the number of relevant texts. This formula 'deserves a separate study of its own, Cf, below, p. 60, note 9. 8 Cf. H.-M. Feret, **Salomon ou le Messianisme inconscient; La signification messianique de Salomon": cahiers de "Forma Gregts", Feb. and March 1951. Pedersen (Israel, III-IV, p. 127) observes that Solomon, unlike the other kings, had no recognized prophet of his own.

HMV,

The Prophecy of Nathan

31

David. In the description of the dedication of the temple, which in the account given by the book of Kings has many original characteristics and is certainly not without genuine religious splendour,

Solomon

declares

:

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who has now fulfilled in act the promise he made to my father David. So many years since he had rescued his people from Egypt, and never a city among all the tribes of Israel had he chosen to be the site of his dwelling-place or the shrine of his name; but a man he did choose out, to rule

And when

his people, king David. built a house in honour of the

he, my father, would have Lord God of Israel, the Lord told

him

that he had done well to conceive such a purpose in his heart; But it is not for thee, he said, to build me a house. A house shall be built in my honour, but by thy son, the heir of thy body. That promise of his the Lord has fulfilled: I have come forward in my

upon the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised should; it has been mine to build a house to the honour of the Lord, Israel's God, and to find a home for his ark, witness of the

father's place, to sit I

made with our

fathers when they escaped from Egypt 2 Paralip. 6. 4-11 and, for Solomon's conviction that he was accomplishing the promise made to his father David, 3 Kings 2. 24, 33b).

covenant (3

Kings

8.

15-21;

cf.

The whole of Nathan's prophecy

is

in this beautiful prayer, yet

everything is, so to speak, levelled down and reduced to an historical event whose significance can be gauged by the man involved in it. The same kind of tone is heard later in the statements of political

theology made by a man like Eusebius, theologian, courtier and friend of Constantine. He believed and he proclaimed that the latter 9 had established the kingdom of God. Men are always tempted to confine themselves to what they see and touch, to be satisfied with this and to think that a preliminary achievement fulfils God's promise. For a time Abraham thought that the promise made to him was fulfilled in Ismael (c Gen. 17. 18). Josue gave praise to God and .

rightly

so

. ,

for having accomplished all the promises

made

in

but these promises were capable of more comfulfilment which would only materialize after long periods of plete Israel's favour,

*

For Solomon,

filled in

the

1

cf. Fe"ret, loc. at, ; for Eusebius as seeing the prophecies fulMonotheismus als politisches Empire, cf. E. Peterson,

Roman

"Der

Problem," in Theologische Tmktate, Munich, 1951, pp. 86 seq. x Josue 21. 43-5; 23. 14. This, according to W. Vischer, is the meaning of the book of Josue (Les premiers prophttes, NeucMtel and Paris, 1951, p. 11),

The Mystery of the Temple

32

2 waiting and urgently needed purification. Only the prophets and this is, in fact, their task draw attention to the process of development from seminal promises and to the progress of the latter

towards their accomplishment through successive stages of fulfilment continuously transcending one another.

We have identified two meanings and, as it were, two planes in Nathan's prophecy. In the first place and more obviously it is the promise of a magnificent future for David, with whom God establishes a perpetual covenant. It also includes a reference to the manner in which God will dwell with his people, present as he always as supremely active and as the people's Saviour. We must complete our explanation of the text by rapidly surveying the subsequent: fate of these two themes in Israel's life until the birth of Jesus and even until the founding of the Church. In its first sense, Nathan's prophecy was a promise of help, prosperity and perpetuity. A covenant was concluded between Yahwch and David. 8 For Israel it was an assurance of God's saving intervention in their affairs and of his blessing. It even seems that at first it played a more active role in the minds of the Israelites than is

the covenants made in earlier times with Moses and Abraham. 4 Hence, in the history of Israel and especially in that of Juda, we find

a whole series of references to the promise of Nathan: 2 Kings 23. 5 and Psalm 17(18). 51 (2 Kings 22. 51) which are still part of the story of David then the psalms celebrating in lyrical manner the deeds to which 2 Kings, chapters 6 and 7, bear witness. There is Psalm 131(132), Memento Damme David> which apparently was ;

sung in celebration of the anniversary of the translation of the ark,

and perhaps therefore during the royal feast of Sion of which we 2

shall

Fr dc Vaux well says: "The Pentateuch is not complete in itself* It announces the promise but not its realization since it (the Pentateuch) comes to an end before the entry into the Promised Land. It is no mere accident of literary composition that has deprived it of a conclusion which some look for in the book of Josue; the Pentateuch was to remain incomplete like a hope or a constraining force . ." (Introduction to Genesis in the Jerusalem Bible, p. 23). * Cf, 2 Kings 23. 5; Ps. 17(18)* 51 (2 Kings 22. 51); Ps. 88(89). 4, 29, 35; Jer, 33, 21, 26; Isa. 55. 3 (Acts 13. 34); 2 Paralip, 6* 12 seq.; 13. 5; 21. 7, etc, 4 Some historians of the Israelite people reveal an excessive mistrust of the traditions which report the story of Abraham and the facts of the exodus or of Sinai, and so they consider the covenant made with David through the agency of Nathan as providing the most reliable starting-point, historically spmktng* from which to reconstruct the national and religious history of Israel In this view, the older covenants made with Moses and Abraham owe something to a reconstruction inspired by theology* .

The Prophecy of Nathan say something a

upon Sion

.

.

."

little

Then

33

further on: 5 "The Lord's choice has fallen there is Psalm 88 (89), Misericordias Domini.

seems to have been composed as early as the last years of the Judaean monarchy, the historical part of the psalm at least, 6 to which were added, doubtless after the exile, 7 a kind of introduction in the style of the Sapiential books (Yahweh is seen not so much as a God who is active in history as one who presides over the whole world order) and some somewhat disillusioned reflections in which the psalmist reminds God of the promise formerly made to David. What has become of it now? The only answer is a cry of anguish to Yahweh, a cry that is so lacking in messianic inspiration that it cannot even end by asserting that hope is fully justified (verses 39-52). In the midst of the trials that have come upon Jerusalem, the prophets often recall the promise of help given by God to the Davidic monarchy (Isa. 16. 5; 37. 35); the covenant made through the agency of Nathan even becomes the basis of a renewed form of alliance which will finally lead to the promise of an entirely new one (Isa. 55. 3 with the note in the Jerusalem Bible). The Davidic fact and Nathan's promise are restated from an expressly messianic viewpoint. This Davidic fact is indeed the basis of what is known as royal messianism in which the hope of salvation that inspires the whole history of Israel finds expression in the expectation of a saviour king who will It

come to restore, to bring peace and joy. 8 The king was the supreme "Anointed One",

the mashiah, the Messias. Psalm 2, attributed by the Acts to David, 9 uses the word, 5 Fr J. Cales prefers to connect this psalm with the dedication of the Temple by Solomon, See Le Livre des Psaumes traduit et comment**, Paris, 1936, t. 2, p. 511. Others suggest a more recent date for Ps. 131(132) (e.g. J. Steinmann, Les Psaumes, Paris, 1951, p. 57, note 1). But there is nothing certain about this. It is

wording of v. 12 does imply that, at the time, David's sons were no longer on the throne of their father. 6 Verses 4-5 and 20-38. Cf. above, p. 23, note 6, Fr Cales (t. 1 p. 139) thinks the reference is to the time when Joakim, grandson of Josias, went away as a captive into exile. The monarchy had fallen and Jerusalem was captured and sacked. But see above p. 26, note 2. Cf. O. W. Ahlstrom, Psalm 89. Eine Liturgie aus dem Ritual des leidenden Konigs* Lund, 1959. 1 Cf, Steinmann, op, cft. 9 pp. 54 seq. 8 H.~J. Kraus, Die Konigsherrschaft ... (quoted below), pp. 90 seq.; on Messianism, cf. P. Ceuppens, De prophetiis messiamcis in Antique Testamento, Rome, 1935 (an exegesis and discussion of each passage); M.-J. Lagrange, Le nwssianisme chez les Juifs, Paris, 1909; Le judalsme avant Jesus-Christ, 1931; L. Dennefeld, article "Messianisme", in Diet, de Thtol. cath., t. 10 (1929), col. 1404-1568; L. Dun:, Urspmng und Ausbau des israelitischen-judischen Heils., A. Descamps, J. Giblet, B. erwartung* Berlin, 1925; L. Cerfaux, J, Coppens Rigaux, Uattente du Messie (Rech. bibL), Paris, 1954 (bibliographies); H.-M. Feret, "L'e'conomie providentielle dans la R6v61ation biblique," in Forma gregis, Oct. 1952, Nov. 1952, Dec. 1952-Jan. 1953. * Acts 4. 25, hence the decree of the Biblical Commission, 1 May 1910 (penpossible, however, that the

.

zinger, n. 2133).

.

The Mystery of the Temple

34

time, in the context of a royal messianism and even looks forward to a final, total and universal triumph, In Amos 9, 11-12, the restoration envisaged is perhaps more historical and political than genuinely messianic. 1 It is at the time when the Judaean monarchy is about to disappear that the preexilic prophets, Isaias, Michaeas and Jeremias, introduce the great themes of royal messianism. Precise historical circumstances allow us to date the first great declaration of this belief from the year 735 B.C. The kings of Israel and Damascus intended to destroy the Judaean monarchy of Achaz,

perhaps for the

first

who

refused to share their policies. They advanced to threaten JeruIt was at this point that Isaias went to Achaz with the mission short time after of assuring him that all would be well (Isa, 7, 1-9). salem.

A

he returned to the king and made the famous prophecy of the sign of Emmanuel (7. 10 seq.). Once more the God who had formerly spoken to David through Nathan responded to the attitude of the king with divine generosity. Achaz was a mediocrity, yet David's heir (cf. 4 Kings 16. 3) and the two northern kings were threatening to overthrow the monarchy. Achaz did not wish to ask for a sign but God himself gave this sign: a child would be born of the * 4 young girl" (still a virgin). If the sign was to have any value for Achaz and the people of Sion it would seem that the birth had to take place under their very eyes. Further, Isaias was counteracting Achaz's fear of seeing his line replaced by some Syrian prince (7. 6). Hence ?

would have to indicate that this line would certainly endure since it was also that of David (cf. 38. 5). In a word, it would have to refer there and then to some royal child. It is tempting to think of Ezechias in this connection, He did in fact succeed Achaz and had the spirit of a true son of David (cf. 4 Kings 1 8. 3). But, as St Jerome pointed out long ago, Ezechias was twenty-five when he the sign foretold

became king (4 Kings 18. 2). He was therefore bom eight or nine years before his father Achaz became king, and Achaz reigned for sixteen years. It is, however, obvious that over and above the child announced in the prophecy, whoever he might be, God was concerned with implementing the promise made through the ministry of Nathan and, apart from all the catastrophes Israel might undergo, with giving to David's royal line that ultimate and final seal which the prophet calls "EmmanueP*. It is clear from the very terms of the 1

Fr Ceuppens* op. cit. whilst occasionally quoting this text (p. 424 for instance)* does not examine it in the chapter he devotes to passages with a messianic viewpoint,, although this chapter is very comprehensive indeed. Yet Acts 15. 14-17 with its reference to Amos lends support to the view that the prophet was envisaging the coming of the Messias.

The Prophecy of Nathan prophecy, which suggest a miraculous

35

any Immediate historical fulfilment is out of the question. The later prophecies have the same implication with their evident messianic sense and their link with the Emmanuel prophecy: 9. 5-6 and 11. 1-5. Who the Emmanuel announced by these prophecies was really to be, would 2 only be known at a later date. birth, that

Danger continued to threaten Israel She had been delivered from the hostile activities of the Ephramites by the capture of Samaria, but was now faced with the armies of Assyria. It is at this point that Michaeas prophesied that, after the period of trial, there would be a restoration of all Israel and a shepherd of God's sheep in Sion (Michaeas 4. 7-8). It is from this passage that the angel Gabriel's prophecy to Mary took the words: "He shall reign over the house of Jacob eternally" (Luke 1. 32-3). Michaeas's prophecy is clearly repeated in a passage whose Davidic messianism is outstanda ing and well-known (5. l~4 ): "Bethlehem-Ephrata! Least do they reckon thee among all the clans of Juda? Nay, it is from thee I look to find a prince that shall rule over Israel." This prophecy occurs in the reign of Ezechias, at the time when the king of Juda had been humbled by Sennacherib

we have

as

seen,

It

Is

(4 Kings 18. 14M6), and, in this context that Psalm 131(132) was

written.

Jeremias has many prophecies of a royal Messias In connection with David's house. On the one hand he foretells the destruction of the house of David (21. 11 seq.; 22) whilst, on the other, he also prophesies that God, although he is himself to be Israel's Shepherd (Israel will be a theocracy), will raise up from David's stock an authentic "seed" who will become a perfect shepherd for his people (23. 1-8). The word semah, a seed (or germ), now becomes a technical term for the Messias, the mediator of salvation. 3 See also 17. 25 and 30, and 30. 9, where the outlook is eschatological. The restoration prophesied therefore refers to Nathan's declaration. But, except in one passage (33. 14 seq.) which is not by Jeremias but dates from 2

Cf.

W. Vischer, "La proph6tie d'Emmanuel et la fiSteroyale de Sion", in Studes

tMol et

The author compares

relig., 29 (1954/3), pp. 55-97. 7. 9; 3 Kings, 1. 37; 11. 38;

the expressions used

Ps. 88(89). 21-2, 24 with the actual word to be with). He does likewise with 2 Kings 7. 14 (to be a son) and Emmanuel ( Isa. 9. 5-6 and Ps. 2. 7 (to be begotten). On the Emmanuel prophecy, in addition to Ceuppens, op. cit., see J. Coppens, "La prophe"tie de la *Almah'*, in Eph. TheoL Lovan., 28 (1952), pp. 648-78 and in Vattente du Messie, pp. 39-50 (bibin

2 Kings

liography). 8

"Seed (germ) of David": Jer. 23. 5; 33. 15; Apoc. 5. 5, For "seed" (germ) alone, see Zach. 3. 8; 6. 12. Cf. Isa. 4. 2, where the word is already found, and II. 1 and 10, where it is used together with another expression.

The Mystery of the Temple

36

theme of 2 Kings 7 is separated by Jeremias of 2 from that Kings 6. When the prophet of defeat and destruction recalls the ark and the Presence associated with it, it is to say (13, 15 men will no longer trouble themselves seq.) that at the restoration about the lost ark nor will they ever construct another. Yet "Jerusalem will be called the throne of Yahweh." In our next chapter we shall see to what essentially prophetic conception this statement corafter the exile/ the

responds. Ezechiel speaks in a similar way, although he appears in his fortieth and forty-eighth chapters as the inspirer and even the architect of a cultural restoration centred on the Temple. Like God will himself be Jeremias, he foretells a restoration in which seem that the would It his of 11-31). the (34

people

Shepherd

would henceforth be undertaken by the active, doubt that I, the Lord loving presence of Yahweh ("None shall adds a direct refEzechiel their at their God, am side"); yet erence to the Davidical promise: "They shall have a single shepherd to tend all of them now; who should tend them but my servant David? He shall be their shepherd'' (34, 23; cf. 37. royal functions

24-25).

Thus the theme of a royal messianism remained active even after the destruction of the Davidical monarchy (see also Paralipomena). It was even to receive a concrete exemplification and a kind of historical fulfilment during the post-exilic restoration in the person of Zorobabel, a descendent of David's (Esdras 3, 8) ". but thou, son of Salathiel, says the Lord of hosts, thou Zorobabel, art my servant still; on that day I will take thee to my side, keep thee there, close as a signet-ring; it is a divine choice that has fallen on thee, says the Lord of hosts" (Aggacus ;

.

.

2. 20-3). is repeated more explicitly by his contemsixth chapter, verses 11 to 14, where Zorohis in Zacharias, porary, 5 babel is certainly meant. Some exegetes go as far as to substitute his name for the one which the text confidently quotes: "the high

Aggaeus's prophecy

priest, Josue,

son of Josedec"

(6.

11).

Zacharias had previously

4 The point of view is cultural and pro-levitical, and the royal jjower and the in which Zacharias priesthood are closely associated. This suggests the circle moved. The pro-levitical point of view is post-exilic. Ezechiel certainly does not share it (cf. Ezech. 44. 10-14), whilst the writer of Paralipomena is full of it; cf. G. von Had, Das Geschichtsbild des Ckrontetischen Werkes, Stuttgart, 1930, pp. 81 seq., 88 seq. 6 This is K. Marti's view, Dodekapropheton erktort, 1904, p. 420; L, Dennefeld, art. "Messianisme", Diet de TMoL cath., t. 10 (1929), col, 1486; A. Odin* Bible de Jerusalem,

m

The Prophecy of Nathan mentioned

37

Josue (Jesus): 3. 6-10. 6 Yahweh would place the Temple in his care; it would be his task to watch over its reconstruction. And, just as Samuel had consecrated and "brought forward" David, just as John the Baptist would baptize and "bring forward" Jesus, so Yahweh would bring forward, in the presence of priest and this

people, his servant "Seed" (Gerai). As we have seen, this name was a kind of technical term to indicate the Messias. we find it again in Zach. 6. 12, in a passage which

Now

has a messianic sense and recapitulates the contents of 2 Kings 6 and 7 the temple and David's line. It brings them together expressly. The text as it has come down to us still contains the name of Josue the high priest, but it certainly refers to Zorobabel and even those exegetes who do not accept the change of name agree that it :learly

understood when they correct in

v. 11 the words "on his head" "in his presence" (Josue) 7 [This point is not clear from the KLnox version, where the verse reads ". to crown the high priest, Fosue ." The Douai version however has ". and thou shalt naake crowns, and thou shalt set them on the head of Jesus, the son }f Josedec ." Translator.] The passage continues: is

to

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

This message thou shalt give him from the Lord

12.

.

God

of

one takes his name from the Dayspring (Seed, Germ) ; where his feet have trodden, spring there shall be. [Pere Congar adds a note: "I have not followed the Jerusalem Bible here, which translates the Greek at this point rather than the Hebrew. I have hosts Here :

is

kept more closely to the latter." In fact, it is as well in order to avoid misunderstanding to give an English version of the text P&re Congar provides in the French. This I have done immediately below the Knox version here reproduced. Translator.] 13. He 6 "6. . . the angel of the Lord rose up and gave Josue his commission : 7. My >eckoning follow thou, my commands keep thou, people of mine thou shalt jovern, house of mine shalt have in thy charge, and in their company, that here tand about thee shalt come and go. 8. This for the hearing of the high priest bsue, and others his co-assessors, names of good omen all. 9. Time is I should >ring hither my servant, that is the Dayspring ('Seed' 'Germ'). Stone is here I vill set before yonder Josue; a stone that bears seven eyes, device of my own arving, says the Lord of hosts. All the guilt of this land I will banish in a single a lay." Some exegetes alter the order of the text and put v. 9 before v. 8 and mmediately after v. 7, The promises in v. 7 then refer to the Temple and the stone et before Josue is the Temple. Thus H. Schmidt, "Das vierte Nachtgesicht des ropheten Zacharja," in Zeitsch.f. alttl Wiss., 1936, pp. 48-60; H. Junker, Die ZwolfK/eine Propheten, 2 Halfte, Bonn, 1938, pp. 133-4; so also A. Gelin, in JJ. V. 9, may have given rise to the later Jewish legend according to which in the since it was no longer in the Holy of Holies was >ost-exilic temple, the ark eplaced by a stone on which Yahweh himself had carved his most holy Name. 7 Thus A, Van Hoonacker, Les dome petits propMtes, Paris, 1908, p. 632; L R6gnier, **Le r^alisme dans les symboles des prophetes,** in Rev. BibL, 32 (1923), 402. Both are quoted by Ceuppens, op. ciX,p. 457, who accepts this emendation. .

>.

The Mystery of the Temple

38 it is

shall rebuild the Lord's temple; builder of the Lord's temple, a princely throne he sits, shall he come!

On

what honours

to

throne of a priest beside him, and between these two, what harmony of counsel!

[Now

follows a version of P&re Congar's text:

And you

will

Sabaoth. Here (shall be),

is

speak to him as follows: Thus says Yahwch a man whose name shall be Germ, Where he is

something

will germinate.

He

it

is

who

will rebuild

Yahweh's temple* And he shall be full of glory. He shall sit as a ruler on his throne. And the priest too shall sit upon his and perfect peace shall exist between these two.]

The name Germ is given to Zorobabel because he is a descendant of David, a representative of the lineage ("house") especially chosen by God (Aggaeus 2. 23), and on all these counts, the heir to the promise addressed through Nathan to David, "He it is shall rebuild the Lord's temple" here and now Zorobabel is meant, just as, at the time, it was Solomon who was referred to in the prophecy of Nathan. But the prophecy also foretells the Messias. It is he who will fulfil the prophetic promise whose terms so clearly have in view a future whose date is not yet fixed ("where he is, something will germinate"), it is he who, in the fullness of truth, will build that temple of God which is mysteriously linked with the descendants of David. This passage from Zacharias, the first in the prophetic tradition ;

Nathan to link so expressly the Temple and royal messianism, also the last prophetic announcement of this royal messianism, just as Zorobabel, to whom it was directed, is the last outstanding since

is

descendant of David in the history of Israel. "TheDavidical monarchy ended, but it is exalted at the very moment when the royal race will become part of the people and so be purified among those *anawim* (the 'poor* of the house of Israel) from whom one day Christ will be born." 8 Already another figure of the Messias has come to light in the theme of the Servant of Yahweh (second part of Isaias and perhaps in some of the psalms). A third figure will be suggested in Daniel's son of man (ch, 7). The three images Davidic king, suffering Servant and son of man will be found together in Jesus is

Christ. But in fact, it is far more as the two latter linked together in the mystery of his Pasch, that Jesus will rebuild the messianic temple and fulfil the prophecy made to David through Nathan, as shall see later. When in the Apocalypse, one of the Ancients shows John him who has won the victory, "the Lion that comes from

we

8

A. Gelin, "Introd. & Agg6e, Zacharie, Malachie**,

p.

$ BJ.

The Prophecy of Nathan the tribe of Juda,

from the stock of David", John

39 sees

a Lamb, "a

Lamb

standing upright, yet slain (as I thought) in sacrifice" (5. 5-6). Catholic tradition recognizes the messianic meaning at least of v. 24 in the prophecy of Weeks (Dan. 9. 23-7). 9 We shall not enter here into the discussion or the question of the interpretation of this difficult passage but, as we come to the end of this inquiry on the treatment of Davidic messianism in the prophetic tradition, we shall content ourselves with quoting the message given to Daniel by the angel of the Annunciation: It is ordained that this people of thine, that holy city of thine, should wait seventy weeks before guilt is done away, sin ended, wrong righted; before God's everlasting favour is restored, and the visions and the prophecies come true, and he who is all holiness

receives his anointing. 1

Not

that these final words indicate the person of the Messias (the Christ); in Scripture, they habitually indicate a concrete reality, a thing, not a person. 2 The verse as a whole is concerned with the

work and

and these are crowned and in a way holy of holies, that is, a sanctuary. The declaration is prophetic, precise and yet vague, and linked with other statements which are both extremely precise and at the same time obscure enough to give rise to discussion. However, like other messianic

summed up

order,

in the anointing of a

prophetic statements, its very vagueness, linked as it is with a kind of undefined yet immense widening of the horizons, passes beyond the historical incident immediately envisaged doubtless the purification and dedication of the Temple after the abominations of Antiochus Epiphanius and opens up a strictly messianic prospect which will be expressed with greater precision in other parts of the book (ch. 7). But Daniel nowhere refers to the monarchy or to the promises made to David, although he was devoted to God's house and to Jerusalem. &

Cf. Ceuppens, op.

1

cit.

p. 507.

Pere Congar here uses Crampon's version in which the last phrase reads "pour sceller vision et prophMe et pour oindre le saint des saints," Pere Congar however, changes this and writes not "the holy of holies" but "
The Mystery of the Temple Yet he does bring to God's people a message couched in terms of a makes and unmakes kingdom. On the one hand, God as judge, the kingdoms of the earth. On the other hand, his work of salvation the mysteriis itself a kingdom whose origin is in heaven and which Most the of "saints the High" with ous "Son of man" shares 3 We know how these themes cf. 2. 44 and 8. 24. cf. 7.

40

:

9-27;

were restated by the angel Gabriel in his message to Mary (Luke L Here again there is 32-3) and by Christ and the apostolic Church. of man in Daniel son the to Davidical messianism; no reference comes from on high. Though Christ is the son of David and so does in this way accomplish the promise made to Nathan, it is according to the flesh (Rom. 1.3; Matt 1. 1); yet he is also the Son of God and his true royal power as a power unto salvation comes to him from on high, as does his priesthood which is according to the heavenly order typified by Melchisedech. Though Daniel's messianic message the kingdom in question conies expressed in terms of a kingdom, "saints of the Most High *; the of the it is kingdom high, his Messias is no longer the Davidic king but the transcendent son of man and he too comes from, on high. It is this concept of the Messias together with that of the suffering Servant^ which the will be restated Jesus, who insisted on leaving to one side is

1

from on

by

notion of "son of David" in so far as it was likely to arouse in Jewish 4 minds the hope of a political restoration. Several incidents in the the disGospel (the "messianic secret", cf. Matt. 9. 27-30, etc.; 12, Mark cf. 22. Matt 35-7; 41-6; cussion with the Pharisees: Luke 20. 41-4) are explained by our Lord's concern that this should

not occur.

u

instances of men crying out to Jesus and calling him son of David", the evidence supplied by the rabbis of the second century

The

and which very probably merely repeats a more ancient tradiand finally a famous passage in the Psalms of Solomon bringing 6 us up to about the year 48 B.C., show that the messianic hope In of a royal and Davidic messianism. form the took still times Gospel B.C.

tion,

We

are not therefore surprised that the angel Gabriel in the tidings full of allusions to

he brought to Mary should have used terms Nathan's prophecy; 6

8

For the

"saints

1*

cf. Isa, 4.

2-3.

See A. Descamps, "Le messianisme royal", in L*attente dtt Me$ste> pp. 57-84, 6 Ps. 16(17), 4 and 21-45; cf. M,-J. Lagrange* MemanLwte, pp. 230 seq.; Judatsme avant /.-C, pp. 153 seq. For the rabbinical evidence, cf. Strack-Billcrbeck, 1 1 p. 525; Lagrange, Messtanisme, p. 263, 6 Cf, R Laurentin, Court trait^de thMogie mariak, Paris, 1953, p. 26; Structure 0t ThMogie d$ Luc, /-// Paris, 1957. *

The Prophecy of Nathan 2 Kings 7

Luke

12. ... I will

grant thee for thy successor a son of thy own body, established firmly on his throne. v. 13 I will prolong for ever his royal dynasty; he shall find in me a father, and / in him a son. v. 16 & thy throne shall remain forever unshaken. v. 16 a . Through the ages, far as thy thought can reach, dynasty and royalty both shall endure. v. 13. ... I will prolong for ever his royal dynasty. v.

41

.

He shall

1.

32-3

be great

and men will know him for the Son of the most High: the Lord God will give

him the throne of his father David,

and he

shall reign over the house of eternally, his kingdom shall never have an end.

Jacob

The more one reads the accounts of the Infancy found in St Luke alone the annunciation, the birth of John the Baptist, the canticle of Zachary, the visitation and the canticle of Mary, the presentation in the Temple and the canticle of Simeon the more one is struck by the amazing continuity of these texts with the narratives and themes of the Old Testament. The words of the angel are in line with the concept of royal messianism but with the addition of a theme from Daniel (ch. 7; the son of man). For this concept to become a reality, it has to be crossed with that of the messianism of the suffering Servant. It is not the son of Mary as such nor the son of David who will institute the messianic temple but, as we shall shortly see, the son of man dead and risen, the Servant immolated like the paschal lamb and issuing victorious over death. But before the double theme in 2 Kings 6 and 7 becomes a reality in Christ and the Church, the second meaning of Nathan's pronouncement and, as we have seen, David had an inkling of this had to be unfolded in the history and the soul of Israel. Certainly God had chosen Sion as his dwelling-place and this choice was final. But he wanted to be and he would be where his people were. His Presence was therefore fundamentally identical with the exercise of his royal power by means of which he formed and saved a people who would be his own. So the union of the two themes, Presence of Yahweh and the royal power which from the very beginning had been plainly included in the one but twofold text of 2 Kings chapters 6 and 7 and had appeared again in Psalm 131(132) and in several passages of 7 the prophetic writings, ultimately led to a complete identification of both aspects. In the long run, Go d himself would fulfil the promise made to David by dwelling among and reigning over his people. And this was precisely what came to pass in Jesus Christ by the Incarnation 7

Osee

3. 5; Jer. 30.

9; Ezech. 34. 23-4.

42

The Mystery^of the Temple

of the Son of God. We therefore must now examine the stages of a Revelation whose gradual progress is so well known to us. We have seen how closely God's dwelling among his people and the actual reality of the royal dynasty of David were bound together. They were so united in David's mind. He wanted to make Jerusalem both the place where all the tribes would come to stand before Yahweh and also the city of the king. They were certainly closely associated in the series of facts and in the profound logic which, beginning with the translation of the ark, led to the proposal to build a temple and thence to Nathan's announcement and the promise of an eternal dynasty. They were closely linked in the immediate achievement of Solomon at Jerusalem, i.e.,, a monarchy ruling in splendour over the whole of Israel, and also a magnificent temple. Finally, the bond was probably implied in what was perhaps an annual or in any case an occasional religious celebration in honour of the twofold presence in Sion of Yahweh and the royal dynasty*

The theory of the existence of a royal feast of Sion whose origin is to be found in the two facts recorded by both chapter 6 and chapter 7 of 2 Kings, was put forward by H.-J. Kraus. He advanced a number of converging reasons which make the theory at least credible. 8 Kraus challenges the hypothesis of S. Mowinckel accepted by a certain number of exegetes most of whom are non-Catholics 9 and according to which there already existed in Israel before the exile an annual feast of Yahweh's enthronement, to which the royal psalms (95-7[96~-8]) dating from after the exile refer. The feast, on this view, would have become especially important in the postexilic period. This hypothesis finds no positive support in the Bible apart from certain psalms which hymn the reign of Yahweh; its principal authority is the existence of a New Year's feast of this kind, celebrated in the Babylonian ritual. Kraus on the other hand deduces from certain historical passages (3 Kings 8; 12, 32-3; 4 Kings 23. 1-3) and psalms (131[132]; 77[78]. 65-72; 23[24]. 7-10; 2; 71 [72]; 88[89J) the existence of a feast, celebrated on the first day of the Feast 8 H.-J. Kraus, Die Konigsherrschaft Gottes im A.T Untemtchtmgen z. den Liedern von Jahves Thronbesteigung (Beltr. z. hist. Theol, 13), Tubingen, 1951; Gottesdienst in Israel Zur Geschichte des LaubMnenfestes (Beitr z. evang. : TheoL* 19), Munich, 1954* Vischer is one of those who accept this view (quoted above, p. 35, n. 2.) 8 S. Mowinckel, Das Thronhest&igung JahwSs und der Unprung der Esckato* logie, Christiana, 1922. Cf. H. Schmidt, Die Thronfahrt Jahves am Fest tier Jahreswende im atten Israel> 1927; H, Riesenfeld, transfigure , 1947. For criticisms of this view see ; H, Snaith, The Jewish New Year Festival: Its Origins and Develop* ment, London, 1947; X de Fraine, aspect religteux de la royaitt^ fora^/fre, Rome, 1954; see also Rev. btbL, 1950, p. 298; Nouv. Rev. MoL, 1951, pp. 247

Msm

U

seq., etc.

1

The Prophecy of Nathan

43

of Tabernacles, that is at the beginning of autumn, to commemorate and renew the covenant of Yahweh with David when he chose Sion as his dwelling-place and with this choice permanently linked that of the royal dynasty of David's descendants. It was therefore a genuine royal feast of Sion and of its choice as both the city of the king and the dwelling-place of God. After the exile, David's dynasty no longer existed and there was no reason for a feast of Sion as the king's city. On the other hand, the descendants of the Judaean Mite who had been led away into captivity not so long before, had been delivered by a divine intervention in which the universal character of the sovereign power of Yahweh, the ruler of the whole earth, had been manifested in so striking a way. It was then that, in the spiritual and theological environment reflected in Isaias ch. 40 onward, the psalms that hymn the praises of Yahweh' s universal and transcendent rule were composed and sung (46[47]; 92[93]; 95-8[96-9]). On the strength of passages in Nehemias 8 and in Psalms 49(50), 50(51), 94(95), Kraus is willing to admit that, during the period after the exile, a feast existed in honour no longer of Sion as the royal city, but in honour of Yahweh as the only king in Sion. This feast was celebrated on the first of Tishri, the Jewish New Year's Day. The purport of the feast was always the twofold reality of kingship and God's dwelling in Sion, the object of the covenant entered into with David to which reference was always made (Isa. 55. 3); this was the purport of the mystery of Sion itself. But the kingship was henceforth that of Yahweh, the true saviour of his people. Jerusalem was the "city of the Great

King," and this king was Yahweh, who both lived and reigned in it. In fact several of the psalms devoted to the reign of Yahweh 1

honour

also his dwelling-place in his sanctuary

92(93). 5; 95(96).

6, 9; 98(99). 5.

Kraus's reconstruction is certainly partly conjectural. In particular presupposes a reference to public worship first in the historical accounts of 2 Kings 6 and 7 and 3 Kings 8, and then especially in the psalms devoted to the reign of Yahweh, which can be quite well understood apart from this hypothesis. 2 Yet it must be acknowledged that it does give a reasonable explanation of the texts without doing them any violence or falling into the method of artificial comparisons

it

1

Matt.

5. 35.

Strack-Billerbeck

(1 .

333-4) does not give any Jewish or rabbinical

parallel for this expression, but refers the reader to Ps. 46(47). 3 (LXX); 47(48). 3 (two psalms which Cales, op, cit. 9 t. 1, pp. 485 and 492, assigns to the tune of Sennacherib's defeat); Ps. 94(95). 3 (one of the psalms devoted to the reign of Yahweh and dating from after the exile); Mai. 1. 14. s Cf, A. Feuillet, **Les psaumes eschatologiques du Regne de Yahv6", in Nouv. Rev. tMoL, 73 (1951), pp. 244-60, 352-63. Feuillet discusses this reference to public worship.

The Mystery of the Temple

44

to which Mowinckel resorted. It seems to agree well enough with what the chronological sequence of the texts tells us concerning the subsequent history of the ideas arising from the combination of these two facts the translation of the ark and the prophecy of Nathan. Although royal messianism remained in people's minds until Gospel times, it was largely superseded by the idea of the kingship of God himself. The divine "policy" moves from prophetic announcements and promises to their complete accomplishment, transcending where necessary temporary and unstable implementations. The dual reality of God's Dwelling in Sion and the tutelary kingship had been established in the Temple and the Davidical monarchy and to such a degree that the king, in a sense, sat on the royal throne of Yahweh (cf. 1 Paralip, 28, 5). But both Temple and throne were destroyed in 587 by one and the same catastrophe. As is so often the case in the Bible, this was both a judgment and an act of grace on God's part. It was a punishment for past infidelity and the condition necessary for a higher stage of development. After the exile the Temple would be restored but without the ark above which Yahweh sat. There was to be no restoration of the monarchy. On the other hand, the faith previously centred on the Davidic Messias would be transferred to the kingship of God as Saviour, and to such an extent that the person of the Messias in fact plays only a small part in the post-exilic theme of the kingdom of God and in its 3 eschatological developments, By the same token, the theme of kingship and the theme of God's Dwelling in Sion could coalesce and be-

come

identical especially

when

the idea that

God

is

present in the

place where he reigns became explicit. As we shall see in the next chapter, this is the basis of the prophets' concept of the Presence of God. In keeping with God's master plan, however, there was not only to be a transference and a development of ideas, there was also to be an answer to prayer. The extent to which this was to be explicitly the case is only seen if we go further than the Old Testament and reach the final fulfilment of Nathan's prophecy in Jesus Christ and his body, the Church. Christ is obviously greater than David (cf. Matt. 12. 3-6). Already in the Old Testament a transcendent and heavenly messianism, linked to the mysterious person of the Son of man, was found side by side with Davidic messianism* But, whilst he came from on high, Christ was to be truly the son of David and he would 3

Cf* Bousset, Die Religion des Judentums* Tiibingen, 1926, p. 222; Lagrange, at; for Judaism, cf. J. Bonsirven, art* "Judalsme", in Diet, de la Bible* Suppl, t 4 (1949), col. 1232, 1235, 1244-5, 1248. It goes without saying that the idea of the kingship of Yahweh appears long before the exile and even before the institution of the monarchy; cf, Fewllet, in the article already mentioned, pp. op.

352 seq.

The Prophecy of Nathan fulfil

an astonishingly

in

received.

The

out this

fact.

David

and

Kings 1. Psalm

45

explicit fashion the promise David

had

apostolic catechesis and early apologetics pointed They drew several parallels between Christ and

emphasized

especially

the

incident

related

in

2

to David, said of the royal anointing: "He art my son; I have begotten thee this day." In this connection it has been rightly pointed out that in the ancient East, the king was considered as "son of God" and parallels are 2, attributed

(Yahweh) told me: Thou

easily found. The same or other writers refer to 2 Kings 7. 14 or even to Isaias 9. 5 and 6, 4 not to mention Psalm 88(89). 27. The words "father" and "son" have not the same force in all these

and the sections referring to them in the Epistle to the Hebrews, give them a fullness of meaning clearly unknown in the Old Testament. They do at least justify us in seeing between different passages

7. 14 and the Incarnation of the Son of God a genuine continuity which further revelation alone could reveal to us but which, now that we know the event, we can discover in the first of the prophecies. From prophecy to fulfilment there has not only been a transcendent development, there has also been an answer to prayer. Christ is the true David, he is therefore really David and

2 Kings

St Peter can argue from a psalm attributed to David and show that David was speaking of someone other than himself, the Messias, and was foretelling in a mysterious way the resurrection of Jesus. 5 Peter's point of view is for us a most remarkable one. The body in Christ's Pasch is the body of David and in it the prophecy of Nathan is finally fulfilled. We must remember this when we come to see how Jesus made the mystery of the new and true temple consist precisely in his own body sacrificed and then raised again to heavenly life. In a word, it is in the Incarnation and in the Pasch of the Son of God who is son of man, that the full sense of 2 Kings 7 is translated into fact and goes far beyond the immediate historical scope of the

prophecy. It seems that this is what St Stephen saw and suggested in the admirable speech which led to his condemnation, although he made

We

shall no explicit reference to the prophecy of Nathan as such. therefore leave to one side the chronological order of events and anticipate the study we shall make of the theology of the apostolic Church by examining for a few moments this speech of St

Stephen's. 4

W.

Vischer for instance, article previously mentioned, p. 86. Acts 2. 24-36, which refers to Ps. 15(16). 8-11. Cf. A. Descamps in the work already mentioned, pp. 68 seq. 6

46

The Mystery of the Temple

After some very lively discussion with certain Greek-speaking Jews, Stephen was seized by his enemies and led before the Sanhedrin, "There they put forward false witnesses, who declared, This man is never tired of uttering insults against the holy place, and the law. We have heard him say that the Nazarene, Jesus, will destroy this place, and will alter the traditions which Moses handed down to us" (Acts 6. 12-14). The accusation brought against Stephen deals precisely with the question of the temple and the Mosaic religious system. It was on similar grounds and as a result of the same kind of evidence that Jesus had been condemned, 6 and it has often been pointed out that the parallelism continues right to the end. Stephen the first martyr is condemned and dies in the same way as his master. 7 And in the great speech he made to the Sanhedrin, Stephen explains very clearly his thoughts on the subject of the temple. The 8 speech should be re-read in Acts 7. 2-S3. Its construction seems odd at a first reading. Stephen spends a fairly long time recounting the history of the magnalla Dei, the wonderful works God has performed on Israel's behalf; the story of

Abraham

(with careful reference to the circumcision), of Joseph, of Moses, against whom he is accused of uttering blasphemies (Acts 6. 11); and, repeating a theme which Scripture frequently substantiates, Stephen shows that the Israelites have not ceased to be full of reservations, obtuseness, infidelity towards Moses and God. The God of whom Stephen speaks is the God-whobrought-Israel-out-of~Egypt When Stephen reaches this point, he gives his opinion on the temple, vv. 44-50, then he suddenly stops

above

all

short and turning directly to his accusers and judges, says to them: u Stiff-necked race, your heart and ears still uncircumcised, you are for ever resisting the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did, There was not one of the prophets they did not persecute; it was death to foretell the coming of that just man, whom you in these times have *

Matt. 26. 59-61;

7

Compare Acts

Mark

14. 55-9.

56-7 and Matt. 26. 62-6; Mark 14, 60-4; Luke 22. 67-71 or Acts 7. 59-60 and Luke 23. 46 ( Ps. 30[31]. 6); Luke 23. 34. 8 On this speech of St Stephen's see, in addition to the various commentaries on the Acts, F, 3L Foakes-Jackson, "Stephen's Speech in Acts n , in Journal of Biblical Literature, 49 (1930), pp. 283-6; Phythian-Adams, op. c/t, pp. 145-68; M. Simon, **Saint Stephen and the Jerusalem Temple", in Journal of Ecclesiastical History* 2 (1951), pp. 127-42 and article mentioned above, p. 26, n. 1 : C. Charlier, "Le manifeste d'Etienne**, in Bibb et Vie chr$t> No, 3 (Nov. 1953), pp. 83-93. We had already finished writing this book when we became acquainted with M. Menchini's work J7 Discorso di S. Stefano Protomartire mlla Letteratura e 7.

C

Predicazione Crfstiana primitiva* Rome, 1951. St Augustine shows the far-reaching messianic implications of the prophecy of Nathan (De Civ. Drf, XVII. 8: F.L., 41, 540-2) and Ps, 88(89) (ibid., c. 9 to 13, col 542-7), but he does not develop the temple theme.

The Prophecy of Nathan

47

betrayed and murdered you, who received the law dictated by angels, and did not keep it" (7. 51-3). And here he ends. When we read the text today we have the impression that Stephen's speech lacks balance or is even cut short. Not at all; Stephen said what he wanted ;

With perfect clarity and this shows us that this inspired martyr was a real theological genius he dealt with the accusations brought against him and clearly formulated the Christian Church's thought on the temple and the Presence of God. We shall need to quote the passage (vv 44-50) which is concerned with them, if we are to understand him aright.

to say.

44

In the wilderness, our fathers had the tabernacle with them, them of God's covenant; he who spoke to Moses bade him fashion it after the model which had been shewn him. 45 And when God dispossessed the Gentiles, to make room for our fathers' coming, our fathers under Josue brought this tabernacle, as an heir-loom into the land which they conquered. So it was until the time of David. 46 David, who had won favour in God's sight, 47 but in the longed to devise a resting-place for the God of Israel, end it was Solomon that built the house for him. 48 Yet we are not to think that the Most High dwells in temples made by men's to remind

49 Heaven is my throne, and earth is the hands; the prophet says: under What home will you build for me, says the footstool my feet. 50 Was it not my hands Lord, what place can be my resting-place!

that

made

all this? (Isa. 66. 1-2).

Although he does not explicitly mention the prophecy of Nathan, Stephen considers that this episode, characterized by the refusal to surrender to God as the prophets interpreted it, is the decisive moment in the whole history of God's Dwelling with his people or, in other words, of the Temple. Between this refusal as interpreted by the prophets and the facts concerning Jesus Christ as representing the abolition of the old regime and the inauguration of a new one, there is, in Stephen's view, no other decisive stage. Has it not been said that the prophets were the understood this to be so, as

Christians? The latter, in any case, proved by the whole of their argument

first is

with the Jews. Stephen's speech as it has come down to us is not very explicit regarding the new and positive reality of God's Presence in messianic times. It does however put forward one absolutely decisive point: the Most High does not dwell in temples made by men's hands: oij%

the

6 $t/wrog Iv xeipoTtQirjwu; KO.TQIKSL Parallel expressions from in which the descriptive

Old Testament are sometimes quoted,

The Mystery of the Temple

48

word "made by men's hands" is always applied to idols and has therefore a very pejorative sense. 9 But the genuine parallels are those of the New Testament, in particular the one implied in the words accused of using and in consequence of which he, like be condemned "I will destroy this temple that is made by men's hands, and in three days I will build another, with no hand of man to help me" (Mark 14. 58). 1 Between Stephen's use of the exChrist

is

Stephen, will

:

pression "made by men's hands" and that found in the Old Testament there stands the whole history of Christ and the Paschal event.

We

shall consider these at length in their proper place and only then shall we plainly see the whole positive content of Stephen's thought. It

did however seem that it would be interesting to add the witness of the infant Church to the interpretation of Nathan's prophecy, which is thus more clearly seen as representing a decisive stage in the revelation and the bringing into effect (the two are linked together)

of God's

intention to dwell

initial

among men.

Under such conditions we have to ask whether the prophecy of Nathan is equivalent to a repudiation of the Temple, whether it expresses hostility towards the very idea of God's dwelling in a particular spot where men could be virtually certain of meeting

him and

in almost

place* The majority of the exegetes since affirmative. More recently S. Mowinckel

no other

Wellhausen answer in the

and attacked Wellhausen's interpretation as and rationalist dislike of external from a Protestant emanating replied in the negative

As far as we are concerned, we should not care to talk of towards the Temple if what is meant is a completely human psychological and moral tendency, such as the hostility towards democracy which may exist in a democratic country or towards the monarchic system in a monarchist country. In the present case everything is at the level and in the order of prophecy. Through Nathan God said: "I have no wish to have a temple," rather as Mary said to the angel: "I know not man." In the next chapter we shall see what the negative character of the prophecy really is, for at one and the same time, the latter implies an affirmation and in reality repreworship.

2

hostility

s

10.

Thus

H

;

Dom J. Dupont, BJ

16. 12; 19.

1

;

2L

9

in fac,,

with reference to Lev. 26.

9; 30. 7; 46, 6, etc.

We might add

1,

30; Tsa. 2, 13

Tsa. 17. 8.

;

A Pmcherle,

"Stefano e H Tempio *non manufatto' ", in Rtccrche ltelt#io$e> 2 (1926), pp. attemptsn to equate xeiQonoifJTotQ with idols and idols with the words **vain'* **u$eless . The point would then be that there is no substantial difference between the temple of Jerusalem and the temples of the pagans, * Of. also Acts. 17. 24; Heb. 9. II, 24 and below, p, 130. 8 "Natanfoijettelsen, II Sam, kap 7," in Svensk Exegettsk Aarsbok, 12 (1947), pp. 220-9, quoted by M. Simon in the article already mentioned in JKev. Hist. PhiL relig.

32W6,

The Temple of Solomon sents not so

much

49

a refusal as a dialectic of progressive transcen-

dence.

After bringing forward the explanation given by the prophets (down to and including Stephen) of the great announcement made by Nathan we shall be able to see the positive meaning of Solomon's action and why it was blessed by God, the positive meaning too of the Temple Solomon built and of the priestly ideology of Temple and Presence which developed later in Israel. There are three points to be especially borne in mind: 1. the way in which the fact itself of the building of the Temple is presented; 2. the meaning implied in

the building of a material temple; 3. the religion of the Temple and of the Presence of God in Sion which resulted from the realization of Solomon's project. This last point we shall deal with in a short study of the Temple theme in Judaism (ch. v below). At the moment we wish to say something on the first two points.

The way

which the fact itself of the building of the Temple is historians of Israel or exegetes with a leaning towards comparative religion find a similarity between the account of the building of the Temple by Solomon and similar accounts found in various oriental religions. In both cases, so they observe, 3 the same sequence of episodes is found with the object of ensuring that the idea of building a temple receives its consecration from heaven itself and the glory of an origin which is outstandingly miraculous, in the shape of a dream or a vision and the explanation of the dream or vision by some wise or inspired man; sometimes the plan or the model is revealed, detailed instructions are given by the great personage responsible for the initial idea of building the temple, or help is forthcoming from some powerful and eminent man. The parallel is justified in many respects even if it is not very illuminating. All the above elements are found in the biblical accounts of the tabernacle during the exodus and the building of 1.

presented.

in

Many

3 See for instance A. Jeremias, Das Alte Testament im Lichte des Alten Orients, 2nd, edn., Berlin, 1906, p. 53; "Das orientalische Heiligtum'% in ATTEAOZ, 4 (1932), pp. 56-69 (cf. pp. 61 seq.); Lambert, "Les traditions Htt6raires chez les Sume>iens et les Accadiens": Congres francais d'Arch^ologie biblique, April 1954: cf. Rev. de TMoL et de ,Philos. 9 1954, p. 141 (comparison with the story of Gudea building a sanctuary for Lagash). It is possible to hold with Art Sacrg (July-August 1955, pp. 23-4) that there is a valid point in these accounts of the building of temples on instructions received from heaven, namely the idea that every work is inspired and has its origin in the Spirit, especially sacred work. But this is to moralize in the style of Philo.

The Mystery of the Temple

50 4

We

are afraid however that the similarity in may prevent us from recognizing the much more profound and significant difference that must be noted between the case of the Sumerian or Babylonian temples on the one hand, and the temple of Jerusalem on the other. remarkable indeed that the Bible does not assign a It is

Solomon's temple. these cases

very

of legendary type to the temple of Jerusalem, nor to the monarchy with which it is so closely linked in the policy of David and Solomon under the guidance of Providence. There is overtones such nothing here like a religious myth with cosmogonic as are found in the Sumerian or Babylonian religious legends. In this respect, the numerous parallels quoted by A. Jeremias (see above, son J. Jeremias in some half-ap. 49, note 3) and re-quoted by his dozen articles, 5 have for the most part no foundation as far as the Bible is concerned. In any case there are hardly any biblical passages that can be quoted and rabbinical and even Talmudic texts are into service. The founding of the Temple and of the monarchy celestial origin

pressed

both originate in a purely human project. It is David who conceives the idea of building a temple and it is he who chooses its site (cf. 3 Kings 8. 16 which is almost a foretaste of Stephen's speech in Acts 7, 49) and not God through some miraculous sign. It is Solomon draws its plan Yet, at the (or David according to Paralip.) who same time, Yahweh intervenes. Just as he ratified and blessed the institution of the monarchy which he had first refused to do through the ministry of Samuel, so too he consecrates and ratifies the building of the temple although he had in a sense rejected, through the voice of the prophet Nathan, the proposal that he should be provided with one. As on all great solemn occasions, fire conies down from heaven and consumes the sacrifices offered on the occasion of the 6 dedication of Solomon's temple. This is the sign of God's approval. This approval will later be evident also in all the blessings of which in a sense the Temple will be the source and which all the devout .

sons of Israel long to receive.

God

of

established

among

.

.

The Temple is, as it were, the holiness As God's holiness is the

his people.

For the tabernacle during the exodus, cf. above, p. 14, n. 9. For Solomon's cf, 1 Paralip. 28, 11 seq. (the model provided by David); 3 Kings 7. 13 of Hiram, king of Tyre). A. Jeremias, loc. seq, 2 Paralip. 2 seq. (co-operation in Apoc. 21 cit, quotes the dream of Jacob, the temple of Ezechiel and the vision 4

temple,

.

,

6

In particular, "Golgotha", 1926. 2 Paralip. 7. 1, Compare Lev. 9, 24 (cf, 10, 2) for the consecration of Aaron and his sons during the exodus, then the sacrifice of Samson's father (Judg. that of 13. 20), David's sacrifice on Oman's threshing-floor (1 Paralip. 21. 26), Elias on Carmel (3 Kings 18. 38), the renewal of the sacred fire in the temple after its purification by the Machabees (2 Mach. 1. 18-22). Cf. the eschatological

prophecy in

Isa. 4. 5.

The Temple of Solomon

51

ultimate reality behind the whole destiny of the Jewish people, so the Temple will be for them that ultimate reality. It is in relation to the Temple that the whole life of Israel will find its bearings from the

point of view of its relations with God, of its fidelity or infidelity towards him. This fact we shall find at the basis of the preaching of the prophets as far as it deals with the Temple. It is in particular the meaning contained in the great vision which inaugurated the ministry of Isaias (ch. 6) and this vision took place in the Temple. It is from

Temple that Yahweh judges and leads his people 7 just as he had done in the days of Moses from the tent of witness. The Temple takes the place of the tabernacle of the exodus and the writers of the different traditional accounts which form the main thread of the Pentateuch were not wasting time when they read back into the tent of the exodus various facts relating to the Temple of Solomon. The Temple, like the tabernacle of the desert, sheltered the ark which was in a sense the throne of Yahweh and from which he expressed his will Thus David had been able to decide to build the Temple and Solomon had planned it but in reality it was all God's doing. The most decisive action was God's decision to bestow his Presence and this came entirely from him and not from any man. The Temple was a gift of God. 8 Neither David nor Solomon, no priestly rite or prophetic trance had "drawn down" his Presence or brought about his 9 coming. He remained supreme and every communication made by him to his creature was a grace. Thus, in the building of the Temple, two apparently opposite features are found together and they characterize the whole story his

of Israel as sacred history the utter transcendence of God as asserted in a purely human history. Once again, we are far from the cosmogonies and accounts of the "religious" foundations of the Orient outside of the biblical context. These cosmogonies explain the world only by introducing into it the dwelling-place and the life of the gods, they are never more than a chapter of a sacred myth1 ology. The world is not left to exist in its true natural state, nor are the gods really transcendent. They mingle with the elements of this 7

2 Paralip. This point of view is given prominence although with a little too ingenuity and contrivance by M. Schmidt, Prophet und Tempel, ZollikonZurich, 1948. 8 point well brought out by M. Schmidt quoted in the preceding note. Cf. Ad. Schlatter quoted by A. M, Ramsey, The Glory of God, London, 1949, p. 60. 9 The Carmel episode in the Ellas cycle, is of immense significance in this respect, 3 Kings 18. 16 seq. There is the contrast between the useless efforts of the prophets of Baal, their ever-increasing cries and gesticulations, their knives gashing their bodies till they were bathed in blood, and the simple prayer of Elias a few quiet words at the hour when the evening sacrifice was being offered at Jerusalem: "With that, the divine fire fell, consuming the victim . ." 1 This emerges very clearly from A. Jeremias's article quoted above, p. 49, note 3.

much

A

.

M.O.T.

3

52

The Mystery of the Temple

world and are "drawn into" men's lives by means of "religious" rites. But Israel's God is very different, he is Yahweh, the living God. Thus he does not mingle with a world which is in some vague way he has created it by his Word. religious, he utterly transcends it, a natural, non-sacred world. But This world therefore is of itself

and living God intervenes in a sovereign and free in this natural, non-sacred world and in the history, comhe has chosen lives a pletely human as it is, of mankind. The people decisions and act make men which in life fully human historical will. But this world, this people and nature human their to according on the living God and on his free and these men are all the transcendent

manner

dependent

and gracious will. Thus are combined God's utter transcendence and his utter immanence at the heart of a history that is fully human. These two characteristic facts set their stamp on the whole history of Israel and are bound up with the deep realities which make Israel what it is, and they are significantly linked again in the story of the is purely human, not a building of the Temple itself, for this story is a gift from the the time same at the Temple yet religious "myth", transcendent God of Israel and the initiative comes from his gracious will. 2. The meaning implied in the building of a material temple. Clement of Alexandria wrote a page on the subject of Solomon which credits him with an understanding of the mystery of the temple that he may well not have enjoyed. Yet Clement's words, which are actual facts of Solomon's prophetic in style, do throw light on the he built: the of and temple position

According to the book of Kings, Solomon, David's son, understood that the building of the true temple was not only something heavenly and spiritual (rrcm^arm/V), but that it already was related to the fleshly body (adpKa) which David's son and Lord was to make his dwelling (olf
expressly God lives on on the earth (3 Kings 8. 27 = 2 Paralip. 6. 18), his flesh and our in himself clothes he dwelling-place the earth when all is with men when union and harmony are established among

Now

the just, since he uses them to build a holy temple. For the just are of the earth, earthy, when they are still immersed in the terrestrial world and if we compare them to the Lord in his greatness. And blessed Peter himself did not hesitate to say this very

same thing:

The Temple of Solomon

53

"You

too must be built up on him, stones that live and breathe, into a spiritual fabric; you must be a holy priesthood, to offer up that spiritual sacrifice which God accepts through Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 2. 5). And our Lord said of his body which in all its physical dimensions he consecrated unto himself as, in a sense, a place on earth filled with divinity (gvOeov) "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up again. At which the Jews said, This temple took forty-six years to build; wilt thou raise it up in three days? But the temple he was speaking of was his own body" :

(John

2. 19-21).

2

Once more we have moved on

to a prophetic and Christian Yet we have been offered a new and The prophecy made to David, as inter-

interpretation of these events.

somewhat remarkable

idea.

preted by the prophetic tradition, looked entirely to the future, to the future history of the monarchy in Israel and to the messianic time to come. At the heart of the message was the idea, with which we shall

place

soon

become more

familiar in the next chapter, that

God's dwelling-

essentially with his people and in his people, or, as we shall say, in men and in man himself. This is the "golden string" is

that runs through all God's purposes which are summed up in Jesus Christ, the Son of man. can also connect with these purposes Solomon's achievement in building the Temple during the historical

We

period immediately following Nathan's words. And this achievement has its own value. It indicates in fact that God's presence and dwelling within man will not be purely "spiritual"; they will not only use sensible signs, but will literally become incarnate. Just as the prophetic sense of God's dwelling with man looked towards Jesus Christ and his faithful, so the historical fulfilment of the prophecy in Solomon as David's successor and by Solomon as the builder of the Temple, looks towards Jesus Christ and Ms faithful, that is his Church, The Incarnation is the event towards which all points, for in it "the whole plenitude of Deity is embodied, and dwells in him" (CoL 2. 9) and the Church is none other than the Body of Christ (Col. 1. 18; 2. 19; Eph. 1. 23; 4. 12). The economy of the divine 3 Presence on earth will culminate in a bodily presence. The Solomonic references in our prophecy clearly indicate that any purely subjective is excluded. Rather does God's plan lead to their realization in history, in a collectivity, and in institutions.

Presence or Indwelling 2

Fragment from Against the Judaizers, P.O., 9, 768-9; edited by Staehlin in t. 3. pp. 218-19. Translation by Cl. Mond6sert, "A propos du Slgne du temple: Un texte de C16ment d'Alexandrie**, in Rech. Sc. relig., 36 (1949), pp. 580-4: pp. 580-L 8 Cf. Oetinger's saying quoted by M. Schmidt in Prophet und Tempel (p. 167): (7.C.5.,

"Das Ende der Wege Gottes

ist

Leiblichkeit"-~God's

way ends

in Incarnation.

Chapter IV

THE PRESENCE OF GOD ACCORDING TO THE PROPHETS 1

(A) The attitude of the propJicts towards the Temple and

its

worship

authors have certainly made far too much of the theme of an opposition between the priesthood and the prophetic office; they have regularly used it as an interpretative norm. Thus the prophets in this view were enemies of the Temple, the 2 priesthood and public worship. Today there is a movement towards a more exact estimation of the facts of the case. 3 number of studies

PROTESTANT

A

have emphasized the positive and often very explicit relations existing between the prophets and the Temple. Fundamentally speaking, not a single one of them is against the Temple and they all consider both 1 i.e. those prophets who wrote from Amos onward (after 750 B.C.). a A common Protestant prejudice. See, for example, ch. 4 in W. Monod's >u Protestantisme (Paris, 1928, pp. 47 seq.), entitled, **Le 'protestantisme* h
We

The Prophets

55

and Sion as the dwelling-place of God. 4 Some writers go even further, for since S. MowinckeFs studies on the Psalms (1923), it

exegetes hold that the prophets belonged to certain societies associated with public worship and in particular with the worship

many

of the Temple. A new theory or category has thus been evolved, namely that of the prophets closely associated with public worship. In support of the theory parallels from oriental cults are mentioned. Some exegetes would maintain that all the prophets come within 5 this category. This is doubtless an exaggeration and a fashion against whose spell we must be on our guard. 6 Without going so far as to claim that all the prophets were members of societies attached to a place of worship, it would be easy to note in their writings numerous evidences of a positive attitude regarding the Temple as the place in which God was present. For all of them, the Temple or mount Sion is the place in which

Yahweh chose

to dwell (chose to make the dwelling-place of his of his Glory). 7 Although some of the prophets (Amos, Sophonias, Nahum and perhaps Habacuc and Abdias) do not expressly mention the Temple, we have to bear in mind, if we are to judge their silence at its true value, that they wrote very little. Above all we must take into account the specific character of their prophetic experience and mission. Isaias hardly mentions the Temple of Solomon in so many words apart from the account he gives in ch. 6 of his famous vision during which he receives his consecration to the prophetic office. But what deep insight this remarkable passage gives us into Isaias's mystical sense of the Presence of Yahweh in his Temple! Yahweh is seen in it as a king (6. 1 and 5) and clothed

Name and

4 This is the conclusion reached, for instance, by J. Pedersen, Israel* IH-IV, passim, and, to take one example, on p, 559; see also pp. 115-17 (for the question

of

sacrifices).

6 See the documentation in O. Eissfeldt, "The Prophetic Literature", in The Old Testament and Modem Study* A Generation of Discovery and Research, edited by H. H. Rowley, Oxford, 1951, pp. 115-61; cf. pp. 119-26 and

146-7. 6

Eissfeldt, study already quoted, p. 159.

Amos who pronounces judgment on the sanctuaries of Ephraim and Juda, says nothing against the Temple of Jerusalem and he hears Yahweh "speaking . loud as the roaring of lion" from Sion (1. 2). For Osee, the Temple in thunder is the house of God (9. 8); Isaias does not expressly mention Solomon's Temple except in his sixth chapter, but for him God lives in Sion and so much so that he names him "Yahweh-of-hosts-who-dwells-in-Sion"; 8. 18 where this expression is used participially; so too Joel 4. 17; for Michaeas, cf. 3. 11 ; 4. 7; for Jeremias, who came of a priestly family, cf, 8, 19; 14. 19; 17. 12; 31. 6; 12, etc. Cf. Baruch 2. 26 and, of course, the Lamentations. As for Ezechiel (who was a priest), the prophets of the exile (Isa, 64. 10; Dan. 1. 2; 6. 11) and those of the restoration (Aggaeus, Zacharias) there is no need to list references. See also Hab. 1. 20; Abdias 17; Joel 3, 17, 18,21. 7

.

,

The Mystery of the Temple

56

so to speak with a sanctity beyond all understanding. The Seraphim to look on him and they veil their (== the angels of fire) cannot bear faces. The all-holy God requires that his people be holy and Isaias, is that of all Israel, profoundly conscious of his own impurity which taken from the live a coal with was he indeed as needed to be purified,

comes from Yahweh as does judgment, but both the from Temple in which dwells the Glory which nevertheproceed less fills the whole earth. We should note, in passing, this poignant which the prophets say expression of the need for that purification 8 over and over again can only come from God. It is found, linked to the theme of the temple and like it promoted to a higher order, in altar. Sanctity

New

Testament (cf. below, pp. 167 seq., 221). no lack of mention in the prophets of the Temple liturgy 9 and the major religious observances, In Jeremias, who was contemof Josias (Deuteronomy), we find evidence of porary with the reform the beginnings of a priestly ideology of the Temple, the sacrifices and the Sabbath, which was to undergo a phenomenal development 1 after the exile. Jeremias is an outstanding example of devotion to the Temple although both his personal character and his mission are marked by contradictory tendencies which were the cause of intense or Paul suffering. In a sense he is a forerunner of Jesus, Stephen to an end, come to were of forms the Mosaic worship declaring that still remained of it and endeavouring to what for of full respect yet teach in the Temple or the synagogues. The scene of much of Jere2 mias's activity is the Temple or the Temple gate. When he is forbidden to enter, he sends his secretary Baruch with his message in writing (36. 5). Several of the greatest prophets hear the voice of

the

There

is

Yahweh in the Temple

or

coming forth from the Temple:

Amos

1.2;

Isa. 6; 21. 2-5; 66. 6; Ezech. 43. 6., etc Finallyand this is of special importance for the further stages

of

the predictions of the prophets involve for the most part a a future centred on the Temple or at least on Sion, whether they

our inquiry

8

The need of puritythe whole of Ezechiel; Isa. 52. 1 Joel 2. 13. Purification work of Yahweh himself Isa. 1. 25; 4. 4-5; 10. 17; 48, 10; Jer. 6. 27-30; ;

as the

Ezeeh. 36. 25; 37. 23; cf. Mai. 3. 1-4. 4 f 8 The liturgy Offering of first-fruits and the feast of tabernacles Osee 9. 4-5. of thanksgiving in the Temple Jer. 33. 11; fasting and gatherings to implore God's mercy Joel 1. 14; 2. 15 seq.; the SabbathAmos 8. 5; Jer. 17. 19 seq. Ezech, 20. 12; 46. (the authenticity of this passage is doubtful): 1 See, in addition to 17. 19 (previous note), chapters 7 and 11. a Speech at the Temple gate (7. 2); vision of the two baskets opposite Temple the prophet Hananias in the house of Yahweh (24. 1-10); his meeting with the agreement made in the house of Yahweh concerning the liberation of (28);

4. r^eq.J Isa, 2. 2-5; 19. 7; 56. 6-7; 60. 7; 66. IS seq.; Soph. 14-17; 14. 21; Aggaeus 2, 6-9; Joel 3. 17, 21.

ISliich.' 3. 5; Jer. 3.

The Prophets

57

are concerned with the gathering in of the "lost sheep" of the house of Israel, 4 or with a restoration which is often envisaged as messianic,

or finally with a call to all men everywhere to come to the knowledge of and to have communion with the true God. We shall return to this point later when we deal with the prophecy of a restoration of the Presence and of the Temple as a source of blessing and fruitfulness. The attitude of the prophets towards the Temple and its worship is therefore a positive one. Yet it cannot be denied that they showed a certain mistrust in regard to both. 5 They criticized its sacrificial

system and its priests. Not that there is any opposition on their part to the priesthood and to sacrifices as such. True, Amos (7. 10 seq.), Osee (9. 7-8) and Jeremias (20. 1-3; 26; 29. 24 seq.; 36. 5) met with vigorous opposition from the priests. But the prophets criticize the latter because of their infidelity in practice and not their office as such. Their criticism here is of a piece with their attacks on the faithlessness of prophets or so-called prophets. 6 In any case, there is no denying that there is bound to be a difference between

and prophets and even a certain amount of opposition. Prophets are peremptory, they are the men who attack the roots of things. They bring a message which goes counter to the status quo, whilst priests are men who follow a policy of give-and-take, priests

are willing to status quo. 7

compromise and are attached to

tradition

and the

4

Mich. 4. 6-13; Jsa. 27. 13; Ezech. 20. 40. Desnoyers sums up the situation very well in his Histoire du Peuple d'Israel (t. 3, p. 146 n. 1): "We know that the Temple did not occupy, in the religious thought of most of the prophets previous to the exile, the place of honour it held in the minds of the priests at the time of the Jewish restoration. Elias, Eliseus, Amos, Osee do not mention it, Michaeas treats Jerusalem as a 'high place* (1. 5), Jeremias warns men against the 'misleading* confidence of those who cry The Temple of Yahweh! The Temple of Yahweh! The Temple of Yahweh!' as though amendment of life were not a better guarantee of salvation (Jer. 7. 4, 5). He looks forward to a future in which the Hebrews will be converted and will no longer even think of the ark of the covenant of Yahweh which was the raison d^tre of the Temple (ibid., 3. 16). These simple details among many others should be sufficient to show that the passionate religion of the ancient prophets did not lead them towards the Temple with all the enthusiasm some suppose. Their half-heartedness in its regard was unfortunately too often encouraged by the idolatry of which the Temple was sometimes the scene. Cf. 4 Kings 23. 4-12." Cf. A. Lods, Les proph&tes d'Israel et les debuts du Judafsme, Paris, 1935, pp. 5

74-7.

See Jer. 2. 8, 26; 4. 9; 5. 31; 6. 13; 8. 1, 10; 13. 13; 14. 18; 23. 11 and 33 seq.; 26. 7, 8 ; 27. 14 seq. ; 32. 32; cf. Lam. 4. 13 and 16. Cf. for attacks on false prophets, Mich. 2. 6-11; 3. 5-7, 11; Jsa. 9. 14; 28. 7; Soph. 3. 4; Jer. 23. 9-40; Ezech. 13. 1-4; Zach. 13. 2 etc. 7 Cf. Vraie et fausse rlforme dans VEglise, pp. 200 seq. Cf. S. Kierkegaard, The Right to die for the Truth. Examples of this kind of priest are Aaron (Ex. 32. 5 seq.), the Levite who attached himself to Michas (Judg. 17. 7 seq.) and then to the men of Dan (18. 14-20), the priests of the Sadduccean party who accepted the

Roman

occupation.

The Mystery of the Temple

58

The prophets attack the malpractices of a formalist and sham for a true relationworship. They demand worship in which regard

God and

and justice (mishpat &nd$edhdkct) a ritualism used as a facile excuse 8 to justify dishonest conduct. This too is why the prophets feel and show a profound distrust of the false sense of security which may be provided by the pomp of public worship and the formal regularity observance. Juda for instance trusts not only in the of ship with is

not

for uprightness

sacrificed in the interests of

religious

at its disposal but also in the fact that it possesses the covenant (Mich. 2. 6 seq.) s the temple (Mich. 3. 11; Jer. 7. 2 of Juda, in 2 Paralip. 13. 10 seq., seq.; cf. the speech of Abia, king law the (Jer 8, 8) and its descent from Nos templum habemusl*}, Abraham (Ezech. 33. 24). Yet all this is as nothing apart from a per-

human means

sonal conversion (Amos) and the true knowledge of Yahweh (Osee). These first two prophetic writers appeal for reform on the basis of this true interior conversion. It is not a matter of going to some

where worship is offered 1 and to sacrifice there. It is Yahweh men must seek! (Amos 5. 4). And the most radical statement ever made by Amos runs thus: "What, men of Israel, did you spend forty years in the desert, ever for me your burnt43. 23; Jer. 7. sacrifice, ever for me your offerings ?" (5. 25; cf. Isa. a well has Eichrodt As said, prophet is a man 22; Ps. 39[40], 7). in the grip of God as active Reality and conscious of his demands. It is in this context that statements such as the above must be situated, and they are proclaimed in an idiom in which the use of absolute a relative value; they negative expressions has often no more than

particular place

stress a

comparison.

The prophets'

2

criticism of the practice of sacrifice without and for a true relationship with

concern for interior conversion

any

God

continues with begins with Amos (5. 21-7) and Osee (8. 13; 6. 6), Isaias (1. 10 seq.; 2. 9-19; 7. 9; 29. 13, quoted by our Lord in Matt. 15. 7-8; 30. 15; 43. 22 seq.), Michaeas (6. 6-8), Jeremias (4. 20; 7. 21 seq,), and is resumed after the exile (Zach. 7. 5 seq.). It is a

Amos (cf. below); Oscc 4, 4-10; Mich, 3. 1 1-12; below); Jer, 7. 1-15 and 21-8; 31. 29~39; Bar. 2. 26; and a century after the return from exile, Mai L 6 to 2. 9. 9 Cf. Isa. S. 9 seq.; 22. 8b seq. 28. 7*15, etc. 1 Bethel (Amos 3. 14; 4, 4; 5. 5), Galgal (4, 4; 5. 5), Bersabee (5. 5); ci. Osee 4 15 It should be noted that Jerusalem is not mentioned. 8 OB this point, cf. C, 1 Cadoux, "The Use of Hyperbole in Holy Scripture'* in The Expository Times, 52 (1941), pp. 378-81. For an application to pur present problem and to the actual texts we have just quoted, see an article by Fr C* Lattey written independently of Cadoux's; **The Prophets and Sacrifice" (Journal of 8

The

principal references are

Isa. (cf.

;

Theological Studies, 42 (1941), pp. 155-65).

The Prophets

59 3

constant characteristic of the prophetic office. Here again, the 4 prophets are not opposed on principle to sacrifices as such, but the absolute assert of the and true they primacy living personal relationship with the living God, over a wholly exterior relationship which does not impose any obligation to practise righteousness: Amos 5. 24 (mishpat and gedhdfca); Osee 6. 6 (fresed: true love); Micheas 6. 6-8 (hesed again, and "and carry thyself humbly in the presence of thy God"); Ps. 49(50). 19 ("a heart that is humbled and contrite"); Ps. 39(40). 7-11 (obedience to God's law, to his wishes

and his word): cf. 1 Kings 15. 22; Jer. 7. 22, 23). But Israel was to learn from the prophets during the exile that this true interior relation to God demands a change of heart which only God can give by grace, a total renewal which would be, as it were, a new creation: Jer. 24. 7; 31. 31; Ezech. 18. 31; 36. 26; Isa. 51. 7 and cf. Isa. 65. 17; 66. 22. have now reached the heart of the prophets' religion, corresponding as it does to their idea of God. All is contained in the cry

We

of Amos: "Seek Yahweh and you shall live." 5 In actual fact the book of Amos expresses the drama which is played out notinaframework of public worship, even that of the Temple, but in men's hearts. All is determined by a man's fundamental attitude towards God. Whether this attitude is called true justice, righteousness, love and 6 knowledge of Yahweh, as by Amos and Osee, or "faith" as by Isaias,

what is always involved is a fundamental personal attitude towards demands of a living and active God. It is often said that the prophets made possible a movement away from a religion or a form of holiness based on public worship towards a religion or a form of holiness based on morality. But the truth is that the essence of their teaching was that sanctity or religion based on public worship and the Temple was the centre of the latter demanded that there should be a religion and a sanctity based on morality. In a word, over and above the presence of Yahweh in the act of public worship itself, they declared that he must also be

the

present as the sovereign ruler of men's hearts, for

Yahweh

is

a

living God. 3 See as early as the first book of Kings, 1 Kings 15. 22. See also Ps. 39(40). 7 seq.; 49(50). 8-21; 50(51). 18-19. * The passages in which the prophets with the most spiritual outlook assert that there will continue to be sacrifices are Ps. 49(50). 8; 50(51). 20-1 with the note in BJ: Jer. 7. 21 ; 33. 11 Isa. 56. 7; 66. 20 seq.; especially Mai 1. 11. ;

6

Amos

Osee

10. 12; Isa. 55. 6; Ps. 104(105). 4; 1 Paralip. 16. 11 (a passage containing extracts from the Psalms). [Knox, Amos 5. 4, reads "On aid betake you" and v. 6, "On your lives, to the Lord peril of your lives, to betake you**. Douai has "Seek ye me, and you shall live" and "Seek ye the Lord, and live** Translator,] * See 7. 9b; 8. 13-15; 28. 16; 30. 15. 5. 4, 6, 14; cf.

my

M.O.T.

3*

The Mystery of the Temple

60

The God of the prophets is unreservedly and fully the living God, not only, as throughout the Bible, in the sense that he is the very 8 in the very definite opposite of inert and lifeless idols, but also in sense that he intervenes history, acts, commands, "roots up and is truly, 1. Jer. 10). The God of the prophets plants anew" (cf. actually in a wholly special sense Yahweh-who-brought9 IsrM-out-of-Egypt. It is certain that Yahweh is also the God who

fully

and

as we have through David chose Sion for his dwelling-place. This, But the Presence seen, is for the prophets a fact beyond all question. of which the prophets have the most vivid experience and to which in a place they give priority is not the Presence to be worshipped God which will of the Presence by sovereign (Sion), it is the active 1 demands obedience and intervenes in history. Now that we have reached this central idea, which will need to be the place and the part explained, we are in a position to understand

of the prophets in the development of the revelation of the mystery of the Presence, and this evolution is a miracle of continuity and emergence. 7

Jeremias has a special affection for this expression:

4.

2;

5.

2; 10. 1-16;

13 Of! for lifeless 'idols: Hab. 2. 18-19; Jer. 2. 27-8; 10. 3-5; Bar. 6; Ps. 114(115). 4-8' 134(135). 14-18; Isa. 44. 19-20, etc. For Yahweh as the living God see: Exod. 3. 14; Num. 14. 21, 28; Deut 32. 40; Josue 3. 10; Isa. 37. 4, 17; 49. 18; Jer. our preceding note, etc. % 9 Cf. above, p. 30, n. 7. This formula is used as a genuine proper name for the the beginning of the DecGod of Israel. It is the name God gives to himself at 5. 6), on which will be alogue in token of his royal authority (Exod. 20. 2; Deut. based his kiagly activity in times to come (Num. 23. 22-3: Balaam). It is his name as the God who has loved Israel with a unique love (Amos. 3. 1 ; Ezech.

when mention Paralip. 17. 21), the name used for him particularly the punishment Israel has deserved because of her infidelity (Judg. 20. 5 seq.) and 2, 12; 3 Kings 9. 9; 17. 7; Mich. 6. 4; Jer. 2. 6; 34. 13; Ezech. when men are called upon to have faith in the living God who intervenes deto save his people: Osee 12. 10; 13. 4; cisively and with sovereign power in order Jer. 16. 14; 23. 7-8. EzechicPs expression is relevant here also: "And you shall p. 112), and the know that 1 am Yahweh" (cf. Jvt. Schmidt, Prophet undTempel, " phrase so often used, especially by the Isaias of the exile : I am Yahweh and there is no other"; Psalms 104(105); 105(106); 106(107); 113(114); 134(135); 135(136); and finally there are the numerous passages in which the prophets compare the deliverance or the return from exile to a second exodus Isaias, but also Michaeas, 20. 5 seq,;

is

1

made of

;

Baruch and Zacharias. is the point of view adopted by M. Schmidt, Prophet uml Tmipel Problem der Gottesntihe im Ahen Testament, Zollikon-Ziirich, Elm Studw 1948, We share this point of view, but there are moments when Schmidt exploits the influence of an it to excess and places a construction on it which shows existentialist or Barthian religious atmosphere (the same criticism appeared under the signature of Mowinckel in the Internal* Zeit$ch*f* Bibelwiss., 1, 1951-52),

Jeremias 1 This

(e.g. 16. 14),

mm

The Prophets

61

(B) The historical mission and place of the prophets, or the prophetic stage in the revelation of the mystery of the Presence of God

Tradition rightly assigns to David the title of the prophet-king. deserves it and not only for the psalms attributed to him or even because of the typological character of Ms office the Messias will be not only the "son of David", but, like David, a saviour-king he deserves it because the religion of the prophets really began in the religion, in the religious soul, of David. This fact has been noted and

He

thrown into

relief in a remarkable way by J. Pedersen. 2 Without decrying the admirable figure of Samuel, we may say that with David begins the union that will become so characteristic of the prophets, especially Elias, Amos, Osee, Isaias and Jeremias, the union, that is, between the proclamation of religion and a personal experience of God. It is not by mere chance that so many of the superb passages in the Psalter, with their lyricism and their note of personal prayer, have been attributed to David. This personal experience is at one and the same time that of a communion, one could almost say a friendship, with God, and that of an active and sovereign presence intervening to command, to lead, to bring men back from death to life. It is the experience of the "knowledge of God" and of the hesed, that true affection on man's part which reciprocates God's affection for man, so full as it is of grace and lovingkindness. Ultimately this will reach its climax in the Christian ay&m]? It is also the presence, the saving help through which God ceaselessly intervened in David's life, for "he was with David",* and at the same time in the history of Israel, since the latter was enacted in the life of David himself. Thus the idea of God's "royal" presence, a presence of

sovereign active and saving power, gradually became established. This is the idea which is restated by the prophets and they extend it to the history not only of individuals or even of Israel alone, but to the great world of the peoples of the earth. It is true that the fact of the uniqueness and sovereignty of Yahweh had been impressed upon Israel from the beginning of her history. It is seen in the action of Abraham, 5 in the facts of the exodus and of the judgment wrought by God upon Egypt, in the fact too that God had revealed himself and established a covenant with his people on Sinai, outside the a

Israel,

UI-IV, pp. 524

seq.,

654 seq.

8

For passages that treat of the hesed, see Osee4. 2; 6. 6; 10. *Cf. for instance 1 Kings 16;" 2 Kings 5. 22-5; 7. 3 ( =

1

Paralip. 11.9; 12. 18, etc. 6 Either in the fact that God

promises (Gen. (18. 16 seq.).

12.

had

2-3; 15. 5; 17. 4

him out of Ur and Haran, or in the or again in Abraham's plea for Sodom

called seq.),

12; 12. 7; Jer. 2. 2. 1 Paralip. 17. 2);

The Mystery of the Temple

62

boundaries of the Promised Land, and so showed that his plans and his power were not necessarily confined to Palestine (cf. above, there is something p. 14 and note 2). But with the great prophets new, namely the explicit and dazzling revelation of Yahweh's universal sovereignty and kingship, to which all the peoples of the 6 earth are obedient. With B. Duhm, we may note that this revelation is contemporary with the rise and the expansion of the great empires, whose agency Israel itself is brought into what the German

through

historians call the "Weltgeschichte", that

is,

history

on a world-wide

This is not the only occasion on which a supernatural revelation is seen to synchronize with historical circumstances which may the way for the provide it with a kind of framework or even prepare revelation itself. The prophetic view of the phenomena which filled the life of Elias in the second third of the ninth century B.C., is scale.

message of the prophets. For them Yahweh but over all the peoples of the world. His Israel over not only reigns will is carried out in every place and rules the destiny of peoples, 7

characteristic of the

whom

he uses successively as a scourge to administer punishment, 8 or as instruments to bring deliverance. David had not only opened up or enlarged in Israel's religion the vein of personal and living relationship, of a hesed religion, he had also linked the Presence of God with Sion and by placing God's had established dwelling-place side by side with the king's palace, a kind of alliance between the royal house and Yahweh. Kingship and God's Presence were as it were united and the great prophecy of Nathan had, in short, consecrated this union. The prophets, as jwe have pointed out, neither denied nor belittled this choice of Sion on God's part, but, when they faced the situation which had its that there was no origins in David, their task was: (1) to proclaim automatic guarantee that the royal power would continue to be exercised by David's dynasty, or that the Temple would always * Israels Propheten, Tubingen, 1916, pp. 1-3. F. J, A. Hort (The Christian EccksiOy London, 1908, pp. 143 seq.) makes a similar observation in regard to St Paul who, in the Epistles of the Captivity, thought out the mystery of the Church in a world-wide context because he himself, when at Rome, acquired a better understanding of the universal unity of the Empire, 7 his retreat on This is the meaning especially of the mission Elias received the heights of Horeb, when he was bidden to anoint the king of Damascus and the infinite (3 Kings 19, 15). On this world-wide consciousness of Elias in Fr eschatological scope of his mission, see the profoundly moving pages H.-M. Ferefs "L'economie providentielle dans la Tradition bibliquc; De la mort de Salomon & Pexil de Babylone** in Forma gregis, April-May, 1951, pp. 88-100. a few references only as instances of this; Amos 1. 3-2, 16; 9. 7; Isa, 10. 5 seq,; Jer. 1, 10; 18. 1-12; Isa, 48. 14 seq.; Ps. 66(67); 122(123). 3 seq.; 137(138). NeucMtel et Paris, 1945, pp. 108 seq. Cf, S. de Dietrich, e dessein de

m

A

4

Mm.

The Prophets

63

Because of the inveterate faithlessness of Israel, both were to be humiliated and crushed by their enemies; 9 (2) to develop the revelation of the Presence of God, There was indeed a Presence linked to kingship but to the kingship of God. Not that God's kingship excluded a human regency or principality. It is very remarkable and of great importance for ecclesiology that the passages which are exist.

insistent that, from henceforth, God himself would reign in a place for a visible king or prince. 1 The reign of Yahweh find Sion, will exist side by side with leadership exercised by "pastors" after God's own heart, that is of the ideal type represented by David.

most

However,

after its experience of kingship as a

power unto

salvation,

knew

national decay and exile. The course of events helped her to exalt the saving kingship of God above every earthly instituIsrael

at one and the same time of both her temple and her learned she from her prophets (Ezechiel) to understand more king, clearly that Yahweh himself was her true temple (11.16) and her true king (20, 33). The two, united by David on Sion, remained linked, but they appeared now in God who would be both Presence among and King over his people. The Presence would be linked to the Kingship and would be manifested in and through the Kingship. We have only to re-read the large number of passages which foretell that after the period of punishment there will be a restoration, whose sign will be the kingship of God and a new Presence: 2 tion.

Deprived

.

.

.

lame shall yet be a stock to breed from, and wayworn shall grow into a sturdy race; here in Sion they shall dwell, and the Lord be king over them, for ever henceforward (Mich. 4. 7).

14 Wandering hearts, the Lord bids you come back to him, and renew your troth; by ones and twos, from this city or that, from this clan or that, he will claim you for his own and bring you back to Sion; 15 and you shall have shepherds of his own choice to 16 After that, the Lord says, when guide you well and prudently. all is growth and fertility, no longer shall you have the Ark of the 9

For the dynasty,

see

Amos

2. 5;

Osee

1.

4; 7. 7;

8. 10,

15; 13. 10, where

concerned, but Juda too will suffer in its turn, 12. 3. For the Temple, cf. Mich. 3. 12; Jer. 7. 2 seq.; Ezech. (cf. below). 1 Cf. Mich. 2. 12 seq.; 4. 7 and 8; Jer. 3. 14-17; Ezech. 17. 16; 34. 11 seq. and 23 seq. ; 37. 22 and 24 seq. 2 These are the themes of many prophetic texts and sometimes culminate in a messianic outlook: see, for instance, Soph. 3. 15; Ezech. 20. 33 seq.; 37. 22 seq.; Isa. 27. 33-5; there is sometimes an eschatological sense: Zach. 14; Abdias vv. 15-21 (vv. 17 and 21 should be read together). Israel

is

The Mystery of the Temple

64

Lord's Covenant for your railying-cry; from thought and memory the fashionIt will have passed away, nor any care be bestowed on 17 as the Lord's throne of will men is It Jerusalem of it. speak ing .

.

.

(Jer. 3. 14-17).

Jeremias foretells a time when Jerusalem, although finally deto sit, will yet know, prived of the ark above which God was believed because in it of Presence the Yahweh, ever and more than before, God will reign. Isaias announcing in Babylon the good news of the return to Sion, does so in words full of meaning:

Welcome, welcome on the mountain heights the messenger that All is well! Good news brings he, deliverance cries he, telling from the Sion, Thy God has claimed his throne! A shout goes up cries,

all at once, all at once echoing eyes shall witness it, when the Lord brings

watchmen; they are crying out their praise

;

their

Sion deliverance 3

own

(Isa, 52. 7-8).

Thus the sacred Presence which Ezechiel and

also Isaias called

"the Glory of Yahweh" will, as they foretell, return to Sion with the we title of Victorious King and Saviour. But the prophet from whom 4

learn

most in

this

connection

is

the one

we have

just

mentioned

Ezechiel.

and preoccupied this priest was with the Temple he drew, during the Babylonian exile, the plans of the Ideal temple of the future restoration. (Previously he had been the used were very prophet of destruction and exile and the words he fire and lightning ; of a sees his He before theophany eyes remarkable.)

We know how

in

what

detail

proclaiming its presence. But his vision animals grows clearer and takes the form of a chariot yoked to four above or in the midst of which Yahweh seems to be enthroned: Ezech. 1; 3. 12-13; cf. ch. 10. The glory of Yahweh can move from one place to another5 and not only this but also in this first vision it appears to the prophet exiled on the banks of the river Chothe Glory of

Yahweh

is

bar far from Jerusalem, and it comes to him from the north. Thus Yahweh is not confined to the Temple, he may leave it and in fact does so (cf. below); he can accompany or rejoin his people wherever 3

The Knox version has a somewhat

Jerusalem Bible u

in the last phrase,

different sense from that in English runs:

of the text of the

which

For they see Yahweh face to face as he returns to Sion." Translator. Cf. 40. 5 and 52. 12. Isaias, especially in the Greek LXX has a predilection for the word Glory, Doxa, under which he includes all that is contained m^the manifestations (epiphanies) of God and of his saving action: cf. L. H. Brockingin Veins Tferto/n,, ton, "The Greek Translator of Isaiah and his interest in Doxa", 4

1

(1951), pp. 23-32. * Cf. Ezech. 9. 3; 10.

1

seq.; 18. 11,

22 seq.

The Prophets

65

they are, even when they are departed to Babylon. The truth is that God Is In the place where he reigns. That is why, after the restoration, reigning together with a "pastor" after his own heart, "my servant David", over the hearts of those who have been given new life, he says "I ... will set up my sanctuary in their midst for ever they .

.

.

my people and I their God" (37. 26-7). God's dwelling-place is linked to his rule.

This point of view will enable us to understand what we shall call the prophetic dialectic, that is, the simultaneous but not contradictory statement of a positive and a negative truth concerning the same fact; in the present instance, this is the Presence of God, linked as it was to the Temple of Jerusalem when the activities of the prophets

began. We are in fact faced with two series of contradictory statements; the first deals with the precarious position of the Temple and its destruction, the second foretells that after this destruction, God will be once more, always and more than ever among his people.

1. The first statement, which is rooted in the awakened consciousness of Israel before the time of the prophets, is the affirmation of God's transcendence. Yahweh's real dwelling is heaven 6 and it is

from heaven that he shows his power through the lightning and the thunder. "His the arched stairway of heaven", says Amos (9. 6), and Michaeas shows Yahweh coming down from his heavenly palace, from his holy place, to walk upon the tops of the mountains (1. 2 seq.; cf. Isa. 63. 19). And Osee in the same way shows him threatening to withdraw his presence from men and to return to his heavenly dwelling-place (5. 15). Hence the exquisite prayer put by Deuteronomy into the mouth of the faithful Israelite paying his tithe: "Look down, then, from that sanctuary of thine, that dwellingplace high in heaven, and bless thy people Israel . ." (26. 15). Statements of the same kind abound in the prophets both before and during the exile 7 and in the Psalms. 8 When the third book of Kings was being written, a document was inserted, doubtless during the exile, reporting the great prayer of Solomon at the translation of the ark and the dedication of the Temple; the following note was added and it Is obvious that the words had not been used by the king: "Folly it were to think that God has a dwelling-place on earth. If the very heavens, and the heavens that are above the heavens, cannot contain .

6

Cf. above p. 14 and below (on Jewish piety), p. 91. Cf. Isa. 18. 4; 33. 5; Jer. 25. 30; Isa. 40. 22; 55. 8 and 9; 57. 15 (58. 4); 63. 15, 19; 66, 1. 8 Ps. 2. 4; 10(11). 5 and 6; 17(18). 7; 28(29). 9; 32(33). 13; 88(89). 3; 101(102). 20; 103(104). 3 and 13. 7

The Mystery of the Temple

66

what welcome can

it offer thee, this house which I have built ?** not the place to inquire by what theological interpretation this assertion of God's transcendence was reconciled with that of his particular dwelling-place in the temple, for Yahweh, whose throne was in the heavens and whose stepping-stone was the earth 9 also sat between the cherubim of the Holy of Holies and in a sense the ark (the temple, Sion) was his footstool. 1 The prophets go further. In their prophecy of punishments and trials, they proclaim that Yahweh will withdraw his Presence and return to heaven: Osee 5. 15 (cf. Mich. 1.15, together with the notes in the Jerusalem Bible). They foretell the destruction of the Temple and the ruin of Sion ". for such guilt as yours I will turn mount Sion into plough-lands; standing heaps of stones that were once Jerusalem, and brushwood of the high forest growing over the he means to profane his own sancTemple hill" (Mich. 3. 12); ". of that boast which you love so, trembling ever yours, tuary, proud ." (Ezech. 24. 21), Jeremias above all is the prophet for its safety of this tragic prediction and because of it, will be condemned by the priests (chapter 26), as Jesus and Stephen were later to be.

thee, (3

Kings

8, 27).

This

is

:

.

.

.

.

Chapter

7.

x

.

.

A message from the Lord to

2

Jeremias, bidding him there proclaim aloud:

take his stand at the temple gate, and Listen to this word of the Lord, men of Juda, that make your 3 way in through these gates to worship him. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your lives and your likings, if you would have me dwell here among you. 4 Misleading are those words all about you, The temple of the Lord, here, the 5 Will you but temple of the Lord there, do not trust them.

amend your lives and your likings, giving one man redress against 6 not oppressing the alien, the orphan, the widow, nor another, in these precincts putting innocent men to death, nor courting, to your ruin, the gods of other nations, 7 then indeed I will make my dwelling here among you, in the land which was my gift to 8 your fathers from the beginning to the end of time. You put 9 your trust in flattering hopes, which can nothing avail you; theft, murder, adultery, the false oath, libations to Baal, the 'courting of alien gods that are no gods of yours, nothing comes amiss, 10 if only you can come and stand in my presence, here in this house, the shrine of my name, and tell yourselves you have made amends

for all these your detestable doings! u What, does this house, the shrine of such a name, count for no more than a den of thieves, in fl

*

Isa. 66. 1; Ps. 10(11). 4; cf. Matt 5. 35; 23. 22. Isa. 37. 16; Ps 79(80), 1; cf. Matt 5, 35; 23. 22.

The Prophets

67

yours Think you, the Lord says, that eternal God has no eyes to see it? 12 Go and visit that sanctuary of mine at Silo, where of old my power rested; look well, what havoc I have made of it, to punish the misdeeds of Israel, that were my people too. 13 Because of so much done amiss, the Lord says; because you would not listen when I cried early at your doors, or answer any call of mine u this house, shrine of my name and centre of your hopes, this home I gave to you and to your fathers, shall fare as Silo fared. 15 All those brethren of yours, the whole stock of Ephraim, I banished from my presence, and you shall be banished in your turn. eyes like

?

;

Some fifteen years later (in 592 B.C.), Ezechiel, from whom we have already learned that Yahweh is not tied to the Temple, shows us God as it were in a hurry to leave his sanctuary because of the abominable practices in which the house of Israel had indulged (8. 6); he shows us the Glory of Yahweh (his Presence) rising above the cherubim over which it was enthroned, passing across the threshold of the Temple and leaving it in an easterly direction: 4

And the brightness of the Lord's presence, cherubthroned, rose up above the threshold, till the house was all smoke, and all the precincts filled with the divine radiance ... 18 ... and therewith the bright presence of the Lord left the temple threshold, and stood there, cherub-throned. 19 With my own eyes I saw them, as they spread their wings and rose aloft; saw the wheels follow 22 as they went. And now the cherubim spread Chapter 11. their wings for flight, the wheels beside them, the bright presence of the Lord above them; and that presence, withdrawn from the city's midst, came to rest upon the mountain height eastwards of Chapter

10.

.

.

.

it 2 Ezechiel, like Jeremias, prophesies the profanation of the city and the Temple (24. 21). And in fact Jerusalem was taken, sacked, demolished, the Temple defiled and ruined and the pick of the population, on two occasions, taken away and deported to Babylonia. The exiles' thoughts dwelt earnestly and nostalgically on Jerusalem. Psalm 136(137), Super fiumina Babylonis, preserves for us a poignant echo of their feelings, whilst the Lamentations bring us that of the boundless sorrow of those who had remained behind in Judaea. 2

How inadequate, as far as its prophetic sense is concerned, is all treatment of

passage on "religionsgeschichtlich" lines! e.g. H. G. May, "The Departure of the Glory of Yahweh" (Journ. of Biblical Literature, 56 [1937], pp. 309-21), which connects the episode with a feast in celebration of the summer this great

solstice.

The Mystery of the Temple

68

The third book of Kings, written at that time, introduced into Solomon's prayer at the dedication of the Temple a phrase referring to the custom that then arose among the exiles of praying with their faces towards Jerusalem. 3 An intense work in depth and a process of purification took place in the Israel of the exile and the ideas of the Presence of God and of sacrifice benefited especially thereby. 2.

In fact

it is

at the time

when

this exiled Israel

was without a

Temple, far from Sion which God had chosen for his dwelling-place, that the prophets of the exile said over and over again that God was

and would be more than ever before with his people. God will (once more) be with his people, they proclaim, as they foretell the end of the period of trial and the coming of the restoration sometimes from a purely historical point of view, 4 sometimes from a messianic even eschatological standpoint, with which a universal ist theme is generally linked, 6 Ezechiel, who had seen the sacred Presence leave the Temple in so poignant a fashion, now shows Yahweh returning to Sion: 43. 1 Then he took me to the eastern gate; and all at the sun's rising, the bright presence of the God of from once, Israel made entry there. Like the sound of waters in deep flood his voice was, and the earth was lit up with the splendour all around 4 In it came through the eastern gateway, the splendour of the Lord 5 and with that, a transport seized me, carrying me off himself;

Chapter

.

.

.

into the inner court, where already the brightness of the Lord's filled the temple.

presence 6

it was I heard his voice speaking to me; and the man stood at my side passed on the message, 7 Son of man, he told me, there is my throne; here eternally, in the heart of Israel, is my resting-place (cf. Isa. 52. 7 seq,).

Thence

who

There was therefore to be a restoration of a temple and a Presence similar to those enjoyed prophet Ezechiel received

by Israel before the exile, and the same from God the mission (43. 10) to describe

in detail, even in minute detail, the temple of the revival (ch. 40-8). These chapters in Ezechiel inspired in post-exilic Judaism a kind of * 3 Kings 8. 44 seq. 48; cf, 2 Paralip. 6, 38 and see Dan. 6. 11. The exiles therefore prayed with their faces towards the south-west. Christians, wherever they may be, pray towards the east, for it is from the east that they await the coming, on the day of resurrection, of him who is the light of their souls.

14-17 (cf. above pp. 63, 64); Abdias 17; Ezech, 37. 26-8; Mai 3. 1 seq.; 1-6 ; 52. 7 seq. Then, of course, there are the prophets of the restoration Agg* 2. 3-9; Zach. 1. 16-17; 2. 10-17; 6. 12-13. s Mich. 4. 1-3; Isa. 2. 1-4; 4. 2*6; 18. 7; 25. 6-10; 60. 1 seq. (cf. 13); Zach, * Jer. 3.

cf. Isa. 12,

8.

1-8; Joel 4. I6-21(Vulg.:

:

3.

16-21).

69

The Prophets

bid to outdo all previous forms of liturgical legalism. True, Ezechiel had stressed the separation of the sacred and the profane so as to make certain that the Temple and the altar should be considered as so surpassingly holy. But the Temple whose parts he described minutely was not to be built of stone. Ezechiel was too well aware that God dwells where his people is to lend his support to the idea of a new type of sanctity automatically attached to a place and to things.

The Temple he

describes does indeed outline the characteris-

of a religious reality present on this earth, it translates into visible and corporeal phenomena the spiritual demands of a new presence of Yahweh's Glory. But this new Presence is not to be thought of of moveapart from what the prophet says of this Glory as capable ment from place to place, or apart from the prophecy he makes of the gift of a new heart (18. 31; 36. 26) or apart finally from the decisive and famous passage in which he foretells the reunion and the tics

restoration of a purified Israel and an Israel purified by God in terms which set the prophecy in a clearly messianic con-

himself text:

Chapter

37. 24

them

to tend

They

all,

my

shall

have one king over them, a shepherd

my

servant, David;

my commands remember

and obey

will they shall follow, covenant shall

26 .

.

.

My

be revoked; pledge them prosperity, a covenant that shall never in their set and them sanctuary I will my increase, up give midst for ever, 27 My tabernacle over them; they my people, and 28 I their God; proof to all the world that I, the Lord, have set 6 Israel apart, I that dwell apart in their midst for ever, .

.

.

The Temple whose plan Ezechiel draws

is

not an architectural

has a prophetic meaning. He foretells the messianic establishment of a sphere of purity which will be the place of God's and the Mosaic dwelling and transcend the material existence of Israel institutions. He opens, through the medium of prophecy, a new that will only be chapter in the mystery of the Temple, a chapter the in Apocalypse. completed project,

it

Not only Ezechiel, but also the other prophets whose mission is to foretell the exile or to comfort and enlighten Israel in her time of trial, bring the total reality of the Presence of their God to the of temple knowledge of those who have been deported and deprived is always earth and heaven fills Presence whose Yahweh altar. and and everywhere close to his people. As one of the Psalms of the exile says:

M

Schmidt has written with great insight OB this decisive passage and the 160-7. meaning of the temple in Ezechiel, See his Prophet und Tempel, pp.

The Mystery of the Temple

70

For

us, his worshippers, deliverance is close at hand; in this land of ours, the divine glory is to find a home. (Ps. 84[85]. 10).

Stronghold thou art of the poor, stronghold of the helpless in their

affliction

.

.

.

(Fsa. 25. 4).

God am

I, the Lord says, only when I stand near, and not when I am far away? Where, he would know, will you hide so close

that he

is

not watching you, fills heaven and earth?

he, the Lord, that

word

In a

(Jer. 23. 23-4).

the deported Israelites in Babylonia had the hallowed

religious man undergoes. In dereliction, always near, always with those who fear and love him. God, says the Isaias of the exile, is with contrite and

experience which every

exile, prison,

humble

God

is

hearts. 7

Ultimately, this is his true dwelling-place. Ezechiel for his part has a phrase which is still more daring and, far more than those we have quoted, an anticipation of the final revelation of the New Testament: "Far away I have banished them, says he, widely scattered them; yet, go where they will, a sanctuary in little they shall find in my 8

companionship." Elsewhere Ezechiel prophesied that at the return of Israel Yahweh himself would be king or shepherd and there would be no other 7

He, dwelling in that high and holy place, dwells also among chastened and humbled souls, bidding the humble spirit, the chastened soul,

and live Thus says the Lord, Heaven is my throne,

(Isa. 57, 15),

rise

earth the footstool under my feet. will you build for me, what place can be my resting-place? Nothing you see about you but I fashioned

What home

my hand

gave

From whom, Patient he

One who

it,

the Lord says;

it

being. then, shall

I

accept an offering?

must be and humbled,

stands in dread of

my

warnings

(Isa. 66, 1-2).

Pere Congar, quoting from BJ, has je serai pour eux tin sanctuaire* quelque temps* (i.e. for a while) (italics his), Vulgate, Douai, Knox, Authorised version, all read "a little sanctuary", which on the face of it seems strange as applied to the eternal God. The Catholic Commentary translates "And I have been to them only in a small degree a sanctuary" and explains this puzzling statement by pointing out that "the full observance of Yahweh worship was not possible outside Palestine". The point is of importance for Pere Congar's argument. If the Vulgate reading is taken, there seems little reason for calling Ezechiel's words here "daring** {we formute plus to^/e). -Translator. ft

,

.

.

The Prophets

71

king but he: "I mean to go looking for this flock, search it out for 9 myself" (34. I!). Ultimately, the two themes must be brought together and linked with one another. From the prophetic standpoint, the issue in both cases is the same. Yahweh is with the contrite and humbled heart because he reigns over it. He will himself be his people's temple because he himself will be their king. In the passages we have quoted from Jeremias 7. 3 seq. (above pp. 66, 67), Isaias (p. 70, n. 7) and in those from Isaias 1 and Zacharias 2 that deal with the restoration, Presence and Reign are linked together. Hence there is already an anticipation of the Gospel concept of the place of the Presence and the temple as none other than the people itself when, by its submission to the will of God, it is truly his people. The dialectic we have just analysed is found in the prophets in connection with the closely allied themes of the Sabbath, of sacrifice and even of the law and the covenant. They are the themes which the Epistle to the Hebrews treats as one and shows that they have passed together into a new order when the Mosaic regime which is a regime of servants changes to the regime of sonship whose source is Jesus Christ. The ancient Fathers (the Epistle of Barnabas, Justin, Irenaeus, Origen) liked to return to this very illuminating comparison between the two kinds of temple, sacrifice, priesthood, Sabbath, law and covenant, 3 The prophets' mission was to throw light upon and also to further the realization of God's plan which, by successive stages, was moving towards its final consummation in Jesus Christ. They were to prevent this movement from a fixation at one or other of its stages or in one or other of its characteristics. This was their duty particularly after the building of the Temple by Solomon. Men were not to think, as we have seen that Solomon himself was inclined to do, that God's purpose had been fulfilled, the promise to David accomplished, and 9 Here again there is a marked difference between Vulgate and B J. Pere Congar Void que faurai soin moi-mSme quotes: "I myself will take care of my flock" de mon troupeau. However, later verses in Knox convey the same sense, e.g. v. 14 "Yes, I will lead them out into fair pastures . ." and 15 : "Food and rest . . both these I will give to my flock." Translator. 1 "Welcome, welcome on the mountain heights the messenger that cries, All is well! Good news brings he, deliverance cries he, telling Sion, Thy God has shout goes up from the watchmen ; they are crying out all claimed Ms throne! at once, all at once echoing their praise; their own eyes shall witness it, when the Lord brings Sion deliverance" (Isa. 52. 7-8). 2 Zach. 14. 5 & seq. 8 remind the reader of two passages only. Irenaeus says: "Now that the temple is the heart of man, there is no longer any Sabbath in the sense of rest and leisure that are of obligation" (Demonstrat. 96) ; the great passage from Origen on the death of Moses, In lib. Jesu Nave, horn. 2, n. 1 (P.O., 12, 833-4) or horn. 1, n. 3, edited by Baehrens (G.C.S. Orig., 7, p. 296). .

:

A

We

.

The Mystery of the Temple

72

and worship now represented the Temple a genuine danger and Judaism This was truth of the Presence. very succumbed to it when, after the restoration of Esdras and Zorobabel, the voice of the great prophets was silent. This is why the prophets

that the

with, its priesthood

continued to emphasize the dual nature of the Israelite theology of the Presence, 4 the tension between the assertion of a Presence linked with the holy place and the tabernacle, and the assertion of the existence of a transcendent Yahweh, dwelling in heaven and bringing his action to bear in every place. In the forefront of the prophets' teaching there is always testimony to a tension between Sion and the Temple, the place of God's Presence, and the reality of Yahweh himself, the 5 transcendent, living and active God who alone is genuine Presence,

Above all, this is why the prophets make two opposing assertions concerning the Temple, just as they do in the case of sacrifices, the Sabbath and feasts. In one of the greatest passages in the whole of Christian literature, St Augustine has clearly shown the pattern of this dialectic of sacrifice "Let us see how when God says he wants no sacrifice, he makes it clear that there is one he does want, God does not want the sacrifice of slaughtered beasts, he wants the sacrifice of a broken heart."* The prophets say: "God wants no sacrifices, your ceremonies fill him with loathing!" Yet elsewhere they say that he wants them more than ever! He does and yet does not want them. He wants sacrifices but not of the kind that are offered to him. And the reason for his refusal is to be sought at a far deeper level than the moral obliquities which in fact accompany the Differing of sacrifices. True, the prophets frequently condemn these misdeeds and in terms on which we can never meditate enough, but they are not moral reformers, they are much more than that, just as Jesus, when he drove the buyers and sellers from the Temple, was not merely insisting on the moral conduct required within the sacred place but on something far more important. His gesture was prophetic and, as we shall see, inaugurated a new stage in the accomplishment of the mystery of the Temple. It was the prophets' mission to foretell this stage. This is the point of their dialectic, asserting as it does the two truths there is no Presence (of the kind you know aad are so anxious to preserve); and God will be present more than ever :

:

4

Cf* W. J. Phythian-Adams, Th People and the Presence, ch. 3, pp. 40-58. Cf. above and, for instance, in Tsaias, Sion lifted up as the rallying-point of all the nations (2. 2-5), and Yahweh alone raised up above the earth (2. 11, 17), 9 De civitate Dei* Lib, X, c. 5 (PX., 41, 261); of, the translation of this passage in Appendix B of Fr Bouyer's Mysore pascal (pp. 456 &eq ). On the dialectic of sacrifice in the prophets, cf. O. Hebert, The Throne of David* ch. iv; L. Bouyer, Le Mysore pascal, pp. 273 &eq, ; Y, M.-J. Congar, Vrai et fau$$ rdforme* pp. 136 seq,; Lay People in the Church* pp. 116 seq. and cf, below p. 181, s

t

The Prophets before. 7 There will

be a new Temple and

73

God

will

be for ever with his

people. *

*

*

The new law of the Presence was not to be fully established by the achievements of Zorobabel and by religion after the exile, any

more than Nathan's prophecy could

possibly have been fully accomplished in Solomon. We have already seen that a large number of the prophecies of restoration are messianic and even eschatological. The predictions of the prophets contain certain characteristics which we must rapidly summarize before bringing this chapter to an end L The prophets predict an interior renewal. The Israel of the restoration will be a people of devout and just men, a people obedient to Yahweh, in a word, a people who will practise the religion of the prophets, the religion which consists in the knowledge of God and in the hesed. **See if I do not rescue my people from the east country and the west, bring them back to dwell here, in the midst of Jerusalem ; :

they

my people, and I their

bound" (Zach. vision

is

8.

God,

in truth

7-8). Ezechiel

also the herald of a

new

and loyalty

who saw

heart

and a

either to other

new temple new spirit:

the

in his

24

1 mean to set you free from the power of the you home again from every part of the earth. 25 And then I will pour cleansing streams over you, to purge you from every stain you bear I will give you a new heart and breathe a new spirit into you; 26 1 will take away from your breasts those hearts that are hard as stone, and give you human hearts instead. 27 1 will make my spirit penetrate you, so that you will follow in the path of my law, remember and carry out my decrees. (Cf. 11. 17-20; 18. 31 and Ps. 50(51). 12 seq.)

Chapter 36.

Gentiles, bring

Already before the exile Jeremias had understood that not even a generous effort on man's part, nor even a reform such as that of Josias in which he himself had taken part, could bring Israel that justice of the heart which presupposed an interior transformation and could only be achieved on the basis of a new initiative on God's part and a completely gratuitous remission of Israel's irredeemable debt. Jeremias had spoken, in words that can never be surpassed, of a new covenant. And then Ezechiel in exile, only slightly in advance Cf. Phythian-Adams's chapter on Ezechiel (op. cit.> ch. 5). On the prophetic our Vraie etfausse rfprme t lot. cit, and all chapters 2 and 3 in the first part. It would be easy (and interesting) to show that the dialectic of the 7

dialectic, cf.

prophets was helped by the genius of Hebrew language and thought. 8 **A time is coming, the Lord says, when I mean to ratify a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Juda. It will not be like the covenant which I made with thek fathers, on the day when I took them by the hand, to

74

The Mystery of the Temple

of the author of the second and third parts of Isaias, 9 returned to the theme of the new covenant, which, as he says, will be "eternal", in the dual context of Davidic inessianism and of Yahweh's Dwelling with his people:

Chapter

among

exile

23

1

mean

1

to recall the sons of Israel

the Gentiles, gather

them from every

side

from their and restore

22 And there, in the hill country of Israel, I nation of them, with one king over them all ... will deliver them from the lands that were once the haunts of

them will

21

37.

to their

home.

make one

and make them clean again; they shall be my people, be their God. 24 They shall have one king over them, a 25 ... and ever shepherd to tend them all, my servant David ... 26 my servant David shall be their prince. My covenant shall pledge them prosperity, a covenant that shall never be revoked. I their sinning,

and

I will

them

will (multiply BJ) midst for ever. 27

.

,

.

and

set

up

my

sanctuary in their

My

tabernacle over them; they my people, and 28 I their God; proof to all the world that I, the Lord, have set Israel apart, I that dwell in their midst for ever. 1 2. It is Ezechiel again who, in his description of the ideal temple to come, introduces an idea which has since been adopted in a solemn and ceremonial manner by the New Testament and our paschal liturgy ("Fftfi aqimm ."): "And last, he took me to the door of the temple itself, and shewed me where a stream of water flowed eastwards from beneath the threshold of it. Eastward the temple looked, and eastward these waters flowed, somewhat to the temple's right, so as to pass by the southern side of the altar" (47. 1). This water becomes a great river which purifies the salt waters of the Dead Sea and, on its shores, produces vegetation and crops in abundance (47. 8-12). We think it very likely that Ezechiel took as his startingpoint the actual fact that there was a spring on the south-eastern .

.

rescue them from Egypt . No, this is the covenant I will grant the people of Israel, the Lord says, when that time comes. I will Implant my law in their inner,

.

most thoughts, engrave

it in their hearts; I will be their God, and they shall be be no need for neighbour to teach neighbour, or brother to teach brother, the knowledge of the Lord; all will know me, from the highest to the lowest. I will pardon their wrong-doing; I will not remember their sins

my people.

There

anymore"

(Jer. 31. 31-4).

will

Further passages that mention the devotion of the people after the exile are: Isa. 1. 26; 4. 2-6; 28. 16-17; Soph. 3. 11-13; Jen 7. 3-7; 33. 14-16; Ezech. 20, 38; Isa. 56. 3-8; 65. 8 seq.; Ps, 24(25). 12-13; 35(36). 9-11; 96(97). 10-12; Zach. 5, 3; 8, 7-8. The new Jerusalem will be founded on justice, see Isa. 1. 26; 54. 14; Jer. 33. 15; Baruch 5. 4. * ". . , a fresh covenant awaits you, this time eternal ; gracious promise of mine to David shall be ratified now" (Isa. 55. 3 s ; and cf. 59. 21 ; 61. 8), 1 Cf. Jer. 33, 14-26.

The Prophets

75

quarter of Sion, the spring of Gihon. It was from this spring that Ezechias, during the invasion of Sennacherib, had brought water inside the city as far as the fountain of Siloe; 2 an episode to which the Bible often refers. Isaias found it easy to pass from the fact of this

water which enabled Sion to resist a rigorous siege, to the concept of Yahweh, the only source of Israel's strength. Ezechiel transfers the spring from Sion to the Temple and sees in it a source of fruitfulness for the dispossessed regions of the Holy Land. The theme returns with Zacharias or his continuator, and from the standpoint of a messianic 3 or even an eschatological 4 renewal. It appears again in Joel at about the same time (4. 18 C), and in Psalm 45(46). 5. The prophets always described messianic times as the era of fruitfulness and of the restoration of the conditions of Para5

Here, the new element is the fact that this fruitfulness, linked 6 always is with the living water of a spring comes from the Temple, Jeremias taught that the spring of living water was Yahweh (2. 13); Ezechiel, Zacharias and Joel see it issuing from the altar dise.

as

it

,

and the Temple. Judaism adopted much the same idea in its speculaand the foundation stone of the

tions concerning the rock of Sion

Temple.

7

It is this prophetic idea that our Lord made his own by applying it to himself, according to St John's Gospel. 8 The episode took place 2

The account of this episode is in 4 Kings 20. 20; cf. Isa. 22. 9 and 11 (cf. 7. 1 seq.; 8. 6-8); Ps. 45(46). 5 (where the context is that of Sennacherib's threat); Ecclus. 48. 17. a "When that day comes, clansmen of David and citizens of Jerusalem shall have a fountain flowing openly, of guilt to rid them, and of defilement" (13. 1). 4 "Then a living stream will flow from Jerusalem, half to the eastern, half to the western sea, winter and summer both; and over all the earth the Lord shall be king . (14. 8 and 9). 6 Cf. Amos 9. 13; Isa. 2. 1-3; 11. 1-9; Jer. 31. 12; Joel 3. 18, etc. 6 Isa. 12. 3; 35. 6; 41. 17 seq.; 44. 3; 48. 21; Ps. 35(36). 9; Zach. 12. 10; 13. 1; Joel 2. 28. 7 As regards the rock, the idea was that Sion was the summit of the world, the central point around which the earthly and heavenly world had been created. Thus a relationship was established between the holy place and paradise and it is in this context that the stream of life during the last days was seen to flow out from the Temple; cf. J. Jeremias, "Golgotha und der hi. Pels. Eine Untersuchung z. Symbolsprache des N.T.," in Archiv f. Ntl Zeitgesch. u. Kulturkunde, 2 (1926), pp. 74-128: cf. pp. 92-4. As regards the foundation stone of the foundation stone, Temple, the word thijja in the expression abh&n s e thijja ( in the Hebrew of the Mishna), had two meanings "foundation" (depth) and "to drink". Hence the sacred rock could equally well be called the rock of drinking, and its name was then explained either by claiming that the world had been "founded" with it as its centre, or that the waters that watered or irrigated it came from this rock. On the theme of the water flowing from the Temple in the messianic epoch, as understood by the Jews, cf. J. Bonsirven, Le judafsme pak$~ tinien au temps de Jdw$~Chri$t> Paris, 1935, t. 1, p. 432. 8 See J. Jeremias, Jesus als Wettvottender, Gutersloh, 1930, pp. 44 seq.; H. Riesenfeld, J4$us transfigure, Lund, 1947, pp. 15-28 (Les f&tes d*automne) and .

.

AITEAQE

=

The Mystery of the Temple

76

on the last day of the feast of Tabernacles (7. 37). This day was devoted to prayer for autumn rain. Remembrance was made of the way in which God had given his people the blessing of water, particularly 9 during the exodus (the water that gushed from the rock). There was a procession to the fountain of Siloe, which we believe Ezechiel had in mind when he spoke of the spring flowing from the side of the Temple, and during the procession the words of Isaias were sung: "You shall draw in joy from the fountains of salvation." 1 Water was drawn from the fountain and then poured out as a libation on the altar of sacrifice. It is in this precise context, carefully noted by St John, that Jesus cried out in a loud voice "If any man is thirsty, let him come to me, and drink; yes, if a man believe in me, as the scripture says, Fountains of living water shall flow from his bosom" (7. 38), St John adds: "He was speaking here of the Spirit, which was to be received by those who learned to believe in him.' Thus Jesus claimed to be the true Rock from which the water had gushed in the desert (below, n. 9), but also, though in a more hidden manner, the true temple from which living water would flow, the water that in Scripture is so :

1

constantly an image fo the Spirit (cf. Braun, quoted in n. 8). When the soldier pierced Jesus's side as he lay asleep in death on the cross and blood and water gushed forth, we know that the prophecy of our Lord was fulfilled now that he was "glorified" (John 19, 34), From the side of the body of Jesus, as from the side of the true temple,

flowed the living spring of the sacraments and of the Spirit. It is well known that the theme of the Church born under the symbol of blood and water from the side of Jesus asleep on the cross, as Eve was born from the side of Adam during his sleep, is one of the most constant elements in tradition; 2 it is also, analogously, a biblical datum. All these themes are restated by St John in the Apocalypse when he writes of the heavenly or eschatological Jerusalem: 6 Chapter 21. And he who sat on the throne said, Behold I make 6 I am Alpha, I am Omega, the beginning of all things new, all things and their end; those who are thirsty shall drink it is my free gift.** out of the spring whose water is life. 7 Who wins the victory ? He shall have his share in this I will be his God, and he shall be my son & Chapter 22. * He shewed me, too, a river, .

.

.

.

.

.

;

.

especially F. M. Braun, "L'eau et FEsprit," in Rev. Thomtste, 49 (1949), pp* 5 seq.; A, Lef&vre, *'La blessure du c6t6," in Le Catir (Etudes Carm$litame$ 9 29), Paris, 1950, pp. 109-22. Cf.Exod. 17. 6 ; Num. 20. 2-1 l;Isa. 48. 21; Ps. 76(77). 15-16,20; 104(105). 41. 1 Cf. Strack-Billerbeck, t. 2, pp. 799-809. a For the essential documents see S. Tromp, "Be nativitate Ecclesiac ex Corde Jesu in cruce," in Gregonanum, 13 (1932), pp. 489-527, and the encyclical

Mystici Corporis, 29 June 1943.

The Prophets

77

whose waters give life; it flows, clear as crystal, from the throne of God, from the throne of the Lamb. 2 On either side of the river,

midway along the its fruit

city street,

twelvefold,

one

grows the

yield for each

tree that gives

month.

this tree bring health to all the nations * Cf. Isa. 55. 47. 12 and our 3.

Often,

And

.

* Cf.

2 Kings 7. 14, the prophecy of Nathan. comment on pp. 74 and 75 above. 1.

bearing

life,

the leaves of

and under conditions which we

shall

now

Cf. Ezech.

define, the

prophets connected their prophecies concerning the whole world with the Temple and the presence of Yahweh as localized on Sion. 3 Universalism does not date from the prophets, it is in fact one of the aspects of the promises made in the person of Abraham to God's people from the beginning of its existence (cf. above p. 61, n. 5). We could quote many traces or prophetic indications of it in the history of Israel. There is no doubt, however, that it finds explicit expression in the prophets from Isaias onward (740 seq.), and is connected with the broadening of historical perspectives to which, with B. Duhm, we have drawn attention. In the very first great universalist prophecy that we meet if, that is, we think it should remain in its present place in the text this universalism makes its appearance closely linked with the Temple ;

In the days that are

still to come, the mountain where the Lord dwells will be lifted high above the mountain-tops, looking down over the hills,

and

all

the nations will flock there together.

A multitude of peoples will make their way to

it,

crying,

to the Lord's mountain peak, to the house where the God of Jacob dwells; he shall teach us the right way,

Come,

let

us climb

up

we will walk in the paths he has chosen. The Lord's commands shall go out from Sion, 4 his word from Jerusalem (Isa. 2. 2-3). only during the exile that universalist statements enlarge their scope to the full. At first, they the outlook centred on Sion and the Temple from detached appear to which we have just alluded. This is so in Isa. 45. 14 seq.; 49. 6;

In

fact, it is

increase in

number and

8 We have made use here of A. Feuillet's article "Isaias" in the SuppL du Diet, de la Bible, t 4 (1949), col. 689-90, 706, 727. Cf. the same author's articles in Rev. bibL> 1949, p. 75; 1953, p. 199 and in the remarkable "Introduction au liyre de Jonas," in BJ (pp. 23-4), We are not claiming in any sense to deal here with the question of universalism, but only to define its relation to the Temple.

The Mystery of the Temple

78 Jer,

16.

2. 11; 3. 9-10, a fragment dating probably But once the restoration is prophesied, and later

19-21; Soph.

from the

exile.

among those prophets who returned, we again find a univcrsalism linked to the Temple and centred on Jerusalem. 3

Proselyte let him be, of alien birth, will the Lord deny him citizenship? Eunuch let him be, is he no better than a barren 4 trunk, cut down as worthless? Nay, for yonder eunuch the Lord

has this message: his choice, true to

Who keeps my sabbath? Who makes my my covenant ? A place he shall have in 5

will this

house, within these walls of mine a memorial; son nor daughter his name could so perpetuate; such a memorial I will grant him as time shall never efface. 6 And so it shall be with the alien born, will they but throw in their lot with the Lord's worshippers, that cherish the love of his 7 Free of the mountain that is my name; the Lord's servant the welcome in house where men pray to me, guests sanctuary, ,

not vainly to

my

.

.

altar they shall bring burnt-offering

and

sacrifice

(Isa. 56. 3-7).

This passage establishes the closest possible connection between shall find it again on the the universalist theme and the Temple. the of Jesus when himself he buyers and sellers from the expels lips

We

Temple (Mark 11. 17). This connection is characteristic of the writings dating from the time of the exile, e.g., the third part of Isaias 60; 66. 18 seq., with a strong eschatological tone); a gloss added, at the time the third book of Kings was composed, to Solomon's prayer on the occasion of the dedication of the Temple (3 Kings 8, 41-3). There are also the prophecies made in the context of the restoration following on the exile: cf. Zach. 2. 14-17; 8. 20-3; 14, (all ch.

especially vv. 16 seq. (the latter text logical with 1

1-23 and

an apocalyptic

14.

is

more

recent,

and eschato-

tinge), then, after Zacharias,

Tob.

13.

and the the end of

6-9. This connection between the universalist

Temple themes is so fundamental that we find it again at the Apocalypse in the description of the new JerusalemApoa 21. 10-26. We must however note that, side by side with the universalism centred on Jerusalem and the Temple,

we find, after the exile, passages

that describe universalism in terms of a purely spiritual conversion, as though to warn us that the reference here is not to a geographical but to a spiritual city and temple; see Jonas; Mai 1.11; Prov. l-~9. 5 4 The same words occur again in Mich. 4. 1-3. Cf. Isa. 18. 7 and 19* 16-25 (the conversion of the nation's perpetual enemies, Egypt and Assyria, but they will not come to Jerusalem); Jer. 3. 17. 6 Cf. A. Feuillet, Intrad. au Hvn> de Jonas f pp. 23-4,

The Prophets

79

It is essential to understand the nature of the connection between universalism and the coming of the Gentiles, laden with presents, to the Temple of Yahweh. It is clear that it must not be interpreted

in any narrow material sense, as though it indicated a physical journey of the nations to the actual geographical spot known as Sion and to the actual place called the Temple. The fundamental point of the prophecy is that the nations will come to know Yahweh, the God of Israel. Yet there is here, within the texture of the universalist prophecy, a reference to Israel, its Temple and its worship. It does

seem that access to the true God is only envisaged in the framework of the worship of Israel Later, this attitude will be maintained by the Judaeo-Christians in the Church, in spite of their twofold experience of Easter and Pentecost. They will have in mind a universalism centred on Jerusalem and an access to faith in Jesus Christ of which an essential condition is acceptance of various Mosaic observances. But Christian universalism, as proclaimed and founded by Jesus, as inaugurated at Pentecost and understood so brilliantly by Stephen, and then by his persecutor Paul for whom he had prayed, is characterized by the fact that it expects not that the Gentiles are to come to Jerusalem, but that Jerusalem, in a sense, is to burst its boundaries and go out to the whole world. It is a fact that it was from Jerusalem, the Jerusalem of history, that at Pentecost the Spirit sent the apostles forth into the world. 6

equally true that the faithful are a people, a Church, a "body" own structure, requirements, hierarchy, corporate, visible worship as a Church, a people and a body. But now God's work is It is

with

its

wrought through the

Spirit in

each soul. Election and vocation are

no longer

limited to a people in the ethnic sense but apply to every who accepts by faith the word of salvation. The hour has person come the Father finds true worshippers in spirit and in when truly truth, when he is to be worshipped no longer on Garizim or at Jerusalem. Every soul has become Jerusalem, a Temple of God, a living stone in a spiritual sanctuary. And so the universalist prayer of the Old Dispensation, linked so closely and in so many passages with

the theme of the Temple, has been heard and answered beyond

all its

expectation. 6 The Whitsun liturgy, which has a special affection for Ps. 67(68), calls on us to sing on two different occasions, the following lines (from the Vulgate version) : Confirma hoc deus quod operatus es in nobis a templo sancto tuo quod est in Jerusalem. Tibi afferent reges munera. "O God, give thy power full play, perfect thy own achievement among us; so, in thy tempk at Jerusalem, kings, shall offer gifts before thee" (Knox),

Chapter

V

THE TEMPLE AND THE PRESENCE OF GOD IN THE DEVOTION AND THOUGHT OF THE JEWS (A few short The Temple of Herod.

after the exile.

The

notes)

restoration of Zorobabel 1

and

that

had been delivered from Egypt only in order that it might simply be God's people and consecrated to his worship. The ISRAEL edict promulgated by Cyrus in 538 B.C. freed those who had been deported to Babylonia so that they might rebuild "the house of Yahweh, the God of Israel, the God who is at Jerusalem" and offer 2 sacrifices and prayers to this God. Thus God never delivers his it for them to offer the pure worship possible people except to make he expects of them. The work begun in 536 B.C., hindered as it was by the lack of zeal and the individualism of so many of the repatriated (who were trying first of all to set their own private affairs in order [cf. Aggaeus 1 4, 9]), and also by the opposition of the Samaritans, was taken up again in 520 at the instigation of the prophets Aggaeus and Zacharias and under the direction of Zorobabel, prince of Juda, and Josue, the high priest. 3 The reconstruction of the Temple was finished in February or March 515 B.C.: its dedication was solemnized and the first Pasch in the new building celebrated (Esdras 6. .

15-22). In the accounts contained in the

as well as in the writings

books of Esdras and Nehemias of the prophets of the exile and the restora-

jf

1 Biblical references the books of Esdras and Nehemias, Aggaeus, Zacharias 1-8. Cf. G. Ricciotti, Hlstoire d*Xsra8l, Paris, 1939, t 2, notes 80-102 (pp. 101:

26).

Esdras L 2-4 (this passage was doubtless intended to be read to the Jews); 2-12 (a document from the Persian archives and instructions to the Persian

2

6,

civil service). 8

Sec above pp. 36 scq., and Aggaeus 2. 23 ; Zach. 6. 1 2 seq. for the opinions of on Zorobabel. comparison between these passages with that admirable in many ways of Esdras, reveals the distance separating the prophetic view of events and that of a priest and scribe such as Esdras (Esdras 7. 6, 11: the prophets

Neh.

8. 1

9; cf. 12, 36).

A

81

The Devotion of the Jews

4

Temple is usually known as the "House (of God)", bait; and the formula "the house of Yahweh which is at Jerusalem" is often found. The temple rebuilt by Zorobabel, hastily erected in stone in in splendour spite of many difficulties, did not equal that of Solomon became which this it was Yet 3. Esdras 2. temple 3; 12). (cf. Aggaeus the centre, the scene and, in a sense, the object of Israel's fervour during the period of the history of Judaism which began with the restoration under Esdras and Nehemias. This was a restoration of the Law and of worship, rather narrowly Judaean in outlook and of which the decisive acts were the reading of the Law by Esdras, the solemn promise made by the Judaeans that they would observe it C & (Neh. 7. 72 to 10. 40 ) and the forbidding of mixed marriages lasted down to the Gospel (13. 23-9; Esdras 9. 1-10, 44). Judaism period and largely formed its external framework. From the point of view of the Temple, which alone concerns us here, two great facts characterized these five centuries of history: tion, the

the violation of the Temple during the attempt to impose Hellenand the persecution which followed under Antiochus EpiGreat. phanius, and the improvements due to Herod the On 8 December 167 B.C. "king Antiochus set up an idol to desecrate God's altar" (1 Mach. 1. 57). This expression is borrowed 5 from Daniel who foresaw this very event; it means that Antiochus's men erected a statue of Jupiter Olympius and then celebrated the feast of the sun (25 Dec.) by offering loathsome sacrifices to the god. We know that Mattathias courageously gave the signal for a spiritual ization

and led a bold campaign which was for the most part 164 B.C., exactly three strikingly successful. On 25 December of pagan worship, the Temple years after the sacrilegious sacrifices 4. 36-59; cf. 2 Mach. 1. Mach. rededicated and was purified (1 that the renewal of the decided was It 10. 2. 16-19; 1-8). 8-10; dedication should be celebrated each year for a whole week. Hence resistance

the "Encaeniae" (== a renewal, a dedicatory festival) mentioned in St John's Gospel 10. 22 (Jesus walking up and down in Solomon's Porch). * Bait (Esdras I. 3, 4, 5; 2. 68; 3. 8, 9, 11; 4. 24; 5. 2, 13, 16, 17; 6. 3 seq.; 10. 9; Neh. 6. 10; 10 33 35 36, 39 and 16, 18, 22; 7. 15, 16, 27; 8. 26, 30; 9. 9; 48 of Ezechiel alone, bait 40) jtfika! (3. 40; 4. 1 ; Neh. 6. 10). In chapters 40 to Mkal occurs more than fifty times, hskal 6 times; in Isa. 55-66, bait 6 times,

once and also Zach.

1. 14.

,

,

.

n,*

**

Dan 9. 27; 11. 31 12. 11. Cf. 2 Mach. 6. 2. Jesus used this expression (Matt 24 15- Mark 13. 14) in his speech on the destruction of Jerusalem. [The traditional in Matthew but translation is "the abomination of desolation", which Knox uses *

;

not in Machabees.

Translator,]

The Mystery of the Temple

82

The Temple during Gospel

times was not Zorobabefs building and rededicated by Judas achabaeus. We know that Herod, who had become king by the favour of Rome, began his reign amid every sort of political and military upheaval and with domestic tragedies and assassinations; he later undertook a large freed, purified

M

number of grandiose

building projects. Whilst erecting a temple at Sebaste (Samaria) in honour of Augustus, he undertook the recon6 struction on a magnificent scale of the Jerusalem Temple with all its dependencies and enclosures. The remains of the substructure of the enlarged terrace together with the descriptions in Josephus and the Mishna7 make it possible for us to have some idea of the Temple as Jesus knew it. Work was begun on the sanctuary proper in 20-19 B.C., the eighteenth year of Herod's reign. This was completed in a year and a half, after which eight years were spent on the courts and porticos. Work was still in progress at the time of Jesus's public ministry (cf. John 2. 20). The final work of embellishment was only finished a few years before the catastrophe and total destruction of the year A.D. 70, so true is it that often, when all is in order, embellished, complete down to the minutest detail, it is then taken away from us (Luke 12. 20). The destruction of the year 70 was so complete that today absolutely nothing remains of the Temple Jesus knew. Only the terrace and its substructure survive with a few traces of the triple and the double Gates. 8 The remarkable excavations made by Captain Ch.

Warren from 1867-70, 9 although providing numerous precious details on the Temple purlieus, gave no definite information as to the exact site of the sanctuary itself. No further excavations have been made nor are any possible under present circumstances. Hence since the rock now covered, surrounded and enclosed by the mosque of Omar (as it is called) is the highest point on the sacred site and undoubtedly represents some important part of Solomon's temple, then Zorobabel's and finally Herod's, the specialists still debate whether or not the altar of holocausts or the Holy of Holies 6

Cf. Ricciotti, op, cit n note 346 seq. (pp. 427 seq.); A, Parrot (quoted below 58 seq. 7 Josephus, Bell.jud., V, v; Ant.jud., XIV, xi; for the Mishna and a comparison between its information and that of Josephus, cf. L. H. Vincent, "Le temple herodien d'apr&s la Mifcnah'% in Rev. bibL, 61 (1954), pp. 5-35, 398-418. 8 If the monolithic column which was left at the place where it was quarried and is now in front of the Russian cathedral in the Jewish quarter of Jerusalem, was originally prepared for use in Herod's rebuilding scheme, as Fr L. H. Vincent believes, it gives us some idea of the appearance of the Royal Porch with its p. 101), pp.

162 columns and the porch known as Solomon's. 9 Plans, Elevations, Sections, etc., shewing the Results of the Excavations at Jerusalem, 1867-70, executed for the Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund, by Captain Ch, Warren publ. 1884. .

.

.

The Devotion of the Jews

83

stood upon it. In the present state of our historical and archaeological knowledge it is not possible to answer this question with absolute cer1 tainty. As for the imaginary "pictures" of the Temple as it was, they are all hypothetical and more or less fanciful. 2 The least fanciful 3 is still that of M. de Vogue, which is reproduced in most French works. We shall return to the lay-out of the Temple and the names given to its different parts at the beginning of the next chapter, when we come to consider the attitude of Jesus towards the Temple restored by Herod, for which our Lord showed such devotion yet whose total ruin he also prophesied. Jewish devotion to the Temple.

41

It is commonly said that two closely connected dogmas are the fundamental determinants of Israel's religion, namely the oneness and the absoluteness of God and God's choice of Israel to be, as it

were, his

own

particular people. Jerusalem and, in Jerusalem, the

1

See the special note at the end of the present chapter. Schick's for instance (a clay model kept in the Lutheran church of the Redeemer at Jerusalem, also Ricciotti's reproduction of this, op. cit., t. 2, p, 431); or P. Waterhouse's essay (in W. Sanday, Sacred Sites of the Gospels, Oxford, 1903) which is full of questionable details; or the unfortunate block, a print of which is to be found in Fr Grollenberg's invaluable Atlas de la Bible (published by 2

Elsevier, 1955). a

M. de Vogue, Le temple de Jerusalem, Paris, 1864, reproduced in Diet, de la Bible, t. 5, figs. 464 (as seen from above) and 465 (plan) ; in the Manuel d'archeologie biblique of A. G. Barrois, t. 2, Paris, 1953 ; in Ricciotti, op. etloc^dt. ; in Crampon's Bible, etc. Since this present book was written, the excellent study by A. Parrot, Le Temple de Jerusalem (Cahiers d* Archeologie bibl, 5), Paris, 1954, has been published. 4 See the various histories of Jewish religion G. Holscher, Geschichte der israelitischen undjudischen Religion, Giessen, 1922; W. Bousset and H. Gressmann, "Die Religion des Judentums im spathellenistischen Zeitalter", Lietzmann's Handb. z. N.T., 21, 3rd. edn., 1926; G. F. Moore, Judaism in the First Centuries of the Christian Era, 2 vols, Cambridge, 1927, etc. See also J. Bonsirven, Le judafsme pakstinien au temps de /.-C, Paris, 1935, t. 2, pp. 107 seq. Fr Lagrange in his Judalsme avant /.-C., Paris, 1931, does not deal with the question of the Temple or with that of feasts and pilgrimages; he is concerned with little more than interior and personal acts of devotion. J. M. Nielen, Gebet u. Gottesdienst im N.T., Freiburg-im-Breisgau, 1937; A. Causse, "Les disperses d'Israel," in t. d'Hist. et dePhilos. rel, 19, Paris, 1929 "Le mythe de la Nouvelle Jerusalem du Deutero-Esaie & la Hie Sybille," in Rev. d'Hist. et dePhilos. rel, 18 (1938), pp. 377-414; "La vision de la nouvelle Jerusalem (fisa'ie LX) et la signification sociologique des assemblies de f6tes et des pelerinages dans I'Orient s6mitique," in Melanges syriens offerts a M. R. Dussaud, Paris, 1939, pp. 739-50; "De la J6rusalem terrestre & la Jerusalem celeste," in Rev. Hist. Philos. retig., 27 (1947), pp. 12-36; N. A. Dahl, Das Volk Gottes 9 Eine Untersuchung zum Kirchenbewusstseins des Urchristentums, Oslo, 1941, pp. 61 seq.; A. Gelin, "Jerusalem dans le dessein de Dieu," in Vie Spirit., 86 (1952), pp. 353-66: the April 1952 issue of Vie Spirit, is entirely devoted to the theme of the heavenly Jerusalem; Th. Maertens, Jerusalem, citd de Dieu (Ps. 119-27(120-8), CoU. Lumiere et Vie, 3, Bruges, 1954. This is a commentary on the first nine Gradual Psalms which were recited on the Temple stairways. :

;

M.O.T.

4

The Mystery of the Temple

84

Temple were the place in which these two combined realities, Yahweh and his people, met in a special manner and in the most complete and intimate union. At the same time, in fact, that David fixed his capital at Jerusalem and made it the centre of a united Israel, Yahweh had chosen Sion as his dwelling-place or, as the Jews preferred to say, as a dwelling-place for his Name. The word Sion 5 itself, especially after Isaias became charged with religious meaning. It signified something other and greater than "Jerusalem", it was 6 applied to the city in so far as God dwelt in it. Because of the presence of God dwelling in her, Jerusalem had become pre-eminently the "Holy City". 7 It was from Jerusalem that God spoke (that he "will speak loud as the roaring of a lion" Amos 1. 2). It is from his sanctuary on Sion that he heard men's prayers, came to their help, and :

8 sent forth his power.

This mystical view of Jerusalem began when David fixed God's Presence in the place which was still only "the city of David". 9 It was strengthened by the Deuteronomic ideal of the unity of the sanctuary, an ideal which the tribe of Ephraim and the group of northern scribes shared to a considerable degree. 1 It was strengthened still more by the fact of the capture of Jerusalem and the deportation to Babylonia of the pick of the Judaean people. This is true, not only but also at the level of cf. Psalm 136(137) at the level of feeling ideas, either through the stabilization of Israel's historical and religious traditions achieved in the goldh, or through the development of the messianic themes linked with the holy city, which became a kind of ideal centre of messianic or eschatological hopes. Ezechiel revealed what we may call the formula or the secret of this Jerusalem when, at the end of his description of the new Temple, he wrote: "THE LORD is THERE; such is the name by which the city will be known ever after" (48. 35). The rule of sanctity drawn up by Ezechiel is an ideal one, it is clearly messianic and perhaps even eschatological. It was translated by the repatriated Judeans into a system of legal enactments which K

Cf. M. Schmidt, Prophet u. Tempel, pp. 37 seq. Yahweh dwells in Sion, see Ps. 67(68). 17; 73(74).

2; 75(76). 3; 77(78). 69; 121(122). 9; 131(132). 13-14; 134(135). 21; Jer. 31, 6, etc. 7 Is. 48. 2; 52. 1; Ps. 2. 6; Neh. 11. 1, 18; Dan. 9. 24; Tobias 13. 9. And cf. Matt. 4. 5; 27. 53; Apoc. 11. 2. 8 Prayers reach him in his holy Temple (heaven? or Sion?): Ps. 5. 8; 17(18). 7; Jonas 2. 8. He sends help from his sanctuary: Ps. 19(20). 2; 67(68). 29, 30, 36 (cf. BJ); 133(134). 3; cf. Isa. 2. 3 seq. ( - Mich. 4. 2 seq.). See above pp. 22, 23 and the accounts of the translation of the ark: 2 Kings 6. 12-19; 15. 25; 1 Paralip. 15; Ps. 131(132). 13-14; Wisd. 9. 8. *4 1 significant is the passage in Jer. 41. 5; see H. Gazelles, Jer6mie et le Deuteronome," in Rech. Sc. rettg,, 38 (1951), pp. 5-36: cf. pp. 15, 34.

How

The Devotion of the Jews they put into practice with the zeal and, as

we may

85 rightly say, the

narrowness of mind which were characteristic of Judaism. The fact that the restoration of Esdras and Nehemias 2 was Judaean in character is important and significant.

munity

after the exile desired

Temple

as its centre,

and so

in

somewhat strictly The Jewish comto be segrated and pure, with the ascending order from the Jew of the

townships of Juda and Benjamin to those of the holy city, to the court of its Temple, the sanctuary and finally the Holy of Holies which the high priest alone entered once a year, it aimed to achieve a type of 3 "sanctity" that became increasingly strict and increasingly narrow. We might call this an ontological sanctity, which from its supreme realization in the Divine Presence in the Holy of Holies, was communicated almost physically to the sanctuary, the priests' court, the women's court, the whole of the sacred area, then to Jerusalem and to the whole of Israel. 4 But, in the Old Testament as in the Gospels and St Paul, a call to sanctity involved a command, and this ontological sanctity that radiated from the sanctuary and its worship was translated into obligations whose somewhat exterior and excessively meticulous character should not moral aspect. Cf. Lev. 11. 44; 20. 7-8.

make us

forget their

We must not, in the name of a spiritual doctrine which also has its perils, fail to recognize the religious nobility of the ritual code and the insistence on legal purity with which the Gospel has made us only too familiar solely in its Pharisaical and exaggerated forms. We have already seen in Isaias and Ezechiel, and we shall see throughout the New Testament from Jesus through St Paul to the Apocalypse, that the theme of the Temple is always accompanied by insistence on purity. In Judaism, it acquired an excessively ritualistic aspect, but it had a religious depth which the story of the Machabees powerfully illustrates. The whole of the national life 2

1-5 (the exclusion of the people of Samaria); 5. 1; 4 seq. Cf. Lagrange, Judalsme, p. 31; Ricciotti, op. cit., p. 115. The theocratic ideal of the books of Paralipomena belongs to the same school of thought. 3 On this pattern of (legal) sanctity and of an ever more narrow separatism as characteristic of Judaism, cf. Dahl, op. cit., p. 64. The Israelites are holy, the Levites more so, still more are the priests, and most of all, the high priest. The structure of the Temple gave concrete and meticulously accurate expression to this same ideal, from its outer Court of the Gentiles to its inmost Holy of Holies. Cf. Bonsirven, op. cit., t. 2, pp. 112-13; Phythian-Adams, The People and the Presence, pp. 108-20 (in postexilic Judaism there is an ideal of purity and purification not only for sinful men but also for the Holy of Holies). G. Dalman, Les itinfraires de Jgsus, Paris, 1930, pp. 370 seq., describes the increasing insistence on purity and separatism which became connected with each of the parts of the Temple. These pages paint a vivid picture of the sacral life of Israel. 4 See Ezech. 44. 19; 46. 20; cf. Exod. 29. 37 and Matt. 23. 16-22; O. Procksch article "tfytos," in Theol Worterb. z. N.T., t. 1, pp. 88-97. Cf. Esdras

7. 14; 10. 7, 9;

1. 2,

5; 4.

Neh.

4. 4, 10; 6. 7; 11.

The Mystery of the Temple

86

work of the author of Paralipomena, com350 and 300 B.C., we have a national between form present posed the of the in theocratic, liturgical and, we might written light history even say, the hierarchical ideal, were it not that the Levites and scribes

was marked by in

it.

In the

its

5

the priests. Postexilic occupy an important place together with Israel no longer had a king, and it eventually became fully conscious 6 that it did not wish to have one, but only a body of clergy and a high Law and to celebrate public worship. the it teach priest, a hierarchy to The Law and public worship were the two poles, both on the religi-

ous and national level, of the life of this separatist Israel. We must avoid Bousset's tendency to see only the part played by the Law and 7 The relationship to minimize that played by public worship. between the Jewish soul and God was never confined to the sphere of ideas and intentions, it was always operative within the sphere of not only of an action, it always desired to be translated into practice 8 ethical but also of a liturgical type. And in the life of the Jews as it took shape after the return from exile, the practice of public worship was closely orientated towards and bound up with the Temple. The custom had grown up during the exile of praying with the 9

face turned in its direction and although this practice gradually died out until there is little evidence of its continuance at the time of our Lord, 1 we must not forget that the synagogues themselves, in

which we shall find an increasingly striking development of religious 2 towards Jerusalem. But, most important life, were often orientated and the facts of our Jerusalem to to custom the it was of all, go "up" Lord's life for which we have the most reliable evidence show that this practice was still observed in his time by devout Jews. The great as many as 100,000 feasts, Tabernacles, the Passover, Pentecost, saw 3 of Ascents The Jerusalem. in (Ps. 119-34 Songs pilgrims gathered as they [120-35]) express the feelings of these pilgrims

*

On

this point see in

BJ

the excellent introductions

and A. Gelin (Esdras and Neh.

came nearer

by H. Gazelles

(Paralip.)

p. 25).

Cf. the petition presented to Pompey: Josephus, Ant., XIV, 2, quoted by in Ezechiels Lagrange, Juctai'sme, p. 158, n. 1. We may observe that already vision of the restored Temple, there was indeed a temple but no provision for a

royal palace. 7 Several recent works criticize Bousset on this point, for instance, Dahl, pp. 51-63; H. Riesenfeld, Jtsus transfigure, Copenhagen, 1947, p. 14. 8 This fact is well brought out by A. C. Welch, Prophet and Priest in Old Israel, Oxford, 1936. See, for example, Mich. 6. 8, 9 See above, p. 68, n. 3. See also Ps. 5. 8; 27(28). 2; 137(138). 2; 3 Esdras 4. 58; and other references concerning Judaism in Dahl, op. cit. 9 p. 72. a Bonsirven, op. cit. f t. 2, p. 154. 2 Bonsirven, op. cit. 9 t. 2, p. 138; Dahl, op. cit, p. 293, n. 178 (references). The case of the synagogue at Capharnaum. .

a

Bonsirven, op.

cit. 9

t

2, p.

12L

The Devotion of the Jews

87

to the city and the Temple. Several other Psalms are pilgrimage canticles (Ps. 83[84] Quam dilecta tabernacula tual), or suitable for some particular feast. 4 Others again, and they are very numerous, express in various

ways the same devotion to Sion; Psalms

47(48), 83(84), 86(87), 101(102). 14 seq.; 121(122), 132(133), 136(137). 5-6. etc. Many of them hymn the joy to be found in the faithful service of Yahweh and often mention his House which "must needs

be holy until the end of time" (92[93J. 5). 5 The devout Israelite yearned to see Jerusalem and to spend hours in prayer in the Temple "Yahweh., who shall sojourn in thy tabernacle, who shall dwell on thy holy mountain ?" :

Lord of hosts, how I love thy For the courts of the Lord

my

dwelling-place!

soul faints with longing.

The at his

living God! name my heart, my whole being

thrills

with joy. (Ps. 83[84]. 2-3).

The Psalms and the other canonical or extra-canonical writings of Judaism give us a fairly clear idea of the meaning for the faithful of these feasts of Jerusalem and the Temple. The dominant note is one of joy mingled with an exultant pride. 7 Israel's religion was very

human and

closely linked to family and national life. Its feasts, the principal feast, that of Tabernacles, were happy festivities, we might even say public rejoicings, and they were treated as such by the legal enactments themselves. 8 There was delight for the eye. Jerusalem was (and still is) a beautiful city. During the period of the feasts, it was full of life (cf. Jer. 31.4; Lam. 1. 4; 2. 6). The

above

all

4

e.g. Ps. 117(118) for the feast of Tabernacles. e.g. Ps. 15(16); 18(19). 8 seq.; 22(23) (cf. v. 6); 23(24). 3 seq.; 25(26) (especially 4 and 5); 46(47). 16-17; 83(84), 95(96), vv. 6 and 8); 26(27) (especially 133(134), 134(135). See also the canticles in honour of the sacrifices faithfully B

w.

offered in the Temple: Ps. 65(66). 13; 95(96). 8-9. 6 Cf. Ps. 23(24). 3 and Isa. 33. 15; Mich. 6. 6-8. 7 All the authors draw attention to this, e.g. Bpnsirven, op. cit., t. 2, p. 122 seq.; Dahl, op. cit, 9 p. 64; J. Comblin, "La liturgie de la Nouvelle Jerusalem," (Apoc. 21. 1-22. 5) in Eph. Theol Lovan., 29 (1953), pp. 5-40; cf. p. 24 where he quotes E. G. Gulin, "Die Freude im Neuen Testament" (Ann. Acad. Scient. Fen., series B. XXVI. 2), Helsinki, t. 1, 1932, pp. 17 seq., 50 seq. 8 Cf. Lev. 23. 40; Deut 16. 15. Cf. Isa. 30. 29; Zach. 8. 19; Soph. 3. 18. For the feast of Tabernacles as the principal feast, see BJ on Deut. p. 74; 3 Kings 8. 65; Osee 9. 5; Isa. 30. 29; Ps. 80(81) with note in BJ; Neh. 8. 13 seq.; Esdras 3. 4; Riesenfeld, op. cit.; Bonsirven, op. cit., t. 2, pp. 123 seq.

88

The Mystery of the Temple

9 high priest celebrating in the Temple was a magnificent spectacle. There was delight for the ear in the canticles and the musical instruments, which were one of the greatest attractions in pagan cults. It seems that Israel could only be kept away from the latter by being provided with the equivalent of their trumpets, harps, flutes and tambourines. 1 This delight for eye and ear was very clearly a delight

also in being together, in uniting in the service of Yahweh at Jerusalem as a unique and chosen people. "The feasts gathered together at least symbolically the whole of the Jewish community. Notices of the feasts were sent to the Diaspora." 2 should prefer to say "representatively" rather than "symbolically", bearing in mind the characteristic attitude of the Bible which is not interested in the

We

purely quantitative, numerical aspect of a people but considers it present as a whole in any group which represents it pars pro toto. It was in her feasts that Israel (eventually reduced to Juda and Benjamin) became conscious of her real existence as a people. The 3 analysis of the uses of the word qahal by Dahl is extremely significant in this respect. J. Comblin also has cast a good deal of light on :

this

point

trates the

(cf. p. 87, n. 7) by collecting the evidence which illushappy experience of those who came to Jerusalem on

pilgrimage for these feasts, in particular for the feast of Tabernacles, the type of the liturgy of the heavenly Jerusalem as described for us in the most sublime terms by the Apocalypse.

Welcome sound when

We will go

I

heard them saying,

into the Lord's house!

Within thy gates, Jerusalem,

Our

feet stand at last;

Jerusalem, built as a city should be built that is one in fellowship. There the tribes meet, the Lord's own tribes. (Ps. 121[122]. 1-4; cf. 132[133J. 1).

*Ecclus. 50. 1-21. 1 Cf. J. Quasten, "The Conflict of Early Christianity with the Jewish Temple Worship" in Theol Studies, 2 (1941), pp. 481-7. This short note might well throw some light on the exact nature of Christian worship and on such passages as Col. 3. 16;Eph. 5. 19. 2 Comblin, in the article quoted, p. 24, n. 47, with a reference to 2 Mach. 1-2 and to various books. 8

Op.

cit. y

pp. 64 seq.

89

The Devotion of the Jews

act representative of the ideal Israel, the Israel

This community of God, did not prevent, any more than does the Catholic liturgy, the intimacy of personal prayer and eventually an experience of 4 God's presence, a mystical contact with him. as elsewhere the developin Israel that true is Further it certainly ment of ideas and of sensibility moved towards a higher form of

One fact powerfully assisted this movement: the birth, or at any rate, the extension of the worship of the synagogue from 5 the time of the exile and as a result of the Diaspora. The concept of Temple worship, with the priesthood as its dominating factor and with its practice of animal sacrifices, then saw the more spiritual its side, overlay practice and ethos of the synagogue take its stand by and subsequently replace it, at least to a certain extent. The scribe became more important at the priest's side. After the final destruction of the Temple in A.D. 70 the synagogues became like miniature the study of the temples. They, and even any devout man who took up Law, were believed to enjoy the presence of the shekinah which had6 been the privilege of the Tabernacle in the desert and of the Temple. of the spiritualization of the concept of worship, The spirituality.

process 7 and the Temple, has been studied by H. Wenschkewitz, of a notion with and view of but from a New Testament point sacrifice

which does not seem entirely satisfactory in pur below pp. 148, 149). It depends too much on certain philoopinion (cf. of "spiritual" to "ethical" sophical opinions and on the reduction that current ideas had true indeed It is or even to "metaphorical". some influence on Jewish minds, even though Yahvism was, of all the religions of the Orient, the most resistant to external influences. The Persian religion, reformed by Zoroaster in the sixth century minds 8 after Zoroaster himself B.C., very probably influenced Jewish had been influenced by the prophetic tradition and the spirituality of the Psalms of Israel (andwini)* The combined effect of all these "spiritualization"

4 Cf. Comblin, article quoted, p. 24 and n. 50. Cf. for this desire to see God. L. Bouyer, La Bible et T fivangile, pp. 140 seq. B A. Causse, "Les disperses d'lsrael" (St. d'Hist. et de PMos. rehg., 19), Pans, t. 2, pp. 136 seq.; 1929; Lagrange, Judalsme, pp. 285 seq.; Bonsirven, op. cit., Dahl, op. cit., pp. 65 seq. 6 Bonsirven, op. cit., p. 138. 7 "Die Spiritualisierung der Kultusbegriffe Tempel, Pnester u. Opfer ira N.T., in AFFEAOS, 4 (1932), pp. 70-230; cf. also O. Schmitz, Die Opferanschauung des spateren Judentums u. die Opferaussagen des N.T., Tubingen, 1910. la 8 This is admitted by Catholic exegetes such as Mgr J. Weber ( Comm.de and A. Gelm (Bible de Sagesse," in La Sainte Bible of Pirot-Clamer, p. 395) .

.

Jerusalem, Intr. a "Malachie", p. 65).

9 On this spiritual tradition, cf. A. Causse, Les pauvres d Israel (Prophetes, "Les pauvres de Yahvt Psalmistes, Messianistes), Strasbourg, 1922; A. Gelin, (T&noins de Dieu, 14), Paris, 1953.

The Mystery of the Temple

90

the teaching of the prophets, the tradition of the andwim, the eventual influence of the Zoroastrian reform movement, and finally the growth of synagogue worship during the exile and in the Diaspora spread abroad the idea that true sacrifice is the prayer of thanksgiving, the sacrifice of praise, together with almsgiving and the observance of the Law. 1 Sacrifices such as these were of more value than the offering of animals. 2 Obviously this tendency to exalt purely spiritual sacrifices became more pronounced after the destruction of the Temple which left only the possibility of such sacri3 fices as prayer, the study of the Law, penance and works of charity. But long before the catastrophe, those who because of distance or

forces

no longer had in practice any Temple, had already adopted this position. We* now know reasonably well that strangely moving story of the Essenes and their monastery at Qumran. For them too, for them especially, the wholly spiritual sacrifice of praise and personal penance was superior to the flesh of 4 burnt-offerings and the fat of sacrifices. Do the apocalyptic writings their spiritual attitude,

that abound in the Jewish world from the time of the Machabees emanate from these dissident circles on which the Sadocite Document and the Dead Sea Scrolls have by no means said the last word ? At present, the problem has been formulated rather than solved. In any case, what they tell us in their Messianic or apocalyptic 5 writings cannot easily be reduced to any exact line of thought and

so

is

of

little

use to us here.

Ideologies of the Temple

When we come to the ideas that developed concerning the Temple, we

have, to a great extent, to go beyond the testimony of the Bible although between it and these ideas, there is a continuity in

itself,

*Cf. Osee 14. 2; Isa. 57. 19; Ps. 39(40). 7; 49(50). 7 seq.; 50(51). 18 seq.; 68(69). 31 seq, ; 140(141). 2; Prov. 15. 8; 21. 27; Ecclus. 35. 1 seq, (with the note in BJ); Dan. 3. 40. Cf. the elder Tobias's advice to his son (Tobias 4). a Cf. Ps. 39(40). 9; 49(50). 14; 50(51). 18; 68(69). 31-32; 115(116). 13 and 17, 3 References in Dahl, op. czY,, p. 70; cf. Bonsirven, op. ciV., p. 194. Josephus attributes to the Jews during the siege of A,D. 70 these words: "the universe is a finer Temple for God than this one" (Bell. Jud. V, 11. 2, para 458). After the destruction of the Temple, the idea favoured by the Diaspora became more widespread, namely that God has no material temple and true worship is entirely spiritual; cf. Wenschkewitz, article quoted, pp. 93 seq.; Schrenk, in TheoL Worterb. z. N.T., t 3, p. 240; M. Simon, Vents Israel, Paris, 1948, pp. 56 seq., 78. 4

The Manual of Discipline, IX, 4-5 (penance) and X, 6 (the offering of the G. Vermes, Les manuscrits de la Mer Morte, Paris, 1953, pp. 43, 49, 154. For a resume* of these statements, see the article "teotiv" by Schrenk in TheoL Cf.

lips); cf. fi

Worterb.

z.

N.T.,

t

3, p.

239.

The Devotion of the Jews

91

regard to the two principal points we must consider, namely, the conception which men attempted to form of the divine Presence and the cosmic significance attributed to the Temple. (a) Conception of the Divine Presence* The idea that Yahweh's dwelling-place or palace is the heavens was a very ancient one in Israel, but this does not justify us either in taking poetic images to be nothing more than gross material statements (Yahweh riding on the clouds, 7 Yahweh sending forth the winds as his messengers 8 or making the earth his footstool, 9 etc.), or on the other hand in

looking for parallels and above all religionsgeschichtlich sources, 1 Phoenician, Assyrian or Persian. Israel was too attached to the of too Yahweh, reality penetrated with the sense of his transcendence not to have evolved this very simple conception on its own initiative. From the period of Deuteromony in any case, and even during that of Amos and Osee, which takes us back to the time when the Yahvist and the Elohist traditions were committed to writing,

had become permanent. Yahweh's true Temple is is a hidden God, infinitely above the men and the world he has created, infinitely holy and infinitely other. No man can see or even hear him and live. 3 "By the full height of heaven above the earth, my dealings are higher than your dealings, my thoughts than your thoughts" (Isa. 55. 9). But and this is the staggering meaning of the great vision of Isaias, and even of the intuitions of a prophet such as Osee (11. 9) this thrice holy God, high above all things, is the Holy One of Israel, and his Presence fills the Temple: Isa. 6. 1-7. Yahweh, as we know, was enthroned above the cherubim in that dark, mysterious Holy of this conception

heaven,

2

Yahweh

6 In addition to the works quoted above, p. 83, cf. F. Weber, Judische Theologie auf Grund des Talmuds u. verwandter Schriften, 2nd edn., Leipzig, 1897; J. Abelson, The Immanence of God in Rabbinical Literature, London, 1913; L. Gry, "Sejours et habitats divins d'apres les apocryphes de FA. T.," in Rev. Sc. phil thtol 4 (1910), pp. 694-722.

Ps. 17(18). 11; 67(68). 5, 34; Dent 33. 26; Isa. 19. 1; 57. 14; 66. 15. Jer. 10. 13; 51. 16; Ps. 103(104). 4; 134(135). 7; Jonas 1. 4. 9 Isa. 66. 1 (Acts 7. 49). 1 See Pedersen, Israel, III-IV, p. 651 and his note on p. 724. 2 Cf. above, pp. 14 and 65. See Osee 5. 15; Isa. 18. 4; 35. 5; Mich. 1. 2 seq.; 6. 6; Deut. 26. 15; Jer. 25. 30; Hab. 2. 20; Isa. 40. 22; 63. 15, 19; 66. 1 ; Ps. 2. 4; 8. 3; 13(14). 3; 17(18). 7, 10; 28(29). 2, 9, 10; 75(76). 9; 88(89). 3; 92(93). 2; 101(102). 20; 102(103), 19; 103(104). 2-3, 13; 122(123). 1; 143(144). 5; cf. 75(76). 9; 79(80). 15; 3 Kings 8. 27, 30 seq.; 2 Paralip. 6. 18, 21 seq.; 30. 27; Judith 9. 11. For Judaism, cf. Bonsirven, op. cit., t. 1, p. 157. Yahweh fills heaven and earth: Josue 2. 11; Jer. 23. 23 seq.; Ps. 138(139), 7

8

etc.

;

cf.

Amos

9. 6.

8

Exod. 3. 6; 20. 19; 23-6; 3 Kings 19. 13. M.O.T.

4*

33.

20 (Yahvist); Judg.

6.

22; 13. 22; Isa.

6. 5;

Deut

5

The Mystery of the Temple

92

Holies, which for this reason was called the debtr* Hence there existed a tension, which for the most religious souls was an agonizing experience, between the heavenly transcendence of God and his

almost familiar Presence in the midst of Israel, between his holiness and his communications with his people, between his otherness and his nearness. This tension is well expressed in the beautiful prayer which the books of Kings (3 Kings 8. 16) and Paralipomena place on the lips of Solomon on the occasion of the dedication of the Temple, and it reflects a theology marked by great caution: it to think that God has a dwelling-place on earth. heavens and the heaven that is above the heavens, cannot contain thee, what welcome can it offer thee, this house which I have built? ... Be this the meeting-place where thou wilt listen to thy servant's prayer. Whatever requests I or rny people Israel make shall find audience here; thou wilt listen from

Folly were

If the very

thy dwelling-place in (2 Paralip. 6. 18

and

heaven, and

listening,

wilt forgive

.

.

21).

To emphasize the transcendence of Yahweh and the tension it caused even in relation to his Presence itself, and also because, from perhaps the middle of the second century B.C., it became increasingly the custom to avoid pronouncing even the name of Yahweh, 5 God was said to be established in the Temple through his Name; his Name dwelt there and it was there that it was invoked. Especially from the period of Deuteronomy onward, Yahweh was said to have chosen Sion so that he might cause his Name to dwell there. 6 The realities upon which, as it was said, the Name of Yahweh was invoked or that they bore this blessed Name, were sacred realities and *God

is

enthroned above the cherubim:

1

Kings

4.

4; 2 Kings

6.

2

seq.;

22. 11; 3 Kings 8. 6 ("under the cherubim"); 19. 15; Hab. 3, 2 (LXX); Isa. 37. 14 seq.; Ps. 17(18). 11; 79(80). 2; 98(99). 1; 1 Paralip. 13. 6; Dan. 3. 55 (LXX). Cf. above pp. 13 and 66, n. 1.

5 On the substitutes for the sacred Name among the Jews of this period, cf. Bonsirven, op. cit^ 1. 1, pp. 128 seq. On the theology of the Name, cf. W. Eichrodt, Theologie des A.T., t. 2, pp. 15-18. 0eut. 12. 5, 11, 14, 18, 21, 26; 14. 23; 15. 20; 16. 2, 6, 7, 11, 15; 17. 8, 10; 24. 25; 26. 2; 31. 11. Cf. M. Schmidt, Prophet und Tempd ... pp. 93 seq. After Deut., Isa. 18. 7; Jer. 7. 12; Ezech. 7, 10, 11, 12, 14; Ps. 73(74). 7; 2 Kings 7. 13; 3 Kings 3. 2; 8. 17, 18, 19 (cf. 2 Paralip. 6. 7, 8, 9), 20. 29, 43, 44, 48; 8. 16; 9. 3 11. 36; 14, 21 ; 4 Kings 21. 7; 23, 27 and the parallel passages in Paralip. Cf, in Jeremias, "calling on the Name" of Yahweh; 14. 7, 9, 21 and, in the Psalter (Ps. 9. 11; where to know the Name of Yahweh is equivalent 85(86). 4), to being one of his faithful. On the other hand, a people upon whom the Name of Yahweh is not invoked, is a people whom he does not govern (Isa. 63, 19, etc.). On the attribution of the Presence to the Name, as an expression of transcendence and as revealing a tension between Presence in heaven and Presence on earth, cf. Phythian- Adams, The People and the Presence, pp. 52 seq. ;

The Devotion of the Jews their relation with

God was

93

7 very close. But, together

with the Name, the word Glory also was used 8 and its meaning was the same. On occasion, the two titles were used in one and the same passage: "What joy it will be if any of my race remains to see thy Glory In thee they shall bless the Holy Name for ever and ever." 9 Thus a conception linking Presence and transcendence began to take shape. In extra-biblical and post-biblical Judaism, this effort led, if not to a genuine theory, at least to an ideology, namely, that of the shekinah. 1 This Aramaic or Mischnaic Hebrew word, as we have seen (pp. 11, 12, 17, 18,) is derived from the Hebrew verb shakan and means "dwelling" rather than "presence". It connotes a special relationship between God or some Sensible reality. But of course this dwelling or establishment in a given place always implies on God's part an active presence, he is present in the place where he is active.

In the targums, i.e., the Aramaic translations of the Scriptures, sekinah is quite simply used as a word for God, as though Yahweh does what he does only through his "Presence". 2 Hence it is possible to conjecture that the shekinah is merely a way of speaking about God, of avoiding a direct use of his Name and of suggesting his transcendence. God acts and so is there, God dwells in the Temple but yet is free even while accepting this commitment. Instead of saying that God lives in the Temple, the latter was called the place where his Glory dwelt, or the place of his shekinah. 2 His shekinah therefore dwelt in the Temple, but in the synagogues also (cf. p. 89, n. 6), '

7

e.g.

salem

the ark (2 Kings

the Temple (3 Kings 8. 43; Jer. 7. 10 seq.) Jeru(Deut. 28. 10; Jer. 14. 9), the prophet Jeremias (Jer.

6. 2),

(Jer. 25. 29). Israel

15. 16). 8

Cf. Isa. 24. 16; 40. 34; Lev. 9. 23, etc.

Tobias 13. 16-17. [The Knox version gives a very different translation which fails completely to illustrate the point made by Pere Congar. I have therefore given my own version of the French BJ text used by the author Translator.] For the Apocrypha, see Bonsirven, op. cit., t. 1, p. 128, n. 2. 1 On the concept of the shekinah, see Abelson, op. cit., pp. 77-149 Strack-Billerbeck, t. 2, pp. 314 seq. G. F. Moore, "Intermediaries in Jewish Theology, Memra, Shechinah, Metraton," in Harvard Theol Rev., 15 (1922), pp. 41-85; Wenschkewitz, article quoted, pp. 100 seq.; Lagrange, Judaisme, pp. 446-52; Bonsirven, op. cit. (cf. Tables); L. Bouyer, La Bible et Vvangile. Le sens de FEcriture: du Dieu quiparle au Dieufait homme (Lectio divina, 8), Paris, 1951, pp. 107 seq. 2 e.g. in Exodus we read "I mean them to build me a sanctuary, so that I can dwell among them" (25. 8), whilst the targum has "I wish to make my Presence (shekinti) dwell among them"; similarly in Exod. 34. 6: "the Lord passed by" but in the targum "made his shekinah pass before him". The so-called Onkelos targum thus writes "His Presence" in Deut. 12. 5; 11. 24; 32. 19; Osee 5. 6, etc. fl

;

;

Cf. 3

G. Moore,

article quoted. cit., t. 2, p. 111.

Cf. Bonsirven, op.

vealed

itself

glory, Cf,

Moore,

We know that as God's Presence often re-

light, there was a close link between shekinah and the light article quoted; Lagrange, p. 451; Bouyer, p. 108.

through

of

The Mystery of the Temple

94

and

In Israel as a whole since the whole of Israel was holy. It dwelt in Jerusalem, in Palestine, 4 with every Jew or at least in the souls of the just. 5 It was especially with ten, five, three or even two Israelites 6 engaged on the study of the words of the Law. But it was not among

the pagan nations. 7 The shekinah therefore denoted, over and above God's creative Presence, that he had gone further in Israel's case and had chosen it as the special object of his affectionate interest. It is a well-known fact that metaphors tend to have a life of their own. In the present case there also came into play a certain taste for a form of subtle yet vague speculation; Rabbinism provides other examples of this. Sometimes the shekinah seems to be personified and distinguished from God. Does this mean that there was a movement towards a distinction of hypostasis (personality) ? The parallelism and 8 relationship with the idea of wisdom might lead us to think so. Yet it seems to us, and here we are in agreement with the best writers on the subject Fr Lagrange and G. F. Moore whom the Jews praise as the Christian author most sympathetic to Judaism and most exact in his account of it that the shekinah is not a hypostasis taking God's place, but is God himself under a particular name. The word shekinah, observes Moore (p. 58), was used rather as Christians use the word

"Holy Spirit" when they are speaking, though not in precise theological terms, of God's action and indwelling. This idea was to (b) The Cosmic Significance of the Temple? be developed by Christianity and sometimes with explicit reference theme of the Temple. 1 In the canonical books of the Old Testament the cosmic significance of the Temple is clearly suggested, but little more than suggested. It is not the temple of creation with which we are here concerned. to the

It is quite certain that

verse 2

according to the Scriptures

and that already the Old Testament

God fills

the uni-

passes, as St Paul

was so

4

Bonsirven, op. cit. 9 1. 1, pp. 98-9, 157. For every Jew, see Bonsirven, 1 1, p. 86 and for the souls of the just, p. 179. 6 Rabbi Chalaphta, v. 135, in Pirke Aboth., Ill, 6; R, Isaac, in Berakoth 6a ; cf. Sanhedrin 39 a For other references, see Dahl, p. 68, Lagrange (op. cit. 9 p. 448, n. 4) wonders whether this may not be intended to counter Matt* 18, 20, 7 Cf. Bonsirven, op, dt, t. 1, p. 101. 8 Cf. Ecclus. 24. 7-11; Prov. 8. 30-1; Lagrange, op. cit., p. 447. 9 Except in the studies published by A. and J. Jeremias, which are mentioned later, the question has not, to our knowledge* formed the subject of any special research. We would merely draw attention to a few pages in Fr. J. Dani&lou's 8

,

"Le symbolisme cosmique du Temple de Jerusalem" in SymboUsme cosmique et Monuments religteux, fid. Musees des nationaux, 1953, pp. 61-4. 1 See below "Conclusion". Fr Danielou (Le signe du temple) has shown how the values of the cosmic temple are included in the various stages of God's work, in the Church and in the Liturgy. *

Cf. Amos 9. 1-6; Isa. 6. 3; Jer. 23. 23-4; Ps. 23(24). 1; 49(50). 12; 71(72). 19; 138(139). 7-13; Prov. 15. 3; Wisd. 1. 7; 8. 1; Ecclus. 43. 27.

The Devotion of the Jews

95

often to do, from God's cosmic sovereignty to the specific order of salvation and to the praise offered to him by his people. 3 But it seems that from the biblical standpoint as such, the material world is not so much the temple of God as called upon to praise him. 4 Here we are

concerned with the temple of Solomon, of which the temples of Zorobabel and Herod were no more than restorations. It acquired its first cosmic value from the fact that it was built by Solomon and that all his wealth and wisdom were used in bringing the Temple into being, found employment there and, in a sense, became embodied in it. 5 The riches of Solomon are representative of those of the world. His wisdom is born of the wisdom that presided over the ordering of the world and which, after in a sense assisting God in his creative work, chose to dwell in Sion and there celebrated even the liturgy of the Temple (Ecclus. 24. 2-16). It is not surprising, it is even consistent with the traces of ambiguity in the kind of wisdom tradition credits Solomon with possessing, that a movement such as Freemasonry, with its cult of the Great Architect, should have wished to link itself with the temple of Solomon. The way in which the building of the Temple was carried out has also its cosmic significance. We need only think of the co-operation of the pagan world in the person of king Hiram and his men of Tyre and Sidon. Here we have a symbol and an omen of the coming of the Gentiles of the whole world to the spiritual and messianic Jerusalem whose link with the Temple we have already noted. 6 We need only think of the way in which the resources of the world made their contribution.

They are represented and heralded by the cedars

of Lebanon and the gold of Sheba in the Solomon cycle. 7 The temple of Solomon must be seen from an eschatological and cosmic standpoint, the standpoint, that is, of a programme co-extensive with God's own plan according to which in the end all things are to combine to form one holy temple under the rule of Jesus Christ. The plan of the Temple itself, its erection on mount Sion, numerous 3

e.g. Pss. 18(19), 23(24), 92(93).

4

Ps. 8; 18(19). 2-7; 102(103). 22; 103(104); 147(148); Dan. 3. 52-90. This point is well brought out, and in the poetic style characteristic of him, by W. Vischer in his commentary on the reign of Solomon Les premiers prophetes, NeucMtel and Paris, 1951, especially pp. 348 seq., 360 seq. 6 Cf. 3 Kings 5. 15 seq.; 2 Paralip. 2. 3 seq. The Temple restored after the exile was to be built by faithful from abroad, and Herod's was the undertaking of an Idumean. Isaias (60. 10) sees the messianic Jerusalem built by foreigners. 7 3 Kings 5. 24 seq.; 2 Paralip. 2. 8 seq.; 9. 9-28; Ps. 71(72). 8-15, a psalm dedicated to Solomon. The temple of Zorobabel owed its erection to supplies from Babylonia. The messianic temple of the prophets and the eschatological temple of the Apocalypse are to see the wealth of the nations pour into them: cf. Isa. 60. 1-16; Apoc. 21. 24. 5

:

The Mystery of the Temple

96

of its fittings and its furniture, have a cosmic significance, which should neither be exaggerated in a syncretic sense by correlating them with ideas prevailing in the Babylonian world, nor be dismissed by denying that there is any parallel of this sort. Here and there certain expressions used by the Psalmist of the Temple 8 must be understood as an allusion to the Assyrio-Babylonian and Syro-Phoenician religious cosmology. 9 This parallel justifies us in applying to mount Sion and the Temple cosmic themes related to the cosmology we have just mentioned and to the Babylonian or details

Syro-Phoenician temples, provided we preserve a healthy moderation and do not cross, without saying so or even unwittingly, the frontiers of biblical testimony itself. Not only the sacred mountain but also the temple was a symbolic figure of the universe. This was the case with the pagan Semite sanctuaries which took the form of multi-storied towers (ziggourat), and it has been shown that EzechieFs altar was still inspired by these, 43. 13-17. 2 The temple (the sacred mountain) was the centre of the world, the navel of the universe. 3 It was also its highest point. It was the meetingplace of the three parts of which the universe as a whole is composed, sky, earth and the subterranean world. Jewish thought therefore applied to the Temple of Jerusalem and to its sacred foundation stone the words used (Gen. 28. 12 seq.) of Jacob's vision at Bethel and of the stone that the Patriarch had used as a pillow. As centre and summit of the universe, Sion was also therefore the place from 1

the

8

Ps. 47(48).

2-3

(cf. Isa. 14.

13):

The Lord

is great, great honour is his due, here in the city where he, our God, dwells. Fair rises the peak of his holy mountain, the pride of the whole world and the true pole of earth, mount Sion, the city of the great King. 9 Cf. L. H. Vincent, "De la tour de Babel au temple," in Mev. bibl, 53 (1946), pp. 403-40 :cf. p. 434. x The parallels or applications are pointed out especially by I. Bcnziger, Hebmische Archaologie, 3rd edn., Leipzig, 1927, pp. 163 seq., 317 seq.; A. Jcremias, Das Alte Testament im Lichte des Alten Orients, 2nd edn., 1906; 4th edn., Leipzig, 1930; Fr Jeremias, "Das oricntalische Heiligtum," in ATI 3 4 (1932), pp. 56-69; "Golgotha und der hi. Pels, eine Untersuchung zur Syinbolsprache des N.T.," in the same review, 2 (1926), pp. 74-128 and, by the same author, several articles in the Theol. Worterb. z. N,T. (cf. below p. 164). 2 L. H. Vincent, "L'autel des holocaustes et le caractere du temple d'Ezechiel," in Melanges P. Peeters (Anal. Botlandiana, 67), 1949, pp. 7-20. 3 Cf A. Jeremias, op. cit, pp. 52-63; Fr Jeremias, article quoted, p. 66; J. Jeremias in the published study already mentioned, pp. 80-85, 94; Dahl, op, df., pp. 23, 25; M. Eliade, Traite d'Histoire des religions, Pans, 1949, ch. 19, pp. 143, 321 seq. The idea is not found expressly in the Bible and it is because of its narrow literalism that medieval exegesis discovered it in Ps. 73(74). 12. But it occurs frequently in the Jewish apocrypha (Enoch Eth. 26. 1-2; Jubilees 8. 12, 19) and in the Talmud (Talm, bab, Yoma 54 & ; San. 37, etc.). t

.

BAGS

The Devotion of the Jews

which

97

creation issued, in particular the waters which were divided upon it into their separate streams, and it was believed that all

the earth stood above these waters. Hence the idea arose that Sion site of the earthly Paradise; hence too, at a much later date, the belief that Adam's skull was also there. Oriental Christians were

was the

to accept this tradition, but

by applying

it

to Calvary.

A cosmic significance could be attached along these lines not only to the holy mountain of the Temple but also to the latter's general plan and furnishings. Some authors see its three sections as a figure of the celestial, terrestrial and subterranean worlds. 4 But since in the field of symbolism different interpretations are mutually compatible, the tripartite division of the Temple has been given many other symbolic values by the Fathers and spiritual writers. 5 Did the

two columns placed by Solomon at the entrance to the Temple and whose precise meaning is still in dispute have, as I. Benzinger sug6 gests, a cosmic significance ? Did they symbolize everything that is divided into pairs summer and winter, light and darkness, sun and moon, etc. ? It is a possibility and yet at the same time we have our doubts, but we

may allow that the bronze basin in addition to obvious usefulness had a cosmic meaning and in the Temple 7 represented the great waters. The orientation of the Temple its entrance faced East may well have had some cosmic significance, but we think it risky to speculate, as has been done, 8 on some referits

4 e.g. Benzinger, op. dt. 9 pp. 163 seq.; Fr Jeremlas in the published study already quoted, p. 58. 5 St Augustine alone has several suggestions. The "Holy" is the Old Testament, the "Holy of Holies" the New (Q. in Heptat II, 112: P.L. 34, 635). Or again the Holy of Holies, "absconditum tabernaculi" , stands for heaven, which Christ our high priest has entered. The Church, which is not yet in heaven, is represented by the outer tabernacle or shrine (Enarr. inPs. 25(26); 10; 9; inPs. 63(64). 6; P.L. 36, 204-5, 777). This idea is frequently revived in the Middle Ages. An ancient medieval hymn used at the dedication of a church saw in the three parts of which the Temple was composed the three sections of the Church, that is, the living, the dead and those who have risen (quoted in H. de Lubac, Corpus mysticum, eucharistie et l*glise au moyen age, Paris, 1944, p. 337, n. 67). "spiritual" such as Ruysbroeck applies these three parts of the Temple to the soul (The and whilst who was more biblical, Condren, theological Spiritual Tabernacle), saw in the Holy of Holies the bosom of the Father which our high priest has entered (Uidee du sacerdoce et du sacrifice de Je$us~Christ, part 3, ch. 4).

U

A

6

7

Op.

cit,,

p. 322.

Benzinger, ibid.; A. G. Barrois,

8

Manuel d" Arch.

bibL,

t.

2, p. 444.

Morgenstern, "The Gates of Righteousness," in Hebrew Union College Annual, 6 (1929), pp. 1 seq.; "The Book of the Covenant," ibid., 5 (1928), pp. 45 seq. F. J. Hollis, "The Sun Cult and the Temple at Jerusalem," in Myth and Ritual, edited by S. Hooke, London, pp. 87-110 (in this study, marked by considerable subtlety, there is more "myth" than "ritual") idem, The Archeology of Herod's Temple, London, 1934, pp. 125, 132 seq.; H. Riesenfeld, Je'sus transfigure*, p. 101 (in conjunction with MowinckeFs thesis, itself much disputed, on the feast of New Year's Day). e.g.

J.

;

:

The Mystery of the Temple

98

ence to a rite celebrated at the equinoctial periods, when the sun, rising behind the Mount of Olives, shone on the altar of holocausts and lit up the entrance to the Holy of Holies through the doors of the sanctuary. Finally, we may mention the interior ornamentation of the hekal or Holy Place with its cherubim, palms and interwoven flowers. It does indeed seem that they were intended to suggest the garden of Paradise and therefore an ideal creation. 9 The Temple liturgy and the liturgical vestments of the high priest had an undeniable cosmic meaning. As far as we know, the Jewish Temple liturgy has not been seriously studied from this point of view. In this connection, the feast of New Year's Day is almost the only one that has been mentioned and efforts to reconstruct its mode of celebration are somewhat conjectural, 1 Yet the Jewish feasts were seasonal and celebrated the main operations of agricultural life. They included within the liturgical cycle not only the natural periods of the seasons, of the moon, the days and the nights, but the very life of the cosmos, as does today the liturgy of the Church, which in this as in so many ways is the heir of the liturgy of the Synagogue. The high priest who represented the whole nation, also represented the whole universe. His breast-plate, like the loaves of proposition in the 2

sanctuary, represented the Twelve tribes and his liturgical robe, with its shimmer of colours and its precious stones, 3 was certainly intended to represent all the riches and beauty of the cosmos and their consecration to God. The wisdom literature outlines a development of this theme both in connection with the high priest Simon (Ecclus. 50. 5 seq.), and more especially in regard to Aaron, in the Book of Wisdom, a piece of Jewish writing although composed in Greek and indebted to Hellenistic thought: "for on his talaric robe was the whole universe ." (18. 24). In fact, the Hellenized Jews of the Gospel period liked to underline the cosmic meaning of the high priest's vestments Philo 4 for instance, for whom the vestments of the high priest were the symbol of the world which the Word put on like a veil in the person of the high priest. Philo moreover thought that the sacrifices in the Temple were .

.

:

8 1

2

8

W. Vischer, op. dt, pp. 365-6. Fr Jerernias, in the published study already quoted, pp. 60-1. A. G. Barrens, ojp. dt, t 2, p. 468.

Cf.

See the description of Aaron's vestments: Exod. 28. 4-43; Ecclus. 45. 7-13: and Apoc. 1. 13. H. Riesenfeld, Jtsus transfigurd, pp. 115 seq., makes interesting reading, but J. Jeremtas, Jesus als Wehvottender, Giitersloh, 1930, pp. 25 seq., is especially worth study. We may note in passing the parallel which could be found in the Apoc. of St John in regard to the cosmic and universalist value of precious stones* 4 Vita Mosis, II (III), 117-35 (ed. Cohn-Wendland, IV, 227 seq.); 133 (IV 82-97 (V, 21-4); Fug., 110 seq, (III, 133). 231); Spec. Leg., I, cf.

50. 5 seq.,

The Devotion of the Jews

99

on behalf of the whole human race, in thanksgiving to God for 5 gifts, and that the high priest "uttered prayers of supplication

offered his

and of thanksgiving, not only

for all mankind, but also for the natural elements, the earth, water, air and fire, for it is the universe in its entirety which he considers as his own country". 6 Josephus does not go so far along the road of philosophic ideals but he sees in the portal with its single door wide open a figure of the sky in all its

immensity and

7

The veil at the entrance bore the symbol of the seven lamps on their lamp-stand signified the seven planets, 9 the twelve loaves of proposition the signs of the zodiac and the months of the year; 1 the thirteen perfumes in the censer 2 proclaimed that all things belong to God and exist for him. the elements;

infinity,

8

This search for symbols, however subtle, is not to be despised. probable that Jewish piety sought symbols of this kind before the times of Josephus or Philo. 3 The ancient world went to great It is

lengths to find parallels of a symbolic type between man's constructions temples, palaces, cities and cosmic realities. 4 But it is imto define the sense and the limits of the biblical evidence on this portant

The Bible contains very important assertions on the cosmic value of God's plan of salvation, but it is far from true to say that it links the Temple as such to a cosmogony of the Assyrio-Babylonian or Syro-Phoenician type, as we have already explained. The Jewish liturgical feasts, instituted by God, did, like our own, adopt the natural cycle of days and seasons, but they were in no sense a 5 recapitulation of the natural world. Fr Danielou has well said that feasts of the natural or cosmic order were included, first in Israel point.

6 6

Spec, kg., Spec, leg.,

I,

168 (V. 41) and the following note.

97 (V. 24). The theology of the Middle Ages still favoured the cosmic symbolism of the vestments of Aaron and of the high priest, e.g., Innocent III (De sacro aharis myst., I. II: P.L., 217, 782 C.D.) and St Thomas Aquinas (la, Ila, qu. 102, art. 5 ad 10). 7 Bell. Jud., V, 5. 4, 208. 8 Ant. Jud., Ill, 7, 7, 183-84; Bell. Jud., V, 5, 4, 213 "it seemed by its scarlet colour to symbolize fire, by its linen thread the earth, by its violet colour the air under the and by its purple the sea" (trad. R. Harmand, (Eeuvres compL direction of S. Reinach t. 6, p. 110). 9 Bell. Jud., V, 5, 4, 217; Ant. Jud., Ill, 145. 1 Bell Jud., ibid.; Ant., Ill, 142. 2 Bell Jud., V, 5, 5, 218; Ant., Ill, 180. 8 A. Parrot (Le Temple de Jerusalem, pp. 38 seq.) accepts the hypothesis that there were various systems of cosmic symbolism. I.

:

.

.

.

s

4 See, for instance, E. Topisch, "Kosmos und Herrschaft," in Wort und Wahrheit, pp. 19-30 (p. 26: Mesopotamia, the cradle of these ideas); C. von Korvin-Krasinski, "Die Schopfung als Temper und 'Reich' des Gottmenschen," in Enkainia. Ges. Arbeiten z. 800. jahr. Weihegedachtnis d. Abteikirche Maria Laach, hrsg v. H. Edmonds, Diisseldorf, 1956, pp. 206-29. 6 J. Danielou, Essai sur le mystere de rhistoire, Paris, 1953, pp. 128 seq. Cf. J. Guillet, Themes bibliques, Paris, 1951, p. 10.

The Mystery of the Temple

100

and then more clearly in the Church, in the actual commemoration of one or other of the Magnolia Dei, of one or other of the great facts in the history of salvation. Thus spring is part of the commemoration of the death and resurrection of Christ, the harvest the Jewish part of the Pentecostal commemoration, etc. Hence (and Christian) religion, although possessing a profound cosmic and free value, is yet a historical religion concerned with the acts interventions of God in man's affairs. On the other hand, all the cosmic reality which it assumes into itself exists for it and is valued by it only within the positive and gratuitous designs of God, of which the supreme, and in this sense unique, culmination is Jesus Christ death and his resurrection. especially in the mystery of his Pasch, his This will become more evident in our next chapter. But within this positive plan of salvation, the cosmic values are It has been really included and the process is carried to great lengths. well remarked that the regularity and the beneficial natural cycle of the seasons, the rainy periods, etc., are included in what the Bible calls "God's justice" '. They are included, that is, in the terms of a covenant. 6 Thus the covenant concluded with Abraham and then on Sinai, renewed and included the covenant made with Noe and his descendants. That is why the Temple worship also had as its purpose to obtain these cosmic benefits included in the covenant. We have 9

already seen in the case of the feast of Tabernacles that the liturgy

was linked with the expectation of the autumnal rains. Finally, if the body of Jesus Christ is the one true temple, then we must insist that it assumes and gives value to all those elements in the Mosaic Temple (and even, positis ponendis, in the worship associated with natural religions) that were in a sense groping their way torecords for us the logion (cf. Acts 17. 27). St John, who concerning the Temple (2. 19), also shows that all creatures share in some degree in the Logos (1. 3 seq.). The cosmic sense inseparable from all sacred symbols and particularly in the case of the Temple of Jerusalem finds its justification and its consummation in Jesus Christ in whom the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily (Col. 2. 9) and who himself "everywhere and in all things is complete".

wards him

6 G. FIdou, "La justice dans TAncien Testament, Son aspect cosmique/' in Rev. de TheoL et de JPMos., 3rd series, 4 (1954), pp. 283-8.

The Site of the Holy of Holies

101

NOTE ON THE PROBLEM OF THE EXACT SITE OF THE SANCTUARY IN THE TEMPLES OF SOLOMON, ZOROBABEL AND HEROD There are two conflicting views. According to that most commonly accepted, the rock now covered by the cupola of the "mosque of Omar" represents the threshing-floor of Areuna on which David offered his sacrifice of propitiation (2 Kings 24. 18-28). It was here that the altar of holocausts (cf. 1 Paralip. 22. 1) in the temples of Solomon, Zorobabel and Herod was subsequently built. It is certainly true that the successive temples used the same site for the sanctuary proper and for the altar of holocausts. But where was the threshingfloor of Areuna? Is its identification with the rock which can be seen today beyond question ? This first view is shared by G. Dalman, J. Jeremias, and Fr L. H. Vincent (Jerusalem de VAncien Testament, 1956, pp. 587 seq.). Parrot (Le Temple de Jerusalem, Cahiers d'Archeol bibl, 5, NeucMtel and Paris, 1954, p. 70, which was published after we had finished writing the present book) seems to favour the altar of holocausts but does not say so in so many words. According to the second view, the rock in the "mosque of Omar" was the site of the Holy of Holies. This opinion is defended, for instance, by H. Schmidt (Der hi. Pels in Jerusalem. Eine archdologische u. religiongeschichtliche Studie, Tubingen, 1933 very unfavourably reviewed by Fr Vincent in Rev. BibL, 1934, pp. 313 seq.) and is held by Fr de Vaux (in unpublished talks and lectures). Some archaeologists are of opinion that the problem under discussion cannot be solved at the present II, Paris,

M. A.

time, e.g. A. G. Barrois, Manuel d* ArchMogie biblique, t. 2, Paris, shall here reproduce the arguments that can 1953, pp. 452-6. be advanced in support of the second view and also add a few remarks in favour of the first. It is not for us to judge between such

We

eminent authorities. 1. The rock covered by the mosque of Omar is the highest point in the sacred area on which the Temple was built. Our knowledge of

among the Semites suggests that it would inevitably be the site of the most hallowed part of the building. Further, this natural height would be an appropriate place for the Holy of Holies, debtr. The latter was 20 cubits (approx. 32 feet 10 inches) from floor to ceiling, whilst the Temple itself, hekal, was 30 cubits (approx. 49 feet 2 inches). The difference of 16 feet 4 inches may possibly have been due to the higher level of the debtfs site rather than to the lower level of its ceiling considered necessary for some the ideas current

reason connected with the technical problem of roofing. On this hypothesis, Isaias's vision (6. 1) is admirably located. 2. If the altar of holocausts was on the rock, then the Temple building stood so far to the west that there seems to be insufficient room

The Mystery of the Temple

102

unless we imagine the debtr to have been built on a mound. But is no trace of the latter and the eastern section of the site had a wide rocky surface. There would be a distance to the west of 39 feet 4 inches between the altar and the Temple, the length of the sanctuary and 19 feet 8 inches for proper (164 feet), between 16 feet 5 inches various rooms, an area some 98 feet 5 inches in length to house the and in building on the west that figures in Ezechiel's vision (41. 12) which Achaze stablished the worship of the horses of the sun. The 321 feet 6 inches. In actual fact the distance total is for

it

there

approximately

was barely 295 feet. Yet those who think the altar of holocausts on the rock maintain that if only some 32 feet 9 inches is allowed between the altar and the sanctuary and only 82 feet for the building Ezechiel had in mind, it would then be possible to set everything to the west of the rock without assuming the existence of a mound. 3. On the present Haram al-Aharif, which all agree is the terrace as it was at the time of Jesus, there are considerable of the

is

Temple

variations in level. The rock (the sakhrd) is 2,437 feet above sea-level ; the south-east corner of the terrace is almost 66 feet lower. These 66 feet from the eastern end of the Temple in the direction of the sacred rock are gained by gentle slopes and also by sudden variations in the level which cannot have substantially changed their situation ^

or their importance since Gospel times in spite of subsequent devasare therefore entitled to consider the present changes of level on the east-west axis of the terrace as approximately the place between the wall dominating the Cedron Valley and the sacred rock where the principal variations in the level existed in Herod's Temple and indicated the passage from the Court of the Gentiles to the Court of the Women, and then from the latter to the Court of Israel. must now take a look at the area which stretches east to west from the rock to the wall overlooking the Cedron Valley. According to the Mishna, there was a space of approximately 49 feet 2 inches between the altar of holocausts and the Nicanor gate, which connected the Women's Court and the Court of Israel by means of a semi-circular staircase with fifteen steps. If we place the site of the altar of holocausts on the sacred rock, the Nicanor gate would have to be on a flat section of the terrace. If, on the other hand, we take the rock to have been the site of the Holy of Holies, the change in level which today is indicated by twenty-one or twenty-two low steps and an arcade, may correspond to that indicated by fifteen steps, each half a cubit wide, that are mentioned in the ancient documents. But the distance between this change of level and the rock (little more than 164 feet) is not enough to house the Mkal and the oulam (131 feet 3 inches in the oulam from the altar of all) plus the 39 feet 5 inches separating the 49 feet 4 inches beand itself altar of the the body holocausts, tween the altar and the gate. How is this difficulty to be met? Further, if we adopt the second view, we shall find that between the change of level as it is today (twenty-one or twenty-two steps, where, tations.

We

We

The

Site

of the Holy of Holies

we have

103

as said, the Nicanor gate used to stand) and the eastern wall of the terrace, the distance would be at least 321 feet and it would be easy to house the Women's Court (some 230 feet long according to the Mishna), the Court of the Gentiles, which was fairly narrow in front of the sanctuary itself but stretched a considerable way on either side of it over the northern and southern areas of the terrace, and finally Solomon's Porch, which according to Josephus was some 49 feet long. Along this line from the Nicanor Gate to the Eastern wall of the terrace, there is a change in level of from 6 feet 7-J- inches to 9 feet 10 inches. This would correspond to the twelve steps which had to be climbed in order to go from the Court of the Gentiles to that of the Women. 4. Those who think the sacred rock was the site of the altar of holocausts argue that there was a conduit leading from under the rock and corresponding to the one mentioned in the Mishna. But this argument is difficult to press since there have been no systematic excavations. We may wonder whether the supposed direction of this conduit, whose intake has been identified, is in fact the correct one. ourselves have no information on this point. In short, it is difficult to come to any conclusions. have to be content with this statement of the principal points at issue in the discussion.

We

We

Part

The Temple or

Two

the Presence of

in Messianic

Times

God

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS a better understanding of what follows it seems to us that would be useful to remind the reader of the main features in the lay-out of the Temple during the time of Jesus, and then

it

FOR to

clarify

the terms used by the Evangelists

when

they speak

of it.

The lay-out of the Temple* At the time of Jesus, as in our own, the Temple terrace, which had been enlarged to the north and northeast by Herod, consisted of an irregularly shaped rectangle some sixteen hundred and forty feet by nine hundred and eighty-four. Vast areas of the terrace were accessible to Gentiles, especially to the north and south, that is, at the sides of the Temple, which in all probability stood in the middle and on the west of the terrace. Whatever hypothesis we adopt regarding the exact site of the Holy of Holies and the altar of holocausts, the fact remains that the Court of the Gentiles was narrower on the eastern side of the terrace along which ran the Portico known as Solomon's Porch. low wall 2 or a barrier built of stone with thirteen gates marked the boundary beyond which the Gentiles were not permitted to pass. Inscriptions in Greek and Latin, of which two examples have been discovered, warned the Gentiles in the following terms : "No foreigner is allowed to enter the enclosure or the precincts of the sacred place (hierori). Anyone found doing so will sutler the death penalty for which he alone will be held responsible." 3 Beyond the area thus defined rose the walls of the sacred enclosure accessible only to the members of God's people. The enclosure which stood fourteen steps above the rest of the terrace was entered through nine

A

1 "Bibliographic technique" in Schrenk, article "TO legrfv", in G. Kittle's TheoL Worterb. z. N.T., t. 3, p. 230 (note). For an overall description see A. G. Barrois, Manuel d'archeologie biblique, t 2, Paris, 1953, pp. 436-56 or, for a shorter treatment, Precis d'archeologie biblique,* Paris, 1935, pp. 176 seq., but above all A. Parrot, Le Temple de Jerusalem (Cahiers d^Ar^heoL, btbL, 5), Neuchatel and Paris, 1954; this book, which is very easy to read, appeared after we had written the present study. It provides an excellent account of the history of the Temple, the details of the building, and archaeological comparisons. H. Lesetre's article in the Diet, de la Bible, t. 5, col. 2024-74 (1912) is full of detailed and interesting items of information. 2 Josephus gives its height as roughly 5 feet, but the Mishna as only 2 feet 9i

inches. 3 Cf, Barrois, op.

cit.,

p.

452; Schrenk, article quoted, p. 233,

1.

39-46.

The Mystery of the Temple

108

used was that situated gateways. Of these the one most frequently the with line a direct in east the at Temple. It was known as the Beautiful Gate and it was here that Peter met and cured the lame

man

(Acts 3. 2). This gate gave access to the Square or Court of the Women, a various buildings and communifairly large space surrounded by of the Jews) by means of a cating with the Court of Israel (or Court is bronze gate, whose splendour praised by Josephus; it was known as the Nicanor Gate (Josephus calls it the "Corinthian Gate"). Jews in a state of ritual purity were allowed to climb its fifteen steps and enter the Square or Court of Israel which was reserved for men. In the centre was the place reserved for the priests, with the great mass of the altar and the platform on which it stood (approximately 80 feet wide and 33 feet high). Behind the altar stood the temple proper

or sanctuary. Since the days of Solomon the sanctuary had been made up of three parts, one behind the other in succession, a narrow vestibule or than the rest of the *$ldm, a kind of large porch, wider and higher 65 feet long, 33 feet room a or the Mkal, large holy place, building; wide and 49 feet 6 inches high. In the hekal stood the table with the loaves of proposition on the right and on the left the seven-branched candlestick; in the centre nearer to the Holy of Holies was the altar of office it was burned perfumes on which the priests whose turn of incense night and morning (Zachary's service in Luke 1.9). Only the holy place; the High Priest alone priests were allowed to enter and then only once a year on the Day of Atonement (Yarn kippour) went into the third part of the temple, the Holy of Holies (debtr) which was separated from the holy place by a partition and a veil. The debtr of Solomon's temple contained the ark of the covenant; that of the temple of Zorobabel, which was embellished

by Herod the Great, was empty. A rabbinical tradition asserts that there was a stone there on which the hand of God himself had traced the four letters of his sacred Name, Yahweh. This tradition, of course, has no historical value. The Holy of Holies was a feet nine perfect cube each face of which measured thirty-two inches.

Terms used to indicate the Temple in the New Testament. Three words were ultimately used to indicate the temple in the Greek of the New Testament: rd tspdv, oZ/cog and va6<;. Tjuevog which indi41

9

Joiion, **Les mots employes pour d6signer *lc temple* dans FA.T., le et Jos&phe," in Rech. Sc. reltg. 25 (1935), pp. 329-43; Schrenk, article t. 4, pp. 884-95 quoted; O. Michel, article "va6$" in Theol Wdrterb. z. 4 P KT.,

and "ofoog",

AX,

ibid.,

t.

5, pp. 126-36.

Terms used

in the

New

Testament

109

cates a sacred place (a site set apart) in general in secular Greek, never found in the New Testament. 5

is

TO lepov, which the Septuagint uses, though infrequently, when speaking of the Temple of Jerusalem (except in Esdras and Macha6 bees) but prefers to reserve for pagan temples, generally indicates

New

Testament, the whole collection of places and buildings Temple terrace, whilst the temple proper (the vestibule, the holy place and the Holy of Holies) is normally called vao$. While indicating the sacred buildings as a whole, TO lepov often denotes the outer courts accessible to pagans, with the porticoes (the Royal Portico on the southern boundary, with its three in the

inside the sacred area of the

hundred and

sixty columns and its three aisles; Solomon's Porch stretching along the eastern boundary and dominating the Valley of the Cedron). Jesus often taught in these arcades. They were doubtless the scene of the episode of the woman taken in adultery.

was from them and more probably on the southern side that Jesus drove out the sellers and the money-changers. Other scenes in the Gospel took place in the Court of the Women, which was included in the leprfv; in the first place the ritual purification of our Lord's mother, and it was there that Jesus saw the widow put her two mites into one of the thirteen collecting-boxes that stood there It

(Mark

12. 41

;

Luke

21. 1);

it

was

there that he said "I

am the light

of the world" (John 8. 20). It was in the Court of Israel, which was also included in the Isp6v, that Jesus, before he chose his apostles 7 and later doubtless on several occasions in their company, came to pray, although the Gospels do not expressly mention this. It was probably in the Temple enclosure that he spoke of the living water (John 7. 37).

In secular Greek, S va6<; means the dwelling-place of the god, the sanctuary. In the Septuagint the word is the equivalent of either y uldm (or 'Idm\ the entrance to the temple, or to Mkal, the holy place. In the New Testament also it means the temple proper with vestibule, its holy place and its Holy of Holies. It is used in expressions such as "to swear by the temple," "(to slay) between the

its

5 Similarly the New Testament never uses dytaajuia, a word frequently employed in the Septuagint as a translation of miqdaS = temple (sanctuary) cf. Hatch and Redpath Concordance under the word "Temple", where all the various :

uses are noted. On the other hand, the New Testament and in this case it is always in line with Old Testament or Jewish usage sometimes has 6 &yto<; r6nog or 6 r6nog (the holy) place: Matt 24. 15; John 11. 48; Acts 6. 13, 14; 7. 7; 21. 28. 6 This word is used so regularly that G. Balman (Orte u. Wege Jesu, 3rd edn., 1924, p. 301) said that it was always employed. However there are one or two

=

exceptions. 7

Luke

24. 53;

Acts

2.

46;

3. 1; 22.

17 (St Paul).

1

The Mystery of the Temple

10

8 the temple" and temple and the altar (of holocausts)", "the veil of later: "destroy we shall which crucial study the in passage especially ." (John 2. 19). The word is therefore consistently this temple used in a very precise sense, except perhaps when the Gospel shows Judas throwing down his thirty pieces of silver in the temple (vaot;: Matt, 27. 5), unless he threw them down in the vestibule and so .

.

9 crossed the area reserved to the priests. word the VOLOQ is used, as In the apostolic writings, of the holy temple which is built up of the faithful.

we

shall see,

house) was known to classical Greek in the sense of a in this sense is very frequent temple, the house of the divinity. Its use text of the Old Testament Hebrew in the as in the Septuagint, just the use of the word "house", bait, was frequent in the sense of the

OlKog

(=

*

e of God, dwelling-place of God: bet ha ldhlm 9 the dwelling-place TestaNew the in Sometimes the or simply habbait, dwelling-place. ment the choice of the word is no more than an echo of this very Isa. 66. 1). The temple is called frequent use: Acts 7. 47. 49 (quoting as the source of living water: us to olKog (Kvpiov) when it is revealed Joel 3. 18. In the Gospels, oko^may indicate the Ezech. 47. 1

seq.;

1 a more Holy of Holies (Luke 11. 5 1), but it more commonly has the va6<; or the sanctuary, and the general meaning which includes and buildings as a whole, the house of God Iep6v or the sacred places which must be a house of prayer (Matt 21. 13; Mark 11. 17; Luke 19. 46; John 2. 16). We shall find a very interesting use of olKog in the great passage in St Peter's first Epistle 2. 4-10. But the expression "house of God" is more frequently used in the apostolic writings to indicate the local or the whole Church as God's family which must be administered with a proper "oeconomia" Heb. 3. 6 10. 21 1 Tim. 3. 15; and no doubt also 1 Pet 4. 17. The vocabulary of the New Testament is on the whole very consistent and we shall see how it is applied in detail, yet it is not a mere :

copy of the vocabulary of the Septuagint.

It

;

;

uses fairly often the

word !ep6v which the Septuagint employs rarely in this sense but, on the contrary, for pagan temples. On the other hand, the New

Testament never uses ayiaopa. We sense that the New Testament documents belong to a period when the Christian Church had 23. 35; but Luke 11. 51 is expression which usually indicates some precise place in the Temple sometimes extended to cover the neighbouring area. Thus "Holy of Holies" may include the altar of perfumes (Ezech. 10. 2; Heb. 9. 3-4), or tkusiastirion, which normally indicates the altar but may mean the whole court (cf. Apoc. 11. 1; the cf. 14. 18); in Christian writings too, "altar" often indicates the sacred area, sanctuary (J. Braun, Der christliche Altar , ., t 1, p. 28). 1 Cf, Matt. 12. 4; Mark 11. 26: David enters the olxog of God at Nobe. 8

Matt

9

An

.

.

Terms used

in the

New

Testament

III

Temple of Jerusalem was no longer a valid way to reach God; and so its days were numbered. It is astonishing that the apostolic writings dating from after the catastrophe of A.D. 70, which Jesus had foretold, make no mention of it. Even before it happened, the Christian Church had fully understood that the religious system of the Old Dispensation was superseded and replaced by worship in Spirit and in truth. The Church had modified her vocabulary in order to express the perfect awareness she had so soon acquired of the new state of things resulting from the death and resurrection of her Lord. realized that the

Chapter

JESUS

VI

AND THE TEMPLE

the Gospel texts are read straight through with a view to discovering the attitude of Jesus towards the Temple and all it represented, two apparently contradictory features become immediately apparent: Jesus's immense respect for the Temple; Ms very lively criticism of abuses and of formalism, yet above and beyond this, his constantly repeated assertion that the Temple is to be transcended, that it has had its day, that it is doomed to disappear. This attitude on the part of Jesus is at once seen to be similar to that of the prophets. In actual practice his activities will be prophetic, yet at the heart of this prophetic activity a messianic activity will stand mentioned revealed, and we shall see that the transcendence we have is essentially bound up with it. This transcendence will be so radical and so new only because the manner in which Jesus will exercise his Messianic role that is as the heavenly man and the Son of God made

WHEN

fleshyis itself so radically new. It is no longer only a message from on the world of the high, but a personal and substantial coming into is so, the new temple and the new this Since God of himself. Word, worship are the final reality, the very substance of our highest hopes. This then is the regime of the messianic era, which is characterized by of the Spirit promised by God. It is a spiritual regime the

outpouring ("pneumatic") and its worship is in Spirit and in truth, It is obviously necessary to go over in detail, part by part, episode by episode, the series of facts and statements of which, by way of introduction, we have just given far too condensed and generalized a

summary. (A) Jesus's devotion to the Temple Certain facts in our childhood are significant in that they indicate

what we are to become and to do in later life. Sometimes we cannot remember them ourselves, but our mothers, who are in a sense our

own consciousness at its deepest level, have kept a careful record of them. From the very beginning while we still spoke and acted without realizing what we said or did, they have noted in our answers, our remarks and our attitude, an echo from the depths of our a being which they have seen as a sign of things to come. Then day comes when, after life has already set its mark on us, has perhaps

Jesus and the Temple

113

brought us its trials, after our response to life has become determined and our consciousness of self and of our tasks established, our mothers quietly tell us as though the long years of silence and hidden loyalty have not sorely tried their patience "Do you remember said this, or you had a liking for that, or you acted in such and such a way ? Already it was typical of your whole character and I said to myself that is what he is going to be like."

when you

One of these rare episodes, and in fact the only one, which has come down to us, as far as the childhood of Jesus is concerned, is found in Luke 2. 41-50 and 5R And we are told also that his mother had "kept in her heart the memory of all this". We all know the story but quiry:

it

makes

delightful reading at the outset

of our

in-

41

Every year his parents used to go up to Jerusalem at the 42 And when he was twelve years old, after going up paschal feast. to Jerusalem, as the custom was at the time of the feast, 43 and completing the days of its observance, they set about their return home. But the boy Jesus, unknown to his parents, continued his 44 And they, thinking that he was among their stay in Jerusalem. travelling companions, had gone a whole day's journey before

made enquiry

for him among their kinsfolk and acquaintthey could not find him, they made their way back to Jerusalem in search of him, 46 and it was only after three days that they found him. He was sitting in the temple, 1 in the midst of those who taught there, listening to them and asking them ques47 and all those who heard him were in amazement at his tions; 48 quick understanding and at the answers he gave. Seeing him there, they were full of wonder, and his mother said to him, My Son, why hast thou treated us so ? Think, what anguish of mind

they

ances.

45

When

49 But he asked thy father and I have endured, searching for thee. them, What reason had you to search for me? Could you not tell that I must needs be in the place which belongs to my Father? 2 50 These words which he spoke to them were beyond their understanding ... his mother kept in her heart the memory of all

this.

is

This passage is one of those and they are more numerous than generally thought and provide material for a very profitable leg

:

i.e.

in

one of the porticoes or perhaps a room giving on to the

Court of the Gentiles, 2 The Douai version reads "did you not know, that I must be about my father's business ?" and this sense is also that of the Bible de Jerusalem text Translator.

1

The Mystery of the Temple

14

inquiry which introduce us to what the theologians call Christ's experimental knowledge, that is the underpinning of his perfect knowledge as the man-God by the progressive information he ac-

quired from his experience of men and things. We should note in the place the crucial impression which must have been made upon him by this annual journey up to Jerusalem with Ms parents for the Paschal feast. 3 But on this occasion, when he has reached the age at which the boy begins to awake to the fact of his manhood, and the time when his vocation often declares itself, Jesus, obedient son though he was, remains at Jerusalem alone. He has not asked if he may, nor has he warned his parents that he would do so. He already introduces and on the same grounds the distinction he will later emphasize on several occasions between the mission he has been given by his Father and his family according to the flesh. His family must not interfere with this mission. 4 This time, he has stayed behind so as "to be about his Father's business". What precisely is meant by this ? We must preserve in this phrase the full and somewhat mysterious character of a child's saying. What is meant is the knowledge of God, first

his will, his presence and above all the Temple, for the words Iv rofe . . . have in common Greek (Koine) the exact sense of "in the

rov

5 ," Jesus begins by coming to this temple whither he will return to proclaim within its walls the messianic renewal of the entire system of worship and of the manner of God's presence. He

house of .

.

behind in a spirit of devotion. He listens quietly and puts his Yet already he in his turn gives answers and these go beyond what could be expected of a child, even an intelligent child. whole programme is implied here, or at least a significant point of departure. Jesus loved the Temple before he announced that it was transcended and before he foretold its destruction. He had much stays

questions.

A

to say against the human traditions of the elders and the Pharisees, yet he said no single word against the Temple. For him, it is "his

Father's House", 8 "the house of God," 7 a "house of prayer" 8 and 9 is "the city of the great King". As we shall shortly see,

Jerusalem

8 On the part played by the Temple in the religious life of the Jews at the time of Jesus, cf. N. A. Dahl, Das Volk Gottes, Oslo, 1940, pp. 61 seq., and above Chapter V, pp. 80 seq. 4

John 2. 4; 1. 2-10. G. Dalman, Les itin^mires de

8

Cf. Cf.

6

John

Jdsus, Paris, 1930, p. 392 (without any philological reference); E, R. Smothers, "A Note on Luke ii. 49,** in Harvard Theol. Rev., 45 (1952), pp. 67-9. 7

2. 16.

Matt. 12. 4; Luke 6, 4 (where the reference is to the building which sheltered the ark at Nobe at the time of David's flight, but cf. Matt. 23. 21), 8 Matt. 21. 13; Mark 11. 17; Luke 19, 46. * Matt. 5. 35 ( Ps. 47(48). 3).

Jesus and the Temple Jesus will purify the (cf.

John

Temple

115

solely out of zeal for the

house of

God

2. 17).

Fundamentally, his attitude towards the Temple is the same as towards the Law. And in fact the two stood or fell together. Jesus had not come to destroy the Law, but to fulfil it his attitude

(Matt. 5. 17). He observes it himself and insists on others observing 1 Similarly he respects and wishes others to respect the Temple in accordance with the requirements proper to each of the sacred places it.

of which we have already spoken (p. 85, n. 3). St Mark has even recorded this detail (11. 16): "nor would he allow anyone to carry his wares through the Temple" (the tepov: the Temple Courts are therefore meant). Jesus's respect for the sacred character of the Temple is shown in one of his denunciations of the Pharisees reported

by St Matthew 16

(23. 16-22):

Woe upon you, blind leaders, who say, If a man swears by the

goes for nothing; if he swears by the gold in the temple, 17 Blind fools, which is greater, the gold, or the that consecrates the gold? 18 And again, If a man swears temple by the altar it goes for nothing; if he swears by the gift on the 19 Blind fools, which is greater, the gift, or altar, his oath stands. the altar that consecrates the gift? 20 The man who swears by the altar swears at the same time by all that is on it. 21 The man who swears by the temple swears at the same time by him who has made 22 it his dwelling-place. And the man who swears by heaven swears not only by God's throne, but by him who sits upon it. temple,

it

his oath stands.

We

over the details of the casuistry here described. 2 on this occasion, as on others, adopts an attitude Jesus Obviously similar to that of the prophets, of a Jeremias for instance with his respect for the Temple, and his insistence upon sincerity and truth in religious devotion. When in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus says will pass

:

If thou art bringing thy gift, then, before the altar, and rememberest there that thy brother has some ground of complaint 1

He commands

the ten lepers to go and show themselves to the priests (Luke he tells another leper he has cured to make the prescribed offering (Matt. 4); he recognizes, at least for the time being, the authority of the established

17. 14), 8.

teachers (Matt, 23. 3). 2 should add too Cf. Strack-Billerbeck, t. I, pp. 931 seq.; Lagrange, in he. the interesting passage in the Sadocite (or Damascus) document, Col. VI, 1. 15-16 (cf. G. Vermes, Les manuscrits du desert de Juda, Paris, 1953, p. 166). On the sacred character of the altar in the eyes of Judaism, cf. J. Bonsirven, Le judalsme jpatestinien au temps deJ.-C*, Paris, 1935, t. 2, pp. 95 seq., 112, 117 (note 7), 194.

We

M.O.T.

5

The Mystery of the Temple

116

there before the altar, and go against thee, leave thy gift lying brother with first, and then come back thy home; be reconciled

to offer thy gift (Matt,

5.

23-4),

he both respects the Mosaic ritual system still in operation, and also, as did the prophets, proclaims how these religious acts are to be Better still, he himself performed if they are to be pleasing to God. "fulfils" the Law, that is, at one stroke, he frees us from its material detail the increasing demand prescriptions, which exteriorized in great have we which ritual already mentioned, and he insists for purity on the truth and sincerity of brotherly love, since the commandments

summed up in love and love is the epitome and the purpose of ritual purity and its regulations. This will be his commandment and the principal one in the new law, and in a certain sense the only form are

all

will require of us. Nevertheless the limits of Jesus's devotion to the Temple must also be noted. He went there during his public ministry. According to St John he was there for the majority, if not all, of the great feasts, and, according to the Synoptics, for the last Passover (see below).

of purity he

quite obviously because he for greater publicity to giving wanted provided opportunity his teaching and for bringing the leaders of his people, the priests 3 find him curing the and doctors, face to face with his message. there and sick in the Temple,* judgments and declarapronouncing 5 The Gospels do not say expressly that tions of crucial

We find him teaching in the Temple

and

to. It

We

importance.

he offered prayer there although they several times mention that he 6 so it seems, had a special prayed, above all when he was alone. Jesus, 7 no temple other than the had he when "in love for this prayer secret", created universe of his Father in heaven, together with his Presence and that temple of his will which, as we have seen in the case of the true place wherein he prophets and shall see again in our own, is the dwells. 8 The Gospels say nothing of any sacrifice offered by Jesus, 3 Jesus teaching in the Temple, see Matt. 21. 14, 23; Mark 12. 35; Luke 19 18. 20. For his wish 47; 21. 37; John 2. 14 seq.; 5. 14; 7. 28; 8. 2-20, 59; 10. 23; to give publicity to this teaching, see Matt. 26. 55; John 18. 18 seq. * Matt. 21. 14. /t 5 John 8, 2 seq. (the woman taken in adultery); 7. 14 seq., 37 seq. (the living divine 22 and 10. 59 3L the of pre(his seq. 12-20 world); (the light water); 8, existence); and the verbum Domini on the Temple (cf. below). 6 Mark 1. 35; 6. 46; Luke 3. 21 5. 16; 6. 12; 9, 18, 28, 29; 11. 1; 22. 31 ; John Matt. 1 1. 25 ; 17; Gethsemani (see below, note 8); and the prayer of thanksgiving: ;

Luke 7

8

10. 21;

Matt. Matt.

6.

6.

comes from

John

11. 41; 12, 28.

5-6 (with a reference to 4 Kings 10; 26. 39; Mark 14. 36; the soul of the Son and

4.

Luke 22. is

a

filial

33 and Isa. 26. 20). 42, etc. The entire prayer of Jesus relationship with the Father.

Jesus and the Temple

they do not

111

us whether he brought the paschal lamb to be immolated in the Temple. 9 may well ask what the religious practice of the Son was during the years of his ministry, in so far as this practice was connected with the Temple. tell

We

One

last

episode

is

very significant in this respect: that of the

two drachmas which every Israelite had to pay each year for the upkeep of the Temple* Those who collected this tax asked Peter if his master paid it, which was rather as though they were asking whether Jesus kept the Sabbath. Peter replied unhesitatingly that he did, for he knew that hitherto Jesus had paid it without raising any objection. But on this occasion our Lord showed what he really thought:

Simon, he said, tell us what thou thinkest; on whom do earthly kings impose customs and taxes, on their own sons, or on strangers? On strangers, Peter told him; and Jesus said to him, Why then, the children go free. But we will not hurt their consciences; go down to the sea, and cast thy hook; take out the first fish thou drawest up, and when thou hast opened its mouth thou wilt find a silver coin there; with this make payment to them for me and & thyself (Matt. 17. 24 ~26). Jesus

is

clearly saying at this point that he is a stranger to the to its system of worship, so too is the Church which he

Temple and

has already foretold is to be built by him upon Peter and upon Peter's confession of belief in his divinity (Matt. 16. 16-18). Hence at the centre of a respect for the Temple that was in a sense provisional only, the Master planted the seed of the latter's supersession and this is, in its way, a denial. And he did so not only on his own behalf, but on behalf also of the messianic community which emerged when Peter made his confession at Caesarea PhiHppi. When the Church finally established by his own Passover, Jesus no longer had anything to do with the Temple and it was far from Jerusalem in their own well-loved Galilee, that he told his apostles to meet him.

was

(B) Jesus announces that the religious system of the Temple has to

an end and

is

come

replaced by himself in person

The account that follows is continuous and its principal feature is the decisive episode of the purification of the Temple. This episode 9

immolation is perhaps included in the preparations he told the disask an unknown friend to undertake for the pasch of the apostolic group: Matt 26. 17 seq.; Mark 14. 12 seq.; Luke 22. 7 seq. 1 Cf. Josephus, Ant., 18, 312; Bell jud., V, 187.

But

this

ciples to

1

The Mystery of the Temple

18

although the Synoptics on the one hand the and St John on other, place it at different times and report it also in different terms. It is especially noteworthy that we find TO lepdv in the Synoptics but vaog in St John. This explains why, as we might than that expect from St John, his account has deeper implications the considered have we When episode three the first of Evangelists. from the point of view of the Synoptics, we shall have to study the shall text in the fourth Gospel apart from that of the others.

itself is,

we

believe, unique,

We

account is corroborated and commented upon by a certain number of other pericopes not all of which are taken from St John. On the whole we shall find that in this continuous account there are, in a sense, two successive stages, which, in order to make

then see that

its

the reader's task easier, we shall indicate by the numbers 1 and 2. Jesus declares that the religious system of the Temple has come to an end (1) as a feg>6v 9 that is, a place where men meet God (2) as a the true temple, va6g, that is, a place where God dwells. Henceforth the true dwelling-place of God among men is none other than the person of Jesus himself. 1. Malachias, last of the prophets of the post-exilic restoration, :

day of Yahweh" as follows:

foretold "the

I am sending an angel of mine, to make the coming! All at once the Lord will visit his herald of a divine temple; that Lord, so longed for, welcome a covenant. Ay, says the Lord of hosts, he is coming; but who can bear the thought of that advent? Who will stand with head erect at his appearing? 3 He will put men to a test fierce as the crucible,

Ch.

*

3.

See where

way ready

for

my

searching as the lye that fullers use. From his judgement-seat, will refine that silver of his and cleanse it from dross; like silver or gold, the sons of Levi must be refined in the crucible,

he

4

duly performed. Then once more the Lord will accept the offerings of Juda and Jerusalem, as 5 he did long since, in the forgotten years. Come I to hold assize. ere they can offer the

Lord

sacrifice

... (3. 1-5*).

This eschatological and messianic prophecy was fulfilled in the 2 is the Foreperson of John the Baptist and in Jesus Christ. John runner and Jesus the Angel of the covenant, St Matthew's and St Luke's Gospels (Matt. 11. 10; Luke 7. 27) apply the prophecy to 2

In

(Matt

Mai

3.

25 this messenger

11. 14; 17. 12;

Elias" (Luke

1.

17).

Mark

9. 12)

Fr Ceuppens

is identified

since he

(op. at.,

passage among the messianic prophecies. Malachias cf. below, p. 224.

with

u

n

John is "Elias" and power of an 33) does not quote this

Elias

came "in the

.

spirit

above, p. For the eschatological sense of

Jesus and the Temple

119

John the Baptist and also identify Jesus with Yahweh himself, or with Ms Face ("he shall prepare the way before my /ace", Mai. in Douai version Translator). Jesus therefore "comes" to the Temple to purify it and to "fulfil" its destiny which, as the prophets had foretold, is to be, in messianic times, a house of prayer for all the nations. Jesus "comes" to the Temple twice, on the first occasion surrounded by the mystery and lowliness of his advent on the first Christmas Day, the second time to proclaim and to exercise his messianic power, thus giving mankind a foretaste and a concrete example of the final and irrevocable 3 judgment he will pronounce when he comes again. The first occasion was the day of Mary's purification and the presentation of Jesus in the Temple, the second the day of the cleansing of the hieron by St

Jesus.

Mary's purification and the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple These ceremonies took place in the Court of the Women, on the steps of the Gate known as that of Nicanor, that is, according to the vocabulary of the Gospels, in the hieron. The episode or better, the mystery as St Luke recounts it, drawing upon Mary's memories (2, 22-39), is very rich in meaning. Mary is purified, although she is the noblest flower and the purest glory of Israel. She humbly submits to the law of the Temple, empty as it is of the ark of witness, whilst she herself is the temple of the 4 Holy Spirit, the ark of the new covenant. Jesus is redeemed accord5 to the law is the redeemer, the go* el, of he himself Moses, yet ing not only of Israel, but of the whole world. He is presented in the Temple, but he is greater than the Temple (Matt. 12. 6); it is he who sanctifies the temple and every offering men can make to

God. 6 Jesus is welcomed in the Temple by two representatives of the Poor of the House of Israel 7 who were awaiting the Comforter of 3

On

conception of the two comings cf. "David et Solomon, deux types ses deux avenements," in Vie Spirit., 91 (Nov. 1954), pp. 323-40. 4 See below, p. 259. 5 Num. 18. 15 seq.; cf. Lev. 12. 2-5; 27. 6; Exod. 11. 4 seq. 6 Cf. 1 Peter 2. 5 (cf. Exod. 29. 37; Matt. 23. 19). E. G. Selwyn (The First Epistle ofSt Peter, London, 1947, p. 163) quotes in this connection Bengel who reminds us of Isa. 56, 7 "Christ is both of great price in himself and also he who makes us acceptable to God, for he is our Altar." Cf. the "per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum," in the liturgy, and St Augustine's explanation of Matt. 23. 19 "Intelligendum tempi um et altare ipsum Christum; auram et donum laudes et sacrificia precum, quae in eo per eum offerimus. Non enim ille per haec, sed ista per ilium sanctificantur" (Quaest. Evang., lib. 1. 34; P.L., 35, 1329). 7 Cf. A. Gelin, Lespattvres de Yahv
du Christ en

:

:

The Mystery of the Temple

120

Simeon and Anna the prophetess, two old people, for the former Dispensation has grown old and is nearing the end of its he sees Jesus as life. Simeon too is a prophet. In a mysterious way destined to be "a sign which men will refuse to recognize". Thus he foresees from afar the paschal drama which will replace the old 8 expectation is summed up Temple by the new. The whole of Israel's 9 in the persons of Simeon and Anna. In them Israel through Simeon's to reality and be prophecy accepts the fact that she must give place it: superseded by

their nation:

Ruler of

all,

now

dost thou

according to thy word

let

thy servant go in peace,

;

eyes have seen that saving power of thine, which thou hast prepared in the sight of all nations. This is the light which shall give revelation to the Gentiles,

my own

for

this is the glory

of thy people Israel (Luke

2.

29-32).

The prophetic theme of this first "coming" of Jesus to the Temple he comes to purify already the same as that of the second, when Christ new the in feature brings is the the Temple. The first reality

is

1 universal scope of salvation; God's house will be open to all nations. earlier the This universal significance of the Presentation completes meaning of the hidden coming of Christmas Day, when the angels

2

and men of every condition acclaimed or acknowledged the Lord. The advent of Jesus and his first coming to the Temple thus take on a cosmic character. They both incorporate and answer the Temple's own cosmic prayer3 since they foreshadow the time when the whole 4 creation will once more become the temple of God. St John's account of the purification of the Temple by the expulsion of those who bought and sold and exchanged currency there, differs

8

Luke

2.

34

may be compared

with 20. 18. (On the latter passage, see below

*

9 Cf. the Invitatorium for the Feast of 2 February in the Roman Breviary: "Ecce venit ad templum sanctum suum Dominator Dominus. Gaude et laetare Sion occurrens Deo tuo." 1 Cf. the Introit of the Mass for 2 February in the Latin nte; 'Suscepimus

in medio templi sancti tui; secundum nomen tuum tua in fines terrae: justitia plena est dextera tua." * Non solum ab angelis et prophetis, et pastoribus, sed etiam a senioribus et justis generatio Domini accipit testimonium. Omnis aetas et uterque sexus, eventorumque miracula fidem astruunt. Virgo generat, sterilis parit, rrmtus vidua loquitur, Elisabeth prophetat, magus adorat, in utero Joannes exultat, confitetur, Justus expectat" St Ambrose, Lib. 2 in Lucam> n. 58 (P.L., 15, 1573). 8 See above, p. 94. 4 See below, p* 244.

Deus misericordiam tuam ita et laus

Jesus

and the Temple

121

somewhat from that of the other three Evangelists, although between the latter themselves there are also slight variations which as usual reflect the interests and the editorial work of each of them. 6 An

inquiry into the exact meaning of these important passages should be made easier by the accompanying synoptic table. The most notable difference between the Gospels concerns the time when the episode took place. The Synoptics, who only mention one occasion when Jesus came up to Jerusalem for the Pasch, put this scene at the end of our Saviour's life on the day after his messianentry into Jerusalem (Palm Sunday). His action and here they agree with St John gave rise to an outburst of opposition towards him on the part of the Temple authorities, the chief priests, the scribes and the elders, who from that moment determined he should die. Jesus was attacked in regard to his mission. By what authority had he acted ? But this argument which centres round a sign in St John and is closely linked with the cleansing of the Temple, deals in the Synoptics with the action and the teaching of Jesus in a more general way and only takes place on the following day (Tuesday) or even later in the week. Each evangelist has reconstructed the episode in accordance with his own plan and uses a logical rather than a chronological order. St Luke, who may have been more favourably inclined towards the 6 Temple, is not very interested in the episode which implies a universalism that, for him, begins at Pentecost. His account is colourless and muted. St Mark's is the most lively and the most graphic and so we have put it first. It accentuates the prophetic, universalist scope of Christ's intervention, by keeping the words "among all the nations" in the passage Jesus quotes from Isaias (56. 7). In the Synoptics, only the visit for the last Pasch at Jerusalem is mentioned, and this is clearly done as part of a general scheme. It is undoubtedly true that Jesus came up to Jerusalem on several occasions with his 7 disciples. Hence the order they adopt is not to be taken as strictly ic

6 Special studies (other than general commentaries) F. M. Braun, "L'expulskm des vendeurs du Temple/' in Rev. bibl, 38 (1929), pp. 178-200; R. H. Lightfoot, The Gospel Message ofSt Mark, Oxford, 1950, Ch. 5, pp. 60-9 (St Mark), and 6, pp. 70-9 (St John); T. W. Manson, The Cleansing of the Temple, 1951 (we know the title but have not read the book); S. Mendner, "Die Tempelreinigung" in Zeitsch.f. Ntl Wiss., 47 (1956), pp. 92-112. Cf. also, below p. 123, n. 4, p. 129, n. 9. 6 This is pointed out by E. Lohmeyer (Kultus und Eyangelium, Gdttingen, 1942), who sees little in Matthew and Mark but opposition to the Temple worship. Wenschkewitz ("Die Spiritualisierung" ., ArrEAOS, 4 [1932], pp. 170 seq.) points out also the sympathy towards the Temple which is characteristic of the accounts of the Infancy. 7 The Synoptics themselves presuppose this: cf. Matt. 23, 77; Luke 13. 34. :

.

.

122

The Mystery of the Temple

We therefore prefer to accept Fr Braun's the argument regarding passages concerned and his reconstruction of the probable sequence of events. 8 St John for his part also follows an ideological order but there

historical

and chronological.

can be no doubt that in doing so he is only revealing the meaning of what actually took place. His whole Gospel is inspired by this principle. He is particularly anxious to show how "the Jews" refused to receive Jesus Christ, although

Our Lord made

it

abundantly clear

he was through his teaching and by "signs". 9 These "signs" are precisely those whose theology St John very clearly elucidates, and which in the Gospel context and later in the Church, make faith possible for those who are offered the "sign" precisely so that they may believe. St John was even anxious to emphasize that the signs had been exhibited in the full gaze of the public, at Jerusalem, in the framework of the great feasts attended by so many people, in the presence of the official leaders of the nation and the Temple authorities. Jesus was not only the "Galilean" as the first three evangelists might lead one to think; he had shewn himself often

who

enough in Judea, at Jerusalem, in the Temple itself. And John goes on to show in more detail and with more precision than the Synoptics, how the Baptist who was considered by all to be a prophet

8

"1

.

He himself sums up his conclusions as follows (article quoted, pp. 199-200): The expulsion of the merchants and the argument with the Jews are not really

closely and necessarily linked except in the fourth Gospel. In the Synoptic Gospels, the connection between the two episodes is very probably a literary one only and it gives us not the real sequence of events but their logical outcome. 2. In spite of the fact that two arguments are mentioned, the expulsion of the merchants with which the account deals in both cases is one and the same fact. St John has placed the incident at the right time whilst it has been transposed by the first three evangelists to a date following the triumph of Palm Sunday. It is included in the events leading to the conflict with the Sanhedrim shortly before the Passion. 3. On the other hand, although there is only one expulsion involved, the altercation with the Jews as reported in John 2. 18-22 is not the same as that in Matt. 2L 23-7 and in the parallel passages in the other two Gospels, The first argument really took place at the time of the expulsion and the other is merely part of the controversies of the final week of Our Lord's life." Other authors prefer the order in the Synoptics, e.g., J. Jeremias, Jesus als Weltwllender, Giitersloh, 1930, p. 41. According to this writer, John has linked the purification of the Temple with the marriage feast of Cana because the two episodes have the same meaning, that is, the replacement of the old Dispensation by the new. But the order in the Synoptics is historically more accurate since the purification or renewal of the Temple ought to follow the enthronement of the Messias of which Palm Sunday is a foreshadowing. 9 Compare in connection with this paragraph the interesting suggestions of J. Oiivieri, Rev. bibl, 35 (1926), pp. 382-95.

Dom

Jesus and the Temple

123

and had been John's own first master, had expressly borne witness to Jesus before a kind of official board of inquiry sent from Jerusalem 1

(John 1. 19-34). So when, a few days later, after an interval during which he made a brief appearance in Galilee, Jesus came to Jerusalem for the Pasch, went up to the Temple and drove out the merchants and the money-changers, his action must have seemed to the "Jews" who intervened on this occasion and asked him for a sign, the action of the very man whom the Baptist had so expressly declared to be "God's chosen one". In these circumstances, John's placing of the episode of the cleansing of the Temple is highly significant. The episode opens the public life of Jesus with a prophetic even a messianic proclamation, which comes directly to the point and penetrates to the heart of the whole matter. Does this mean that John sets the episode at the precise time when it took place ? The method of writing used by the evangelists does not force us to think so, but we are almost certain that he does and for the following reasons: 1. St John's concern for historical and geographical accuracy and the value of his Gospel in this regard. This is widely if not generally admitted today; 2. the fundamental harmony between our four Gospels in spite of superficial appearances to the contrary. One fact stands out and it is a remarkable one. The Gospels agree in placing the cleansing of the Temple at the time of Jesus's first visit there in the context of his public ministry, that is, after the Baptist had declared who he was and had baptized him. 2 They also agree in that they link, in one way or another, this exercise and manifestation of Jesus's (messianic) mission and power with John's mission and the proclamation he had made concerning Jesus. 3 Finally, they agree in representing this episode of his first visit to the Temple and his cleansing of it, as a moment as the decisive moment in Jesus's public life. It is the great turning point, Christ's Rubicon, as E. F. Scott ventured to write. 4 All this shows clearly the fundamental 1 John 1. 35 seq. John, who indicates himself by the phrase "the disciple who Jesus loved**, appears in his own Gospel, though anonymously, as the type of the disciple, just as Judas is the type of the "Jews" who reject Jesus Christ (hence the detail in 13. 30). note with R. H. Lightfoot (op. cit., p. 70) that the expression "the Jews" occurs only four times in the three Synoptics as a whole, but more than 50 times in St John. 2 This, as we know, marked the beginning of Jesus's specifically messianic work: cf. Acts 1. 21-2; 10. 37 (Matt. 4. 17; Mark 1. 1; Luke 1. 2; 3. 23). 8 For John the Baptist cf. what we have written above, following Olivieri (mentioned on p. 122). In the case of the Synoptics, cf. Jesus's answer in the argument on his mission and authority. Although this argument may not have taken place immediately after the actual driving out of the merchants, yet it is connected with it (see the synoptic table). 4 The Crisis in the Life of Jesus, London, 1953 ; this crisis in the life of Jesus is the cleansing of the Temple.

We

Dom

M.O.T.

5*

The Mystery of the Temple

124

Identity of the facts that are reported. However, since St John adds data of his own and so takes us more deeply into the mystery

of Jesus and the Temple, we shall first explain the scene in the context of the Synoptics and then deal with the decisive verbum Domini added to the story by St John. We return then to the accounts (see the synoptic table) and take St Mark's as a basis. Jesus's act is first of all one of religious and reforming zeal. He is 5 attacking an abuse. St John tells us that the disciples then remembered the sentence in Psalm 68(69). 10: "I am consumed with jealousy for the honour of thy house." At this level we may recall, as a significant parallel, the action of Nehemias expelling the Ammonite official Tobias from a room that had been placed at his disposal

by the

priest Eliasib (Neh. 13.

to be found

among the Anna had

4

seq.).

A

worldly

spirit

was always

priests and we know from Josephus that the interests in the extraordinarily flourishing

high priest 6 trade in animals for the Pasch and for the sacrifices. But there is far more than reforming zeal in what Jesus did. His intervention is prophetic in kind and style. We are reminded of the prophecies of Michaeas, Isaias, Ezechiel, above all, of Jeremias when he was commissioned "to root them up and pull them down, overthrow and lay them in ruins'* (1. 10) and sorrowfully interpreted his mission as applying to the Temple. Like the prophets, Jesus alludes to the will of the Father that the Temple should have a different regime from the one in operation; this is a prophecy in the most formal sense. Like the prophets too, who in their opposition to the malpractices and the spirit of dishonesty in worship and sacrifice were not content merely to fight against abuses but proclaimed the real nature of the sacrifices which

God truth

desired, so Jesus indicates that the worship in Spirit and in is to replace the worship of the Mosaic regime. The sacrament

of his body and blood, which he himself will institute, is to be the supreme consummation of this worship in Spirit and in truth. St In view of the prophetic and even messianic way in which Jesus accomplished reforming act, inspired by religious zeal, there is no need to follow Pere Joiion (article quoted, p. 340) and to hold that Jesus drove the merchants only from the Women's Court and the Court of Israel, thus confining them, as does the Jerusalem Talmud, to the porticoes and the Gentiles* Court. He drove them purely and simply from the hieron, 6 Josephus, Ant., XX, 205 (Schrenk, in TheoL Wort. z. N.T., t 3, p. 235, 13). We must remember that the cleansing of the Temple took place at Paschal time. An eyewitness tells us that he saw a flock of 3,000 sheep arrive together at the Temple for the Pasch (cf. Schrenk, p. 235, 8 seq,). We have to imagine the whole scene not indeed as a regular set-to, but certainly as a trial of strength. In any case, Jesus used a whip. fi

this

Jesus

and

the

125

Temple

7 Augustine in fact notes that it was not a heinous sin to sell in the precincts of the hieron what was necessary for the fulfilment of obligations concerning worship imposed by a Law coming from God. Yet

Jesus drives out the oxen, the sheep and the pigeons. He is really proclaiming the fulfilment of what had been foretold by the prophets:

What do

I care, the Lord says, those victims of yours ?

how you

multiply

have had enough and to spare. Burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of stall-fed beasts, and the blood of calves and lambs and goats are nothing to me. Think you it is a welcome sound, the tramp of your feet I

in

bringing worship such as yours ? Vain offerings, bring them no more; your very incense is an abomination

my courts,

8 .

.

.

And the psalms, putting into words the remarkable piety of "the poor servants of Yahweh", go into greater detail and are more positive:

I do not find fault with thee over thy sacrifices: why, all day long thy burnt-offerings smoke before me. But the gifts I accept are not cattle from thy stock, or buck-goats from thy folds;

own

already every beast in the forest . . hungry, I will not complain of it to thee, who am master of earth and all that earth contains.

I

if I I,

.

am

Wouldst thou have me eat bull's flesh, and drink the blood of goats ? The sacrifice thou must offer to God is

7

8

a

sacrifice

Tract. 10 in Joan., Isa.

1.11-13;

cf.

of praise. 9

4

(P.L., 35, 1468).

Amos 5. 25-7; Jer. 7. 21-3

;

Ps. 49(50). 10-13, etc.,

and above,

pp. 71 seq. 9

Ps. 49(50). 8-14. A. Causse rightly remarks that in the synagogue worship of the Diaspora and among the "poor" ('andwtm; on this point, cf. pp. 114 and 147), the prayer of thanksgiving and the homage of the lips represent the supreme religious act: cf. Ps. 68(69). 31 seq.; 140(141). 2 ("Le mythe de la nouvelle Jerusalem du Deut&ro-fisaie a la III6 Sybille", in Rev. Hist. Phil, relig., 18 (1938), pp. 377-414; cf. p. 392, n. 32). In addition see Ps. 50(51). 18 seq,;

Prov. 15.

8, etc.

The Mystery of the Temple

126

No

no offering was thy demand; that thou hast given me an ear ready to listen.

sacrifice,

enough

Thou

hast not found any pleasure in burnt-sacrifices,

in sacrifices for sin.

See then,

I said, I

am coming

to

fulfil

what

of me, where the book to

do thy

will,

O my

God,

is all

my

desire.

is

lies

written

unrolled;

1

Later when we reach the application of this great passage to Jesus Christ in the Epistle to the Hebrews (10. 5-9) we shall see how literally Jesus was to achieve it and how closely this theology of sacri-

man's offering of himself (in other words his to God's obedience will) is bound up with the episode of the loving cleansing of the Temple. Jesus drives out the animals, the "matter" of the legal offerings, because the time has come for men to adore in Spirit and in truth, the hour of true sacrifice is here, a sacrifice essentially identical with prayer "my house shall be known for a house of prayer" for prayer itself, true prayer, is communion in the will of God. We shall see too how this sacrifice on man's part exists and is perfected only in his participation in the Eucharistic sacrifice, the host and the chalice of our Lord's own obedience. St Mark quotes in full the passage from Isaias to which Jesus refers Isaias 56. 7 (the whole section should be re-read as quoted above, p. 78), "my house shall be known among all the nations for a house of prayer". It is the fulfilment by Jesus of what Isaias prophesied as a future event, which gives to Jesus's action here a messianic value, since the coming of the nations to Yahweh was linked by the 2 prophets with a messianic future. In the Synoptic Gospels, this universalist prospect is clearly revealed in the episode of the withered fig tree which actually forms the "frame" in which the scene of the 3 cleansing of the Temple is set, and in the parable of the wicked fice as consisting in

:

1

BJ translation (2nd edition) connects the words "my to the next strophe. Cf. the prophetic theme of obedience as preferable to sacrifice: 1 Kings 15. 22; Osee 6. 6 (quoted by Jesus: Matt. 9, 13: 12. 7): Jer. 7. 22; Ps. 49(50). 7 seq. 2 This is R, H. Lightfoot's view, op. et be, cit; cf. above, pp. 77 seq. 3 Cf. Lightfoot, loc, cit.; Hoskyns, The Fourth Gospel, pp. 197-8. When Jesus first came to the Temple, the Jewish people welcomed him in the persons of Ps, 39(40), 7-9a; the

God"

Simeon and Anna, both old and withered by age, yet still alive. Now the fig is withered and dead. It is worth noting that St Luke who reports the welcome given by Simeon and Anna, omits the episode of the barren fig tree, although he includes the parable of the wicked husbandmen. tree

Jesus and the Temple

husbandmen. 4

It is therefore linked, historically at least,

127

with the

fact of Israel's infidelity.

Already on several occasions Jesus had declared that he was

remove the prohibitions laid down by the Mosaic Law against certain categories of Jews. He had healed lepers and this was equivalent to restoring them to the community of worship entitled to

from which their taint excluded them. When he had entered the city on Palm Sunday he had allowed the lame and the blind to come to him in the Temple to be cured by him although the Law excluded them (Matt. 21. 14-15; Lev. 21. 18; 4 Kings 5. 8). These acts were already messianic in character (cf. Matt. 11. 3-5). But when he proclaimed that the hieron was to be, in accordance with God's will, a house of prayer for all peoples, Jesus was declaring that the barrier between a Court accessible to the Gentiles and the precincts accessible to Jews alone, was now abolished. He declared henceforward nonexistent the wall of separation whose engraved notices forbade nonJews to go beyond it under pain of death. The time had in fact come when the Father would be adored no longer on Garizim or at Jerusalem but in Spirit and in truth (John 4. 21, 24). But for this hour really to strike, the Jews, whilst believing they were defending and saving

Temple by putting Jesus to death, were in reality to open the spring of living water flowing from the side of the spiritual temple. By decreeing that one man should die for the people, they were in reality accomplishing our Lord's intention to die "and not only for the nation's sake, but so as to bring together into one all God's the

children, scattered far

He

and wide" (John

11. 52).

our bond of peace; he has made the two nations one, breaking down the wall that was a barrier between us, the enmity there was between us, in his own mortal nature. He has put an end to the law with its decrees, so as to make peace, remaking the two human creatures as one in himself; both sides, united in a single body, he would reconcile to God through his cross, inflicting death, in his own person, upon the feud. So he came, and his message was of peace for you who were far off, peace for those who were near; far off or near, united in the same Spirit, we have access through him to the Father (Eph. 2. 14-18).

The

is

discussion

on the mission or the authority which enabled Jesus it is in the episode itself by St John and

to act thus, included as

4 Cf. Matt. 20, 1-16. In this connection cf. A. Feuillet, "Les ouvriers de la vigne et la th6ologie de Falliance", in Rech. Sc. rel, 34 (1947), pp. 303-27.

The Mystery of the Temple

128

later in the narrative

by the Synoptics,

is

much

to the point. It

is

also understandable that Jesus should have given an interim and him plainly declarpartly ambiguous answer. This did not prevent messianic title, and ing his superiority over David and Abraham, his even his divine nature. But what is to be noted at this point is that, in the Mosaic Temple, Jesus proclaimed a new law, a new order, founded on his death and resurrection. It was in the name of a new eschatoon Easter Day, that Jesus logical and messianic law promulgated

acted as he did. He does not clearly say this in the Synoptics. He does so expressly, if rather obscurely, in St John's account. But he did make this declaration on many occasions during a large number of other episodes, some of which we shall soon have to study or at least to mention. We repeat, the foundation of all this and of all the new economy, the sacraments and the Church, is the death and resurrection of Our Lord. may thus understand why, in keeping with a symbolism on which the Epistle to the Hebrews draws to a certain extent (13. 12),

We

Jesus wished to offer his sacrifice (that is, to die and to rise again) outside the city and its Temple. He did so, says St Leo, because the ancient sacrifices had become of no avail, and so a new victim was to be offered on a new altar, and the cross of Christ was to become the 5 no longer of the Temple but of the World. St John Chrysostom "There was a reason", interpreted the same mystery in the same way. he says, "why Christ's sacrifice was not consummated in an enclosed, covered place or in the Temple: it was to prevent the Jews claimit was offered for the ing it as exclusively theirs, and to show that whole world. God had indeed ordered the Jews to offer sacrifice and to pray in one particular place. This was because the earth was full of the sacrifices and impurities of idolatry. But when Christ came, when he suffered death outside the city, he purified the whole earth,

altar

he made any place whatsoever suitable for prayer. It is surely this which St Paul means when he writes that we are to pray in all places, from all anger and dispute lifting up hands that are sanctified, free 6 2. Tim. 8)." (1 Thus Jesus gave his Church the basis of the real theology of the Temple, the theology we have seen put forward with inspired lucidity

by St Stephen. He also laid the foundation of true universalism since the two factors universalism and the Temple are intimately 5

Ut veterum victimarum cessante mysterio, nova hostia novo imponetur crux Christ! non templi esset ara, sed mundi", Sermo 59 (de Passione

altari. et

5 (P L 54 340) De eruce et latrone, horn. 2, 1 (P.G., 49, 409); a slightly shortened and somewhat different text is reproduced in St Augustine's works: cf. App. Sermo 155, 8)

3 (P.L., 39, 2048).

Jesus and the Temple

129

linked, as we saw, by the prophets. The nations will no longer have to come to Jerusalem to find God, Jerusalem henceforth is in all

places where, with faith in Jesus Christ and in obedience to the Father's will, men are established in Christ's body the Church, and at the

same time

in Spirit and in truth. that these explanations go beyond the strictly literary of the account of the cleansing of the Temple. Yet we

It is clear

framework

believe that all this was really involved in Jesus's action and that he himself was perfectly conscious of the fact. It is also clear that we have passed beyond not only all reforming zeal but the prophetic prospect as such and have entered the messianic realm properly so called. 7 The remarkable thing is that these three are here mutually interdependent, and that when the prophetic sphere transcends that of religion and then the messianic sphere that of prophecy, the transcendent movement originates in the truth of the previous stage itself and from the profound respect shown for this truth. It is because the zeal of God's house consumes him that Jesus acts prophetically and it is because he fulfils the prophecies that he acts as Messias. This is a palmary instance of the truth which has been so well expressed by S. Fumet 8 "We have no right to deny the limits which we have not transcended ... As long as we have not risen above a commandment or a rule, as long as we have not mastered it ourselves how? by doing more than it obliges us to do, ... we are still within the limited area which the commandment or the rule :

represents.

.

.

.'*

2. Our extended explanation of the cleansing of the hieron has already led us into the realm of Jesus's assertions in regard to the naos or sanctuary. Yet these assertions have their own proper data which it is now time to examine with St John as our main guide. 9 The fourth Gospel does in fact narrate the episode of the cleansing of the Temple in special terms. According to it, not only did the Jews ask by what "sign" Jesus justified his mission, but the Master

7 And even the eschatological realm. On the prophetic and eschatological import of the episode of the cleansing of the Temple cf. below, pp. 131 seq., 147. *UImpatience des limites. Petit traite du Firmament, Lyons, 1942, pp. 29-30;

cf. p. 37. 9 In addition to the commentaries on St John (Lagrange; Ed. Hoskyns [as long ago as Sept. 1920 in Theology]; C. H. Dodd, 1953), cf. A. M. Dubarle, "Le signe du Temple (John 2. 19)*', in Rev. bibL, 48 (1939), pp. 21-44 ; R. H. Lightfoot, "The Cleansing of the Temple in St John's Gospel" in The Expository Times, 60 (1948-9) (repeated in the work quoted above p. 121); X. L. Dufour, "Le Melanges signe du Temple selon saint Jean", in Rech. de Sc. relig., 39 (1951 J. Lebreton, I), pp. 155-75.

130

The Mystery of the Temple

also answered this question in the following words: "Destroy this temple (naos), and in three days I will raise it up again." The sentence is certainly authentic since, according to Matthew and Mark, "false witnesses' used it to bring an accusation against Jesus, and the passers'

by on the Friday afternoon repeated

it

to

mock our

crucified Lord. 1

noteworthy that in both cases it is the word naos that recurs, whereas in the Synoptics (as well as in John 2. 14 and 15) the episode of the purification of the Temple is described as taking place in the

It is

Naos indicates the sanctuary in which Yahweh dwelt, in particular the Holy of Holies, and not only the sacred place or the house in which men came into contact with him in prayer. hieron.

In his account of the false witnesses who stated that Jesus himself intended to destroy the Temple, St Mark adds "I will destroy this temple that is made by men's hands, and in three days I will build another, with no hand of man to help me" The word "made by men's hands", %st,pono(r)To<;, is used of idols in the O.T.; false gods made by men's hands. But this is not the kind of context alluded to here, nor again in St Stephen's speech, Acts 7. 48: cf. above, p. 48, Nor is there any reason to posit, for example, any Hellenistic or Stoic influence, which may have crept into St Mark's text from the vocab2 ulary of the community. It is highly probable that the expression :

is an original one and that the false witnesses in using it were repeating a saying of Jesus, which contrasted an earthly building with a heavenly gift. And this is an idea found in the O.T. 3 and very

1 For the false witnesses cf. Mark 14. 57 seq., and Matt. 26. 60-1, and for Good Friday, Mark 15. 29-30 and Matt. 27. 39-40. See our table, p. 120. Although St Luke does not report this, yet there is an echo of it in a passage that represents an independent tradition: Acts 6. 14. See also the addition in the so-called Western text of Mark 13. 2: "and in three days it will rise again without the hand (of man)". Cf. A, Hoffmann, "Das Wort Jesu von der Zerstorung und dem Wiederaufbau des Tempels", Neutestamentliche Studien fur G, Heinrici, Leipzig, 1914, pp. 130-9: cf. pp. 135 seq. With Hoffmann, M. Goguel admits the authenticity of this phrase of Jesus's which he thinks ran, "I will destroy this Temple and, in three days, I will build another", ("La parole de Jesus sur la destruction et la reconstruction du temple", in "Congres d'histoire du Christianisme [Jubile A. Loisyl Paris, 1928, t. 1, pp. 117-36). 2 The two words, %8iQOTcotr]Tog, dxeiQonofyros, are connected with the answer given in the apostolic writings to Jews and pagans who reproached the Christians for not having any temples: cf. Acts. 7. 48; 17. 34; Heb. 9. 11, 24; cf. Col. 2. 11 ; Eph. 2. 11 cf. C. F. D. Moule, "Sanctuary and Sacrifice in the Church of the New Testament", in Journal of Theol Stud., 1950, pp. 29-^1. 3 For instance, in Isaias, the contrast between help coming from men and help coming from God: in Michaeas 5. 6, the idea of the Remnant that comes from God and owes nothing to human power; in the Psalms and elsewhere, the idea of "God's right hand" and what it achieves; the prophecy of the new covenant and a new heart which God is to give, etc. Daniel 2. 34 and the Jewish apocalyptic writings might also be mentioned; cf. below, note 5 and seq. ;

Jesus and the Temple

131

4

frequently in the Gospels. Since the destruction of Jerusalem and the dispersion (either by exile or the diaspora), the hopes of the Jews had centred on the rebuilding of the Temple, which had been prophesied in terms that went beyond the normal historical order, and

was linked to the idea that the Gentiles would be converted in great numbers and turn towards the true God. 5 The historical reality was so uncertain, so full of humiliations, that this hope denied it by passing beyond it. It was admitted that the Temple, profaned by Antiochus Epiphanius, would be destroyed and replaced by one more 6 perfect before the inauguration of the messianic era. Or else it was and more believed, willingly, that it was the Messias who would rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple in great splendour. 7 And since messianism and eschatology are closely intermingled, the Temple was sometimes thought of as new indeed, but as a heavenly one. 8 It has occasionally been considered surprising that Jesus was not condemned as a direct result of his words concerning the Temple, but it seems to us likely that, in the whole context we have described, the high 9 priest's question: "Art thouthe Christ, the Son of the blessed God?" is not unconnected with the accusation brought in regard to the Temple. But we must return to the words of St John written long

4 For the opposition between the new order of the Gospels and the former system, see Mark 2. 18-22; Matt. 9. 14-17; Luke 5. 34-9: "You have heard that it was said to the men of old But I tell you"; new cloth and new wine (Cf. J. Jeremias, Jesus als Weltvollender, Gutersloh, 1930, pp. 21 seq.); the new covenant (Matt. 26. 28; Luke 22. 20); the Kingdom of the Heavens', the true bread from heaven (John 6. 31 seq.); the vineyard given to others (Mark 12. 9), .

.

.

etc. 6

In addition to the prophets (see above, pp. 77 seq.) see especially Ezech. 40-4, in the canonical books, Tobias 13. 15-23; 14. 6-9, and in the apocalyptic literature, Ethiopic Henoch 90. 28 seq.; cf. 91. 13 (E. Kautzsch, Apocr. u. Pseudepigr. des A.T., t. 2, pp. 297 and 300); and in a much more vague manner, Apoc. cf.

4 and 5 (pp. 413-14). For texts dating from before

Bar., 6

A.D. 70, see references in Schrenk, in article quoted, p. 238, n. 40; cf. M. Simon, "Retour du Christ et reconstruction du Temple dans la pens6e chr&ienne primitive" (in Aux Sources de la tradition chretienne, Mel M. Goguel, Neuchatel-Paris, 1950, pp. 247-57), p. 248. 7 Cf. F. Weber, Judische Theologie auf Grund des Talmud und verwandter Schriften, 2nd edn. , Leipzig, 1 897, pp. 374-6. After the year A.D. 70, the rebuilding of the Temple was attributed preferably to God and rarely to the Messias: Strack-Billerbeck, t. 1, pp. 1003-4; Schrenk, in article quoted, p. 239, 1. 24 seq.; J. Bonsirven, Le judafsme palestinien au temps de J^sus-Christ, Paris, 1930, pp. 400-1. 8 See G. Schrenk, art. hq6v, in Theol Worterb. z. N.T., t. 3, pp. 239-40. On the city of Jerusalem prepared in heaven for the end of time cf. L. Cerfaux, La iheol de rglise suivant S. Paul (Unam Sanctam, 10), Paris, 1942, pp. 277-8. 8 Mark 14. 61; Matt. 26. 63 ("the Son of God"); Luke 22. 66. In the work quoted above, p. 130, M. Goguel deserves the credit for haying clearly shown that the high priest's question follows quite logically on the evidence supplied regarding the Temple. The two accusations are coherent and the account authentic.

The Mystery of the Temple

132

of Easter and light of the experiences Jesus said as of what the with us meaning Pentecost. They provide well as with its actual content. The words are: "destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up again" and their meaning "the temple he was speaking of was his own body". This passage has been very carefully studied (A. M. Dubarle, after the event

and in the

X. L. Dufour, quoted on p. 129, n. 9) and we shall not comment on it it in detail nor explain how the Jews could have understood the in ourselves are place We solely and seen it as a "sign". putting of "St John's readers" and at the time when they read these words. We have only to follow the theological teaching he offers us in the context of his account of the events. He adds two pieces of information of decisive importance: 1. The true sanctuary is the body of Christ (v. 21). 2. It is so only because it is destroyed and then raised 1 We shall take these two points in turn and link them with

up

again.

other passages or episodes that have the same meaning, 2 1. The true sanctuary is the body of Christ. In his search for a way to convey the depths of the meaning of Jesus Christ in the world, St John considered he could not do better than to turn to the Jewish concepts of the Word, Indwelling and came to dwell among Glory. "And the Word was made flesh, and 3 us ; and we had sight of his glory." The new and decisive event which had come to pass in Jesus Christ had, at one and the same time, and fulfilled all the modes of replaced and so made redundant God's presence among his people, by his Word and by his Glory (cf. above, p. 10), in his Tabernacle or his Temple. It has been very often remarked that to signify this Presence of the Word (Verbum) to live in a tent. us, St John returned to the verb

among

ctKyvovv,

This verb evoked not only the Presence during the Exodus, but, by in its very spelling and sound, the shekinah or Presence as understood Jewish theology. 1 St John, who is fond of using words with more than one meaning, wrote tyQ&, from a word which means to rise again but also to erect (a building for instance). The Western addition in Mark 13. 2 (cf. p. 130, n. 1) has 2 In connection with what follows here, see: L. Bouyer, La Bible et VEvangile. Le sens de V Venture. Du Dieu qui parle au Dieu fait homme (Lectio divina, 8),

Rev. Thomiste, 52 Paris, 1951 (passim)', F. M. Braun, "In Spiritu et Veritate" in als Weltvolknder (Beitr. z. (1952), pp. 245-74, 485-507; J. Jeremias, Jesus above Forderung christl TheoL, 33-4), Giitersloh, 1930. Cf. E. Lohmeyer, quoted p. 121. 3 John 1. 14. In addition to the studies by Bouyer and Braun mentioned in the previous note, we may draw attention to W. Manson, The Incarnate Glory, which we only know by its title, and the very fine chapter 6 (pp. 57-68) in A. M. Ramsey's, The Glory of God and the Transfiguration of Christ, London, 1949. In his fine commentary (Le Prologue de S. Jean: Lectio divina, 11, Paris, 1953),

Fr M.-E. Boismard does not develop the

aspect of Indwelling.

Jesus and the Temple

This Presence of the substantial bodily form

Mary from

(cf.

the

Col

2.

9)

Word

of

133

God

in

human and

womb of the Virgin she declared her submission to

began in the

moment when

the will of God. The Holy Spirit had overshadowed her, 4 and the Presence of God on earth in our humanity had begun. It is

not surprising that the Fathers and the liturgy have linked together the mystery of Christmas and the mystery of the Temple. 5 But these points are more in place in the theological synthesis which will conclude our study of the biblical evidence. At the moment we must call attention to those actions and words of Jesus through which he declared that he was himself the true Presence and the true Temple.

We

shall take them principally from the fourth Gospel because especially presents the personal mystery of Jesus as he himself revealed it. The first three Gospels contain chiefly the tidings and the it

revelation of the Kingdom. Yet they recount for us certain episodes where Jesus shows that he is the Presence. When, for instance, he says: "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there in the midst of them" (Matt. 18. 20), he is claiming for

himself the place held or the part played by the shekinah in Jewish 6 thought. In the account of the transfiguration, which John omits but the first three Evangelists include, a shining cloud covers Jesus, and so indicates that he is the true Tabernacle. 7 Peter wishes to make three booths (rpeis OKtjvds), one for Jesus, one for Moses and one for Elias, but there is now only one genuine tabernacle, the "be-

4 The verb lmaxideiv (Luke 1. 35) is used once (Ex. 10. 35) in reference to the cloud resting on the tent of meeting. Cf. below p. 256. 5 For the Fathers, see J. Danielou, Bible et Liturgie (Lex Orandi, 11), Paris, 1951, pp. 467-8, the parallel between Christmas and the feast of Taberwith Ps. as link. the nacles, 117(118) As regards the liturgy, there is room for a complete study. See below, Conclusion, and cf. the antiphon of the Magnificat for the Second Vespers of the Circumcision (now the Octave Day of Christmas Translator) ". Templum factus est uterus nesciens virum . Omnes gentes venient dicentes: Gloria jpei .

.

.

:

.

tibi

.

.

.

Domine."

There was a saying which stated that where ten men (the necessary quorum for a meeting of the Synagogue) are gathered together to pray, there is the shekinah (Sanhedrin 39 a ). There are many rabbinical maxims of the type of the following which is from Rabbi Chalaphta (v. 135) (ten, five, three) two men who are sitting together and considering the words of the Law, have the shekinah among them" (Pirke Aboth. III. 6); cf. Rabbi Isaac, a pupil of Johanan and a a third-century homilist who was held in high esteem (Berakot 6 ). Cf. further 6

:

passages in Strack-Billerbeck, 1. 1, pp. 794-5. 7 Matt. 17. 1-8; Mark 8. 2-8; Luke 9. 28-34. Cf. H. Riesenfeld, "J6sus transfigur6. L'arriere-plan du re"cit evangelique de la transfiguration de Notre-Seigneur" (Acta Sent. Neotest. Upsal, edited by J. Fridrichsen, 16), Copenhagen, 1947, especially pp. 130 seq.; A. M. Ramsey, quoted in the following note.

1

The Mystery of the Temple

34

loved Son" 8 to disciples "lifted

whom up

the voice from the cloud refers. When the "saw no man there but Jesus

their eyes" they

only". In the significant episode of the plucking of the ears of com as reported by St Matthew (12. 1-8), and the logion "there is one standing here who is greater than the Temple (fepoV)", Jesus, by declaring he is the master of the Sabbath, shows that he stands in the place of the whole Mosaic religious system with its Sabbath, its loaves, sacrifices and Temple. Finally, when he says to his apostles "And behold I am with you all through the days that are coming, :

until the

consummation of the world" (Matt. 28. 20), he is promising God which will issue from the Twelve as

that, in the new people of Israel issued from the sons

of Jacob, he will bring into being Presence which Yahweh, from the beginning to the end of the Testament, had promised to his people. When Nathanael, at the time he was called to follow Jesus, astonished that Jesus should have known him at a distance

that

Old

was our

shalt see greater things than that. And he said to him, Believe me when I tell you this; you will see heaven

Lord declared: "Thou

opening, and the angels of God going

up and coming down upon the Son of Man" (John 1. 50-1). The meaning and scope of these words cannot be grasped unless we remember the account of Jacob's dream at Bethel, to which Jesus is referring (Gen. 28. 10-17; cf. above, p. 4). Jacob awoke from a sleep during which he saw, in a dream, a ladder linking heaven and earth, and angels were going up and down upon it. He said: "What a fearsome place is this! This can be nothing other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven!" Henceforth "the bridge between heaven and earth no longer leads as in the past to a particular place on earth ... to a stone, but to a

man

in

whom

the glory of

The heavens are open, but the one

God

single point of

is

made

visible".

9

communication

the stone, the "house" at or in which prayer and offering ascend and grace and revelation descend, is the living person of the Word made flesh as he dwells among us (John L 14; Col. 2. 9) and has

promised to remain with us until the end of the world (Matt. 28. 20). Another episode and we are now back with the Synoptics 8 Cf. St Jerome and St Augustine quoted by A. M. Ramsey, The Glory of God and the Transfiguration of Christ, London, 1949, p. 131. The Word, to whom they are to listen, the beloved Son, must also endure the Passion: Luke 9. 31 and cf. the statement common to the three Synoptics that from this time forward, Jesus

spoke of his Passion to the apostles. 9 O. Cullmann, Les sacrements dans Tevangile johannique, la vie de Jgsus et le culte de PSglise primitive, Paris, 1951, p. 43. Cf. J. Jeremias, op. cit., p. 51 and "Die Berufung des Nathanael", in APFEAOH, Archiv. /. ntl Zeitgesch, it. Kulturkunde, 3 (1928), pp. 2-5.

Jesus

and

the

135

Temple

shows Jesus declaring that he is the corner, or the coping-stone1 of a new order of things which will take the place of that of Judaism. During discussions between Jesus and the Jewish doctors when the latter were bringing to a head their determination to put him to 2 death, the Master told them the parable of the wicked husbandmen. And as his opponents were scandalized by its conclusion the vineJesus "fastened his eyes on them" yard would be given to others (Luke): "Have you not read this passage in the scriptures?" he demanded, "the very stone which the builders rejected has become the chief stone at the corner; this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?" (Mark). Jesus was using this passage from Psalm 117(118). 22-3 to foretell the events of Easter and his rejection by the Jews to be followed by his exaltation at the hand of God. This exaltation, which is obviously his resurrection, will be God's work. The idea corresponds to that of the temple not made by man's hands by which Jesus meant his sacrificed and risen body as destined to be the true messianic temple. In Luke and in some manuscript versions of Matthew, Jesus added to the passage from Psalm 1 17(1 18) a reference to Isaias 8. 14-15 and doubtless also to Daniel 2. 34 seq., 44 seq. "If ever a man falls against that stone, he will break his bones; if :

its falls

It is

Psalm

upon him

it

will grind

him

to

powder."

3

therefore easy to understand why this same passage from 1 17 together with that from Isaias 28. 16 was one of the staples

of the apostolic apologetic and catechesis and was used to explain the risen Christ takes the place of the entire former religious dispensation and in particular the Temple (cf. Acts 4. 11; Rom. 9. 4 33; 1 Peter 2. 4 and 6-8). The exegetes differ in their precise and

how

1 This is the translation used by J. Huby (Mark) and P. Benoit (Matt.) in B J, whilst Osty (Luke) translates "the corner-stone". The rendering "coping-stone", "keystone" has been defended by J. Jeremias in a series of notes whose documentation has become increasingly extensive, cf. below p. 164, n. 5. It is accepted by L. Cerfaux, La TheoL de Ufiglise suivant S. Paul, Paris, 1948, pp. 260-1; Le Christ dans la Theol. de S. Paul, Paris, 1951, p. 264. 2 Matt. 21. 33-44; Synopsis, 238).

Mark

12.

1-12; Luke 20. 9-19 (the Lagrange-Lavergne

3

Luke 20. 18; cf. 2. 34, above p. 120. Cf. also Matt. 11. 6. Ps. 117(118). 22 and Isa. 28. 16 probably formed part of the collections of texts or Testimonia used by the disciples to establish, as against the Jews, their 4

argument that the Church was the true temple of the messianic era. E. G. Selwyn (The First Epistle of St Peter, London, 1947, pp. 163 and 278) thinks that 1 Peter 2. 6-8 is quoted from a hymn. We prefer the view that it was found in the Testimonia lists as do the authors Selwyn himself quotes on p. 273. To these should be added L. Cerfaux (Rev. Sc. phil theol, 1939, pp. 23 seq.; TheoL de rEglise suiv. S. Paul, pp. 37 seq.) and J. Dupont ("L'utilisation apologetique de 1'A.T. pour la pr6dication et Fapologe"tique chr6t", in Ephem. TheoL Lovan., 26 [1953], pp. 289-327),

The Mystery of the Temple

136

that has been concrete interpretation of the expression "a stone tested ... a corner-stone, a stone of worth, built into the foundations themselves" which Isaias (28. 16) says God is "laying In the foundations of Sion". And he immediately adds: "Hurry to and fro who 6 5 will; faith knows better." Some sound exegetes think the Messias is meant and that the laying of this stone in "Sion" led Isaias to envisage the erection of a building which could only be a temple. Thus he was outlining for the first time a concept which was to have a remarkable history, the concept, that is, of the messianic community as a temple-building established by faith on the "stone" of the Messias. That the apostles adopted this interpretation in the light of the events of Easter and the fact of the Church, is undeniable. Jesus himself, both in his discussions with the Jews before his arrest and condemnation and as far back as his reply to Peter's confession, 7 had in mind the idea of a spiritual building founded on himself, the corner.

.

.

stone, through faith in his own Person, after he had been rejected by the Jews and reinstated by God. And this spiritual building would 8 replace the religious structure of Judaism and the Mosaic Temple. But the immediate and formal sense of the text in Isaias was un9 shall return again shortly doubtedly not so expressly messianic.

We

to the verse in

Psalm 117(118).

P6re Cougar uses the BJ rendering here, "He who believes, will not falter" ne bronchera pas) Translator's note. O. Procksch, Jesaia, t 1 (Leipzig, 1930) pp. 356 seq.; Theologie des A.T., Gutersloh, 1950, p. 193 A. Feuillet, "Le discours de J6sus sur la mine du temple", in Rev, bibL, 1949, p. 74, and the article "Isaie" in SuppL du Diet, de la Bible, col. 668. Fischer (Isaias, t. 1, pp. 188-9) also thinks there is a reference to the Messias. Cf. H. Gressman, Der Messias, Gottingen, 1929, p. 174. J, Lindblom, "Der Eckstein in Jes. 28. 16," in Interpretationes S. Mowinckel missae, 1955, pp. 123-32, com.es to the conclusion that all that is meant is a spiritual temple which Yahweh will build at Jerusalem, the temple of the true religion, based on equity, justice and faith. The messianic interpretation of Psalm 117(119). 22 and Isa. 8. 14-15 was unusual in the rabbinical writings: Strack-Billerbeck, t. 1, 6

(celui qui croit 6

;

p. 876;

t.

3, p. 276.

7

Matt. 16. 18. Cf. O. Cullmann, Saint Pierre ., Neuchatel and Paris, 1952, p. 173, and our own forthcoming study on St Peter in the New Testament. 8 To say, as does H. Wenschkewitz (Die Spiritualisierung ... p. 160), that there is no reference to the Temple in the words of Jesus, but merely, as in rabbinical exegesis, to a raising up following upon humiliation, seems to us to treat in too cavalier a fashion the context with its purification of the Temple, its withered fig-tree and its wicked husbandmen. This context proclaims from beginning to end that one religious system is to give way for another. Cf. below p. 138. 9 In our opinion, it had in mind rather the group of the true faithful, of those who awaited salvation from Yahweh alone, and who were to be the foundation of a Jerusalem renewed and inspired by faith. The fact that Yahweh is now laying this foundation seems to us to imply this meaning. Cf. K. Marti, Jesaia, p. 208; Bible du Centenaire, t. 2, p. 357; Driver, Isaiah, His Life and Times, p. 52; Selwyn, op. cit., p. 158. B. Duhm (Jesaia, p. 175) thinks the reference is to the covenant as the stone of great value, the corner-stone. .

.

137

Jesus and the Temple

he On other occasions too, Jesus was himself would be the Temple. Israel had been the cherished vineyard of God. This symbol was well-known to the prophets and 1 occurs frequently in the Psalms. In the temple as restored by Herod, 2 a golden vine hung from the rafters of the vestibule. It symbolized Israel in the very place where Israel came into the presence of God. But Jesus was also to say: "I am the vine, you are its branches" to state that henceforth

15. 1 and 5). Fr Braun has clearly shown that, according to St John, Jesus came to the Temple for the great religious feasts the Pasch, Pentecost, Tabernacles, the Dedication, and that he publicly proclaimed there that the religious truth which was being celebrated was realized in his own Person. The whole of St John's account of the Passion shows Jesus as the true Lamb of the true Pasch. It was in the con-

(John

:

text of the feast of the Dedication (John 10. 22) that Jesus solemnly stated that the Father had sanctified him and sent him into the 8 world (10. 36). Finally, we have already seen how, on the most solemn day of the feast of Tabernacles, whose special features were prayer for rain during the autumn, the reading or chanting of

from the rock, passages from Scripture describing the water gushing and a procession to the pool of Siloe accompanied by the singing of the passage from Isaias "You shall draw with joy from the springs of salvation", Jesus stood and cried with a loud voice "If any man is if a man believe in me, as thirsty, let him come to me, and drink; yes, the scripture says [of the Messias], fountains of living water shall flow from his bosom" (John 7. 37-8). So Jesus identified himself 4 with the Rock from which Moses had made water gush forth and :

Cf. Osee 10. 1; Isa. 5. 1-7; 27. 2-5; Jer. 2. 21 seq.; Ezech. 15. 1 seq.; 19. 10 9 seq., etc (and the note on John 15. 1 in BJ). ; Ps. 79(80). 2 For references see H. Lestae, article quoted, col. 2065. s Above p. 76, Add to the bibliographical information F.-X. Durwell, La Resurrection de Jesus, mystere de salut, Le Puy and Paris, 1950, pp. 95-102; J. "La liturgie de la nouvelle Jerusalem", in Ephem. Theol. Lovan., 29 1

seq.

Comblin,

(1953), pp. 5-40; cf. pp. 29-32. exodus 4 It was expected that the Messias would repeat the miracles of the the true manna (John 6) (J Jerernias, Jesus als Weltvottender, p. 49). Jesus gives and the true living water (John 4 and 7). St John's Gospel delights in presenting Moses (cf. M.-E. Boismard, "L'Evangile aux quatre dimensions , him as the .. cf. pp.. 105 seq.). e Vie, e, No.. 1,, December 1951,, pp. 93-114: the Pool of Siloe It should be noted that the sending of the man born blind to 9. 7) has the same meaning (and "Siloe" means "sent out", as St John remarks, on the feast of Tabernacles: blessings and salvation will as the .

uumre

New

.

.

proclamation henceforth come from Jesus. the Temple ana wmcn Lastly there was another occasion when Jesus visited we have'not yet mentionedthe occasion of his third temptation (Luke 4. 9). do not necessarily demand a True, the biblical account and its inspired character the part of Jesus. The point on of the the to Temple movement pinnacle physical .

.

The Mystery of the Temple also with the Temple of Ezechiel, Zacharias and Joel, from the side of which a spring of water was to flow: cf. above, pp. 73 seq.: "When that day comes, clansmen of David and citizens of Jerusalem 138

shall

have a fountain flowing openly, of

guilt to rid

them, and of

defilement" (Zach. 13. 1). Jesus truly transferred to his own Person the privilege, long held find God's by the Temple, of being the place where man would communication the of Presence and salvation, and the starting-point

of every form of holiness. 2. Christ's body will be the true sanctuary only by passing through death and resurrection. This is the fact added to his account by St John. He begins by in his descripusing similar expressions to those of the Synoptics tion of the cleansing of the hieron and then writes: "Destroy this

6

it up again, said Jesus." temple (naos\ and in three days I will raise one announcing two There are here prophecies indissolubly linked, the destruction of the Temple, the other announcing the death and resurrection of Jesus. The destruction of the Temple was foretold formed by by Jesus on the Mount of Olives to the little group of Anthe with and exception John these, Andrew; Peter, James, to the same almost him with to take was he whom men the were drew,

to Gethsemani, two days later. He had made a rapid allusion to the destruction of the Temple, doubtless at the moment of their ar7 rival at Jerusalem for his last Pasch. But in John's text, the prophecy of a raising up again is linked with that of the destruction. Further, the 6

place',

are suggesting here keeps its meaning even on the hypothesis of a wholly When Jesus answered Satan: "Thou shalt not put the Lord Deut. 6. 16 dealing thy God to the proof", he was making use of a passage in this is the incident of the water gushing with the Massa-Meriba incident. from the rock struck by Moses's rod :Exod. 17. 1-7; Num. 20. 2-13. This is the same passage to which St John refers when he shows us Jesus as the true rock. a connection 7. 38; 19. 34 and cf. 1 Cor. 10. 4. There is so obvious and so close between these different passages that it seems permissible to think that this context may well have been in our Lord's mind when he was taken (in spirit?) by the devil to the Temple, and, in his answer to him, quoted Deut. 6. 16. Is not Jesus himself the Lord? 5 John 2. 19. For the expression "I will raise it up again" cf. above, p. 132,

we

;

interior temptation.

Now

.

<6

.

,

Mark 13. 1-37; Luke 21. 5-36; Matt. 24. 1-44. Cf. the very fine study XIII et Feuillet, '*Le discours de Jesus sur la ruine du Temple d'apres

Me

A

by Lc

in Rev. bibl., 55 (1948), pp. 481-502; 56 (1949), pp. 61-92. Jesus's reproach to Jerusalem: Luke 13. 34-5; Matt. 23. 37-9 (where there is one more word than in Luke: "Your house is left to you, a house uninhabited"). use the words "an implied allusion" , because it is generally agreed that "your house" refers directly to Jerusalem and not to the Temple: cf. Strack-Billerbeck, t. 1, p. 944; G. Dalman, Les itinemires de Jesus, p. 448.

XXV," 7

We

Jesus and the Temple

139

mysterious statement is explained as involving a transference of meaning from the sanctuary of stone to the body of Christ, which is the true sanctuary but can only be so by passing through a "baptism", that is it must go down into the waters and then rise up from them again (Matt. 10. 38; Luke 12. 50) through death and resurrection. This concept was only grasped by the apostles in the light of the Easter experience, although Jesus had often spoken of it to them 8

previously. St Luke (18. 31; 24. 25, 27, 44 seq.) and perhaps St John (2. 22) quote Jesus as referring to the Scriptures in this connection, but 9 they offer no explanation of the passages to which he alludes. are convinced that a great many passages, events and themes are

We

we would almost venture to say Scripture as a whole. 1 In our view, we are dealing with countless prophecies and numerous

involved,

actual cases of Israel all but condemned by God to destruction and then recalled to life and reinstated. Now in one of these cases and it is of the utmost importance because of this fact the Temple had been involved in the downfall of the nation and had also been restored with the nation. The events of 587 and 538 B.C. have typological significance, so too have those accompanying the great crisis of 168-5 B.C. the persecution and the profanations of Antiochus Epiphanius, the insurrection of the Machabees, the purification of the Temple and the Jewish restoration. To which of these two great tragedies does Psalm 117(118) refer? Was it composed and sung at the time of the post-exilic restoration, on the occasion of the reading of the Law by Esdras and Nehemias and the solemn feast of Tabernacles in 427 or 426, 2 or does it date from the period after the perils of the reign of Antiochus Epiphanius and the victory God

Mark 8. 31; Luke 9. 22); Matt. 17. 22-3 (paral30-2; Luke 9. 44-5); Matt. 20. 17-19 (parallels in Mark 10. 32-4; Luke 18. 31-3); Luke 24. 25-7, 44-6. Cf. also Mark 9. 12. 9 Except St. John if we follow Fr X. L. Dufour (in the article quoted, p. 168) and Fr 3D. Mollat (BJ in he.) and read into v. 22 the quotation in v. 17 from Psalm 68(69) the zeal of Jesus for the house of God will bring about his death. It is true that Psalm 68 is often quoted in the N.T. in relation to the Passion; Matt. 27. 34; John 15. 25; 19. 28; Acts 1. 20; Rom. 11. 9-10; 15. 3. It is also true that the prophets wrote of the servant of God persecuted for his zeal and that they experienced his sufferings in their own lives (Isa. 53; Jer. 15. 10 seq.; cf. Psalm 21(22). Psalm 68(69) must therefore certainly be included in the Scripture references implied by the statement that the Passion was "according to the Scriptures". But it is obviously not the only one. Other scriptural references have been suggested for John 2. 22, e.g. Ps. 15(16). 10 (Westcott, in loc,); Ps. 39(40) (Moule, article quoted, p. 32). 1 We hope one day to deal specifically with this point. 2 Or at the time of the reconstruction of the ramparts in 444, as Fr Baethgen has suggested (Die Psalmen, 1892, p. 358). Fr Gales (op. cit., t. 2, pp. 406-7) would seem, on the whole, to accept this view. 8

Cf. Matt. 16. 21 (parallels in

lels in

Mark 9.

The Mystery of the Temple

140

3 granted to Judas Machabaeus?

that

what

is

a period of

It is certain on any assumption a reconstruction of Sion and the Temple after equivalent to death and from which Yahweh has

meant trial

is

When therefore Jesus quoted Psalm 117(118), 4 prophecy of the ruin of Jerusalem or in that of his Passion and Resurrection under the image of the stone rejected or des5 pised, and afterwards raised up to become the corner or coping-stone, delivered his people. either in his

was indeed by reference to the reconstruction of the profaned or destroyed Temple that he spoke of his body condemned to die and then destined to rise again and thus to become the true sanctuary of the messianic era. it

By

stating that his

body would only become

this

sanctuary by

way

of condemnation to death and a glorious resurrection, he also made it clear that the one true sanctuary is the immolated body. When St John adds: "But the Temple he was speaking of was his own body", he is using, as we shall see, a word which was well established, in the region and at the time in which the Fourth Gospel was written, as a name for the Church. But a&fta was the accepted term for the fleshly body of Christ, especially in connection with his salvific immolation (cf. Col. 1. 22; 1 Peter 2. 24; Heb. 10, 10). e This last reference is particularly important, not only because it is part of an admirable epistle, whose affinities with St John's writings have been made abundantly evident by Fr C. Spicq, 7 but because it comes at the end of a solemn and decisive passage in which the inspired author makes clear the whole purpose of the Incarnation: 10. 4 That sins should be taken away by the blood of and goats is impossible. 5 As Christ comes into the world, he 3

bulls says,

Duhm

(Die Psalmen, Tubingen, 2nd edn., 1922, p. 263), followed by Fr Lagrange (v. selon S. Marc, on Mark 12. 10, Paris, 2nd edn., 1920, p. 289), thinks Psalm 117(118). 22 alludes to a proverb whose origin he takes to be the humble beginnings of the Machabees whom the high priest Alcimus, with the connivance of the scribes, had tried to destroy but who had become the cornerstone of the religious and national revival. This would put the date of the Psalm at

B,

about 150

B.C.

4

Matt. 23. 39; Luke 13. 35, and cf. the entry into the city on Palm Sunday, Matt. 21. 9 (parallel passages in Mark 11. 9; Luke 19. 38); John 12, 13. 6 Complete list of quotations Matt. 2L 42; Luke 20. 17 (parable of the wicked husbandmen); Acts 4. 11 (Peter before the Sanhedrin); 1 Peter 2. 4 seq. Allusions in Eph. 2. 20, the stone that had been rejected; cf. Mark 8. 31 ; Luke 9. 22; 17. 25. The stone that has been despised or scorned: Mark 9. 12; Acts 4. 11. The stone exalted to the Right Hand of Yahweh (v. 16 in Psalm 117[118]); Acts 2. 33 (with the note in BJ); 5. 31. 6 Cf. C. F. D. Moule, article quoted, pp. 31-2. 7 "L'origine johannique de la conception du Christ-prStre dans Pe*pitre aux Btebreux", in Aux Sources de la tradition chr&ienne (M4L M. Goguel), Neuch&tel and Paris, 1950, pp. 258-69; Ufipttreaux Htbreux, I, Introduction, Paris, 1952, pp. 109-38. :

Jesus and the Temple

141

No

sacrifice, no offering was thy demand; thou hast endowed me, 6 Thou hast not found any pleasure in burnt instead, with a body. 7 See then, I said, I am coming to sacrifices, in sacrifices for sin. what is written of me, where the book lies unrolled; to do thy fulfil 8 First he says, Thou didst not demand victim or will, O my God. offering, the burnt sacrifice, the sacrifice for sin, nor hast thou found any pleasure in them; in anything that is, which the law has to offer, and then: 9 I said, See, my God, I am coming to do

thy

will.

wards. fied

10

He must

clear the ground first, so as to build up afterIn accordance with this divine will we have been sancti-

by an

offering

made once

The immolation of

for

all,

the body of Jesus Christ.

the body of Jesus Christ

is

considered in this

great text, under its most profound aspect, Christ's loving submission to the will of the Father. are at the heart of the whole work of

We

Jesus, in a word, the work which his Father had given him to do* It is to this that all God's plan leads, it is here that all its strands are

gathered together, it full implementation.

is

from

We

this point that it moves forward to its after asking for a series of

have seen that

of animals, God had made it the prophets that he expected a better, truer sacrifice, man's offering of himself, that is, the loving obedience of his heart. The new regime, and the new covenant announced by the prophets, were to have this character of inwardness and truth. In the context of the New Testament they are equally characterized by a sacrifices consisting in the offering

known through

9 change from the order of servitude or slavery to the order ofsonship.

The servile order of worship consisted in a legal transfer of property in kind. The filial order of worship, even when it includes the external

common to all liturgical acts, consists chiefly of the movement of love and obedience through which those who have the features

privilege of sonship direct their lives according to the all-loving will

of the Father. This is what the Eucharist supremely is, for it continues the only perfectly filial sacrifice of Jesus Christ, celebrated through the ministry of priests so that, until the end of time, the faithful may share in it both bodily and spiritually. When St John showed us that the true sanctuary is the body of Christ (above, p. 132, section

"The Word was made

and came to dwell among he was already implicitly introducing the whole of this theology of Christ's body as our true temple, immolated as it was by virtue of an entirely filial obedience 1),

and

us and

said:

we had

8

John

9

Cf. Gal. 3. 23 seq.; 4. 1-7, 21-31;

5.

19 seq.;

flesh,

sight of his glory",

8.

28-9; 10. 17-18; 17. 4; 18. 11. Rom. 8. 14-17; Heb.

3.

5-6, etc.

The Mystery of the Temple

142 to the Father's will.

When in fact we attempt to discover what St John

find this theology, as A. M. Ramsey has so remarkably shown. 1 St John really tells us this in the rest of the verse we have just quoted. It sums it all up in one phrase (1. 14): "glory such as belongs to the Father's only-begotten Son '. Christ's glory, the glory which came to dwell among us, consists in his filial action and in his complete dependence in all that he did upon the Father, and in his loving attention to his will. We have only to re-read,

means by "glory", we

3

with

this in

becomes

mind, passages such as John 8. 54; 7. 18; 5. 44, and all we add also 8. 28 and 10. 17-18, 2 we shall under-

clear. If

stand why Jesus, paradoxically though it may seern to us, considers 3 that his glory lies in his Passion. Christ then has dwelt and continues to dwell sacramentally among us. Our temple is the Pasch of Jesus Christ, Jesus giving to the Father and taking up again that bodily life in which the fullness

of the divinity resides.

Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up again. But the temple he was speaking of was his own body.

We

are

now

in a position to be able to grasp the completely new manner in which God and the Temple are present

character of the

in the messianic era.

This

new

character revealed itself in the form of a tragic symbol.

"And

the veil of the temple was torn this way and that, from the 4 top to the bottom." The rending of the veil signifies in the first end of the former system of worship. It is, in a sense, the the place 1

The Glory of God and the Transfiguration of Christ, London, 1949, ch.

6,

especially pp. 65-6.

28 "When you have lifted up the Son of Man, you will recognize that it is myself you look for, and that I do not do anything of my own impulse, but speak as my Father has instructed me to speak." 10. 17-18: "This my Father loves in me, that I am laying down my life, to take it up again afterwards. Nobody can rob me of it; I lay it down of my own accord. I am free to lay it down, free to take it up again; that is the charge which my Father has given me." 3 Cf. John 7. 39; 11. 4; 12. 16 and above all 23. 28; 13. 31-2; 17. 1 and 5. For the mission of the apostles cf. John 17. 19; Gal 6. 14. On this theme with its infinite repercussions see in addition to A, M. Ramsey's book already mentioned, R. Brechet, "Du Christ a Tfiglise. Le dynamisme de 1'Incarnation dans 1'fivangile selon S. Jean", in Divus Thomas (Piacenza), 56 (1953), pp. 67-98; cf. pp. 73 e seq.; A. Vergote, "L'exaltation du Christ en croix selon le IV fivangile", in Ephem. Theol Lovan., 28 (1952), pp. 5-23. 4 Mark 15. 38; Matt. 27. 51; Luke 23. 45: naos. This episode is absent from St John's Gospel in which the corresponding passages mention the time of the preparation for the Pasch, the lance which struck Jesus' s side without breaking his bones, and the water and blood .which then flowed from it (the Christian sacraments and the Spirit). 2

8.

:

Jesus and the Temple

143

breach in the Temple whose destruction Jesus has foretold. It is a sign that the Temple is to lose its sacred character, is, we might almost say, to be profaned. 5 It signifies, in a more positive way and as far as its results are concerned, that access to the true Holy of Holies is henceforth free. And this is so, even if we take the veil, Karansraa^a, to have been not the curtain separating the Holy of Holies from the rest of the Temple, but the curtain inside the uldm or vestibule which prevented even the ordinary Israelites from seeing into the holy place. 6 The great vision of Isaias (6. 1 seq.) was a kind of anticipation of this opening of the veil. It is perhaps for this very reason that when speaking of the glory that was accomplished in 5 Christ's pasch, John says of Isaias that he had the vision of "his glory first

*

(John

12. 41).

7

We

have already seen (pp. 7 seq.) that the Mosaic order of worship was characterized by a system of mediation. From the occasions of ordinary life, which offered abundant possibilities of contracting

some

legal impurity or other,

we may

up

to the Presence of

God

himself,

law of purification increasingly rigorous and discriminatory the nearer one approached to God. Even the layout of the various parts of the Temple symbolized this system whereby access became more and more restricted and confined to a smaller number of people. There was the Court of the Gentiles, the Court of the Women open only to Israelites, the Court of Israel, entered only by Jews in a state of ritual purity; the terrace reserved for the there reigned,

say, a

6 Schrenk in the article previously quoted p. 245, compares in this connection the gesture of Judas throwing down the thirty pieces of silver, the price of blood, in the naos (parallel passage in Matt. 27. 5). 6 This second interpretation, based on a semantic detail (the veil of the Holy of Holies was known as the "second curtain" Exod. 26. 31-5; Heb. 9. 3), is accepted as the more probable by Michel (article quoted, p. 889 and note 21). See for the literature on this question Strack-Billerbeck, t. 1, pp, 1043-6: it would appear that no text or word-list gives a decisive solution. The choice of meaning is determined by the theological sense attributed to the word preferred. The Fathers were fond of commenting on the episode of the rending of the veil. See especially St Augustine, De pecc. orig., XXV, 29 (P.L,, 44, 400, quoted in the encyclical Mystici Corporis), St Leo, Ep. 68, 3 (P.L., 54, 374) and St Thomas, Sum. theol, I*-II ae 9 Qu. 103, art. 3, ad 2. Moreover, the Fathers in most cases took the veil to be the first one in the Temple vestibule and this is why they interpreted the episode as meaning above all that the things which had been hidden were henceforth revealed. Cf. passages quoted by H. de Lubac, Catholicisme (Unam Sanctam, 3), Paris, 1938, p. 130, notes 3 and 4. 7 Cf. St Jerome, Ep. 18. 4 (P.L., 22, 363). See also the penetrating pages in which E. Peterson explains the way in which Isaias 6 has been adapted in the Sanctus of the Christian Eucharistic liturgy. The glory of God which Isaias saw in the Temple dwells in the body of Christ, and therefore in heaven. It is with this new Temple and this heavenly liturgy that Christians enter into communion through the Eucharist: Le livre des Anges, French translation Cl. Champollion, Paris, 1954, pp. 45-54. :

The Mystery of the Temple

144

and

Holy Place where the appointed priests fuland so were bound by regulations imposing a stricter ritual purity, and finally the Holy of Holies, into which only the High Priest entered and then but once a year, after he had offered a sacrifice both for his own impurities and those of the people. These provisions had their reason and their meaning, they signified the inclusion of the whole people within the person of its true high priest, Christ, who bears us in himself and represents us all before his Father. But they were only temporary. "The Holy Spirit meant us to see that no way of access to the true sanctuary lay open to us" (Heb. 9. 8). When Christ has come and has achieved the consummapriest

Levites, the

filled their ministry,

things in himself (John 19. 30), the system of mediation legislation as we have just described it, disappears. Henceforth, indeed "We can enter the sanctuary (rd &yia) with

tion of in the

all

Mosaic

confidence through the blood of Christ. He has opened up for us a new, a living approach, by way of the veil, I mean, his mortality" (Heb. 10. 19-20). [N.B. The Douai Version translates "the veil, that is to say, his flesh". Pere Congar quotes from the Bible de Jerusalem Translator's note.] *la voile, c'est--dire sa chair" (i.e. flesh). One fact that is asserted ceaselessly in the New Testament, especially in the Epistle to the Hebrews (and this without derogating from the hierarchical priesthood of the apostles), is the priesthood of all Christians. They all offer spiritual sacrifices, they all have full

access to

God, whether they are of Jewish origin or are the pagans of 8 If there still exists and there certainly does a certain

yesterday.

mediation in the Christian dispensation, it is wholly and, as it were, sacramentally related to the mediation of Jesus Christ, which is absolutely sufficient and unique. Through him, all have access to the true Holy of Holies, which is not of "this order of creation at all" (Heb.

9. 11 seq.).

The new

is the source and more profound and radical. There is more here than a simple change from a system of mediations to one

character of the worship of which Jesus

the whole substance

is

still

of personal contact with the deepest of all Realities. Or at least, personal contact is involved, it is because the supreme Reality has revealed and communicated itself in so new a way that there can be no further communication of a substantially higher and deeper kind. The time has come at last when we adore "in Spirit and in truth". if this

8

1 Peter 2. 4-5, 9-10; Heb. 4. 14-16; 7. 19; 10. 19-22; and Eph. 2. 18-22: "Far off or near, united in the same Spirit, we have access ." (for the rest of this passage, see below, p. 158). through him to the Father It is noteworthy that the Christian gloss introduced into the Test, de Benjamin, 9 (quoted by Strack-Billerbeck, 1. 1045) links the outpouring of the Spirit upon the pagans with the rending of the veil of the Temple after the death of Christ.

Cf. especially

finally,

.

.

Jesus

and

the

145

Temple

Once more, it is in the Epistle to the Hebrews

that

we find the clearest

explanation of this truth:

n

Meanwhile, Christ has taken his place as our high priest, win us blessings that still lie in the future. 9 He makes use of a greater, a more complete tabernacle, which human hands never 9.

to

does not belong to this order of creation at all. blood, not the blood of goats and calves, that has enabled him to enter, once for all, into the sanctuary (eis ta hagid) ; the ransom he has won lasts for ever. 12. 18 What is the scene, now, of your approach to God? 1 It is no longer a mountain that can be discerned by touch; no longer fashioned; 12

It is his

it

own

and whirlwind, and darkness, and storm. 19 No trumpet sounds; no utterance comes from that voice, which made those who listened to it pray that they might hear no more, 20 (daunted by the command, that if even a beast touched the mountain it should die by stoning. 21 Moses said, in terror at the 22 The scene of sight, I am overcome with fear and trembling). is is the now mount Sion, your approach heavenly Jerusalem, city burning

fire,

of the living God; here are gathered thousands upon thousands of angels, 23 here is the assembly of those first-born sons whose names are written in heaven. 1 1. In old days, God spoke to our fathers in many ways and 2 by many means, through the prophets; now at last in these a to with Son times he has spoken to us, speak for him; a Son, whom he has appointed to inherit all things, just as it was through him that he created this world of time; 3 a Son, who is the radiance of his Father's splendour, and the full expression of his being .

.

.

These quotations clearly reveal the absolutely new character of the system introduced by Jesus Christ. This system replaces the Presence and the worship deriving from Sinai (in which the distance that remained between God and his people could only be bridged

by the mediation of Moses) by those of his own immolated and risen It is the new covenant in the blood of his Pasch, through which all the faithful have access to the Holy of Holies, to the Father. This truth we have to explain by showing that this new character, which gives Easter its most profound meaning, consists in the fact that the new Temple (or the new worship) is heavenly and spiritual. body.

9

best manuscripts are divided fairly equally into those which prefer the (to come) and yevoptvcov (present). These blessings are, in fact, both in the future and also given to us already in the present. 1 An expression used in the terminology of worship (cf. to have access to; to enter into the presence of): cf. art, lyytic,, eyyifa in Kittel's Theol Wort. z.

The

reading

N.T.

^eAAdmov

146

The Mystery of the Temple

When

Jesus spoke of the temple not made by man's hands, he was referring to his own risen body, 2 living by a life that is wholly from above. Jesus had proclaimed on very many occasions that he gift of God, coming down from on high. In St John's these statements are given the form of dogmatic theses, 3 Gospel, but the Synoptics say the same thing in a different way, even if only in their mention of the mysterious and clearly multivalent concept

was the true

of the Son of Man. 4 The most characteristic uses of this title are found within the context of Christ's suffering and Passion, or within the context of his glorious return as our Judge either throughout history or at the end of time. The Son of Man, who is from above (John 3. 13), is identified with the coping-stone, rejected then lifted up. Again, therefore, he is identified with the new temple, not made by man's hands. We have already seen (pp. 38 seq.) how Jesus fulfilled the prophecy of Nathan as regards the royal messianism of which it is the source. He did so within the terms of reference of the two other messianic characters which he united in himself, those of the Servant of Yahweh and of the Son of man. The messianic temple whose existence was prophesied to David will be built by the redeeming death of the Servant and his resurrection as the New Man given to us from Heaven. The fact of Easter, therefore, is absolutely central and decisive here. A clear understanding of its meaning will give us the precise sense of the new Temple which issues from it. As we said above, the death and resurrection of our Lord were prophesied throughout the Scriptures and in the history of Israel itself, since Israel was continually condemned to die by God's judgment, then saved or restored by his grace. This rhythmic pattern of death and resurrection is continually present, particularly in the preaching of the prophets. Humiliation or partial destruction is a punishment, a visitation from God (the "Day of Yahweh"). The restoration, which is then prophesied, is very often presented as a renewal. We are familiar especially with the theme of the Remnant of Israel. It occurs as early as Amos, then in Isaias and in all the prophets who came after him as well as in the historical books written during or after the exile. "Not made by man's hands" = risen; 2 Cor. 5. 1. John 3. 3 seq., 13,31; 6. 32 seq. 8. 23 "his birth came, not from human stock, not from nature's will or man's, but from God". (The Vulgate has "their birth" 2

3

;

:

Translator.) 4

This name which Jesus so often applied to himself, seems to have at least three senses: 1. From above, celestial; the Son of Man in Daniel 7 is a human manifestation of the glory of Yahweh (cf. A. Feuillet, "Le Fils de 1'hornme de Daniel et la tradition biblique", in Rev. UbL, 60 (1953), pp. 170-202, 521-46). 2.

Representing man, humanity; humanity's new beginning. 3. Realizing all means of a glorious triumph but in humble circumstances.

these things not by

Jesus

and

the

147

Temple

These prophetic texts are so full of meaning that a good number of them emerge on to the eschatological and messianic planes. In several prophecies of restoration, the idea was already present that Israel, Jerusalem or the Temple would not be built again just as they were before* Israel would be a people of devout and just men, over whom Yahweh would reign. According to Ezechiel, the restoration of Israel would be a resurrection through which God's people would be given a new spirit (36. 25 seq.; 37. 1-14) and similarly the Temple would be an ideal building set in a place that would be for ever sacred (40 seq.; 43. 12). When restoration was envisaged under these circumstances, the prophets even went so far as to visualize it as patterned on the 6 heavenly model. Yet the building which had been restored over the centuries remained what it had previously been, though with certain improvements always threatened more or less with further destruction. Israel had not understood the vast import of the challenge to its institutional worship that was at the heart of God's judgment upon her in 587 B.C., although the words of the prophets made this quite clear. 7 The prophecies of a new Temple, new sacrifices, a new spirit, had not brought any genuine change. They had finally led to postexilic Judaism in which, with undeniable fervour and feelings of great sincerity (cf. certain psalms dating from this period),

religion

imprisoned

itself

in

a

somewhat

oppressive

legalism.

Jesus had prophesied a radically new state of affairs in his Sermon on the Mount, his parables of the new cloak and the new wine, 8 the miracle at Cana, etc. On the evening before his death, he was to institute the sacrament of the new covenant in his own blood. 9 But it is especially his own Easter experience which has this profoundly

new meaning. Jesus died according to the flesh, that is, as a man who "took birth from a woman, took birth as a subject of the law" (Gal. 4. 4); he died according to the flesh as far as

upon himself of our

earthly nature

6 Ezech. 37. 23-8; Aggaeus 28-9; 91. 13. 8

2.

all

was concerned,

that he took all

7-9; in the apocalyptic literature,

that

was

Henoch

90;

Cf. Strack-BIllerbeck, t. 1, pp. 1003 seq.; Schrenk,- quoted on p. 131, n. 8. Verus Israel . . ., Paris, 1948, p. 26. On the inner meaning of this event (i.e. God's judgment must be accepted

M. Simon, 7

before the promises of "new things" can be given and received), cf. M. Noth, "La catastrophe de Jerusalem en Tan 587 avant J.-C. et sa signification pour Israel," in Rev. Hist, et Philos. relig., 33 (1953), pp. 81-102. 8 Mark 2. 18-22 and the corresponding passages in the other Synoptics. J. Jeremias (Jesus als Weltvollender, pp. 21 seq.) comments very pertinently on these although he forces their meaning a little as regards its cosmic implications. 8 Matt. 26, 28; Luke 22. 20; cf. 1 Cor. 11. 25. M.O.T.

6

The Mystery of the Temple

148

involved in his earthly condition as a man and as a son of Israel. And he rose again as a result of an absolutely new operation of God's Spirit: "The man who came first came from earth, fashioned of dust, the man who came afterwards came from heaven, and his fashion is heavenly" (1 Cor. 15. 47); "We know that Christ, now he has risen from the dead, cannot die any more; death has no more power over him; the death he died was a death, once for all, to sin; the life he now lives is a life that looks towards God" (Rom. 6. 9-10). Certainly, he who was born of Mary was holy; he had been conceived by the Holy Spirit (Luke 1. 35). But, once he had come in a flesh like ours, it was necessary, if he was to be the effective source for us of a new and heavenly life, that he should die to this fleshly

and should rise again by power from on high, by God's power alone, in the newness of a heavenly life, and all this was to be solely the work of grace and not the result of any human operation. 1

life

And

so the

new

temple, which

is

the

body of Christ immolated

risen again, is something entirely different from the old Temple restored and cleansed. St John's addition to the account given by

and

the Synoptics, reveals once more all the depth of meaning in the Gospel. It is not only that the Temple is to be purified, that the House

of prayer is to be thrown open to all the nations, but the former Temple to be destroyed and a new one built, not made by man's hands. It is to be new and eternal, like the covenant; new and heavenly, because is

it is spiritual.

It is

important to remove a misunderstanding regarding the word be taken to mean merely less material, less

"spiritual". It could

bound by the letter and the law. Interesting studies have been made on the "spiritualization" of the ideas of "priesthood, sacrifice and the Temple. 2 The theme usually adopted is one of a "spiritualization" which took place among the sages of the ancient world regarding religious categories and in a particularly typical way in the case of Philo and the religious categories of Judaism itself. The ideas of sacrifice, priesthood and the temple were thus driven inward, transposed into the moral realm and, in a word, became interior to man himself. It is certainly true that Christian teaching includes similar themes and seems to owe its continued existence to the same kind of transference. We know that the Divine Economy impels towards similar to that

1 Cf. St Augustine, Depraedest. Sanct., 15 (P.L., 44, 982-93), and, of course 1 the whole theme of the outpouring of the Spirit at Jesus's death and resurrection:

John *

7. 39, etc.

Cf. especially H. Wenschkewitz and M. Fraeyman, quoted above, p. xi. Cf. L. Cerfaux, "Regale Sacerdotium", in Rev. Sc. phiL thoL, 28 (1939), pp. 5-39.

Jesus and the Temple

149

inwardness and, for example, in the matter of sacrifice, to a state of things where there is no longer any sacrifice other than man himself. We know that the Eucharistic sacrifice itself is governed by this profound logic. A great number of statements by Christian writers are materially similar to those of Philo, the Stoics or the Pythagoreans. But their determining factor is confined absolutely to themselves alone. The "spiritual" character of the Christian system of worship is not derived from the "spiritualization" of a literal, external and material worship, which would then lose these characteristics ; it is derived from the fact that Christian worship originates in the gift proper to the messianic era, which is the last epoch of time and will not be fol-

lowed by anything substantially better or new. And this gift is the Holy Spirit, the very gift which flowed out from the side of the new temple, from the side of Jesus and from the Passion through which he was glorified. 3 In the New Testament sacrifices are spiritual, the temple is spiritual, not because the faithful or the apostles are supposed to have taken part in the contemporary and more or less general movement towards a "spiritualization" of the concepts concerned although such a movement did exist and is of real interest but because sacrifices and temple are linked to the Holy Spirit, the gift proper to the messianic era. There will be no greater or better gift in the future nor could there be. That is why in the apostles' minds the three qualities "not made by man's hands" (heavenly), "spiritual" (Aoyocefe, nvsv^aTtKOs) 4 (svnpocrdeKTog) are combined.

and "pleasing to God"

This biblical theology of the spiritual worship and the spiritual temple of the new and eternal covenant makes it possible to show in what respect and in what manner the dispensation of the Incarnate Word and of the gift of the Spirit differs from the legal or prophetic system of the old dispensation. We shall touch on several aspects of this question as our inquiry proceeds, and we shall devote an appendix to a special study of the subject; it presents many difficulties but is extremely important. 5 Here and now, we may note that, in contrast to what we wrote above on the purely human and, in this sense, secular, character of the history of Israel (cf. p. 50), a sacred reality is set in the midst of the world in the body of Christ, the true temple of the messianic era. This is so both in respect of his historical and of his sacramental body. The history of God's Presence has not merely registered important progress because of the Incarnation, 8

M. Braun, articles already quoted, and "L'Eau et L'<sprit", Rev. 49 (1949), pp. 5-30. Cf, Moule, article quoted above. 5 We have akeady said something on this subject in Vraie et fausse reforms dans rjSgtise, Paris, 1950, pp. 467 seq. Cf. F.

thorn., 4

The Mystery of the Temple it now unfolds itself on a new plane and in accordance with a new dispensation. And the Church, since she too is entitled to bear the name "Body of Christ", is something quite different from the Synagogue at length accepting and recognizing her Messias. God dwells in her in an absolutely new way. 150

Chapter VII

THE CHRISTIAN AND THE CHURCH AS SPIRITUAL TEMPLES we pass from the Gospels to the epistles written by the apostles, we are somewhat surprised at first not to find in them what we may call the essential teaching of the Gospels on Christ as the temple of the messianic era. This temple is now the Church. The few rare traces of the theme so often proclaimed by our Lord, as we have shown, are found in three passages which we shall deal with in due course. They are Col. 2. 9 ; Eph. 2. 20-2; 1 Peter 2. 4-8. Yet it is only right to add that the whole of St Paul's theology is dominated by the application to Christ of a vast number of texts from the Old Testament which detail the saving, 1 purifying and vivifying effects of God's Presence. On the other hand, wherever we discover a Christian statement after Pentecost dealing with the question of the Temple, we are faced with a declaration that is unequivocal and perfectly complete from the first: the Temple is the Church herself, the community of the faithful. The transference to the community and to the faithful of the attributes of the Temple the house of God, of the living God,

WHEN

sanctity

is

made

supposes that this 6. 19).

Hence

it is

quite naturally by St Paul as he writes. He prean established and self-evident fact (1 Cor. 3. 16; generally considered that this was an article in the

is

early catechesis, perhaps even in the apostolic preaching or "kerygma". 2 This idea is continually recurring in the Fathers. St Hippolytus, in his liturgy for the consecration of a bishop, refers to Pentecost

and says the apostles

built the

Church in the place where God had his

Temple. Although the apostles had little to say of Christ as the temple, it is not because they did not know that he is the Temple (see the passages quoted above and Apoc. 21. 22), but because they had grasped in all its incomparable depths the fundamental truth that Christ was and did nothing for himself alone. The mystery of Christ is not confined to his own Person, but is worked out in us. Fr Mersch 1 This fact has been brought out by Phythian-Adams, The People and the Presence, pp. 169-202. 2 O. Michel, article w
1

The Mystery of the Temple

52

has clearly shown 3 that in the Synoptic Gospels everything leads up to the death of Jesus, but in such a way that nothing is brought to an end by his death. On the contrary, all that Jesus has desired, the reality for which he has come, spoken and suffered, must now begin to exist and this reality is his (mystical) body, the Church. St Paul also presupposes or shows continually that the dead and risen Christ is the source of a new creation which will benefit the whole world but whose full effect will be realized in those who have received the Spirit of Christ and thus form his body. Finally in St John, the Word only became flesh in order to allow us to become one single flesh living by his life of Sonship in love and through communion in the living bread of his flesh offered in sacrifice. 4 As Fr Mersch has shown in the fine book already mentioned, this intuition which inspires the apostolic witness inspires also the whole of Patristic thought. For the Fathers, everything depends on the fact that the Church is unthinkable without Christ and Christ is unthinkable without the Church. The mystery of Christ brings immediately into existence the mystery of his body the Church. Once the Word has taken our flesh, has died and risen again and all this he has done on our ieAaZ/^-humanity is saved, transformed, drawn to a new life, and Christ is the source of this new life for and in humanity.

This is why, although Jesus had revealed himself as destined to take the place of the Temple, the apostles did not hesitate to identify this Temple with the Church. And the Church's existence as the

Temple comes to her from which Christ is shown

in

noteworthy that the passages Temple immediately lead to the

Christ. It

as the

is

statement that Christians, with and in and by Christ, are one unique Temple. (See again Col. 2. 9-10; Eph. 2. 20-2; 1 Peter 2. 4 seq.) ST

In St Paul,

we

PAUL5

find simultaneously a twofold application of the

3

E. Mersch, Le Corps mystique du Christ: Etudes de th&ologie historique, 2 vols (Museum Lessianum, Sect, theol., 28 and 29), 3rd edn. Paris, 1951, Part I, ch. 2. English translation The Whole Christ, trans, by J. R. Kelly, S. J,, Milwaukee, 1938. 4 Cf. Phythian-Adams, The People and the Presence, ch. 10 (pp. 228 seq.); W. Grossouw in Pour mieux comprendre S. Jean (BibL Mechlmiensis, 10), Desclee de Br., s.d., 1946, shows clearly that John's Gospel never ceases to proclaim the unity and continuity which exist between the three planes of God, of Christ and of the Christian (the Church). 5 Cf. H. Wenschkewitz, in the study already quoted, pp. 174 seq.; L. Cerfaux, La thfologie de FEglise suivant S. Paul (Unam Sqnctam, 10), Paris, 1942, pp. 120 seq.; M. Fraeyman, art. tit., pp. 386-405; O. Michel, articles va6q and olxog, in Theol. Worterb. z. N.T. E. G. Selwyn, First Epistle of St Peter, London, 1947, pp. 287 seq.; E. Ellis, Paul's use of the O.T., Edin. and London, 1957, pp. 88 seq. ;

StPaul

153

idea of the temple, to the body of the individual Christian and to the Church considered as a whole. Without claiming that this proves that one of these two applications is previous to the other, we shall first study the application St Paul makes to the individual believer, since it has not been developed to the same remarkable extent as the ecclesiological application. (a)

The body of the

Christian, the temple of the

In the Spring of 55, St Paul wrote his Corinth:

Holy

first letter

Spirit

to the faithful at

16 3. Do you not understand that you are God's temple (naos\ and that God's Spirit has his dwelling in you? 17 If anybody desecrates the temple of God, God will bring him to ruin. It is a holy thing, this temple of God which is nothing other than yourselves. 19 6. Surely you know that your bodies are the shrines of the Holy Spirit, who dwells in you. And he is God's gift to you, so that you are no longer your own masters. 20 A great price was paid to ransom you; glorify God by making your bodies the shrines

of his presence.

The

first

of these passages shows us

how

useless

it

would be to

try to find in St Paul an antithesis between an individual and a collective, organic, ecclesiastical point of view. It is true that this

passage clearly leads to a personal application, but it is part of another we shall return to later, in which St Paul deals with the structure of the Church. We might be tempted to conclude that for him the question of the Church comes first and, like a principle in relation to its consequences, is the determining factor in the idea of the individual believer as the temple of the Holy Spirit. It would not be inaccurate to say that, by contrast with Philo and the Alexandrine process of "spiritualization" which brings the great themes down to the level of the individual, early Christian thought in general and St Paul's in particular, has the community in mind and considers the individual as in the Church. 6 But in St Paul's thought there is no opposition, no systematic and exclusive priority as between the Church and the individual believer. Each needs the other and in them both the Holy Spirit is the principle of life. From its beginnings, Christianity has succeeded in unifying collective and personal existence. This is one of its glories and one of the blessings it has received. Collectively speaking, the

Church

is

a building; we may

8

Cf. Wenschkewitz, p. 176; Cerfaux, op. cit., pp. 121-2; Michel, in TheoL Worterb.y t. 5, pp. 129, 10 seq.; P. Bonnard, Jdsus-Christ gdifiant son Egttse . . .

The Mystery of the Temple

154

her God's temple, but the principle which makes her a temple each individual believer and makes him also a temple. It is in the light of this fact that the Fathers, the ancient theologians and spiritual writers have said over and over again that "each soul is the Church". But this formula which tends towards individual-

call

exists in

ism, is not found in St Paul. St Paul connects the idea of the Christian as a temple (naos 9 sanctuary) with the fact that the Holy Spirit, who comes from God is in us, dwells in us. If, as we have seen at the beginning of this chapter, we cannot have Christ without the body of those who

(the Father),

are his, that

is,

we may say that for Paul, the communica-

the Church,

tion to us of the

Holy Spirit corresponds to the effective development of what Christ must be and do in us. 7 The fact that "we are in Christ" reveals Christ's power as the principle of the new creation,

the principle through which and in dependence upon which we are able to exist in the second creation of salvation and grace that emerged from the fact of Easter. There is also the fact that "Christ is in us", which corresponds to the effective unfolding of this power by Christ.

And

this

unfolding

is

made

possible

by the

gift

of the Holy

Spirit.

The work of the Holy Spirit is marked by two chief characteristics He inspires, he brings us life and movement. This is why he completes the re-creative work of Christ. Rather as Adam, after he had been given bodily form, received the breath of life from God, or again as the bones in Ezechiel's vision came together and were re-formed into skeleton shapes and then "the breath of life came into them, so that :

1.

they lived again" (37. 10), so too the Christian is first made a son in Christ and then there is breathed into him the Spirit which cries Abba, Father in those on whom Christ has conferred the grace of adoption (cf. Gal. 4. 5-6). 2. The Spirit builds up our interior life. It pertains to him to abide in us and to make us live according to Christ, so that our life may be ours and yet also his. St Paul always says that the Spirit acts "in our hearts" (Gal. 4. 6; Rom. 5, 5). The life of sonship which he produces in our hearts is so much his work that it is he who cries out in us: Abba, Father (Gal. 4. 6); yet it is so much ours that it is we ourselves who utter this cry (Rom. 8. 15).

The

Spirit

of Christ

is

not merely a force energizing within

us.

There is an exact correspondence between 1 Cor. 3. 16 and 6. 19. "Do you not understand that you are God's temple, and that God's Spirit has his dwelling in you?" and 1 Cor. 6. 15. "Have you never been told that your bodies belong to the body of Christ ?" Cf. Eph. 2. 21-2 quoted below p. 158 "What makes Christians the temple is both their union with Christ (v. 21) and the presence of the Spirit" (v. 22). (Fraeyman, article quoted, p. 395). 7

:

St Paul It

155

was under this aspect indeed that he appeared in the Old Testament

whom

in the Judges and the prophets he urged to do this or that and in he was a force which brought certain specific operations into

whom

now tells us that he dwells in us (cf. the two passages quoted above and Rom. 8. 9, 11). Paul's use of the verb olxsTv in connection with sin (Rom. 7. 18, 20) shows that he gives it the sense of a stable presence at the heart of our activity, a sovereign principle within us. 8 He who dwells in the house is its master and governor. Hence the old idea of a temple contained these two values of habitation and ownership. Paul insists on this inference; since the Spirit being. St Paul

dwells in us as in his temple, we no longer belong to ourselves, we are consecrated, we belong to God, we are in the image of the risen Christ,

dead to

sin

and

alive

unto

God (Rom.

6.

10-11).

God

will

destroy those who have not respected the sacred property of God within themselves. Paul adds a detail of great importance. The place of this indwelling with all the consequences it involves, is our body. When Paul was treating of sin, he pointed out that its seat is our body and that it reigns there making of it a body of sin (Rom. 6. 6, 12), a body of death (Rom. 7. 24). Now, through this vita in Christo, which is a life of the Spirit, it is again our body which becomes a temple of God and an instrument of justification. This makes us understand how little St Paul "spiritualizes" in the philosophical manner, how little he thinks in the Greek fashion. The commentators do indeed quote contemporary parallels in Philo or the Stoics (even from the Mandaeans who, we are told, 9 entertained the not very original idea of the body as a house). Yet the difference is obvious and the commentators draw attention to it. 1 For Philo and the Stoics, the divinity dwells in the spirit and this indwelling is a natural fact arising either from the structure of the world (the Stoics), or as the result of God's gifts together with a deliberate effort towards spirituality (Philo). For St Paul this indwelling is the work of the Holy Spirit and affects our bodies themselves. The Apostle has no intention of basing his teaching on any philosophy, but on the data of Christianity and in line

with biblical tradition. 8 Cf. O. Michel, article oMo) in TheoL Worterb. z. N.T., t. 5, p. 136. The article (n. 3) points out the correspondence with the verb p&eiv in St John (line 33). Obviously John 14. 23 (^ovrj) and 1 John 4. 16 must also be quoted in this connection. 9 Schlier, quoted by O. Michel in TheoL Worterb. z. N.T., t. 5, p. 130, n. 31. 1 Cf. H. Lietzmann, An die Korinther I-II, 4th edn., Tubingen, 1949, p. 17, *

with quotations from Philo (de vz>/., 188), Porphyry (ad Marc., 19), Seneca (ep. 41, 2); O. Michel, article va6g, in TheoL Worterb. z. N.T., t. 4, p. 891 with quotations from Philo (Som. 1, 149; Sobr., 62 seq.; Cher. 98; 106) and Epictetus (Diss. I, 14, 14 seq.; II, 8, 11 seq.). M.O, T.

6*

The Mystery of the Temple

1 56

The Corinthians for their part were certainly more enamoured of philosophy and it was doubtless by arguments drawn from Stoicism and through it from the Cynics, that they justified a kind of naturalism 2 according to which the body had no moral value nor did its activities. Our glands function normally as does our stomach and sexual life is no more "ethical" than the processes of alimentation (cf. 1 Cor. 6. 13). St Paul answers this naturalism first by enunciating a general principle: our body is not a purely natural thing, it has a finality, a spiritual finality, it is made for the Lord and is destined to rise again from the dead as he did. Then St Paul divides this general principle into three sections illustrating under different aspects the great dignity the body owes to its spiritual finality. 1. Our bodies are

members of Christ. They have with him, in the spiritual order, a unity analogous to that realized in the bodily order by the union of man and woman. 2. Impurity is a sin against, and brings dishonour on, oneself. 3. Our bodies are the temples of the Holy Ghost, they do not belong to us but, consecrated, they belong to God and are to give glory to him by serving him. St Paul says "our bodies" just as, in Rom. 12. 1, he invites us to offer our bodies as a living, holy sacrifice agreeable to God. The Jerusalem Bible translates "our persons". This certainly is the meaning. For a Jew brought up on the Bible, as was St Paul, the body signifies the living person whose activity is manifested in outward acts. 3 When therefore St Paul speaks of our bodies as the temple of God or as the matter of our spiritual worship, he means the whole person in its concrete situation. But he insists on the body, either because of an apostolic and pastoral realism which is aware of the decisive importance of the body in our moral and even our spiritual life, or because of the fact that our bodies are destined to rise again in the image of Christ and by virtue of his Easter experience: x

Once this earthly tent-dwelling (oJ/oia) of ours has an end, God, we are sure, has a solid building (olKodo^rf) waiting for us, a dwelling (ol/c/a) not made with hands, that will 2.

come

Cor.

5.

to

heaven. 2 And indeed, it is for this that we sigh, longing for the shelter of that home which heaven will give us, 3 if death, when it comes, is to find us sheltered, not defenceless 4 against the winds. Yes, if we tent-dwellers [Jerusalem Bible has "as long as we are in this tent (cr/c^^)". Translator] here go last eternally in

2

Fr Allo (Prem.

dp.

aux Cor.,

p. 143)

quotes the maxim: "Naturalia

non sunt

turpia."

*Lay People in the Church^ pp. 186 seq.; R. Grobel, "Zco/ja als 'Self, Person in the Septuagint* '*, in Neutestl Studien f. R. Bultmann (Beihefte z. Z. /. NtL Wiss. 9 21), Berlin, 1954, pp. 52-9.

StPaul

157

sighing and heavy-hearted, it is not because we would be stripped of something; rather, we would clothe ourselves afresh; our mortal nature must be swallowed up in life. 5 For this, nothing else, God was preparing us, when he gave us the foretaste of his Spirit. Rom. 8. u And if the spirit of him who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised up Jesus Christ from the dead will give life to your perishable bodies too, for the sake of his Spirit

who

dwells in you.

The foundation of the Christian ethic is therefore the ontological dignity of the Christian, soul and body, for he is the tabernacle of the Holy Spirit and destined to rise again. Each believer and all believers as a body the two aspects are closely connected have become the sanctuary (naos) of which Jesus spoke in reference to own immolated and risen body which is the true temple and in which is offered the true spiritual worship which is agreeable to God. The words used in 1 Cor. 5 cannot fail to remind us of those our Lord uttered in regard to the Temple, as they are reported by St Mark in the episode of the false witnesses (14. 58; cf. John 2. 19; his

Matt. 26. 61).*

(b)

The Community or

the

Church as the temple of God

The

principal passages are the following from the first Epistle to the Corinthians (spring 55), from the second (57) and from the Epistle to the Ephesians (in all probability written in 62) :

Cor. 3. 10 With what grace God has bestowed on me, I have a foundation as a careful architect should; it is left for someone else to build upon it. Only, whoever builds upon it must be careful how he builds. u The foundation which has been laid is the only one which anybody can lay; I mean Jesus Christ. 12 But on this foundation different men will build in gold, silver, precious stones, wood, grass, or straw, 13 and each man's workmanship will be plainly seen. It is the day of the Lord that will disclose it, since that day is to reveal itself in fire, and fire will test the quality of each man's workmanship. 14 He will receive a reward, if the building he has added on stands firm; 15 if it is burnt up, he will be the loser; and yet he himself will be saved, though only as men are saved by passing through fire. 16 Do you not understand that you are God's temple, and that 1

laid

4

C

Selwyn, op. cit. t p. 290, where attention is called to the words Ka and dxeigonofyTov. See also Moule in the article already mentioned.

The Mystery of the Temple

158

17 If anybody desecrates the Spirit has his dwelling in you? of him to ruin. It is a holy thing, this God will God, bring temple temple of God which is nothing other than yourselves. 2 Cor. 6. 16 How can the temple of God have any commerce with idols? And you are the temple of the living God; God has told us so; / mil live and move among them, and be their God, and 17 Come out, then, from among them, the they shall be my people. to Lord says us, separate yourselves from them, and do not even touch what is unclean; then I mil make you welcome. 18 / mil be

God's

your father, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord, the Almighty? u He is our bond of peace; he has made the two nations Eph. 2. 15 the one, breaking down the wall that was a barrier between us, enmity there was between us, in his own mortal nature. He has 16 reput an end to the law with its decrees, so as to make peace, in creatures as both the one human two himself; sides, making united in a single body, he would reconcile to God through his 17 So he cross, inflicting death, in his own person, upon the feud. of who far off, and was for were his came, you message peace 18 far off or near, united in the peace for those who were near; same Spirit, we have access through him to the Father. 19 You are no longer exiles, then, or aliens; the saints are your fellow

you belong to God's household (oiKsloi rov Osov). Apostles and prophets are the foundation on which you are built (enoLKodo^rjdevrs^), and the chief corner-stone of it is Jesus citizens, 20

Christ himself. In

him

the whole fabric (olKodo^}

is

bound

to-

22 as it grows into a temple (sis vadv ayiov), dedicated to the gether, Lord ; in him you too are being built in with the rest, so that God

may find in you Ms Spirit.

a dwelling-place

(el<;

KaroiKrirtfpiov rov Qsov) for

We must first note that there is a definite transference of the characof the temple to the community of the faithful (cf. 2 Cor. is a new idea and the Old Testament offers only somewhat remote anticipations of it. Even if we take the corner-stone in Isa. 28. 16 (cf. above, p, 135) to be the Messias, the idea that the community formed by faith in him would be the messianic temple remains implicit only. The same is true of Daniel, even though we unquestionably move in his writings towards what will eventually be the great teristics 6).

This

5

This quotation (from the Old Testament) is a free arrangement of various passages here brought together: Verse 16 Lev. 26. 12 and Jer. 51. 45. Verse 17 Isa. 52. 11 and Jer. 51. 45. Verse Kings 7. 14; Jer. 31. 9; Isa. 43, 6 (BJ note).

182

For

verse 16, add Exod. 29. 45.

StPaul Christian vision. 6

159

We

should add that in the Old Testament Israel itself was sometimes called "the house of God", because of the twofold sense of the word house building and family. 7 Further, the prophets had foretold that there would be a renewed Jerusalem so holy and sacred to God that it would be in Its entirety a kind of sanctuary. 8 But, outside the New Testament, and before it, it is only in the Essene movement, on the fringe of official Judaism, that the community itself is considered as the true "sanctuary for Israel" and the "foundation of the Holy of Holies for Aaron". 9 Did St Paul derive his idea of the community as the temple from the Essenes ? It has been suggested that he did, but no proof has been 1 forthcoming, The passages he quotes concerning the exodus and the return from Babylon show rather that he is returning to Stephen's line of thought. Yahweh in the desert or at the time of the exile had no temple and yet he was with his people. This being so, great purity was demanded of Israel. The demands made upon Christians may not be of so material a character, yet they are no less rigorous. "What is there in common between light and darkness? What harmony between Christ and Belial?" (2 Cor. 5. 14-15). We shall see in a moment in what sphere of life these demands are operative.

follow the interpretation suggested by A. Feuillet ("Le Fils de Phomme et la tradition biblique", in Rev. bibl, 60 [1953], pp. 170-202, 321-46; cf. pp. 196-8), Daniel was already contrasting with the Temple, profaned and even destroyed (8. 13; 9. 26-7), a spiritual sanctuary formed by the believers over whom the Son of man reigns (cf. ch. 7, together with the vision of the stone which overthrew the statue with feet of clay and became a mountain filling the whole earth: 2. 35 and 44. This passage itself has a parallel in Isa. 28. 16). 7 Cf. Num. 12. 7 (Heb. 3. 5); Osee 8. 1 ; 9. 8, 15; Jer. 12. 7 and above, pp. 27 110, below, p. 191, n. 8. 8 In Ezechiel (36. 23 seq. ; 37. 24 &~28), sanctity is an attribute of the community, purified and renewed. Hence there is a movement here towards the idea of a messianic temple which would be the people itself. Cf. M. Schmidt, Prophet und Tempel . ., p. 161. After Ezechiel (cf. also 43. 12) and on the same lines, see Joel 3. 17 and the deutero-Zacharias 9. 8; 14. 21 on a new Israel wholly consecrated to God. 9 See the Manual of Discipline, or The Rule of the Qumran Community, VIII, 5-6 and IX, 5-6 (G. Vermes, Les manuscrits du desert de Juda, Paris, 1953, pp. should note here, to complete the comparison, 149 and 151; and cf. p. 43). that the Essene movement also gives quite a remarkable parallel with the .": cf. Manual of logion in Matt. 18, 15-17, "If thy brother does thee wrong Discipline, V, 24-VI, 1, and the Sadocite or Damascus document (Vermes, op. cit., p. 174). In classical Judaism there was indeed the idea that it was a duty to put others on the right path, but the detailed instructions and the sense of urgency found in the Gospel were absent (cf. Strack-Billerbeck, t. 1, pp. 778 seq.), For Christians (and this was already the case among the Essenes), each and . all are responsible for the purity of the temple which is the community 1 K. G. Kuhn, "Les rouleaux de cuivre de Qumran", in Rev. bibl, 61 (1954), pp. 193-205: p. 203, n. 2, thinks that an Essene theme and Essene texts are used in 2 Cor. 6. 14-7. 1. 6

If

we

de Daniel

.

We

.

.

.

.

The Mystery of the Temple

160

The passages

Corinthians 3 and Ephesians 2 (4, 11-16) are the chief texts in which St Paul's concept of the building up of the Christian community is expressed. 2 The Church is compared by the Apostle both to a building in course of erection and to a body in the process of growth, and there are moments when he passes from one image to the other. 3 We should note at once three essential characteristics of these images which, moreover, are found in the other classic images of New Testament ecclesiology. 4 They are in

1

2 In addition to the articles olxo<;, olxodo^co, etc., in the Theol. Worterb. z. N.T. (O. Michel), cf. Ph. Vielhauer, Oikodome. Das Bild vom Bau in der christlichen Literatur vom N.T. bis Clemens Alexandrinus, Heidelberg, 1930; J, M. Bover, " 'In aedificationem corporis Christ!*, Eph. 4. 12," in Estudios Biblicos, 3 (1944),

pp. 311-42; P. Bonnard, op. cit. 8 In Eph. 2. 21 ; 4. 16 the building is said "to grow" and (4. 12, 16) the body is said "to build itself up". 4 1 think a note from Jalonspour une Theologie duLatcat, p. 638, n. 3 (d.Lay People in the Church, p. 430 n. 2) is appropriate at this point: It may be remarked that all the comparisons wherein the Scriptures unveil something of the Church's mystery, and which have been restated by the Fathers, have four decisive traits in common: (1) the image is relative to somebody and to one Person; (2) it is collective, made up of many; (3) in regard to which some have a function, authority or ministry; (4) which is dynamic and implies growth and accomplishment. These points may be summed up in the following table:

St Paul

161

always used in connection with a collective reality whose final form is reached gradually until a pre-arranged plan is brought to completion, and this process is everybody's business, though some responsibilities or functions in connection with it. collective reality: all Christians as persons are God's temple. Where there is a believer, there also is a temple of God. Yet several believers are not several temples, for One Person dwells in and sanctifies them all. St Paul expressly states this in 1 Cor. 3 "It is a holy thing, this temple of God which is nothing other than yourselves"

have special

A

:

(v. 17) (/cat

A

;

"Do you not understand that you are God's temple, and that

here has

its

explanatory sense of "since") God's Spirit has

further common trait, following from these, is beauty. Many of these comparisons (bride, temple, city, kingdom) involve the idea both of an existing thing and of a reality to come.

The Mystery of the Temple

162

you?" (v. 16). The faithful all together form one and unique holy temple in the Lord, each in the same way and all as one man (Eph. 2. 21). When the building up of the body of Christ

his dwelling in

is finally

achieved,

we

shall "all realize

our

common

unity through

Son of God, and fuller knowledge of him. So we shall reach perfect manhood, that maturity which is proportioned to the

faith in the

completed growth of Christ" (Eph. 4. 13). This is a gradual process of achievement as St Paul explains by using the following words: enoiKodo/j,r)devts<; 9

being built (on the foundation), Eph.

2.

20;

avvoiKodojLbeiaQe, you are built into the building (2. 22); with a view to the building oiKodojurj, fabric (2. 21), dq otKodopfy,

up of the

fabric (4. 12);

avgeis!$(va6vdytov), grows into (aholytemple) (2. 21); avgrfaco/uev sk, to grow up into (4. 15). St Paul with a view to, towards, in order to become sis constantly uses this preposition; to grow into a temple, dedicated ... (2. 21); to be built in, ... so that God may .

.

.

.

.

.

find a dwelling-place ... (2. 22); to build up the frame (4. 12); to realize our common unity through faith (4. 13); to grow up ... into a due proportion with Christ, who is our head (4. 15);

so

grow

we

are to follow the truth, in a spirit of charity, up in everything.

and

All these expressions include the idea of an organic growth from initial given starting-point until the plan is implemented and the

an

pre-designed model is completed. The building has foundations and can only be built upon and in continuity with these. It is, in a sense, nothing more than the growth of its own foundations. Christ, and faith in Christ as the one and only source of grace, is the foundation. This was already the implication in the great episode of Peter's confession. Whilst it is on Peter as a person that our Lord promises to build his Church (olKodojurjaco JLLOV rr]v SKK^rjalav, Matt. 16. 18), it is at the same time because Peter, by a special grace, has made the first act of faith in Jesus, Messias and Son of God, and so has

become, as it were, the first emergence from the earth of a solid rock upon which the messianic community can be built (kepha rock). St Paul returns to the theme of Christ and faith in Christ as the foundation, in the context of his own personal struggles and preoccupations. When he says that "the foundation which has been laid is the only one which anybody can lay. I mean Jesus Christ" (1 Cor. 3. 11), he is not only thinking of the objective reality of Christ, but

=

StPaul

163

quite definitely of the Christ of the Pauline "Gospel" (cf. 2 Cor. 11. 4; Gal. 1. 6-9), that is, the Christ of justification by faith (as against a Judaizing tendency), the Christ who as the risen Lord alone has sovereign power (as against certain forms of gnosis or the worship of the heavenly Powers), and finally, the Christ of the pure apostolic preaching (as against certain forms of syncretism or a mixture of philosophical or Gnostic views). Christ and the apostolic faith, and nothing else, is the foundation.

the foundation, if it is from him that everything begins him that everything is to be built, he is also the plan and the model that have to materialize. In his fullness he is the term, the elevation or the total volume of the building. If Christ

and

is

in union with

The

expression Christ the alpha and the omega a favourite one with the writer of the Apocalypse (Apoc. 1. 8; 21. 6; 22. 13) is not found in St Paul, but he provides numerous equivalents. To begin with, there is our present theme of the Church as a building and a temple of which Christ is both the foundation, the point from which the building starts, and its term, the plenitude towards which it rises and which it must eventually achieve. It is worth our while to pause for a moment to study the way in which St Paul explains Christ's place in this process, in his Epistle to the Ephesians. These quotations will clarify all

we

shall

be saying in the pages that follow:

20

Apostles and prophets are the foundation on which you and the chief corner-stone (aKpoycomaios) of it is Jesus Christ himself. 21 In him the whole fabric is bound together, as it grows into a temple, dedicated to the Lord; 22 in him you too are built in with the rest, so that God may find in you a 2.

were

built,

dwelling-place for his Spirit.

And he who so went down is no other than he who has gone up, high above all the heavens, to fill creation with Ms n Some he has appointed to be apostles, others to be presence. prophets, others to be evangelists, or pastors, or teachers. They 4.

10

are to order the lives of the faithful, 12 minister to their needs, build up the frame of Christ's body, 13 until we all realize our common unity through faith in the Son of God, and fuller knowledge of him. So we shall reach perfect manhood, that maturity 14 we proportioned to the completed growth of Christ; are no longer to be children, no longer to be like storm-tossed sailors, driven before the wind of each new doctrine that human

which

is

subtlety,

human

skill in

fabricating

lies,

may propound.

to follow the truth, in a spirit of charity, and so

15

grow up,

We

are

in every-

164

The Mystery of the Temple

16 On thing, into a due proportion with Christ, who is our head. all the body depends; it is organized and unified by each

Mm

contact with the source which supplies it; and thus, each limb receiving the active power it needs, it achieves its natural growth, building itself up through charity.

In a passage so broad in conception and so inspired, we cannot expect to find a rigorous consistency in the use of images. We can leave that to the grammarians. What interests us is the movement or the meaning of the thought, but these we cannot grasp unless we pay attention to the words the Apostle uses. Christ, he says, is the "corner-stone", aKpoya)vta~io<;. This word may have been borrowed

from Isa. 28. 16 (cf. above, pp. 134-5), the only place where it is found in the Old Testament, but it is not certain that there is any borrowing or literary reference to the text of Isaias on the Part of Paul. The J. Jeremias maintains it is the aKpoycoviatoc; is disputed: 5 equivalent of KS^al^ ycovlag and that in both cases the sense is "coping-stone" (of the heavenly temple). This would provide us in Eph. 2. 20 with an image that doubtless corresponds to an idea which is not only authentic and profound but also genuinely Pauline (see Tertullian, Adv. Marc. Ill, 7; below p. 224, note 4), the idea of

meaning of

Christ risen and glorious as the keystone of the new temple with which the temple that is being built here on earth attempts to be at one. We may argue that this is the meaning of Eph. 4. It does not fit exactly into Eph. 2. 20 where aKpoycovialog refers to avrov and to Os/t&faov, foundation. 6 The interesting passages quoted by Jeremias are taken from other contexts, but the context here expressly states that Christ's function is that

of a foundation in spite of the

from which J. Jeremias draws wrong conclusions, that the apostles and prophets are also called the foundation. The context here is more clearly that of a corner-stone joining the two sides of the building at foundation level. After all, the medieval theologians were fact

quite right to turn their attention to the development of this particular theme. 7 The fact is that St Paul, in this passage, is thinking especially e This too is a hapax legomenon: Ps. 117(118). 22, quoted in Mark 12. 10 (Matt. 21. 42; Luke 20. 17); Acts 4. 11; 1 Peter 2. 1. Cf. J. Jeremias, "Der Eckstein", in ArFEAOS, 1 (1925), pp. 55-70; article in the Theol Worterb. z.

N.T. 9 t. l,pp. 792-3 and t. 4, pp. 275 seq. (M6o$); mya^i ycwtag'AxQo'ycoviaioG, inZeitsch./. Ntl Wiss., 29 (1930), pp. 264-80: Eckstein-Schlusstein, ibid., 36 (1937), pp. 154-7. And cf. above, pp. 95, 96. 6 Cf. Fraeyman, article quoted, pp. 394-5. 7 Of. G. B. Ladner, "The Symbolism of the Biblical Corner-Stone in the Medieval West", in Mediaeval Studies, 4 (1942), pp. 43-60. For St Augustine, cf. En. inps. 47. 3 (P.L., 37, 534); De civ. Dei, XVIII, 28 (41, 584).

StPaul

165

of the union of Gentiles and Jews on an equal footing in one single community, with one and the same public worship, one single way of access to the Father (w. 14 seq.). Not only has Christ overthrown the barrier which forbade the Gentiles access to the courtyards where Jews alone were allowed to pray (cf. above, pp. 127 seq.), but the new temple which rises on the foundation of Christ and is the temple of his mystical body the Church, is built by pagans as well as Jews. Upon Christ and in union with him, this is the meaning of the formula "in him" which recurs in Eph. 2. 21-2. 8 We might be tempted and we were for a time to give this celebrated Pauline formula its full meaning in the framework of the spatial image it suggests. St Paul would then see Christ as the fundamental comer-stone and the faithful, from both Judaism and the Gentile world, as being built into the structure of the holy temple in him. Whilst in v. 20 and elsewhere, 9 the image is that of stones placed above the foundation stone, here it would be that of a structure erected, so it would seem, inside the one single basic stone, a structure, that is, which would be a kind of expansion of the latter until it acquired the dimensions of a building. The sense would no longer be "built upon" but "built in", rather as a tree or a vine is simply the growth or the expansion of its root (Col. 2. 7 combines the two images). The words "in him, in the Lord in him" would then have their fullest possible meaning. They would furnish one of the most vigorous expressions of the theology of the Church as the body of Christ, and at the same time would provide a link with the statements of the Gospels concerning the body of Jesus, the one temple of the messianic era. This idea should certainly not be excluded as an idea and many equivalents can be found in the Christian tradition, 1 inspired as it is by the realism of the doctrine of the mystical body. From the point of view of exegesis, however, the meaning of the particle sv should not be pressed, nor should the spatial character of the image be over-emphasized. "In him", "in Christ", essentially means beginning with Christ, depending on him, in union with him. The formula expresses that characteristic of Christ as the source ;

8 A. Schlatter, here followed by Wenschkewitz (study already quoted, p. 178), moves the eV $ of v. 22 to the word va6$. This seems to us to go counter to the rhythm so frequent in Eph. and Col., which classifies the riches of the mystery of Christ by means of a series of pronouns (fc &v $, atf-rcfe, & avra)), all referring to the same subject. * 1 Cor. 3; 1 Peter 2. 5. Cf. Col. 2. 7 and Matt. 7. 24 seq. 1 We may note in this connection the passage from Hernias: "(the tower) was formed from one single stone and not a join was to be seen in it. One would have said that the stone had been hewn from the rock itself; (the whole building) looked to me like a monolith" (Pastor, Sim. K. 9). This passage is quoted by Origen, In Oseam: P.O., 13, 828. Cf. the image of the seamless tunic.

The Mystery of the Temple

166

of the new creation which

is central in St Paul's thought. In one way, same thing in other words. The whole temple comes from Christ, it is built upon him, depends on him, is one with him. We are merely renouncing too spatial an expression of this mystery. The only point at issue is the emergence of the whole Christ: Eph. 4. 12-13, 15-16 proclaims this truth in an unforgettable way. Finally, then, there is one single temple, the body of Christ, but all the faithful are this body in a mystical manner. If Christ is the source and the term of the Church as temple, Christians are both the material of which it is built and its builders.

this is

only saying the

One of the

the

Church

common is

characteristics of the great biblical

that all her

images of

members are actively involved and insome have particular responsibilities or

tegrated into her, whilst functions. These two inseparable truths are found in the apostolic theme of the Church as temple. Some have particular functions or responsibilities: in the first

by the apostles we understand the Twelve and Paul, and this group extended later to include a small number of

place, the apostles. If

other persons fairly closely associated with the Twelve, then Paul has mind a special function which they possess. They are to lay the foundations (1 Cor. 3. 10; Rom. 15. 20). This means that they are to bring as the basis, and the only valid basis of the whole work, their apostolic witness to the fact and to the mystery of Christ. Yet, in addition to the eye-witnesses' testimony which it is the privilege of the apostles properly so-called to give (Acts 1. 21-2), the fact and in

the mystery of Christ are to be interpreted in order to reveal their profound meaning in the economy of salvation which the actual content of Revelation discloses. This is why the charism of "prophecy" 2 played so considerable a role in the early days of the Church. The rdle of the prophets is to make known the meaning of the facts in the context of the realization of God's plan of salvation. Hence St Paul links them with the apostles (Eph. 2. 20; 3. 5) and considers them, together with the apostles, as the foundations of the Church as temple. By using another image which, following the biblical tradition, Paul is quite ready to blend with that of a building in course or erection (see 1 Cor. 3. 10), he might have called them roots. There is no cause to wonder why St Paul calls Christ foundation (Qe^hoq: I Cor. 3. 10) and then gives the same name to the apostles and the prophets. The great attributes of Christ in relation to his Church he is her shepherd, her gate, her head, her foundation, etc. are com2 Cf. Rom. 12. 6; 1 Cor. 12. 28 seq.; 14; Eph. 2. 20; 3. 5; 4. 11; Acts 13. 1; 15; 32; Apoc. 11. 10. See also Vraie et fausse rgforme dans rfiglise, pp. 196 seq., where the true nature of the prophetic function is explained.

StPaul

167

municated to the apostles and through them, to the ministers, 3 with the exception, of course, of those mystical attributes which are the sources of spiritual being, Christ as Saviour, source of grace, etc. But the apostles and the prophets are the foundation only by reference to Christ, that is, they by their preaching lay the foundation which is Christ. Everything here depends on faith, which is, as it were, the substance of which the Church is made and built, from the foundations to the summit. The faith in question is, of course, that of which St Paul speaks, the faith which includes love. Hence St Paul, after showing how the body is built up by the work of the various ministries, all of them ministries of faith (Eph. 4. 11 seq.), can conclude by saying that this body is the agent of its own growth and builds itself "through charity" (v. 16). Ministers do in fact continue the work of construction undertaken at foundation level by the apostles and the prophets. They build on the foundations that have been laid once and for all, and what they build by their preaching is nothing less than the temple of God. Hence the first demand emphasized by St Paul is that of purity. He has of course renounced the Judaic purity of the Temple, as defined by the law of Moses, "that law of precepts with its ordinances". He knows that the barrier which once existed between Gentiles and Israelites has now been finally broken down (Eph. 2. 14). He has no intention of building it up again (Gal. 2. 18). Like Peter (Acts 10. 15), he knows that the distinction between what is pure and what is impure no longer depends on the circumcision of the flesh, the kind of food men eat or ritual washing with water; 4 it is faith and it alone which purifies the heart (Acts 15. 9). Purity will be demanded in the messianic temple no less than in the temple of Solomon. The demand will be even more severe, since here there is One greater than the Temple (Matt. 12. 6), greater than Solomon (12. 42; Luke 11. 31). To convince ourselves of this, we have only to remember the charter of the new Temple, which is also the charter of the Kingdom or of but I faith: "You have heard that it was said to the men of old tell you ... If thou art bringing thy gift, then, before the altar, and remeinberest there that thy brother has some ground of complaint against thee . ." (Matt. 5, passim and v, 23; cf. above p. 159, n. 9). We have seen that St Paul who, when he speaks of the Church as the temple, has in mind the image of the temple of Jerusalem, immediately .

.

.

.

3

See K. L. Schmidt, article Oe/Asfaos in TheoL Worterb. z. N.T., t. 3, pp. 63 seq.; in the Church, pp. 160-1; H. Riesenfeld, "The Ministry in the N.T.," in The Root of the Vine, Essays in Biblical Theology, edited by A. Fridrichsen, Westminster, Md., 1953, pp. 96-127. 4 This teaching is constantly found in the Gospel: Matt. 15. 10-20 (Mark 7,

Lay People

14-23), etc.

The Mystery of the Temple

1 68

associates the Idea of purity with that of the temple (cf. 2 Cor. 6. 17). This is in line with biblical tradition, since on every occasion, we have found the demand for purity linked to the reality of the Temple or of

the Presence.

We now see in what that purity consists.

purity of faith

It consists in

and the purity of love which accompanies

faith

and

whose law is unity. The first requirement

purity of faith we find in all the passages are studying. It receives a remarkable development in 1 Cor. 3. 10 seq. The ministers build on the foundations laid by the apostles, foundations which are none other than Jesus Christ our Saviour

we

(cf.

Acts

1.

11-12),

"whoever builds on

it

must be careful how he

A man may build with gold, that

with the is, with Gospel some valid spiritual doctrine yet more mixed with human elements man may build with wood, than the pure Gospel (cf. Col. 2. 8). devotions a few that with or straw, is, appealing to the feelings, grass or with some fashionable ideology, allied to the dregs of paganism and idolatry which remain in us all and will only be completely exorcized on the day of Jesus Christ's full and final Manifestation. And, says St Paul, that Day, the day of judgment and of purification in the fire of judgment, "will test the quality of each man's workmanship". Certain buildings which we may have taken to be parts of the temple of God will be destroyed. And if any minister or any believer belonging to this "temple" has sullied the purity of the word and of the faith to such an extent that he has really ruined rather than built the temple on its one and only foundation, then God, says St Paul, will destroy him too (v. \l a). We who are priests, apostles, preachers, doctors, pastors of God's people, should meditate on these warnings of St Paul and ask ourselves, in the light of the Gospel and the apostolic writings, the charter of the foundations on which we are to build, whether we are faithful to the law of purity which, in the order of faith, governs the construction of our temple more rigorously than all the laws concerning ritual purity governed attendance in the Temple of Solomon. builds" (1 Cor. in all

3. 10).

its

purity; a

man may

is,

build with silver, that

A

The Epistle to the Ephesians returns to this same requirement. After he has shown the construction and the unity of the body as of help to faith and achieved by ministers who are ministers of faith (4. 11 seq.), St Paul declares that the result of their work is that "we are no longer to be children, no longer to be like stormtossed sailors, driven before the wind of each new doctrine that

human

subtlety,

We

human

skill in

fabricating

lies,

may propound

.

.

."

should note carefully that in the hinterland of Ephesus or at Colossae, the danger would not come from anti-religious (v. 14).

StPaul

169

doctrines, but, on the contrary, from religious doctrines. And these would add to and mix with the apostolic faith speculations, gnosis, worship offered to the heavenly Powers. In a word, the building in wood or straw. For St Paul, this is a kind of profanation of the temple, it is to introduce idols into the house of God. But in chapter 4 of the Epistle to the Ephesians St Paul deals more particularly with unity as a necessary correlative of purity. He enumerates one after the other three possible and important enemies of unity: 5 the spirit of hostility which makes it difficult for us to put up with the faults of others-r-and even, eventually, their good qualities (w. 1-3); the variety of gifts and vocations

would be

which may also lead to

hostility (w. 7-1 1) the differences or perhaps even the divergences of doctrine and the more or less tempting deviations or errors which crop up (w. 14-15). Over against each of these dangers, St Paul sets a principle or motive of unity which he looks for, as always, in the deepest and most sublime regions of the Christian revelation. Over against the first danger, he sets the great realities of unity one body, one faith, one spirit (w. 4-6); he counters the peril arising from the variety of gifts by saying that this diversity is intended to build up the body of Christ (w. 12-13); in opposition to the doctrinal differences and errors he again brings forward the principle that governs and directs the growth of the body in union and in love (v. 16). The continual movement from the verb to grow to the verb to build shows that the Apostle is thinking all the time of the temple and that, in his view, the laws of the body's existence are those of the new temple, which is the Church. These laws, like the Law as a whole, may be summed up as love and the spirit of unity it inspires. Paul does not make the dogmatic statements of a St John concerning love (1 John 4. 8, 16: "God is love"; John 14. 23: "If a man has any love for me ... we will both come to him, and make our continual abode with him"), but, in dealing with the unity which is secured by a humble and devoted love, he gives us recommendations which reflect his twofold experience of peaceful communion on the one hand, and the sorry scheming of the spirit of division on the other. 6 The law of the era of the Church is the unity of the Spirit, which is the source of the unity of ;

:

the

5

body

(1

Cor. 12. 13; Eph.

am

4. 3-4).

Since this

body

is specifically

using (with very indifferent success!) a course of at the ficole biblique in 1954. painful this latter experience was is clear from passages such as 1 Cor. 3. 3; 11. 18 seq.; Gal. 5. 20-1; Rom. 13. 15; Phil. 2. 3-4, and to these must be added passages dealing with jealousy (cf. O. Cullmann, Saint Pierre, pp. 92 seq.) and those on the errors and heresies that were beginning to appear.

In these few

lectures given 6

How

lines I

by Fr Benoit,

170

The Mystery of the Temple

the

Body of Christ, which was humiliated and sacrificed and then exalted and glorified, it cannot become its true self other than in the same wholly flesh

The

sacrificial

and^resurrection

way (Christ is our Pasch) of death to the new life beyond all the limits of egoism.

to a

be read in full in this connection: Phil. 1-11 ; Gal 3. 27-8; 5. 16-25; Eph. 5. 25-32. Apart from this efficacious love awakened in us by the Spirit of Christ, with all its demands by way of respect for others, mutual services, pardon and decisive passages should

2.

patience, there can be no building up of the temple of the Church, no Presence therefore of the God of Jesus Christ, and no meeting with

He can only be met in the communion of the body. The Church was not mistaken when she chose this passage from Eph. 4. 1-21 as the Epistle for the Votive Mass of Unity. Certain him.

phrases in particular should hold our attention in this passage so exceptionally rich in meaning: "Some he has appointed to be apostles, others to be prophets, others to be evangelists, or pastors, or teachers. They are to order the lives of the faithful, minister to their needs, build up the frame of Christ's body" (4. 11-12). 7 What precisely does the Apostle mean by this "organization" of the "saints" for a

work which is a diaconia or sacred service, whose object is ing up of the body, in other words, the temple ? Does verse

the build12 merely

repeat and explain verse 11 in which Paul enumerates the ministries to which our Lord has called some! Or, once these ministries have

been enumerated, does Paul wish to add a new idea, namely that they arouse in the faithful a willingness to enter actively into the work of the ministry themselves, by exercising in their own station the sacred duties of the apostolate and by co-operating in the "build-

up" which all these gifts have as their purpose to complete? The answer to this question depends on the sense of the word "saints" arid on what St Paul's epistles say, as a general rule, about ing

the position of the faithful as regards the "diaconia" of the Gospel.

Although the word "saints" probably indicated at first the apostles and then all the members of the Jerusalem community grouped around the apostles, 8 the term certainly has a wider connotation 7

As elsewhere, the translation here used is that of Mgr Knox. The precise sense of Pere Congar's comments is obviously better grasped if we provide a of the Bible de Jerusalem text which he uses: "He has rendering given to some the task of apostles, to others the task of prophets, others again are evangelists or pastors and doctors, and so they organize the saints for the work of the ministry (diaconia), for the purpose of building up the body of Christ " Translator's note. rt

L;

510-29;

"Les

LaCttf^K, theologie

meaning are Acts

'saints' de Jerusalem", in Ephem. Lovan., 2 (1925), pp. del'fylise, pp. 111-13. The chief passages that favour this 41; 26. 10; Rom. 15. 25, 26, 31; 1 Cor 16 1 15

9. 13, 32,

StPaul

111

more extended meaning in Eph. 3. 5, where it used of the witnesses or those who are privileged to reveal the mystery of salvation, the "apostles and prophets" (cf. Apoc. 11. 18; 16. 6; 18. 20); its meaning is surely wider still in this passage, where it might well include all the faithful, as it does in more than one 9 passage in St Paul or in the Acts. This extended meaning would be particularly appropriate when Paul speaks of "diaconia" because, if there is one idea to which he frequently returns, it is that all the faithful are called to this "diaconia" of the Gospel and of the unity of the whole body. 1 Similarly, if there is, in the Gospels and the whole of the New Testament, one idea that is continually insisted upon regarding the status of the Christian, it is that of a kind of identity between discipleship and service to the whole community. 2 Hence the work of the ministry whose ultimate purpose is the building of here. It already has a is

the temple which is Christ's body, who really share in its building.

is

shown

to involve

all

the faithful

And is not this what St Paul says so often when he exhorts Christians to build up one another's faith!* This does not mean to give a good but anodyne example (in the sense in which the [former] deportment of seminarists, head bowed and eyes lowered, was said to "be very edifying"); 4 it means to build Christ in men, to increase the spread of the knowledge of his Gospel, to strengthen others, to deepen their spiritual life, to help them progress in their fidelity in his holy service, in obedience to his will and in strong have explained elselove for the Absolute which God is. where 5 that each and all can thus and very effectively build up the truth so fundaChurch. And to build it is everybody's business. mental and so important from a pastoral point of view can only

to

God,

We

filial

A

9 Acts 20. 32; 26. 18; 1 Cor. 1. 2; 6. 1-2; 2 Cor. 1. 1; Rom. 1. 7; 8. 27; 12. 13; 16. 2, 15; Phil. 1. 1; 4. 21, 22; Col. 1. 1; Heb. 3. 1; 13, 24. 1 Cf. 1 Cor. 16. 15; 2 Cor. 8. 4; 9. 1; Rom. 12. 13; Gal. 5. 13 (and 6); Col. 1. 4; Heb. 6. 10. Cf. Apoc. 2. 19. To these shopld be added the numerous passages in

which Paul instances ordinary layfolk co-operating in the work of the ministry. in the Church, pp. 339 seq. this equation Cor. 9. 19-23; 2 Cor. 4. 5; Gal. 5. 13. Discipleship^= service; is substantiated in the articles diaxovdcoj diaxovia, didxovog,, by H. W. Beyer in the Theol. Worterb. z. N.T., t. 2, pp. 81-93. 3 See 1 Thess. 5. 11 ; 1 Cor. 8. 1 ; 14. 12; Rom. 14. 19; 15. 2; 1 Peter 2. 5; Jude 20. Cf. the passages quoted in Lay People in the Church, pp. 319-20. 4 The play on words is lost in English. Pere Congar's previous sentence reads "il exhorte les Chretiens a s'edifier les uns les autres". Thus the adjective "edifiante" when applied to the now obsolete bearing of seminarists is directly linked to the verb s^difier with its double sense of building and giving edification. In English "to build" in the sense of "to edify" is no longer current usage. Trans-

Cf.

2

Lay People 1

lator. 6

Lay People

in the

Church, especially pp. 309 seq.

The Mystery of the Temple

172

have been obscured because of a very inadequate notion of what the Church is. For many the "Church" is an ideological system and a collection of rites of which a consecrated and specialized personnel the privileged custodian. Twenty-five years of theological

is

work

and apostolic experience have accustomed us personally to ask what across meaning is given to the word "Church", whenever we come " it. In the language of the Scholastics Pro quo supponit Ecclesicf 1 The experiment is worth making. It is illuminating, terribly illumin= the clergy, the ating. For the most part, the answer is: Ecclesia :

central administrative authorities, the Roman Curia. If this is the case, it is obvious that the faithful do not build the Church, they have 6 only to obey her. But if the Church is as is evident enough in Paul and as we have attempted to explain in Lay People in the Church the organic body of the faithful with the joints and ligaments which unite it to the Head, wholly alive and achieving its own growth through the activity of all its parts in accordance with their function in the body, then all her members build the Church, each doing his part, the apostles (at foundation level), then the appointed ministers and the faithful. They all are, and they all build the temple. The appointed ministers clearly have a special responsibility in this connection, in accordance with their mission, together with the powers and charisms which go with it. 7 St Paul writes to Timothy: "So much I that thou mayest be in no doubt over the conduct that is tell thee . expected of thee in God's household. By that I mean the Church of the living God, the pillar and foundation upon which the truth rests" (1 Tim. 3. 15; cf. 3. 5). He has in mind here the duties proper to the appointed ministers, duties which are so remarkably described for us in the Pastoral Epistles. 8 .

.

8

See Col. 2. 19; Eph. 4. 15-16, where these precise terms are used. In the New Testament a mission always implies a task and the powers that go with this task. St Paul always connects his activities in the building up of the Church with the power (&-ovaid) given to him by our Lord: cf. 2 Cor. 10. 8: 13. 10; 12. 19; Rom. 15. 20; P. Bonnard, op. cit. 9 p. 36. We cannot agree with this author (pp. 301) when he says that St Paul received the power to build and eventually to destroy. In 2 Cor. 10. 8; 13. 10, Paul in fact says that our Lord has given him the power to build and not to destroy. 8 See C. Spicq, "L'origine evangelique des vertus 6piscopales selon S. Paul", in Rev. bibl, 53 (1946), pp. 36-46; Spirituality sacerdotale (Tapr&s S. Paul (Lectio 7

divina, 4), Paris, 1950.

The

Epistle to the

Hebrews

173

THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS9 no need to return to the theme of the people of God as God. Hebrews 3. 3-6 is a classic expression of this idea. 1 The specific purpose of the Epistle to the Hebrews is to offer us an ample theology of the true order of priesthood, sacrifice and sanctuary brought into being by the Son who, "making atonement for our sins, has taken his place on high, at the right hand of God's majesty" (1. 3). Further, the Epistle to the Hebrews is probably the only book in the Bible which gives its own definition of what it proposes to do and also a summary of its contents; it does so in There

is

the house of

.

.

.

highly significant terms

:

8. And here we come to the very pith of our argument. This high priest of ours is one who has taken his seat in heaven, on the right hand of that throne where God sits in majesty, 2 ministerl

ing now, in the sanctuary, in that true tabernacle which the Lord, not man, has set up.

This theme has three principal headings

:

1. A new priesthood has come into force with Christ. It is not an earthly priesthood, as was Aaron's in spite of all appearances, but a heavenly one. It is precisely the kind of priesthood which the Son of

God can possess if, through the Incarnation, he has made himself like all things, except sin (4. 15). The Epistle to the Hebrews sees the type of this new and sovereign priesthood in "the priesthood according to the order of Melchisedech," which it considers as representing the heavenly order of priesthood. 2 The Epistle explains how Christ has exercised this priesthood and it does so by referring to the liturgy of the Day of Atonement. On that day the high priest went alone and once a year into the Holy of Holies, after he had offered a sacrifice for the sins of the people and another similar one for his

us in

own

transgressions,

Christ has taken his place as our high priest, to win us blessings still lie in the future. He makes use of a greater, a more complete tabernacle (cr/c^^), which human hands never fashioned;

that

9

Oddly enough, Wenschkewitz (study quoted, p. 195) in dealing with the Epistle to the Hebrews speaks only of priesthood and sacrifice. He has nothing to say of the temple. 1 Cf. O. Michel, article olxoq, in Theol Worterb. z. N.T., t 5, pp. 128 seq. 2 On Christ's priesthood "according to the order of Melchisedech", cf. Heb. 5. 5-10; 6. 20, and all Chapter 7. Cf. Lay People in the Church, pp. 70 seq.

The Mystery of the Temple

1 74

does not belong to this order of creation at all. It is his own blood, not the blood of goats and calves, that has enabled him to enter, once for all, into the sanctuary (sl<; ra ayia) the ransom he has won lasts for ever. 3 it

;

priesthood of Christ corresponds a and true the long-awaited temple. It is curious heavenly temple, that the Epistle to the Hebrews does not use the word vaog when it mentions this temple, nor the term to Ispov. aKrjvtf, tabernacle, 2.

To

the

is rci

4

2; the true taberbacle). The expression it ordinarily 5 a special dyia, the holy (places). This true tabernacle has

occurs once uses

new and heavenly

(8.

6

not made by human hands, that is, it does not belong to creation but to the heavenly order (cf, 8. 1-12, quoted above). What precisely is this heavenly sanctuary? Obviously it is the spiritual place of perfect communion with the Father, and characteristic,

it

is

so also the place of his Presence. It is there that is, in this spiritual situation that the people of God, the body of Christ, the Church, really becomes what it is, namely the people of God and the body of 7 Christ immolated and risen from the dead. The Church herself as the family enjoying here seems to be not so much the sanctuary 8 the intimate company of the Father. When the Epistle to the

Hebrews compares the Church to the house of God, it is thinking not so much of a temple as of a family (3. 2 seq.; 10. 21). 3. Into the Holy of Holies which is the place of "the blessings that still lie in the future", the place, that is, of communion with God, Christ our great and eternal high priest has entered as OUT forerunner towards (6. 20), at the head of the long line of his people journeying their true country (11. 13-16). Sounding the same note of joy with which he told us "we can claim a high priest", 9 the author of the Epistle ceaselessly repeats that, through Christ, we have access to the Father, that we can come near to God in his sanctuary: see 10. 19-21

8

9.

11-12. Cf.

4

4. 14; 6.

Elsewhere the word cribe its arrangements: 5

19-20.

the Mosaic tabernacle or serves to des21; 13. 10. term is used for the sanctuary in the Mosaic

axtivtf indicates 8. 5; 9. 2, 3, 6,

2; 9. 12, 24; 10. 19. The same 9. 25; 13. 11. 9. 11 (fMrprf); 9. 24 (rd fiya). 8.

temple in 6 7

aux Hebreux, I, Introduction, Paris, 1952, p. 298, n. 3. In the final analysis the true heavenly sanctuary is this intimate relationship itself. Cf. the admirable "meditation" of Condren in his commentary on Hebrews 9. 24. He says that the true Holy of Holies is the bosom of the Father (fJIdee du sacerdoce et du sacrifice de Jfaus-Christ, part 3, ch. 4.). 9 4. 14, 15; 8. 1; 10.21. 8

Cf. S. Spicq, L?pttre

St Peter

175

and the frequent use of verbs connected with public worship, "to 1 2 enter," "to come near". This access to God must certainly be through Jesus Christ and through him alone. Yet through him, in him, by the way he has opened for us, by the way of the veil of his flesh (10. 20), we all have full access to the most secret places of the Holy of Holies. The dominating idea here, in contrast to the Mosaic system which kept the people at a distance from the divine Presence (12. 18 seq.), is that all have free and ready access to God himself (4. 16; 10. 19 seq.; cf. Eph. 2. 18; 3. 12; Col. 3. 22). All are members of a priestly body whose hierarchical structure is revealed to us throughout the

New we

Testament. United as

all are to the one Priest, Jesus Christ, have access in him to the inmost places of the heavenly sanc-

all

tuary.

3

ST PETER

The first of the two Epistles that bear the name of Peter (it dates from A.D. 63 or shortly after) offers us in writing of great richness and depth, a synthesis of the apostolic teaching on the community as temple:

Draw near to him; he is the living antitype of that stone which men rejected, which God has chosen and prized; 5 you too must be built up on him, stones that live and breathe, into a spiritual fabric; you must be a holy priesthood, to offer up that 6 So spiritual sacrifice which God accepts through Jesus Christ. you will find in scripture the words, Behold, I am setting down in Sion a corner-stone., chosen out and precious; those who believe 7 in him will not be disappointed (Isa. 28. 16) Prized, then, by you, the believers, he is something other to those who refuse belief; the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief stone of the corner 8 a stone to trip men's feet, a boulder they stumble against (Ps. 117[118]. 21; Isa. 8. 14). They stumble over God's word, and refuse it belief; it is their destiny. 9 Not so you; you are a 2.

4

,

1 slo&Q%eadat,. For its sense in the vocabulary of worship (i.e. to enter the temple) cf. Spicq, op. cit., p. 281 n. 3. It is used in Hebrews of Christ (7. 19, 20; 9. 12. 24) and for the faithful in the expression "to enter into his rest" (3. 12). 2 stQoaQXS00
7. 19. 3 This priesthood of all the faithful is taught in the Epistle to the Hebrews by the use of the "liturgical" verb "to come near" (preceding note). Cf. B. F. Westcott, The Epistle to the Hebrews, 3rd edn, London, 1903, pp. 189, 215, 325; Christus Consummator, pp. 70 seq.; O. Moe, "Der Gedanke des allgemeinen Priestertums im Hebraerbrief" in Theol Zeitsch., 5 (1949), pp. 161-9.

The Mystery of the Temple

176

chosen race, a royal priesthood, a consecrated nation, a people God means to have for himself (Is*. 43. 20-1; Mai. 3. 17; Exod. 19. 5-6); it is yours to proclaim the exploits of the God who has called you out of darkness into his marvellous light. 10 Time was when you were not a people at all, now you are God's people;

once you were

unpitied,

and now

his pity is yours.

41

This passage which seems to presuppose, if not the Epistle to the Hebrews, at least Romans and Ephesians, is a remarkable synthesis of the catechesis concerning Jesus Christ, of the Gospel teaching on Christ sacrificed, risen from the dead and so taking the place of the Temple, a synthesis too of the Apostolic doctrine of the community of the faithful as the new spiritual temple. An awe-inspiring vision of God's plan emerges from the relationships which thus exist between Christ and the Church. Christ.

The newly-baptized

(2. 2)

Christ, the living corner-stone.

are invited to

The

draw near

fact of Jesus Christ

to Jesus

dominates

the whole picture. He is the inescapable, decisive reality at the basis of every individual destiny. For the faithful, he will be the copingstone, the keystone of their whole existence. For those who do

not believe, he

is

a stone of scandal over which they

trip

and

stumble.

The spiritual destiny of the faithful is wholly determined by this living stone which draws them to itself in such a way that they take part in the building of a spiritual edifice through a holy priesthood. They therefore form a temple, but a temple made of living stones and

own worship. This worship takes into itself one sacrifice of Jesus Christ that included them by anticipation and which is made actual through time and space by the celebration of the Eucharist), the spiritual sacrifices of the holy lives of which

itself celebrates its

(in the

the faithful,

who

thus become "acceptable to

God

through Jesus

Christ".

"Through Jesus Christ." It is he who determines and gives value to everything. There is no living stone in the building of this spiritual edifice separated from this first stone rejected by men, but accepted *

The quotations in this last verse are from Osee 1. 6-9; 2. 23-4. Commentaries or studies on this passage: F. J. A. Hort, The First Epistle of St Peter I, I-II, London, 1898, pp. 104-31; A. Schlatter, Petrus und Paulus nach dem ersten Petrusbrief, Stuttgart, 1937, pp. 92-102; L. Cerfaux, "Regale Sacerdotium", in Rev. Sc. phil thtol, 28 (1939), pp. 5-39; F. W. Beare, The First Epistle of Peter, Oxford, 1947, pp. 92-107; E. G. Selwyn, The First Epistle of St. Peter, London, 1947, pp. 81-90, 157-69, 268-98. Finally the articles Aa6$ (Strathmann and E. Meyer), M6og (J. Jeremias), in the Theol. Worterb. z. N.T., t. 4, pp. 29-57 and 273-83.

St Peter

by God as

111

no holy priesthood, no spiritual sacrifice acceptable to God, save through this same Jesus, through his holy priesthood and his sacrifice. If the faithful are the temple of infinite worth. There

is

because they are living stones, if they are living, priestly stones because they offer spiritual sacrifices, it is only because, by faith and through baptism, they have drawn near to Jesus Christ, and he is the foundation stone through his own spiritual sacrifice in the Pasch when, in obedience to his Father (cf. Heb. 10. 5-10) he was rejected by men, but set up by God as the chosen and most precious corner-stone. Everything, therefore, is linked with the Paschal sacrifice of Jesus Christ, which is the true place of the messianic temple that Jesus Christ is and we, in and with him, also are.

As Hort5

rightly says, ev (in him) suggests the idea of a unity in being or a community of being; dca (through him) that of a mediation in which individuality and distinction of persons are more marked. 6

But the two ideas are closely related and interdependent. On the one hand, as we have seen, we must not press the spatial connotation of ev which indicates a far more spiritual relationship, our situation in relation to Christ when we live because of him, in union with him and in dependence upon him. On the other hand, Christ's mediation as it is revealed to us in the New Testament, is the mediation of a head in relation to its members, of an organic principle of

in relation to the organism which it quickens. The spiritual building, as well as the holy priesthood and the spiritual sacrifices pleasing to God, are only what they are in and through Christ. There life

the distinction between the personal lives of individuals, but also the fundamental unity of temple and priesthood. The true temple of God is the immolated and glorified body of Christ, but is

we

are the members of this body, built together on the foundation of this, one stone. So, in and through him, we all are also the temple of God, not temples but one single temple, all together and each individually, just as we all are, in him and through him, one single priest, each of us offering his spiritual sacrifice. But our sacrifices in the end are one, and are only offered "in Christo", in the sacramental organization of the Church, as we shall see later. After our Lord's Pasch, each accomplishes and offers his own pasch to the best of his ability, but all these paschs in the end form one single Pasch, the Pasch of the People of God, the People which has become the Body of Christ: "No man has ever gone up into heaven; but 5

pp. 113-14. 1. 8; 7. 25; 2 Cor.

Op.

cit.,

Cf.

Rom.

1.

20; Phil.

1. 11

;

Col. 3, 17; Heb. 13. 15.

The Mystery of the Temple

178

who

come down from heaven, the Son of Man, dwells in heaven" (John 3. 13). 7 The faithful. They are living stones, as Christ is a living stone, but

there

is

one

has

who

with this difference, that they

own

exist

"through him", whilst he

exists

of the same nature as Jesus Christ, for the temple is of the same kind as its foundation stone. And this nature consists in a "spiritual" being. We shall see shortly what this means. As in St Paul's writings which this Epistle of St Peter so resembles, the personal and collective aspects are closely knit. It is through the maturing of a personal spiritual life, begun at baptism, a maturing and a growth brought about by the Word of God which

in his

right. Spiritually, the faithful are

they both desire and receive (1. 23; 2. 2), that the faithful give selves to be built up as living stones into the spiritual edifice Church which they then form. The whole building process is fore based on personal spiritual life. But it is the building up

themof the there-

of the

essentially corporative. St Peter says that this

is the process that makes us ecg lepdrsv^a dyiov (a holy priesthood). It has been noted, and rightly, that the passage from Exod. 19. 6 8 as translated in the Septuagint and as referred to and quoted by

Church,

it is

(v. 5) uses collective or "corporate" words: "a (royal) priesthood". 9 The faithful are not priests individually, but are collectively a royal priesthood in the organic unity of the Church. The house which they form is a temple because it is built of consecrated persons whose whole life is an offering of spiritual sacrifices. But they are only consecrated because they have been called from all the nations to be the new people of God, a chosen race, a people whom God has

Peter

purchased for himself, and so are to be, all together, in the Church, a royal priesthood. The Septuagint spoke of a priestly kingdom a kingdom, that is a whole nation, and, in the event, a nation under the rule of God. St Peter talks of a royal priesthood. What precisely does he mean by this ? As always, the words derive their full sense within the context of the thought as a whole. Peter presents a view of the Church as a 1 This Church, which is wholly (but organically) priestly body. ;

7 What all this implies in terms of the priesthood is explained in "Un essai the"ologique sur le sacerdoce catholique. La th&se de Fabb6 Long-Hasselmans. Texte et remarques critiques," in Rev. des Sciences religieuses, 25 (1951), pp. 187-99, 288-304, and in Lay People in the Church,

8

Hort, pp. 109-10 and 124-6; Cerfaux, article quoted; Beare, pp. 102-4. text of Exod. 19. 6 is a "kingdom of priests". The Septuagint has translated this as though it read "a kingdom of the priests" (cf. Apoc. 1. 6), in the sense of a sacerdotal community. 1 E. G. Selwyn has some admirable pages on this subject: op. cit., pp. 291 seq. 9

The Hebrew

St Peter

179

kingdom of God into being here below. This she does in herself by the offering of those spiritual sacrifices that are coextensive with the lives of the faithful. In this respect then the Church priestly, brings the

proves herself priestly, and we shall return to this point a little She does so in the world as a whole by witnessing in it to the mighty works of God (2. 9), and by being a leaven of peace and light in the midst of human society (2. 11-20). 2 By exercising this twofold priestly activity of sacrifice and praise, of mediation and purification in and for the world, the body of Christians or the Church; the name is not mentioned but the Church is the sole subject of the passage in question brings into being the reign of God and, by showing that she is essentially priestly, is also fully royal. "To serve God is to reign", says the liturgy. To be consecrated to God and so to bring his reign into being, is to be a king. The Church's 3 priesthood is a royal priesthood. Both temple and sacrifices are "spiritual" (v. 5), a word we have already met and which we must attempt to understand in its exact sense. 4 Jesus opens the way when he says to the Samaritan woman: "But the time is coming, nay, has already come, when true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth; such men as these the Father claims for his worshippers. God is a spirit, and those who worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth" (John 4. 23-4). That is spiritual "which corresponds to the nature of God. Our worship or our temple can be "spiritual" if, in the first place, they are fundamentally human, for man is made in the image of later.

God. Hence, St Paul, following the prophetic method we have mentioned above, speaks of spiritual circumcision, spiritual service, 5 spiritual victims. The idea of living victims, living stones, a living 6

temple, is closely related to this first meaning. The temple is spiritual, 2 Selwyn (pp. 293 seq.) comments in an extremely interesting way on 2. 1 1-20. He clearly shows the connection between this passage (in which Peter gives his view on the relations between the Church and secular society) and the preceding verses (an exclusively priestly ecclesiology). In the past, Israel's duty had been to exercise a priestly mediation and perform a task of witness in the world: Isa. Tobias

13. 3 seq.: cf. Ecclus. 36. 19. interpretation is therefore very similar to Hort's (p. 126); but we apply the royal character to the faithful and consider it as marking their interior lives to a greater extent than does Hort. Selwyn (p. 166) agrees with Hort but goes a a priesthood in a king's service. Cf. below, pp. 226little further by interpreting

61. 6; 3

9,

Our

on the teaching of the Apocalypse.

We

4

See Hort, op. cit. 9 pp. 110 seq. have borrowed from this passage several illuminating observations. The classification of the meanings of the word nvevfjiar^g provided by Selwyn (pp. 281-5) is not very good and in places seems debatable. See also the articles by C. F. D. Moule and F. M. Braun quoted 5 Rom. 2. 29; Phil. 3. 3; Rom. 1. 9; 12. 1 (toywt). above. 6 Rom. 12. 1 ; 1 Peter 2. 4-5 (cf. Heb. 10. 20). But the idea implies other aspects : the action of the Spirit (the living water), the fact that God is the living God (cf.

2 Cor.

3. 3; 6. 16;

M.O.T

7

Heb.

9. 16, etc.).

The Mystery of the Temple

180

the sacrifices are spiritual, other than man himself.

first

of

all

We admit,

because they consist in nothing shall explain further on,

and we

New Testament relating to the priestto the spiritual sacrifices of Christians, there is an underlying reference to the Eucharist and the sacramental worship of the Church. 7 But the apostles insisted above all on the new character of that in the statements of the

hood and

Christianity by comparison with Judaism. They were especially insistent on the fact that there was no question, in these sacrifices and this

priesthood, of substituting for the Mosaic rites new and purer rites yet still of the same kind. Easter, as we have said, is not a restoration of, an improvement on, what existed before. In the worship which has

from

the external rites themselves are related to the offering filial obedience to God (Heb. 10. 5-10). The Epistle to the Hebrews also tells us (9. 14) that this sacrifice was offered (9. 14) "through the Holy Spirit". This means that the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, both in the intention which inspired it and

issued

it,

of the living person in his

is, the divine acceptance indicated by the resurrecand so rendering the sacrifice efficacious for our justification [Rom. 4. 24-5]), is a divine sacrifice of such a nature that a God

in its results (that

tion

could offer it. 8 It is therefore a sacrifice perfectly in keeping with the divine nature and so "spiritual". We thus come to a second meaning of the word "spiritual", and a meaning more decisive and rich than the preceding one: that which is in keeping with the nature of God because it is the fruit in us of the power of God or, more precisely, of his Spirit. Only the Spirit of God can know God's thoughts (1 Cor. 2. 10 seq.), only the Spirit of God can make us "spiritual" by lifting us up and assimilating us to the divine nature. The vast majority and the most important uses of the words "Spirit, spiritual" are connected with this second meaning. That is "spiritual" which, in us, is the fruit of the Spirit, and so that also which is "true" (no longer that which is figurative or temporary, for the Spirit is the 9 specific gift of the last times). The whole order of worship depends 7 Cf. Lay People in the Church, p, 126, n. 26. Selwyn follows E. Lohmeyer (Theol Rundschau, 1937, p. 296) in thinking this section of 1 Peter contains an implicit reference to the Eucharist. We think so too and for the same reasons, see below, pp. 185 seq. 8 Cf. Rom. 1. 4; 1 Tim. 3. 16 and Fr Spicq's commentary, p. aux Hdhr., t. 2, pp. 258-9. In the Epistle to the Hebrews, the heavenly and divine order of sacrifice has a corresponding heavenly and divine order of priesthood, as is

explained in ch. 7, 8 and 9. * "So that God may find in you a dwelling-place for his Spirit" (Eph. 2. 22); "we who serve God with the spirit" (The text used by Pere Congar has "we offer worship according to the Spirit of God". Translator.) (PhiL 3. 3). The whole

order of Christian life is included in this meaning: 1 Cor. 46; 14. 37; Rom. 7. 6; Gal. 6. 1; Col 1, 9; 3. 16; Eph. even the "spiritual harvest" in 1 Cor. 9. 11 ; Rom. 15. 27.

2. 13,

15; 3. 1 ; 15. 44, 18; it covers

5. 19; 6.

St Peter

181

on Christ

as Sovereign Priest, the one and only Temple, the only holy offering. If, in fact, Christ is a priest in a manner befitting the Son of God made man, if he exists and acts in the divine (heavenly) order of the priesthood, it is not so much on

therefore for

its

truth

behalf as on ours. He can enter our consciences and cleanse sins. By the same token, then, our priesthood and our sacrifice can be "spiritual", that is, in conformity with the nature of God, of the same kind as the priesthood and sacrifice of Christ.

his

own

them of their

These sacrifices cannot consist in external things as such any more than the messianic temple can be a material building. As the sacrifices consist in persons living in sonship with God, the temple is nothing other than the community of those who "through Jesus Christ" achieve this life of sonship. And the sacrifices are "spiritual" precisely in that they imitate God's behaviour towards us and so are in keeping with his nature. This is why, as Hort so profoundly remarks (op. cit., p. Ill), St Paul says:

As God's favoured

children (d)$ rsxva dyojcrjrd), you must be him. Order your lives in charity fev ay&nri), upon the model of that charity which Christ shewed us (f}y&.nriasv) when he gave himself up (napedcoKSv) on our behalf, a sacrifice breathing out 1 fragrance as he offered it up to God. like

not for nothing that the root of the word ay fair} with all its resonances occurs three times in this passage. God is agape (1 John 4. 8, 16) and the behaviour inspired by agape is that which best reproduces the behaviour of God (cf. Matt. 5. 43-8, etc.). All these considerations will help us to understand why, when the apostles enumerate or go into some detail concerning these spiritual sacrifices offered through the common priesthood of Christians, 2 they mention firstly, the sacrifice of praise or thanksgiving and of of such as works works either the mercy, secondly, corporal charity and the pooling of resources (Heb. 13.16), assistance given to brother Christians and particularly to those from whom we receive 3 spiritual good things, or spiritual, such as preaching the Gospel It is

1

Eph. 5. 1-2 (cf. 5. 25), with its reference to Ps. 39(40). 7 (quoted in Heb. 10. 5 seq.) and the classical liturgical term (Gen. 8. 21 ; Exod. 29. 18, etc.). 2 Heb. 13. 15 (cf. Osee 6. 6; 14. 3; Isa. 57. 19; Ps. 49(50). 14, 23, etc.). 3 Phil 4. 18 (the same expression as in Eph. 5. 2), and all the passages dealing with the collection on behalf of "the saints": Rom. 15. 27; 2 Cor. 8. 4; 9. 12. Cf. James 1. 27 where the words used are more in keeping with the style of the prophets. As the generous giving of our goods is a spiritual sacrifice and forms part of the worship of the messianic temple, attachment to money is treated by St Paul as SL form of idolatry: Col. 3. 5; Eph. 5. 5. Cf. Matt 6. 24.

The Mystery of the Temple

182

and bearing witness, 4 and mutual aid in the moral sphere. All this may seem to us very down to earth, but this is the apostolic doctrine, apart from other more sublime utterances included in our list of texts, which is comprehensive. Far from being surprised at this,

we

admire the depth of this doctrine of "spiritual" sacriwith Hort and bearing in mind all the valid observations of Nygren on agape, we see that the province of these sacrifices is coextensive with Christian life itself and that their "spiritual" quality consists in their imitating, with the help of grace, the nature and behaviour of God himself. God's plan in all its grandeur is thrown into strong relief by these declarations concerning Christ and then the faithful. It is bound up with the relationship existing between these two terms. As we said at the beginning of our study of the apostolic witness, the apostles, and after them the Fathers, were profoundly aware of the mutual involvement or cross reference between Christ and the human race. We will quote only two pieces of evidence from the Patristic tradition. The first is taken from St Hilary; the second, full of biblical allusions, is from St Cyril of Alexandria and gives an admirable insight into the theological thought of the Greeks shall rather

fices

if,

:

The flesh which he assumed, he

calls

a

city,

for just as the multi-

and the variety of inhabitants make up a city, so the human race is, in some sort, gathered into himself, because of the bodily nature he has taken. Hence through our gathering together in him, he becomes a city and we, through our common sharing in his 5 flesh, become its inhabitants. (John) states that the Word has dwelt among us and thus reveals to us a sublime mystery. For we are all in Christ and the common personality of the human race lives again (by turning) unto him. For he has been called the second Adam because, through his sharing in our nature, he has enriched us all with blessings and with grace, whereas the first Adam brought us corruption and the fall from grace. Thus then the Word has dwelt through one man in all of us, so that, this one man having been established as the Son of God in all his power according to the Spirit of sanctification (Rom. 1. 4), this dignity might pass into all the human race. So also that through one of ourselves, this word might reach us: "Gods you are, I myself have declared it; (Ps. 81[82]. 6; John 10. 34) favoured children, every one of you, of the most plicity

High/' Thus, in Christ, the slave in us is truly set free, since it is raised to a mystical union in him, who bears the form of a slave 4 1 8

Peter

Com.

2. 9; Phil. 2.

in

MatL>

c.

4,

17;

Rom.

1.

9; 16; 2 Tim. 4. 6, 9, 935), on Matt. 5. 14.

note 12 (P.L.,

St Peter

and

183

us by an effort to be like him, this one man who is one with us through his bodily relationship with us. If this were not so, why should he not have taken up the cause of the angels instead of that of Abraham's children for whom he had to make himself like his brethren in all things (Heb. 2. 16-17) and to become truly a man ? ... He who is by nature the Son of God has dwelt among us. That is why we, in him, cry out: Abba, Father! (Rom. 8. 15). The Word dwells in us all, in that (unique) temple which he has taken to himself from among us and for our sakes so (Phil. 2. 7),

that,

having

single

it is

set free in

men in himself, he may reconcile the Father (Eph. 2. 16). 6

all

body to

them

all

in one

easy to recognize in these two passages, in the second esof Greek theology and the part played by the idea of nature to explain the relation of the many to the one., of the human race to Christ. It is not with this technical aspect that we are here concerned, but rather with the fundamental idea superlatively formulated: God's plan is to dwell in all through one man alone. God dwells in all men as in his sancIt is

pecially, the categories characteristic

tuary, and this by entering fully into Christ's humanity as his own 7 temple. This formula was already in St John's Prologue (1. 14 and But John also insisted on the special nature of this indwelling. The 16). Word has not just to be in humanity. He has been in the world since the beginning of time and the world has not recognized him (v. 10). The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not given it welcome (v. 5). If God is truly to dwell in us, it is not enough for him to be in us, he must also be with us and we with him. This

had been continually prophesied from the beginning throughout 8 life of the people of Israel: I will be their God and they shall be my people; I shall be a God for them and they shall be a people for me. Indwelling requires a mutual "belonging", a kind of union. We are called upon to receive God 9 but the initial and decisive move must obviously come from God. On his part, it is not merely a matter of coming into the world or into mankind. He is there already. It is rather a question of his becoming present in a new way by communicating himself in a personal and living manner. His the

8

St Cyril Alex., Com. in Joan., I, 14 (P.O., 73, 161 and 164). (for St Cyril above aH!) the hypostatic union of the Word with our human nature is something different from and much more than his dwelling in it as in his temple. This comparison, which Nestorius sometimes used, is transcended here. Yet it is remarkable that it should be adopted by St Cyril himself. 8 Literally, given the means of expression available in Hebrew: I will be God of them and they shall be people of me. 9 Cf. John 1.11 and all the very profound theology of the relations between signs and faith in St John: truth's advance towards us, balanced by an advance on our part towards the truth. 7

Obviously

The Mystery of the Temple

184

dwelling among us is nothing other than a communion, a communication to us of the status of sonship: "but all those who did welcome him he empowered to become the children of God, all those who believe in his name" (v. 12). John immediately makes clear the source of the status of child of God: "his [Knox has "their" Translator.] birth came, not from human stock, not from nature's will or man's, but from God" (v. 13). The one and only source of our filial nature is the filial nature of the only Son, full of grace and truth, of whose ab-

undance we have all received (vv. 14 and 16). Thus God's dwelling in us all through one single man brings into being a single temple of filial life, of life "with" God (John 1. 1), whose unique principle of construction and existence is he who came to be its corner-stone. From this living stone, which is the Son of God made flesh (St John), the high priest of the epistle to the Hebrews, and from all the other living stones which are bound to this first stone by faith, there rises a unique temple, a unique worship of filial obedience and praise and a unique love in action, whose fundamental principle is none other than Jesus Christ, who is one in substance with the Father. The Gospel statement that Jesus takes the place of the Temple and the apostolic statement that the community of the faithful is the true messianic temple form one continuous whole; or rather they are fundamentally one and the same statement since neither is possible without the other. The passage from St Peter combines them in a remarkable way. It is in these terms the one that we find the filial temple, the one filial praise, the one filial life best definition, the most complete synthesis of what we may call the 1 final cause of the Church as such, in a word, the whole and final purpose of God's grace. 1 As in the case of the analogous problem raised for society in the field of sociology or political philosophy, we may ask ourselves what, in fact, is the specific purpose of the Church as such. This purpose can only be an activity, for the essence of a thing is ordered to its operation. The problem then becomes that of the existence of an operation which cannot be performed either by an individual or a group (monastery, parish, diocese), but only by the Church as a whole. This operation consists in coming into touch with God (of having communion with him) in the only way in which we can come into touch with him and have communion with him, that is, through and in his Son. Only one man goes up into heaven (John 3. 13). The purpose of the Church is to be the body of Christ, as able to perform this operation, to love God in and with the charity of Christ ." Rom, 5. 5), to obey as does a son and to say Amen ("caritas Dei diffusa est in and with the obedience of Christ's Amen (2 Cor. 1. 19-20; Eph. 5. 2; Heb. 10. 10), in a word, to say in the fullness of truth: Our Father! Cf. the idea of true sacrifice in St Augustine. It is the unity of the "tota redempta civitas, hoc est congregatio societasque sanctorum" which is the "universale sacrificium (quod) offeratur Deo per sacerdotem magnum qui etiam seipsum obtulit in passione pro nobis, ut tanti capitis corpus essemus". "Hoc est sacrificium Christian orum: rnulti unum corpus in Christo." De civ. Dei, x. 6 (cf. Lay People in the Church, p. 118). Cf. below (Apoc.\ pp. 227-8. ,

.

:

St Peter

185

point also, in the very heart of the new order, that the Eucharist stands, and we must end by pointing out its decisive place in the messianic temple. It is at this

is the perfect dwelling-place of God the temple particularly in his body during his Pasch. He died to what was of the flesh, including the Mosaic system of worship and Presence, and rose again to a heavenly

Jesus

among

is

the temple because he

the

human

race.

He

is

and spiritual life. His Pasch is itself the worship of this new temple, a worship which is wholly that of a filial life offered to God (in the words of Heb. 10. 6-10; cf. Ps. 39(40). 7-9). But Christ is now in heaven in the body of his Easter resurrection, and the whole substance of the new worship is there with him. Yet, at the moment when his body was to be delivered over to death, Jesus gave it also, not to his enemies but to his friends. He gave it to them, in fact, in the paschal reality of his filial life offered to God, but he gave it to them under the form of food to be eaten and drunk. Here indeed is a mystery of faith! This food, since it is living and spiritual, will assimilate to itself those who eat it. By communicating in the breaking of bread, the faithful themselves become the Body of the Lord (1 Cor. 10. 16-17), they form with Jesus, their Head in heaven, one single body whose life is that of the Son offered to the Father, one single Paschal body of death and resurrection. The Eucharist, the sacramental body of Christ, is thus the means whereby the Church becomes supremely the body of Christ and the temple of God in the new Dispensation. The Eucharistic character of the spiritual worship and the structure of the Church as temple is not explicitly mentioned in the passages from the Epistle to the Hebrews and the First Epistle of Peter, but the content of the thought, if not the words used, demands it to such an extent that we may say, as do some excellent commen2 tators, that it lies only just below the surface. If the Christian life in its theological and moral reality constitutes a spiritual sacrifice and the worship of the true temple, it is because it is founded entirely on the filial sacrifice of Jesus Christ in his own Pasch. It is only together with Jesus Christ that the Christian and the whole Church are one sacrifice and one priesthood, just as they are one single temple. But if the altar of which they eat (Heb. 13. 10; 1 Cor. 10. 16-21) is Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ in his own Pasch, they eat of it by "drinking of one cup" and by "eating of one table" (1 Cor. 10. 21), which are precisely those of the Eucharist celebrated in the Church in 2 For the First Epistle of St Peter, cf. above p. 180, n. 7. For Hebrews, cf. Westcott, Hebrews, 3rd edn, 1903, pp. 440-4; C. Spicq, Uep. awe Hebreux, I, Paris, 1952, pp. 316-18.

The Mystery of the Temple

186

accordance with the apostolic tradition (11. 23-7). It would be an unwhich is offered in pardonable error to imagine that the new worship the spiritual temple (1 Peter 2. 5) is purely "mental or moral". We is not the opposite repeat the word "spiritual" in the New Testament of is it the "fleshly", of what is of "visible" or "corporeal", opposite "natural" or "human". Here again, the purpose of God's work :

purely on earth is corporeity. Christ is fulfilled in his body which is the Church which is also the (Eph. 1. 23); the spiritual sacrifice of the faithful, in their union is consummated 12. bodies their of sacrifice 1), (Rom. with Christ's Pasch by means of the sacrament of his body. And this sacrament itself cannot be celebrated other than corporately, in Cor. 11. 18), presided over actively by a minister "the church" (1

assemblies of Christians have an organic have an active part to play, but at

qualified to do so. All the structure. All those present

Some have a special function which they exercise the others, either by virtue of a spiritual gift conferred of benefit for the for the occasion, or by virtue of a mission which cannot be different levels.

only it involves. separated from the task and the corresponding grace was foretold what of fulfilment real the by the Christianity is but the conditions no can be there that Of doubt, Israel. of prophets under which this fulfilment has taken place must be correctly assessed.

The prophetic preaching is of deeply personal and moral inspiration. Even if we rule out the radical opposition posited not so long ago and the by Protestant exegetes as existing between the prophets does lend itself to priesthood, it is true that the prophetic approach an interpretation in the style of Philo, for whom "spiritual" is reach a religion that equivalent to "moral". This way we quickly is primarily philosophical, entirely interior and personal, and even, in the ultimate analysis, a certain religious individualism, as Mohler so clearly showed in his critical assessment of the interior priest3 hood as taught by the Protestant reformers. But the fulfilment of the prophecies in Jesus Christ is a very different thing. The Christians were not reduced by the destruction of the Temple to the same position as the Jews who no longer have any sacrifice other than the moral of the faithful. 4 Christian worship in spirit and in life and the

prayer

8

L'unite dans rglise, App. XIII. French translation by A. de Lilienfeld (Unam

xlv 2), Paris, 1938, pp. 289 seq., especially pp. 297 seq.; Symbolism, (English translation by J. B. Robertson, London). 4 Cf. for instance, L. Algazi ("Le drame liturgique" in Evidences, No 44, Dec., the community 1954, p. 37) : "# has been said that the Synagogue has no priest; but is its priest. The Community is invested with this priestly function which it cannot transmit to any individual, and it offers prayers to God just as the priests at Jerusalem used to offer holocausts on the altar in the morning and evening. It treats prayer as the equivalent of the burnt-offering, for the masters of antiquity have taught it that what God requires of us, is our heart . . There can be no

Sanctam,

.

St Peter

187

not confined to Jerusalem or Garizim, it takes place in a body of Christ. Here again, in the religion of the incarnate Word, "spiritual" is not the opposite of "corporal" nor is it reducible to a purely interior and individual personal life. Each man's spiritual sacrifice is indeed effected in his personal life, but it is only consummated in the service and the unity of the community (Rom. 12. I should not be separated from the rest of the chapter). Further, it is not consummated as a spiritual sacrifice unless it is sacramentally united to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, celebrated liturgically in the Church by ordained ministers. It is pre-eminently through this sacrifice that all together become one single body, the body of the Son of God made man. Nothing could be less individualist, nothing truth

is

body, the

"purely interior". hierarchical organization of the Church need not concern us here. It is admirably dealt with elsewhere. 5 It is abundantly certain that, from the three points of view faith, sacraments (public less

The

worship) and mutual aid between the brethren, which are the great departments of Church life the Church has been from the beginning (cf. Acts 2. 42) both active as a whole and at the same time in possession of a hierarchical order. "God is the author of peace, not of disorder" (1 Cor. 14. 33). The glimpses given us by the New Testament of the way the Eucharist was celebrated justify us in thinking that the leaders who preached the word (Heb. 13. 7) were also those who "broke the bread". 6 This twofold function was priestly. 7 Hence the Church, the "house of God (Bethel)" and the spiritual temple, is revealed as served and given organic structure by men invested with a certain authority and who are priests by virtue of a special, functional and hierarchical title. doubt that in Synagogue worship, prayers are the true substitute for the sacrifices They are the Sacrifice, that is, the instrument of purification, the means whereby we achieve the sanctity which the Creator demands from his creatures." A very profound observation of St Thomas's is to the point in this connection (Sum. TheoL, IMP3 Qu. 102, art. 4, ad 3): under the old Dispensation, there was only one Temple, one place of sacrifice, and a great number of synagogues, in which only spiritual worship took place, and this consisted in the teaching of the Law and the Prophets. But "Ecclesia nostra succedit in locum et templi et synagogue, quia ipsum sacrificium Ecclesiae spirituale est. Unde non distinguitur apud nos locus sacrificii a loco doctrinae." 5 See the works of P. Batiffol; the various apologetic treatises de Ecclesia (Dieckmann, d'Herbigny, etc.); J. Lebreton, in the first volume of the Hist, de rglise of Fliche and Martin A. Mdebielle, article glise, in the Suppl au Diet, de la Bible; C. Spicq, Les Epitres pastorales (Etudes bibliques), Paris, 1947, pp. XLITI seq. and the Anglican book Apostolic Ministry, London, 1946., etc. 6 Cf. for instance, Acts 20. 7 and 11. On these three departments, see 1 Thess. 5. 12; 1 Tim. 5. 17. 7 Hence the expressions of St Paul in: Rom. 15. 16; Phil. 2. 17 (cf. 2 Tim. 4. 6). Also 2 Cor. 5. 18-20; 2. 15 in conjunction with Eph. 5. 2. ,

;

;

M.O.T.

7*

The Mystery of the Temple

188

obvious that there has been an increasingly precise in the Church's tradition. Viewed as a whole, here development we may say, drew attention first of all to the this It is quite

development, of Christnew, heavenly character and the eschatological aspect more on the and more concentrated then It realities. ian spiritual Church as an organism, on the great sacrament of salvation which she is. The essential aspects of the Church's organic life became more and more explicit. The teaching of theology and then of the special and the ordinary Magisterium became increasingly clear in regard to the hierarchical organization of the Church, the 8 faithful's part in it. This book is priesthood, the Eucharist and the these of ex an points of docwith not concerned professo exposition but it was necessary to point out where they join the main theme trine,

of the spiritual temple whose revelation in the New Testament we have been following. If the temple is the Church, this Church is indeed what our Catholic faith says she is. The faithful offer the whole existence as Christians, yet this offerspiritual sacrifice of their with the offering of Jesus ing must be consummated in communion the Church by a priestly in celebrated is Christ which sacramentally

and

hierarchical ministry. churches as buildings Finally, it is easy to understand why our because both It is they are the place deserve to be called temples. in which the meets, the community which is Christ's

community

the sacracorporate body, and also the place where the Eucharist, ment of Christ's body, is celebrated "until he comes". Basically, these two reasons are one; the only true "temple" in the messianic era is the body of Jesus Christ.

THE DIMENSIONS OF THE SPIRITUAL TEMPLE The textual study we have just made has perhaps left an impression of an entirely "spiritual" and sublime reality, situated in the ethereal regions of the purely interior personal life, a life only exwould be false. perienced by a few rare souls. Such an impression

The

spiritual temple is corporeal

and concrete:

It is the

Church

In the biblical and Christian sense of the word, "spiritual"

is

not

The documents containing the teaching of recent Popes are assembled Notre Sacerdoce of Mgr P. Veuillot, Paris, 2 vols, 1954. The important allocution of Pius XII (2 November 1954) should also be read. See ch. 4 in our Lay People in the Church, and our "Remarques critiques" on Abbe" Long-Hasselmans's thesis in Rev, des Sciences relig., 1951, pp. 288-304. 8

in the fine collection

The Dimensions of the

Spiritual

Temple

189

the opposite of "corporeal". Nothing is more spiritual than the body of Jesus Christ, formed as it was by the Holy Spirit, and the Virgin

New Testament

gives the name body of Christ, o&jua, each linked with the others the fleshly body born of Mary, which suffered, died, rose again and ascended into heaven; 9 the Eucharistic and sacramental body; 1 the community or Churchbody of which the faithful are the members. 2 It is not without purpose and reason that these three realities have the same name: the body of Christ. They are genuinely linked one to another, since the first takes the form of the second so that it may exist in the third. There is only one spiritual temple, the body of Christ, but this body

Mary. But the

to three

realities,

:

now glorified exists on earth in the Church, which is the spiritual temple and the house of God. There has never perhaps been a more harmful confusion than that which has left numerous traces in Luther's writings, in Protestant thought and in philosophy since Descartes, the confusion, that is, between spiritual and invisible. The body of Christ which the Church is, is both spiritual yet visible, sublime yet concrete. It can be pointed to, we can follow its history. It is even true that the more the Church is, that she has a historical existence as a unique body, unhampered by the facts of existence in this world, the more she achieves her spiritual nature, that is, her own life led 3 by the grace of the Holy Spirit. The temple of God is wholly filled with the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the promised riches of the messianic era. 4 But this temple is a body, the body of Christ: "In Christ the

asserts that she is visible, that

whole plenitude of Deity is embodied (natoiKsl acojucmxaji;), and dwells in him, and it is in him that you find your completion" (Col. 2. 9). The divine plenitude of the messianic temple is both corporeal and spiritual simultaneously. Its manner of existence is that of a real .

9

.

.

2. 21 ; Col. 1. 22; 1 Peter 2. 24; Heb. 10. 5, and doubtless Col. 2. 17. Cf. the accounts of the institution of the Eucharist: Matt. 26. 26; Mark 14. 22; Luke 22. 19; 1 Cor. 11. 24, and then 1 Cor. 10. 16; 11. 29. * 1 Cor. 12. 13 seq.; Rom. 12. 4 seq.; Col. 1. 18; 2. 19; 3. 15; Eph. 2. 16; 4. 4, 16; 5. 23. The linking together of these three realities to each of which (and in relation to one another) the Scriptures give the name of body, contains the whole secret of the Catholic concept of the sacraments, as restated in a remarkable way by Fr H. de Lubac in his Corpus mysticum. UEucharistie et TEglise au Moyen Age (Theologie, 3), Paris, 1944; second edition 1951. 3 This point has been well illustrated by Ch, Journet, UEglise du Verbe incarn^ II: Sa Structure interne et son unitd catholtque, Paris, 1952, pp. 44 seq. 47, 303,

John

1

961 seq. 4

The link between the gift of the Spirit and the body of Christ immolated and risen from the dead as the new spiritual temple, underlies the great Johannine texts (7. 37-9; 19. 30, 34; 2. 19-22) studied by Fr F. M. Braun in the excellent articles already

mentioned above.

The Mystery of the Temple

190

on the spiritual-invisible plane but means and manifestations. physical presence, not only

also

on

that of

the worship celebrated in this temple is both spiritual same time. The spiritual sacrifices St Paul wishes to be offered there are those of our bodies (Rom. 12. 1); the psalms, hymns and canticles we sing there with our voices are "spiritual"

This

is

why

and bodily

at the

(Col. 3. 16; Eph. 5. 19). This

messianic era, there

is

a

is

liturgy,

why

in the spiritual temple of the

which

is

a plenitude, a presence, a

same time a fully spiritual reality. E. Peterfully 5 son, O. Cullmann, F. M. Braun and others have clearly shown how is full is a the liturgy of which the Apocalypse projection or a continuation in heaven of the liturgy of the Church. It is full of colours, chants, cries, expressive movement, symbols and incense. We are made distinctly aware that the worship "in spirit and in truth" is something quite different from a purely inner worship without palpable and social external manifestations, in the manner of George Fox and the Quakers. palpable and

We know

at the

Fox

refused to call buildings for worship temples used the word "steeple-houses". 6 According to him, there was no church except the heart of man. But this was a failure to recognize the true character of the Christian spiritual order and the fact that the Church on earth is still in via. The Church has always had a liturgy which has developed as she has become inthat

or churches.

He

7 creasingly herself. It is abundantly certain that the true temple is the body of Christ. It is true that the New Testament does not trans-

of worship the terms used to indicate the places which the Mosaic worship was carried out temple, house, 8

fer to other places

in 5

Das Buck von den

Engeln, Leipzig, 1935, French translation by des Anges, Paris, 1954; O. Cullmann, Les sacrements dans Vevangile johannique. La vie de Jesus et le culte de rjSglise primitive, Paris, 1951; F. M. Braun, "In spiritu et veritate", in Rev. thomiste, 52 (1952), pp. 245-74, 485-507. See also J. Dani61ou, passim; J. Comblin, article mentioned below; C. Delling, Der Gottesdienst im N.T. Gottingen, 1952, pp. 52 seq.; J. M. Nielen, Gebet und Gottesdienst im N.T. Eine Studie zur biblischen Liturgie und Ethik, Freiburg-im-Breisgau, 1937. 6 See his Journal, passim. 7 At first, the apostles and certainly the faithful also, all of them converts from Judaism continued to frequent the Temple and its liturgical worship (cf. Luke 24. 53; Acts 2. 46; 3. 1 seq.; 5. 12, 20, 42 and even 21. 23. seq., 26). But from the beginning also, the faithful had their own ceremonies, especially those of the liturgy which they celebrated "in their houses". Acts 1. 13; 2. 46; cf. 20. 7. In addition to the Sabbath, they also celebrated the "day of the Lord" (Apoc. 1. 10; 1 Cor. 16. 2; Acts 20. 7, cf. pur essay and that of Fr H.-M. F
CL Champollion, Le Livre

The Dimensions of the

Spiritual

Temple

191

altar or the site of the altar (dvaiaarripiov)?

But the Body of Christ is not invisible, it is not in the purely representational and interior order. It is sacramental and Eucharistic, it is the Church as a community. In the

first case, as far as the sacred species are concerned, palpable, extended, localized. This is why the places which are used for the sacramental celebration of the sacrifice of the body and it is

at the same time for the assembly of the Church as a body, 1 are themselves temples or churches. The names given to them will be connected either with the sacramental body or with the corporate, community body of the Lord, hence basilica (flaadiKtf, KvpiaKov) church (sKK^afa). The whole theology of the church as a building has its foundation here. 2 But we must go further if we wish to understand the full truth concerning the "corporal" status of the temple of God in the messianic era, at least in the present, earthly, historical phase of messianic times. In this world, bodily life is not merely the place or the context of spiritual activity, nor is it merely its outward expression, it is its handmaid, the means it uses. The liturgy with its fourfold sensible, collective, sacramental, hierarchical character, is not merely the outward expression or the result of the spiritual life, it is also the way in which the spiritual life is born and grows "unless birth comes to him from water and from the Holy Spirit, no man can enter into the kingdom of God" (John 3. 5). The temples of stone, the celebrations of the Liturgy, are means by which the true spiritual temple is brought into being. They are, in a sense, sacraments of the corporate body of Christ which is the sanctuary of the mes;

:

sianic era.

preceding note) means a house with its family, not a special, consecrated place of the same type as the temple: cf. in addition to Acts, loc. tit., Rom. 16. 5; 1 Cor. 16. 19; Col. 4. 15. 9

In the Fathers, thusiasterion is still used of the community of the faithful: B. F. Westcott, The Epistle to the Hebrews, pp. 455-63 and below, p. 209, n. 2, p. 212.

cf.

1

This

is

one of several occasions on which the neologism "ecc!6sial" appears.

haye preferred not to provide a corresponding innovation in English although one is required to give the precise nuance. I have translated in various ways but in each case have tried to suggest the sense of the Church as an organism, a living body. "Ecclesial" implies this in contrast with "ecclesiastique", which I

perhaps now suggests organized rather than organic life. Translator. 2 See our article "La maison du Peuple de Dieu" in Art Sacre, Aug.-Sept. " 'Kirche' als Name fur 1947, pp. 205-20. On this vocabulary cf. I. Dolger, den christlichen Kultbau" in Antike und Christentum, 6 (1950), pp. 161 seq., to be read together with G. Garitte, "Dominicum" in Miscellanea J. Gessler 9 1948,

t.

1,

pp. 522-5.

The Mystery of the Temple

192

The

spiritual temple has its history

not enough to say that the spiritual temple, since it is corand concrete and made up of men, exists in the context of poreal It is

history. It has its

own

history.

divided into great stages marking a growing emergence. These stages we have studied, and we may even say that this history is the inner meaning of that of the world itself considered from the most general point of view. "The work of Providence in the world has no other object than the building up of that spiritual house in which all the souls who are members of the royal and priestly family may offer spiritual victims acceptable to the Most High

This history

is

We

3 must not be surprised to find that the through Jesus Christ." inner meaning or the final goal of the world is said to be the bringing into being of the spiritual (and therefore supernatural) temple, with are not talking the Incarnation as the supreme means to this end. here of an individual, special or specific purpose, but of the final end. And there is only one such. It is the one we have just mentioned.

We

"Just as the will of God is an act and is called the world, so his intention is to save men and this intention is called the Church", wrote Clement of Alexandria (Paedagogos I, 6 quoted by H. de

Lubac, Catholicism).

At the level of the ultimate purposes God has in mind, the history of the world is the history of the accomplishment of his divine plan to provide for himself a perfect dwelling place among his creatures (see below, "Conclusion"). Since our Lord's Pasch, we have been at the final stage of this process, and after this the consummation alone is to come. We are under the Dispensation of the new and definitive covenant of which the Son of God himself is the Mediator. There can be no better gift than this (cf. Heb. 1. 1-4). But there can be a more complete development of the gifts we have thus received. The cause, the means, of the perfect Indwelling is there in Jesus Christ but the effect, the fruits of this cause have not yet reached the fullness of their growth. In the next chapter we shall see which of these fruits are still prophesied and so are still to come. Moreover, within the limits of each specific stage, there is a process of development. To the present and final stage in particular, which 3 D. Vandeur, La sainte Messe et les Merits de la Servante de Dieu, Mere Marie de Jesus, p. 33 (quoted by P. Dabin, Le sacerdoce royal, p. 487). Compare the following passage from Cardinal Mercier: "The aim of the Redemption is to bring down the divine life on earth to form here on earth a dwelling-place where God may be at home, a people who will be his people and amongst whom he can live as a friend" ("Lettre sur FUnM catholique," May 1922: in Ire*nikon-colL s

1927, p. 29).

The Dimensions of the

Spiritual

Temple

193

we call the messianic era, there corresponds a period of time which the Father has appointed (Acts 1. 7), and whose length he has determined. It is not just a waiting period in which nothing happens, a kind of empty parenthesis. It is the time that has been granted so that God's work may grow in a mysterious way and so that the spiritual temple, built to plans whose exact design and true dimensions are unknown to us, may possess the pattern and the splendour willed by the Father. Thus, even during its messianic stage, the building of the Temple has a history, the history of salvation and of holiness in this world. It is a process of growth (cf. above pp. 162 seq.).

This history, since

it is

that of salvation, holiness

and the Church,

militant in character, it has its struggles and its tragedies. On several occasions, in the course of the transfer of the title of temple to the Christian community, we have found a repetition of the de-

is

mands

from the former sanctuary of the living But here too, and this was only to be expected, there is a change of key. The purity of the new temple is not external and ritual, but spiritual. The texts are quite explicit. First, and this is absolutely essential, comes purity of faith. We have only to re-read 1 Cor. 3. 10 seq. to see that what is meant is purity of doctrine, the purity of the Gospel, by whose preaching the Church is built. When St Paul wrote, "If anybody desecrates the temple of God, God will bring him to ruin" (v. 17), he was thinking chiefly of false leaders and teachers who ruin (disedify) the Church by propagating strange doctrines or, above all, doc4 trines contrary to the Gospel in all its purity. In Eph. 4. 14 seq., he repeats that the Church must be on her guard against false doctrines, for, as he has previously said (v. 11), faith is the substance of the

God

for purity inseparable

(for instance in 2 Cor. 3. 17; 6. 13-20).

5 Church. And there are other passages that could be mentioned. There must therefore be, in the historical life of the spiritual 6 temple, what Canon J. Leclerq has appropriately called "a struggle a for the spirit of Christ". We might even say struggle more par-

4

Cf. H. Lietzmann, /-// Korinther, 4th edn, 1949, p. 17. Cf. passages warning against the infiltration of false doctrines into the Christian communities: Rom. 16. 17-18; Acts 20. 28-31; 1 Tim. 1. 3-4; 6. 2 seq.; 2 Tim. 2. 14; 4. 1-8; Tit. 3. 9-11; 2 Peter 2. 1 seq.; 1 John 2. 18 seq.; 4. 1-6; 2 John 7; Jude 17 seq.; Apoc. 2. 14 seq., 20 seq., etc. But these passages are not may also remind the reader that, directly linked with the theme of the temple. at the heart of the temple theme, is the idea that the foundation stone on which the whole edifice is built is either a stone of salvation or a stone of scandal, a stone of glory or a stone of destruction, according to the attitude adopted towards it. See Luke 20. 17-18; 1 Peter 2. 7-8. c La vie du Christ dans son Eglise (Unam Sanctam, 12), Paris, 1945, Part I, ch. 7. 5

We

The Mystery of the Temple

194

ticularly for the Gospel of Christ. The first duty of the Church's teachers, and their great glory, is to lift up their voices in the Church by the grace of the Holy Spirit through whose action upon us we say "Jesus is Lord" (1 Cor, 12. 3) in order to maintain the purity

How true it is that in this way Stephen, Paul, AthanDominic, Thomas Aquinas glorified God and built the spiritual temple in pure gold! The Fathers are unanimous in teaching that the 8 virginity of the Church consists in the inviolate purity of her faith. This idea corresponds to the chief concern of the apostles and of our Lord himself regarding the messianic temple, which is the community of the faithful. Jesus had warned his disciples "Beware of false prophets" and he had even added in words that have no precedent in the Old Testament: "Take care you are not deceived. There will be false Christs and false prophets." 9 And in this same eschatological context, anticipated and prefigured in the ruin of Jerusalem, St Paul of the Gospel. 7 asius,

:

instructs the Thessalonians

:

The apostasy must come first; the champion of wickedness must appear first, destined to inherit perdition. This is the rebel who is to lift up his head above every divine name, above all that

men

hold in reverence, till at last he enthrones himself in God's temple (naos), and proclaims himself as God (2 Thess. 2. 3-4

written in A.D. 51).

The naos

in question here may indicate three different things: the (a) temple of Jerusalem which was still to remain standing some twenty years. In this case, St Paul seems to share the feeling

was to take place in the near future, and so merely restating in the context of Christianity a theme belonging to Jewish eschatology. This is the interpretation of the Fathers of the second and third centuries and several modern commentators that the end of the world

is

7 Cf. the Introit of the Mass of Doctors of the Church In media Ecclesiae aperuit os ejus, et implevit eum Dominus . ., and the Epistle (2 Tim. 4. 1-8), .

etc. 8

a biblical notion. It occurs in the Old Testament, where infidelity to called prostitution (Ezech. 16. 23, etc.), and it is found in the New Testament: 2 Cor. 11. 2-4; Apoc. 2. 14; 14. 4; 17. It is found in the Fathers and in Tradition. There are countless passages. See, for example, W. Bauer, Rechtglaubigkeit und Ketserei im dltesten Christentwn, Tubingen, 1934, pp. 3-4; J. C. Plumpe, Mater Ecclesia, Washington, 1943 (cf. pp. 25, 27, 60 n. 50); Al. Miiller, Ecclesia Maria, Fribourg (Switzerland), 1951 (passim, and see summary on p. 207). For St Augustine in particular, cf. R. Hesbert, "S. Augustin et la virginite de la foi", in Augustinus Magister, Paris, 1954, t. 2, pp. 645-55. 9 Matt, 7. 15; 24. 4 seq., 11, 14; Mark 13, 22, This

is

Yahweh

is

The Dimensions of the

Spiritual

195

Temple

A

follow them. 1 (b) pagan temple in which "the rebel" who is to to himself the name (the status) of God (without an appropriate article) will have a statue of himself erected and will cause himself to be honoured as god. This might be a reference to the worship of the Emperor. Dobschtitz (p. 275) quotes Schrader as having adopted an interpretation on these lines, but notes that it is incompatible with the clearly marked Jewish origin of the theme, (c) The naos, as in so many other passages, is the Christian Church. 2 In this case St Paul would be thinking of heresies. This was the general view of the Fathers from the fourth century onwards, and is also that of the majority of modem scholars. 3 Protestant polemics in the sixteenth century inaugurated a variant of this interpretation. Instead of the heresies, Antichrist is considered to be the Pope of Rome who has enthroned himself in the temple of God and desires to be treated, for all practical purposes, as God. 4 Under the name of "The Champion of wickedness" 5 or the lost 1 E. von Dobschutz ("Die Thessalonischer-Briefe", in Meyer's Krit.-exeg. Komm,, Gottingen, 1909, p. 276) quotes St Irenaeus, St Hippolytus, Origen, then Grotius, Clericus, de Wette, Wieseler, Baur, Dollinger, Luthardt, Lunemann, Bornemarm and Schmiedel.

2

1

Cor.

3.

16; 2 Cor.

6. 16,

or ofaos

:

Heb.

3. 6; 1

Tim.

15; 1 Peter 2. 5;

3.

4.17. 3

von Dobschiitz

(p. 276) quotes among those favouring this meaning: St Jerome, Theodoret, Oikoumenos, Theophylactus, Calvin and the majority of the moderns down to Thiersch, Hilgenfeld and Bahnsen. 4 The theme of the Pope as Antichrist occurs long before Luther. We may even see it in outline, together with the reference to 2 Thess. 2. 3-4, in Arnulph of Orleans's remarks at the Council of Saint-Basles in 991 (cf. P.L., 139, 314; Mansi, 19, 132 C). Benzo of Alba used the term "Antichrist" of Gregory VII (Mon. Germ. Hist., Script., t. 11, p. 659) and St Peter Damian of the antipope Cadalus (Ep. III. 6: P.L., 144, 293 seq.); all the popular, anti-ecclesiastical heresies of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries make use of it. Cf. H. Preuss, Die Vorstellungen vom Antichrist im spateren Mittelalter, bei Luther und in der konfessionnellen Polemik, Leipzig, 1906. With Luther, the idea of the Pope as Antichrist has a technical theological value. Since Christ gives justification through faith alone (the Gospel message), the man who maintains with all his powers and sums up in himself a theology of salvation through works, is essentially the Anti-

christ.

2 Thess, 2. 3 seq. is applied to the Pope by Luther in Ad libr . Catherini . Responsio, 1521 (Weimar, 7. 742); Com. in Gal. 1, 2 (1531-5), W. 40/1, 69; Wider Hans Worst, 1541, etc., and by Calvin, Epttre a Sadolet, Ed. Je sers, p. 71 ; Inst. chr* (1559-60), IV, 2, 12, etc. And again in more modem times, we find it, for instance, in Chr. Wordsworth, Anglican bishop of Lincoln (Miscellanies Literary and Religious, London, 1879, t. 1, pp. 405 seq.), or in one of the quite recent doctrinal statements of the Lutheran Synod of Missouri, quoted by G. T. Tavard, A la rencontre du Protestantisme, Paris, 1954, p. 48. 5 Either 6 ftvOgconog rfj$ dvoptag (the man who rebels against the law and the will of God), which is the reading generally accepted (BJ); or 6 dvBQconos TTJQ djuaQtias (the man of sin), also a well-authenticated reading and followed, for know that St Paul himself does not use the word "Antiexample, by Merk. christ", which figures in the Johannine vocabulary: 1 John 2. 18, 22; 4. 3; .

We

2 John

7.

.

.

.

The Mystery of the Temple

196

the son of Perdition, a Hebraism) or Adversary 6 (6 &vriKSifJi4voG) St Paul, so it would seem, indicates an individual who will set himself up in God's place and rebel against all religion. It is clear that this eschatological being will constitute a general

Being

(literally,

9

even for the Church and

threat,

Mark

Luke

in the

Church. Jesus (Matt. 24. 12;

John (1 John 4. 1 seq.; Apoc. 13. 11, 17; cf. 16. 13; 19. 20; 20. 10 and above, p. 193, n. 5) and St Paul himself (ibid and cf. 1 Tim. 4.1; 2 Tim. 3. 1-5) imply clearly enough that the seductive influence of the false prophets and the Enemy 13. 22;

18. 8), St

will affect the faithful.

We

are doubtless therefore to see the efforts

of the Adversary, his seduction and eventual success, at work in the Church herself. We have already shown how St Paul envisages, in the Church and on the part of the Church, a struggle for purity of faith, which is also a struggle for the purity of the temple of God (naos). For St John, the role of the false prophet is to serve and establish the reign of the Beast, and his Apocalypse was written to uphold the churches in their struggle, so that the word of God should be preserved and his name not denied (3. 8). And so he proclaims in the name of our Lord :

Who wins the victory? I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God, never to leave it again. I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city my God has built, that new Jerusalem which my God is even now sending down from heaven, and my own new name. 7 Yet we do not think that St Paul intends to suggest that the evil would be in the Church, would exist in the temple itself, and that its final victory would consist in infiltrating into the "naos", that is, into the Church of God. True, the word naos occurs here, and in St Paul it is generally the equivalent of the Church. But its use here derives from the classic themes and the vocabulary of eschatology or 8 apocalyptic literature. It is not derived from the ideological cycle 6

This

is

the interpretation accepted in the Introduction to the BJ.

It is

based

on B. Rigaux, VAntechrist et Vopposition au Royaume messianique dans VA. et le N.T., Gembloux et Paris, 1932, pp. 270 seq.; the passage from 2 Thess. 2. 3 seq. is studied in detail on pp. 250-317. 7 Apoc. 3. 12. See below p. 207, for the meaning of this magnificent passage.

To be

a pillar is to be a chosen stone, a stone which has a particularly strong resistance, in the spiritual temple which the Church is ; cf. Gal. 2. 9. The Church herself, as a whole, in so far as she preserves the purity of the Faith which is her own virginity as the Bride (above, p. 194), is "the pillar and foundation upon which the truth rests" (1 Tim. 3. 15). 8 In Dan. 9. 27 (cf. note in BJ); 11. 31; 12. 11, passages connected with Antio-

chus Epiphanius, (1

Mach.

1.

who had

54; 2 Mach,

dedicated the temple of Jerusalem to Olympian Zeus event was a "type" of every activity hostile

6. 2); this

The Dimensions of the

Spiritual

197

Temple

of the Church as temple. It is a revived usage as is "the abomination of desolation" in our Lord's eschatological discourse, 9 a theme whose origin goes back to the prophets, perhaps even further. 1 We must not take the word "naos" here as normal Pauline usage and then transfer it, in the passage we are considering, the specifically ecclesiological sense it often has. Here it has no meaning other than that given to it in the apocalyptic and eschatological theme to which in this context

to

belongs. The point is that there is a power (perhaps a personal power) hostile to God and who attempts to dethrone him, to deprive him of the faith and adoration of mankind. We are still concerned here with the purity of the spiritual temple which is consecrated to the one only true Lord, to the living God. it

The breadth and

One of

the depth

of the

spiritual temple

the paradoxical qualities the Church shares with the that it is visible and yet secret. St Augustine bore witness

temple, is to a fact attested in many biblical passages, 2 when he wrote: "Many seem to be within who are in reality without and others seem to be without who are in reality within," 3 Although we may venture to estimate the real dimensions of the temple whose stones are quarried from the whole human race from its unknown beginnings until its ultimate end, and although we may take into account the hidden

depths of man's being, created as he

is

in

God's image, yet these

to the true worship of God and political in origin. Hence the words used by our Lord (see following note). See B. Rigaux, op. c/r., and the Theol Worterb. z. N.T., t. 1, p. 599, 5; p. 600, 29 seq.; t. 2, p. 655, 11 seq.; t. 3, p. 245, 10-18. The typological sense of the role and the destiny of Antiochus Epiphanius recurs in the death of Herod Agrippa (Acts 12. 23, cf. 2 Mach. 9. 5, 28). may remember too that Manasses placed a statue of Astarte in the Temple (4 Kings 21. 7) and that in A.D. 38, Caligula tried to have his image honoured there (Rigaux, pp. 262-3). 9 Matt. 24. 15 ("And now, when you see that which the prophet Daniel called the abomination of desolation, set up in the holy place (let him who reads this, recognize what it means)**; Mark 13. 14). Luke (21. 20) clearly alludes to the (Roman) armies besieging the city. 1 There is a prophetic utterance of Isaias against the king of Babylon (Isa. 14, 13 seq.), and of Ezechiel against the king of Tyre (28. 2). At an earlier date, we have the ancient mythological theme of the enemy of God who desires to take his place: cf. von Dobschutz, op. cit., pp. 275, 292; O. Michel, article vaog in Theol. Worterb, z. N.T., t. 4, p. 891. Fr Rigaux (p. 262) is against any influence

We

from mythology. 2

(Luke 13. 29); 11. 22-4; 21. 42; Acts 17. 72; our Lord's insistence on the fact that the "good man" is not always the priest or the man of acknowledged piety, but sometimes (often) the Samaritan, the tax-gatherer, etc.; Luke 10. 33; 17. 16; Matt. 7. 21-3; 8. 10 (Luke Cf., for instance, Matt. 8. 11

2 Tim.

2. 19; cf.

1 John 2. 19, etc. Formulas of this type often occur

7.9); 15. 28; 3

in the work of the great Doctor: Sermo 354, 2, 2 (P.L., 39, 1564); Civ. Dei, I, 35(41, 46); Enar. in Ps. 24(25), 2(36, 189); 105(106), 14 (37, 1428); De bapt. 4, 2-4(43, 155-6); In Ev. Joan. tr. 27, 11(35, 1621); in I Joan. tr. 3, 4(35, 1999), etc.

198

The Mystery of the Temple

depths and these dimensions are known only to God. The Lord alone knows his own and the stage of progress they have reached (2 Tim. 2. 19). Hence many constitute the temple, but invisibly. Yet as the temple itself is visible and corporeal, they do not fully belong to it unless they reach this corporeal and visible appurtenance. Jesus himself was not satisfied with a "spiritual" relation, that is, a relation existing only in thought and intention. He came to receive the baptism of John so as to fulfil all justice (Matt. 3. 15). Similarly, he came to the Temple and certainly in the same frame of mind, for the Temple, like John, could say to him "It is I that ought to be sanctified by thee, and dost thou come to me instead?" The

movement of conversion to God is to be fulfilled in a bodily sacrament. So too our incorporation into the structure of the temple is to be fulfilled in the concrete community by our participation in his sacrifice of his body and blood. If there is one truth that stands out in the New Testament, it is the link that exists between our communion in the body of Christ, the messianic temple, our personal status as temples of God, and our communion with his body the Church, the spiritual temple. Thus the temple is indeed in course of building throughout the whole world, but it is only completely built where the body of Christ fully is, that is, where Christ through baptism and the Eucharist unites members to his body offered and risen from the dead. 4 But, given the terms of that Revelation of which St Paul was the instrument in his Epistles of the Captivity, should we not extend this union with the immolated and glorified body of Christ to the whole Universe ? Jewish thought, at least when it came into contact with Hellenism, had accepted the idea of the Temple as having a cosmic value (cf. pp. 94 seq.), and should not Christianity welcome such an idea? It has done so, not so much, however, by developing these germs of Jewish thought, as by offering an answer to Humanity's quest for a supreme form of unity; and it has based this answer on the decisive fact of Easter. The experience of Easter and Pentecost which dominates all the thought of Paul, Peter and John, must have cast a great deal of light on certain declarations of Jesus which we have studied in their proper place. When our Lord, on the most solemn day of the Feast of Tabernacles, cried out in the Temple: "If any man is thirsty, let him come to me, and drink; yes, if a man believe in me, as the scripture says (of the Messias) Fountains of living water shall flow :

4

Cf. 1 Cor. 6. 15; 10. 17; 12. 12-13, 27; Gal. 3. 27; 12-13; Eph. 4. 3-6; 5. 23, 26, 30. The baptized are "the in St Paul's thought, awakened memories of the Temple.

Rom.

3-11; Col. 2. a word which,

6.

saints*',

The Dimensions of the

from

bosom" (John

Spiritual

Temple

199

37-8; cf. 4. 14), he was identifying himself with the rock, the foundation stone of the Temple from which the 5 spring of life-giving water was to flow. When, in his conversation with Nathanael, he said that he himself was the stone of Bethel, the scene of Jacob's vision of the ladder between earth and the heavens opening (John 1. 51), he was also saying that he himself was the foundation stone of the Temple, for, during his lifetime, this stone was identified ideally with that of Jacob. 6 Further, a cosmic value was attributed to the foundation stone of the Temple. It was the centre of the world, the gate of heaven, the starting-point of the creation of the heavens and the earth, the place from which, as in the earthly Paradise created around it, torrents of life would flow during the last days, the place around which the whole world had been established in due order and irrigated. In a word, it was the centre of the cosmos. 7 We must not push these ideas too quickly aside as merely legendary. They are the background, as J. Jeremias has shown, of several decisive texts in the Gospel. When St Paul in his turn wrote that the Israelites in the desert had drunk the spiritual drink from the spiritual rock which went with them, namely Christ (1 Cor. 10. 4), he doubtless had in mind a rabbinical legend which connected the well mentioned in Num. 21. 17-18 with the water of the rock (20. 11) and the merits (?) of Mary, Moses's 8 but the Apostle was referring above all to the character sister; of the foundation stone as a source of living and lifegiving water. This character Jesus had claimed for himself and it had a cosmic his

7.

value.

This cosmic value, already suggested in the great Epistles (Rom. 19-22), is one of the contributions proper to the Epistles of the Captivity, especially Colossians and Ephesians. Not that Paul substitutes the idea of a "cosmic salvation" 9 for that of salvation as related to the human moral order; but there can be no denying that he does develop the idea of an extensioh to the cosmos of the salvation wrought by the Cross, the descent into hell, the 8.

5 Cf. above, p. 76, and J. Jeremias, "Golgotha" in ATTEAQZ, 2 (1926), pp. 120-4; Jesus als Weltvottender, Giitersloh, 1930, pp. 46 seq. 6 Cf. J. Jeremias, "Die Berufung des Nathanael" (John 1 45-51), in ATTEAOE, 3 (1928), pp. 2-5. 7 Cf. J. Jeremias, "Golgotha", pp. 91-108. 8 Cf. Strack-Billerbeck, t. 3, pp. 406-8, followed by J. Jeremias, in the article already quoted, p. 124. Cf. also A. van Hoonacker, Les dome petits prophhes, Paris, 1908, pp. 323-4. Fr Allp (Premfere p. aux Cor., Paris, 1935, pp. 231-2) makes it clear that the rabbinical legend is inadequate to account for St Paul's thought in this connection. 9 Cf. Fr Benoit, "L'horizon paulinien de Fepitre aux Ephesiens" in Rev, bibl, 46 (1937), pp. 342-61, 506-25 and, above all, pp. 350-5, .

The Mystery of the Temple

200

and the ascension into heaven, of Jesus Christ. And because, on the one hand, the whole universe is involved in man's sin, which has introduced into it discord, enmity and a decrease in fertility, and it is likewise involved in his return to grace, the prerequisite and the source of its own return to harmony and 1 fruitfulness. On the other hand, the dead and risen Christ was

resurrection this

new creation, of a first the in new starting-point for the world; place for the moral world of man (Rom. 4. 25, etc.), then for the whole universe (8.

increasingly seen

as the source of a

by St Paul

faced with current 19-22). In the Epistles of the Captivity, St Paul, the elements of and speculations concerning the heavenly powers

becomes increasingly convinced of a truth he already will transform the body held, namely that our Lord Jesus Christ, who of our wretchedness into the likeness of his glorified body, has also the power to subject to himself the whole universe (randvra): Phil. 3. 21. The power and primacy of Christ extend equally over the cosmic and the new creations, over the universe and the Church. This is the theology of Col. 1. 15-20; 2. 9 and Eph. 1. 10, 23; 4. 10 an earlier date 1 Cor. 3. 22; 8. 6; Rom. 11. (cf. Phil. 2. 10 and at of Hebrews (1.1,4) and St John (John L that to is it and prior 36) comment on these pas1-14). It is not possible for us to study and to the actual text with the case in each refer should reader sages. The notes in the Jerusalem Bible (Fr Benoit). None of them is directly or immediately concerned with the theme of the messianic temple, but

this world,

deal with it implicitly, since this temple is the Church, the Christ. And so we learn that Christ's sovereign power as of body source of the new spiritual creation is also applied to the universe and is to include it in his work of salvation and transfiguration. It will make the universe too, in its way, the temple of God. Not, of course,

they

all

a purely cosmic temple, but an essential element, and therefore one dimension of the spiritual temple. St Gregory of Nyssa and with him, 2 the Greek tradition, was fond of speaking of this mystery, and the Latin liturgy also is aware of and celebrates it, especially in its Christmas proclamation: "Since God wished to sanctify the world to himself in his merciful

Thus the

coming

.

desire for deliverance

For the Old Testament, gique dans

"

.

la soteriologie

cf.

which torments the created world

A. Hulsbosch, "L'attente du salut d'apres 1* A.T.",

paulinienE

"

Christi (P.O., Cf., for instance, St Gregory of Nyssa, Oratio in diem natakm Turnhout46, 1128-9; translated by L. Bouyer in Le sens de la vie monastique, Maxime le Paris, 1950, pp. 63-4); H. Urs von Balthasar, Litmgie cosmique. le Confesseur (Theologie 11), Paris, 1947; and cf. below, "Conclusion". a

The Dimensions of the

Spiritual

201

Temple

but its deliverance is wrought in God's way as the Bible understands it, in the way he delivered Israel from Egypt. Creation is made free in order to serve God, not idols or even men. Israel is delivered from Egypt only in order to become a priestly nation, the people of God's Presence and of God's service in his holy dwelling-

is satisfied,

3

place.

Hence the strong cosmic sense of St Paul is not a kind of optimistic, universal evolutionary theory. It is historical, it depends on a historical view of the economy of sin and of grace, and it is spiritual, linked to the work of the Holy Spirit, which assimilates us to

God and

wrought chiefly in our souls, made in the image of why, once we have emphasized the mysterious and infinitely vast dimensions of the spiritual temple and then its very real cosmic dimensions, we must draw attention to its dimensions in depth and say that it is only fully and truly realized in the saints. The temple of God is holy and you are this temple, as St Paul tells is

God. This

is

the Corinthians (1 Cor. 3. 17). It is true that ayioq here has the sense of "sacred, consecrated" and when we translate it by "holy", we open ourselves to the criticism formulated, in loco, by the Jerusalem Bible. Yet we may use this rendering provided that we go beyond this verse which speaks of the spiritual temple and applies to it the mystique of purity and consecration connected with the former Temple, 4 and have in mind above the real nature of the new temple, which is "holy, in (Knox has "dedicated to the Lord". Translator.) (Eph. all

The order,

the

Lord"

2. 21).

sanctity which, in the former sanctuary, was in the physical sanctity of an order that is mystical rather

now becomes a

than physical, by virtue of our participation in the glorious life of Christ. It still has its liturgical character, but on the spiritual plane. In a word, the sanctity of the temple consists in the sanctity of Christians themselves. 5 is applied to the inner life of men (and they are souls and bodies), whereas sanctity in the Old Testament was 3 This is made clear in a vast number of scriptural texts. See, for example, Lev. 26. 11-13 and the theme of the "people God has purchased for himself" (Exod. 15. 16; Isa. 43. 21[11. 11]; Ps. 73[74]. 2; Eph. 1. 14; Tit. 2. 14; 1 Peter 2. 9); to quote only this passage from the Canticle of Moses: "Thy mercy had delivered Israel; thy mercy should be their guide; thy strong arms should carry them to the holy place where thou dwellest" (Exod. 15. 13). 4 Cf. 1 Peter 2. 5 (a holy priesthood), 9 (a holy nation), words taken from the

The concept of sanctity

vocabulary of the Jewish

liturgy. spiritualisation . . .", Eph. TheoL Lov. t 1947, p. 396. Testament writings, Cf. Strack-Billerbeck (2, p. 127): "In contrast with the the 'Holy Spirit' in the Old Testament literature seldom stands for the spirit of 6

M. Fraeyman, "La

God

as

making men holy."

New

The Mystery of the Temple

202

seen essentially as the

way God laid

his

hand upon a

man and

con-

to himself. 6 Similarly, in the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit was, above all, a force accomplishing the works of God. have only to think of a host of passages in Judges or Kings

secrated

him

We

1 and 2. In the New Testament, he is an active Presence dwelling in and really sanctifying persons. The order of the New Covenant is an order of inwardness and truth, in which God's action is directed towards and reaches man himself. This difference between the two Dispensations leads to the same conclusion as the notion of the "spiritual" as we have expounded it above, that is, to the very heart of the messianic temple as essentially spiritual and holy. The most profound and enlightening statement on this subject

books

probably that of Ed. Hoskyns in his commentary on St John's "Through Moses the law was given to us; through Jesus Christ grace came to us, and truth" (John 1. 17). The English exegete writes: "The law was a gift separable from the agent by whom it was given. Grace and truth, however, came not only by but is

declaration:

who

the truth embodied (14. 6)." 7 The specific New and Eternal Covenant the title of a fine book by Anscar Vonier is that in it, God is not separated from his gifts, the spiritual reality of grace accompanies the sacraments and the institution of the Church. Hence, in Jesus Christ,

is

characteristic of the order of the

Dom

Church is holy, not only because she is liturgically consecrated or because, through her, God's action implements his own plans, but because these plans have reached their objective the communication by God of his own inner life and holiness. The reason for all this is that given by St John and his commentator the coming of Jesus Christ, the fact that the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. In Jesus Christ the most perfect comthe

munion, the deepest and most holy communication have been given to us. By his Incarnation and his Easter, at the centre of what O. Cullmann calls the line of time, the ultimate reality has entered human history to be the very means through which that reality is to be reached. Christ, who is the universe's Omega, has

become our Alpha. He has

instituted his apostles, his Church and his sacraments, precisely in order to join the Alpha to the Omega, his coming and his own personal Pasch to our Pasch with him. 8 6

Not

We

that the spirituality of consecration was a thing of little account. live the liturgy of the Church to know how pur efforts in the service and the spiritual worship of God may profit by what is contained in the Old Testament writings, in the stories of Moses, Samuel, David, in the Psalms and the

have only to

prophets. 7 The Fourth Gospel, London, 1947 (second edition), p. 1 50. Cf. for what follows, Vraie etfausse reforme dans FEglise, pp. 467-82. 8 See Lay People in the Church, pp. 64 seq., 98 seq., 211 seq., 311-13.

The Dimensions of the

And

so the Church

is

Spiritual

Temple

203

holy in depth, inwardly holy. Her sacraments is real. In her the means are of the same nature

bring a sanctity which as the end, because Jesus Christ

The Holy

Spirit is

is the source of both end and means. not present in and given to us only as a force,

but as a holy Reality. It is the Spirit himself who is present and given, who dwells both in holy souls and in the Church. Sanctity means not merely to be consecrated to some work for God, it is inner communion and conformity with him. Hence the spiritual temple has its being above all in the saints. Every Christian is entitled to the name of "saint" and the title of 9 "temple". But pure souls and those who love as God wills they should 1 love him are this temple in a more special way. In the East as in the West, the idea that the saints are more particularly the temple of God is expressed in the custom and it has become a canonical regulation of dedicating an altar for Eucharistic worship and therefore of consecrating a church, only after relics of the saints have been placed in them. 2 Nicolas Cabasilas comments as follows

on the meaning of this

practice:

The consecration of a bishop

is

the pattern for the dedication

not only because it is the bishop who makes the altar what it is, but because the bishop is the temple of God. Among all visible creatures, human nature alone can truly be an altar, whilst all that is made by man's hands is only a copy of this

of an

altar,

image and type Having asked himself what would be most worthy to be anointed with the holy oils, the bishop considered that nothing would be better suited than the bones of the martyrs. He anoints them, places them in the main body of the table and so makes the latter an altar. In fact, nothing is more closely related to the Eucharistic Christ than the martyrs Moreover, the true temple, the real altar are these relics. The building is merely an imitation. Hence it was fitting that these bones should be incorporated in the building, that they should perfect the building, just as the Old Law is per.

.

.

.

fected 6

.

.

3 by the New.

See, for example, the texts in the

Roman

liturgy for the feast of St Cecilia,

22 November. 1 Cf. John 14. 23; 1 John 4. 16. 2 The enactment prescribing this is, in fact, the same in both East and West, since it is Canon 7 of the Seventh Oecumenical Council (Mansi, 13. 751). For the West, cf. Codex J. Canon., c. 1198, para. 4, and St Gregory, Epist., VI, 49 (P.L., 77, 834 and the note). See the article "AuteF* in Diet. Theol. cath., t. 1. col. 2580-1 (and article "Antimension", col. 1389-91) and Diet. Droit can., t. 1, col. 1461 seq. 3 La vie en Jesus-Christ, translated

147.

by

S. Broussaleux,

Amay,

n.d., pp.

142 and

204

The Mystery of the Temple

THE APOCALYPSE. THE ESCHATOLOGICAL TEMPLE 4

When aKyvr) in the

the Apocalypse speaks of the temple, it uses the words rarfg exclusively and never the other expressions found New Testament. 5 It describes the temple of which it speaks,

and

and images that refer to the Temple of Jerusalem. If follow the attractive hypothesis put forward by Fr Boismard, the Temple was still standing when St John wrote these descriptions, all of which are found in passages belonging to "Text II", written 6 during the reign of Nero. But the Apocalypse speaks of two temples one heavenly, the other earthly. In one whole section of the visions, there is a temple in heaven and events take place there, whilst the history of the world continues, and there is even a temple on earth, in which also certain events occur. On the other hand, at a given moment, the end of history is proclaimed and John sees the Judgment of the Nations (20. 11-15), a new heaven and a new earth (21. 1) and the New Jerusalem coming

in terms

we

:

down from heaven (v. 2). An entirely different situation is then inaugurated as regards the temple or dwelling of God. There is a city, Jerusalem, but "I saw no temple in it; its temple is the Lord God Almighty, its temple is the Lamb" (21. 22). Thus, in a literary form which is a combination of two texts placed side by side rather than fused into one, somewhat as a Gallican and Roman text have been juxtaposed in the ordination ritual, we find in the text of the Apocalypse as it is presented to the meditation of the faithful, a real division corresponding to two moments in the history of God's dwelling among men. We shall divide our study of the text by reference to these two moments. 4

In addition to the commentaries (in particular that of E. B. Allo, 4th edn., H. Wenschkewitz, "Die Spiritualisierung . .", in the review already mentioned, pp. 213 seq. ; O. Michel, article va6g in Theol. Worterb. z. N.T., t. 4, pp. 892 seq.; F. M. Braun, "In spiritu et veritate", in Rev. thomiste, 52 (1952), pp. 491 seq.; J. Comblin, "La liturgie de la Nouvelle Jerusalem" (Apoc., XXI. 1-XXII. 5), in Ephem. Theol Lovan., 29 (1953), pp. 5-40. 5 'ISQOV (11.2, however, does provide an equivalent) and oluog never appear. TonoQ is used, but not in the sense of "a holy place". On the other hand, va6g occurs 15 times: 3. 12; 7. 15; 11. 1, 2, 19; 14. 15, 17; 15. 5, 6, 8 (twice); 16. 1, 17; 21. 22 (twice). Uxrjvr] occurs three times (13. 6; 15. 5; 21. 3) and in its verbal form, four times (7. 15, in which the meaning is simply "to spread a tent"; 12. 12; Paris, 1933), cf.

.

13. 6; 21. 3). 6 7. 15 and 21 22 are the only passages mentioned in the preceding note which belong to "Text I" written later during the reign of Vespasian or Domitian. " See E. M. Boismard, *L* Apocalypse' ou *les Apocalypses' de S. Jean", in Rev. bibL, 56 (1949), pp. 507-46, and the Introduction to the instalment edition of the Jerusalem Bible. .

The Apocalypse

205

(A) God's Presence or God's temple during the history of the world 1. We are here concerned with earthly events. The Apocalypse offers us a view of history entirely dominated by the reality of heaven, and also the image of a Church still on earth and entirely ruled by the virtue of him who is in heaven and is ultimately shown to us as her bridegroom. It is because Christ, having obtained the victory, has taken his place by his Father on the Father's throne, that the faithful are kings reigning with Christ and priests also entering with him into the very Presence of God. 7 The Church of the Apocalypse is a community of kings and priests, that is, of the faithful who share in the dignity and activity of Christ as king and priest. 8 As kings, they share in the Kingdom of God and its struggles throughout history, and they will share God's eschatological Reign in the world to come (cf. below). As priests they share in the worship of thanksgiving and in the praise offered to God in heaven by the elect, but which begins in the Church on earth (1. 6); they surrender themselves to the work of purification which God wishes to accomplish in them ("He has proved his love for us by washing us clean from our sins in his own blood", L 5); their voices ring out with the Amen that stands for the inmost substance of worship and sacrifice and is at the same time the final word of every doxology

and blessing. 9 The Apocalypse sees the historical and earthly life of this royal and priestly Church as an extremely bitter struggle between the Reign of God and the Reign of God's Adversary. To expound and explain all that this prophetic book tells us in this connection would be tantamount to providing a complete commentary. Here we can only confine ourselves strictly to what conerns the temple. First of all we are shown the Beast, which symbolizes the Roman Empire, and through it, all the powers which fight against the Kingdom of God, uttering "blasphemy against God, blasphemy against his name, against his dwelling-place (<3K.r\vr\), and all those who dwell in heaven (rovg ev ra> ovpavuj GKr}vowra<;)" (13. 6). There is an obvious resemblance between the Beast blaspheming against God's Dwelling-place, that is God himself in his heavenly transcendence, and the Adversary of 2 Thess. 2. 4, "lifting himself above every divine name, above all that men hold in reverence". But the similarity, although it indicates a connection, does not imply a rigorous 7

Cf. Westcott, Ep. to the Hebrews, p. 215; Heb. 8. 1 is the basis of Apoc. 3. 21. Apoc. 1. 6; 5. 10 (cf. 1 Peter 2. 9); 20. 6 (the reign of a thousand years). 9 Cf. any of the concordances under Amen; Schlier, article in the Theol. Worterb. z. N.T., t. 1, pp. 339-42. See also Peterson, quoted above on p .190, 8

n. 5.

The Mystery of the Temple

206

We

should note also, in reference to our previous statement on pp. 193 seq., the r61e assigned by the Apocalypse to the "false prophet". 1 Under the guise of a lamb, he speaks in fact the language of the Dragon, that is, of Satan. He works wonders and labours to bring the world to the worship of Power. The Church herself is represented under the image of the Temple of God (naos), that is, the Temple of Jerusalem (11. 1). John is commissioned to measure the Temple and the altar and to count the worshippers who are there, so that he may number and make a record of those who are to be spared from punishment. "But leave out of thy reckoning," John is told, "the court which is outside the temple; do not measure that, because it has been made over to the Gentiles, who will tread the holy city under foot for the space of forty-two months" (11.2). John here uses imagery that has a reference to the persecution of Antiochus Epiphanius, which had become the type of all persecution of the faithful by a hostile ideological and political power. Hence the period of forty-two months. But the point that interests us here is the image of the Church as Jerusalem, or rather, as the

identification.

sacred area the Evangelists call the hieron, which includes the terrace and the courts of the Temple. In this area John observes two zones ; one, exterior (r\ avlrj tf llfcodsv), is more or less given over to the Gentiles who will tread it underfoot, as they did the holy city during those three years and a half which are the "type" period of persecution. 2 It

is

in this city of Jerusalem where too "their

Lord was

crucified" (11. 8), that the Beast will slay the two faithful witnesses, that is, in this sacred area given over to the pagans so that they may

tread

sented

underfoot. 3

The other zone is a protected one. It is by the Temple of God, the altar and the worshippers

it

reprein the

building, that is, the true faithful, those who conquer the seductions, threats and violence of the Dragon and his ministers. Of those who

conquer the Apocalypse often speaks, and in terms which awaken a *13. 11-17; 16. 13; 19. 20; 20. 10. 2 This "treading underfoot", therefore,

is

not of exactly the same kind as that

21. 24, where it is above all providential and beneficial; the Gentiles' adoration will, in a sense, replace that of the Jews who have refused Christ. In the Apocalypse, they tread the courts underfoot, not as they come to adore, but in order to trample upon and destroy the worship of the true God. 3 It seems to us that, under these conditions, "there too their Lord was crucified" does not indicate the geographical Jerusalem, but the spiritual Jerusalem

mentioned

in

Luke

given over to the hostility, the persecution and the temporary victory (42 months) of the Beast. This does away with the chief difficulty that has been raised against the interpretation which takes the two witnesses to be Peter and Paul martyred at Rome under Nero ("Their bodies will lie in the open street, in that a great city which is called Sodom or Egypt in the language of prophecy": 8 ). John is simply combining a direct reference to Jerusalem (v. 8 & ), indicating the section of the Church (the Temple) which the Gentiles are allowed to tread underfoot, with another symbolizing the actual city of Rome.

The Apocalypse

207

4

great desire to be

among their number. In particular it utters this promise, which we have already quoted: "Who wins the victory? I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God, never to leave it again. I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city my God has built, that new Jerusalem which my God is even now sending down from heaven, and my own new name" (3. 12). This promise has in view the final reward and membership of that Jerusalem from on high of which we shall have something to say later. But there is a continuity between the temple on earth, the Church, and the temple on high. Further, if the victor is to be a pillar in the temple of God, it is above all in reference to the Church, for in the heavenly Jerusalem there

We

no temple. therefore retain

is

two points

God

(11. 1). First, the temple of tolic writings, and it is made

in connection with this passage

the Church, as in the other aposof the faithful themselves in their

is

up Then in the centre of an area, sacred in itself but trodden underfoot and profaned by the pagans, a temple of God remains in being and is composed of the true faithful, the pure whom John sees later (14. 1-5) accompanying the Lamb wherever he may go. Since they have kept true "to God's commandment and fidelity

and

unity.

5

the faith of Jesus" (14. 12), since they have refused to worship the Beast, that is, to serve God's Adversary (20. 4), they are not only sharers in the kingship of Christ, but also have the privilege of attending him, wherever he goes (14. 4). As in the prophets, God's Presence is linked with his Reign, and friendship with him in his temple to faithful observance of his commandments (cf. John 14. 23). 2. The heavenly temple and its liturgy. Whilst on earth the struggle unfolds between God's Reign and his Adversary, in heaven there is a 6 temple. Sometimes St John calls it the yctog, occasionally adding "in heaven", at others the or/c?y^. 7 Both words indicate the same reality and the term might be translated in the words of 15. 5: "the tabernacle that bears record in heaven". 8 For John the heavenly temple is modelled on the Temple of Jerusalem. He even sees in it the ark of the covenant which appears when 4 Cf. 2. 7, 11, 17 and especially 26; 3. 5, and 12 and 21 ; 12. 11 and in particular have emphasized the passages that are most interesting from 15. 2; 21. 7. the point of view of our theme. Cf. 14. 1-5 and, as far as Wisdom is concerned, Wisdom 10. 12-14. 6 This is clearly stated in 3. 12 and is implied in 11. 1. Cf. below, p. 218, n. 6

We

and pp. 223-6. 6 7. 15; 11. 19 (in heaven); 14. 17 (which is in heaven); 15. 5 (in heaven) 6, 8; 16. 1, 17. 7 13. 6; 15. 5 (the temple of the tent of witness); cf. 21. 3. 8 also observes J. Comblin does this in the article quoted, p. 21, n. 41.

He

(pp. 20-1) that in 21. 3 the

two words have the same

sense.

The Mystery of the Temple

208

about to be re-established. 9 He sees an altar which is both that of the burnt-offerings and the altar of incense, but chiefly the latter. 1 Under the altar, John sees the "souls of all who had been slain for love of God's word and of the truth they held" (6. 9 cf. 8. 3 16. 7) we shall shortly see what rdle these martyrs play and with them the altar from which their prayer rises like in-

the

Kingdom of God

;

;

is

:

9 11. 19. The source here may be the legend revived in 2 Mach. 2. 5-8 and according to which Jeremias hid the tabernacle, the ark and the altar of incense in a cave on Mount Nebo, when Jerusalem was captured in 586 B.C. God would reveal the whereabouts of these sacred objects when he had gathered his people together again and shown his mercy towards them. 1 The majority of the exegetes distinguish between the two uses of the altar of which the Apocalypse speaks, its use as an altar of holocausts and as an altar of incense. But they do not always agree, as is shown by the table below, which has been drawn up in reference to the commentaries of Bousset (1896), Swete (1909), Charles (1920) and Allo (1921), as well as to the article by Wenschkewitz already quoted.

It is no doubt true that the evidence is inconclusive. If we follow the Jerusalem Bible (Boismard), vv. 6 and 9 refer to the altar of holocausts, 8 and 3 to the altar of incense. The commentary on 9. 13 (the voice coming from the altar of incense) runs as follows: "This symbolizes the fact that the punishment of the pagans follows on the prayer of the martyrs described in 6. 9 and 10 (cf. 8. 2 seq.)." But the commentator considered that 6. 9 referred to the altar of holocausts. This small discrepancy, added to those we point out between the different exegetes, shows that it is impossible to distinguish clearly two altars, an altar of holocausts and an altar of incense. Moreover, we should note that if we turn to the Hebrew equivalent of these expressions, the altar of gold in Hebrews 9, 4 and in Apocalypse 8. 3 ; 9. 13, is identical with the altar of incense (in Luke L 1 1 for instance) : cf. R. de Langhe, Het gouden altaar in de Israelitische eredienst, Brussels, 1952; O. Moe, "Das kdische und das himmliche Heiligtum," in Theol. Zeitsch., 9 (1953), pp. 23-9. (It is not due to a slip that Heb. 9. 4 puts the golden altar, which is the altar of incense, in the Holy of Holies, it is because, as in Apoc. 8. 3, the temple in question is the heavenly temple, where all the faithful enter and go to the throne of God. In the Mosaic liturgy, only the high priest did this.)

The Apocalypse cense

209

2

(8. 3), If John thus sees the heavenly temple in the shape of the

Temple of Jerusalem, it is not so much because he imagines the sanctuary on the model of the sanctuary he had seen on earth at Jerusalem,

it is

principally because the latter, as the successor of the

Mosaic tabernacle, had been constructed according to the heavenly 3 prototype shown to Moses on the mountain. If the Apocalypse sometimes mentions "a tent of witness" at the same time and with the same meaning as "temple", it is, in our opinion, to recall the exodus on the one hand, and so to demonstrate the continuity of God's divine purposes and of the mystery of his dwelling among his people from the time of the exodus, in the earthly Jerusalem, in the Church, and finally in heaven; 4 And, on the other hand, it is because the oracles of God were revealed in the tent of meeting and now his judgments are pronounced from within his heavenly temple. Once And, generally speaking, we ought not to look for a rigorously accurate succession of images in the Apocalypse. John is not copying from a model, he is seeing a vision. But above all, R. H. Charles, whose knowledge of the apocalyptic literature was unrivalled, has shown that, in this literature, only one altar is intended and that the word "the altar" (Hebrew: hammizbah) which elsewhere means the altar of holocausts, here indicates rather the altar of incense:

The Revelation of St John (A Crit. and Exeg. Comm.), t. 1, pp. 172 and 227-30 (London 1920). The Apocalypse has "the altar" (to QvaiaarrjQiov) and when it adds a clarifying b detail, it mentions that this is the golden altar standing before the throne (8. 3 ; cf. 9. 13). The exegetes then admit that the altar of incense is meant, and in fact this is clear enough. But we think, with Charles, that it is impossible to distinguish clearly between this altar and another, namely, the altar of holocausts, and that there is in reality one altar with certain characteristics of the altar of holocausts, and others, much more clearly marked, of the altar of incense. Further, as Charles remarks, since there are in the heavenly temple no more animal sacrifices of the type offered in the Mosaic ritual, but only the offering of the spiritual sacrifice which is that of man himself, it is normal that there should be only the one altar of incense, from which the praise, thanksgiving and prayer of the saints rise like the smoke of incense (Qvaia is derived from Ovco meaning to smoke, to cause smoke to rise) 8. 3 ; 5. 8 ; 6. 9 ; cf. Ps. 140(141). 2. It is noteworthy that previous Jewish apocalyptic literature mentioned only one altar in heaven. Certain rabbis even held that after the messianic restoration, expiatory sacrifices would cease and the sacrifice of praise alone remain (cf Bonsirven, Lejudaisme Palestinian au temps de /.-C, Paris, 1935, t. 1, p. 456). In the context of Christianity, this view is essential. Cf. Lay People in the Church p. 72. 2 Some explain the presence of the martyrs under the altar (and they make it clear they think it is the altar of holocausts) by the fact that the soul is in the blood and the blood flows under the altar (Swete, etc. cf. Allo, p. 103). We should be better advised with Charles (p. 229) and Allo to think rather of the Jewish concept of the souls of the just as beneath the throne of God. With J. Jeremias ("Golgotha" in review quoted, pp. 97 seq.), we may also bear in mind the ideology which held that the rock of the Temple was the highest point on earth and contact was made there not only with the heavenly world but also with the subterranean world of the souls of the dead. 8 Exod. 25. 40. Cf. Allo, op. cit.> p. 74; Strack-Billerbeck, t. 3, pp. 702 seq,, and Schlier, article tinddsiypa in Theol Worterb. z. N.T., t. 2> p. 33. 4 Cf. 15. 3 those who have triumphed over the Beast sing the song of Moses and of the Lamb. :

.

,

;

:

The Mystery of the Temple

210

heavenly temple assumes into itself the Presence of God in the historical life of his people in their passage through time. This is why, at the moment of final consummation, we shall again meet the themes that have occurred throughout our study and in the process of biblical history: "He will dwell with them, and they will be his own son" (21, 7) people" (21. 3), "I will be his God, and he shall be my with a reference to the prophecy of Nathan (2 Kings 7. 14).

more,

this

will be the celebrant in the heavenly temple? The Apocacalls Christ priest or high priest as does the Epistle nowhere lypse to the Hebrews. Yet he makes his appearance there as a priest, clothed with a long robe and wearing a golden girdle. Thus he who 5 makes us kings and priests is himself priest and king. But the is of the image in which Christ chiefly appears in the Apocalypse that Lamb (this name is given to him twenty-nine times). The word reveals him in his character of victim, but as a victim who is alive

Who

He is, therefore, the Christ of Easter, the Christ "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up the builders again", and who called himself the stone rejected by cornerstone. the made so and God of in the but precious sight The Lamb of the Apocalypse is therefore not merely the Paschal Lamb as immolated* Already as the immolated paschal lamb, he is revealed as the victor, for it is by his blood that the faithful again

who

(5. 6; cf. 1, 18).

said:

from the unfaithful and rescued from the plagues either on the word for apviov* or strength of the double meaning of the Aramaic even by reference to a certain number of uses of the word Lamb in Jewish apocalyptic literature, where it implies triumph, the term are separated

God sends upon the world. But it may be admitted that,

can bear the meaning of Christ's sovereignty dominating history and the world. 7 It is a fact that, in the Apocalypse, "Lamb" is the name of Christ as associated with God in the exercise of his sovereignty and in the glorification of the elect. Heaven, where the Lamb sits upon the throne, is a palace as well as a temple. 8 liturgy is celebrated in which the angels have their

A

5 Cf. Braun, article quoted, p. 494 and Rev, Thorn., 52 (1952), p. 258. The 3. 4 and cf. long robe was the high priest's vestment: Exod. 28. 4; 29. 5; Zach. H. Riesenfeld, Jesus tramfigurl, pp. 115 seq. The golden girdle is one of the 11. 58. Christ has made insignia of royalty, cf. the golden clasp in 1 Mach. 10. 89; us kings and priests: Apoc. 5. 10; 1. 6. 6 Notice how, once again, the "type" event in Exodus is "recapitulated' 7 See Wenschkewitz, study already quoted, pp. 214-15, with a reference to C. F. Burnay for the two Spitta for the Jewish apocalyptic literature, and to meanings of the Aramaic word corresponding to aqviov^ namely, lamb and child or servant (of God), nalg. In the Apocalypse, "Lamb" in fact does stand for the with God. suffering Servant as risen, victorious and henceforth reigning 8 Cf. 4; 7. 9 seq.; 11. 16 seq., etc. .

.

The Apocalypse

21 1

9

part to play together with the elect and the mysterious twenty-four elders. We are given frequent glimpses of this heavenly liturgy. 1 It is a liturgy of praise and prayer, with no sacrifice save that of "the tribute of lips". 2 J. Comblin has shown fairly convincingly that the liturgy celebrated in heaven while the history of the world unfolds (7. 9 seq.) is the same as that of eternity (chapters 21 and 22), but that this liturgy is conceived on the model of that of the great

Jerusalem pilgrimages, on the model too of the liturgy of the Feast of Tabernacles. Thus the image we are given of the heavenly Church is that of a great host of pilgrims who have reached the Temple at Jerusalem and are in God's presence. With palms in their hands, they acclaim with vibrant voices the royal and saving power of God "To our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, :

saving power belongs" (7. 9-12). 3. Relations between the heavenly temple and the earthly history of the Church and the World. One of the most remarkable features of the Apocalypse is the connection it reveals between events on earth and events in heaven. In the Epistle to the Hebrews also, the Christian liturgy which is both earthly and heavenly, is that of a great assembly (navriyvpig) in which we join with the angels, and of a joyful feast, whose centre is the living God (cf. 12. 22 and Spicq in loco). From one point of view, heavenly events determine the great events in the earthly history of God's people. It is from the heavenly temple that the decrees ordering the execution of God's judgments are promulgated. 3 John sees the seven angels who are to bear the seven plagues come out from the heavenly temple. They have been given golden cups full of the wrath of God who lives for ever and ever (15. 5-8). It is from the heavenly temple that a voice cries to these seven angels: "Go and pour out the seven cups of God's all

8

Cf. Peterson, quoted on p. 190, n. 5; cf. J. Danielou, Les Anges et leur mission, Chfcvetogne, 1952, and on the idea of the monastic life as angelic, J. Leclercq, La vieparfaite. Points de vue sur V essence de Vetat religieux, TurnhoutParis, 1948; L. Bouyer, Le sens de la vie monastique, ibid. 1951; A. Lamy, "Bios Angelikos" in Dieu vivant, No. 7, pp. 61-77 (1946). 1 Cf. chapters 4 and 5; 7. 9 seq.; 14. 1 seq.; 19. 1 seq. Cf. Wenschkewitz in the study already quoted, p. 217. On the sacrifice of praise, see Ps. 49(50). 14, 23 ; Osee 14. 2: Isa. 57. 19 ; Heb. 13.15, etc. and above, pp. 88-9. The messianic-eschatological temple of the prophets was a place of thanksgiving and not of expiation: cf. Jer. 33. 11; Ezech. 20. 40 seq.; 37. 27 seq. Cf. Isa. 51. 3, quoted by St Thomas (see below p. 229, n. 4). The fact that in heaven there can be only the sacrifice of praise, may be explained in the light of the magnificent prospect described by St Augustine in the passage quoted later on may then say with Florus of Lyons, that there is "a sacrifice of praise" p. 233. at the precise moment when "nulla nostra merita agnoscimus, sed solam Dei gratiam collaudamus" (Opusc. de actione missae, c. 53: P.L., 119, 48 C). * Cf. Isa. 66. 6.

We

M.O.T.

8

212 vengeance on the

The Mystery of the Temple

earth." (16. 1), and then, tied, the voice cries: "It is over" (16. 17).

when

the last cup

is

emp-

When

history has come to an end, it is once more from the heavenly temple that an angel goes forth, sickle in hand, to "gather the grapes from earth's vine-

yard" (14. 18). But from another point of view, the carrying out of God's judgments and the decision to begin the harvesting of the grapes are in part determined, or in any case, hastened, by men, by the faithful and the elect who in their turn are assisted by the angels. It is from the altar whence the prayer of the saints rises like the smoke of incense that the angel takes the burning coals which he throws upon the earth (8. 3-5). Again, it is from the horns of the heavenly altar that there comes a voice ordering the release of the four destroying angels "who were waiting for the year, the month, the day, the hour" (9. 13 seq.). And when the angels with the golden cups have poured all the wrath of God upon the earth, it is also the altar which John hears saying: "Yes, the judgments thou dost pronounce, Lord God Almighty, are true and just" (16. 7). The altar which speaks these words is the same as that which asked for the just punishments of God to be unleashed, the same again from which the angel took the fire of justice and of final purification. It is the altar of prayer and praise, of supplication and thanksgiving, and under it those who had been slain for God's Word and the witness they had borne, cried out with all their might: "Sovereign Lord, the holy, the true, how long now before thou wilt sit in judgment, and exact vengeance for our blood from all those who dwell on earth?" 4 It is clear that the voice of the altar was the very voice of the martyrs and the faithful witnesses (cf. 19. 1-3). The judgments of God are therefore hastened and, in part, set in motion by the prayers of the saints. But the Church militant herself has her part in the decrees of Providence. It seems very likely that the invitation to gather the grapes and harvest the corn comes from two angels who go forth from the earthly temple of God, that is, from the Church (see 14. 15 and 18, where the "temple" is clearly distinct from that in heaven: v 17). Angels from heaven gather the grapes and harvest the corn (vv. 14 and 17), but they are invited to do so by the angels who are given charge over the Church militant, God's earthly temple. Should we be justified in thinking that some angels follow the progress of the 4 6. 9-10. There is a parallel passage in Luke 18. 7: "Will not God give redress to his elect, when they are crying out to him day and night?" have to remember too that the apostles had been promised that they would judge the twelve tribes of Israel (Matt. 19. 28; Luke 22. 30), that it is written that we shall judge even the angels (1 Cor. 6. 3 ; cf. Wisdom 3. 8 ; 1 Cor. 2. 15), and that in the Apocalypse itself, the faithful sit upon thrones and receive the right to judge: 20. 4.

We

The Apocalypse

213

is, the growth of the body or the building-up of the 5 temple, and then tell the angels serving God in heaven that "the crop of earth is dry and the time has come to reap it" (v. 15), that it is time to gather the grapes from earth's vineyard for "its clusters are ripe" (v. 1 8) ? Such a theme need cause no surprise if we remember

Church, that

the prospects opened up by the Epistle to the Ephesians. 6 In our opinion, the theme is not out of key with the context of the Apocalypse in which both the Spirit and the Bride say "Come" (22. 17). The prayer of the Church seeks to hasten the Second Coming. The

sacraments, in a sense, "desire" to be swallowed up in the reality they mediate, and the temple of time "desires" to be engulfed in the temple

of eternity.

The Presence and the temple in God's eternity 1 1 in chapter 20 of the Apocalypse we enter the purely order the order of eternity. The order of the present heavenly creation has passed away. Heaven and earth have vanished without a trace (20. 11; 21. P), the sea and hell give up their dead (20. 13), the books are opened and the dead judged in the light of their contents, each man according to his works (v. 12). It is at this point that John, in chapters 21 and 22, offers us the astonishingly beautiful (B)

From verse

:

vision of the heavenly Jerusalem. The following passages are those that concern us here. shall treat them as a complete whole, without prejudice, however, to the problems of literary criticism

We

and

their solution. 7

5

In the vocabulary and imagery of the Apocalypse, we should say: "until companions in God's service and their brethren who are to be slain as they were, have reached their full number", (6. 11) and join them "beneath the altar" (6. 9). See also 22. 11-12. * Because of its ideas on the growth of the body (or building) until it reaches its perfect stature (2. 21 ; 4. 13, 15-16) and on the manifestation of the mystery of salvation made to the heavenly principalities and powers by the apostolate and by the life of the Church (3. 18 seq., cf. 1 Peter 1. 12). Then there are the angels of the Churches in Apocalypse 1. 20 (with the note in BJ). 7 Our two chapters obviously give two parallel descriptions and this fact is one of Fr Boismard's arguments in favour of distinguishing two Apocalypses. According to him, Text I (written in Domitian's reign) follows chapter 20. 13-15 22. 6-15; Text II (written in Nero's reign) and comprises chapter 21. 9-22. 2 follows chapter 20. 11-12 and comprises 21. 1-4 +22. 3-5 +21. 5-8. We are quite willing to accept this scheme, but we cannot agree with Fr Boismard when he interprets it as showing that section 21. 9-22. 15 is a description of the messianic Jerusalem and therefore of the Church in her state of pilgrimage on the earth, and not of the heavenly Jerusalem which is described in 22. 1-8 (cf. article quoted, pp. 524 seq., and BJ. Compare this with R. H. Charles's interpretation). We do not deny that some details in section 21. 9-22. 15 refer to the Church on earth, but: 1. Those instanced by Fr Boismard are not all very clear and in some cases can be otherwise explained (does 21. 10 make it essential that the earth should still be in existence? 21. 24-6 may be understood eschatologically). 2. With Swete and, above all, with Fr Allo, we may their

+

The Mystery of the Temple

214

21. * Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth (Isa. 65, 17). The old heaven, the old earth had vanished, and there was no more sea. 2 And I, John, saw in my vision that holy city which is the new Jerusalem, being sent down by God from heaven, all clothed in readiness, like a bride who has adorned herself to meet her husband. 3 1 heard, too, a voice which cried aloud from the throne, Here is God's tabernacle pitched among men; he will dwell with them, and they will be his own people, and he will be 4 among them, their own God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes (Isa. 25. 8), and there will be no more death, or mourning, or cries of distress, no more sorrow; those old things have passed

away.

.

.

.

And now an angel came and spoke to me, one of those seven who bear the seven cups charged with the seven last plagues. Come with me, he said, and I will shew thee that bride, whose 10 And he carried me off in a trance to a bridegroom is the Lamb. 9

great mountain (Ezech. 40. 2), high up, and there shewed me the holy city Jerusalem, as it came down, sent by God, from heaven, clothed in God's glory (Isa. 60. 1). n The light that shone over it was bright . [here follows a description of the city, with its twelve gates on which were inscribed the names of the twelve .

.

of Israel (v. 12) and a great wall resting on twelve foundation stones each bearing the name of one of the twelve apostles of the Lamb (v. 13); the length, breadth and height of the city are

tribes

equal 22

ITS

1

(v. 16)].

SAW NO TEMPLE IN IT; IS THE LAMB

ITS

TEMPLE

IS

THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY,

TEMPLE

Nor had the city any need of sun or moon to shew in it; the H The glory of God shone there, and the Lamb gave it light. nations will live and move in its radiance (Isa. 60. 3) the kings of the earth will bring it their tribute of praise and honour. 27 Nothing that is unclean, no source of corruption or deceit can ever hope to find its way in; there is no entrance but for those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life. 23

;

.

,

.

note that the Church in her earthly phase and the Church of eternity are fundamentally identical (cf. St John's concept of eternal life): chapters 21 and 22 taken as a whole describe the new creation "the new Eon in time and in eternity" (Allo, p. 339), but more particularly the eschatological conditions of life, whilst they include some details that are relevant to our present condition or perhaps with the Reign of a thousand years. But we have no wish to enter here into the question of the meaning of this latter mysterious fact. 3. Some details at least in section 21. 9-22. 5, are relevant to the heavenly Jerusalem: 21. 10, 20 (cf. below, fl p. 227, n. 4;) 22. 3 , 4*, 5.

The Apocalypse 1

215

He shewed me,

too, a river, whose waters gave life; it flows, clear as crystal, from the throne of God, from the throne of 22.

the

Lamb.

All the details in this description are borrowed from the Old Testament or the Jewish apocalyptic literature. This fact shows once again the continuity between Christianity's fulfilment of the prophecies and the promises or the hopes which preceded it. shall briefly review these themes, but the passages we have quoted prophesy in

We

new state and a transcendent consummation were the assumption into and the accomplishment by Christianity of the Old Testament prophecies. We shall therefore attempt later to show clearly what is meant by this new state and this transcendent consummation. this

connection a

as complete as

1. The assumption into and the fulfilment by Christianity of the Old Testament prophecies. The vision we are studying returns to the theme of Jerusalem, linked with the whole pattern of the history of salvation and with the messianic hope since the time of David. In this general restatement, a number of details are combined in a remarkable way. Since the days of Ezechiel (40 seq.) and the third section of Isaias, 8 Jerusalem had been considered as the place and the realization of Israel's hopes at the end of the world. It is, therefore, this hope as a whole which is taken up into the idea of a new, glorious, fruitful Jerusalem at peace with itself and secure from all evil. The commentators point out the parallels in the Old Testament and the Jewish apocalyptic literature for all the details in this description. Even the changeover from the image of a city to that of a woman and a bride was common. 9 For John, the whole city is seen as a sanctuary. This is clear from the measurements, which are odd and baffling if taken as referring to a building ex1 isting in space,

that of the

8

Cf. 60.

1

seq.; 65. 18 seq.; 66. 5 seq.

above, p. 83, n. 9

but they in fact represent a cubic space such as (cf. 3 Kings 6. 10). The city is truly the

Holy of Holies

On

the biblical theme of Jerusalem, see

4.

The

extra-canonical 4 Esdras 10. 25-7 is a classical example (it is quoted, for by Fr Allo, Apoc., p. 335); cf. Syb. V. 420 seq. For the Bible, cf. Gen. 2. 22 (literally "he built her as a woman"). St Augustine had already noted this expression (De Civ. Dei, XXII: P.L., 41, 779); 16. 2; 30. 3; Ruth 4. 11; Jer. 31. 4 (the "virgin-Israel is built"); Isa. 62. 5 ("thy builder shall wed thee"); cf. Apoc. 19. 7 seq.; 21. 2 seq., 10 seq. See also Th. Schneider and K. H. Schelkle, article "Bauen", in Reallexikon f. Antike u. Christentum, t. 1, col. 1266-8. 1 Nevertheless Fr Allo attempts to do this, op. cit., pp. 347, 349. The language of must not succumb to the the Apocalypse is symbolical rather than "plastic". repeated use of the word "vision". John "sees", yes, but spiritually, and he uses instance,

We

the imagery of symbols.

The Mystery of the Temple

216

city of God, the city in which he reigns, the holy city. It is in direct contrast to Babylon, the courtesan, 2 the city of the Reign of the Adversary, the city of Antichrist. On the one side is the bridal city, city. The harlot city is also the persecuting made city, Babylon. up of the worshippers of the Beast who blasphemes the name of God, his dwelling-place and those who dwell in heaven (13. 6). The bridal city is made up of those whom the Lamb gathers on Mount Sion here John returns to a traditional

on the other the harlot It is

theme of messianic hope 2a 4-5),

the souls

whose

faith is undefiled (14.

are always with the Lamb and with God and serve him 3 night (= always) in his temple. Thus revelation comes

who

day and

it brings together the themes which had inspired the of the prophets, the themes of the Bride, the City, the preaching Reign, the Persecutor and, finally, the Temple. John sees the bridal city coming down from heaven. He thus returns once again to a theme which, if not found in the Old Testament, at least belongs to the Jewish apocalyptic literature. But he as we shall shortly realize that the treats it in so novel a fashion parallelism or the borrowing is very slight indeed. This does not mean that the commentators refrain from quoting "parallels" taken from the Jewish apocalyptic literature. 4 But the aim of the latter is very different; it is specifically Old Testament and Jewish in character. The city in question is a material one and the temple is of stone even though the stones are precious. 5 In the Apocalypse the external imagery is used only to give expression to a spiritual reality. The city is identical with the Church, that is, with the community of the 6 faithful, and its foundations are the apostles. Once again, the bridal city is made up of faithful men, whilst those who are impure are excluded (cf. 21. 8, 27; 22. 15). The theme of the purity of the city as temple and Church is also restated in the Apocalypse and with 7 exactly the same meaning we have met in St Paul.

to an end as

Besides these restatements of more or less traditional material, that in the new Jerusalem of the Apocalypse, major themes of the Old and the New Testament are brought to fulfilment.

we should note There

is

a complete recapitulation: "The introduction of Jersualem,

a

In biblical language, the words "adulterous" and "prostitute" or "courtesan** (harlot) indicate infidelity to Yahweh : cf. the notes in BJ on Apoc. 2. 14 ; 14, 4 and 5. 2

4 Kings 19. 30-31 ; Soph. 3. 12-13 ; Abd. 17; Joel 3. 5. 14. 4; 7. 15 (which is a restatement of Isa. 4. 5-6). See all the commentaries on Gal. 4. 26; Heb. 12. 22; Apoc. 3. 12; 21. 2 seq., 10 seq. and, for instance, Allo, pp. 335-6; Strack-Billerbeck, t. 3, p. 573. 5 Cf. Strack-Billerbeck, t. 3, p. 573 and, for the temple, p. 852. Ps. 121(122). 3 3

4

is

often quoted. e As in Eph, 2. 20; 7

Apoc.

21.

one more instance of the

7-8 should be compared with

1

similarity between the two books. 6. 9; 15. 50; Gal 5. 21.

Cor.

The Apocalypse

217

as the type of the final stage of God's work, involves also the introduction of the covenant, the chosen people, the inheritance, the

twelve tribes, the divine espousals, God's dwelling among his people. 8 Everything is given a new meaning," But we must confine ourselves to the question of the temple. The great promise we have found throughout the times of the Old Dispensation now becomes a complete reality. It is the promise that God will have his dwelling among men, that he will be God-with-them, and so make of them his own people. 9 But John is so imbued with the idea that all the nations are to enjoy the Presence of God and communion with him, and so become Jerusalem, 1 that he breaks with the traditional formula and writes "he will dwell with :

them and they

own

peoples" (the Greek text has Aaoi. 2 Translator). We shall shortly see how genuinely and how fundamentally this central promise in the history of our salvation is to be realized in the kingdom of the life to come. The promise is quoted again a little later on (21. 7) in a slightly different form which it is important to note: "Who wins the victory? He shall have his share (= inheritance) in this; / will be his God, and he shall be my son. In the Old Testament, God calls his people his sons on more than one occasion, 3 but the passage referred to here is from the prophecy of Nathan, that decisive moment in the story of the temple theme and the source of the whole Davidic theme of will

be his

9'

The Apocalypse makes specific reference to it, by echoing Psalm 88(89). 36-8 (cf. 1. 5) or Isaias (11. 1, 10) when it calls Christ the victor "the offspring of David's race" (5. 5; 22. 16). The victorious king seated on the throne of God is, in his the Messias.

ultimate reality, that royal lineage which God had promised David would last for ever in his sight. But if this "offspring" is associated with God's own royal estate, so too the faithful, who have con-

with his royal estate and his kingship. 4 The goes with this royal dignity. As with Abraham's lineage in St Paul (Gal. 3. 16), so that of David issues in one and in several simultaneously. There is only one heir, one

quered

also, are associated

title

of son of

God

man who fulfils the promise made to 8

J.

9

The

David, just as there

is

only one

in the article quoted, p. 19. principal texts in order of importance are: Ezech. 37, 26-8; Zach. 2. 14-17; Lev. 26. 11-12; Exod. 29. 45; Zach. 8. 8; Jer. 31. 33. For the theme of God-with-us, see Isa. 7, 14; 8. 8; Matt. 1. 23. 1 Cf. 5. 9; 7. 9; 15. 3-4; 21. 26; 22. 2. 2 Of the texts quoted above in note 9, the first two are the most important for our present purpose since they make specific mention of the nations. Cf. Isa.

Comblin,

45 22

Osee *

11. 1; Jer. 31. 9; Isa. 43. 6.

Cf. 2. 26-8; 3. 21;

5.

10; 22.

5.

Cf, below, pp. 229-30.

The Mystery of the Temple

218

one man both cases the heir,

this

who

made

to Abraham, but in The temple of God is Jesus Christ, and ourselves in

the promise

fulfils

faithful are included in him.

unique Person, both son and king,

and with him. 5 In actual fact, therefore, the whole meaning of the temple as it is understood by the Gospel and the apostles is restated in the Apocalypse. The Gospel meaning is that Christ (immolated and risen from the dead) is the temple. The meaning in the teaching of the apostles is that the temple is the community of the faithful. We have seen how the synthesis provided in the first Epistle of St Peter combined these two statements. The Apocalypse, in its own key and with its own resonances, repeats the same theme. Christ in the Apocalypse is the Christ of St John's Gospel, the Lamb slain and victorious, from whose side flows, as from the new Temple, the water of life, that is, the Spirit, the specific gift of the new and definitive covenant (cf. 21. 6; 22. 1-2 and 17 [+ 2. 7; 7. 17] and compare these passages with John 4. 10 seq.; 7. 37-9; 19. 34. Cf. above, pp. 73 seq., and 137). The comfaithful, represented as militant on earth and in heaven as the liturgical assembly of those whose pilgrimage has ended in joy,

munity of the

We

have already met this idea on several now God's dwelling-place. 6 occasions, but it could not be more strikingly expressed than in this twenty-second chapter of the Apocalypse. In verses 2 to 5, John sees

is

the bridal city coming down from heaven, sees the new Jerusalem, and the voice (of an angel?) which explains what is taking place, does so in very significant terms "Here is God's tabernacle pitched among men; he will dwell with them ..." Yet, as in 1 Peter and Ephesians, :

Church is the temple only through Jesus Christ; the faithful are victors, kings and priests, only through him who, before them, 7 offered himself, won the victory and now reigns; they are purified

the

and made strong only by his blood. 8 As we shall see in a moment, the whole Church lives her own Pasch of death, resurrection, rejection, glory, and does so in union with and through the Pasch of the Lamb that was slain, but is now victorious (1. 18; 2. 8; 5. 6). This is another image which expresses exactly what we have It is worth noting that the words of 2 Kings 7. 14 which are here applied to the faithful Christian are used in Heb. 1 5 to show the divine sonship of Christ and are quoted in 2 Cor. 6. 18 as proof of the fact that we "are the temple of the fi

.

living God". 6 Cf. above, pp. 207, 208, 21

1 In Apoc. 19. 8 the linen of shining white in which the Bride of the Lamb clothes herself is "the merits of the saints"; cf, 7. 9, 14: the robe of the Bride is made from those of the martyrs and of the faithful. 7 Cf. 1. 6; 5. 10 (kings and priests); 2. 278; 3. 31; 17. 14; 22. 5. 8 Cf. 12. 11 and 7. 14-15: "They have washed their robes white in the blood of the Lamb. And now they stand before God's throne, serving him day and night in his temple." .

219

The Apocalypse

heard in the words of our Lord and read in the writings of St Peter, when they used the image of the stone once rejected which has become the chief stone, the first cell, of the new temple of

God. Finally, the Apocalypse includes and fulfils the cosmic aspect of the mystery of the temple. In it, as in the Epistles of the Cap9 tivity, Christ is the source of a new creation. The final prospect is that of a new creation (21. 1, 5; 22. 1-2) whose source is the kingship of God (cf. 21.5) which is shared by the Lamb who sits upon the same throne (22. 1 3. 21). Whilst in the past the Church lived under conditions of struggle and affliction due to the Serpent of the primal ;

age and to

God

1

sin,

brightness of his that the

word

will

own

2 all tears and make the new Jerusalem. 3 The fact

now wipe away

glory shine in the

<5rfa, glory, is closely

connected with the theme of 4

God's Presence or Dwelling among

his people, already justifies us in suspecting that the eschatological cosmic restoration, corresponding to the "new birth" in Matt. 19. 28 or to the "time when all is restored anew" in Acts 3. 21, is the fruit not only of the perfect Reign of God, but also of his perfect Presence, if, that is, a distinc-

tion between the

two can have any meaning. But there

is

no need

& to make suppositions or deductions, since in 21. 3-5 it is expressly stated that there is a link between the establishment of God's 5 Dwelling among his people or his Presence, and the creation of

a new, reconciled and glorious universe. At the root of all this obviously the theology of the prologue to St John's Gospel (1. 14 should be re-read) whose key-word appears in Apoc. 19. 13. As we have already seen (pp. 146 seq.), the longing for cosmic redemption is only fulfilled in the concrete economy of the incarnate is

Word, the Cross and

Easter. 6

; rwv VSXQ&V: 1. 5; cf. Col. 1. 18, Cf. 12. 2 (together with note d in BJ); 12. 6, 9, 13 seq. 2 Cf. 7. 17 (with the note); 21. 4. 8 21. 11, 23 ; 22. 5. Swete refers also to 2 Cor. 3. 8, an evocative verse whose sense is in keeping with our remarks above, p. 208, n. 1. There is also a parallel

1

between

21. 1

and

5,

and 2 Cor.

5. 17, etc.

Cf. above, during the exodus (p. 10), in Ezechiel (p. 66), in Jewish theology (pp. 93, 142-3). * Emy/i there is perhaps an allusion here to the shekinah (Swete, p. 278). 4

:

celestial City is given twelve gates, not by deduction from geoor in physics as is the case in modern Cambodian or Burmese symbolism, that of Moslem Baghdad with its twelve palaces. No, it is because there were twelve sons of Jacob, twelve tribes of Israel; and also twelve foundations since genuine cosmic value is there were twelve apostles of the Lamb: 21. 12-14. of the history of implied and parallel teaching can be quoted from the study into the positive religions, but, in the Apocalypse, this value is incorporated facts of the history of salvation, itself dependent on a free act of God's will, by which moreover the world has been created as an ordered and measured whole. 9

Hence the

A

M.O.T.8*

The Mystery of the Temple

220 2.

The new

state

and the transcendent consummation.

themes are concerned with these and we

Two

shall devote a section to

each: (a) (b) (a)

The new Jerusalem comes down from on high, from God; In eternity there is no temple other than God himself. The new Jerusalem comes down from on high, from God.

This idea

is

not found in the Jewish apocalyptic

literature. 7

John,

new Jerusalem, coming down from home of (her) God: 3. 12; 21. 2, 12. We must

however, sees the holy City, the heaven, from the note that he sees it. In

this life, the true dimensions of God's temple remain unknown to us, yet this temple is being built in the souls of men. But, at the Last Day, these dimensions will be clearly revealed to give joy to God's friends. And his work transcends all our reckoning. John sees the new Jerusalem coming down from God's home, when all that has been built in the field of creation by grace from on high at length becomes manifest. And this Jerusalem, comes

down from heaven. parallel tion,

No

can explain

"religionsgescWchtlich" parallel or so-called an idea given to us by Revela-

this original idea,

by the Word of God, and whose profound meaning must be

sought in the

The

Word

of

God

itself.

value expressed in this concept is that of the gratuitous nature of the gift. have seen that, during the exodus, or under David or Ezechiel, no human initiative could force God to be present among his people. His Presence remained his mystery and a gift of first

We

The new Jerusalem comes down from God because it is composed of "those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life" (21. 27). True, if our names appear in this book it is because of our deeds (20, 12), but our names may be blotted out (3. 5) and, at the very root of the fidelity and heroism which have earned a place for our names, there is a movement on God's part which we must his grace.

call gratuitous predestination (cf. 13. 8; 17. 8). In one sense, there is a celestial Jerusalem because, "ever since the world was made" 8 the

elect

have existed in God's thought and predestination. The pre-

7

Cf. Strack-Billerbeck, t. 3, p. 796: the idea is non-existent among the ancient rabbis and is rare in the more recent midrashim. It is found in apocalyptic literature only in writings dating from the end of the first century A.D., as in 4 Esdras 7. 26. Cf. also J. Comblin, article quoted, pp, 10-11 and n. 12: he makes it quite clear that we are dealing here with something very different from the res** toration of a former reality, or from the "religionsgeschichtlich theme of a city preexisting in heaven. The latter theme, in any case, appears at a relatively late date. 8 Cf. Apoc. 13. 8, where the BJ translation rules out once and for all the erroneous image of the "Lamb slain in sacrifice ever since the world began". The words in italics do not refer to the Lamb, but to the names written in the book, as is made clear in the parallel passage 17. 8, and as Swete, Charles, Allo, etc., all

admit.

The notion of the Church

as pre-existing

is

explained in the Fathers by that of

The Eschatological Temple

221

Church of which some authors have written genuinely

existing only in this way.

exists

The second value is that of the absolute purity demanded by God's temple. All the ritual, all the regulations with which the Mosaic Law surrounded everything that concerned the Temple and the worship of God, were figures of the true, interior, spiritual purity, as a quality in man himself, that was to be required in the new spiritual temple of which John tells us "Nothing that is unclean, ... can ever hope to find its way in" (21. 27; cf. 21. 8; 22. 15). 9 John tells us this just after he has shown us the kings of the earth bringing their treasures into the City whose gates therefore always remain wide open. Some time ago, we ourselves showed 1 that the Catholicity of the Church assumes into itself, "recapitulates," all that

of value in the unlimited evolution of the energies of the

is

Adam. We also noted above that the dimensions of the spiritual temple which are unknown to us include, in a certain sense, the entire world and a multitude of men who in their own little lives have First

Christ, his Church, or even of God then shall we say of the "good deeds", the "merits" of the faithful and of the saints themselves, those deeds of which, as St John showed us, is woven the robe of shining white that clothed the Bride for her wedding-feast (19.8)? If we turn to the prophet Isaias, we hear him say "We were all of us like those that are impure, and all our acts of justice were like filthy linen." 2 We can only cleanse ourselves in a spring from on high, by receiving something that comes from God who alone is holy. This is the biblical idea of sanctity: 3 it comes from God and belongs to God. In the Mosaic system, a thing was from God and belonged to God through an act of consecration, that is, by being set apart. Under the Dispensation of the Incarnate Word and of the Holy Spirit as given to man, man comes from God

had no

explicit

himself.

knowledge of Jesus

What

predestination; cf. our study "Ecclesia ab Abel", in AbhandL liber TheoL u. Kirche, Diisseldorf, 1952, pp. 79 seq.; Al. Miiller, Ecclesia Maria, Freiburg-imBreisgau, 1951, pp. 168, 207. Cf. Heb. 12. 23; 2 Tim. 9. On the Church as coming down from heaven because she is a free gift of grace, cf. St Augustine, Civ. Dei, XX, 17, and below, p. 222, n. 5. 9 Cf. Isa. 35. 8 ; Ezech. 44. 9. For the new form of purity according to Christ, cf. Matt. 15. 1-20 (= Mark 7. 1-23). 1 Chretiens de'sunis (Unam Sanctam, 1), Paris, 1937, ch. 3. 3 [I have translated directly from Pere Congar's text. This was necessary if his note were to have its full sense. Translator.] 64. 6: LXX: d>g gdxoc; dnoxaQr)fj.vri<; naaa $ dixcuoavvrj tfp&v, like the soiled sanitary towel of a woman (Lev. 12. 2; 15. 19 seq.). In Apoc. 19. 8, the word used is diHai(hjj,ara r&v &yta)v, Swete rightly draws attention to the wedding garment in Matt. 22. 11. Cf. St Gregory (Moral in Job, xvii. 15, 21 P.L., 75, 21): "Humana quippejustitiaauctori :

comparata mjustitia est" 8 Cf. O. Procksch, article dytos

in

TheoL Worterb.

z,

N.T.,

1

1,

pp. 88-97.

The Mystery of the Temple

222

and belongs to him because of the communication of a genuinely "spiritual" gift (see for this contrast, John 1. 17 and 6. 31-3; cf. Gal. 3. 1-4 and Heb. 3. 1 seq.). Jesus baptizes with the Holy Spirit because he himself came from on high (John 3. 13, 31) and the Holy Spirit came down and rested upon him (1. 32-3). The New Testament can indeed link together the words "spiritual", "pleasing to God" and "not made by man's hands". 4 The Dispensation of the new and eternal covenant is that of a truly heavenly and specifically divine gift of grace, a Dispensation where circumcision is not the work of man's hands (CoL 2. 1 1 cf. Eph. 2. 1 1). Nothing that is not heavenly can enter heaven, as St John declares in the Apocalypse. But the Church, the new Jerusalem, is wholly compounded of heavenly grace, of gifts that have truly come from on high. 6 Our high priest purifies us within, from the Holy of Holies he has entered and which is the sanctuary of God himself, not made 6 by man's hands, These ideas lead us back to the theme of the spiritual temple ;

brought into being by Christ's Easter experience (cf. Mark 14. 58 and John 2. 19-22 with the commentary we have already provided above). And indeed, the fundamental significance of the fact that the new Jerusalem must be sent down to us from on high is identical with the fundamental significance of Easter as we have attempted to unravel it. And what we are saying of the new Jerusalem, we must and also say of the whole creation, of in this we are following St John those new heavens and that new earth which the visions of the Apocalypse link with the appearance of the new Jerusalem. We must say it of all that the Apocalypse and the whole of the New Testament 7 The idea of restoration, of making anew what has call "new". been overthrown or profaned, was frequent in the Old Testament and in Jewish thought. But for the latter, it was most often simply

4

Cf. the article by C. F. D. Monte mentioned above p. 130, n. 2. "De coelo descendere dicitur ista civitas, qupniam coelestis est gratia qua Deus earn fecit, propter quod ei dicit etiam per Isaiam: Ego sum Dorninus faciens 6

te (45. 11) .. .", Primasius, bishop of Hadrunietum, c, 540, Com. in Apoc., lib. 5 (P.L., 68, 921). The passage is repeated verbatim by Bede, In Apoc. (P.L., 93, 194). Swete (p. 277) aptly quotes James 1, 17: "Every good gift and every perfect

from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights ..." Cf. Heb. 9. 11-28, where the expression "not made by human hands" occurs twice, w. 11 and 28. 7 Heaven and earth (Apoc. 2. 1 ; cf. 5; 2 Peter 3. 13; Isa. 43. 19; 65. 17). Jerugift is 8

12; 21. 2). Wine (Mark 14. 25 and parallel passages). Name 12; cf. Isa. 62. 2; 65. 15). Song (Apoc. 5. 9; 14. 3; cf. Isa. 42. 10; Ps. 94[95]. 1). Cf. also 2 Cor. 5. 17; Gal. 6. 15 (new creature); Rom. 5. 12 seq.; 1 Cor. 15. 21 seq.; Eph. 2. 15 (man), etc. Cf. Behm, article xaw6& in Theol Worterb. z. N.T., t. 3, pp. 451-2.

salem (Apoc. (Apoc. 2. 17;

3.

3.

223

The Eschatological Temple 8

a matter of recalling to life what had previously existed. During his Pasch Christ passed through death; the body which came out of the tomb is a temple not made by human hands. It is the source of a of St Paul's truly new creation, of a truly new man. The whole thought is relevant here. So also is the whole theology of the new covenant, made as it was in the blood of Christ and in his Pasch. This 9 new covenant is the very act by which the new Jerusalem is founded. Church the What the Apocalypse proclaims is therefore the Easter of

and of the World. "The Most High does not dwell in temples made by men's hands." 1 It is not merely each man's individual body which will be given back to him from on high ("not made by human hands"), to be his everlasting dwelling-place (2 Cor. 5. 1), it is the whole which will be spiritual temple, the Church as the body of Christ, restored from on high, made anew in the image of the Lord who, in his own Pasch, was its first stone. In short, we are here confronted with the decisive mystery of the identity of the Alpha and the Omega, of the identity of the mysteries of Easter and the Parousia. 2 John is describing for us the final Easter of the Church and of the World which, in its own way, is to be modelled on the Easter of Jesus. He who, by his Pasch, is the source of a new creation is indeed the death Jesus, son of Mary, but he has had to pass through death birth "took he for world former to the of all in him which belonged from a woman, took birth as a subject of the law" (Gal, 4. 4) "in the fashion of our guilty nature" (Rom. 8. 3). So, in the same way, all which in the Church as God's temple, is in the fashion of our guilty nature, must die, for "the kingdom of God cannot be enjoyed by 3 flesh and blood". The Church must have her Pasch, she must pass through death, as did Christ, and a body wholly pure must be given back to her so that she may be united to God and receive him as the Cf. Strack-Billerbeck, t. 3, pp. 840 seq. However, the book of Henoch did new creation. * Cf. Luke 22. 20; 1 Cor. 11. 25; cf. 2 Cor. 3. 6; Heb. 8. 8 seq.; 9. 15. 1 Cf. Acts 7. 48 (Stephen); 17. 24 (Paul), Cf. Heb. 9. 11, 24. 2 On this point cf. F, X. Durrwell, La Resurrection de Jgsus, mystere de salut, Le Puy and Paris, 1950, and a number of pages in Lay People in the Church. Cf. also our study on Purgatory, in La mort et sa celebration (Lex orandi, 12), 8

envisage a

Paris, 1951, pp. 279-336. 8 Cf. Bossuet, "Assomption", 1660; Lebarcq, t. 3 (1891), p. 492: "Such flesh in the elect; because, (caro peccati: Rom. 8. 3) must be destroyed, even, I say, as sinful flesh, it does not deserve to be united to a blessed soul or to enter the kingdom of God: Caro et sanguis regnum Dei possidere non possunt (1 Cor. it must 15. 50). So it must change its first form in order to be made new, and lose entirely its first being in order to receive a second from the hand of God .

But

it is St Irenaeus still connection: Adv. Haer. V,

more than

Bossuet,

4 (P.G.,

7, 1146).

ix,

who should be quoted

m

this

The Mystery of the Temple

224

temple and Bride described

in the Apocalypse. She cannot be the bride is unless she perfect perfectly virginal in the deepest sense, as we find it in the New Testament, the Fathers and the monastic tradition, unless, that is, she lives entirely by a life from on high and not from below, unless she is wholly heavenly, not earthly: "Only the

of no avail" (John 6. 63). It is only after she has passed through the death of the flesh that Christ can take to himself his Bride "in all her beauty, no stain, no wrinkle, no such spirit gives life; the flesh is

spotless" (Eph. 5. 27). But if this is baptism, which is the principle and the very substance of our Easter, it will only be perfectly accomplished as will also our baptism and Easter, through an actual death, through an actual purification from the flesh, through an actual and total resurrection according to the Spirit; in a word, at the Last Day. have previously attempted to look at the fact of Purgatory from this Paschal point of view, and in so doing we believe we have been faithful to the thought of the Fathers. As far as the Temple is concerned, we would maintain that the purification prophesied by Malachias (3. 1) and wrought by Jesus

disfigurement;

accomplished

.

.

holy,

.

first

of

.

.

.

all in

We

by means of an and symbolic in

which was prophetic and therefore both real proclamation of a spiritual truth, is to be fully accomplished in the mystery of the Parousia, which the Apocalypse, after the Gospels, describes as follows Judgment, hell giving up its dead, the new heavens and the new earth, the new Jerusalem coming down from heaven and from God, adorned like a young Bride for her husband (20. 11; 21. 2). The Fathers here as elsewhere show a remarkable understanding of the mystery of the Scriptures. Tertullian shows us Christ in the glory of his second coming, no longer the stumbling-block but the keystone crowning the completed temple, 4 and Origen, commenting, in the context of this eschatological theme of judgment, upon the episode of the cleansing of the Temple, wrote: act

its

:

The Church

a temple

is

some who

built of living stones. live as though they

Among her child-

were not in the Church. They fight their battles in human strength (2 Cor. 10. 3). These make the house of prayer, composed of living stones, into a den of thieves ren, there are

.

.

.

Origen then explains how it is that some men make the temple into a den of thieves, selling and buying doves, etc. He goes on to warn 4

Adv. Marc. Ill, 7 (C.S.E.L., 45/1, pp. 386-7): ". . . cum fiet iam non lapis offensionis nee petra scandali, sed lapis summus angularis post reprobationem adsumptus et sublimatus in consummationem templi, ecclesiae scilicet, et petra sane ilia apud Danielem (7. 13, 14) de monte praecisa, quae imaginem saecularium ." regnorum comminuet et conteret ,

.

The Eschatological Temple

225

them

to beware when Jesus comes into the Father's house of prayer, for he will drive them from their seats. He then continues:

When I

examine

this

passage of Scripture,

I

ask myself whether

Jesus will not bring all this to pass when he comes for the second time, the time of that long-awaited divine judgment. Then he will enter the temple wholly, the Church now complete ., and he will drive out all those who, though they are reputed to have their place in the temple of God, in reality behave as mere traffic.

.

kers. 5 If

we

Church

mind what was

call to

said

above of the dimensions of the and the impure within

as temple, of the mixture of the pure

her, if we remember all those who apparently live beyond her bounds but in reality belong to her, we shall then understand something of the Pasch through which the Church as temple must pass. She will be purified and united, built at last of living and precious stones and completed in the fullness of her dimensions only when she has been gathered together from the whole earth and when God takes her to himself from on high, recreated as she will be according to the Spirit, and able fully to be the Bride because, by

made utterly virginal. mean there will be no kind of continuity between earthly life and the life of the world to come ? Will there be an entirely new creation in which a body, a Church that is wholly new is grace, she will be

Does

all this

some sort the place of the body, the Church which has are struggled in the mire and suffered in the night of this earth? more and more inclined to think6 that all Revelation and the Apocalypse, its final chapter, are against such a supposition. To confine to take in

We

ourselves to the Apocalypse,

we

between the

see that the continuity

and heavenly phases of the Church's existence is clearly and abundantly obvious. The holy City which comes down from God is the Bride adorned for her wedding-feast. But her robe, as we have seen, is woven from the good deeds of the saints (19. 8), for their deeds go with them (14. 13). Those who are clothed in white robes and whom God, as the Apocalypse says, will lead to the living waters and from whose eyes he will wipe away all tears (7. 13-17), earthly

who have come through great tribulation. If we bring the together promises made to the "victor" in the seven letters to the Churches, we see that they correspond to the bliss that is given are also those all

6

Com.

in

Mat.,

1.

16, n. 21

and n. 22 (P.O.,

pp. 546 and 553-4). 6

More and more,

People

in the

that

is,

in relation to

Church, pp. 56-61, 81-102.

13,

1444 and 1452-3 Klostermann, :

what we have already written in Lay

The Mystery of the Temple

226

new Jerusalem which comes down from God's home and whose is written upon this "victor" (3. 12). And thus every effort made in time and within the framework of earthly history, is taken up into heaven. The new Song does not do away

to the

name, moreover,

with the Song of Moses (15. 3). Here, as in the rest of the New 7 Testament, the theme of the exodus is always present. We are shown a liturgical pilgrimage reaching its climax in the temple in the celebration of the liturgy of the Feast of Tabernacles (cf. J. Comblin), but we are shown equally, at least, a final exodus across the Red Sea and the desert. 8 As with the first exodus, the time of trial is also the time of betrothal. The Church clothes herself with her fine robe of white linen so that when she celebrates her eternal weddingfeast she finally fulfils the ideal of the exodus, the ideal of love and fidelity in the life

midst of poverty. 9 It is clear, therefore, that the new is not a creation discontinuous with what was

given from above

already in existence. Moreover, in the New Testament, whenever something new is given gratuitously, we are never dispensed from the 1 effort to retain possession of it and to make it bear fruit. The view we have put forward (p. 213, n. 7) and which we share

with Swete and Allo, is particularly favourable to these ideas. The new Jerusalem is also the Church in time. Already in time, she comes down from heaven, as new, as from God. In her activity she is a reality in the order of grace. What she does depends entirely upon what has been given to her. But at the Last Day, all impurity in her actions will be eliminated, or washed clean and transfigured. In the temple, there will remain only what has been built in gold or in a substance that resists decay (1 Cor. 3. 10-15). The City which is both temple and Bride is composed entirely of precious stones (Apoc. 21. 11, 18-21). (b) la eternity there is no temple other than God himself. When he was shown the new Jerusalem in its glorious state (2L 10-11), John was astonished, for he had visited every part of it, yet he wrote, "I saw no temple in it" (21. 22). For a Jew this was inconceivable Jerusalem without a temple 2 This enables us to sense how new was !

7

APFEAOS

See the thought-provoking note by J. Jeremias in "Golgotha** . . 2 (1926), p. 123 and note 1; for St Paul, cf, H. Sahlin, "The New Exodus of Salvation according to St Paul", in The Root of the Vine, Essays in Biblical Theology, edited by A. Fridrichsen, Westminster, Md., 1953, pp. 81-95. 8 We do not intend to discuss this further here, but see 12. 14. 15. 2; Cf. above pp, 207 seq., on the word axrjvtf, 9 Cf, note in BJ on 21. 2. 1 Behm, in the article already mentioned, p. 452, well says: "Fur den einzelnen ist der neue Mensch Gabe und Aufgabc zugleich" (For individuals, the *new man' is a gift and, at the same time, a task: Eph. 4. 24). Cf. Gal. 6. 15; 2 Cor. 5. 17. 2 Strack-Billerbeck, t. 3, p. 852; t. 4, p. 884 and note 1; cf. Wenschkewitz, article already mentioned, p. 210; O. Michel, article va6g, p. 894 with note 36. .

227

The Eschatological Temple

a "revelation" which incorporated so many elements from the Old Testament or from Judaism, but which also went beyond them. Condren3 makes a pertinent comparison. He reminds us of Isaac's astonishment when he saw no victim for the sacrifice his father was about to offer on the mountain. God was to provide for the sacrifice, and become himself the victim. The answer here is similar: "ITS TEMPLE is THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY, ITS TEMPLE is THE LAMB." This then is the final word of the Revelation given to the Church concerning the mystery of the temple and of God's Presence. We must do our best to hear and understand it. 4 The first point to note is that the words are used of the Lord (XVQIQC;), God Almighty (6 Oedg onavroKpdrcop) and of the Lamb. The Pantocrator occurs nine times in the Apocalypse, although it appears only once in the rest of the New Testament and then as a mere rider to a quotation. 5 These uses of the word show that in the Apocalypse the writer is not so much concerned with stating an attribute of God for its own sake (as is done in theodicy) as with revealing his royal sovereignty. In fact the title Pantocrator is very clearly linked either with the character of absolute Existence dominating time taken as a whole from beginning to end (1 8 4. 8), or with the affirmation of the power God possesses and exercises in order to establish his kingdom (11. 17, cf. 15. 3; 9. 6) and to execute his judgments (16. 7, 14; 19. 15). In two places the word also includes an act of praise of God's transcendent holiness (4. 8; 15. 3). We may therefore conclude that the eternal temple of the faithful is Go d in his sovereign reign. The fact that the name of the Lamb is added after

title

.

;

3

Uid&e du sacerdoce et du sacrifice de /.-C., Part III, Ch. 3 (Paris, 1901, p. 127). The commentators we have consulted are not very satisfactory. Swete, excellent though he is, has little to say (p, 295). Fr Allo (p. 348) confines himself 4

to a reference to the final phrase in Ezechiel (48. 35). This is a valid reference but leads him to remark that the whole city is a temple. But John did not say that, his words were: God is the temple. Wenschkewitz (pp. 148-9) senses the novelty of the statement but sees in it an example of "spiritualization". Finally Fr Boisrnard (in BJ) limits Apoc. 21. 9 seq., to a description of the messianic Jerusalem (the Jerusalem before the Parousia) and gives to the text above a commonplace meaning: there is no longer any temple, since the Church is the temple. Once again, this is not what St John says at this point. 5

The article navro^QavcDQ by Michaelis in TheoL Worterb. z. N.T., a mere catalogue. H. HommeFs study ("Pantokrator" in Theologia viatorum. Jahrb. d. Kirchl Hochschule, Berlin, 5 (1953-4), of which a summary appeared in TheoL Literaturzeit., 1954, col. 283-4) is interested chiefly in the components, philosophical as well as biblical, of the epithet applied to God in the first article of the Creed (with its two senses: omni-potens; omni-tenens). Pantocratdr is the usual Septuagint rendering for "Yahweh Sabaoth" in the Hebrew text. (Hence Apoc. 4. 8 compared with Isa. 6. 3.) According to J. N. D. Kelly (Early Christian Creeds, London, 1950, pp. 132 seq.) the word should not be translated by "almighty" but by "all-ruling", "all-sovereign". Cf. J. Pascher, "Der Christus-Pantocrator in der Liturgie" in Jahresbericht d. GSnesgesellschaft, 1939, t.

2 Cor.

6. 18.

3, p. 914, is

pp. 42 seq.

The Mystery of the Temple

228

word Pantocrator does not alter this conclusion, since it indicates Christ precisely as associated with the sovereign and saving reign of

the

God.

We

have seen that for the prophets God was present where he reigned. The first meaning of the passage we are studying is that in eternity there will be no temple other than God himself and his holy Will. God is in his temple because he dwells in himself and in his own holy Will. There is also a sense in which he is in his temple in the believer and the people who love and do his Will (cf. John 14. 21, 23). 6 By the same token, the believer is in God just as God is in him. believer or God's the the In the temple of God's Presence and Will, people it is not possible to differentiate between them, and the Apocalypse speaks at times of the victor as a person and at others, with obvious preference, as the people, as the "tota redempta civitas" are like priests at the in the words of St Augustine (p. 220, n. 8) altar: "And now they stand before God's throne, serving him day and night in his temple." 7 "God's throne (which is the Lamb's 8 throne) will be there, with his servants to worship him." The liturgy of the Apocalypse is essentially a liturgy of loving and enthusiastic 9 obedience to God's royal will for our salvation. It may be summed up in the Amen, Alleluia! (cf. 19. 4) and as a commentary upon it, we may take these words of St Augustine: "they shall say Alleluia! because they shall say

6

AmenT 1

"Cum

vero habitationem ejus cogitas, unitatem cogita, ccmgregationemque in coelis, ubi propterea praecipue dicitur habitare, quia ibi fit voluntas ejus perfecta eorum, in quibus habitat obedientia". St Augustine, Ep. 187 (ad Dardanum, or Liber dePraesentia Dei, P.L., 33, 848).

Sanctorum: maxime

7

15: XaTQetiov&w avrqj, : exactly the same expression as above. AaTQsvsw indicates the public worship given to the Hying God by his people, Israel (therefore, as was said in 21. 3: "He will dwell with them, and they will be his own people, and he will be among them, their own God*'): cf. Acts 26. 7; Phil. 3. 3; Rom. 12. 1 (Charles, op. cit. t 1. 1, pp. 214-15). Note that in all these passages worship is offered before the throne of God and of the Lamb; the temple is a palace; God reigns there an absolutely essential fact and the worship offered is the worship offered to the 8

7,

22. 3

sovereign Will from which grace comes. Cf. 4. 8-11; 5. 8-14; 7. 9-12; 14. 1-5; 19. l-5 1 "... Tota actio nostra Amen et Alleluia erit , Quid est enim Amen? quid Alleluia? Amen est verum; Alleluia, laudate Deum. Quia ergo Deus veritas .

est

incommutabilis

.

.

Amen

.

.

Quam ergo insatiabiliter satiaberis veritate, tarn insatiabili

amore ipsius veritatis accensi et inhaerentes ei dulci et casto amplexu, eodernque incorporep, tali etiam voce laudabimus eum et dicemus : Alleluia. Exultantes enim se ad parilem laudem flagrantissima charitate invicem et ad Deum, omnes cives illius civitatis dicent Alleluia, quia dicent Amen!" Sermo 162, 29 (P.L., 39, 1633). On the Alleluia as the canticle of the heavenly life, cf. the splendid pages of St Augustine in Enarr. in Ps. 148, 1 (37, 1938); Sermo 243, 8 (38, 1147); 252, 9 (1176-7); 255, 1 and 5 (1186, 1188); 256 (1190 veritate dices :

seq.).

.

.

.

229 The Eschatological Temple There is, therefore, no need to pause to consider J. Comblin's 2 remark, perfectly correct though it is, that in the new Jerusalem the elect are no longer called "priests" but are simply said "to reign" (22. 5). The only conclusion that need be drawn from this is that the elements of outward ceremony, of preparation and of mediation in the worship and the priesthood of the messianic temple have disappeared. There remains only the ultimate reality of worship, sacrifice and priesthood, namely man's perfect and filial surrender of himself to God, 3 of which these elements were the sign. But this is the 4 quintessence of sacrifice and of priesthood. At the same time it the explains royal character of our priesthood in the sense in which we ourselves have done in reference to the First Epistle of St Peter (above, p. 178). As they adore the throne of God and of the Lamb, that is, their royal Will for our salvation, the elect, God's servants, are with him; they are his people and God is their God. the same token, they see his face, his name is on their foreheads (22. 4), his dwelling in them becomes a fact (21. 3) and this priestly service, this wholly spiritual sacrifice of obedience and union which

By

they offer, is a royal sacrifice. By obedience to him as reigning, they share in his reign and are themselves kings of glory: "The Lord God will shed his light on them, and they will reign for ever and ever" (22. 5); "Who wins the victory? I will let him share my throne with me I too have won the victory, and now I sit sharing my Father's throne" (3. 2 1). 5 They are in full partnership with Christ as king, and with him share the kingship of God, for they are sons not only after the manner of David (2 Kings 7. 14: cf. above, p. 217), but through and in Jesus Christ, the Son in the absolute and perfect sense. Hence they are sons in the way David's Lord is Son, the Lord of whom David himself said: "The Lord said to my Lord: Sit on my right hand" (Ps. 109[110]. 1: cf. Matt. 22. 42-4). Henceforth, if the temple is the Will of God, that is, his throne, it is not enough to say 2 Article mentioned, p. 25 and note 53 "All idea of offering and sacrifice has disappeared; similarly the idea of priesthood has been removed from the tradi;

:

tional formula fiaaifatav IsQslg now changed to pacriAevcro'ticnv." 3 Cf. 21. 7 and above p. 217. Cf. what we have said of the final and communal perfection of the Church as such, which is to say "Pater noster" and to end by uttering Christ's own Amen. 4 Cf. ch. 4 in our Lay People in the Church. It is self-evident that the sacrificial worship of sinful men and of the Church during her earthly pilgrimage must have 1. expiatory value; 2. a visible, collective, sacramental character. In heaven, says St Thomas, there will no longer be anything but "gratiarum actio et vox laudis" (Isa. 51. 3); cf. Sum. TheoL I~II, Quest. 101, 1.2 sol. and Quest 103, 1. 3 sol. (cf. above, p. 211, n. 2). 5 Cf. G. Bernanos, Journal cTun curd de campagne, pp. 210-11, the scene in which the countess who is quite willing to say "Thy kingdom come" but not "Thy will be done" ; "The kingdom whose coming you have just prayed for is both yours and his".

The Mystery of the Temple

230 that the elect are in

him

as worshippers or as celebrating priests. a sense in which they themselves are

We must recognize that there is

no longer merely as the community of the faithful, which God dwells, but in the very sense in which in there is no more temple because the Lord God Almighty eternity is the temple, as is also the Lamb. Go d himself has become truly a the temple and as the temple in

house of prayer for

all

nations

(Mark

11. 17).

are to imagine some kind of fusion of existences, a confusion in the order of being. The victor, God, the Lamb, are, in the Apocalypse, persons with well-defined characters. It is not a

Not

that

we

question of fusion but of communion, a communion divinely real and profound. We cannot study here the reality of this communion as taught by the New Testament as a whole, by St John ("life") whole book would be needed, but one and by the Apocalypse. short text sums it all up "What is it, this fellowship of ours ? Fellowship with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ" (1 John 1. 3).

A

:

All we have to do is to consider the reality and the depth of this communion from the point of view of the truth that God himself is eternity's temple.

This communion is, first of all, a mutual exchange. This is already implied in the very notion itself of a covenant and in the theme that is constantly repeated: I will be their God and they shall be my people. We live in God. He is our Dwelling-place, but we too are his 6 dwelling-place and he lives in us,

plum Dei

fit

"Templum hominis Deus, ternourselves there is, we may

homo." 7 Between God and

venture to say, reciprocal hospitality and indwelling, because there is between us both communication and communion (KOWCOVIO). It is not for nothing that Jesus has described our final bliss under the image of a meal 8 and that the Apocalypse returns to this image, not only to point out that all hunger and thirst will forever be satisfied (7. 16-17) but to insist on this intimate communication and reciprocity: the New Testament uses of the verb pdvew, to remain, and a dwelling. For the latter, cf. the two (only) examples in John 14. 2: "There are many dwelling-places in my Father's house"; and 14. 23: "If a man and make our continual abode with him**, For the verb, cf., on the one hand, God (1 John 4. 16) and Christ (John 15. 4-7; 1 John 3. 24) dwelling in the faithful and, on the other, the faithful dwelling in God (1 John 2. 24; 4. 16) and in Christ (John 6. 56; 15. 4-7; 1 John 2. 6, 27 seq.; 3. 6, 24): cf, Hauck in TheoL Worterb. z. N.T., t. 2, pp. 584 and 580. 6

the

This

is

noun .

.

shown by

juovtf,

.

7

St Peter

8

Luke

Damian, EpisL,

cap. 5 (P.L., 144. 265). seq.); 22. 29-30 (where we find the

lib. 2,

14. 15 seq. (Matt. 22.

2

same con-

nection between a meal and kingship). The same image occurs as far back as Isa, 25. 6. For the idea of the messianic banquet in rabbinical circles, cf. J Bloch, "On the Apocalyptic in Judaism", in Jewish Quart. Rev. Monograph, Series II, Philadelphia, 1952, pp. 96-100 (quoted by G. Verrnes, Les manuscrits du desert de Juda, p. 119, n. 42).

The Eschatological Temp le

23 1

3. 20

See where I stand at the door, knocking; if anyone listens to my voice and opens the door, I will come in to visit him, and take my supper with Mm, and he shall sup with me. 21 Who wins the victory? I will let him share my throne with me; I too have

won

the victory,

and now

I sit

sharing

my

Father's throne.

There is a reciprocal presence. The friends enjoy one another's company, they entertain one another, one in his cottage, the other in his palace. And this is in imitation of the relations between the Father and the Son, for the Father is in the Son and the Son in the Father (John 10. 38). And where the Son is, he wishes that those should be with him who have been given to him by the Father (John 17. 24). But it is clear that, in this mutual interchange, it is

we who

receive

and are

filled.

God is no richer for possessing us.

He

receives nothing he did not already have. Yet he delights in giving, for he is good, and in communicating himself to us, for he

loves us. But for us to possess

God

is

to be

filled

and

filled

to over-

flowing. That God is our temple means that there is between him and ourselves a mutual indwelling, a communion, an intercom-

munication in which we find our hunger satisfied and our joy filled to the uttermost. 9 What is true in eternity of the relations between the Father and the Son, "all I have is thine, and all thou hast is mine" (John 17. 10), is henceforth true also and eternally of the relations between the Father and his sons by adoption. It is they who return to their Father's house and are filled. They know the truth of that familiar relationship which Jesus in the parable of the Prodigal side, expressed in these words "My son, thou art always at everything that I have is already thine" (Luke 15. 31), :

my

Son and

In this way then, our inherent desire for a complete inward life, a desire which corresponds exactly to God's plan of grace, will at last be satisfied. If there is one obvious direction in the great story of God's Presence to his creatures as it has been made known to us by Revelait tion, if this story has one overall movement, it is surely this the then and contacts visits, through passes begins by momentary stage of external mediations that draw God ever nearer to mankind, and finally reaches the state of perfectly stable and intimate communion. Whether it be through the temple, the sacrifice or the priesthood, God's plan moves towards a communion of such intimacy

8 "Ipse Deus erit electis aeternae beatitudinis praemium, quod ab eo possess! possidebunt in aeternum." Bede, In Apoc. 21, 3 (P.L., 93, 194). This fact was already indicated in the image of the betrothal, so closely allied to the theme of Sion and its temple.

The Mystery of the Temple that the duality between man and God, and therefore their external overcome in so far as this is separation from one another, are both of beings or pantheism. confusion a without meaningless possible In harmony with this divine plan, the religious soul has always all to her, that he should be longed that God himself should be all in 2 1 that he should utter her be should himself he that guide, her light, within her, beyond all the ideas of our human mind, one of those 3 creative words that are strength and sweetness, certitude and light "May the Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit speak in us. May he in us unto thee!" (Anaphora of Serapion, 2. 4) that he

232

sing

hymns

4 should be her peace (Eph. 2. 4), her justice, her holiness, her strength 5 "Do thou be her thyself pray prayer and her refuge, that he should 6 I perform be which Dei the of opus in the depths my being!" May 7 that he should love in us, that he above all Operans in me Deusl 8 should set his love in us in the place of our hard, self-centred hearts. 9 is the proIf only we could love through his will present in us. This found meaning of St Teresa of Lisieux's act of consecration to the 1 that the whole city lying within us should, merciful Love of God: like the Jerusalem of Ezechiel, have no other name but "Yahweh-isthere" (48. 35). Not only may God dwell in us and fill our being, he also himself be our temple, and the place of our prayer as he

may

was for the exiles in Babylon! (Ezech. 11.16). Beyond Ms dwelling in us by faith and by love, may we have no other dwelling but that

HIMSELF! 2

wherein he dwells 1 8 fl

* Ezech. 34. 11, 15; 37. 22. 22. 29; Isa. 60. 20; Apoc. 21. 23. Imitation of Jesus Christ, I, 3; St John of the Cross, The Ascent of Mount

2 Kings

r

J

God himself should blot out our and be our ransom from them, is the cry of Luther's soul and the heart of his whole attitude to religion. See Romerbrief (ed. Picker, II, 59). 5 2 Kings 22. 2 seq. Isa, 28. 6 and the entire theme of "Yahweh-my-rocK *

jfer/23. 6; 1 Cor. 1. 30, cf. Isa. 43. 25: that

offences

,

;

so frequent in the Bible, especially in the Psalms. Refuge: Ezech. 17. 17. see F. Heiler, La Pri&re, Tersteegen. Cf. Rom. 8. 26-7; for other passages French translation by E. Kruger and J. Marty, Paris, 1931, pp. 251-4. 7 Fr P. I. Hausherr gives Operans in me Deus as representing the fundamental meaning of Opus Dei in St Benedict: "Opus Dei" in M&L G. de Jerphanion Orientalia christ. period., 13 (1947), pp. 195-218: cf. p. 210. 8 Rom. 5. 5, and in the life of St Catherine of Siena, the episode of the exchange 9 St John of the Cross, Spiritual Canticle,, str. 37. of hearts. 1 See the analysis of this act of consecration by A. Combes, Introduction a la ch. 5, pp. 146-54; cf. 7, spirituality de Ste Therese de Venf. Jdsus, Paris, 1948, pp. 228 seq., on this saint's way of prayer. 2 St Thomas, Com. in Ev. Joann., c. 14, lect. 1: "Deus habitat in sanctis . . militans Ecclesia, scilicet per fidem . . Duplex est ergo domus Dei. Una est Alia est triumDeus per fidem ., et hanc inhabitat congregatio fidelium .

.

.

.

.

.

.

64. 6: Repkbimur in phans, scilicet collectio sanctorum in gloria Patris: Ps. bonis domus tuae. Sanctum est templum tuum, mirabile in aequitate. Sed Domus Patris dicitur non solum ilia quam ipse inhabitat, sed etiam ipsemet, quia ipse

in seipso est. Et in hac

domo nos colligit."

The Eschatological Temple

233

Because we dread any "mysticism" which might be an effort on man's part to gain possession of God, we must not therefore fail to recognize that the whole momentum of the supernatural economy to which the Bible bears witness is directed towards that moment when our stammerings shall cease and He himself will speak, our puny deeds will come to an end and He himself will act. St Augustine has expressed this fact on the last and unrivalled page of his City of God. He describes the completion of the week of creation and of labour leading to a Sabbath that at long last is the true one, God's rest into which we are called to enter and of which the Epistle to the Hebrews speaks

(4.

1-11):

We ourselves shall be the seventh day when we are filled to overflowing with his blessing and his holiness. Then, joyful and at rest, we shall see that he is God, the God we desired to be when we fell away from him as we listened to the voice of the seducer promising that we should be as gods (Gen. 3. 5) ... Created anew by him, made whole by a greater grace, we shall take our rest in joy throughout eternity, for we shall see that he is God, the God who will fill our being when he is all in all. For our good works themselves, when we understand that they are his far more than ours, will then be taken into account so that we may win that eternal Sabbath. For if we claim them as our own, they remain servile, whereas of this Sabbath it is written: "That day, all (servile) -work shall be at an end (Deut. 5. 14). Hence the prophet Ezechiel tells us: "/ bade them share my sabbath rest, that should be a token between me and them, a token that they were divinely set apart" (20. 12). But this we shall not perfectly understand until we are perfectly at rest in joy and perfectly see that he is God. 3

The all

that

cessation of our works, tainted as they are with impurity; we have, given to us by grace, and the upward surge of our

praise and thanksgiving; is not this precisely the reality signified by the vision of the new Jerusalem coming down from God? And if the "spiritual" is what the Holy Spirit works in us, is this not ultimately the true spiritual temple? Origen says so. He shows that the true Sabbath will come when God takes to himself his Bride now made

the whole of the spiritual creation is made one many anxious searchings will cease because 3 Civ. Dei, XXII, 30, nn, 4-5 (P.L., 41, 803-4); cf. De Genesi ad litt., VI, 25-9 (34, 306-7); Serm. aFrangipane ed. in G. Morin, S. Augustini Sermones post Maurinos rep., Miscell. Agost. I, Rome, 1930, p. 184. And cf. above, p. 211, n. 2. 4 Com. in Cant., prol. (edited by Baehrens, Origenes Werke, VIII, p. 84); In Num., horn. XXIII, note 4 (VII, 2, p. 216). Cf. St Augustine, Sermo 253, perfect, that

is

when

with him; when so

y

c.

8 (P,L,, 38, 1190).

The Mystery of the Temple

234

they have received their perfect answer, because God mil be (and do) all in all** This is the phrase St Paul uses to describe the final state of God's work in its entirety (I Cor. 15. 28), and it is the final word on the whole subject. In heaven there is no more temple because the Lord God the Pantocmtdr is himself the temple of all joy and of all praise. And since the Lord God the Pantocratdr is

He who is everywhere and in all, everything has become once more the temple of his Presence and he has become our temple. Thus we may complete what we said above on the difference between God's gifts and Presence as they are found in the institutions of the old and new Dispensations. Under the former Dispensation,

the

there were certainly

gifts,

and

God

himself was not given with them to man. precious gifts, The new Dispensation of the messianic era is marked by the gift of the Holy Spirit and his grace. Grace makes it possible for us to reach and to possess God himself; we can know and love him. Its efficacity is therefore infinite and this is possible because God himself is given

but

together with Ms gifts. Yet he is not fully possessed in this life, in which we receive only the pledge of our inheritance (Eph. 1. 13-14), in which too the means are still external in relation to their end; we possess the means and they are homogeneous with their end, but we do not possess the end wholly and finally. Heaven, on the other hand, is the state in which God himself is given to us and the source of all gifts is not only linked to them, thus conferring on them an infinite efficacity (cf. John 4. 14), but is himself given in all his fullness. Henceforth he takes the place of all the gifts which previously only proceeded from him. God himself is given to us and he is all his

himself all his gifts, they become absolutely Since he himself is all his gifts in us all, the fullness of unity is achieved in the complete appeasement of our hunger for him. Hence St Augustine sings the praises of the final coming

own

gifts.

satisfying

Since he

and

of our Peace. 6

is

final.

He

Aeterna vita

never wearies of extolling the day

tibi erit

Deus

.

.

.

Ipse

(erit)

when

pastor noster

Deus

noster; ipse potus noster, Deus noster; honor noster, Deus noster; 6 divitiae nostrae, Deus noster . Ipse tibi erit omnia. .

.

God himself will be, at the same time and in the same way, the temple of each and the temple of all. The Godhead will be for his creatures the house of praise which he is for himself. Will the messianic temple then be transcended at the Last Day? 6

8

Enarr. in Ps. 83 (84). 10 (P.L., 37, 1076-7). St Augustine, Sermo 334, 3 (P.L., 39, 1469); 55,

(38, 867).

4

(38, 376);

and c

158,

9

The Eschatological Temple If

we

read St Paul,

we

235

is so and that the body of one stage in the process of which is to be transcended in the

gather that this

Christ, the true messianic temple,

mediation, a sacramental stage,

is

day of final Truth: "And when that subjection is complete, then the Son himself will become subject to the power which made all things his subjects, so that God may be all in all" (1 Cor. 15. 28 and cf. v. 24). "God" in St Paul, and generally throughout the New Testament,

is

the Father.

Our

interpretation may find support in the way of various Fathers of the Church. 7

this verse is explained in the writings

and

Gospel treatment of the earthly Kingdom of the Son of and the ultimate and heavenly Kingdom of the Father. 8 But our interpretation cannot be accepted as applying also, at least in the above terms, to the life to come. For then, as the Apocalypse expressly says, "Its temple is the Lord God Almighty, Us 9 temple is the Lamb." We can never insist too much that the New Testament applies monotheistic principles to Christ in all their force and renounces none of them: "My Father and I are one" (John 10. 30); "I am in the Father, and the Father is in me" (14. 10-11, 20; cf. 10. 38). During the pilgrimage and the warfare of God's people, Jesus is the means whereby all who are his come to the Father (John 14. 6; Heb. 10. 20). But after this, Jesus in his sacred humanity itself shares to the full the glory and power of him whose perfect in the

Man

equal he

and

is

in his divine nature. His

human

nature,

now

glorious

and always be our temple, our temple "not made by human hands", in that heaven where our temple is God alone. Such then is the nature of the new and eternal covenant. And since we are the members and the body of this human nature united to the Godhead, where it is, there also shall we be. We are transfigured, will also

"enthroned" with Christ, says St Paul. 1 We reign, we dwell with him, 2 As Christ's human nature has returned in glory to the bosom of the Father, to the true Holy of Holies, so we are with him there to offer for ever our filial praise and adoration. And thus there will be no temple but the Lord God, the Master and the Saviour of all, together with the Lamb that was slain and has won the victory (5. 6). 7

St Hilary, St Bernard. Cf. Lagrange, v. selon S. Marc, 6th edn., p. 207; cf. the note in BJ (Fr Benoit) on Matt. 13. 43; 25. 43. 21. 22. cannot accept Charles's suggestion (op. cit., t. 2, pp. 170-1). He adds, after xal rd dgvtov, the words ?} mpo)rdg rrj<; dia6rjxr)$ avrfji;. In the Apocalypse, although the Lamb's position is, in some respects, a subordinate and specific one before the final consummation (e.g., 5. 6; 14. 1, etc.), after this consummation, it is totally equal to that of God (the Father) : cf. 2. 27 seq. 3. 21 ; 5. 12-13; 6. 16; 7. 9-10; 14. 4; 21. 23; 22. 1. Cf. John 17. 3; Heb. 10. 12 seq., etc. 1 Eph. 2. 6; for Christ, cf. Heb. 8. 1 and Apoc. 3. 21 ; 22. 1. 2 Cf. above, p. 217, n. 1; p. 229. 8

fl

We

;

Conclusion

THE ECONOMY OF PROVIDENCE AND GOD'S PRESENCE IN THE WORLD Presence, God's Temple this is a "mystery" in the by no means dissimilar meanings that may be given to the word. There is the theological sense of a truth whose content the created intelligence cannot fathom; the Pauline and Patristic sense of a divine plan unfolding and realizing itself in progressive three

G)D's

stages finally the liturgical sense of a real celebration or commemoration (effecting what it represents) of the great acts of salvation God has accomplished, and with the prospect of their consummation at ;

the Last Day.

Our inquiry has followed the stages of the gradual revelation of The reader will find it easy to reconstruct them with the help of a textual analysis which is, alas! somewhat cumberthis mystery.

some.

The Bible has little to say and, in any case, never speaks expressly of God's Presence in his creation as such, or of the temple of nature. It does, however, allude to them fairly often and they are presupposed whenever God freely establishes a truly personal presence among men. These are the occasions of which the Bible tells us and it enables us to recognize the stages they mark while we wait in hope for their final outcome. First of all God intervenes unexpectedly in the lives of the Patriarchs by what we may call momentary contacts or encounters.

Then as

its

as soon as he forms a people for himself he exists for it particular God. He establishes his Presence in its midst as

own

he who

reveals, guides, listens, judges, helps

and punishes. From the

days of the Patriarchs until the building of the Temple, the uncertain and changing character of the Presence signifies not only that it is not yet genuinely established, but also that it is not what it appears to be, local and material. Hence there is a tension which reveals the meaning, first of Nathan's prophetic intervention at the very moment when the sacred Presence is about to become fixed in a given place and, in a sense, to take to itself a body: it then reveals the meaning of the action of the prophets. The latter do not cease to preach that, beyond even the moral and spiritual demands of the Temple worship, there lies the truth of God's Presence linked to his genuine reign in

God's Presence

men's hearts.

God

in the

World

237

does not dwell materially in a place, he dwells

spiritually in his faithful people.

The Incarnation of the Word of God in the womb of the Virgin inaugurates an entirely new stage in the history of God's Presence, a new, but also a definitive stage, for what more could be given to the world? The religious and, above all, the sacrificial institutions of Mosaic worship disappear in the perfect sacrifice of Christ, just as the light of a candle melts away in that of the rising sun. There is now only one temple in which we can validly adore, pray, offer and truly meet God. And this temple is Christ's body.

Mary

In him, the

sacrifice

becomes wholly

spiritual

and

real at

one and

same

time, not only in the sense that it is nothing other than man himself obedient as a son to the will of God, but also in the sense that it originates in us from the Spirit of God which we have

the

received. This

is

why, in the messianic temple, the external sacrifice the priesthood prophetic, and even the exterior

itself is spiritual,

of the sacraments is worship in spirit and in truth since it the worship of Jesus Christ. In Judaism, the problem of cleavage between a spiritual yet purely moral worship celebrated in the synagogues or in the desert, and the sacrificial liturgy of the Temple with its offering of material things, tended to be insoluble. 1 Once Jesus has come into the world, the Holy Spirit is given to men. In the faithful, the Spirit is a spring of water that flows eternally to bring them everlasting life (John 4.14); the Spirit makes them sons ritual

is

God and

capable of "laying hold of" him in knowledge and love. no longer a presence that is involved, but an indwelling of God in the faithful. 2 Each personally and all together in their unity itself are the temple of God, because they are the body of Christ, endowed with life and made one by his Spirit. Such then, is the temple of God in the messianic era.

of

It is

But in

this spiritual

temple as

and the world, that which is

it exists

fleshly

in the context of history

present, alas and not only even obsessive way. When all

is still

present but in a dominating and is ultimately cleansed from the flesh,

when

!

all is

grace,

when God's

the very profound remark of St Thomas: "Quantum ad spiritualem constitit in doctrina legis et prophetarum, erant etiam in veteri lege diversa loca deputata, in quibus conveniebant ad laudem Dei, quae dicebantur synagogae, sicut et nunc dicantur ecclesiae, in quibus populus christianus ad laudem Dei congregatur. Et sic ecclesia nostra succedit in locum et templi et synagogae, quia ipsum sacrificium Ecclesiae spirituale est: unde non distinguatur a ae apud nos locus sacrificii a loco doctrinae." Sum. TheoL, l -Il , quest. 102, art, 4 ad 3. On the corresponding notion of the "prophetic priesthood", see our Mission, Sacerdoce-Lafcat, to be published (D.V.) shortly. a 1 Cor. 3. 16; Rom. 8. 9-11 ; cf. Eph. 3. 17 and the uses of p&eiv in St John. Cf. below, p. 240, n. 5. 1

Hence

cultum Dei, qui

The Mystery of the Temple

238

"portion" becomes so triumphant that "God will be all in all", when everything proceeds from Ms Spirit, then the Body of Christ wiE be established for ever with its Head, in the house of God.

We shall not have to depart from the general outlines of the history we have just summarized, if we

enter the field of speculative theology a whole the mystery of God's Presence, so true is it that the successive stages of its realization offer a wonderfully ordered succession of essential and ever deeper revelations. Surely we can only translate this mystery into intellectual terms if we begin with St John's supreme revelation "God is love" (1 John 4. 8, 16). It is because God is Love that he has planned to communicate himself to and to be with his creatures in the most intimate possible way. It is as though he were loath to be alone. Not that his solitude is one of indigence and isolation. God is alone because he alone is holy, he alone is the Most High, he alone is abso-

and attempt to

visualize as

self-sufficient. He is infinitely happy in his own company. In himself he achieves a mystery of communication and communion. By a double procession in which the relation based upon origin does not prevent the perfect communication of perfection, life and glory he is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. But he does not limit his love to himself. He establishes other beings outside himself. The word "outside" means simply that these beings do not exist by the existence of God himself but by their own proper existence which is obviously limited and entirely dependent. God, in his love, calls into existence beings other than himself, who "are" only by virtue of the relation through which their existence is grounded in him. These

lutely

beings are the visible and invisible things which in their totality we are a part. find ourselves at the

constitute the world of which

We

very frontier of the visible and invisible, of the corporeal and the spiritual. The fundamental history of creation is, therefore, that of those

communications through which

in creation his

own

more intimate

levels.

God

establishes

increasingly intimate presence. The theologians, in particular St Thomas, distinguish three ways in which God may be with his creation at increasingly deeper and 3

Each of these degrees or modes of presence

3 St Thomas, In I Sent., d. 37, qu, 1, art. 2; Com, in Co loss., c. 2, lect. 2; Sum. TheoL, III a , qu. 43, art. 1, with Cajetan's commentary No VII. Cf. also Sum. TheoL, I a qu. 43, art, 1, ad 1. It would hardly be an exaggeration or distortion of St Thomas's intention to identify the three modes or degrees of union with God and of his presence, in the three parts of the Summa respectively: (1) his presence according to his creative power, and so by similitude; (2) his presence by grace according to our union with God as an object known, loved ,

God's Presence

in the

World

239

world a particular manner in which it is God's temple. These three instruments of communication and of presence are linked in such a way that the first contains the second and finds in it an unexpected perfection, and then the first two include the third, which fulfils and completes them by transcending their parconstitutes for the

ticular aims. first Presence of God is that by which he is with things so that may quite simply exist. Since they are this or that, they represent

The they

a more or less distant reflection of one or other of God's perfections which in God himself are all realized in a supereminent manner and in an absolute simplicity. Things then require God's creative power if they are to exist at all. God then is present in them all by his power and according to a distant but real likeness or connection. He is present, if we may say so, at a distance. Yet since God's causality, which gives existence to everything, is God himself, it involves the presence of the divine Essence inevitably filling with his Presence the world which he transcends, because the world is created by him. The whole cosmos, in this respect, is a temple of God, but it cannot know it. God is present to it by his power and his Essence, but he does not dwell in it, if we may use the expression, in a personal way. It is rather like the artist who is in Ms work but yet does not dwell in it. He is not with his work in the same way as he is in his home, living there with his wife and children. The second way of being with his creatures, God achieves by means of grace. He gives us the power to be with him by possessing him as the content of the knowledge and the love in which the life of a spiritual being is really lived. The kind of life, the fullness of joy which a man can experience when he possesses by thought, by presence, by the total union of mind and heart, a person whom he loves, is only an image, but nevertheless a genuine image of that presence of God in the soul which enables us to enter into contact with him by the life of faith and love given to us through grace. Grace, in fact, turns us towards God so efficaciously that we can touch and possess him in knowledge and love; touch and possess him, not something that is like him, but his own living Substance. This is why there can be in this way a genuine divinization of man, but this divinization will only be perfectly achieved in the immediate 4 knowledge of God and the charity which flower in heaven. In and possessed;

(3) his

presence of being.

Or

presence according to the hypostatic union, and so his again: God's general immanence in his creation, his

in his rational and free creatures, his unique and supreme in Jesus Christ. 4 In this connection, see Ch. Journet, UEglise du Verbe incarng, 1951, pp. 264, 271, 369 seq., 492, 510 seq., 542, 544.

immanence

Immanence t.

2, Paris/

The Mystery of the Temple

240

our study of the Apocalypse we discovered the characteristics of the come. But already here on earth spiritual temple in the world to of God, founded upon faith in are the souls temple spiritual holy the darkness and instability of our state of pilgrimage. God is with them not only as an artist is with his work but as a friend is with his friend, a husband with his wife, a father with Ms children. He similitude through his truly dwells in them, no longer merely by to his substance and, presence by power and causality, but according

we may venture to say so, personally. The Fathers and the theoloto Holy Scripture (p. 237, gians make it perfectly clear by referring n. 2) that it is no longer a Presence which is now involved, but an

if

Indwelling*

would seem that God can go no further, cannot be with Ms more intimately than this. Yet he can be and is, by uniting himself to humanity personally and in his own being, through the and indwelling of grace mystery of the Incarnation. In the presence God is with the just according to his very substance, but he is not one It

creatures

with them according to his very being. By the working of grace man may come into contact with him and have him present within his soul as the living and real object of his knowledge and love. In Jesus Christ, on the other hand, God unites himself in the field of existence itself to a human nature which becomes the human nature of the Word.

The immanence, the indwelling, is total, ontological. The human nature of the Word, visible and palpable like our own, is thus the cannot see how a creature temple of God in so perfect a way that we God's could be more completely temple. Union through grace is wholly spiritual. The just are in contact with God through spiritual operations in the fields of knowledge and love. The union (hypostatic and ontological) of God with humanity in Jesus Christ brings about a corporeal dwelling of God in the midst of our world. "In Christ the whole plenitude of Deity doubt St Paul is embodied, and dwells in him" (Col. 2. 9). of wealth a words meaning which has includes in these simple

No

many

aspects:

"embodied", that

is,

"really present",

by contrast

Cf. Epiphanius, Adv. ffaer. Ill, haer. 74, n. 13 (KG., 42, 500 C: o^ats); St Basil, JEjp. 2. 4 (32, 229 B: toobcqais)', St Augustine, Ep> 187 ad Dardanum (or Liber de Praesentia Dei: P.L., 33, 832-45; e.g., c. 13, n. 38, col. 847: "Deus ubique in templo suo cui praesens est, et ubique totus prasens; nee ubique habitans, sed 1. 2; per gratiam benignus est et propitius"). St Thomas, / Sent., d. 14, qu. 2, Com, in 2 Cor., ch. 6, lect. 3 ; Sum. TheoL, 1, qu. 8 and qu. 43, art. 3. These Doctors, however, do not use the word praesentia in precisely the same 8

Sum, writers, who give it a broader meaning. But see St Thomas, TheoL III*, qu. 7, art. 13; St Augustine, De Civ. Dei, XV, 2 (P.L., 41, 438-9), where praesentia is almost the equivalent of "existence", and cf. St. J. Grabovski, "St Augustine and the Presence of God", in TheoL Studies, 13 (1952), pp. 336-

way as modern

58.

God's Presence

in the

World

241

with what is only a shadow cast by a reality or the reflection of a 6 reality; "in a body", and since the body for an Israelite is a man himself with an emphasis on his visible reality and presence, "embodied" signifies the humanization or the Incarnation of God, his 7 entry into our world. In Christ a human body truly becomes the temple of God, according to a mode of indwelling so intimate that there cannot be any greater, since this bond between man and God is that of personal existence, and when Jesus thinks and says: "I am the temple of God", the temple is his body, but the / is no other than the Divine Person of the Word. All this is of the highest importance. Here lies the fundamental law governing the manner in which the plan of grace has been realized, the Incarnation also, and, in addition to the Incarnation, the manner of the Church's existence, which is derived from the Incarnation. In our universe, salvific action, spiritual

movements such, for

instance, as

those of conversion or of love, must "be embodied" if they are to be fully real, purely spiritual presence or union in this world, one which the mind alone produces, has about it something imperfect, abstract, tendential; it is only a partial presence. God, after speaking to us through the prophets, has spoken to us through his Son (Heb. 1 2) the "Ego qui loquebar, ecce adsum" which God utters through the mouth of Isaias 8 and which the liturgy uses to proclaim the coming of Christmas, the "I who spoke (from afar) am now here" finds its fulfilment in the "Verbum caro factum est", the Word was made flesh, of St John (1.14). And he continues "and came to dwell among us". The whole status of the Church is likewise one of presence and action through the body. This is our "situation". An existentialist philosopher has accurately defined it as "being in the world through the medium of a body". 9 So too our Christian "situation" and that of the Church, which derives from the Incarnation, both require that we shall be with God and with men, that God too shall be with us, in and through a body.

A

.

;

:

We

link these reflections,

which

call for

much

further develop-

ment, to verse 9 of the second chapter of the Epistle to the Colossians, and to the perfect presence of God in Jesus Christ as it is realized

8

Cf. v. 17, This is one of the meanings noted by St Augustine and St Thomas and St Augustine, De Genesi adlitt., XII, 7, n. 17 (P.L., 34, 459).

in loco, 7

See Prat, Huby,

8

Isa. 52. 6.

shall

etc.

The exact translation of the Hebrew text is "This is why my people

know my name. That

:

day, they shall understand that

it is I

who

say:

Behold, I am here." 9 M. Merleau-Ponty, PMnomlnologie de la perception, Paris, 1945, note on p. 357.

The Mystery of the Temple

242

in the hypostatic union. But it may be suggested that this presence is confined to the individual and holy being of Jesus Christ. The temple which is established by the corporal presence of God in that human nature whose personal existence is that of the Word itself, has, so it may be argued, been realized once only at a precise point in space and at Nazareth and Jesus's time, during the period between Mary's Fiat Consummatum est on Calvary. True, the body God united to himself when all is for ever living, but it is now in heaven, awaiting the day u is indeed made a ours of earth This 3. anew" is restored 21). (Acts

cosmic temple by God's creative power, it is indeed a spiritual souls of the saints, but is it temple through the life of grace in the the corporal presence of the Inalso a theandric temple through carnate

Word?

are bound, it seems, to answer "No", since Jesus is now in heaven. Only the temple of the world to come, with its new earth and its new heavens will become for us the theandric temple. And we are also bound to answer "Yes", for, according to Scripture,

We

yet,

the Cross, body born of Mary, and which hung on the wood of This Christ". of of name the merits that "body one is not the only in memory title truly belongs also to the bread "made a Eucharist" of him. It belongs, too, to the community of the faithful, to the Church.

the

1 and history, which gives us the Exegesis, which interprets Scripture, terms of which Scripture is in Tradition of the original meaning 2 order in which these three the fact in regarding agree ,

explained that in a sense are one, combine with one another. They are one reality only in the sense that there is one and the same single the mystery of the Pasch, mystery accomplished in all three of them, 3 of Christ's passing to his Father. This mystery, accomplished in one all men man, but for the sake of all men, is to become the mystery of in one man. And the means by which what was accomplished in the

realities,

body (as it is called; we body born of Mary passes to the "mystical" 4 we are called to bewhich prefer to use the epithet "community") ,

1 See J. Moffatt's commentary on 1 Cor. 12 (p. 184); A. E. J. Rawlinson, The New Testament Doctrine of the Christ, p. 157, n. 5; 'Corpus Christ Mysterium Christi, edited by G. K. A. Bell and Ad. Deissmann, London, 1930, in the Body of Christ, Westminster, pp. 225-44; L. Thornton, The Common Life L

,

m

2 Fo^example, St Cyril of" Alexandria, In Joan. lib. XI, c. xi (P.O., 74, 559-60); St Albert the Great, De Eucharistia, d. I, c. vi; d. Ill, tract. I, c. v, n. 5, (Borgnet 38 214 and 257), etc. But above all, see the fine book Corpus Mysticum by Fr H.' de Lubac (Thtologie, 3), Paris, 1944 (2nd edn, 1949), which, with superb of Tradition. . erudition, has restored for us this deep inner meaning 8 F -X. Durrwell's La Resurrection de JJsus, mystere du salut, Le Puy ana Paris, the of the of mystery 1950, is indispensable reading for this theme of the identity

Parousia and the mystery of the Pasch.

God's Presence

in the

World

243

come, is the sacrament of the body of Christ, the memorial of his Pasch celebrated in the bread and the wine. The physical body of our Lord, our food in this sacrament, makes us fully members of him and forms his "community" body. In this way, then, the three forms of one and the same mystery are dynamically linked together. Thus the sacred body, which from the moment of the Annunciation until its death on the Cross, was the perfect temple of God on earth and the perfect realization of the true Religion of the Father, takes to itself through the combined action of the Spirit and of the sacrament containing its own essential mystery, a "whole" body of which it is the head and we are the members. The one unique stone expands, in a certain sense, and becomes a temple commensurate with humanity (cf. Ephesians 2. 21 and the whole passage beginning at v. 19 and ending with v. 22). Thus the temple is the body of Christ, but the body of Christ is not only Jesus Christ during the days of his life in the flesh on earth or in its present glorified state; the body of Christ is also the bread of the Eucharist and the community of the faithful. This is why our churches too are temples. They are the places which give shelter to

the sacramental and the

"community" body of Jesus Christ, to the and the assembly of the faithful. 5 It is true that there is no perfect temple other than the body of Christ, but the body of Christ is also a sacrament and a community. It is essential also to understand how the perfection of God's altar (the tabernacle)

Presence in the Body of Christ assumes into itself the other previous realizations of this Presence, how, that is, the theandric temple includes and completes the spiritual and the cosmic temples. St Thomas

is careful to note that the second Presence of God, his presence through grace as the object known, loved and possessed, presupposes the first presence, his presence through power which is by similitude or reflection, and that the third presence through union in the field of being itself, presupposes both the first and the second (1 Sent., d. 37, qu. 1. art. 2 ad 3). Whilst the theandric temple presupposes the spiritual temple of grace, it also completes it

* Pere Congar here coins the word "comrnunionnel". His meaning is clear. The Church is Christ's body through communion in his sacramental body which makes his faithful into a community sharing his life with him and with one another. I have used the word "community" in an adjectival sense. This does not fully convey the author's meaning. It would seem impossible to do this by means

of any single English word. Translator. 6 See "La maison du peuple de Dieu", in 1947), pp. 205-20. M.O.T.

9

VArt

sacr

t

n.

8-9 (Aug.-Sept.

The Mystery of the Temple Grace in Jesus Christ is by conferring upon it an unexpected dignity. sort" has ever any of any not just any sort grace (if, indeed, "just tells us that it is "such as John St to when grace); applied meaning 1. 14). It is a grace belongs to the Father's only-begotten Son" (John Word the of a Incarnate, the proper to God's Son, a filial grace, grace is the very existence of whose human a principle nature, grace of holy Person of the Word. And this dignity is in a certain sense communicated to us from Jesus Christ, for although we do not become

244

are the members of Jesus Christ, and the is the very Person of the Word. existence his of personal principle Thus the grace by which we are made spiritual temples of God is Translator), filial also a Christly (Pere Cougar has "christique" it is given to us in the reception of the sacrawhen grace, especially mental body of our Lord: "As I live because of the Father, the so he who eats me will live by me" living Father who has sent me, filial Perfect worship which, during the days of religion, (John 6. 58). his life on earth, existed in Jesus alone (and also because of him

members of the Word we

now exists also in us, who are his members and his body. This is why the Church says that, by his Incarnation which established the theandric temple, God has restored human

in his Mother), 6

nature and given

it

a

still

more wonderful

status,

7

"mirabilius

reformasti".

This dignity is communicated even to the cosmic temple, for all creation is linked to the sacred humanity of Jesus Christ. Returning to the ancient, important and profound theme of man as the microto emphasize the cosm, even the strictest theologians have delighted

by taking to himself and raising up our human nature God has raised up creation as such, for man is both spirit and matter. In as Cajetan says, the him, creatures of every degree and therefore, 8 Both from the Person. Divine a in raised is universe whole up as from the theoretical and speciwell as Bible the of view of point the cosmic value of the Incarnation, fically theological standpoint, is as we may call it, supported by other considerations in addition to the idea of man as the microcosm. It is certain that the whole world is fact that

involved in the spiritual destiny of man and that its status is changed first by the fact of the Incarnation and then by Jesus's Resurrection. Of the Incarnation, the Roman Martyrology, in its proclamation of This idea has been put forward by A. Smallwood in his "Essai sur la nature de religieuse" published in the Nouvelle Revue Mologique, 1939, pp. 936-65, 1047-74. xhis article is itself a model of religious thought. 7 Roman rite. Blessing of the water in the Offertory of the mass of the 8 see E. Mersch, The Cajetan, he. ci'r.; for references to other Scholastics, Whole Christ, Milwaukee, The Bruce Publishing Company, 1938. 6

Turrite"

God's Presence

in the

World

245

the Feast of Christmas, has these magnificent words: "God, who 9 willed to hallow the world by his most merciful coming ." And the resurrection of Jesus is the firstfruits of that liberation and 1 glorification to which it will ultimately lead the whole of creation. The temple of the world to come will also be the temple of the cosmos in the fullest sense. The truth is that we must view the work of Jesus Christ and the situation of the Church within the context of a history whose great curve is traced for us by biblical Revelation and which truly begins at the origins and leads to the final consummation. This history starts in Paradise and ends in Heaven, and the space of life between is one of suffering. In the beginning we see a sacred world which, as the creation of God and full of the reflection of his 2 glory, is therefore God's temple with Adam in its midst as its priest. In the new heavens and on the new earth, the New and glorious Adam will be their priest and once again the whole universe will be the temple. The priestly power of Christ, when exercised in accordance with his fully royal character, has this characteristic, that it unites the visible and the invisible, the things below and the things on high, nature and grace, under the sovereign ascendancy of the Spirit. 3 The world is blessed and pardoned and becomes once more the temple of God4 through the Redemption, whose full effect will only be seen at the general resurrection. Between the temple of Paradise and the temple of the world to come, both of which are both cosmic and spiritual, runs the time of our earthly history, when salvation is prophesied, is prepared and finally becomes a reality .

in

him who In the

is its

first

.

determining cause. God who never leaves himself without a witness

place,

Canon Thils translates this great (and relevant) passage in his Theologie des ralit$s terrestres, t. 1, Paris, 1947, p. 102. Cf. the preface for the consecration of deacons, in the Roman Pontifical "Innovas omnia et cuncta disppnis per verbum, virtutem, sapientiamque tuam, Jesus Christum FiliumtuumDominiun nostrum cujus corpus, Ecclesiam videlicet tuam ... in augmentum templi tui crescere dilatarique largiris". The spiritual temple of the Church is here linked with the cosmic temple under the complete sovereignty of Christ. 1 say the same thing or at Scriptural passages and they are very numerous least suggest it: John 6. 54; Acts 3. 21; Rom. 8. 29 seq.; 1 Cor. 15. 20-8; Eph. 1. 10, 14, 20 seq.; Col. 1. 15-20; 1 Peter 1. 3 seq. See, from the Patristic point of view, the passages quoted by M. de la Taille, in Eluddatio XXXVIII of his :

.

Mysterium 2

.

.

Fidei.

Cf. Lactantius, 1946, p. 519.

quoted by A. G. Hebert, in The Apostolic Ministry, London,

See especially Eph. L 10, 20-23; Col. 1. 15-20 and Chap. Ill in owLay People Church. See Ps. 84(85). This is the fifth psalm of Matins for the Feast of the Dedication of Churches. 8

in the 4

The Mystery of the Temple

246

sees to it that men shall honour him, chooses for a himself holy people from a world that has lost its sacred character, a people who are to be his people, a consecrated, priestly people too whose very existence is that of a (cf. Exod. 19. 3-6), a people in their midst and prophet and a messenger. Already God dwells in the holy city of Jerusalem. Then Jesus comes. He has his

and himself

temple

is to take the place of the temple and, by sending down Holy Spirit, will make Jerusalem present wherever men, through the words of St Paul, our peace; faith, become God's people. He is, in of the two peoples, the sacred and the secular, he has made one the wall that separated them single people, for he has overthrown one into two body in himself (Eph. 2. 14 so that he may weld the of the level at and determining causes, already Jesus proclaims seq.).

it is

who

the

the reconciliation of the world, its return to the sacred of all things. Yes, sphere of grace. He is himself the (re)consecration that although character a such of is God's But he is truly that. plan the cause of salvation has already come amongst us, it does not produce all its effects while the historical era endures in which the news of this salvation is to be spread abroad by the apostolic preaching and to receive the free welcome men are invited to give to it. This is

achieves

why, before his last and dazzling manifestation, the royal priesthood of Jesus Christ is exercised in this world under conditions of effort, of men. obscurity, and limits imposed by the delays and the liberty Here below the duality Church and World remains, that is, there exists a sphere in which Jesus Christ is recognized,, in which men unite themselves to him by faith and praise as members to their mystical Head, but there exists also a larger sphere which is still that of the World, the World which does not receive him (John L 5-1 1). Everyof God, because thing is not yet restored to the dignity of a temple of the body of influence the under comes not everything effectively reconciliation. all source of the Christ, Already here and now, since the Incarnation has taken place, It is the theandric true being and a their to them as so give temple. the form that souls the temple which it spiritual higher dignity, unites to itself in a mystical or community ("communionneF') body. And it also takes to itself the cosmic temple of the world of which Christ is king, priest, Saviour and which he will make to share in the glory of the sons of God. All this is already accomplished, but awaits its consummation. Under the present Dispensation, which is one of reality and also of to the holy temple anticipation, this union of the world and of souls

there

is

a perfect temple, the body of Jesus Christ. It takes into itself,

of Christ's body

is

achieved "in mysterio" by means of sacraments;

God's Presence

in the

World

247

and the "sacrament of churches". 5 The Eucharist, the sacramental body of Christ, nourishes in our souls the grace through which we are God's spiritual temple. It is the sacrament of unity, the sign of the love through which we form one single body, the community-body of Christ ("le corps communthe sacrament of the Eucharist

it is even for our bodies a promise of resurrection (John 6. 54). For the whole world even, it is the seed of a glorious transformation which will be brought about by the power of Christ. It has, therefore, a cosmic value, and not only as a promise of restoration, but already as a sign of it, by the very fact that it is itself 6 constituted by natural elements and the labour of men. And so the of as an act the value Eucharist the of insists praise and liturgy upon 7 thanksgiving on behalf of the created world. Churches also minister to the life of our souls as spiritual temples, since they are the places of prayer. They foster our union in one body, one community, since they are the places where Christians assemble. Like the Eucharist, but on a larger scale, they gather into themselves the elements of the created world, and the labour of man. They too are the firstfruits of the creation offered to God and brought to the community of Christ's body, which will unite and consecrate them all. This is why the magnificent cathedrals and, in a humbler way, the churches and chapels scattered all over the face of the globe, summon the elements of the created world and gather together all that is beautiful in praise of the Creator. And at the same time they represent the glorious procession of the saints. They are the sign and the promise that all will be made one, the visible and the invisible, the corporeal and the spiritual, in the one temple of God and of the

ionnel"). Finally,

Lamb. instead of beginning from above by considering the world of things in Christ who gathers them into himself, we view them from below, we see them longing to receive from above that fullness of hear the cosmos crying meaning which they desire to possess. out for the world of the spirit, the world of the spirit crying out for If,

We

the world of the Man-God. The world needs man's praise if it too is to praise God. Man must be its interpreter and mediator in his work 5 It is no doubt the sense of these relationships which prompted a man like Sicard of Cremona to indicate as the two "unitatis sacramenta", on the one hand the Eucharist, and on the other the consecration of churches: Comm. sur le Dcret, quoted by A. Teetaert, La confession aux lalques . . , Wetteren, Bruges,

Paris, 1926, p. 218.

j MT 8 This aspect has been developed by Fr H.-M. Feret in his Study "La messe, rassemblernent de la communaut6", in La Messe et sa catechese (Lex orandi, 7), Paris, 1947, pp. 205-83. 7 For references, see our Lay People in the Church, pp. 210, 211, 214, 410.

248

The Mystery of the Temple

all in the song upon his lips (Heb. 13. 15). 8 But man's worship and the grace that makes him a temple of God are only perfect when they signify that filial religion, the only true relationship between the creature and its God, which comes from Jesus Christ alone. It is Christ who is, ultimately, the only true temple of

and above

spiritual

God.

NO MAN HAS EVER GONE UP INTO HEAVEN; BUT THERE IS ONE WHO HAS COME DOWN FROM HEAVEN, THE SON OF MAN, WHO DWELLS IN HEAVEN (John 3. 13). 8

We cannot resist quoting once more the following superb passage from Bos-

suet: "The inanimate creatures cannot see, they can only be seen. They cannot love, yet they urge us to do so. They do not allow us to be ignorant of that God whose voice they cannot hear. Thus they glorify the Heavenly Father although imperfectly and in their own way. Yet man is to be their mediator, so that their adoration may be made perfect. He must give to the whole of visible nature a voice, a mind, a heart on fire with love, so that it, in and through him, may love the invisible beauty of its Creator. This is why he is set in the midst of the world, a worker who is the epitome of the universe ... he is a macrocosm in a micro-

cosm, because, although his body encloses him within the world, he has a mind and heart greater than the world. And this, so that, contemplating the whole universe and gathering it into himself, he may offer it, sanctify it, consecrate it to the living God. Hence, he contemplates visible nature, he is its mysterious epitome, only so that he may love it with a holy love and so be on its behalf, the priest and worshipper of that invisible nature which is mind and spirit.** -Sermon for the Feast of the Annunciation, 1662, third heading (CEuvres orat^ Lebarcq, t. iv, pp. 194-5; cf. "Sermon stir le culte dOi & Dieu", 2 April 1666; t. V, pp. 103 seq. Quoted by Dom Marmion, Le Christ, ideal du moine> pp. 4367).

Appendix

1

CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS AND TEXTS CONCERNING THE TEMPLE c.

1900B.C.

Abraham

c.

1250

c.

1030 1000

Moses, the exodus and the conquest of Canaan. Samuel (from about 1050) Saul. David, king first at Hebron, then at Jerusalem. The prophecy of Nathan. Solomon. The building of the Temple. Schism between the ten Northern tribes (Israel or Ephrairn) and the Southern kingdom (Juda

c.

970-31 c. 960 931

Isaac, Jacob.

;

with Jerusalem;

between 900 and

Elias

and

-f-

Benjamin).

Eliseus.

The

fixing of the Yahvist (J) tradition in Juda and, a little later, of the Elohist tradition

800,

in the Northern kingdom. 750 +, Amos. c.

750-30, Osee.

740, Isaias's vision (ch. 6) in the Temple; between 740 and 700, Isaias.

Capture of Samaria by the As-

721

c.

syrians.

622

c.

Discovery of Deuteronomy (D) ; Josias's reform.

720, Michaeas. 700, the first draft of Deuter-

onomy (?) and Proverbs. 627-586, Jeremias (First draft of Josue, Judges and the Books of Kings). c.

Nahum.

c.

610, 605,

c.

592-571, EzechieL

c.

the vision of the new Ezech. 40-48. During the exile, "The Book of the

Habacuc.

of the Judaeans.

598

First deportation

587

Capture of Jerusalem by the Assyrians; destruction of the

Temple. Babylonian

exile (the Goldh).

573,

Israel:

Consolation

of

Israel"

Second and third part Isaias (?). Numbers and Kings (?) written down, Abdias (?). 538

537

-f

Edict of Cyrus the Persian setting free the Jewish deportees. Beginning of the restoration under Zorobabel; restoration of the Temple (520-15), and then of the city walls.

c.

520, 1-8.

Aggaeus and Zacharias,

Appendix I

250 The Dedication.

515

and

Malachias;

c.

440,

c.

then Joel (?); Jonas (?). 398, the fixing of the Priestly Tradition (P), especially Levi-

later,

ticus.

work of the 350-300, the Chronicler: the Paralip.; Books of Esdras and Nehemias composed. 336

4-

Alexander's victories in the East.

300 +, the

LXX

translation at Alexandria. 300-200, Esther (?). 190-80, Ecclesiastes and Ecclesiasticus.

168

165

Violent attempt to hellenize the Jews. The persecution by Antiochus Epiphanius; the profanation of the Temple. The rising of the Machabees. Purification of the Temple and its Dedication (Feast of the

Daniel

(?).

Encaenia), c.

63

40

70, Judith (?).

Jerusalem occupied by Pompey. Herod the Great, who begins

improvements to the Temple and the extension of its terrace, in the 18th year of his reign (23 B.C.). Under Augustus (30 B.C.A.D. 14), Annunciation of the

c.

4 B.C.

c.

c.

A.D. 8 or 9 Jesus found in the Temple. 26 or 27 Jesus's public ministry; cleansing

c.

29-30

Passion, Resurrection, Ascension of Jesus. Pentecost (the public inauguration of the

c.

34-36

Martyrdom of Stephen and con-

Blessed Virgin Mary.

of the Temple.

Church). version of Saul.

Shortly before 55: 1 Thess. Spring 55: 1 Cor. 56-57: 2 Cor. 57: Gal, and Rom.

and

2

shortly

after.

Perhaps the Epistle of James. 61-2: Phil.; Philemon; Col. and Eph. 60 4Mark, Luke and the :

Greek Matthew. 62-63: Acts. 63:

64

Nero's persecution (martyrdom of Peter?).

1

Peter.

251

Chronology 67 68

Martyrdom of Paul Death of Nero.

70

July, capture of Jerusalem by Titus; 10 August, 70, the Temple completely destroyed.

(Peter

?).

67: Pastoral Epistles (?).

Apoc. II, according Boismard.

shortly Jude.

70, c.

c.

before

or

to

Fr

after:

80:2Peter(?). 81: Apoc. I, according to Fr Boismard.

c.

St John's Gospel and John (?). 95 amalgamation of the two versions of the Apocalypse and the addition of the Seven 90: 1

c.

:

Letters.

We have to face a somewhat delicate problem regarding the documents providing us with information concerning the most ancient facts of Revelation. These facts date from the period of the Patriarchs or from that of Moses and Josue, The problem concerns the books of the Pentateuch and even those of the Hexateuch (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy and Josue). The composition of these documents, in the form in which they have come down to us, does not date from the time of the events themselves, but from a period several centuries later. The critics, as far back as the eighteenth, but particularly in the nineteenth century, elaborated a hypothesis in this connection. It is known as "the documentary hypothesis" because it distributed the texts of the Pentateuch (Hexateuch) among four "documents", or even more, which were named the Yahvist (J), the Elohist (E), the Deuteronomist (D) and the Priestly Code (P). According to this hypothesis, these documents dated respectively: J from the ninth century (in Juda) E from a little later (in Israel), and the documents were combined after the capture of Samaria in 722 B.C. from the reign of Josias, a little before 622 (and it made use of an earlier but incomplete account); finally, P from the time of the return from exile in the fifth century, and this document codifies a priestly legislation which may of course contain elements of earlier date. The documentary hypothesis is today under fire, not so much perhaps on account of its dating of the definitive written text of the documents, as on account of the conclusions some scholars ;

;

D

wished to draw regarding the belated, probably legendary and

his-

torically valueless character of these accounts dealing with events in the earliest times. It is certain that knowledge of the Oriental and

biblical "realia", with its great debt to archaeology in particular, has, in very many cases, restored to the accounts in the Bible their M.O.T.

9*

Appendix I

252

and even their strictly scientific trustworthiness. This one of the reasons why many scholars now use the terra "traditions" rather than "documents", and so alter considerably the data on which, an acceptable solution may be based. Fr de Vaux in has suggested that we should look upon the ancient

verisimilitude is

particular

"documents" as a written record of much more ancient traditions which were preserved in various sanctuaries by groups of priests or 1 we have not joined in prophets. We have adopted his view, although the discussion on the dates at which the different traditions were committed to writing. At the same time, we have, brevitatis causa, allowed ourselves to use the well-known letters, J, E D and P, to 3

text belongs. make cannot, however, avoid clarifying and, in the event, justifying the use we have made of these texts in the chapters dealing with the it

clear to

which tradition any given

We

Patriarchs and the exodus. One question in fact faces us. If the composition of these texts to more ancient is so late, even if we admit that it gave a fixed form it as anyconsider historical a can standpoint,

we, from the expression of what, during a period we may call is more the facts to have been ? And this period imagined X, people to claim texts the which events about or less recent in relation to the us with alone which and they provide concerning give us information evidence at all. This question does not perhaps arise so much in traditions,

thing

more than

X

any

which is obviously very regard to the history of the Patriarchs, few a from linguistic details or points, ancient and authentic, apart as in regard to the facts of the exodus, the tent of meeting, the cloud, the ark, etc

For our part, we cannot answer such a question by abandoning our fundamental working hypothesis, which is the divinely inspired and divinely guaranteed character of Scripture. Whatever may be the relation historical criticism is able to recognize between the documents dating and we accept this as a hypothesis from the ninth century and the facts of Revelation in the thirteenth, it is certain that, in the pattern of the purposes of grace of which Israel was the beneficiary, the sacred writers were divinely inspired to tell us the religious meaning of these facts. Over and above the strictly and whose value is historical witness borne by our documents the events to the links of the tradition which that of the reliability

documents, plus the guarantee of Providence in respect of the handing down of this tradition the authors of the books recognized by the Synagogue and then by the Church as inspired, were given the grace 1 See R. de Vaux, in the introduction to Genesis (Jerusalem Bible), and in Rev. BibL, 1954, pp. 425-6.

Chronology to grasp, and then to

253

tell God's people, the meaning of the facts whose testimony they were handing down, in relation to God's plan which was to reach its consummation in Jesus Christ. From century to century, from book to book, God's faithful people entered ever more deeply into this meaning. Hence, when, with the help of the resources of exegesis, we read the texts as they are, and try to understand what they have set out to tell us, we can be sure we shall come to know the particular stage in the economy of salvation to which they bear witness, its place, its own special contribution and its significance. This is what essentially concerns us from the standpoint of a Christian knowledge of God's plan and of its distinctive stages whose very sequence has its own value as a

revelation of the Mystery.

Appendix II

THE VIRGIN MARY AND THE TEMPLE only occasions on which the Gospels expressly mention the Virgin Mary in connection with the Temple are in the account of her Purification and of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple (Luke 2. 22-38), the annual journey to Jerusalem of his parents for the Feast of the Passover (2. 41) and the finding of the child Jesus in the Temple after four days' absence on his part and three of anxious searching by his parents (2. 42-50). To these very brief indications, the piety of Christians very soon added the idea of the presentation of Mary in the Temple at the age of three to be consecrated to the service of God. 1 This episode is commemorated by the Feast of the Presentation, 21 November. The feast is found in the East at the end of the seventh century, but it was not introduced into the West until the Middle Ages. 2 We know that, from a historical standpoint, there is no possibility whatever of Mary having spent her childhood in the Temple, There is not the slightest support for any such notion in the fairly extensive documentation we possess on life in the Temple and on Jewish customs at the time when Mary would have been three years of age. We are, therefore, dealing here with a symbolical representation of a profound spiritual reality about which the tradition and the doctrine of the Church provide us with valid information. Mary, predestined to be the Mother of Jesus, true God and true man, and to be worthy of her vocation, was prepared by the gift of exceptional graces and lived with unfailing fidelity a most pure life of inner consecration to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. As the type of all faithful souls and of the Church herself, Mary expressed spiritually and

THE

1 This idea is found in the apocryphal "Book of James", ch. 7: edited and translated by Ch. Michel in Evangiles apocryphes (coll. Hammer et Lejay), Paris, 1911. The greater part of the text apparently dates from the first half of the second century (E. Pamman, article "Apocryphes", in Suppl. Diet. Bible, t. 1 , col. 482-3), For the subsequent history of the idea, see R. Laurentin, Marie, rEglise et le sacerdoce, Paris, 1952, pp. 80-3, 106, 108, 377. The frenzied imagination of the early Mariologists showed Mary entering the Holy of Holies, kissing the ark (which had not been there for almost seven centuries), etc. * S. Vailh6, "La fte de la Presentation de Marie au Temple'*, in chosd* Orient, 5 (1902), pp. 221 seq.; H. Leclercq, article "Presentation de Marie" in Diet. ArcMoL chrdt. et Lit., t. XIV (2), col. 1729-31 (none too accurate). The feast was introduced into the West in the eleyenth century and celebrated in the papal chapel at Avignon for the first time in 1372 under Gregory XI.

The Virgin Mary and

the

Temple

255

supremely in her life that "presentation" which, for each one of us, is to begin by the service of faith and to be consummated in heaven. It is obvious that the tradition and doctrine of the Church may, without falling a prey to the imaginary productions of the apocrypha, propound statements concerning the status of the Mother of God in relation either to the Jewish or the messianic temple going far

beyond what we are explicitly told in the three short passages from the Gospel which narrate the incidents mentioned above. If Mary is the Mother of God, she has a special relation to the body of Christ which is the true temple to his physical body and doubtless also, in a certain sense, to his body the Church. She is herself a temple of God in a quite specific and sublime way, both because Christ was within her from the moment of his conception until that of his birth, and because of the exceptional spiritual gifts she received in preparation for her divine motherhood and as a reward for her free acceptance of this vocation (Luke I. 38), not only after the Annunciation but during the whole of her life. Hence the liturgy the Oriental liturgy in particular 3 shows a profound understanding of the mystery of Mary when it constantly uses the texts concerning the Temple and the tabernacle in order to express it. The attention of the faithful and of the doctors was drawn in the first place to God working these wonders in Mary, or to Christ "made flesh of the Holy Ghost and of the Virgin Mary" (Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed). The earliest writings which show the theme of the ark of the covenant applied to the Incarnation take this point of view. "The Lord was sinless because, as man, he was made of an incorruptible wood both within and without (cf. Exod. 25. 11) for he was the work of the Holy Spirit and of the Virgin", says St 4 Hippolytus of Rome at the beginning of the third century. And the same idea expressed in almost the same words occurs again in Severus of Antioch at the beginning of the sixth century. 5 For him, the Virgin gave Christ the incorruptible wood of his human nature, but Christ

himself

is

the ark.

Soon attention was inevitably drawn to Mary herself, and this was due both to piety and to the need to defend the true meaning of Christological doctrine. In any case, it was for the sake of Christ her son. The cycle of the Marian feasts came into existence. For a 8 Cf. the very fine article by Al. Kniazeff, "Mariologie biblique et Liturgie byzantine", in Mnikon, 28 (1955), pp. 268-89. 4 Fragments from his commentary on Ps. 23(24) quoted by Theodoret, ed. B. Capelle, "Typologie mariale chez les Peres Achelis, p. 147 (quoted by et dans la liturgie", in Les Questions liturg. et paroiss., 1954, pp. 109-21 cf.

Dom

:

p. 111). s

Homily 67, in Patr. orient., in this passage!

t.

8, p.

387: there

is

no

trace of

Monophysitism

Appendix II

256

the four major feasts: long period, it was limited, however, to those of 8 September, 25 March, 15 August and 2 February. Later, others were added, especially that of 21 November, as we have seen. Devout monks and doctors composed homilies for these In these there were feasts, then prayers and texts in praise of Mary. a number of points for meditation and ejaculatory phrases in her 6 honour which gave rise later to the litanies of the Blessed Virgin. It was now Mary herself who was to be praised as temple and ark of the covenant. This view, which gave Ms Mother a share in the prerogatives of her divine Son, was based, as we have said, on the solid dogmatic foundation of the divine motherhood. But it could also claim a direct revealed as the place authority in Scripture, where Mary is already have in mind especially the story of the of God's Presence. The Evangelist, who is obviously reporting Luke. St Annunciation in facts remembered by the Mother of Jesus, gives the words of Gabriel

We

in the following form: "The Holy Spirit will come upon thee, and the power of the most High will overshadow thee" (L 35). The word 7 &jtiaKidasi is used here, as several commentators have noted that which the LXX, on one occasion at least, employs to indicate

=

the hovering of the cloud over the tent of meeting (Exod. 40. 35 the Priestly Code). St Luke uses it again in his account of the Transand even as he (Peter) said it, a cloud formed, overfiguration: ". more shadowing them" (1. 35, cf. also Mark 9. 7). What is much .

.

important here than any particular image or value wings, tree, 8 is the general and very precise context protection, good-will, etc. of God's active Presence under its classical symbol of the cloud* new tabernacle is indicated, the body of Jesus which is to be formed

A

6

Cf.

G. G.

M eersseman, " 'Virgo a doctoribus praetitulata', Die marianischen Philos*

u. Litaneien als dogmengeschichtliche Quellen", in Freiburger Zeitsch. f. owe several quotations to this very thorough TheoL, 1 (1954), pp. 129-78. study. 7 Protestant commentators H. Sahlin, Jungfru Maria Dottern Zion, quoted by F. M. Braun, La Mere des fideles, Essai de tMoL johannique, Tournai-Paris, 1953, p. 43, n. 1. Anglicans: H. B. Swete, The Holy Spirit in the N.T., London, in The 1909, p. 26; L. S. Thornton, "The Mother of God in Holy Scripture'*, Mother of God, edited by E. L. Mascall, London, 1950, pp. 11-12; G. Hebert, "La Vierge Marie, fille de Sion", in Vie spirituelle, 85 (Aug.-Sept. 1951), pp. 127-39 : p. 1 3 1 Catholics not Fr Lagrange, who merely remarks that "the shadow indicates the presence of God who is pleased to act in a cloud (refer.)" (Ev. S. Luc, 1921, p. 34), but Fr P. Ternant, "La signification spirituelle de la Basilique du Saint-Sepulcre", in Proche-Orient chrdtien, 2 (1952), pp. 319-22; cf. p. 332, n. 37; R. Laurentin, Court traiti de tMologie mariale, Paris, 1953, n. 26; Structure et Thdologie deLuc, /-//, Paris, 1957. Cf, A. Valensin and J. Huby, Evesdon S. Luc (Verbum Salutis, 3), Paris, 1941, p. 19 (with ref. to Exod. 40. 38). 8 On this point see H. Riesenfeld, Msus transfigure", pp. 139 seq., but this

We

:

.

:

author does not quote Exod. 40, 35.

The Virgin Mary and

and from Mary.

in

nacle that shelters

If

he

is

the

257

Temple

the ark of the Presence, she

is

the taber-

it.

same idea

is not so clearly expressed, it is at least suggested again or hinted at by the words St Luke uses in Ms account of the Visitation (1. 39-56). Some writers have found it interesting to compare these expressions with those used in the account of the translation of the ark (2 Kings 6. 1-14). 9 The comparison must not be pressed, yet it seems to us justifiable. The new ark of the new and definitive covenant is indeed Mary during the period in which she bears Jesus in her womb and becomes the sanctuary in which this ark

Although

this

is

placed. are therefore justified both dogmatically and biblically in considering the person of Mary as a temple. Catholic tradition, both

We

Eastern and Western, has done so under three heads the temple, the ark and Jacob's ladder. We would like to offer, in connection with these :

three themes, some brief reflections illustrated by quotations. The list of the latter could, with a little research, be indefinitely prolonged.

We are offering a few samples here rather than a complete dossier. 1

(a) Mary as temple. Two aspects may be distinguished a priori Mary as temple because she carries Christ the incarnate God in her womb; Mary as temple of the Holy Spirit as we ourselves also are (1 Cor. 3. 16-17; 2 Cor. 6. 14-17), but in a far more pure, true and profound way, because of the sanctity appropriate to the Mother of God. It would seem that, apart from any more evidence that may come to light, few ancient authors deal with this second aspect as distinct from the first. Mary is called the holy temple of God, fairer than the temple of Solomon, the temple or sanctuary of the Holy 2 Spirit (later, from the twelfth century onwards, she will be consid9

R. Laurentin, op. cit., p. 27, n. 8: the ark goes up to Jerusalem, so too does Mary; the people cry out for joy, so too does Elizabeth; David leaps for gladness so too does John; 2 Kings 6. 9 and 11, compared with Luke 1. 43 and 56. Cf. R. Potter, "Our Lady in the Scriptures", in The Life of the Spirit, 9 (1954), pp. 246-52.

We

1 owe most of our references to R. Laurentin's book already mentioned, to Fr Meersseman's article and to H. de Lubac's Meditation surrglise(Theologie, 27), Paris, 1953, ch. ix. 2 "House of God", Andrew of Crete, Serm. 4 on the Nativity of Mary (P.O., 97, 868 c); "Tabernacle": cf. R. Laurentin, op. cit., p. 77, n. 8; "Temple, : idem, nn. 9 and 10 (it is pointed holy Temple, true Temple", "Sanctuary" out that naos is used rather than hieron: cf., however, idem, op., pp. 30, 88 n. . 85). "Super Jerusalem speciosa, super Salomonis templum magnificata templum Dei sanctum": St John Damascene, Serm. on the Annunciation (P.O., 95, 655 and 678); "Gratissimum Dei templum, Spiritus Sancti sacrarium": St Anselm's 53rd prayer (P.L., 158, 959); "Sacrarium Paracleti" (Medieval verse: P.L., 158, 965); "Ipsa tabernaculum Dei, ipsa domus, ipsa atrium, ipsa cubiculum, ipsa talamus": St Bernard (?), Serm. 3 in Salve Reg., n. 2 (PX., 184, 1069). Cf. the so-called Venice litanies: Meersseman, article already mentioned, pp. 141, 152. .

.

.

.

.

258

Appendix II

ered rather as the Spouse of the Holy Spirit). 3 But, in the majority of cases, her title of "holy temple" is more or less explicitly linked to the fact that she shelters Christ in her womb. She is the tabernacle of the Most High; 4 she is the temple because she is Christ's Mother. 5 She is the temple which contains the altar, that is, Christ; 6 she is the sanctuary in which God has made himself our priest and where he for us all 7 that this attribution of the

fulfils his priestly office

title of "temple" to Mary has a Christological reference. But Mary does not bear Christ in her womb in a purely physical way. The parallel here is not that of Jerusalem or any other place in which our Lord happened to be. The Virgin Mary is very different from a mere place in which Christ was. As several ancient writers say, 8 she is a living temple, a temple endowed with life. In this connection Antipater of Bostra even contrasts her with the material temple of Jerusalem (cf. note 7).

It is clear

Mary,

in

whom

and through

whom

the prophecies are fulfilled,

is

truly the temple as it was described by the long line of the prophets, for according to them, the true temple is the living, faithful Israel,

obedient to the sovereign will of God, an Israel pure and conis why in Mary we cannot separate the grace gratis data of her divine Motherhood through which God dwells bodily in her from the sanctifying grace which makes her as a person the spiritual temple of God. She is this temple as is the whole Church and, in the Church, each one of our own souls, but she is this temple in the most pure and perfect way, for she is the supreme 9 type of the Church, its perfect personal realization. So Mary is 1 the mystical City of God, the spiritual Jerusalem in a more perfect way than all the rest of the Church; in the realm of spiritual realities, secrated. This, we repeat,

*

B, H. Merkelbach, Mariologia, Paris, 1939, pp. 62, 387. Cf. de Lubac, op. cit. t p. 244, n. 18; Laurentin, op. cit., p. 65. "Templum Dei sirmil et Matrem" Ps.-Epiphanius, De laudibus S. M, Deiparae (P.G., 43, 488); "Templum Dei factus est uterus nesciens yirum" Antiphon of the Magnificat for Second Vespers of Octave Day of Christmas (Eastern in origin). Cf. the Christmas hymn: "Versatur in templo Deus." 6 St Germanus of Constantinople (f733), In Praes. 1. 9 (P.G. ; 98. 301; in a speech which Zachary is supposed to have made to the parents of Jesus.) 7 Proclus of Constantinople, Serm. 1 on the Theotokos (P.O., 65, 684 B); St Maximus of Turin, Horn. 5 (P.L., 57, 236 c); Basil of Seleucia (?), Serm. 39 (P.G., 85, 444 B); cf. in R. Laurentin, op. cit, pp. 65-6, other examples from Modestius of Jerusalem, Germanus of Constantinople, Andrew of Crete; and on p. 87, from Antipater of Bostra. 8 For references, see Laurentin, op. a/., p. 78, n, 10. 9 Cf. AL Mtiller, Ecdesia-Maria, Die Einheit Marias undder Kirche (Paradosis, 5), Fribourg in Switzerland, 1951 ; H. Rahner, Marie et rglise (Unam Sanctam), Paris, 1955; Ch. Journet, USglise du Verbe lncarn&, t. 2, Paris, 1951, pp. 393436; H. de Lubac, op. et loc. tit.; Y. M-J. Congar, "Marie et FlSglise dans la pensee patristique", in Rev. Sc. phil th., 38 (1954), pp. 3-38 (bibliography). 1 H, de Lubac, op. cit., p. 244, n. 19. 4 B

:

:

The Virgin Mary and she

is

purer,

Queen.

more

No

the

259

Temple

other mere creature has been God's temple in a

perfect manner.

This is why it is true to say of her, somewhat as we say of Christ, that she is greater than the Temple. It is not only when she brings him there in her arms that she is proclaiming that its day is over (see above, p. 119), she does this already when as a simple Virgindaughter of Sion, she comes into its courts and it is this which Christian devotion has symbolically represented in the feast of her own "Presentation in the Temple". Mary already possesses the spiritual grace of the New Covenant and the messianic era. Although Christ's death alone could supersede the Temple and all its worship, yet

Mary was

already sanctified "morte ejus praevisa" in anticipation is made clear in the liturgy of her Immaculate

of her son's Passion, as Conception.

(b) Mary as the Ark of the Covenant. Of all the titles given to Mary in the classical litanies, one of the most beautiful is undoubtedly

that of Foederis area. It

is

also one of those which have the best

biblical authority, as we have already seen. It occurs very frequently in the writings of the Fathers and devotional authors. 2 Like her title

of Temple,

it is

what may be Temple, so delight in ark.

no explanation or clarification, in 3 Mary". As she is a living, spiritual also the living, spiritual Ark. 4 But our authors

often used with

called "Praises of

Mary

is

making

it

perfectly clear

how

the Virgin

is

this sacred

She is the ark as she is the Temple, above all by reference to Christ. She gave him his incorruptible human flesh (St Hippolytus of Rome and Severus of Antioch quoted above). She is the ark because she Cf. Passaglia, De immaculate Deiparae semper Virginis Conceptu CommentarNaples, 1855, p. 242; R. Laurentin, op. cit., p. 78, n. 18; B. Capelle, article already mentioned, pp. 111-13, where passages from Severus of Antioch (Patr. Or., 8. 355 seq.), Hesychius of Jerusalem (P.O., 93, 1464 D), etc., are quoted. Cf. also Ps.-Ambrose (= Maximus of Turin), Sermo 104 (P.L., 57, 739). 3 Cf. Hesychius of Jerusalem, Serm. 5 (P.O., 93, 1464 D); St John Damascene, Horn. 2 de Dormitione B.V.M., n. 2 and n. 12 (P.O., 96, 724 and 737-9); St Andrew of Crete, In dormit. Sermo 3 (P.O., 97, 1101); St Theodore the Studite, Horn, in Nativ. B.V.M., n. 7 (inter opera S. Joan. Damasc.: P.O., 96. 689 B). Cf. also the great prayer of Ekbert of Schonau published by Fr H. Barre, "Une priere d'Ekbert de Schonau au Saint Cceur de Marie'*, in Ephem. Mariologicae, n. 4 (1951), pp. 409-23: "salve sanctuarium singulare, quod sanctificavit sibi deus in spiritu sancto. Salve sanctum sanctorum, quod dedicavit summus pontifex (ineffabili) introitu suo. Salve arena sanctificationis continens in te scripturam digit! dei ..." 4 St John Damascene, Horn. 2 de Dormit. B.V.M., n. 12 (a parallel with the translation of the ark to Sion); Modestius of Jerusalem, Germanus of Constantinople, quoted by R. Laurentin, op. cit. t p. 78, n. 18. Mary is also "Civitas Dei animata": St John Damascene, Or. 3 in Dormit., n. 2 (P.G., 96, 756); cf. Or. 2 2

ius,

(728 D).

260

Appendix II

Mm

to the world, and he is bore our Saviour in her womb and gave our true manna, our teacher and our lawgiver. 5 And like the Temple, Mary is also the holy Ark because of her spiritual beauty as a person. Like the Ark, she is covered with gold and filled with the Holy Spirit. 6 It is understandable, therefore, that the Fathers and Pope Pius XII, in the Apostolic Constitution 1 Munificentissimus, should have applied to Mary the verse in Ps.

131(132): "Surge time."

Domine

in requiem

tuam

et

area sanctificationis

Finally, several devotional writers have applied to Mary the mysterious passage in the Apocalypse (11. 19): "After this, God's heavenly temple was thrown open, and the ark of the covenant was plain to view, standing in the temple," Is not the Temple the Church? Hence in applying this verse to Mary it was possible to give expression whatever exegetical value the interpretation may have to a very ancient traditional idea: Mary has her place in the Church 8 but, as St Augustine said, she is an exalted, even a supereminent Dei visa est, scilicet in Ecclesia Dei," 9 "Ista member. "In templo enim area in templo Domini, id est in honore Ecclesiae Dei posita est." 1 5 Chrysippus of Jerusalem, Oratio in S.M. Deiparam (Pair, or., t. 19, p. 338: quoted by B. Capelle in the article already cited, p. 112); Romanes the Singer (quoted by R. Laurentin, op. cit., p. 78); St Theodore the Studite (ibid., p. 60); Ps.-Proclus, Andrew of Crete, Proclus of Constantinople, etc., quoted by the same author, p. 78, n. 18. In the West we may quote Ambrose Autpert: "Propter quod uterus eiusdem Virginia per arcam figuratur, quae cuncta sacramentorum arcana in se habuit: habuit enim panem vivum ilium qui de coelo descendit, habuit et legern Testament! novi, quia legislatorem genuit in quo sunt omnes thesauri sapientiae atque scientiae ." Sermo 1 in Assumpt. (P.L., 98, 248). The new office of the Assumption likewise sings in one of its hymns .

.

:

Area non putri fabricata

Manna 6

Romanos

(A.D.

510-25:

ligno

tu servas.

the Singer, for instance, wrote in the famous Akathistos P.O., 92, 1345 D):

Hymn

cf.

Ave tabernaculum Dei et Verbi, Ave area Spiritu deaurata, 7

Acta Apost. Sedis, 32 (1950),

8

"Maria portio

p. 763.

sanctum membrum, excellens membrum, supereminens membrum, sed tarnen totius corporis membrum." Sermo Denis, 25, 7 in G. Morin, Serm. post Maurinos MiscelL Agost., I, p. 163. Fr BL Coathalem (Le parallllisme entre la Sainte Vierge et U^glise dans la tradition latim jusqu'a la fin du Xlle siecle [Anal Gregor., 74], Rome, 1954, p. 126, n. 7), quotes other texts in the same vein> but these require verification. Several of those found in the work of Rupert in particular speak of Mary as a member of the (Jewish) preest Ecclesiae,

.

.

.

Christian Church. 9 1

op.

Ambrose Autpert, Sermo 1 in Assumptione: P.L., 96, 250 A. Gamier de Rochefort, Sermo 32 (P.L., 205. 776 c; quoted by H. de Lubac, cit.,

p. 266, n. 148).

The Virgin Mary and the Temple 261 (c) Jacob's ladder. We have seen how Jesus told Nathanael that in himself the union of heaven and earth and, therefore, the mystery of the active Presence of God, was accomplished. This union and mystery had been prefigured long before in the vision of the Patriarch Jacob at Bethel (John 1. 51; cf. Gen. 28. 12). It is obvious that since Mary conceived and bore the Word made flesh, she can therefore be called the ladder of Jacob. In her, too, the union of heaven and earth has been accomplished on our planet; in her the Presence in the true Temple has come to pass. This is why the doctors and the liturgy itself in both East 2 and West3 have delighted to apply to Mary as they do also to the Church4 the superb image which is central in the divine economy. In the same way, the Catholic litanies invoke the Mother of God under the titles of Scala coelif Janua coelL Q But both the Church as minister of the salvation wrought by Jesus in his Pasch, and Mary, who gave him to the world, are the Ladder of Jacob only because of Jesus Christ and by reference to him. He alone is in himself the messianic Temple. As St Ambrose wrote: "Mary is the temple of God, she is n,ot the God of the temple." 7 Hence, in the Magnificat which is both her own and the Church's canticle, she attributes all to God and speaks of herself only in terms that reveal her humility. 2 Doctors: St Andrew of Crete, In Dormitionem S. M. Sermo 3 (P.G., 97, 1105) ; St John Damascene, Sermo in Annunciat. (96, 650); In Dormit. M.V. horn. I (96, 714 A). For the liturgy, see: the Akathistos hymn of Romanes the Singer (P.O., 92, 1337 c). Gen. 28. 10-17 is one of the classic lessons for the Vespers of the Blessed Virgin in the Oriental rite. 3 Ambrose Autpert, **In Apocal.,** in JBibl. maxima Patrum (Margarin de la Bigne), t. XIII, 436 G; Paschasius Radbertus, Expos, in Ps. 44. 1. 1 (P.L., 120, 1009 A); Rupert of Deutz, De div. officiis, lib. 3. c. 18 (170, 75-7); St Lawrence of Brindisi, Sermo 1 in Assumpt., c. 10 (Opera omnia, 1. 1, 1928, p. 583; cf. de Lubac, op. cit., p. 244, n. 15). 4 Office for the Dedication of a church in the Roman rite. 5 St John Damascene, Orat. 3 in Dormit., 2 (P.G., 96, 753 D and 756 A): "Scala spiritualis" ; the so-called Litanies of Venice: Meersseman, in the article already mentioned, p. 152. 6 Litany of Loreto. Cf. Rupert of Deutz, he. cit. 7 De Spiritu Sancto, lib. 3, n. 80 (P.L., 16, 795A).

Appendix III

AND HIS DWELLING AMONG MEN UNDER THE OLD AND UNDER THE NEW AND

GOD'S PRESENCE

DEFINITIVE DISPENSATION survey has shown a profound difference between the manner of God's Presence and the way his gifts are given under the former Dispensation and under the Dispensation proper to the messianic era, that is, issuing from the Incarnation of the Son of God. This is a very important matter and we should like to add a few more details to clarify the position. The problem has often been treated within the framework of the theology of grace. This was done again quite recently by Canon G. Philips. The reader is advised to refer, as we ourselves have done, to his excellent list of authorities. 1 The problem may be formulated in terms of the temple, as was done on several occasions by the Fathers, in particular by St Cyril of Alexandria. The following passage from his pen will

OUR

serve as

an introduction:

When

Rachel [who represents the Church formed from among the Gentiles, whilst Lia represents the Synagogue] had given birth to Joseph, she desired a household of her own; "Now it is time I should think of my own household too," she said (Gen. 30. 30). For the Synagogue of the Jews brought children into the world under the rule of servitude, to be subject to the Law. But Christ openly avowed that he had not yet his own household, for he did not look with favour upon the Temple made of stone which Solo-

mon had built. Hence he was not content merely to reprimand the who were

extremely proud of it, by telling them; "Heaven earth the footstool under my feet. What home will you build for me, what place can be my resting-place ?" (Isa. 66. 1). But the children of Israel were not God's spiritual house, for God did not dwell in them. On the other hand, when the Church, formed from among the Gentiles, had given birth to a new people of God over and above (the former people), our Saviour from thenceforJews, is

my throne,

1 G. Philips, "La grace des justes de FAncien Testament", in Ephem. Theol Lovan. 23 (1947), pp. 521-56; 24 (1948), pp. 23-58 (and, as an off-print, Bibl, Th+ Lov., Bruges and Louvain, 1948). We quote here from the review.

Old and New Dispensation

263

household. And what is this house? It is ourselves who believe in him, of whom he also spoke through the words of a prophet: "I will implant my law in their innermost thoughts, engrave it in their hearts; I will be their God, and they shall be my people" (Jer. 31. 33; Heb. 10. 16). He dwells in us

ward

built his

own

through the Spirit, as I have said, in a way unknown to Israel. That those who lived before Christ's Coming did not share in the Spirit, but were the "type" only of what we were to be in reality, is most the Spirit which had not yet clearly taught by the wise John: ". been given to men, because Jesus had not yet been raised to glory" (John 7. 39). But Jesus risen from the dead and remaking human nature in the divine image, first breathed upon the holy Apostles, saying: "Receive the Holy Spirit" (John 20. 22). And the great St Paul has a saying: "The spirit you have now received is not, as of old, a spirit of slavery, to govern you by fear; it is the spirit of adoption, which makes us cry out, Abba, Father" (Rom. 8. 15). Thus, a Spirit of slavery existed in Israel; in us sons of Rachel, sons, that is, of the Church formed from among the Gentiles, there is a Spirit of God by which he adopts us and makes of us the spiritual house of God. 2 .

.

We propose to bring forward seriatim the principal positions held on this subject within the Church, then the principal data in Scripture. After this, we shall put forward our own view and formulate the principal consequences that follow from the difference between the two dispensations governing God's gifts and his Presence.

The positions held within

the Catholic Church form two groups. find a middle way between them. has to Philips attempted clearly favours the first but also admits that the second has a

(a)

Canon

He

more solid The first

doctrinal basis.

position is that of several of the Fathers whose authority 3 very great and who are mostly Greeks. Each with his own

is

2

Glaphyr. 5. 3 (P.O., 69, 233 A-C); cf. In Joan., lib. 5 (73, 757) and TertuUian in his explanation of why, under the former Dispensation, fornication was allowed : "Non corpus Christi, non membra Christi, non templum Dei vocabatur, cum veniam moechiae consequebatur". Pulic., 6 (P.L., 2, 1043). There is an allusion here to 1 Cor. 12. 27; 6. 15, 19; 2 Cor. 6. 16. 3 Cf. J. Mah6, "La sanctification d'apres S. Cyrille d'Alexandrie", in Rev. d'Hist. eccltts., 10 (1909), pp. 30-40, 469-92; P. Galtier, Uhabitation en nous des Trois Personnes, Paris, 1928; Le Saint~esprit en nous d^apres les Peres grecs (Anal Greg., ser. theol., 35), Rome, 1946; J. Gross, La divinisation du chretien d'apres les Peres grecs, Paris, 1938; I. Chevalier, "La pr6sence de la Trinit6 par la sanctification d'apres les Peres grecs", in Vie spirit., Suppl., June 1938, pp.

264

Appendix III

changes of emphasis, St Irenaeus, St John Chrysostom, St Cyril of Alexandria, follow Scripture and the realistic tone it takes in treating of the Missions of the Son and of the Holy Spirit as facts which took place at a given point in the history of salvation and, from that moment onward, established a new dispensation slight

governing God's gifts and Presence. There were indeed divine (we should now say supernatural) gifts under the former Dispensation, and this is enough to eliminate any view with a Marcionite tendency, but they were a preparation for the gift of Christ; or, to put it in another way, they were gifts with a specific active purpose (power, prophecy, miracles), not a personal and substantial indwelling of the Holy Spirit. In contrast to this, since the Incarnation, or more precisely since the outpouring of the Holy Spirit which followed the death and the resurrection of Christ (and to these mysteries baptism 4 unites us), the Lord not only gives us his gifts, he gives us himself. The Person of the Holy Spirit is not only revealed, it is given, it dwells substantially in the faithful who form the Church. Petau has formulated the thought of these Fathers by making a distinction between Presence /car* Ivspyscav and Presence /car' ovoiav* For St Irenaeus 6 and St Cyril of Alexandria, 7 among others, this thesis of an "economy" of salvation involves an expressly anthropological application. Since human nature shares the Spirit which belongs to Christ by virtue of his status as Man-God (the famous of St Cyril), it once more becomes soul, body and spirit, (f>vat,K&>(; it recovers its full character as "image"; and this had been disfigured by sin. Not only from a moral point of view, but also from an

153-86; A. M. Dubarle, "Les conditions du salut avant la venue du Sauveur chez S. Cyrille d'Alexandrie", in Rev. Sc. phil tMol y 32 (1948), pp. 359-62 (to be read in conjunction with Philips), Among the Western Fathers whose position is fundamentally the same as that of the Greeks, we may mention the Ambrosiaster (Quaest. ex utr. Test., 123 P. L., 35, 2370-2) and in the twelfth century, Rupert of Deutz (many references in S. Tromp, Corpus ChristI quod est Ecclesta, Rome, :

1946, pp. 126-7). 4 St Irenaeus, A.H., V, 34, 1 (P.O., 7, 1083-4); 36, 4 (1093); St Cyril of Alexandria, Com. in Joan., VII, 39 (P.O., 73, 757 AB); cf. St John Chrysostom, In 2 Cor. horn. 7, 1 (P.O., 61, 443), and cf. J. Lebreton, Hist, du dogme de la Trinitg, t. 2, pp. 598 seq. 6 St Gregory of Nazianzus, Orat., 41. 11 (P.G., 36, 444 c); cf. St Cyril of Alexandria, Com. in Joan., lib. 5 (73, 757). The formula as such is Petau's, not the Fathers', but, whilst Franzelin (De Deo Trino, th. 48) minimizes the sense of St Cyril's words, Mah6 (in the article already mentioned, pp. 485-91) recognizes that Petau's formula, if properly understood, gives a legitimate summary of the Alexandrine Doctor's position. 6 A.&., V, 6, 1 (1136-8); 12, 1-2 (1152-3). 7 Com. in Joan., VII, 39 (P.G., 73, 752 c-57 A); cf. Dial VII de Trin, (75, 1088

B seq,; cf. Mah6, article mentioned, p. 484) and pp. 543-7.

cf. Philips, article

mentioned,

Old and New Dispensation

265

a anthropological standpoint, there has truly been, since Christ, into writers Oriental new man. This anthropology crystallized among

a complete and systematic theory of the spiritual life. It is found and today, for example, in the writings of Madame Lot-Borodine 8 into come has who man being in Monsieur VI. Lossky. The new Christ since the Incarnation at the level of human nature as such, is to come into existence personally (hypostatically) in each of us

through the action of the God-given sacraments and the whole ascetic

life.

This anthropology has remained relatively unfamiliar to Western thought, which approaches the problems of grace and divinization by means of other categories of thought (with, as their basis, a clear distinction between nature and supernature). But, as a theory to in the just under explain the indwelling of God (of the Holy Spirit) been resuscitated, and sometimes the New Covenant, this position has the suit to formalized requirements of an inflexible system, slightly a number of modern Western theologians: in the seventeenth

by

A. century by Petau, in the nineteenth by Schrader, Patrizi, Beelen, Scheeben too and though by perhaps Scholz, Passaglia, Denzinger 9 his preference is not very clear. Mgr Waffelaert, bishop of Bruges, has attempted to revive it, not so much by returning to the historical view held by Scripture and the Fathers, as by introducing distinctions within the classic system of the treatise de gratia. He examines the distinction between created and uncreated grace from a new angle. The former is the inner, supernatural quality which enables us to act superaaturally and to produce meritorious acts, and this grace was possessed by the just under the Old Testament. The second is the Person of the Holy Spirit who is the formal cause of our status as 1 and created grace is not necessarily sons and heirs of the Father

and per se this same cause. The second position, though with a few

shifts

of emphasis,

is

that of the Latin Fathers, who have given its form to the Western tradition St Augustine, St Leo, then the great Scholastics, St Thomas

M

8 Lot-Borodine, "La doctrine de la 'deification' dans 1'figlise grecque 106 (1932), jusqu'au XI si&cle", in Rev. de rffist. des relig., 105 (1932), pp. 5-43; de I Eglise pp 525-74- 107 (1933), pp. 8-55; VI. Lossky, Essat sur la thtol myst. Freiburgd'Orient, Paris, 1944. Cf. also A. Stolz, Anthropologia (Theol dogrn., 4),

Die Einwohnung des HI Geistes. Die Lehre von der nichtals Beitrag zur Theologiegesch. des appropriierten Einwohnung des HL Geistes XIX Jahr. unter besond. Beriicksichtigung der beiden Theologen Carl Passaglia u. Clemens Schrader (Freib. Theol St., 59), Freiburg-im-Br., 1941. Cf. Philips, pp.

ca,

529 seq. 1

Cf. Philips, pp. 531 seq.

266

Appendix III

in particular. 2 It

is to this tradition that Leo XIII returns in his Divinum illud munus as does Pius XII in Mystici Carports encyclical (29 June 1943, where the Pope insists on the universality and the greater abundance of the gifts which followed the Passion,) as do also the greater number of modern Western theologians such, for instance, as Franzelin (De Deo Trino, th. 48), Fr Pesch, Fr

3

Galtier, and, generally speaking, all the Thomists. The chief points of this position are briefly the following: the old law was not of itself

able to work justification, but those who lived before Christ could be justified by faith (implicit to a considerable extent) in the Saviour who was to come. In this respect, it is not very important whether a man believes, like Abraham, in the Christ who is to come, or, like ourselves, in the Christ who has already come. Faith is the same and grace too is given. By faith and grace, say St Augustine and St 4 Thomas, the just men of the Old Testament belonged to the times of the Gospel; as individual persons they were freed from the collective system of a law which did not justify those who observed it; they received the same invisible Missions as we do and became, like ourselves, temples of the Holy Spirit. Between them and our-

many differences the outpouring of grace was more abundant, less universal. But these are accidental differences. Certain writers, among them Mgr Journet, 5 while remaining within the context of the classic Thomist position, place such a great value on the new situation introduced by the Incarnation and by Pentecost, that, in the context of the real situation, their view, in our opinion, leaves little to be desired. We shall return to them later. selves there are

:

rare, less

But the

difference St

Thomas, for

instance,

saw between the

legal

system of the former Dispensation and the system of grace which 2 Cf. A. Landgraf, "Die Gnadenokonornie des Alten Bundes nach der Lehre der Friihscholastik", in Zeitsch. f. kath. TheoL, 57 (1933), pp. 215-53; Philips, pp. 548 seq.; Y. M.-J. Cougar, "Ecclesia ab Abel", in Abhandlg. z. Theol. u, Kirche, Festsch. K. Adam, Diisseldorf, 1953, pp. 79-108. For St Thomas in particular, cf. A. H. Hoffmann, "Die Gnade der Gerechten des Alten Bundes nach Thomas v. Aquin", in Divus Thomas (Freib.), 29 (1951), pp. 167-87, and the review by Fr Th. Deman, in Bull Thomiste, 8 (1947-53), pp. 921-2. The Post-Tridentine Scholastics, under the impulse of the revival of Patristic studies, especially the study of the Greek Fathers, often tried to pass beyond the medieval and Latin points of view. This is especially the case with Lessius, whose thought deserves careful consideration. See G. Koka, Die Lehre der Scholastiker des 16. und 17. Jahrhunderts von der Gnade und dem Verdienst der alttestament* lichen Gerechten, Rome, 1955. 3 For Fr Galtier, cf. above, p. 263, and De SS Trinitate in se et in nobis, Paris, 1933, pp, 305 seq. 4 For St Augustine, cf, our article "Ecclesia ab Abel"; for St Thomas see Sum. Theol, I-II*, qu. 1, artl, ad3; qu. 107, art 1 ad 2and3; inHeb.,c. 9,lect2. 8 . VEglise du Verbe incarne'. II: Sa structure interne Paris, 1951, pp. 258306, 454 seq., 472-565. .

.

Old and New Dispensation

267

characterizes the Gospel, should not be considered as of little account. The case of the just in the Old Testament remains a personal one; as individual persons they are freed from the situation which,

per se, is that of Israel, and through the gift of justification and grace accorded as a reward for a faith that looks forward to Christ, they are allowed to benefit in advance by the system proper to the messianic era. The "sacraments" of the old law had no value other than as signs of faith in Christ, that is, their value depended on the activity of the religious man. Yet this meaningful orientation towards Christ and his Passion seems so powerful to St Thomas that he goes so far as to admit that circumcision made it possible for children to enter eternal life. 6 may well think that St Thomas's theology offers further possibilities that might be used to indicate not only the difference be-

We

tween the two Dispensations as such, but the difference characterizing the personal grace of the just under the Old Covenant as compared with that of Christians. The former were indeed related to Christ by but they came into contact with him in a the order of intention. Since the Incarnation, faith,

manner belonging to it is by means of a

direct or indirect (in the sacraments) physical contact with his nature that Christ acts and communicates grace. He exer-

human

an efficient causality by virtue of which Christian grace brings us the total efficacity of his Passion so that we may finally reach the glory which is the destined goal of the human race. For St Thomas, Christ conferred upon the just who had died before his cises

own Pasch

the benefits of his action by contact and the efficaof his Passion, when he descended into hell. This is a fact to which we shall return in the course of our own argument. 7 Therefore, the grace of the just in the Old Testament did not have, in St Thomas's view, the power of total deliverance, since it did not absolve human nature from the twofold punishment it had incurred since Adam physical death and exclusion from the life of glory. 8 Fundamentally, St Thomas here offers, within the categories familiar to Latin Scholasticism and in terms of the reatus poenae proper to the sin of our nature, an interpretation of the facts the Orientals express in terms of anthropological ontology, as we have already seen. For St Thomas the grace of the just in the Old Testament was the grace of Christ, together with its fruits divine sonship and God's city

8 III a , qu. 62, art. 6 ad 3. Cf. Qu. 70, art. 4: the faith of which circumcision was the sign conferred a grace "quantum ad omnes gratiae effectus". 7 Cf, III, qu. 52, art. 1 ad 2. St Thomas repeats that, in his descent into hell, Christ acted by virtue of his Passion: qu. 52, art. 4 ad 2; art. 5 and 6. 8 Cf. Ill", qu. 52, art 5; art. 7 ad 1 1, 8, ad 3. Cf. 3 Sent., d. 16, qu. 1, art. 2 ;

ad

1; III, d. 13, qu. 2, art. 2,

q

2,

ad

4.

268

Appendix

HI

indwelling. But because the Passion had not yet taken place

this

grace was, at the time, unable to bear its ultimate fruit spiritual and bodily glory. This point must be borne in mind, for we shall try to develop it more fully. The fact remains that in the Augustinian and Scholastic theory the realism of several statements in the Bible does not appear to be entirely accepted as such. The qualitative difference between the stage of the economy of salvation is all but abolished at the level of personal religious destiny and life. In this same order, differences which seem to us to depend in fact upon the historic Missions of the Son and the Holy Spirit are too easily considered as only accidental, whereas the earliest Fathers, who interpreted the Bible more literally, attributed to these Missions a far more decisive r61e. is why Canon Philips, whilst he frankly admits with those who the second position, that the grace of the just in the Old adopt Testament was the one grace of Christ with its power of justification, has attempted to preserve the essence of the views of St Irenaeus

This

and St Cyril concerning the intrinsic qualitative difference we should recognize between the grace of the just in the Old Testament and the grace which follows the Incarnation, Easter and Pentecost. He returns to the idea, put forward by Fr de la Taille, 9 that grace is a created actuation caused by the uncreated Act, and sees the grace of the just in the Old Testament as an inner, supernatural justification, but conditioned by the fact of its existence in the times of preparation and so needing a new actuation., linked to the historical Missions of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, if it is to produce the of grace. It needs more than merely individual degrees of grace such as exist between one soul and another in the mystical body, but "economic" degrees, "classes'* of grace, as Canon Philips is fond of saying. Such qualitative differences are recognized as existing between Christ's grace, his Mother's, and ours, although they are all of the same species. Why, then, should they not exist between the grace of the just before the Incarnation and the grace of full effects

the faithful in the

(b)

Church?

The data of Scripture. These we

We are formulating them each of the texts in (1) It is perfectly

shall

group under

six

headings.

somewhat schematically without studying

detail.

obvious that just (Gen. 15. 6;

Abraham

men existed under the former Rom. 4. 3), Noe (Heb. 11. 7),

Dispensation: Moses, David, Elias and the prophets, etc. There is a sense in which, * "Actuation cr6e par Acte incr&T, in Rech. Sc, Relig,, 18 (1928), pp. 253-68.

Old and New Dispensation

269

in the sight of God, these men are greater than the most authentic saints of the Church. Some are even called friends of God. 1 This is

an anticipation of the name Jesus was to give to his apostles. Or again, 2 they are shown as having profoundly familiar relations with God. It is certainly true that the idea of sanctity has changed in its passage from the Old to the New Testament. In the former, it involved above all the notion of consecration, in the latter it is more concerned with a personal, moral and interior value. Yet obviously we cannot deny that the faithful Israelites possessed the supernatural sanctity which God's grace confers. Further, this grace can only be the grace of Christ

(cf.

we may

Rom.

8.

28-30;

1

Cor. 10. 3-4).

word

"sanctification", are we entitled to far as to speak of sonship ? know that God is called "Father" several times in the Old Testament, just as Israel is called his "son" If

thus use the

We

go as

3

But this title of father attributed to Yahweh was, in the first place, indicative of Israel's relation to him as a people. It is included in the pattern of the special election of this people, together with the vigilant care, the saving interventions through which (his child).

God had raised up and, in a sense, created for himself this people, whom he never ceased to help. Later, in connection with the preaching of the Prophets and perhaps with the development of the notion of the Faithful Remnant, the theme of "child and father" was 4 applied to the moral and religious conduct of the faithful Israelites. It is this fact of election involving all the attentions of a fatherly

providence which

we

are to understand

when

St Paul

tells

us (Rom.

that to the Israelites belong "adoption as God's sons, the visible presence" etc. The visible presence was the Kabod, the manifesta9. 4)

tion of God's Presence as we saw it during the stage of the exodus, then in Isaias and Ezechiel, and of which St John tells us (1. 14) that it dwelt among us through the Incarnation of the Word. (2) If we follow throughout the Old Testament the series of

1 Abraham, friend of God: Isa. 41. 8; Dan. 3. 35; the collect "Deus cui omnia vivunt" in the burial liturgy, at least in the Dominican rite. Hebron today is still called by the Arabs Al-Khalil, the friend, as though this name had remained Abraham's own proper name. 2 On God*s familiar relations with Moses, cf. above, p. 16, n. 2 and cf. Fore-

word, p. vii, n. 2. 8 See Exod. 4. 22 (Yahvist tradition); Osee 11. 1; Deut. 14. 1; 32. 5-6; Jer. 3. 4, 14, 19, 22; Isa. 45. 11; 63. 16; Mai. 2. 10. Then Wisd. 2. 16-18; Ecclus. 23. 4; less obviously Osee 1. 10; Isa. 43. 6. Cf. 2 Kings 7. 14 (above pp. 45 and 217).

*

4 See Deut. 32. 6; Jer. 3. 14; Isa. 45. 11; Mai. 21. 10 (father creator); Isa. 63. 16 (= redeemer). Cf. M.-J. Lagrange, "La paternite de Dieu dans PA.T.," in Rev. bibl, N.S., 5 (1908), pp. 481-99; Judaisms want JIsm-Christ, pp. 459

seq.

270

Appendix III

6 passages concerning the Spirit of God, we recognize a process and a set of themes that are highly significant. The Spirit hardly intervenes at all in the story of the Patriarchs (Joseph: cf. Gen. 41. 38: JE);

Moses and Josue he appears as the gift necessary if they are to lead God's people, a gift transmitted by a kind of ordination rite (Num. 11. 17: JE; 27. 18: P). On the other hand, he repeatedly irrupts upon the scene in the lives of those charismatic deliverers,

in that of

the Judges (cf. Judges 3. 10; 6. 34; 11. 29; 13. 25; 14. 6, 19; 15. 14). In them, he is a more or less miraculous force, able to bring about, through the medium of men of his own choice, the great works Yahweh wishes to accomplish in favour of the people with whom he has freely contracted the obligations of an alliance. In the case of Saul, who at this point is obviously in the charismatic line of the Judges, the

God

Spirit of 19. 23), but

takes possession of the king (1 Kings 10. 10; 11. 6; also seen to leave him, and his place is taken by an evil spirit sent by Yahweh (16. 14; 18. 10; 19. 9), whilst he descends is

definitively upon God is also the 18. 12;

4 Kings

David (16. 13, and cf. 2 Kings 23. 2). The Spirit of power which carries away the Prophets (3 Kings

2. 16;

Ezech.

8.

3; 11. 1; 43. 5), takes possession

of

them and causes them

to speak (4 Kings 2. 9; Ezech. 2. 2), although, in the latter cases, the text usually uses the expression "the Word of

Yahweh".

We

infancy in St

(p. 41) how the accounts of the are in line with the Old Testament and are full of

have already noted

Luke

atmosphere. We should notice the same phenomenon if we examined the r61e attributed to the Holy Spirit in John the Baptist, Elizabeth and Simeon. In all these cases it is solely a question of a power which acts either in nature, 6 or above all in history, in order to perform God's works in accordance with his plans. But, first in David's case,

its

then in that of the great Prophets, especially after Osee, there develops in Israel the notion of a religion which establishes a relationship with Yahweh, a relation of hesed (love, grace), a relation in which God and his justice are known. And corresponding to this, in the preaching of the Prophets, particularly during and after the exile, and in the Psalms, a new value is proclaimed. God must give to his faithful a spirit of generous resolve, a spirit of good will and fidelity 5

See J. Danielou, "Esprit-Saint et Hist, du salut," in Vie spirit., 83 (1950), pp. 127-40; C. Spicq, "Le Saint-Esprit, vie et force de Pfiglise primitive", in Lumiere et Vie, No. 10 (June 1953), pp. 9-28; and especially the articles by Fr van Imschoot, quoted and reprinted in The'ologie de VAnden Testament, I, JDteu, Paris, 1954, pp. 183 seq. 6 Mention may be made here of the idea of the breath (spirit) given to creatures by God that they may have life: Gen. 1. 2; 2. 7; Ps. 103(104). 30; Ezech. 38. 8 seq.

,

etc.

Old and New Dispensation

271

in his service

an

(cf. Ps. 50[51]. 12, 14; 142(143). 10); the restoration of Israel of devout and just men will only come about, say the

through the gift of a new heart and a new 26 seq.; Jer. 24. 7; 31. 31-4; 32. 38-40). Such declarations as these must not be minimized nor, on the other hand, must their remarkable prophetic scope be stretched to include prophets of the

exile,

spirit (Ezech. 11. 19; 36.

explicitly the gifts that

instance, the

Law

came only

to be written

is

after Pentecost. In Jeremias, for

upon men's

hearts,

and the great

passage from Ezechiel is messianic. As soon as we reach the messianic prophecies, the texts become numerous the Messias will be filled with the Holy Spirit (Isa. 32. 3. 1-2 15-17; 44. 3 (59. 21); Ezech. 39. 30; Joel 2. 28-29 (Vulg. Hebrew text; cf. Acts 2. 16 seq.). It remains true that in the Old Testament and in Judaism, at least before certain rather late developments in Jewish piety, 7 the Holy Spirit (literally: the spirit of holiness), (i) is not considered as a :

=

divine person; (ii) is above all the power through which God provides for the carrying out of the Covenant. Even when the concept of the

covenant

itself

becomes more

interior

and more moral

in character,

does not appear as that innermost reality, the source of personal holiness and of intimate relationship with God, the source even of true communion in God's life, which Jesus was to reveal 8 precisely because he was to bring the Spirit into the world. This is the Spirit

still

that excellent exegete, E. Tobac, although admitting he was prevented from following Petau by "the current teaching of the theologians", yet wrote: "We can understand why St John could write 'the Spirit had not yet been given to men, because Jesus had not yet been raised to glory* (John 7. 39)." 9 (3) When the New Testament mentions the respective situations of the faithful who lived before and those who lived after Christ's coming (or rather before and after the fact of Easter), it points to a difference which, in the first place, is quite other than accidental a difference in degree, that is, or in scope and secondly, concerns

why

:

.

.

.

7 Cf. Lagrange, Judafsme, pp. 436 seq., 441 (with a quotation from StrackBillerbeck, t 2, p. 127), 443 ; J. Bonsirven, Le Judafsme palestinien au temps de Jdsus-Christ, Paris, 1935, t. 1, pp. 210-12. 8 Cf. above pp. 148-50, 154. a Article "Grace", in Diet, apohg., t. 2, col. 329. It is remarkable how the exegetes, when they speak as exegetes, that is, when they follow, just as they stand, the hints provided by God's Word, come nearer to the first position and even to the point at which they use the same expressions as St Cyril, if not those of Petau. Cf. Philips, article mentioned, pp. 536-7. Philips quotes Tobac and also Fr Lagrange (quoted here on p. 272, n. 2.) and Fr Prat. Other references to more recent books might be added, for instance, F.-X. Durrwell, La resurrection de

J&us, mystere de

salut,

Le Puy and

Paris, 1950, pp. 262-3.

272

Appendix III

not only the collective dispensation but the inner situation of persons themselves. We remind the reader of some of the statements carefully noted and developed by the Fathers who held the first opinion. These statements concern: John the Baptist, the greatest son of woman and yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he (Matt. 11. 11; Luke 7. 28). Clearly there is no question here of degree for John is the but of a qualitative difference characteristic of the ., greatest a man belongs. Further, the Fathers (St Cyril: to which economy P.O., 73, 757) have been careful to comment on the passage in which John declares he needs to be baptized with the baptism of Jesus. This, they note, is so that he may enter into possession of the benefits .

this

.

baptism confers, benefits which the Dispensation that preceded

Easter could not confer

(cf.

Matt.

3. 14).

1

between John's baptism of repentance and the of the Holy Spirit which Jesus instituted (Matt. 3.11; Mark baptism 1. 8; Luke 3. 16; John 1. 26, 33; Acts 1. 5; 11. 16; 19. 1-6. See, on this point, St John Chrysostom, In Joan., horn. 29 (and Philips, article

The

difference

already mentioned, pp. 542-3).

The real, effective gift of sonship as the specific gift of the Gospel and which we receive from the Holy Spirit. The Jews were certainly adopted sons (Rom. 9. 4: cf. above), but their adoption was a kind of juridical title or right presupposing that its real implementation required that God himself should become man, should be like ourselves, and should send down upon us his Spirit. The Spirit already gives to the faithful, to the members of Jesus Christ, the 2 Rom. 8. 14-17; 1 John reality of the life of sonship (Gel. 4. 5-7 ;

1 The exegesis of the texts concerning John the Baptist by the Fathers and the Latin theologians would well repay study. St Augustine, for instance, is somewhat embarrassed by Matt. 11.11 ("and yet to be least in the kingdom of heaven is to be greater than he") and goes so far as to say that perhaps the kingdom of the angels is meant; Serm. Guelf. t XXII, 3 (ed. Morin, p. 512). 2 In this connection Fr Lagrange wrote (p. aux GaL, Paris, 1918, p, 103): **. The horizon now opens upon the final goal of Christ's action, the conferring of adoption, vloQsaia, through the union of the faithful to him who is God's 9 that is, as the Greeks understood son by nature (Rom. 8. 10-15). AnoM6ousv, (Chrys. Theoph., etc.), to receive what had been promised (Luke 6. 34; 23. 41; Rom. 1. 27; Col. 3. 24). Men were not sons of God before the Incarnation and in this respect differed from the heir, the legitimate son of the testator, but the promise, at least since Abraham, assured them of eventual blessing and of the inheritance, God's not Abraham's inheritance. Adoption, therefore, was also promised them and would confer rights, although their exercise would be in abeyance. It cannot be objected that the Jews really were adopted sons already. Paul does admit and on the strength of Old Testament texts (Exod. 4. 22; Deut. 14. 1; cf. R. 3,, 1908, pp. 481 seq.) that they possessed this privilege (Rom. 9. 4), but as a nation, hence in an outward sense, whilst from henceforward adoption was individual, inward and at the same time openly recognized . , ." Cf. Tobac, article already mentioned, col. 329-30. .

.

,

.

.

Old and New Dispensation

273

although only "by way of pledge" (Rom. 8. 23; Eph. 1. 13-14; 1 John 3. 2). It is to this gift of the Spirit that we must refer the impression and, we may say, the experience of something entirely new, enjoyed by the first Christians and of which so many 3 amazing testimonies have come down to us. It was not for nothing that St Paul attributed to the Christ of Easter the creation of a "new" man; Gal 6. 15; 2 Cor. 5. 17; Eph. 2. 10, 15; 4. 22-4. The fact that the Law has brought nothing to perfection, since it was only "a bringing in of a better hope, by which we draw nigh to God" (Heb. 7. 19; cf. 9. 9 seq.). It contains "only the shadow of those blessings which were still to come, not the full expression of their reality" (10. 1 cf. 11. 9-10, 13). The whole of the epistle to the Hebrews compares the situation under the former and the new 3. 1),

still

;

Dispensations. alone, (4.

It

we have

14-16;

6. 9,

receive the

shows how, through

19-20; 10. 19-22;

pardon of our

sins,

12.

and through it Holy of Holies

Christ's Pasch,

access, henceforward, to the true

22-4,

and above,

p. 206).

We

former worship was receive what had been promised,

and

this the

powerless to procure (10. 2-18); we for Christ is able to bring everything to perfection (to its consummation, to the rshetcooH; of which the Epistle speaks so often). It is not, therefore, the objective and collective dispensation that is alone the issue here, but the personal status of the faithful in their relations with God, who is their goal and their beatitude. The Patriarchs, even those who through their faith looked forward to Christ, stopped on the threshold of the Kingdom: "It was ... in faith they died, for them, the promises were not fulfilled, but they looked forward to ." (11. 13; cf. 3. 7; 4. 11, them and welcomed them at a distance on rest in God). "One and all gave proof of their faith, yet they never saw the promise fulfilled; for us God had something better in store. .

We

.

were needed to make the history of

their

lives

complete"

(11. 39-40).* 3 See H. Schumacher, Kraft der Urkirche. Das "Neue Leben" nach den Dokumenten der ersten zwei Jahrhunderte, Freiburg-im-Br., 1934; K. Prumrn, Christenturn als Neuheitserlebnis, Freiburg-im-Br. 1939. The Odes of Solomon is one of the extra-canonical texts in which the joy felt at this new experience is expressed in a particularly vivid manner. 4 It is true that in 11. 33, we read: "Theirs was the faith which subdued kingdoms, which served the cause of right (BJ "they ... did the work of justice"), which made promises come true." This passage is one of those which support the Augustinian-Thomist position, and all the more so since operati sunt justitiam can be read as referring to that justice which is equivalent to justification and holiness (St Thomas, III a qu. 49, art. 5, ad 1). But Fr Spicq quite rightly comments (p. auxHebreux, t. 2, Paris, 1953, pp. 363-4): "It is still by means of this virtue (faith) that leaders like Barac (Judg. 4. 14), Gedeon (6. 14; 7. 7), David (2 Kings 7. 1 1) and the Prophets were able to benefit from the particular promises God had made to them (Jos. 21. 41-3)." Similarly, in regard to Heb. 11. 40 (id. ,

274

Appendix III

What

then are we to understand by the object of the promises? fruit of the Pasch of Jesus Christ, that is effective pardon the Surely for sins, access to the Father, entry into God's rest, the fellowship of the heavenly Jerusalem, the "consummation" on all these points

a great number of passages could be quoted "finally, the promised of the Holy Spirit" (Luke 24. 48; Acts 1.4; Eph. 1.13). (4) The Spirit is, in fact, the specific gift of the messianic era. When we study the use in the Scriptures of the adjective Ttvsv^arcKog, we see that it connotes something proper to the new Dispensation, that is, to the new order that has arisen from Easter, to the Church. 5 Similarly a study of the terms used to express the status or the action of the Holy Spirit before Christ and then after the first Easter shows there are significant differences. 6 The comparisons henceforth used are less concerned with a more or less temporary inspiration than with the Spirit as dwelling in and filling the soul. Side by side with the old image of "breath", the image of water is now frequent and it indicates no longer, as it did in the Prophets and some of the psalms, gift

an outpouring that was to come and whose value was, in any messianic, but a gift granted by Christ to the believer. living water truly flows from the new Paschal temple.

in both the individual believer and in the Church. consider in general the new contribution and the assertion which the Gospel brings, we find they are very simple

given, (5)

new

case,

The river of The Spirit is

and it dwells

When we

and yet fundamental. There is indeed a consummation of what had been both prophesied and begun, but it is profoundly new. It is precisely because of this that there are

n

no longer a people of God

can only be the fulfilment of the promise (v. 39), op., pp. 367-8): "xQefardv hence the possession of eternal salvation (8. 6) or, to put it in more exact terms, the Tefaia>at, The disciples of Jesus Christ, contrary to the experience of their master in the faith, obtain immediately after their death, their final perfection, the definitive consummation of their life, that is, access to the heavenly sanctuary . Faith is always a conviction that the invisible exists. It is (8. 10; 10. 22-4) at the same time an experience, but for some it is principally still at the stage of promises to be fulfilled in the distant future (n6QQa>6ev, 11. 13), whilst for others it is on the verge of realization (10. 37, cf. fyytis, 10. 25)." * On the Holy Spirit as a messianic and eschatological gift, cf. C. K. Barrett, The Holy Spirit and the Gospel Tradition, London, 1947. On JtvsvparM6g as a specific attribute of God's work in the messianic era (failing the article in the TheoL Wdrterb, z. JV.J1, which has not yet appeared), cf. E. Niebecker, Das all* gemeine Preistertum der Glaubigen, Paderborn, 1936, pp. 90 seq., with its study of the uses of the word and its references to papers on the question. On spiritualis as an attribute of the Church, cf. S. Tromp, Corpus Christi quod est Ecclesia* t. 1, 2nd edn., Rome, 1946, pp. 98 seq., and above all P. Nautin, Je crois & F EspritSaint dans la sainte Eglise pour la resurrection de la chair (Unam Sanctam, 17), Paris, 1947. 6 Cf. H, B. Swete, The Holy Spirit in the New Testament, London, 1909, pp. .

328-9.

.

Old and New Dispensation and a Synagogue but a Church and a Body of

275

Christ. Wherever in the Synoptics, especially in the key episode of Caesarea Philippi (Matt. 16. 16 seq.), in St Paul with his two closely linked themes of justification by faith and the Body of Christ, and finally in the central teaching of St John (20. 31) to believe in Jesus

we look

Christ, the Son of God, and so to have life we always find the same doctrine. On the one hand, we pass from works to faith, on the other, from the Messias as such, to the Son of God. These two facts are complementary, and their union produces also a movement away from the order of holy religion to that of life, "life in Christ", the

communicated to

"new

life",

that

is,

the

life

of God himself

and through him, the specifically heavenly and divine reality of life is communicated to men. And this is something quite new. It was only possible if God himself came down and took our flesh. This was accomplished in Jesus, by the Incarnation of the Son, and collectively in us, by the gift of his sons. In Jesus Christ

the Spirit as the consequence of the Pasch of Jesus. (6) This series of statements they harmonize in an impressive way and as a whole they do not admit of any explanation that would tone them down ends with an absolutely decisive declaration which, in fact, is the chief reason for the position taken up by St John Chrysostom and St Cyril of Alexandria, namely the passage in

John

7. 39 "The Spirit had not yet been given to men, because Jesus had not yet been raised to glory." [BJ has: "there was not yet any Spirit." Translator]. There is an interesting study to be made (along the lines of the type of research which fortunately is now in progress in the field of the history of exegesis) on the interpretation given to this verse by the Fathers and in the Middle Ages. St Thomas, faithful to his overall position, understands it to apply either to the visible mission of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost or to the abundance and fullness which the Passion and the Resurrection of Christ must make possible by the :

.

.

.

7 This interpretation is made easier by the Vulgate gift of grace. translation which corresponds to the reading of some manuscripts which have toned down the original statement, "Nondum erat Spiritus

nondum erat datus Spiritus intelligitur de ilia datione cum quae facta est in die pentecostes." Sum. TheoL, I a qu. 43, art. 6, ad 1 "Lex nova principaliter est gratia Spiritus Sancti, quae abundanter dari non debuit antequam impedimentum peccati ab humane genere tolleretur, consuma mata redemptione per Christum. Unde dicitur Jo. 7. 39 .", I ~H, qu. 106, art. 3 c; "Et ideo, quia in hoc sacramento [he is speaking of confirmation, instituted by Christ promittendo} datur plenitudo Spiritus Sancti, quae non erat danda ante Christi resurrectionem et ascensionem, secundum illud Jo. 7. 39; Nondum .", III a , qu. 71, art, 1, ad 1 "Intelligendum est de abundant! datione et visibilibus signis [the miracle of Pentecost]", Com. in Joan. Ev., c. 7, lect. 5. 7

"Quod

signo

dicitur

visibili,

t

;

.

.

.

M.O.T.

;

10

.

276

Appendix III

." There is a coming and a presence of the Holy Spirit which only exist as a consequence of the "glorification" of Jesus, that is, as a consequence of his Pasch. Is it enough to say with Fr Lagrange

datus

.

.

and Fr Durant (Verbum salutis) that what is meant is the Spirit it was to be given after Pentecost, especially in baptism and through the sacraments ? Even if this is true, to what extent is this as

mode

of the Spirit's presence proper to the post-Pentecostal era something new? This is a question which we can scarcely hope will be answered by the exegetes. They are too careful to keep close to the text and not to go beyond what it says. So F. Tillmann (Das Johannesevangelium, Berlin, 1914; Catholic) and Bernard (in the International Critical Commentary) repeat the words of John 7. 29 and make no comment. But others, and here they remain close to the literal sense of the verse, strongly emphasize the fact that, for St John, the Spirit remains confined to Jesus himself until the work of salvation is accomplished. Jesus constantly declared that the gift of the Spirit was to be deferred until after his death (14. 26; 16. 7; 8 cf. Luke 24. 49 Acts 1. 5, 8). It is not a question merely of the way in which or the extent to which the gift is given, but of the gift of the ;

Spirit itself. (c)

Towards a

solution sis.

an

we are

solution.

We

offering here

say "towards" advisedly, for the

no more than an attempt, a hypotheleaves difficulties to which there is not

is

We are well aware that it

entirely satisfactory answer.

The basis of this solution. This solution should, we maintain, two following facts men in the Old Testament were just because they received grace given in anticipation of Christ and by virtue of his merits. It is therefore fundamentally of the same essence as our own, but 2. the supernatural gifts of God were, at the time, ineffective up to a point as regards their final object or their normal fruit. (a)

give weight to the L That the just

They were,

in fact, given to

:

men whose approach

to the promised

8

Cf. especially E. C. Hoskyns, The Fourth Gospel* 2nd edn, London, 1947, p. 323, G. H. C. McGregor (The Gospel ofJohn, Moffatt's Commentary, London, 1928, p. 208) observes that a general principle is meant and that there is certainly no allusion here to a particular event such as Pentecost, A. Loisy (Quatrieme

Evang,, Paris, 1903, p. 524) wrote: "We should not ask whether the prophets received the Holy Spirit in any way or whether it had yet descended on Christ. The communications of the prophetic Spirit are not of the same order as the gift conferred upon Christians, and although Jesus possesses the plenitude of the Spirit, his side has not yet been pierced; it is not yet time for the spring of living water to pour out upon believers." But the commentary which comes nearest to the mind of the Greek Fathers (it in fact quotes them) is that of the Catholic P. Schanz, Commentar ilber das Evang. des hi Johannes, Tubingen, 1885, pp. 323-4.

Old and New Dispensation

211

was from a distance. But we must not forget that before becoming a created "habitus" (a "having") in us, grace is God's favour. The fact that grace has been created reveals God's favour and it is the character, the degree and the mode of this favour which determines the character, the degree and the mode of grace. If then God shows his favour to us as true members of the body of his well-beloved Son, he showed it to the just of the Old Testament as orientated towards Christ and his body, as linked therefore to

realities

Christ, but also as

still afar off in relation to Christ as the source of of sonship and of effective access to God himself. The just men of the Old Testament received supernatural inspirations and gifts by means of which they possessed in themselves a source of justice and of a holy life. Contained in texts such as Ps. 50(51). 12 seq. is the very reality of a form of just and holy life stemming from a supernatural gift of the same type as our sanctifying grace. This source of holiness of life, since it was thus substantially the grace which Christ was to merit, wasjls<^fw.z?^^ life of sonship and a title meriting the glory of heaven. Yet something was lacking if this filial life were to bring men to union with the Father. The source though it was of a holy life, this grace was still, in a sense, 9 deprived of its normal fruits in the field of adoptive sonship of and the to of of the substantial, objective dwelling merit, power Holy Trinity in the soul, since the formal principle of this indwelling is the power of grace to enter into contact with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, as the object of knowledge and love. It is in this distinction between grace as a form of holy life directed towards God, and its power effectively to enter into contact with God as its goal, that we see, initially, the basis of a solution to our question. We say "initially" because we must go further and look for the reason why grace was without this power. And we say "power effectively to enter into contact with God as its goal", because, in our opinion, the character of the life of sonship, the

the

life

to merit, the disposition required for the indwelling and possession of the Holy Trinity and, therefore, for "divinization," were really present in the just men of the Old Testament, but they were in them, so to speak, in a state of waiting, devoid of the fruit to which they pointed. Hence, without accepting Petau's thesis, accordtitle

ing to which the Holy Spirit himself, and not created grace, was the This was due to the fact that Christ could not be a son by adoption since he the Son by nature (St Thomas, HI*, qu. 32, art. 3). John of St Thomas admits that adoption is not a metaphysical property and inseparable from habitual am qu. 20, disp. 19, art. 4, n. 19: t. 8, p. 621). This was grace (CwrmyT/u?0/. inlll also one of Mgr Waffelaert's arguments. 9

is

278

Appendix III

formal cause of our divine adoption, we would be willing to admit, in the case of the just men of the Old Testament, the notion of a supernatural gift which, effective although it already was as a form of holy life, was ineffective before Christ's glorification, as regards 5 its normal consequences of sonship, indwelling, "divinization *, and merit, except as a (juridical) title to these. This title was real., but would only become operative at a time when something occurred to enable it to obtain at length the divine fruits which it was already genuinely intended to possess. The texts quoted above under the headings 3, 4, 5, of section b, seem to us to enforce this distinction. Under the former Dispensation there was a divine, God-orientated order whose goal was the possession of God, but it was deprived of the power to reach this goal, since "no way of access to the true sanctuary lay open to us, as long as the former tabernacle maintained standing" (Heb. 9. 8). then was needed if these preparations were to achieve their purpose and the pre-ordained goal was to be effectively reached? No less than the destruction of the sanctuary made by human hands and the building of another, not made by human hands, as Jesus says in John 2. 19 (+Mark 14. 58). We have. seen how this fact is related to the statement reported in John 7. 37-9, the key text for our inquiry. In a word, it was necessary that certain events in the economy of salvation should take place, and the most decisive of these, the centre of the whole economy, was Jesus's Pasch the inseparable triology of his death, resurrection and ascenits

What

sion.

The major facts of the history of salvation are, as Fr Dani^lou has rightly emphasized, 1 events which, although they have occurred once only, change for ever the course of spiritual history by introducing a new factor in the relations of man with God. The covenant with Abraham, the covenant of Sinai, the election of David, were events of this kind. Far more so, therefore, were the coming of the Son of God, clothed in our flesh, and the complex of events which constitute the Paschal mystery, the centre of the new economy: the death of Christ according to the flesh (1 Peter 3. 18), a flesh like our own flesh of sin (Rom. 6. 5); his descent into hell, a decisive event for our purpose and to which we shall return; his proclamation as "the Son of God, in respect of the sanctified spirit that was his,

by

his resurrection

tion, his entry into the

from the dead" (Rom. 1. 4); his glorificaHoly of Holies, the investing of his saving

priesthood with a sovereign royal power; the outpouring of the

promised

Spirit. 1

Essai sur

le

mystkre de rhistoire, Paris, 1953.

Old and New Dispensation 279 When each of these events had taken place once only, yet with decisive results for all that

relations of the

was to

follow, something

was changed

human race with God. Amongst these events,

in the

Christ's

descent into hell deserves special attention from the standpoint of our present study. 2 Before it gave rise to doctrinal, Christological questions (fourth century), this episode simply formed part of men's meditation on the economy centred on the Paschal mystery, and this was the essential content of the catechesis and of the celebration of the Liturgy, as we see in Melito, Tertullian, St Hippolytus, St Irenaeus and in the New Testament itself. 3 And its "economic" importance is indeed considerable, either as regards the victory of Jesus Christ over death and the devil, 4 or as regards the status of the just in the Old Testament. If it is possible with B. Reicke to see in "the spirits who lay in prison" of 1 Peter 3. 19, 5 the angels who were

moving spirits behind the pagan world, 6 yet it is certain that Peter 4. 6 is speaking of the dead, and that a tradition since St Irenaeus teaches it, it would seem to go back to the first disciples of

the 1

the apostles which saw in Christ's descent into hell the bringing of and deliverance to the just who had lived before our Lord and who were awaiting his coming so that they might really enter into the heritage which was theirs by right and towards which they looked light

whilst

powerless to take effective possession of

still

it.

St Irenaeus

* See on this subject K. Gschwind, Die Niederfahrt Christi in die Unterwelt, Ein Betrag zur Exegese des N.T. u. z. Gesch. des Taufsymbols, Munster, 1911; D. Ploog, De descensu in 1 Petr. 3. 19 en 4. 6, 1913; H. Quilliet, in Diet, theol cath., t. 4, col. 365-610; J. Chaine, in Diet, de la Bible, Suppl, t. 2, col. 395-431; B. Reicke, The Disobedient Spirits and Christian Baptism: A Study of I Pet. Ill, 19 and its contents, Copenhagen, 1946; A. Grillmeier, "Der Gottessohn im Totenreich" ., in Zeitsch. f. kath. Theol, 71 (1949), pp. 1-53, 184-203 (with a bibliography). And cf. Rev. Hist. Eccl, 1947, p. 131; O, Rousseau, "La descente aux enfers dans le cadre des Liturgies chr6tiennes", in La Maison-Dieu, No. 43 (1955-3), pp. 104-23. 8 Cf. the study by Fr Grillmeier; for Scripture, cf. Rom. 10. 6-7; Acts 2. 24-31 (Col. 1. 18); Eph. 4. 8-9; 1 Peter 3. 18-20; 4. 5-6; Apoc. 1. 18. It may be that Eph. 5. 14 is an allusion to this mystery, as Armitage Robinson thinks, Epfiesians, concise edition, pp. 164 and 165, n. 1. 4 On the one hand, Christ's resurrection is not merely the physical fact of his emergence from the tomb nor is it only the physical act by which he took up his life again. It is a decisive element in a whole economy. It begins in hell because it is a resurrection from (among) the dead. That is why, in Eastern iconography, the anastasis is represented as the descent into hell and the emergence from hell. On the other hand, there is victory only where there is an encounter and opposition. God could abolish death by his creative power, but he could not conquer it .

.

except by experiencing it himself. 5 Pere Congar uses the translation "the rebellious spirits". Verse 20 (Vulg.) points out that they "refused belief" in the days of Noe. Translator. 6 But we should bear in mind a remark of H. B. Swete's in connection with Apoc. 1. 4 (The Apoc. ofSt John, London, 1906, p. 6): nvetifiara is seldom used of angels in the New Testament.

280

Appendix III

on the remission of sins which was wrought only by Christ's Passion 7 but may we not extend our consideration of the scope of the Passion to all the effects which normally accompany grace: sonship, the possession of God and his indwelling, divinization ? And insists

these were in abeyance, as regards their practical implementacoming of our Lord and his Pasch. In order that the

all

tion, until the

supernatural for

them

to

gifts

these just

come into

men had received could make it possible God himself, it was necessary

real contact with

new facts in the economy should have taken place the Incarnation of the Son, the death and resurrection of Christ, the mission of that

which is their consequence. a fact which seems to us sufficiently attested, and theology can only attempt to probe the reasons for it and to discover how they harmonize with one another. This is theology's task. The essential the

Holy

This

Spirit

is

point in the present case is that until Jesus Christ's coming, God certainly gave gifts to man but himself he had not given. Bread

from heaven there has indeed been (Ps. 77[78]. 24), but it was not the real bread from heaven, God himself given to man as bread (John 6. 32 seq.). There had been men sent from God. John had been sent from God (John 1. 6), but he did not come from on high (cf. John 1. 30-34; 3. 31 cf. 3. 13). God had spoken upon earth (Heb. 12. 25), but his substantial Word had not come into the world. It came in Jesus Christ, the Son who is also the Heir (cf. John 1. 1-18; Heb. 1. 1-3). There was a law of God, holy and sanctifying, but God had not given himself nor established, as he has now done, the inner and living law whose soul is his Spirit, whether we are thinking of the Church as such on the day of Pentecost itself when the Synagogue commemorated the gift of the Law on Sinai, or whether we are thinking of each individual believer and the inward gift of the Spirit (Rom. 8. 14). ;

The first believers, as we have seen (p. 273, n. 3), experienced Christianity as something absolutely new. In particular, they knew that the inner strength required to practise the law henceforward accompanied its external precepts; they knew that they could do what neither the Jews nor, afortiori, the pagans could do. 8 "Through Moses the law was given to us; through Jesus Christ grace came to us, and

7 A.H., V, 27. 2 (P.O., 7, 1058-9); at the beginning of this chapter, n. 1, col. 1056, Irenaeus speaks of an apostolic tradition in connection with what he has to say about justice under the former Dispensation. 8 Cf. J. Danielou, "La pense*e chrdtienne", in Nouv. Rev* th&ol^ Nov. 1947, pp. 930 seq.; S. Lyonnet, "Libert^ chr6tienne et loi de FEsprit selon S. Paul", in Christus, Cahiers spirituels, No. 4 (1954), pp. 6-27, Cf. St Thomas, Com, in ., c. 8, lect 1 and in Heb. t c. 8, lect 2.

Old and New Dispensation

281

truth" (John 1. 17). 9 What was new was that God had come in person instead of sending only his gifts. This must be said and it can be said in the sense in which theology speaks of the divine Missions. In a

manner we still have to clarify, the Person of the Father, the Person of the Son and the Person of the Holy Spirit began to exist for mankind in a new kind of way. Since then, the guiding principle of our movement towards salvation has no longer been a supernatural gift alone, preparing us for salvation and accompanied by a genuine title to its possession yet maintaining a distance between us and God himself; it has been of its very substance heavenly and divine, linked efficaciously to its divine source and therefore absolutely capable of bringing us into effective contact with God himself. We have seen that the meaning of Easter was the transcendence of all previous revivals and the bringing into operation of a principle of heavenly life, "not made by human hands", and by that very fact able to reach the Holy of Holies itself. This is why Christ in the Paschal mystery descends into the hell of death and brings to the just of the Old Testament (and eventually to the just pagans also the Fathers expressly extend their interpretation to cover the latter) 1 the efficacity their grace lacked in order to lead them to God himself. St Thomas sees the deliverance of these just men by Christ's descent into hell as a deliverance from the punishment (reatus poenae) due to original sin, and the healing of the defectus communis affecting human nature as such since Adam and consisting of physical death and exclusion from the life of glory. 2 Christ's Passion eliminated these obstacles. St Thomas insists on the fact that Christ, by his descent into hell, gave to the just of the Old Testament the benefit of the action he applies by contact and with genuine efficacy to the faithful in the Church by means of the sacraments. 3 This is an extremely interesting view in the present context, but it is perhaps put forward in a rather narrow systematic framework. It would be possible, using the same facts of Christian revelation, to interpret the Paschal Redemption in a more ontological, more positive manner, less dependent on the idea of satisfaction and more so on that of an anthropological value. Thomist anthropology is highly devel:

We

have already mentioned E. Hoskyns's profound comment: "The Law separable from the agent by whom it was given." (The Fourth Gospel, second edition, London, 1947, p. 152.) 1 See Diet. TMoL cath., t. 4, col. 597 seq. and cf. Fr Dubarle's note mentioned 9

was a

gift

above, p. 263, n. 3. 2 Sum. TheoL, III", qu. 52, art 5; 8

art. 7 ad 1 art 8 ad 3. 4 ad 2; art 5 and 6. On the efficient causality of HI*, qu. 48, art. 1, c, and ad 3; qu. 56, art. 2 ad 4; qu. 62, art.

Ill a , qu. 52, art. 1

ad 2;

art.

the Passion, cf. 6 ad L Cf. above, p. 267, n. 7.

;

.

282

Appendix III

oped both from the point of view of man's essential structure and from that of the analysis of the structures of moral action; but it is Christological and historical only to a very limited extent. This follows from the way in which the Summa is planned. Would it not be possible to give to the "economic" facts of the Passion and of the descent into hell their full positive value? It is only by contact with the immolated body of the Son of God made flesh and so constituted at one and the same time our true priest, victim, altar and temple, that the gifts of personal justice granted to the Patriarchs receive the power effectively to reach the goal which grace should normally attain.

At this point we should note that St Thomas admits, as Scripture (Rom. 6. 5; John 6. 54) and the Fathers (Tertullian, St Irenaeus, St 4 Athanasius) invite him to do, that here and now in baptism and the sacrament of Christ's body and blood, we possess the source of our resurrection in glory, 5 just as, in his view, grace is the seed of glory and faith the seed

of vision. But, for these sources of divinized

life effec-

their full effect, a new and final fact in the economy of salvation is necessary, namely, Christ's return in power and in glory.

tually to

produce

There is a sense in which our grace, even the grace of the sacraments, represents a claim which mil only be met on the Last Day. The eschatological aspect of St Paul's ethics is well known, and not only in so far declares

as

it

its

insistence

we must keep ourselves pure for Christ's Day, but also in on the fact that our redemption will not be complete until

Day comes. It is important to connect this side of St Paul's teaching not only with our present life as an interlude, a time of waiting and of trial, but also with the still incomplete structure of the decisive facts in the history of salvation. It is only when the last of these facts which, though they only occur once, radically change our relations with God has taken place, that the grace of sonship, the grace already possessed by the saints, by which we are made other Christs, 6 will produce its complete effect in our resurrection and that

glory. It is easy to see how we would explain the fact (which Biblical Revelation seems to us to enforce) of a maladjustment between the interior form of supernatural justice granted to the Patriarchs and the efficacy of this grace in regard to the attainment of its complete

4

Cf.

among

others, St Irenaeus, A.ff. 9 IV, 18. 5 (P.O., 7, 1029); St

Thomas,

III*, qu. 79, art. 2. 6

la

,

qu. 79,

art, 2;

In Joan.,c. 6

lect. 7,

nn, 3-4.

M. Schmaus, Kathol Dogmatik, t

On

the Eucharist

yd^oMov

T%

270 seq. Here again Pere Congar uses the word "christique", which I have rendered by a periphrasis, whose length is due to a desire for clarity, Translator. ddavavtas 6

cf.

III-2, pp.

Old and New Dispensation

283

normal effects sonship, the substantial, objective indwelling of the Three Persons, divinization, the ultimate efficacity of merit. In all this, grace should put man in touch with God himself. It could only do so when God himself had "come" into our world, that is, had given himself to men, and was linked with his gifts, both as their source and as their goal, and these two, source and goal, are strictly correlative.

St Thomas, in his treatment of merit in relation to eternal life, well 7 says that our actions, in so far as they are our own, cannot do more than give us an aptitude for the reception of the gifts of God, whilst, to the extent that they proceed from the grace of the Holy Spirit 9 they rise to the level of eternal life, that is, to the level of the possession and the enjoyment of God himself in bliss, since he becomes directly, 8 through his essence, the "intentional" form

itself of our vision in glory: "sic enim valor meriti attenditur secundum virtutem Spiritus Sancti moventis nos in vitam aeternam, secundum illud: Fiet in eofons aquae salientis in vitam aeternam" This quotation of the text from St John (4. 14) is extremely interesting. Once again, Jesus is speaking of the future, of the Holy Spirit he will give as the result

of his Pasch (cf. John 7. 39; 16. 7). Messianic grace will be not only water that quenches thirst and makes the earth fertile one has only to see how water in the East is life itself, in order to understand the comparison but like the living Bread, the cause of resurrection, grace truly comes from on high and, like it, will genuinely reach its heavenly goal, life eternal, the possession of God himself. For the world to have life, the personal mission of the Son was necessary. The personal mission of the Holy Spirit was necessary so that grace might be, over and above a form of holy living in man, the source of a movement which would bring him truly into contact with God, because God would henceforth be linked with man as the uncreated Gift inseparable from the created gift. we are approaching Mgr Waffelaerf s theory even though we are not making it our own. Not that we owe to him the idea which we have put forward above; we arrived at it only by trying to follow the hints in Scripture, and long before we became acquainted with Mgr Waffelaert's thesis. In any case, we only learned of the latter through the summary in Canon Philips's article (mentioned above 1947, pp. 531 seq.). Yet the categories in which we have been thinking are slightly different from Mgr Waffelaert's, and the explanation

which In

is

fact,

qu, 114, art. 3; Com. in Joan., c. 4,lect 2,n. 4; in Rom., c. 8,lect. 4; 147. St Thomas also always attributes the "communion of Saints" and the communication of spiritual benefits, to the virtus Spiritus SanctL 8 The word is used in its philosophical, scholastic sense Translator. 7

cf.

1-II a

TheoL,

M.O.T.

,

I,

10*

284

Appendix III

we have put forward has been sought

less

by an elaboration of the

classic concepts than through a consideration by theology itself of the real and historical character of the economy of salvation. It is

rather in certain passages from Newman, steeped as he was in the writings of the Greek Fathers, that we should identify a position 9 approaching the one we are ourselves seeking. St Thomas, speaking of interior worship, distinguishes three principal stages: that of the Synagogue, through which men were in touch by faith both with the (heavenly) benefits that had been promised and with the means of obtaining them, but as things to come; that of the Kingdom, through which the saints are in touch

with these same benefits and with the means which give access to them, but as present realities which are enjoyed; between the two, the stage of the Church, in which the full enjoyment of the good things of heaven is still awaited in the future, but in which too, the means of obtaining them are present and in our possession, namely Jesus Christ (in his Pasch). Where St Thomas writes that the divine Persons are possessed by us either "ad fructum perfectum" (donum gloriae),

or "secundum fructum imperfectum" (grace), 1

we should

wish, in accordance with the pattern outlined above, to introduce a third term, that of possession "secundum promissionem, ut

habendas".

What gift, what

kind of presence of the Holy Spirit are proper Christ's Pasch? When we ask this question in regard to Christ's gift and presence, it is not difficult to answer. Not only did the facts of the Incarnation and the Passion occur at a given moment in time, but the hypostatic union represents a relationship between Jesus's individual human nature and the Person of the Son of God, which is strictly confined to this Person. Further, it is universally admitted that whatever is referable to Christ and his Passion as its efficient cause, began in time after the corres(ft)

to the

Church which has sprung from

historical facts. It is thus possible in classical theology to give full value to the facts of the economy of salvation that concern Christ, to the extent that Christ's mysteries exercise not only an exemplary and final but also an efficient causality. St Thomas admits

ponding

this

not only for Christ's Resurrection but also for the other mysteries

For example,

and Plain Sermons, II, 19 (pp. 230-1): The Holy following John 16, 7, comes in the place of and in the same manner as Christ, that is, not under the mere guise of a gift, as in the Old Testament, but as a Person, that is, as one who is ultimately responsible, and takes unto himself our return towards God, thus making it fully efficacious, Spirit,

1

observes

/ Sent.,

in Parochial

Newman,

d. 14, qu. 2, art.

2 ad

2.

Old and New Dispensation of his

2

285

then that our spiritual status depends on the historical realization of those facts of the economy which are linked life.

It is clear

to the Incarnation.

When we consider the work

of the Holy Spirit, on the other hand, to of impossible speak Incarnation, that is of a created reality beginning to subsist at a given moment through the uncreated Subsistence of a divine Person. In what way then is it possible to

it is

speak of a coming of the Person of the Holy Spirit at a given point of time in the economy of salvation, such as Pentecost (St John 3 Chrysostom) or on the Eve of the Pasch (St Cyril of Alexandria)? In what sense can we say that the Holy Spirit has been "sent" personally and hence that he has "come", and has been given to the world in order to be, as from a given moment of time in the economy of salvation, a principle giving grace its actual efficacity to merit eternal life, adoptive sonship, the substantial and objective presence of the divine Persons, in a word "divinization" ? The encyclical Mystici Corporis (29 June 1943) expressly pointed out that the question of the part played by the Holy Spirit in the mystery of our union with Christ is a very difficult one and is still open as far as Catholic theology is concerned. Theologians were invited to put forward their attempts at a solution. We know too that, even if we take the word "appropriation" to be something more than a mere empty phrase, it is still impossible to attribute to one divine Person apart from the others, any created effect whatsoever. To do so is forbidden not only by theological 4 reasoning, the Latin tradition and the Magisterium, but is opposed by the Greek Fathers (who are sometimes credited with ideas they did not hold) for the same reasons as those put forward by the Latin Fathers. 5 The Father and the Son perform the ad extra works Cf. III a , qu. 56, art. 1 ad 3; cf. Com. in I Thess., c. 4, lect. 2, and J. Lecuyer, causalit6 efficiente des mysteres du Christ selon S. Thomas", in Doctor communis, an. 1953, pp. 91-120; F. Holtz, "La valeur soteriologique de la resurrection du Christ selon S. Thomas", in Ephem. TheoL Lovan., 29 (1953), pp. *

"La

609-45. 3 If a choice were necessary, we should undoubtedly prefer St Cyril's standpoint, since Pentecost was destined rather to proclaim publicly that the Church had been created. This preference is also linked to the understanding of Christ's "Ascension" as interpreted by Fr Benoit, "L*Ascension", in Rev. bibl., 56 (1949),

pp. 161-203. 4 Cf. A. Chollet, article, "Appropriation", in Diet. Thdol cath., t. 1, col. 1708-17; encyclical Mystici Corporis , he cit. For St Thomas, cf. De veriL, qu. 10, art 13; Sum. TheoL, 1, qu. 37, art. 2 ad 3; qu. 38, art. 1 ad 4; qu. 39, art. 7; lll a , qu. 7, art. 13, and H. Dondaine, La TrinM (Revue des Jeunes edition), t. 2, pp. 409 seq. 5 See quotations from St Cyril in Mah6, article already mentioned, p. 476; references to texts from other Greek Fathers in the article by I. Chevalier, pp. 170 seq. (on sanctification as appropriated to the Holy Spirit, id. 9 pp. 158 seq.).

286

Appendix III

attributed (appropriated) to the

Holy

Spirit, for all is

common to the

Three Divine Persons, except that by which the first Person is the Father, the second the Son, and the third the Holy Spirit, and hence all the order in which the Three divine Persons exist, since this order derives from the relations which make them what they are as Persons.

On

the other hand, theology recognizes that it is legitimate profitable to appropriate some essential attribute or an ad extra act to one Person, not in order to exclude the others, but because there is some similarity between the attribute or act and the Personal

and

character, and hence something in the attribute or act which may suggest to us the special characteristic of each Person. The phraseol-

ogy of Scripture and Tradition allows us

God in

in this

way

to have

some

although one in nature, it is lived in Three distinct Personalities and according to the order of the Processions, This is the classic manner of understanding and utilizing in practice the procedure of appropriation. It seems to us that, within this well-tried framework, there is room for the development of the type of application to which Scripture, the Liturgy and the Fathers bear special witness, and which corresponds to the great facts of the economy of salvation. And so we should consider not only the appropriation of the essential attributes such as Power, Wisdom, Goodness, Love, etc., but also the appropriation of the ad extra acts whose series constitutes the history of salvation; and all the more so because the order of the Missions in the economy is based on the order of the Processions and reveals it. The revelation of the mystery of the Trinity has been made as much through the economy itself as through theoretical statements. In the very profound Thomist theology of the "Divine Missions", the temporal Missions both invisible and visible represent the free and created term of the Processions which faith reveals to us in the eternal and necessary mystery of God. 6 He who came in the flesh is he who from all eternity proceeds idea of the inner

life

of

so far

as,

6 St Thomas, / Sent., d. 14, qu. 2, art. 1, sol and ad 3, then, for the visible Missions themselves, d. 15, qu, 1, art. 1; H. Dondaine, op. ciL, pp. 423 seq, Cf. the following admirable passage from Mgr Journet's pen: "The Spirit proceeds in eternity as God; but he proceeds also in time, since he is sent both visibly and invisibly to be, in his turn, among men and with the Church. Thus the birth in time both of Christ the Head, and of the Church which is his body, is the final outcome of that eternal act of the Father united to the Son the purpose of which is to send forth, to bring forth the Spirit. That is why St John sees the holy city, the new Jerusalem corning down from heaven, coming down from God (Apoc. 21. 2)", Eglise du Verbe mcarn^ t. 2, p. 455; cf. pp. 472-565, where the author explains how the Church has God (by appropriation the Holy Spirit) as the person ultimately responsible for what she does and what she is, and how, by virtue of this, she has, in a sense, a composite personality: the Holy Spirit subsists directly in God's bosom and by extension in the Church, by virtue of the vital impulse he communicates to her.

Old and New Dispensation

Son from the Father. He who on

as

287

Day of Pentecost manifests "with a sound like that of a strong wind blowing" the gift of himself to the Church and to the members of Christ's Body, is he who from all eternity proceeds both from the Father and the Son and constitutes the term of the processes within the Godhead. The .

.

the

.

coming of the Word into from it. This is in keeping with the eternal proceeds order of the divine Life. Communication (Kotvoyvia: 2 Cor. 13. 13) which Scripture appropriates to the Holy Spirit is something very different from and much more than a figure of speech. It means that the fact of self-giving which applies to the Three Persons corresponds in a mysterious way with what is proper to the Person of the Holy Spirit and to his order in the eternal Processions. He does not transmit the divine life to a fourth Person; in the blessed Society of the Three, it is to him that communication most properly belongs, although it is equally exercised by the Father and the Son. It is most appropriate that he should establish in the creature whom visible gift of the our flesh and

Holy

Spirit follows the

the Father loves (St Paul readily appropriates agape to the Father) the relation of sonship, of an effective return to the Father, of indwelling and "divinization". He is sent by the Father and the Son, and thus continues in his visible or invisible temporal Mission the

mystery of his eternal origin, so that he becomes more properly God active in us in respect of his gifts of grace through which we can effectively return to the Father. Yet, in using expressions of this kind, we must take care to avoid all temptation to Modalism. It is necessary, while we affirm what, in the work of our salvation, is characteristic of the whole Trinity, to exorcize the false image of a common nature anterior to the Persons in the same way as a tree exists before its branches. The divine nature exists in three Persons and according to the order of their Processions. From the standpoint of the economy of salvation itself, this is what is meant by the Pauline formula which teaches that we have access to the Father through the Son in the Spirit (Eph. 2. 18). The Liturgy too is full of this idea, especially in its most ancient sections. So also are the works of the Fathers, who also delighted to point out that the Holy Spirit leads us to the Son, whom he reveals to us, and that the Son leads us to the Father. 7 It is clear therefore that our union with God himself, through which the There are innumerable references. See for instance St Basil, De Spiritu sancto, 18 (P.O., 32, 135 BC). St Cyril of Alexandria never ceases to return to the idea that "everything is done by the Father, through the Son, in the Holy Spirit" (see references in Mah6, article already mentioned, pp. 37, 476, 478); cf. St Thomas himself, / Sent., d. 14, qu. 2, art. 2 sol., and also St John of the Cross la Croix, Paris, 1953, pp. 341 (cf. H. Sanson, IS esprit humain selon S. Jean de to the Son who leads seq.). St Irenaeus says the idea that the Holy Spirit leads us 7

c.

288

Appendix III

title to eternal life, indwelling and supernatural gifts "divinization" receive their efficacity, is more properly appropriated to the Holy Spirit and to his temporal Mission which follows that of the Word, or more precisely Christ's Pasch.

of sonship, the

What

tlien

took place?

A

sending forth (a "coming") both in-

and visible of the Holy Spirit upon the Church as Christ's Body, and more especially upon the Apostolic body. The consequen-

visible

ces of this sending forth of the Spirit are: (a) The Holy Spirit is united to the Church

and more especially to the apostolic body, by a covenant, as we have explained elsewhere. 8 In virtue of this union, the major (institutional) operations of the apostolic body the celebration of the sacraments, solemn

definitions of the faith are effected by the power of God himself (by appropriation, the Holy Spirit), in a manner that is valid in relation to the Kingdom of heaven, according to the promise made by Jesus to Peter (Matt. 16, 19), 9 then to the Twelve (Matt. 18. 18). The "Tradition" of the Church possesses the value we recognize it to have because the preservation, development and proclamation of the deposit of faith have as their vital principle the Holy Spirit

who spoke by the prophets and was given to the apostles. It was from this moment onward that, as a result of Easter John as

19.

its

(hence 30 and 34; then 20. 22) the Spirit was given to the Church

indwelling, lifegiving soul. It

was

then, in fact, that the

new

covenant was sealed, the covenant giving effective access to the patrimony of God and its benefits. It was then, therefore, that the society formed by Christ during the days of his flesh received its soul the Person of the Holy Spirit that is, a divine principle of action, able to bring men to the perfect communion of the Three Persons. This is why the great Scholastics explained the article "credo ... in unam, sanctam, catholicam et apostolicam Ecclesiam" as identical with the one that precedes it, "credo in

and

definitive

us to the Father conies down from the presbyters who had been the disciples of the Apostles: A.H., V, 36. 2 (P.O., 7, 1225). It is well known that, according to several historians of doctrine and liturgy, the Arian quarrel and the definition of Nicaea, appear to have brought some discredit on the formula: to the Father, through the Son, in the Spirit, and to have favoured the more expressly egalitarian doxology: Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost. Cf. J. Jungmann, Die Stdlung Christi im lituggischen Gebet, Munster, 1925. 8 Esqulsses du myst&re de V&glise, 2nd edn., Paris, 1953, pp. 158 seq.; "Dogme christologique et ecclesiologie", in Das Konzil von Chalkedon, Oeschichte und Gegenwart, Wikzburg, t. 3, 1954, pp. 239-68; cf. p. 259. 9 Matt 16. 18 should be read in connection with the Paschal victory of Christ as described in Apoc. 1. 18 and as we have spoken of it above in relation to Christ's descent into hell.

Old and New Dispensation

289

Splritum Sanctum**, and as

really meaning: I believe in the Holy not only in himself in his eternal Procession, but also in the Church, in his temporal Procession; I believe in the Holy Spirit unifying the Church, sanctifying her, making her Catholic and apostolic. 1 And St Thomas saw the deepest, most authoritative source of the Church's existence in the fact that the same and unique Holy Spirit who, in his eternal Procession, is the Spirit of the Son, dwells in Spirit

Jesus, the

The

Head, and in the Church,

his

Body.

2

made

to every soul for the sake of Christ spiritual gifts and in relation to him (that is, they incorporate souls or at least dispose them for incorporation in his Body) thus possess the principle enabling them at length to bring us to God himself, as we have said. Hence it is normal that the Church should gather to herself, at the time of Christ's Pasch, all that had been prepared for her and in the first place for Christ in the times that had preceded her. The Patriarchs and all men of goodwill join the first man to whom it was said: "This day, thou shalt be with me in Paradise" (Luke 23. 43) and who was thus, in a sense, the firstfruits of the (6)

Church.

And all this because since the personal Mission of the Word, then since Easter and Pentecost (which means nothing more than the fiftieth day after Easter), the Holy Spirit exists for men in a new way, namely (through appropriation understood in the fullest, most authentic sense our minds can grasp) as the principle of divine efficacy linked to personal grace and to the operations of the Church, Christ's Body, who received first her body then her soul. It is in this sense that we should re-read the statements of the Greek Fathers, especially St Irenaeus, St John Chrysostom and St Cyril of Alexandria. Petau sums up these statements in the distinction between the mere presence of the Holy Spirit through his action under the Old Dispensation, and his presence in his very substance from Easter onwards. The temple in the Mosaic order was God's dwelling-place, firstly, because

God acted, communicated his orders, his judgments and his grace; and secondly, he received there the homage of a worship that was imperfect, but whose outward signs he himself had instituted in preparation for the true worship to come. But neither the Temple of Jerusalem nor Israel, although truly God's people, were the

there

1 Cf. for instance, St Thomas, /// Sent., d. 25, qu. 1, art. 2 ad 5; Sum. TheoL, II-II ae qu. 1, art. 9 ad 5; St Albert, De sacrif. missae, II, c. 9, art. 9 (Borgnet, 38. 64-5) and see P. Nautin, mentioned above, p. 274, n. 5. 2 See E. Vauthier, "Le Saint-Esprit principe d'unit6 de FEglise d'apres St Thomas d'Aquin", in Melanges de Sc. relig., 1948, pp. 175-96, and 1949, pp. ,

57-80.

290

Appendix III

spiritual dwelling of the living God. The truly this dwelling for three reasons :

Church, on the other hand,

is

God

it the homage of a spiritual worship in which no other and no less, is truly united to God, no other and no less, by the Spirit who makes the image conform to its model. 2. The divine Persons are given to us there and there they dwell, and their presence is the substantial and objective presence proper to 1.

man

receives in

himself,

grace. 3. The Church, the Body of Christ, is in a mysterious way formed by the Eucharist which she celebrates and in which she preserves, sacramentally re-presented, the reality of Jesus Christ and his Pasch,

the true Israel

Holy the

Temple of the messianic era. was indeed God's People, but not the Body of

Spirit exercised various activities within

Body of Christ whose

soul he

it,

Christ.

The

but he dwells only in

is.

(y) May we not claim that this explanation acts as a bridge between the Augustinian-Thomist position and that of the Greek Fathers, which is closer to the letter of Scripture? St Augustine, St Leo, St Thomas Aquinas, the Scholastics as a whole, Leo XIII and Pius XII teach: 1. That the benefit of the efficient casuality inherent in sacred humanity of Christ is only granted after the Incarnation; 2. That at Pentecost and since, there has been a greater outpouring of grace, a more complete Mission of the divine Persons in breadth and intensity a greater indwelling of God, who has given himself in a more perfect way. In the Missions or "comings" through which God never ceases to make humanity one with himself by the operation in men of the ad Patrem, per Filium, in unitate Spiritus Sancti, a threshold was crossed at the moment of the Incarnation and again at the moment of Pentecost. Even if we interpret the latter as principally a visible sign and a visible Mission, we must not forget that St Thomas does not draw any hard and fast line between miracles and sanctifying grace, and that such exterior signs are in his view the accompaniment and the proclamation of an outpouring of grace greater in itself and with a collective scope (it is given to the Church

as a community). Yet in spite of the original and vigorous outline of this theory drawn by the Angelic Doctor (see preceding note), the ecclesiological

aspect remained undeveloped in classical theology. If Mgr Journet provides formulae which are more consonant with the letter of Scripture as understood by St John Chrysostom and St Cyril, it is no doubt because he sets the problem of grace in an ecclesiological

Old and New Dispensation

291

context. After all, our problem should not be raised only in the context of the treatise on the divine Missions to which however it owes all its profound meaning nor in that of the treatise on grace, especially in view of the angle from which the latter is approached in the

We

Summa

should see it in the context of the treatise on Theologica. Christology, and a Christology including, as with St Thomas, the "economic" questions arising from the various mysteries of the life of Christ. Ultimately even, we should see the problem in the context of ecclesiology. Before Christ, says Mgr Journet, the Church was only in preparation. She is only completely in existence as far as her fundamental principle is concerned, after the coming of Christ and through the gift of the Holy Spirit. Mgr Journet delights in emphasizing what he calls "the correlation between the presence of the efficient cause, the grace of Christ (christique), and the indwelling presence. 3

The Church ence as

is

only complete

when

the

Holy

Spirit,

by

his pres-

her through Christ, the grace that is fully Christ's and is able to make us fully other Christs, the sacramental, orientated grace. ... It is then only that the comefficient cause, infuses in

munity dwelling-place of God in historic time, foreseen from eternity and inaugurated immediately after the Fall, begins to be perfectly established, it is at that moment that the indwelling presence of the Trinity becomes absolute and complete. . . .

The interdependence of the Holy

Spirit

and the grace of Christ,

in other words, the interdependence of the uncreated Soul of the Church and her created soul, is inscribed at the centre of the new

Covenant (t. 2, p. 562). According to Scripture [John 7. 39 and Gal. 4. 4-5 and 6 have just been quoted] Christ's coming brings both the fullness of the Holy Spirit (here we have the uncreated soul of the Church) and also the fullness of grace and adoption (here we have the created soul of the Church) (p. 563). In conclusion, the Church in its complete actuality and under the new Covenant, is truly the "place" to which the plenitude of the Spirit's efficacy brings the plenitude of Christ's grace ("la grce christique") which is the condition of the plenitude of the Spirit's dwelling within us (p. 565).

In the earlier chapters Mgr Journet showed that the Church is community or collective personality which has God himselfby appropriation the Holy Spirit as the person ultimately respon4 sible for what she does and is. He wrote:

that

8 4

Ch, Journet, op. cit., pp. 561 seq. Op. cit. t pp. 472-565 with the quotation John

17. 20-1.

292

Appendix III

The

invisible missions

leave a fervent

of the Old Testament could, no doubt, grace, but this grace could not

and deep-seated

develop all its sanctifying effects (p. 461). The fundamental unity of the Church is thus given to her together with her nature at one and the same time on the Day of Pentecost (p. 549),

Mgr Journet certainly remains loyal to the formulae of St Thomas and Leo XIII. For him the indwelling presence of the Trinity simply becomes absolute and complete through the Incarnation and Penteour view, however, this loyal adherence to these formulae provide a link to ensure continuity between them and those, for instance, of St Cyril. To return from Mgr Journet's to our own pages, it would be sufficient, particularly in the light of the Paschal mystery which includes that of the descent into hell, to admit that the Paschal (Pentecostal) gift, the new and plenary Mission of the Holy Spirit by which the Church exists in the perfection of her cost. In

could

itself

being and in her full efficacy in the order of grace, also succeeds in making the supernatural form of life granted during the times of preparation, at long last effective. It was at Easter and Pentecost, in fact, but only then, that God himself was given to the Church as her proper principle of existence and action. This is true by appropriation of the Holy Spirit, who is identical not only in all her members but also in the members and the Head, for he is the Spirit of the Son. From this point of time, the Church's acts and those of her members could depend on God himself (the Holy Spirit) as their ultimate source and hence could efficaciously put man in contact with God, with none other and nothing less than God, The basic reason for this is that Christ's Pasch consists in his death according to the flesh and Ms resurrection according to the Spirit. Henceforth he has no life in him except from on high. There can be no doubt that for St Paul this was the beginning in history of a new order in the relations of mankind with God. Rom. 6. 3-1 1 ; 4. 25-6; 8, 1-30; Gal. 3. 23-4; ch. 7 should be re-read from this standpoint.

One final point in ecclesiology should be made clear. One of the advantages of the Augustino-Thomist position is that it lays the basis for a very firm unity in the Church at every period in the history of salvation, and not only a unity in faith, but a unity in grace itself. (Cf. our study "Ecclesia ab Abel", mentioned on p. 266, n. 2.) It is a fact recognized by the historians (e.g. H. I. Morrou), that this position brings with it, especially in the case of St Augustine, a certain devaluation of the specifically historical character of

Old and

New

293

Dispensation

God's work. However, we

shall not go into this difficulty here. The show that the proposed solution fully respects the traditional insistence on unity. But, instead of the unity of a reality substantially given from the beginning and only more fully manifested and extended after Christ's coming, we envisage the unity of a reality that was first promised and granted but under an imperfect and preparative form, and then a reality effectively given in its per-

important thing

fect

form and

is

to

in its very source.

We need only re-read Gal.

3.

8 to 4.

7; the story of the adoption to sonship indeed begins with Abraham, but in the form of a promise whose fulfilment was to take place in

and through Christ, the true descendant of Abraham. From the beginning, God's children have been one single body, but those who lived before Christ received only the promise of sonship and a foretaste of the reality. These gifts, which were granted in view of their effective fulfilment in the future, suffice to ensure that there is only one Church, a Church at first in a state of preparation and waiting, and then in an achieved and effective actuality. Christ is truly the Head of Abraham and of all those who came after him and believed. Abraham belongs to this body of believers and is holy through the supernatural gifts he received because of Christ who was to come. In Abraham these gifts were the formal principle of a holy life and were to acquire their total efficacity through effective contact with the Son of God among us in our flesh. By becoming sons of God in Christ, we become at the same time members of Ms body and also sons of Abraham. 5 God's plan is fulfilled in all the rigour of its unity, but this unity has two moments, the first, one of promise and (real) preparation for the body of Christ, the second, one of effective fulfilment, of efficacious development and dependent on the coming and on the Pasch of Jesus Christ in and through whom alone

we

are granted effective adoption,

We

are of opinion (d) Consequences for the status of the Church. that the difference in the Dispensation of God's gifts is of great consequence for ecclesiology. It is, we believe, this difference which is

the basis of the fundamental

infallibility

of the Church, the

in-

defectible character of her fidelity, the assurance that God works in her sacraments and guarantees the genuine acts of the apostolic

power to which the Spirit has been given. That is why we pointed out some time ago that this is the decisive issue between the Protes8 Hence the following collect for Holy Saturday (post prpphetiarn III): **Deus fidelium Pater summe, qui in toto orbe terrarum promissionis tuae filios diffusa adoptionis gratia multiplicas, et per paschale sacramentum Abraham pueram timm universarum, sicut jurastl, gentium afficis patrem: da populis tuis digne ad gratiam tuae vocationis kitroire, per Dominum . ," .

294

Appendix III

tant Reformers

the only

The keenest and we add practically we then received from the Protestant side in made by Pastor A. Dumas. He saw our point 7 but

and

ourselves. 6

criticism

France was that

whilst taking due note with us of the fact that the Reformation view considers the Church as fundamentally in the same situation as Israel, he was content to assert, as against us, that she indeed is.

In our view, the Protestant position in regard to the Church and to reform is false because the status of the Church is no longer that of Israel For Pastor Dumas the Catholic position in ecclesiology and the Roman refusal to accept the Reformation are false because the status of the Church is identical with that of the former Dispensation, since Revelation and the economy of salvation are continuous. It is a fact that in Calvin's view there is no fundamental difference between the sacraments of the Synagogue and those of the Church. 8 According to a theory frequently put forward by present-day Protestant writers (and we are not always sufficiently aware of its implications), the it tells

God

is

Gospel

us who

is

to

the fulfilment of the promises in the sense that them and where God is here and now at work.

fulfil

works under the same conditions as formerly in Israel. shadow and reality is not the relation between promise and gift, prophetic proclamation and possession (at least "by way of pledge"). The shadow gives us the exact outline of reality and brings us to a knowledge of it. 9 The Gospel merely tells But

The

still

relation between the

us that the reality thus indicated is entirely in Jesus Christ. We continue to think that here we have a grave misunderstanding of the movement of Revelation and of the economy of God's gifts, a grave misunderstanding of the profoundly new state of affairs represented by the fact of the Incarnation and by the gift of the Holy Spirit

which

The new

is its

consequence.

which the first Christians, especially those belonging to the communities founded by St Paul and St John, were so acutely aware was this: since Christ's coming and Christ's Pasch fact of

we have passed 6

into the order of heavenly

life.

Henceforth we are

Vraie et fausse r^forme dans V&glise (Unam Sanctatn 20), Paris, 1950, pp. 467-82, Fr J. Danielou recently emphasized, as against CX Cullmann's criticism of Tradition, how incongruous it would be to admit that the Church's status in regard to doctrinal certitude is inferior to that of the Synagogue: cf. "RSponse a Oscar Cullmann", in Dieu vivant, No. 24 (1953-2), pp. 107-16, 4 7 A. Dumas, *'Le *Testament' fait a FfigHse est-il du meme ordre que L* Alliance* conclue avec Israel?" in Rev. cPHist. et de Philos* reltg^ 32 (1952), pp. 230-40. 8 See references in Vmie et fausse refonne, p. 406, n, 99; cf, p. 433, n, 150, and H. H. Wolf, Die Einheit des Bunetes. Das VerhUltnis von A. und N.T. bei Calvin, 1942; G. Schrenk, Gottesreich und Bund im dlteren Protestantisms, vornehmUch bd Johannes Coccejius, Giitersloh, 1923. 9 A, Dumas, p. 235, with a quotation Heb. 10, 1.

Old and New Dispensation

295

1 truly fellow-citizens of the saints. And that is what "the new and eternal covenant" is. twentieth-century Christians are accustomed

We

to these ideas, at least in the Catholic Church, where the Presence of God, of Christ in his Eucharist, of God's mother and the saints, together with the reality of the mystical life, form the daily environment of the life of truly faithful souls. It would even be easy for us to read back all these vistas into the history of Israel. But when we read at a stretch the Old Testament with its own specific outlook, and then the epistles of St Paul, we are struck above all by a change of key. We have the same experience when we are privileged to read Jewish commentaries or to discuss the Bible with Jewish friends. We then feel to what an extent we have passed, with Jesus Christ, away from a very human history (although God constantly intervened in its course) to an order of life which is truly heavenly. What had been simply an object of hope and often as a kind of compensation for disappointed earthly hopes in a messianism strongly prone to eschatological expectations, is now given to us in Jesus Christ, and is lived in the Church by the grace of the Holy Spirit. All that now remains purely to be hoped for is the resurrection of our bodies and with it complete liberty and cosmic redemption. This is why the living conviction of the faithful is perfectly expressed in the following ancient baptismal profession of faith: "I believe in the Holy Spirit in the holy Church, for the resurrection of the flesh." 2 The three parts of this profession are strictly interdependent. K. Barth has written: "From the eschatological standpoint, Catholicism is true." But the New Testament view, as well as that of Catholic experience, is surely that the last things are already given to us in the Church. The Church is, in fact, the people of God whose beginnings are made known to us in the Old Testament, but she is God's people under absolutely new conditions. Here especially it would be quite insufficient to say that the Old Testament makes known to us what

God's people is, and the Gospel quite simply in whom and where it to be found. It is already somewhat risky, if not false, to say that the Old Testament tells us what Christ is and the New Testament, who he is, for Jesus is much more than the expectation of the Jews, he is not only the Messias, he is the Son of the living God. Hence

is

the first emergence of faith in his divinity the Apostle Peter's confession is in Christ's eyes like the appearance of a rocky foundation on which it is possible to build, and in this case, to build

the Church. In the same way the revelation of what God's people is does indeed begin with the Old Testament, and St Paul is intent on 1

There are

s

See P. Nautin's

texts in

abundance. See E. Peterson, Le

book mentioned above,

livre

p. 274, n. 5.

des Anges.

296

Appendix III

pointing out the continuity of the Church with Israel, but this revelation is only complete in the New Testament. From it we learn that Israel can only be God's people and obtain the fulfilment of the 3 promises by becoming the body of Christ. St Paul shows us, partithe Galatians, that the to in the third of the Epistle cularly chapter true line of Abraham's descendants passes through Jesus Christ, that is, it is a heavenly sonship. This is because the inheritance promised to our father (Abraham) was the inheritance of God's patrimony *lux sancta" as the Mass for the Dead has it and not some territory or fruitfulness belonging to this world. The heir

can only be the Son of God, Hence we can only inherit as co-heirs with him and as members of his body; we can only become truly God's people by being, through faith and baptism, one single living son with and in Christ. By the same token, God's people exists in the Church under new conditions infinitely surpassing not, perhaps, the aim of the former Dispensation but what it was able to achieve. We say "perhaps not its aim", for, from beginning to end, the story of Israel shows us man learning how powerless he is to attain the goal of Ms hopes, the goal of the efforts it is his duty to make. Finally God, from on high, gives man the object of his search and infinitely more. This is what took place in the palmary instance of the Temple. This is the meaning of the prophecy of Nathan. It is not David nor Solomon who will build for God a house where he may dwell, it is God who will build one for David, and finally there will be no other temple but the body of Christ dead according to the flesh and restored to life again by God, the body in which dwells the whole plenitude of 3 This fact seems to us so decisive that we have long wanted to include it in the actual title of a treatise on the Church which we have in preparation. We gladly note here that others hold the same view: N. A. Dahl (a Protestant exegete), speaking of the Pauline concept of the Church, says "Der UnterscMed ist, dass der 'Kirchenbegriff* des Alten Testaments durch den Begriff 'Volk vollstandig umschrieben war, wahrend die Kirche des N.T. nur dadurch das 'Volk Oottcs* ist, dass sic zugleich der *Leib Christi' und der Ternpel des heiligen Geistes* ist" (Das Volk Gottes. Eine Untersuchung zum Kirchenbewmstein des Urchristentums* Oslo, 1941, p. 278. ["The difference is, that the Old Testament idea of the Church was completely expressed in the words 'God's people*, whilst the Church of the New Testament is only God's people if she is at the same time the body of Christ and the Temple of the Holy Ghost."] J. Ratzinger "Die Kirche ist eben das als Leib Christi bestehende Volk Gottes" [Precisely as the body of Christ, the Church is God's very people]* (Volk und Ham Gottes in Augustins Lehre von der Kirche, Munich, 1954, p. 327), with a reference to a note 7a which runs as follows: **In dieser Formulierung, die das Ergebnis dieser historischen Untersuchung zusammenfassen sucht, trefFe ich zusammen mit dem KirchenbegrifF, den Schmaus vom Systematischen her gefunden hat." [In this formula which attempts to grasp the results of this historical research, I arn adopting the concept of the Church to which Schmauss has come

JHWHY

:

from

his (former) systematic view.]

Old and New Dispensation divinity (Col.

1.

march towards

made 19; the true Jerusalem, united to 2. 9).

All

is

297

new. Whilst Israel was on the

only in intention, and was given Man's movement towards God is not coming from heaven, it is undertaken by

the heavenly reality came to men in Jesus Christ.

down by

it

faith (Heb. 11),

only sustained by gifts God himself and so becomes perfectly efficacious and able to bring man into contact with the Father. 4 This is why the Church is truly holy in her worship and more especially in her sacramental worship. She is holy in the same sense as the

Holy Spirit himself. Certainly, there is in her much that remains external; God is not yet "all in all", the Church is not yet pure "communion," the pure reality of grace. This she will not be until she has lived through her own Pasch at the Last Day and when all, in her, will be "from on high". But here and now her sacraments are not just simple signs of her faith as were those of Israel; they are much more. In them, the spiritual effect of grace accompanies the sign, with an efficacity that comes from the Spirit which is the soul of the Body of Christ. In the same way, the Church's hierarchy, together with the apostolic succession which preserves it in being, is not a mere external, juridical form devoid of grace. The Holy Spirit is with it and is its "concelebrant". The specific character of the new covenant, the character which makes it definitive, is the fact that the reality of grace and eternal life is given with the signs, even though in its earthly phase, this reality is only present "in mysterio", as "a pledge". We pointed out above (pp. 49-52) an important characteristic of the former Dispensation: Israel's history is fully human and in this sense could be called secular but the transcendent God intervenes in this history. The Dispensation that follows the Incarnation is very different. The transcendent has come into the world (John 1.11),

God

he has given himself to human nature. Through the Incarnation, there is henceforth in the world a sacred reality the body of Christ. 6 4

This

doubtless the reason why Jesus himself said so little about "the Church" to speak of the "Kingdom of heaven". In this way, he emphasized the absolutely new character of that which came down from heaven and the need for a spiritual transformation. If our suggestion is correct it would explain the fact that Protestant exegetes have found this problem of vocabulary and, generally speaking, the question of the relation between the Church and the Kingdom a stumbling-block. 5 A* Dumas (p. 235, n. 1) raises the following objection: "Why does John 1. 14 describe the dwelling among us of the Incarnate Word as an w/)vo)aevf a dwelling in a tent? This is a precise parallel with the Old Testament tabernacle". In our view, too much is made of this laxtfvcocrev, even in much Catholic writing. It is quite likely St John chose the word because of the assonance between it and the Hebrew verb shakan from whose root is derived, in Mishnaic Hebrew, the word shekinah. The verb merpow had lost its sense of "to live under is

and preferred

298

Appendix III

True, Israel was consecrated (Exod. 19. 5-6) and by that very fact was holy but not intrinsically as is the Body of Christ in which God dwells ever since he came personally into the world. This body is the only sacred reality in the world, the only one which, included as it indeed is among the things of this world, has been transformed ontologically, although until the manifestation of the children of God (Rom. 8. 19; 1 John 1. 1-3) it retains its external appearance as something belonging to the world. This sacred reality exists under three forms. It exists in the form of the body born of Mary which was so like any other human body that, as Mauriac remarks, Judas had to kiss Jesus in order to point him out to the Jews as he stood among the other apostles. Yet this body is united in its very being to the Person of the Son of God, and raised to a dignity that transcends all created things. Secondly, there is the body of Christ made sacramentally present by the changing of the substance of bread into its own substance; but all the exterior appearances of the bread remain. Finally there is the Church, the Christian community as Christ's body. This community is made up of human beings, the faithful and their pastors. They live among other human beings and externally share their historical and earthly conditions. But mystically these men and women are the members of Jesus Christ, they have in them his Spirit as the source of their life. Behind the external history of the Church, whose history, like any other, can be surveyed and its landmarks charted, another history is in the making, a specifically supernatural and sacred history which can only be written in heaven, the history of the invisible Missions through which God makes his Presence ever deeper in the members of the Body of Christ and builds this Body to be his everlasting spiritual temple. 6 The faithful are truly living stones in this temple, God has entered their life down to its very roots. They are truly "holy", because since the Incarnation and Easter, God has personally entered our world and is really one with

men. All that has any connection with or in any

a tent" and simply meant "to

way

serves the

one

live"; cf. for instance, Bauer, Griechisch-deut&ches Worterb. z, d. Schriften des N.T., q.v. until the article in the Theol. Wdrterb* z, N.T., is available. It is therefore extremely unlikely that John 1. 14 is intended to convey the idea of a temporary dwelling on the lines of the desert tabernacle, even although Fr Lagrange, in he,, thinks this is partly the case. Fr E. Boismard, whilst he holds that the word does suggest a reference to the exodus, rejects the idea that it means Christ's coming among men was transitory. He has no difficulty in showing that the expression is used throughout Scripture to indicate God's dwelling among men Le Prologue de Saint Jean (Lectio divina, 1 1), Paris, 1953, pp. ;

68 seq. 8

Cf, St

Thomas, /

Sent., d. 15, qu. 5, art 1, sol. 2.

Old and New Dispensation 299 (yet threefold) reality which Christ's body is, receives in ascending order its own sacred character. The Church's organization and her law can therefore claim this title. 7 Even the material things that are used water, oil, bread, wine are, in a sense, sacred. They are, as it were, the firstfruits of that time when our bodies themselves, and with them the whole world, will be transformed into the image of the risen body of Christ. 7 Protestant failure to understand the sacred and in a sense the "spiritual** character of Church law and the Church's organization arises from inadequate reflection on the Incarnation and its consequences. We have touched on this point already in the third part of Vraie et fausse reforme (Paris, 1950), in "Pour le dialogue avec le mouvement oecum6nique'* (in Verbum Caro, No. 15, 1950, pp. 111-23), in Le Christ, Marie et rglise (Paris, 1952) and finally in "Pour le dialogue sur la christologie de Luther**, in the third volume of Chalkedon Wiirzburg, 1954, pp. 457-86. .

.

.

GENERAL INDEX abhan

se

75

thijja,

Anointed One,

(n. 7)

abia, 58

Abner, 22

Abraham (Abram), 3(andn.

x (and

ix (n. 2),

n.

23 (n.

5), 31, 4), 46, 58, 61 (and n. 5), 77, 100, 128, 217, 218, 249, 254, 266, 268, 269 (n. 1), 272, 278, 293 (n. 5), 296 Abraham and Christ, 293 Abraham's children, 183

4),

1),

4,

5,

32 (and n.

Absalom, 29 Achaz, 34, 102 Acts, 171, 250 d%etQonot,rJTQg, 130 (n. 2) ix, x, 76, 97, 154, 182, 221, 245, 267, 281

Adam,

the new, 254 Adoption as God's sons, our, 231

of,

216

^, 16

Agape, 181, 182,287 Aggaeus, 249; the messianic prophecy of,

dyia,

(n. 8),

Apocalypse, the, 76, 161 (n. 4), 163, 179, 184 (n, 1), 196, 204-30 passim, 235 (n. 9), 240, 251 Apocalypse I and II, according to Boisrnard, 251 Apocalypse, Jewish, 93 (n. 9), 96 (n. 3), 130 (n. 3) the,

255

dnoMOopsv, 272 (n. 1) Apostles, the, x (n. 4) Apostolic body, the, 288 Apostolic doctrine, the, 176, 182 Apostolic tradition, 186 Aquinas, St Thomas, 194, 211 (n.

2),

237

(n. 3), 243, 275, 281, 283, 284, 289,

interior worship,

144, 174(n. 6)

Arabs, 269

dyiaafiia, 109 (n. 5), 110 6fyog, 201, 221 (n. 3)

Akathistos

Hymn, 260

(n. 6),

*a raphel,

261

(n. 2)

dxQoycovalog, 163, 164 Alcirnus, 140 (n. 3) Alexander the Great, 250 Alexandria, 250 Alexandrine process of spiritualization, the, 153

At-Khaltl, 269 (n. 1) Alleluia, 228 (and n. 1)

Allo, Fr, 226 Almah, 35 (n. 2)

Alpha and omega, 77, 163, 202, 223 Amar, 1 1 (n. 6) Amen, 184 (n. 1), 205 (and n. 9), 228 (and EL 1), 229 (n. 3) 34, 94 (n. 2), 146, 249

Amos,

*dnan, 10 (n. 9) 38, 89, 90, 125 (n. 9) Ancients, the, 38

anawim,

Andrew,

39, 81, 131, 139,

197 (n. 8), 206, 250 Antipater of Bostra, 258 (and n. 7)

196

290, 291, 292; and the three stages of

36

ret,

215 dvTixd(,ievos, d, 196

Antiochus Epiphanius,

Apocrypha,

Adversaries of the faith, 169 Adversary, the, 196, 205, 207; the reign

the, 33

&v6QO)yios trjg dpaQriag, 6, 195 (n. 5) dvdQConoe T??g dvojuta$, o, 195 (n. 5) Antichrist, 195 (nn. 4 and 5); the city of,

St,

138

Angels, 279 (n. 6) of the Churches, 213 (n. 6) Anna, 120, 126 (n* 3) Annas the high priest, 124 Annunciation, the, 39, 41, 243, 256

284

(n. 1)

10

Areuna, threshing-floor of, 101 Arian quarrel, the, 288 (n. 7) Ark, the, 12, 13, 20, 21, 29, 32, 36, 84 (n. 9), 93 (n. 7), 114 (n. 7), 255, 256, 259 (n. 4) dQvtov, Aramaic word for, 210 (and n. 7) Arnulph of Orleans, 195 (n. 4) Ascension, the, 250, 285 (n. 3) Assumption, the feast of the, 260 (n. 5) Assyria, 25, 78 (n. 4)

Assyrian armies and Israel, the, 35 Assyrians, the, 30 (n. 6), 249 Assyrio-Babylonian cosmogony, 96; cosmology, 99 Astarte, 197 (n. 8) Athanasius, St, 194, 282 Athens, X (n. 4)

Atonement, Day

of, 108, 173

Augustine, St, 184, 194 (n. 2),

(n. 8),

228, 265, 290, 292;

dialectic

197, 211

and the

of sacrifice, 72

Augustinian and Scholastic standpoint, the, 268 Augustino-Thomist position, the, 273, 290, 292

302

General Index Bread, the living, 283 the, 196 (n.

Augustus, 82, 250 vadv dyiov, 163 162 Austria, the House of, 28 Avignon, 254 (n, 2)

Bride,

(n. 6),

Burmese symbolism, 219 Burning Bush,

9), 66 Babylon, 25 (n. 9), 64, 65, 159, 216, 232 the king of, 197 (n. 1) Babylonian exile, the, 64, 249 legends and temple origins, 50

Baal, 51 (n.

ritual,

42

temples, 50, 96 world, 96

Bagdad, 219

(n. 6)

81 (and n. 4), 110 Balaam, 17 (n. 7), 60 (n. 9)

bait, 11,

Baptism, 9 (n. 5) Barac, 273 (n. 4) Barnabas, 71 Barthian religious atmosphere, 60 (n. 1) Paadtxtf, 191 Beast, the, 196, 205, 206 (and n. 3), 207, 209 (n. 4), 216 Beautiful Gate, the, 108 Bedouins, 27 (n. 8) Beelen, 265 Beit-El, 5 Belial, 159 Benedict, St,

232 (n. 7) Benjamin, 22, 85, 88, 249 Bernard, St, 235 (n. 7) Bersabee, 3 (and n. 1), 4, 58 Betha^ldhtm, 110

tradition,

236, 251, 268, 295

Commission, the, 33 Revelation, 282 Body and person, 156

(n. 9)

Christ, the, 143 (n, 7), 148, 149, 150, 162, 163, 165, 166, 170, 171, 174, 177, 187, 189 (n. 4), 191, 198, 200, 223, 237, 238, 243 (and n, 4),

Body of

246, 255, 256, 287, 289, 296 (and n. 3), 297, 298, 299; as the Temple,

243 Christians the temple of the Holy Spirit, 153-7 Body of the Lord, the, 185 Book of the Consolation of Israel, 249 the,

254

Books of Kings, the, 249 Bread from heaven, 280

257

Catholicism, 295 Cecilia, the feast of St, 203 (n. 9) Cedron, 29, 102, 109 Champion of wickedness, the, 195

Fr

T., xii

Chobar, 64 Christ, as Church, 140 Body and blood of, 282

Body 298

Bible, the, 5, 11, 23 (n. 5), 28, 29 (n. 6), 42, 44, 50, 60, 75, 88, 90, 96 (n. 3), 99, 100, 156, 173, 215 (n. 9), 232

Book of James,

(n. 6)

the, 7

position in ecclesiology, 294 theology, 285

of,

coming

Bethsarnes, 21

Body of the

218

Cadalus, 195 (n. 4) Caesarea Philippi, 117, 275 Caligula, 197 (n. 8) Calvary, 97, 242 Cambodian symbolism, 219 (n. 6) Cana, 122 (n. 8), 147 Canaan, 249 Canticle of Moses, the, 201 (n, 3) Capharnaum, 86 (n. 2) Cariathim, 21, 23 Carmel, 50 (n. 6), 51 (n, 9) Catherine of Siena, St, 232 (n. 8) Catholic Church, the, 295 concept of the sacraments, 189 (n. 2) experience, 295 litanies, 261 liturgy, 89

Chifflot, (n, 1)

Bethlehem-Ephrata, 35

(n. 5), 233,

216,

%u$onow]T;QQ> 130

Bethel, x, 3 (n. 1), 4, 5, 6, 20, 21 (n, 8), 58 (n. 1), 96, 134, 187, 261

Biblical

7), 213, 221, 224, 225, 226

as true temple, 140

of, 263, 271, 293, 294,

(n. 5)

community body

of,

247

descent of, into hell, 279, 288 (n. 9) glory of, lies in his Passion, 142 grace of, 268 humanity of as God's temple, 183 mediation of, 177 Paschal victory of, 288 (n. 9)

power and primacy of, 200 sacramental body of, 247 sovereignty of, 210 spirit of, 152, 154, 170 the Head, 286 (n. 6), 292 the true David, 45 as foundation of the Church, 162 in heaven and Christ on earth, 242 Christian, the, 152 (n. 4), 153, 154, 157,

171, 185, 203, 218 (n. 5) Christian community, the, 160, 193 (n. 5),

298 devotion, 259 dispensation, the, 144

General Index Christian (continued) doctrine, 148 eschatology, 10 ethic, the, 157

knowledge of God's plan, 253 the, 182, 185 liturgy, the, 211 life,

outlook, the, 159 religion, the, 100 revelation, 169

sacraments, the, 142 (n. 4) sense of the word "spiritual", the, 188 situation, the, 241 spiritual order, the, 190 spiritual realities, 188 thought, 153 tradition, 165 universalism, 79 worship, 88 (n. 1), 149, 186 worship and Jewish liturgy, 190 (n. 7) writers, 159 writings, 110 Christianity, 94, 153, 155, 180, 186, 194, 198, 209 (n, 1), 215, 280

and Old Testament prophecies, 215 as fulfilment of what was foretold by the prophets, 186 Christians, 9 (n. 5), 47, 68, 94, 130 (n. 2), 143 (n. 7), 152, 154 (n. 7), 159, 166, 171, 179, 180, 201, 247, 254, 267, 276 as temple, 161 the, 273, 294 Oriental, 97

first,

priesthood of, 144 twentieth-century, 295

Christmas,119, 120, 1 33 (and n. 5), 241, 244 Christological doctrine, 255 questions, 276 Christology, xi, 291 Christ's Day, 282 Mother, 258; the grace of, 268

Church,

the,

x

(n. 4), xi, 8, 9, 13 (n. 8),

41, 44, 47, 48, 52, 53, 62 (n. 6), 76, 79, 94 (n. 1), 97 (n. 5), 110, 117, 122, 128, 129, 135 (n. 4), 136, 140, 142 (n. 3),

151-79 passim,

1

84-229 /ww-

sim, 241-6, 250, 252, 254, 255, 258, 260, 262, 263, 264, 268, 269, 274 (and n, 5), 275, 280-98 passim Church, the, and the Holy Spirit, 154-5 and individual believers, 153 apostolic, 40, 45 as body of Christ, 150, 152, 186, 198, 275, 288, 289

as God's dwelling-place, 290 as temple, 152 buildings, 247

the catholicity of the, 221 of Easter, 223

303

inadequate notions of the, 172 liturgy of the, 98, 100, 111, 151, 152 mystery of the, 153, 157, 160 (n. 4) of the New Testament, 296 (n. 3) organic life of the, 188 organization of the, 229 (and n. 9) Pauline concept of the, 296 (n. 3) the tradition of the, 180 City, the, 216, 221, 226 City, the celestial, 219 (n. 6) City, the holy, 84, 225 City of God, the, 161 (n. 4 from 160), 258 City of God, St Augustine's, 233 Clear Vision, land of, 23 (n. 5) Clericus, 195 (n. 1)

Cloud, the,

8,

13(andn.

9-10 (and nn. 8), 18,256

5, 6, 9), 12,

Colossae, 168 Colossians, the, 199, 250 Comforter of the nation, the, 119 Community or Church as temple of God, the, 157, 175 Constantine, 31

Continuity between earthly life and life in the world to come, the, 225 Corinth, 153, 250 Corinthian Gate, the, 108 Corinthians, the, 156, 201, 250 Cosmic aspect of the temple, the, 219 salvation, 199 values and salvation, 100 Council of Saint-Basles, the, 195 (n. 4) Covenant, the, 12, 47, 57 (n. 5), 58, 64, 271 the new, 69, 74, 119, 130 (n. 3), 202, 223, 259, 265, 291 the new and eternal, 235, 295 the Mosaic, 7 the old, 267 with Abraham, the, 4 Creed, the, 277 (n. 5) the Niceno-Constantinopolitan, 255 Cross, the, 199, 219, 242, 243

Curve of history,

the,

245

Cynics, the, 156 Cyrus, 30 (n. 6), 80, 249

Dagon, 21 Damascus,

3 (n. 1), 24; the

Document of,

28 (n. 9), 115 (n. 2), 159 (n. 9); the king of, 62 (n. 7) Dan, the men of, 57 (n. 7) Daniel, 38, 39 (n. 1), 41, 81, 146 (n. 4), 158, 159 (n. 6), 196 (n. 8), 197 (n. 9), 250; the messianic prophecy of, 39 David, ix, 20-53 passim, 60-4, 69, 71-5, 84, 101, 110 (n.l), 114 (n, 7), 119 (n. 3), 128, 138, 146, 202 (n. 6), 215,

304

General Index

David (continued} 217, 229, 249, 257 (n, 9), 268, 270, 273 (n. 4), 278, 296 as prophet-king, 61-2 the kingdom of, 21-2 the religious spirit of, 21, 22 (n. 4), 23, 29 Davidic king, 38

Easter, 79, 135, 136, 139, 145, 146, 147, 154, 156, 180, 185, 198, 202, 210, 219, 222, 223, 224, 268, 271, 272, 273, 274, 281, 288, 289, 292, 298 Day, 128, 132 Eastern iconography, 279 (n, 4)

Ecdesia, 172

messianism, 39, 40, 44, 74

Ecctesia Dei, 260

messias, 44

Ecclesiastes, 250 Ecclesiastlcus, 250

Day of the Lord,

the, 189 (n, 7)

Dayspring, the, 37 (n. 6) Dead Sea, the, 74 Dead Sea Scrolls, the, 90 Debbora, the Canticle of, 20 (n. 4), 22 (n, 2) debtr, 92, 101, 108 Decalogue, the, 60 (n. 9) Dedication, the, 137, 250 of Churches, Feast of, 245 (n. 4) Defectus communis, 281 Descartes, 189 Destruction of the Temple, the, 138 Deuteronomy, 13, 16, 25, 56, 65, 91, 92, 249, 25 1 the ideal of the unity of the sanctuary in, 84 ;

Deuteronomic traditions, 1 1 Deuteronomist document (D),

the, 251

Ecclesiology, 291, 292, 293

Ecole Biblique, 169 (n. 5) Economy of God's Presence and

human

history, the, ax

175(n.2) 274 (n. 4 from p. 273) ,

,

Egypt, 4, 14, 22, 24, 28, 29, 30, 31, 61, 74 (n. 8), 80, 201, 206 (n. 3) elg, 162 eladQ%saQ
xatOMSiJTQiQv rov Qsov, 158 vadv dyiov, 158 dg rd dyia, 174 elg

slg

ixxKriaia, 11, 191 /, 17 (n. 7) ^Idm, 108, 109

dia, 177

ElElidn, 17(n.7)

dia.Kov<>, diaxovfaj diaxovos, 171 (n. 2) diakonia, 170, 171

50 (n. 6), 51 (n. 9), 57 (n, 5), 61, 62 (andn.7), 118 (n.2), 133,249,268 Eliasib, 124 Eliseus, 57 (n. 5), 249 Elizabeth, 257 (n. 9), 270

Diaspora, the, 88, 99, 90 (and n, 3), 125 (n. 9), 131 Dispensation, the former, 120, 187 (n. 4), 262, 263, 264, 266, 268, 280 (n. 7), 296 the Messianic, 262 the new, 188, 274, 278, 297 of the Incarnate Word, the, 221 of the new Covenant, the, 192, 222 the present, 246 Dispensations, the old and new, 234 the two, 267, 273 Divine economy, the, 148 missions, the Thomist theology of the,

286 Persons, the mission of the, 290 Presence, the conception of the, 91-4

Divinum illud munus, 266 Dominic, St, 194 Dominican rite, the, 269 (n, 1) Domitian, 204 (n. 8), 213 (n. 7) MSa, 10 (n.l), 11,64 Douai Version, the, 37, 59 (n. 5), 70 (n. 8), 113 (n. 2), 119, 144 Dragon, the, 206 Jacob's, 4; and Christ, 5 Dwelling-place, God's, 7, 8, 9, 12, 23, 44, 47, 48, 52, 53, 55, 65, 68, 74, 91, 92, 93, 110, 118, 184, 185, 201, 204, 205, 217, 218, 219, 230, 289, 298

Dream,

Elias, 14,

Elohist tradition(s), the, ix (n, 2),

xii, II,

249

document

(E),

El Shaddai, 4

the, 251

(n. 2), 5,

17 (n. 7)

34, 35 (n. 2)

Emmanuel,

the, 195 &/, 165, 177

Emperor,

Encaenia, the, 81, 250 Enemy, the, 196 MGOV, 53 ivobtqmc;, 240 (n. 5) Ifovata, 172 (n. 7) Ephesians, the, 250 Epistle to the, 163, 168, 169, 196, 199, 213 Ephesus, 168 Ephraim, 55 (n.

7), 67, 84,

249

Ephramites, the, 35

imaxtafaifv), 133

(n. 4),

Epistle for the Votive

246

Mass of

Unity,

the, 170

Epistles of the Captivity, the, 62 (n. 6), 198, 199, 200, 219

the Pastoral, 251 noiKQdQf4r}Q&vre, 162 Esau, 6

General Index Eschatological reign, God's, 205 Esdras, 27, 72, 80 (n. 3), 81, 85, 109, 250 laxtfvtoaev, 297 (n. 5) Essene movement, the, 159 (and n. 9) Essene themes and texts, 159 (n. 1) Essenes, the, 90, 159; and St Paul's idea of the community, 159 Esther, 250 Eucharist, the, 141, 143 (n. 7), 176, 180 (and 7), 185, 187, 188, 189 (and n. 1), 247 (n. 5), 290, 295; 242, ^243, as cpaQfJiaxov r'fjg ddavaalag, 282 (n.5) Eucharistic Christ, the, 203 character of spiritual worship, the, 185 sacrifice, the, 126, 149, 187

worship, the, 203 Eusebius, 31 Evangelists, the, 107, 118, 120, 121, 133,

138 (n. 7), 206 Eve, 76 Exodus, 13, 14, 16, 18, 132, 210 (n. 251 Exodus, the tent of the, 12 Ezechias, 26, 34, 35, 75 Ezechiel, 14, 36 (n. 4), 50 (n. 4), 55

60

6),

(n. 7),

76, 81(n.4), 84, 85, 86 (n. 6), 96, 102, 124, 147, 154, 197 (n. 1), 215, 220, 232, 249, 269, 271 the messianic prophecy of, 36 ;

291

8),

129,

n.2), 145, 165, 1),

185,

(n. 5), 114, 116 137, 141, 142 (and 177, 179, 183, 184 193, 205, 225, 230 235 (andn. 9), 238,

231, 242, 243, 244, 248, 263, 265, 269, 274, 275, 277, 281, 285, 286 (and n. 7),

6),

287 (and n.

7),

288 297

(n.

7 from

287), 290, 293 (n. 5), Creator, 269 (n. 4) Redeemer, 269 (n. 4) Fathers of the Church, the, 71, 97, 133 (n.4), 143 (n. 6), 144, 151, 154, 182, 191 (n. 9), 194 (andn. 8), 195, 220 (n. 8), 235, 240, 259, 260, 263, 265, 268, 272 (and n. 1), 282, 286, 287 the Greek, 266, 276 (n. 8), 285 (and

n.5) the Latin, 265, 285 the Western, 264 (n.

Galatians, 250, 296 Galilee, 117, 123 Garizim, 79, 127, 187

Gedeon, 273

(n. 4)

Genesis, 251, 252 (n. 1) Gentiles, the, 47, 74, 78, 79, 85 (n. 3), 95, 107, 113 (n.2), 120, 124 (n. 5), 127, 131

the court

of, 102, 103, 107, 143, 165, 167, 206 (and nn. 2, 3), 262, 263 Gentile world, the, 165 Germ (Seed) as a name for the Messias, 37 (and n. 6), for Zorobabel, 38

Gilgal, 21 (n. 8) Glory, the, 7, 8, 9 (n. 5), 10 (n. 1), 10-11, 14 (n. 2), 55, 56, 64 (and n. 4), 67, 69, 93 (n. 3), 143 (n. 7), 214; Christ's, 142 Gnostic views, 163

God and as as as as as

the religious soul, 232

our Father, 5

indwelling, 17, 18 King and Saviour, 64 Saviour, 32 Shepherd of his people, 36, 71 the reign of, 219

(n. 2)

(n. 9)

Godhead, the, 100, 235, 287 God's essence, 239 gifts under the two Dispensations, pointers to the solution of the problem of, 276-99 kingship, 63 mother, 295

people, 107, 290, 295, 296 (n. 3); in the Church, 296 plan and the world, 99, 182 presence or God's temple during the history of the world, 205-13 presence, the first and second ways of, 239; in the Church, 295 reign, 207,

228

substance, 23 transcendence, 65-8 will,

228

(n. 8),

258

Gods of paganism,

the, 13

go*l, 119 3),

282

Feasts and Israel's existence as a people, 88

Flood, the, ix

(n. 7)

God-with-us, 127

False witnesses, 130 Father, God the, 5, 97

(andn. (andn.

Gabaonites, 15

Gabriel, 35, 40, 256 Galgal, 58 (n. 1)

-who-brought-Israel-out-of-Egypt, 46

Faithful as living stones, the, 178

(andn.

Freemasonry, 95

Gethsemani, 116 (n. 6), 138 Gihon, the spring of, 75

(n. 9), 63, 64, 67, 68, 73, 74, 75,

Fall, the,

305

Foederis area, 259

goldh, 84, 249

Good

Friday, 130 (n. 1) Gospel(s), the, 5, 40, 44, 71, 76, 81, 82, 85, 102, 109, 110, 112, 116, 118, 119,

General Index

306

Gospel(s), the (continued) 121, 123, 131, 138, 148, 151, 159 (n. 9), 165, 167 (n. 4), 168, 170, 171, 176, 184, 193, 194, 195 (n. 4), 199, 218, 224, 235, 254, 255, 266, 267, 274, 294, 295; the Fourth Gospel, 140 Grace and human nature, 244 as a created actuation caused by the

uncreated Act, 268 before the coming of Christ, 16 of,

4)

66, 82, 98,

n, 5),

(n. 5)

n. 5),

13 (n, 8), 16, 46, 49 (n. 3), 76, 79, 94, 112, 119, 124, 126, 129, 133, 142-9,

153-8, 161, 169, 179 (n. 6), 180 (and 182, 189 (and n. 4), 191, 194, 201-3, 213, 218, 222, 224, 225, 232-4, 237, 238, 243, 245, 246, 255, 256, 257, 260, 263-6, 270-98 passim Holy Spirit, the, and the body, 155 and the Church, 288-9 and the glory of Jesus, 275 as the Spirit of the Son, 292 in the Church and in the individual, n. 9),

ffabacuc, 55, 249 habbait, 110 Hai, 3

28 (n. 1)

273 the mission of the, 292 the procession of, 289 the work of, 285

(n. 5)

9

5, 134, 146, 207, 209, 211 (n. 213, 214, 218, 242, 245, 248, 262 Heavenly Jerusalem, the, 274 liturgy, the, 21 1 powers, the, 163, 169 Hebrew text of the O.T., 1 10

Heaven,

Hebrews, the Epistle to 173-5, 176, 180 (n.

97 (and

91,

281

Gregory VII, 195 (n. 4) Gregory XI, 254 (n. 2) Gregory of Nyssa, St, 200 Gudea, 49 (n. 3)

Hananias, 56 (n. 2) Haram-al-Aharif, 102 Haran, 3 (and n. 1), 61

3),

Holy Place, the, 98, 144 Holy Saturday, the collect for, 293 Holy Spirit, the, x (n. 4), 8, 9 (and

Greek, classical, 110; secular, 109 Greeks, the, 264 (n. 3), 272 (n. 2) Greek-speaking Jews, the, 46 Greek tradition, the, 200

8),

the,

144,

2),

145,

184, 185, 210,

211,273 Hebrews, the, 57 (n. 5) Hebron, 3 (and n. 3), 22, 62 269

High priest, the, 108, 144 Hiram, king of Tyre, 50 (n. 4), 95 Holy Land, the, 75 Holy of Holies, the, 12, 37 (n. 6),

101, 102, 107, 108, 109, n.9), 130, 143 (and n, 6), 144, 159, 173, 174 (and n. 8), 175, 209 (n. I), 222, 235, 264 (and n, 1), 273, 278,

241

Gradual Psalms, the, 83 (n. Great Architect, the, 95 Greek Matthew, the, 250

Hammizbah, 209

130,

110 (and

in the messianic era, 283 in the two Dispensations, 267

halaq,

115, 118, 134, 174, 204 (n. 5) 107, 119, 125, 127, 129, 138, 206, 257 (n. 2)

J5r/e/wi,

85 (and n.

Christian, 267

God's plan

Hesychius of Jerusalem, 259 (n. 3) Hexateuch, the, 251 i&xJv, TO, 90 (n. 5), 108, 109, 110, 113,

(n. 7), 249,

(n. 1)

Holy Trinity, the, 277 Horeb, 62 (n. 7) House of God, the, 257 of Prayer, the, 148 ,

(n, 2)

11 (n, 6)

eta, 272 (n. 2)

Humanity's search for unity, 198 fotodsfypa, 209 (n. 3) iashav, 8 (n* 4), 27 Imitation of Christ, 232 (n, 3)

Immaculate Conception,

the,

257

Hellenized Jews of Gospel period, the, 98 Henoch, ix (n. 2); the book of, 223 (n. 8) Herod Agrippa, 197 (n. 8) Herod's temple, 102 Herod the Great, 80, 81, 82, 83, 95 (and

Incarnate Word, the, 149, 207 (n. 5); the Dispensation of, 221 Incarnation, the, xi, 41 53 (and n. 3), 140, 142 (n, 3), 149, 192, 201, 237, 240, 241, 246, 254, 262, 265, 266, 267, 268, 272, 275, 280, 284, 285, 290, 292, 297, 298; and its consequences, the Protestant failure to understand, 299 (n, 7) Indwelling, God's, 9 (n. 5), 18 (n. 9), 53,

n. 6), 101, 102, 107, 108, 137, 250 fosed, 59, 61 (and n. 3), 62, 73, 270

183, 192, 237, 240, 277, 288, 290 Infancy, the, 41, 121 (n. 6)

Heir, the, 280 tekal, 81 (n. 4), 98, 101, 102, 108, 109

Hellenism and Jewish thought, 198 Hellenistic thought, 98 Hellenization, 81

,

General Index Introit of the

Mass of 2

Feb., the, 120

(n. 1) Isaac, ix (n. 2), 4, 9,

23 (n. 5), 227, 249 Isaias, 34, 38, 51, 55-61 passim, 64 (n. 4), 70, 73, 75-8, 84, 85, 95 (n. 6), 101, 136 (and nn. 124, 126, 130 (n. 3), 6,9), 137, 143 (n. 7), 146, 153, 164, 197 (n. 1), 215, 221, 241, 249, 254, 258, 269 Ismael, 31

(and n. 7), 17, 2035 passim, 41, 42, 46, 47, 50-94 passim, 100, 119, 120, 122, 127, 134, 137, 139, 146-9, 159 (and n. 8), 161 (n.4), 179 (n. 2), 183, 186, 201, 212

Israel, x, 8, 9, 14, 15

(n. 4), 214,

228

215 (and

n. 9),

219

(n. 6),

249, 251, 262, 263, 267, 269-71, 289, 290, 294-8; post-exilic, (n. 8),

86 25 (n. 9), 28, 32 (and n.4), 46, 70, 85 (n, 3), 87, 117, 143, 167,269 Israel, the Court of, 102, 108, 109, 124

Israelites, the, 16, 17, 20, 21,

(n. 5),

Israel's

143

Shepherd, 35

Jaboc, 6 Jacob, 3, 4, 5-6, 35, 41, 50

(n. 4), 78,

96, 134, 199, 249, 254 Jacob's dream, 96, 134, 209 (n. 6) Jacob's ladder, 257, 261

James, 138 James, the Epistk of St, 250 Janua coeli, 261 Jeremias, 16, 34, 35, 36, 56, 57 (and n. 5), 58, 60 (n. 7), 61, 64, 67, 73, 75, 115, 124, 208 (n. 9), 249, 271; and the withdrawal of God's Presence, 66-7; the messianic prophecy of, 35 Jericho, 15 (n. 7), 21

Jerusalem, 22 (and n. 4), 23 (and n. 5), 25, 27 (n. 8), 29, 33 (and n. 6), 34, 36, 39, 42, 43, 46 (n. 8), 48 (n. 9), 51 (n. 9), 55 (n. 7), 57 (n. 5), 58, 64-8, 73, 75 (nn, 3, 4), 76, 78-88, 92 (n. 7), 95 (and n. 6), 96, 100, 109, 111, 113, 114, 118, 120-3, 127, 129, 131, 136 (nn. 6, 9), 138 (and 7), 140, 147, 159, 167, 184, 186 (and 4), 187, 194, 196 (and 8), 204, 206-9, 211, 214, 215 (and n. 8), 217, 222 (n. 7), 226, 229, 246, 251, 254, 257 (n. 9), 258, 297 Jerusalem, pilgrimages, 211 Jerusalem, the heavenly, 83 (n. 4), 207, 21 3 (and n. 7), 214 (n. 7) the mystical view of, 84 the New, 74 (n. 8), 137 (nn. 1, 3), 204, 216, 218, 219, 220, 222, 223, 224, 229,

286

(n. 6)

M,Q.T>

11

307

the spiritual, 258 Jesus Christ, ix, x (n. 4), xi, 4-6, 9-11, 14 (n. 2), 16, 30, 32, 37-41, 44-7, 53, 56, 59, 66, 71, 76, 78, 79 (and n. 6), 5), 100, 101, 102,

81-3, 85, 95, 97 (n.

107, 109, 111-57 passim, 163-89, 192, 194-207, 210 (and n. 5), 217-25,

228-30, 232, 235, 237 (and n. 2), 239-46, 248, 250, 253, 255, 257-66, 275-79, 282-4, 288-99 Jesus abolishes the wall of separation, 127 and Nathanael, 134 and feast of Tabernacles, 76-7 and great feasts, 137 and the limits of his devotion to the Temple, 116 and the new sanctuary, 129-38 announces that the religious system of the Temple has come to an end is replaced by himself in Person, 117-19 found in the Temple, 113-14, 254 our Pasch, 170 the Angel of the Covenant, 118 the body of, will be the true sanctuary through death and resurrection, 138-50 the corner stone, 176 the devotion of, to the Temple, 112-17 the eschatological discourse of, 197 the mediation of, 144 the presentation of, in the Temple,

119-20,254 the Sovereign Priest, 181 the true Presence and the true Temple, 133 the true Sanctuary, 135 Jews, the, 17, 25 (n. 9), 30 (n. 6 form p. 29), 53, 75 (n. 7), 86, 90 (n. 3), 92 (n. 5), 94, 108, 114(n. 3), 122, 123

(andn. 1), 127, 128, 129, 131, 130 (n.2), 135 (and n.4), 136, 143, 165, 186, 206 (n.2), 250, 262, 272 (and n. 2), 280, 295 Jewish apocalyptic literature, 130 (n. 3)> 210 (andn. 7), 215, 216, 220 (and n.7) church, the, 260 (and n. 8) commentaries, 295 community after the Exile, the, 85 concept of the souls of the just, the, 209 (n. 2) customs, 254 deportees, 249 doctors, 135 eschatology, 10, 194 feasts, 98, 99 institutions, 9

308

General Index

Jewish (continued) legend, 37 (n. 6) liturgy, 20 J (n, 4) people, the, 51, 126 piety,

kabod, 10 (n. 1), 11, 269 OS, 222 (n. 7) a, 143 (n. 9),

271

99

kepha, 162

religion, 100

KSipakt} ycovictg, 164 Kerygma, 151

restoration, the, 57, 139 theology, 219 (n. 4) thought, 96, 133, 222

'ld,

230, 287

OV, 191

Joachin, 33 (n, 6) Joel, 75,

30

V, 11,

227

c;,

King, the, as Messias, 83

138,250

John,

St, 5, 11, 38, 39, 76, 100, 116, 118, 120, 122-4, 128 (and n. 9), 131, 132

(and n, 1), 137 (and n. 4), 138 (and n.4), 141, 142, 148, 152, 155 (n. 8), 169, 182, 183 (n. 9), 184, 198, 202,

204-31 passim, 235 (n. 1), 238, 241, 271, 272 (and n. 1), 276, 286 (n, 6), 294, 297 (n. 5); his account of the Purification of the Temple, 120-9; Gospel of, 146, 152 (n.4), 218, 251; Prologue of, 183; writings of, 140 244,

Kingdom of God,

40, 133, 167, 191,205, 208, 223, 229 (n. 5), 235, 273, 284,

288 of Heaven, 297

(n. 4)

Books 1 and 2 of, 202; 2 Kings 1 compared with Luke 1 (32-3), 41 Kingship of God, 44 Knox, Mgr R. A,, xii (n, 6), 16 (n. 2), 27, 37, 59 (n. 5), 64 (n. 3), 70 (n. 8), 71 Kings,

(n.9), 79 (n. 6), 81 (n, 5), 93 (n. 9),

170(n. 7), 184,201 Koine, the Greek, 1 14

John the

Baptist, St, 37, 41, 118 (and n.2), 119, 122, 123 (and n. 3), 198, 272 270, (and n. 1), 280 Jonas, 77 (n. 3), 250 Jordan, 3, 15 (n. 7), 21 (and n. 8)

Joseph, 4, 46, 262, 270 Josias, 33 (n. 6), 56, 73, 249, 251 Josit, 15 (n. 7), 21, 31, 32 (n. 2), 47, 249, 251, 270 Josue, son of Josedec, 36, 37 (and n. 6), 80 Journet, Mgr, on the grace of Christ and the indwelling presence, 291

Juda, 22 (and n. 2), 32, 35, 39, 55 (n. 7), 58, 63 (n. 9), 66, 74 (n. 8), 80, 93 (n. 7), 94, 115 (n. 2), 118, 249, 251 Judaea, 67, 122 Judaean monarchy, the, 23 (n. 6), 25, 33, 34

Judaeans, the, 22 (and n. 2), 81, 84, 249 Judaeo-Christian economy, the, 5 Judaeo-Christians, the, 79 Judaism, 18, 25 (n. 9), 49, 68, 72, 75, 81, 85 (and n. 3), 86 (n. 9), 87 f 91 (n. 2), 93, 94, 115 (n, 2), 135, 136, 148, 159 (andn. 9), 165, 180, 190 (n. 7), 227, 237; postexilic, 147 Judaizing tendency, 163 Judas, 110, 123 (n. 1), 143 (n. 5), 298 Judas Machabaeus, 82, 140 Judges, 20 (and n. 202, 249, 270

Judgment,

6), 21,

the, 224;

22

(n. 2), 28,

of the Nations, 204

Lagash, 49

Lamb,

(n. 3)

77, 137, 204, 207, 209 210 (and n. 7), 211, 214, 215, 216, 21 8 (and nn. 6, 8), 219 (andn* 6), 220 (andn* 8), 227, 228 (and n. 8), 229, 230, 235, 247 as Temple, 214, 235 the Paschal, 210 Aaot, 217 the, 39,

(n. 4),

Aarfc, 176 (n.4)

Last Day, the, 220, 224, 226, 234, 236, 282, 297

Latin points of view, 266

hargsvEW, 228 (n. 8) Law, the, 8, 13, 81, 86, 90, 94, 125,

127,

133

(n. 6),

115, 116,

139,

169, 262,

271,273,280,281 (n, 9) Church's, 299 (n. 7)

the the the the

Mosaic, 221 new, 214 old, 203

and the prophets,

187

(n,

4 from

p. 186)

and public worship

after th

Exil, 86

Lebanon, 95 Legal impurities, 143 sanctity, 85 (n, 3) Leo, St, 265, 292 teshivtt, 27 Levi, ix (n, 2), 22, 118 Levites, the, 7, 29, 85 (n. 3) t 86, 144 Levitical tradition, the, IS

Judith, 250

Leviticus, 13, 250, 251

Jupiter Olympius, 81 Justin, St, 71

Litanies of Venice, 257 (n. 2), 261 (n, 5) ,

176 (n. 4)

309

General Index Liturgy, the, 190 (n. 7), 191, 255, 261, 279, 286, 287 of the Dedication of a Church, 5, 94 (n. 1), 119(n. 6), 133 of the Church, 202 (n. 6) the Latin, 200 the Eucharistic, 143 (n. 7) the Oriental, 255 Aoywfl}, 179 (n. 5)

Logos, 100 Loreto, Litany of, 261 (n. Lost Being, the, 196 Luke, St, 41, 120 (and n.

6),

197 (n. 9), Luther, 189, 195 (n. 4), 232 (n. 4) Lutheran church of the Redeemer in Jerusalem, the, 83 (n. 1) Lutheran synod of Missouri, the, 195

(n.4)

Lyons, Catholic University

Machabees, 50

of,

54

(n. 3)

(n. 6), 85, 90, 109, 139,

140 (n. 3), 250 Magisterium, 188,285 Magnalia Dei, 46, 100 Magnificat of Second Vespers of Octave day of Christmas, the antiphon of the, 133 (n. 5), 258 (n. 5) Major facts of history of salvation, the,

leshivtekhd, 8 1 18 (n. 2), 250

Manna,

3,

(n. 1)

p&Biv, 230 (n. 6), 237 Merk, 195 (n. 5)

(n. 2)

mesnie, 28

Mesopotamia,

3

Messianic era, the, 274 grace, 283 prophecy, 35 secret, 40 (n. 2) writings, 90 (n. 3) Messianism, 23, 27, 33 (and n. 8), 35, 36, 38, 39, 44-5 Messias, 33, 34 (n. 1), 37, 38, 39 (and n. 2), 40, 44, 45, 61, 122 (n. 8), 129, 131 (andn. 7), 136 (and n. 6), 137 (and n.4), 150, 158, 162, 198, 271, 275, 295; the Davidic theme of, 217

Method of Study,

the, xi~xii

;

Malachias,

Marnbre,

holiness, the, 203 implied in the building of the material Temple, the, 52-3 Mediator, the, 192 Meeting, the Tent of, 8, 9, 11-12 Melchisedech, 4, 23 (n. 5), 40, 173 (and n.2) Melito, 279

Mtehaeas, 34, 35, 57 (n. 5), 58, 60 (n. 9), 65, 124, 249 the messianic prophecy

278

Mdkhdn

St, 121 (n. 6), 135

Meaning of

Memphis, 22 Menasce, Fr de, 39

5)

126 (and n. 250, 256, 257, 270

3), 135,

Matathias, 81

Matthew,

of,

35

Michas, 20 (n. 1), 57 (n. 7) Michol, 23 Middle Ages, the, 28, 97 (n. 254, 275

4

13

Manasses, 197

Mandaeans, 155

Man-God, the, 247, 264 Manual of Discipline, 159 (n. 9) Mark, St, 126, 130, 250; Western

miqdas, 12, 14 (n.

Mishna, text

132 (n.l) feasts, 255 Mariologists, the early, 254 (n. 1) Mary, the Blessed Virgin, 35, 40, 48, 119, 135, 148, 189, 223, 237, 242, 250, 254 (and n. 2), 255, 256, 257 (and n. 9), 258, 260 (n. 8), 298 ; and the Feast of her Purification, 119-20, 254-5; and Jacob's ladder, 261; and the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple, 119-20, 259; as the Ark of the Covenant, 259-60 as the Tabernacle sheltering Christ the Ark, 256-7; as the Temple, 257-9; the Canticle of, 41 ; the Virgin Maiden of Sion, 259; the Visitation of, 257 Mashiah, 33 Masphath, 21 (n. 8) Mass for the Dead, the, 296 Massa-meriba, 138 (n. 4) of,

Marian

;

4),

109

5),

99

(n. 6),

(n. 5)

the, 11, 75 (n. 7),

82 (and n.

102, 103, 107 (n. 2), 297 (n. 5) mishkan, 12, 28 (and n. 2)

mishpat, 58, 59 Mission, of the Word, 289 the temporal, 287, 288 Missions, the divine, 281, 291 of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 264, 266, 268, 281 invisible,

298

Modalism, 287 meted, 12 (n. 8) pov/i* 230 (n. 6)

Monophysitism, 255 (and n. 5) Monotheism, 14 Mosaic forms of worship, 56 institutions,

69

legislation, 144 liturgy,

208

(n. 1)

observances, 79 order, 289 order of worship, 143

7),

310

General Index

New

Mosaic (continued)

character of the worship of which Jesus is the source, the, 144-5

regime, the, 71, 124 religious system, 34 rites, 180

New Jerusalem

1

ritual system, 116,

209 (n.

1

from

p,

208), 221 stage of Exodus, 7 stage, the

importance of the, 18-19

stage of revelation, 7 system, the, 175

system of worship, the, 185 tabernacle, 174 (n. 4), 209 Temple, the, 128, 136, 174 (n. 5)

coining heaven, the, 216 New Law, the, 203

down from

New Man, the, 146 New operation of the Spirit, the, 148 New priesthood, the, 173-4 New temple, the, 174-5 New Testament, the, xi, 8, 15, 48, 56,

70,

108-10, 139 (n. 9), 141, 144, 149, 159, 171, 172 (n. 7), 175, 177, 180, 186-9, I94(n. 8), 198, 200 (n. 1), 201 (n. 5), 202, 204, 216, 222, 223, 224, 230 (n. 6), 235, 269 (and n. 6), 279, 295, 296; N.T. ccclesiology, 169 New Year's Day, 43, 97 (n. 8), 98; the 74, 85, 89,

traditions, 7

worship, 190, 237 More, 3 Moses, 7-18 passim,

28, 32 (and n. 4), 46, 47, 51, 71 (n. 3), 119, 133, 137, 138 (n.4), 145, 167, 202 (and n. 6), 209 (and n. 4), 249, 250, 268, 269 (n. 2), 270, 280 the Canticle of, 8, 226 the Law of, 119 the New, 137 (and n.4)

Mother of God,

the, 255, 257, 261 of Jesus, the, 254 Motherhood, the divine, 258 Mount Nebo, 208 (n. 9) Mount of Olives, 29, 98, 138 Mystery, 253 Mystical Body, the, 152 (n. 3), 242 Mystici Carports, 266, 285 (and n. 4)

42

feast of,

Nicaea, 288 (n. 7) Nicanor Gate, the, 102, 103, 108, 119

Nobe, U0(n. 1), H4(n. 7) Noe, ix (n. 2), 100, 268, 279 (n, 5) Northern Kingdom and tribes, 249 Northern and Southern Kingdoms, 22 Numbers, 13,249,251 Offertory of the rite,

244

Mass

in the

Roman

(n. 7)

Offspring, the, 217 *ohel, 28 (and n. 2) *ohel mo'ed, 11, 12 (n. 8), 13 (n, 7)

obcetv, 155 ,

Naaman

the Syrian, 29

iQi

(n. 6)

155

(n. 2),

(n. 1),

165 (n.

8), 174, 194, 195,

204 (and

n. 4),

257 (n, Nathan, X,

197

2)

23 (n. 26, 27, 28 (and n, 15,

6),

24, 25 (n. 8),

1), 30, 31, 32 (and n. 4), 33, 34, 35, 38, 40, 41 , 42, 44, 45,

46 (and

n. 8), 47, 48, 49, 50, 53, 62,

73, 77, 146, 210, 217, 236, 249 the prophecy of, 20-32; comparison of the two accounts, 25-7," its initial meaning, 28; problems in, 32; the text, 24-5 Nathanael, 4, 134, 199, 261 Nazareth, 242

Negeb, the, 3 Nehemias, 81,

85, 124,

250

v&
Nero, 206 (n. 3), 250, 251 Nestorian system, the, 18 Nestorius, 183 (n. 7)

Osofi, 158

52 160 ,

207

naos, 129, 130, 138, 143 (n. 5), 154, 157, 194-5, 196, 197, 206, 207, 226 (n. 2),

(n. 8)

TQV

Nahum, 55, 249 yao'g, 108 (and n.4), 109, 110, 118, 151

(n,

2)

156, 158

pov t^v

&>cxfaittQ.v > 162

27, 108 (and n. 4), 151 (n, 1), 160 (n.2), 173 (n. 1), 191 (n. 8), 195 (n. ff,

2), 204 (n. 5) tevgtoVj 110 (and n. 8)

Oikoumenos, 195 (n. Old Testament, the,

3) xii, 16,

17(n.

7),

29

41, 44, 47, 48, 85, 94, 109 (n. 5), 130, 134, 151, 155, 158 (and n.5), 159, 164, 1 94 (and n. 8), 200 (n, 3),

(n, 1), 201 (and n. 5), 202 (and n. 6), 215-17, 222, 227, 265-72, 276-9, 281, 284, 292, 295, 297 (n. 5); O.T. idea of a Church, 296 Olympian Zeus, 196 (n. 8) Omar, the mosque of, 82, 101 Onkelos targum, the, 93 (n. 2) Ontological sanctity, 85 Orient, religions of the, 89

Orientals, the,

267

Oriental writers, 265

General Index

Oman,

50 (n. 6) Osee, 55 (n. 7), 57 (and n.

5), 58, 59, 61,

65, 91, 159 (n. 7), 249,

Ouadi Far

270

'ah, 3 (n. 1)

oularn, 102

Paddan-Aram, wcus, 210

4,

6

(n. 7)

Palestine, 62, 70 (n. 8), 94 Palm Sunday, 121, 122 (n. 8), 127, 140

(n.4)

navtjyvQig, 21

311

Pentecost, 79, 86, 120, 132, 137, 151, 198, 266, 268, 271, 275 (and n. 7), 276 (and n. 8), 285 (and n. 3), 287, 289, 290, 292; the Day of, 292 Pentecostal commemoration, the, 100 Pentecostal era, Post-, 276

People of God, the, 174, 177, 176, 253, 289 Pepi I, 22 Persecutor, the, 216 Persian archives, the, 80 civil service, the,

80

(n. 2)

(n. 2)

religion, the, 89

1

nawTOKQarcoQ, 6 OSQQ

d, 227 (and n. 5) Pantocrator, 227 (and n. 5), 228, 234 Paradise, 75 (and n. 7), 97, 98, 199, 245, 289 Paratipomena, 27, 36 (and n. 4), 250; Greek version of, 26 Parousia, the, 224, 227 (n. 4), 242 (n. 3) Pasch, the, 38, 45, 80, 100, 117 (n. 9), 120, 121, 123, 124 (and n. 6), 137, 138, 142 (and n.4), 145, 177, 185, 192, 202, 218, 223, 225, 242 (and n. 3),

261,267,276,283,284 Pasch, Christ's, 273, 274, 275, 278, 280, 288, 289, 290, 292, 294 the Church's, 297 Paschal deliverance, 18 drama, 120 event, 48 feast, 1 14

mystery, 278, 279, 281, 292 redemption, the, 281 sacrifice of Christ, 177 time, 124(n, 6) Passaglia, 265 Passion, the, 122 (n. 8), 134 (n. 8), 137, 139 (n. 9), 140, 142, 146, 250, 259, 266, 267, 268, 275, 280, 281 (and n. 3), 282, 284 Passover, the, 86, 116, 117, 254

Pastoral Epistles, the, 172 Pater Noster, the, 229 (n. 3) Patriarchs, the, ix (n. 2), x, 3 (and n, 1), 17 (and n. 7), 236, 251, 252, 270, 273, 282, 289 Patristic studies, 266 tradition, the, 182

Pauline Gospel the, 163

Persons, the Three Divine, 283, 284, 285, 286, 287, 290 Peter, St, 45, 52, 108, 117, 133, 136 (and n. 7), 138, 162, 167, 175, 178, 179 (n.2), 184, 198, 219, 250, 251, 256, 288, 295 and St Paul, the two witnesses, 206 (n.3) and the coin in the fish, 117

the confession of, 175-8 First Epistle of, 178, 185 (n. 2), 218 Pharisees, the, 40, 114, 115

Philemon, 250 Philippians,

250

Philistines, the, 21 Pillar of fire, the, 8

Pirke Aboth, 133 (n. 6) Pius XII, 290 a, 279 (n. 6) v, 52 , 179 (n. 4), 274, 277 (n. 5) Pompey, 86 (n. 6), 250 Pope, the, 195 (n. 4) Portico, the Royal, 109 Power, the worship of, 206 Praises of Mary, the, 259 Presence, God's, ix (and n. 2), x, xi, 4-13, 36, 41, 44, 47, 49, 51, 53, 57, 60-73, 84, 89, 91-4, 116, 133, 134, 138, 145, 149, 151, 168, 170, 174, 175, 185, 201, 205, 207, 210, 211, 213, 219, 220, 227, 228, 231, 234, 236-43, 256, 261-4, 269, 295, 298 among his people, 15 (and n. 7),

30

(n, 6)

among

the Patriarchs, 236

and the Incarnation, 53 and the temple in God's

Paul, St, x (n. 4), xii, 10, 56, 62 (n. 6), 79, 109 (n. 7), 152-72 94, 128, 85, passim, 178, 179, 181, 190, 193-201, 216, 223 (and n, I), 226 (n, 7), 234, 235, 240, 246, 251, 263, 269, 272 (n. 2), 273, 275, 282, 287, 292-6 the theology of, 151

confers holiness, 16, 19 during the Mosaic period, 4 in the Ark, 13 is not local, 14

the thought of, 223 Pentateuch, the, 32 (n.

the conception of, 91-4

Kar'&^gyeiov and 2), 51,

251

eternity,

213-35 as an institution, 9,15

Har'oi3craa>,

264

312

General Index

Presence, God's (continued) the history of, as the history of the world, x the theology of, 238 Presentation of Jesus in the Temple,

120 Priestly Code, the, ix (n. 2), xii, 4 (and n. 4), 5 (and n. 5), 7, 9, 11, 12 (and n. 8), 13 (nn. 4, 5, 6), 15 (and nn. 4, 7),

17,251,256

ideology of the Temple, the, 56 tradition, the, 56 Proclus of Constantinople, 260 (n. 5) Prodigal Son, the, 231

Promised Land,

(and n. 1), 13, 62 Prophecy of Weeks, the, 39 of God's perpetual presence with his people, the, 68-73 of the Babylonian exile, the, 66-7 Prophets, the, 16, 181 (n. 3), 207, 211 14, 15,21,

the, 3

32

(n. 2),

(n. 2), 216, 228, 248,

268, 269, 270,

273

and and and and and

(n. 4), 274, 276 (n. 8) formalist worship, 58 God's intervention in history, 60

religion,

59-60

the inner renewal, 73-5 Universalism, 77-9 during the Exile, 68-79 of the Exile, 271 the attitude of, towards the Temple

worship, 54-60 the historical mission of, 61-79 the positive attitude of, towards the

Temple, 57 Protestant commentators, 256 exegetes, 186, 297 (n. 4)

(n, 7)

polemics, 195 position in regard to the Church,

294 reformers, 186, 293 Proverbs, 249 nQoa&Q%e.aBai, 175 (n. 2) ttQO)T6roMogf TCOV VBKQ&V, 219 (n. 9) Providence, 192, 212, 252 Psalmist, the, 96 Psalms, the, 55, 202, 216 (n. 5), 270; and God's transcendence, 5 ; and Jerusa-

lem feasts, 87 Psalms of Solomon, 40 Psalter, the, 61

Punishment and restoration, 63 Purgatory, 223 (n. 2), 224 Purification of the Temple, the, and the Prophets, 124-7; the date of, in the four Gospels, 121-4; th ideological presentation of, by St John, 122-3 Pythagoreans, the, 149 qdh&l, ll(n, 6), 88

Quakers, the, 190 Quniran, 90

Rabbinism, 90 Rachel,

4,

262, 265

Ramatha, 21

(n. 8)

reatus poenac, 267, 28 1 Red Sea, the, 8, 14, 226

Redemption, the, 245 Reformation view of the Church, the, 294 Reign of God, the, 71, 205, 216 Reign of a thousand years, the, 214 (n. 7) of God's adversary, 205 Relations between the heavenly temple and the earthly history of the Church and the world, the, 21 1-13 Religiongeschichtlich sources, Phoenician, Assyrian and Persian, the, 91 Remnant of Israel, the, 130 (n. 3), 146 f

269 Restoration, the, and the Prophets, 147 Restorations, the, of the Temple, 139 Resurrection, the, 140, 250, 264, 275,

279

(n. 4),

285

Revelation, 294; the Christian stage of, 28 1 ; the Mosaic stage of, 7 Revival of the Greek anthropological view of grace in recent times, the,

265

Rhythmic pattern of death and resurrection, the, 146

Rock,

the, 76, 137, 138 (n. 4)

Roman

armies, 197 (n. 9) Breviary, 120 (n. 9) Curia, 172 Empire, 31 (n. 9), 205

Martyrology, 244 occupation, 57 (n. 7) Pontifical, 245 (n. 9) refusal to accept the Reformation, 294

Romans, the Epistle to the, 176, 250 Rome, 62 (n, 6), 82, 206 (n. 3) Royal Porch of the Temple, 82 (n. 8), 109 Royal priesthood of Christ in history, 246 Russian cathedral in Jerusalem, 82 (n. 8) Sabbath, 56 (and n. 9) 71 (and n. 3), 72, 117, 133, 134, 190 (n, 7), 233 the eternal, 233 Sacraments, the foundation of the, 128 Sacrarium Paraded, 257 (n. 2) Sacrifice and St Augustine, 72 Jacob's, at Bersabee and Sichem, 4 and the Holy Spirit, 180 and priesthood in the New Jerusalem, 229

General Index Sadoc, 29 Sadocite Document, the, 90, 115 (n. 2), 159 (n. 9) Saints, the, 198 (n. 4), 218 (n. 6) Saints, communion of the, 283 (n. 7) Saints of the most High, the, 40 (and n.3) sakhra, 102 Salathiel, 36 Salem, 23 (n. 5) Salvation, God's plan of, 166 Samaria, 30 (n. 6), 35, 82, 85 (n. 2), 251 Samaritan woman, the, 179 Samaritans, the, 80, 197 (n. 2) Samuel, 21 (n. 8), 37, 50, 61, 202 (n. 6),

249 Sanctification in Scripture, 269 Sanctuary, the, 257 (n. 2) Sanctus, the, 143 (n. 7)

Sanhedrin, the, 46, 122 (n. Sapiential books, 33

8),

140

(n. 6)

ad^Md) 52 Satan, 133 (n. 4), 206 Saul, 20 (and n. 6), 21 (and n. 8), 22 (and n. 2), 23, 29, 249 Saul, the conversion of (Paul), 250

Saviour, God as, 44 Scala coeli, 261 Scala spiritualis, 261

shaken, 11, 12, 13 (and n.

x

Scripture(s), the, ix, (n. 3), xi, xii, 6, 7, 16 (and n. 2), 23, 39, 76, 93, 94, 137, 139 (and n. 9), 252, 256, 263, 265,

Sichem, 3 (and n. 1), 4 Sidon, 95 Silo, 21, 67 Siloe, 75,76, 1 37 (and n. 4) Simeon and Anna, 120, 270 Simeon, the Canticle of, 41, 120, 126 (n.3)

Simeon, the tribe of, 22 (and n. 2) Simon the high priest, 98 Sinai, 7, 11, 14, 29 (n. 3), 30, 32 (n. 4), 61, 100, 145, 278, 280 Sion, 23, 25 (n. 7), 30 (n. 6), 33, 34, 35 (n. 2), 41-4, 49, 55 (and n. 7), 56, 60, 63 (and nn. 3, 4), 66, 68, 71 62, 72 (and n. 5), 75 (and n. 7), (n. 1), 77, 79, 84 (and nn. 6, 8), 87, 95, 96, 97, 136, 140, 145, 175, 216, 231 (n. 9),

259

(n. 4)

the royal feast of, 42-3 11,

<xw??w},

Second Coming, the, 213, 224 sedMkd, 58, 59 "Seed**, 37 (and n. 6) emah, 35

6), 5),

fJ>O.QTVQlOV, 12

axyvovv, 297

(n. 5)

Sodom, 4, 61 Solomon, 8,

(n. 5),

206

(n. 3)

14 (n. 1), 22, 25-7, 30 (and n. 8), 31 (and n. 9), 33 (n. 5), 38, 42, 47, 49-53, 55 (and n. 7), 65, 10,

68, 71, 73, 78,

95 (and nn.

81,

82 (and

n.

8),

101, 108, 119 (n.3), 167, 168, 249, 257, 262,

92,

5, 7),

97,

Odes, 273 Porch, 81, 103, 107, 109 prayer at the dedication of the

Semites, the, 101; the Western, 17 (n. 7) Sennacherib, 35, 43 (n. 1), 75 (and n. 2) Septuagint, the (=LXX), 11, 12, 13 (n. 7), 27 (n, 8), 30, 39 (n. 2), 64 (n. 4), 109 (and n. 5), 178 (and n. 9), 227

Temple, 31, 65-6 Psalms, 40 o&(jt,a, 140, 189 Son of David, the, 40

Son of God,

250, 256

9),

Seraphim, the, 56 Serapion, the anaphora of, 232 Sermon on the Mount, the, 115, 147 Serpent, the, 219 Servant of Yahweh, the, 38, 146 Servant, the suffering, 38, 40, 41, 210 (n.7) a? thijM 75 (n, 7) Seven letters to the Churches, Sheba, 95

5),

296 Solomon's building of the Temple, 95

Sebaste, 82

(n. 2),

174(andnn.4,

205, 207, 219 (n.

156, 173,

skene, 207 (n. 8)

268, 274, 279 (n. 3), 282, 283, 287, 290, 298 (n. 5 from p. 297); the Aramaic translation of, 93

241

297

shekinah, 11, 17, 18 (and nn. 9, 1), 89, 93 (and nn. 1, 2, 3), 94, 132, 133 (and n. 6), 21 9 (n. 5), 297 (n. 5) shekinti, 93 (n. 2)

TOV

(n. 5)

3), 30, 93,

(n. 5)

204 (and n. 226 (n. 8)

Scholasticism, Latin, 267 Scholastics, the, 172, 265, 288, 290 post-Tridentine, the, 266 (n. 2)

(n. 5),

313

Son

134

the, xi, 42, 45, 112, 131 (n.

(n. 8), 162, 163, 181, 182, 183,

184, 187, 192, 231, 235, 238, 241, 244, 256, 262, 275, 277, 278, 280, 282-8, 290, 293, 295, 296, 298 of Man, the, 38, 40, 41, 44, 45, 53, 134, 142 (n. 2), 146 (and n. 4), 159

(n. 6), 178,235,248 Son of Perdition, the, 196

Songs of Ascents, the, 251

the, 86 Sonship, the specific gift of the Gospel,

272

314

General Index

Sophonias, 55

254, 255, 257-60, 262, 282, 289, 286,

Southern Kingdom, the, 249 Spirit of God, the, 237, 270; in the Old Testament, 270-1 Spiritual sacrifices, 90 Spiritual temple, dimensions of, 188-203; is corporeal and concrete, 188-91 Spiritual and invisible, Confusion between the, 189-91 Spouse of the Holy Spirit, the, 258 Stephen, St, 45, 46 (and n. 8), 47, 48, 49, 56, 79, 128, 130, 159, 194, 223 (n. 1),

250; the speech of, before the Sanhedrin, 46-8, 130 Stoicism, 149, 156 Stoics, the, 155 Sumerian legends and temple origins, 50

Sumerian temples, 50

Swnma

Theologfca, 282, 291

awoiKodof.ielaOs, 162 Supernatural gifts under the Old Dispensation according to the Greek Fathers, 264 Symbolism in ancient times, 99 Synagogue, the, 98, 133 (n, 6); and the

of worship, 89; spiritualization worship, 90, 125 (n, 9), 150, 186 (n. 4),

187

294

(n. 6)

(n. 4),

252,

262, 275, 284,

Synoptics, the, 116, 118, 120, 121 (and n. 7), 123 (an. 1, 3), 124, 126, 128, 130, 134 (and n. 8), 138, 146, 147, 152,

275

Syriac version of the Bible, the, 39 (n. 2) Syro-Phoenician cosmogony, 99; religious cosmology, 96 temples, 96 ;

298 after the Exile, 80-3

and cosmic themes, 96 and grace, 222 as God-with-men, 218 God's heavenly, 260; and 207-1

its liturgy,

1

made by man's hands, 129-31 of Ezechiel, Zacharias and Zorobabel, 138

of the Holy Ghost, 296 (n. 3) of the messianic era, 159 (n. 8) Temple, the, the courts of, 115 Jewish devotion to, 83-90 the cosmic significance of, 94-100 the cosmic value of, 199 the destruction of, in 70 A.D., 82-3, 251 the feasts of, 86-8 the ideal of the restoration of, 64 the ideologies of, 90-100 the lay-out of, in the times of Jesus, 107-11 the liturgy of, 98 th Messianic era of, 159 (n. 8), 177, 181 (n, 3), 185, 198, 200, 229, 235, 255, 261 Temple, the new Paschal, 274 the purification of the, by Jesus, 117-18, 122 (n. 8) the purity of the, 221 the real theology of the, 12S the rock of the, 209 (n. 2) the spiritual, ix the symbolism of the design of the, 97 the vestments of the high priest in the,

98 the

Tabernacle, the, 7, 8, 13, 50 (and n. 4), 51, 89, 133, 214, 218, 243, 255, 256,

257

278 Tabernacles, the Feast of, 42, 56 (n. 9), 76, 86, 87 (and n, 4), 88, 133 (and n. 5), 137 (and n. 4), 139, 174, 198, (n. 2),

211,226 Tables of the Testimony, the, 13

ra ndvra, 200 Talmud, the, 50, 96 (n. 3) Targums, the, 93 (and n. 2) i;, 273, 274 (n. 4 from c,

p.

273)

108

Temple, the, ix, x, 9, 11-17, 23 (n. 3), 26 (n. 2), 33 (n. 5), 36-8, 44, 46-59, 62-102 passim, 107-39, 143-8, 1517, 159 (n. 6), 162, 164, 166-9, 173 (n.9), 174, 176, 178, 179, 181, 184, 186-94, 201, 204-24, 227 (and n. 4), 228 (and n. 8), 230, 231 (n. 9), 234-9,

242, 245 (and n.9), 246, 249, 250,

is

in which the building of the, presented, 49-52

way

Temples of Solomon, Zorobabel and Herod, the, a not on the problem of the exact site of th 101-3

sanctuary

Temporal missions, the, 286 Tent of meeting or testimony,

in,

the, 13,

15, 16, 18, 133 (n. 4), 207 (n. 7), 209 Teresa of Lisieux, St, 232 Terms used to indicate the Temple in the New Testament, 108-1 1 Testimonta, 135 (n, 4) the Ark Testimony, the c, 166 tj, 164 Theologians, Latin, 272 modem Western, 266 Western, 275

Theology, Greek, 183 Levitical, 15, 18

St Thomas's, 267

315

General Index Thessalonians, the, 194 Thessalonians* the First and Second

202, 212, 219, 221, 237, 240, 241, 242, 244, 261, 269, 271 (n. 9), 280, 287, 299 Word, the Incarnate, 297 (n. 5) World, thet 211, 223, 237, 246 Worship, the spiritualization of, 89-90,

Epistles to the, 250 Thomist anthropology, 281 Thomist position, the, 266

Thoniists, the, 266

Qvaia and QVOJ* 209

149-50

(n. 1)

Qvai,aaTe,QLov, 191

Timothy, 172 Tishri, 43 Titus, 251

Tobias the Ammonite, 124 rdaos, 204 (n ; 5) Totig &v t(b OVQCW<%) crwrivovvTa.Q t 205 Tradition,* 194 (n. 8), 242 (and n. 2), 286, 294 (n. 6) Catholic, 257 Latin, 285 of the Church, the, 288 Western, the, 265 Transcendence and nearness of God, the, 5, 92-3 Transfiguration, the, 256 TQSLC; crxijvdd 133 Trinity, the, 286, 287, 291

True Sanctuary

is

the

T

(n. 1)

'/m,

109, 143 61 (n. 5)

Vespasian, 204 (n. 6) Vespers of the Blessed Virgin in the Oriental rite, 261 (n. 2) Vie Spirituelle, La, 119 (n. 3) Visible Missions, the Thomist theology

of

the,

286

(n. 6)

Vulgate, the, xii (n. 6), 39 (n. 2), 70 (n, 8), 71 (n. 9), 79(0,5), 138 (n. 7), 146 (n. 3), 275

tradition, the, ix (n. 2), xii, 4, 249, 269 (n. 3) ix (n. 2), 3, 4, 8, 10-16, 20-3, 27, 30, 32, 33, 36, 37, 41-5, 51-3, 55 56-8 1 passim, 84 (and n. 6), (n. 7), 87, 88, 91 (and n. 2), 92, 93, 108, 118, 119, 125, 126, 130, 134, 136 (nn. 6, 9), 140, 147, 159, 194 (n. 8),

21 6 (n.

WafTelaert, Mgr, 265, 277, 283 Waters of Rebellion, the, 9 (n.

Whitsun Liturgy,

the, 79 (n. 5)

Will, God's, 228;

and the Lamb, 229

Wisdom, Book

98

30, 46,

232

60

-who-dwells-in-Sion, 55 (n. 7) as Israel's true temple, 62 the city of, 23 the Day of, 118, 146 the Face of, 119 the glory of, 146 (n. 4) the Name of, 92 (and nn. 5, 6) ; and its theology, 92 (n. 5), 93, 108 the Right Hand of, 140 (n. 5) the throne of, 23 the Word of, 270 the universal sovereignty and kingship of, 61 yeri'ah* 27 (and n. 8) Y6m Kippour., 108

Zacharias,

60

36 (and n. 4), (n. 9),

75,

78,

38, 55 (and n. 80, 249; the of, 41,

108; the service of, 108 Ziggourat, 96 Zoroaster, 89 Zoroastrian reform movement, the, 90 7, 36, 37, 38, 72, 73, 80 (and n. 3), 81, 82, 95 (and n. 7), 101, 108,

(n. 3), 5, 11, 112, 113, 134 141, 152, 178, 183 (n. 7),

247; the restoration of the Temple by, 80-1 13(n. 3)

the Court of the, 102, 108, 109, 119, 124 (n. 5), 143

x

23,

103,

of,

Women,

the,

269, 270

messianic prophecy of, 37 Zachary, 258 (n. 6); the Canticle

5)

Weltgeschichte* 62 Western thought, 265

(and n,

6),

-my-rock, 232 (n. 5) Sabbaoth, 38, 227 (n. 5)

7),

Word,

15

-who-brought-Israel-out-of- Egypt, Christ,

wJ, 12

Ur

2), 9,

Yahweh,

-is- there,

body of

the, 132-8 Twelve, the, 134, 166, 288 Tyre, 95; the king of, 197

Yahvisrn, 89 Yahvist-Elohist tradition, 8 (n. (and n. 7), 17 (n. 7), 91 document, the, 251

8),

Zorobabel,

INDEX OF AUTHORS J., 91 (n. 6), 93 (n. 1) Acheiis, 255 (n. 4)

Abelson,

Albert the Great, St, 242 (n. 2), 289 (n.l) Algazi, L., in Evidences, 186 (n. 4) Allo, E. B., 156 (n. 2), 199 (n. 8), 204 (n. 4), 208 (n. 1), 209 (nn. 2, 3), 214 (n. 7), 215 (nn. 9, 1), 226, 227 (n. 4) Ambrose, St, 120 (n. 2), 261 (and n. 7) Ambrose Autpert, 260 (n. 5), 261 (n. 3) Ambrose, Ps.-, 259 (n. 2) Arnbrosiaster, the, 264 (n. 3)

Andrew,

St,

257

(n, 3),

260

(n. 5),

(n. 2),

Andrew of Crete,

261

258

(n. 7),

(n. 2)

258

St,

259

(n. 7),

260

(n.5)

Anselm,

St,

257

(n. 2)

Antipater of Bosra, 258 (n. 7) Aquinas, St Thomas, 99 (n. 6), 143 (n. 6), 187 (n. 4 from p. 186), 21 1 (n, 2), 229

232

237

238 (n. 3), 266 (and nn. 2, 4), 267 (and nn. 6, 7, 8), 273 (n. 3), 275 (n. 7), 277 (n. 9), 280 (n. 8), 281 (n. 3), 282 (and nn. 4, 5), 283 (and n. 7), 284 (and n, 1), 285 (n. 2), 286 (n. 6), 287 (n. 7), 289 (and n. 1), 298 (n. 6) (n. 4),

240

(n. 2),

241 (n.

(n. 5),

Asting, R., 12

6),

(n. 1),

243,

M.

G. K. A., and Deissmann, Ad., 242 (n. 1)

Bengel, 119 (n. 6) Benoit, P. (O.P.), 169 (n. 5), 199 (n. 9), 200, 235 (n. 8), 285 (n. 3) Benziger, I., 96 (n. 1), 97 (and nn. 4, 7) Benzo of Alba, 1'95 (n. 4) Bernanos, G., 229 (n. 5)

Bernard, St, 257 (n. 2) Bernard, 276 Berry, G. R., 10 (n. 1) Beyer, H. W., 171 (n. 2) Black, 11 (n. 6) Bloch, J., 230 (n. 8) Boismard, M. E., 132 (n. 3), 137 (n. 4), 204 (n. 6), 208 (n. 1), 204, 213 (n. 7), 227 (n. 4), 298 (n. 5) Bonnard, P., 153 (n. 6), 172 (n. 7) Bonsirven, J., 44 (n. 3), 75 (n. 7), 83 (n. 4), 85 (n. 3), 86 (nn. 1, 2, 3), 87 (nn. 7, 8), 89 (nn. 5, 6), 90 (n. 3), 91 (n. 2), 92 (n. 5), 93 (nn. 9, 1, 3), 94 (nn. 4, 5, 7), 115 (n. 2), 131 (n. 7), 209 (n. 1), 271 (n. 7)

Borgnet, 242

(n. 1)

Bossuet, 223

Bahnsen, 195 (n. 3) Balthasar, U. von, 200 (n. 2) Barr<, H., 259 (n. 3) Barrett, C. K., 274 (n. 5) Barrois, A. G., 83 (n. 3), 97 (n.

7),

107 (nn. 1,3) Barth, K., 20, 295 (n. 2), 101,

(n. 5),

287

(n. 7)

Basil of Seleucia, 258 (n. 7) Batiffol, P., 187 (n. 5) Bauer, W., 194 (n. 8), 297 Baur, 195 (n. 1) Beare, F. W., 176 (n. 4), 178 Bede, 222 (n. 5), 231 (n. 9)

(n. 8)

98

(n. 1)

Bell,

Bornemann, 195

8), 72 (and n. 6), 97 125 (and n. 7), 128

226

F., 9 (n. 5)

46

Baehrens, 71 (n. 3), 233 (n. 4) Baethgen, Fr, 139 (n. 2)

240

(n. 7),

Beirouard,

(n. 9), 13 (nn. 1, 2)

Augustine, St, (n. (n.5), 119 (n. 6), (n. 6), 134 (n. 8), 143 (n. 6), 148 (n. 1), 164 (n. 7), 184 (n. 1), 197 (and n. 3), 211 (n. 2), 215 (n. 9), 221 (n. 8), 228 (nn. 6, 1), 233 (and nn. 3, 4), 234 (and nn. 5, 6), 240 (n. 5), 241 (n. 6), 260 (and n. 8), 272 (n. 1)

Basil, St,

Behm, 222

(n. 1)

(n. 3),

248

(n. 8)

Bousset, 44 (n. 3), 86 (n, 4), 208 (n. 1); and Gressmann, 83 (n. 4), 86 (n. 7) (n. 7), 72 (n. 6), 89 93 (nn. 1, 3), 132 (nn. 2, 3), 200 211 (n. 9) Bover, J. M., 160 (n. 2)

Bouyer, L., 11

(n. 4), (n. 2),

Braun, F. M., 11 (n. 7), 76 (n. 8), 121 5), 122, 132 (nn. 2, 3), 137, 149 (n. 179 (n.4), 189(n. 4), 190 (and n. 204 (n. 4), 210 (n. 5), 257 (n. 7) Braun, J., 110(n. 9) Brechet, R., 142 (n. 3) Briggs, 23 (n. 6) Brockington, L. H., 64 (n. 4) Broussaleux, 203 (n. 3) Brunet, A. M., 26 (n. 2) Budde, 26 (nn. 1,4) Burnay, C. F., 210 (n. 7) Bussche, H. van der, 26 (nn. 1, 2, 3)

Cabasilas, Nicolas, 203 (and n. 3) J., 58 (n. 2)

Cadoux, C,

Cajetan, 238 (n.

3),

244

(n. 8)

(n. 3),

5)^

318

Index of Authors

Cales, J., 33 (nn. 5, 6), 43 (n. 1) Calvin, 195(n. 4), 294 B., 255 (n. 4), 259 (n. 2), Capeiie,

Dom

260 (n, 5) Carpenter, S. C, 54 (n. 3) Causse, A., 83 (n. 4), 89 (n.

270 294

278 (and n.

(n. 5),

280

1),

(n. 8),

(n. 6)

Delling, C., 190(n. 5)

Th., 266 (n. 2) Dennefeld, 33 (n. 8), 36 (n. 5) Denzingcr, 33 (n. 9), 265

Deman,

5), 89 (n. 9), 125 (n. 9) Gazelles, H., 83 (n. 1), 86 (n. 5) Cerfaux, L,, 17 (n. 5), 33 (n. 8), 131 (n. 8), 135 (nn. I, 4), 148 (n. 2), 152 (n. 5), 153 (n. 6), 170 (n. 8), 176 (n. 4), 178

Descamps, 33

(n. 8),

Desnoyers, 57

(n. 5)

40

(n, 4),

Dewick, E. C., xii (n, 7) Dhorme, E., 26 (nn. 1, 4), 27

45

(n. 5)

(n. 8),

28

(n.2)

2), 37 (n. 7), Chainc, J., 279 (n. 2) Chalaphta, Rabbi, 94 (n. 6), 133 (n. 6) Champollion, CL, 143 (n. 7), 190 (n. 5) Charles, R. H. 209 (nn. 1, 2), 213 (n. 7), 235 (n. 9) Chariier, C., 46 (n. 8) Chary, Fr Th., O.F.M., 54 (n. 3) Chevalier, I., 263 (n. 3), 285 (n. 5) Chrysippus of Jerusalem, 260 (n. 5) Clement of Alexandria, 52, 192

Dieckniann, Chr., 23 (n. 6), 187 (n. 5) Dietrich, S. de, 62 (n. 8) Dobschtitz, E. von, 195 (and nn. 1, 3), 197 (n. 1) Dodd, C. H., 129(n.9) Dolger, L, 191 (n. 2) Ddllinger, J., 195 (n. 1) Dondaine, H., 285 (n. 4), 286 (n. 6) Driver, 136 (n. 9) Dubarie, A. M., 128 (n. 9), 132, 264 (n. 3), 281 (n. 9) Dufour, L. X., 129 (n. 9), 132, 139 (n. 9) Duhm, B., 62 (n. 6), 77, 136 (n. 9), 140

Clericus, 195 (n. 1) Coathelem, H., 260 (n. 8)

Dumas, Pastor

(n.8)

Ceuppens,

P.,

33 (n. 8), 34 (n. 1), 35 (n. 39 (nn. 9, 2), 118 (n, 2)

(n.3)

Cohn-Wendland, 98 (n. 4) Cole, A,, xii (n. 7) Coleran, J. E., 54 (n. 3) Combes, A., 232 (n. 1) Comblin, J., 87 (n, 7), 88 (and n. 2), 89 (n, 4), 137 (n. 3), 190 (n. 5), 204 (n. 4), 207 (n.8), 211, 217 (n. 8), 226, 229 (and n, 2)

220

(n. 7),

Condren, 97 (n. 5), 174 (n. 8), 227 (n. 3) Congar, Y., ix, x, xi (n. 5), 57 (n. 7), 70 (n. 8), 72 (n. 6), 73 (n. 7), 149 (n, 5), 156 (n. (nn.

3),

1, 3),

160 173

A., 294 (and n. 8), 297

(n. 5)

Dumphy, W.

H.,

Dom

xii (n. 7)

48 (n. 9), 135 (n, 4) Durant, Fr, 276 Diirr, L,, 26 (n. 1), 33 (n. 8) Durwell, F-X., 137 (n, 3), 223 (n. 2), 242 (n. 3), 271 (n. 9)

Dupont,

Eichrodt, 8

92

58,

J.,

(n. 1),

10

166 (n.

2),

171

Ekbert of Schonau, 259

(n. 2),

178 (n.

7),

180

Eliade, M,, 96 (n. 3)

188 (n. 8), 191 (n. 2), 202 (nn. 7, 221 (n. 6), 223 (n. 2), 225 (n. 6), 229

152

(n. 7),

Ellis, E.,

Epictetus, 155 (n. 1)

(n. 4), 237 (n. 1), 245 (n, 3), 247 (n. 7), 258 (n. 9), 266 (n. 2), 288 (n. 8), 292, 294 (nn. 6, 8), 299 (n. 7) J.,

Crampon, 39

33 (n.

8),

35

(n. 1)

St

16 (n, 8), 183 (andn. 6), 242 (n. 2), 262, 264 (n. 5), 268, 271 (n. 9), 272, 275, 285 (nn. 3, 5), 287 (n. 7), 289, 290, 292

Danielou,

J,,

xiii,

190

33

H-M.

(n. 8),

(n. 5)

4),

230

(n. 5),

(n. 8)

211 (n, 9),

f

xiii,

62

(n. 5)

23

(n. 6), 31 (n, 9),

(n. 7)

Feuillet, A., 9 (n, 7), 10 (n. 1),

43

(n. 2),

77 (n. 3), 78 (n. 5), 127 (n. 4) Fischer, 136 (n* 6) Floras of Lyons, 211 (n, 2) Foakes-Jackson, F. J M 46 (n 8) Fox, George, 190 (and n. 6) Fraeyman, xiii, 17 (n. 5), 151 (n. 2), 152 (n, 5), 154 (n. 7), 164 (n, 6), 201 (n. 5)

44

(n. 3),

J, de, 42 (n. 9) Franzelin, 264 (n. 5), 266 Frey, H,, xii (n* 7) Fridrichsen, A., 167 (n. 3), 226 (n, 7)

Frame,

3)

Dalman, G., 138 (n. 7) Damian, St Peter, 195 (n.

(n. 3)

Epiphanius, 240 (n, 5) Epiphanius, Ps.~, 285 (n. 2) Ethiopia Henoch, 96 (n. 3), 131 Feret,

(n. 9), 136 (n. 7), 169 n. 5), 202, 294 (n. 6)

Dabin, P., 192 (n. 3) Dahl, N. A., 296 (n.

(n, 3),

(n. 2)

Cullmann, O., 134

(n. 6), 190 (and Cyril of Alexandria,

54

Eissfeldt, O., 55 (nn. 5, 6)

(n. 4),

8),

Coppens,

(n* 1),

(n. 5)

Index of Authors Fumet,

S.,

129 (and n. 8)

Huby,

Imschoot, Fr van, 270 Innocent III, 99 (n. 6)

(n. 1)

Gelin, A., 28 (n. 1), 36 (n. 5), 37 (n. 6), 38 (n. 8), 83 (n. 4), 86 (and n. 5), 89 (n, 7)

Germanus of Constantinople,

St,

258

(nn, 6, 7), 259 (n. 4) Giblet, J., 33 (n. 8)

Grill, S., 8 (n. 1)

Grillmeier, A., 279 (nn. 2, 3) Grobel, R., 156 (n. 3) GroUenberg, Fr, 83 (n. 1) J.,

263

Grotius, 195

Irenaeus,

(n. 5)

4),

195 (n.

1),

280 289

279,

(n. 7),

223

(n. 7),

Isaac, Rabbi, 94 (n. 6), 133 (n. 6)

54

(n. 3)

Jeremias, A., 49 (n. 3), 51 (n. 1) Jeremias, A. and J., 50, 94 (n. 9) Jeremias, Fr, 96 (nn. 1, 3), 97 (n. 4), 98 (n.l) Jeremias, J., 75 (nn. 7, 8), 96 (n. 3), 98 (n. 3), 122 (n. 8), 131 (n. 4), 134 (n. 9), 135 (n. 1), 137 (n. 4), 147 (n. 8), 164 (n. 5), 176 (n. 4), 199 (nn. 5, 6, 7, 8),

209 (n. 2), 226 (n. 7) Jerome, St, 34, 134 (n.

143 (n.

7),

195

128 (and n.

6),

264

8),

(n.3)

John Chrysostom,

(n. 3)

(and n.

(n. 4)

4),

St,

272, 275, 285, 289, 290

John Damascene,

(n. 1)

Gry, L., 91 (n, 6) Gschwind, K., 279 (n. 2) Gulin, E. G., 87 (n. 7) Guillet, J., 99 (n. 5)

Hannay, Th., xii (n. 7) Hatch and Redpath, 109 Hauck, 203 (n. 6)

(n. 7)

71 (n. 3),

St,

264 (and n. 282 (and n. 4), 287 (n. 3),

Jellicoe, S.,

Cogue!, M., 130 (n. 1), 131 (n. 9), 200 (n. 1) Grabovski, St J., 240 (n. 5) Gregory of Nazianzus, St, 264 (n. 5) Gregory of Nyssa, St, 200 (and n. 2) Gregory the Great, St, 203 (n. 2), 221 (n. 2) Gressmann, H., 26 (n. 1)

Grossouw, 152

241

Hyatt,

Gamier de Rochefort, 260

Gross,

(n. 1),

Hulbosch, A., 200 (n. 1) J. Ph., 54 (n. 2)

Gall, von, 8 (n. 1) Gaitier, J., 263 (n. 3) Garitte, G., 191 (n. 2)

(nn.8,9), 119

319 135

J.,

St,

257

(n. 2),

259

(nn. 3,4), 261 (nn. 2, 5)

John of St Thomas, 277 (n. 9) John of the Cross, St, 232 (nn.

(n. 5)

258

Hausherr, I., 232 (n. 7) Hebert, A. G., 72 (n. 6), 245 (n. 256 (n. 7) Heilcr, F., 14 (n. 3), 232 (n. 6)

3, 9),

287

(n.7) Josephus, 82 (n. 7), 86 (n. 6), 90 (n. 3), 117(n. 1), 124 (n. 6) Journet, Mgr Ch., 189 (n. 3), 239 (n. 4), (n. 9),

266 (and

286

n. 5),

(n. 6),

290, 291 (and nn. 3, 4), 292

P.

2),

Jubilees,

The book

Jungmann,

J.,

Junker, H., 37

of,

288

(n.

(n.

6)

96

(n. 3)

7 from p. 287)

Hemmer and

Heinrici, G., 151 (n. 2) Lejay, 254 (n. 1)

Kautzsch,

Herbigny, d% 187 (n. 5) Hermas, 165 (n. 1) Hertzberg, H. W. 54 (n.

Kelly, J. N, D., 227 (n. 5) Kelly, J.R., 152 (n. 3) Kessler, 23 (n, 6)

3)

E., 131 (n. 5)

Hilgenfeld, 195 (n. 3)

Kierkegaard, S., 57 (n. 7) Kittel, G., 10 (n. 1), 26 (n. 145 (n. 1) KniazefT, AL, 255 (n. 3)

Hippolytus, St, 151, 195 (n. 1), 255 (and n. 4), 259, 279 Hoffmann, A., 130 (n. 1), 266 (n. 2) Hollis, F. J., 97 (n. 8)

Kohler, L., 54 (n. 2) Koksa, G., 266 (n. 2) Korvin-Kransinski, C. von, 99 (n. 4) Krauss, H.-J., 33 (n, 8), 42 (and n. 8), 43

Holscher, G., 83 (n. 4) HoLz, F., 285 (n, 2)

Kruger, E., and Marty, Kuhn, K. G., 159 (n. 1)

Hommels, 227 (n. 5) Hoonaker, A. van, 33

Lactantius, 245 (n. 2)

Hesbert, R., 194

(n. 8)

Hesychius of Jerusalem, 259 (nn. Hilary, St, 182 (and n. 5), 235 (n.

2, 3)

7)

(n. 7), 199 (n. 8) A., 62 (n. 6), 176 (n. 4), 177, 178 (n. 8), 179 (nn. 3, 4), 181, 182 Hoskyns, Ed., 126 (n. 3), 129 (n. 9),

Hort, F.

J.

202 (and

n. 7),

276

(n. 8),

281

(n, 9)

J.,

1),

107

232

(n. 1),

(n. 6)

Ladner, G.B., 164 (n. 7) Lagrange, M.-J., 18 (nn. 9, 1), 29 (n. 3), 33 (n. 8), 40 (n. 5), 83 (n. 4), 85 (n. 2), 86 (n. 6), 89 (n. 5), 93 (nn. 1, 3), 94

320

Index of Authors

Lagrange, M.-J. (continued) 115 (n. 2), 129 (n. 9), (and nn. 6, 8), and Lavergne, 135 (n. 2), 140 (n. 3), 235 (n. 8), 256 (n. 7), 269 (n. 4), 271 (nn. 7, 9), 272 (n. 2), 276, 298 (n. 5) Lambert, 49 (n. 3)

May, H. G., 67 (n. 2) McGregor, G. H. C., 276 (n. 8) McKenzie, J, L., 26 (n. 2) Medcbielle, A., 26 (n. 1), 187 (n. 5) Meersemann, G. G,, 256 (n. 6), 257

A,, 211 (n. 9) Landgraf, A., 266 (n. 2)

Menchini, C. M., 46

Lamy,

Langhe, R,

de.,

208

257 (nn.

(n, 7), 8),

259 (nn.

Lawrence of

2, 4)

Brindisi, St, 261 (n. 3)

Lebarq, 248 (n, 8) Lebreton, J,, 129 (n.

264

254 (n. 1), 256 258 (nn, 4, 7,

6),

9, 1, 2),

187

9),

(n, 5),

(n. 4)

Leclerq, H., 254 Leclerq,

211 (n. 9)

6),

285 (n. 2) Lcfevre, A., 76 (n. 8) Leo, St, 143 (n. 6) Leo XIO, 265 Lecuyer,

Lindblom,

J.,

Lods, 54

O., 175(n. 3), 208 (n.l) Moffatt, J., 242 (n. 1) Mollat, D., 139 (n. 9)

Monod, W., 54 Moore, G.

1),

(n. 3)

136(n. 6) 57 (n. 5)

(n. 2),

Lohmeyer,

132

E., 121 (n. 6),

180(n. 7) Loisy, A. t 276

(n. 2),

(n. 7),

188

Lot-Borodine, Mme, 265 (and n. 8) Lubac, H, dc, 97 (n, 5), 143 (n, 6), 189 (n.2), 192, 242 (n. 2), 257 (n. 1), 258 (nn. 4, 9, 1) 260, (n.

1),

261

(n. 3)

Liinernann, 195 (n. 1) Luthardt, 195 (n. 1) Luther, 195 (n. 4), 232 (n. 4) S.,

280

(n. 8)

Maertens, 83 (n. 4) Mah<, 262 (n. 3), 264 (nn.

287

Mansi, 203

285

Nautin,

274

P.,

(n. 5),

289

(n. 1),

295

121 (n, 5), 132 (n. 3)

la Bigne, 261 (n. 3)

Dom C.,

248

(n. 8)

Marti, K., 36 (n, 5), 136 (n. 9) Mascall, E. L., 256 (n. 7) Mauriac, R, 298

Maximus of Turin,

Newman,

J.

284 (and

H. Cardinal,

17, 18 (n. 8),

n. 9)

Niebecker, E., 274 (n. 5) Ntelen, J. M., 83 (n. 4), 190 (ncu 5, 7) Noordtski, A., 27 (n. 7) Noth, M. f 22 (and nn. 1 4), 25 (n. 8), 147 (n, 8) Nowack, 26 (n. 1) Nygren, 182

Oepke, A., 9

(n. 6)

Oetinger, 53 (n. 3) Qikumenos, 195 (n, 3)

(n. 2)

Margarin de

Marmion,

5, 7),

(n. 7)

Manson, T. W,,

(n. 2)

93 (nn. 1, 2, 3), 94 Morgenstern, J., 97 (n. 8) Morin, G., 233 (n. 3), 260 (n. 8) Morrou, H. 1., 292 Moule, C. F. D,, 130 (n. 2), 139 (n. 9), 140 (n. 6), 149 (n. 4), 157 (n, 4), 179 (n. 4), 222 (n. 4) Mowinckel, S., 42 (and n. 9), 48 (and n. 2), 55, 60 (n. 1) Miiller, AL, 194 (n. 8), 221 (n. 8), 258

(n.2)

(n.8)

(n. 5),

(n. 2) F., 83 (n 4),

(n.9)

(n. 8)

Lossky, VI., 265 (and n, 8) Long-Hasselmans, Abb6, 178

Lyonnet,

259

Moe,

Lesetre, H., 107 (n. 1), 137 (n. 2) Lessius, 266 (n, 2) Leuba, J. L., 20, 22 (n. 3) Lietzmann, 155 (n. 1), 193 (n. 4) Lightfoot, R. H., 121 (n. 5), 123 (n. 126 (nn. 2, 3), 129 (n. 9)

A. de, 156

(n. 7),

(n, 4)

J.,

Lilienfeld,

S.,

204 (n. 4), 226 (n. 2) Modestius of Jerusalem, 258

(n. 2)

193 (and n.

J.,

(n. 8)

121 (n. 5) Mercier, Cardinal, 192 (n. 3) Merkelbach, B. H., 258 (n. 3) Mcrleau-Ponty, M., 241 (n. 9) Mersch, E., 151, 152 (n. 3), 244 (n. 8) Michaeiis, 227 (n. 5) Michel, Ch., 254 (n. 1) Michel, O., 108 (n. 4), 143 (n. 6), 151 153 (n. 6), 155 (nn. (n, 2), 152(n. 5), 9,1), 160 (n.2), 173 (n.l), 197 (n. 1),

Mendner,

(n, 1)

Lattey, C, 58 (n. 2) Laurentin, R., 40 (n.

(nn. 1,2), 261 (n. 5)

St,

258

(n. 7),

Dom J,, 122 (n. 9), 123 (a 3) Origen, 165 (n. 1), 195 (n* 1), 224, 225 (and n. 5), 233 Olivieri,

Osterley,

54

W.

O. E, and Robinson, T. H.,

(n. 2)

Osty, 135 (n.

1)

259

Pamraan, E* 254

(n, 1)

Index of Authors Parrot, A., 82 (n. 101, 107 (n. 1)

6),

83 (n.

3),

99

(n. 3),

Paschasius Radbertus, 261 (n. 3) Pascher, J., 227 (n. 5) Passaglia, 259 (n. 2) Patrizi, 265 Pedersen, J., xiii, 20 (n. 6), 22 (nn. 2, 4), 30 (n. 6), 55 (n. 4), 61 (and n. 2), 91 (n. 1) Pesch, Fr, 266 Petau, 264 (and n. 5), 265, 271 (and n. 9), 277, 289 Peterson, E., 31 (n. 9), 143 (n. 7), 190 (andn. 5), 205 (n. 9), 211 (n. 9), 295 (n. 1)

Philips,

Canon

264

(n, 7),

271

(n. 9),

Philo, 49

(n.

G., 262 (and n. 1), 263, 265 (n. 1), 266 (n. 2), 268, 272 3), 98 (and n. 4), 99, 148,

149, 153, 155, 186 (n. 1), (n. 3),

(n. 8), (n. 6),

J., xiii, 15 (n, 5), 26 72 (n. 4), 73 (n. 7), 85 151 (n. 1), 152 (n. 4)

Pidou, G., 100 (n, 6) Pincherle, A., 48 (n. 9) Pirot-Clamer, 89 (n. 8) Pius XII, 188 (n. 8), 260, 265 Ploger, (X, 54 (n. 3) Ploog, D., 279 (n. 2) Piumpe, J. C., 194 (n. 8) Porphyry, 155 (n. 1) Potter, R, 257 (n. 1) Prat, Fr, 241 (n. 7), 271 (n. 9) Preuss, H., 195 (n. 4) Primasius, 221 (n. 5) Procksch, O., 85 (n.4), 136 (n. 6), 221 (n. 3) Proclus of Constantinople, 258 (n. 7),

260

(n. 5)

Proclus, Ps.-, 260 (n. 5)

Priimm, K., 273 Quasten,

J.,

Quilliet, H.,

88

(n. 3)

(n, 1)

279

(n. 2)

Rad, G, von, 8 (n. 1), 36 (n. 4) Rahner, H., 258 (n. 9) Ramsey, A. M., 8 (n. 1), 11 (nn. 132 (n, 3), 133 (n. 142 (nn. 1,3) Ratzinger, J., 296 (n. 3) (n, 8),

7),

Rawlinson, A. E. J., 242 (n. R^gnier, A., 37 (n. 7) Reicke, B., 279 (and n. 2) Riciotti, G., 80 (n, 1), K2 (n.

3, 5), 51

134

(n. 8),

1)

6),

83 (nn.

Schick, 83 (n.

75 (n. 8), 86 (n. 7), 87 98 (n. 3), 133 (n. 7) Rigaux, B., 33 (n. 8), 196 (n. Robimon, A., 279 (n. 3)

1)

Schlatter, Ad., 51 (n. 8), 165 (n. 8),

176 (n.4) 205

(n. 9)

Schmaus, M., 282

(n. 5), 297 (n. 5) Schmidt, H., 37 (n. 6), 42 (n. 9) Schmidt, K. L., 11 (n. 6), 167 (n. 3) Schmidt, M., xiii, 10 (n. 9), 25 (n. 7), 51 (nn. 7, 8), 53 (n. 3), 60 (nn. 9, 1), 69 (n. 6), 84 (n. 5), 92 (n. 6), 159 (n. 8) Schmiedel, 195 (n. 1) Schmitz, O., 89 (n. 7) Schneider, Th., and Schelkle, 215 (n. 9) Scholz, A., 265 Schrader, 195, 265 Schrenk, G., 90 (nn. 3, 5), 107 (nn. 1, 3), 108 (n. 4), 124 (n. 6), 131 (nn. 6, 7, 8),

143 (n. 5), 147 (n. 6), 294 (n. 8) Schulz, A., 26 (n. 1) Schumacher, H., 273 (n. 3) Scott, E. F., 123 (and n.4) Sellin, E., 54 (n. 2) Selwyn, E. G., 119 (n. 6), 135 (n. 4), 136 (n. 9), 152 (n. 5), 157 (n. 4), 176 (n. 4), 178 (n. 1), 179 (nn. 2, 3, 4), 180 (n. 7) Seneca, 155 (n. 1) Serapion, x (n. 4) Severus of Antioch, 255 (and n. 5), 259 (and n. 2) Sicard of Cremona, 247 (n. 5) Simon, M., 26 (nn. 1, 2), 46 (n. 8), 48 (n. 2), 90 (n. 3), 131 (n. 6), 147 (n. 6)

1),

(n. 8),

42 97

(n. (n.

273

(n. 4)

Spitta, 210 (n. 7) Staehlin, 53 (n. 2)

Stein, E., 10 (n. 1)

8),

6),

197

(n, 1)

(n. 2)

Spicq, C, 140 (n. 7), 172 (n. 8), 174 (n. 7), 175 (n.l), 180 (n. 8), 185 (n. 2), 187 (n. 5),

Riesenfeld, H., 9 (n. 6), 10 (n.

3,

Sahlin, H., 226 (n. 7) Sanday, W., 83 (n. 1) Sanson, H., 287 (n. 7) Schanz, P., 276 (n. 8) Schauf, H., 265 (n. 9) Scheeben, 265

Smallwood, A., 244 (n. 6) Smith, R., 26 (n. 1) Smothers, E. R., 114 (n. 5) Snaith, N. H., 42 (n. 9), 54

l3),85(n.2) 9),

Robinson, H. Wheeler, 54 (n. 3) Romanes the Singer, 260 (n. 5) Rost, L., 23 (n. 6), 25 (n. 8) Rousseau, O,, 279 (n. 2) Rowley, H. H., 54 (n. 3), 55 (n. 5) Rupert of Deutz, 260 (n. 8), 261 (nn. 6), 264 (n. 3 from p. 263) Ruysbroeck, 97 (n. 5)

Schlier,

Phythian- Adams, W.

46 92

321

Steinmann, 33 (nn. 5, Stolz, A., 265 (n. 8)

7)

Index of Authors

322 Strack, H.,

43

5),

(n. 2),

and

Billerbeck, P.,

(n. 1),

76(n.

1) T

93

xiii,

40

(n. 1),

(n.

115

131 (n. 7), 133 (n. 6), 138 (n. 7),

143 (n. 6), 144 (n. 8), 147 (n. 6), 159 (n. 9), 199 (n. 8), 201 (n. 5), 209 (n. 3), 220 (n. 7), 223 (n. 8), (n. 7)

216 (nn. 4, 5), 226 (n. 2), 271

Strathmann and E. Meyer, 176 (n. 4) Swete, H. B., 208 (n. 1), 209 ( n 2), 213 (n. 7), 219 (n. 3), 220 (n. 8), 221 (n. 2), 222 (n. 5), 226, 227 (n. 4), 256 (n. 7), 274 (n. 6), 279 (n. 6) .

Taille, M. de la, 245 (n. 1), 268 (and n. 9) Tavard, G. T., 195 (n. 4) Toetacrt, A. 247 (n. 5) Ternant, P., 256 (n. 7) Tersteegen, 232 (n. 6) Tertullian, 16 (and n. 1), 164, 224 (n. 4), 263 (n. 2), 279, 282 Theodore the Studitc, 259 (n, 3), 260

(n. 3) (n. 9)

Canon, 245

Thornton, Tillmann,

L., P.,

242 276

(n. 1),

256

E., 271 (and n. 9), Topisch, E., 99 (n. 4)

Tobac,

Tromp,

S.,

76

(n. 2),

Vailh<, S M 254 (n. 2)

264

(n. 7)

272

(n. 2)

(n, 3),

274

256

J.,

(n, 1),


32

9),

(n, 2),

230

(n. 8)

Mgr

P.,

(n. 5),

98

188 (n. 8) Vielhauscr, Ph., 160 (n. 2) 22 Vincent, L. II., (n. 4), 23 (n. 5), 82 (nn. 7, 8), 96 (nn. 9, 2), 101 Vischer, W., 31 (n. 1), 42 (n. 8), 45 (n. Veuillot,

4),

95

(n. 9)

Vogue, M. dc, 83 (and n. 3) Volz, P., 54 (n. 2) Vonier, Dom A. t 202 Warren, Capt. Ch. 82 (and Watcrhousc, P., 83 (n, 1)

n. 9)

P., 91 (n. 6), 131 (n. 7) J., 89 (n. 8) A. C., 54 (n. 3), 86 (n. 8)

Weber, Mgr

Theodoret, 195 (n. 3), 255 (n. 4) Theodotion, 39 (n. 2) Theodulph of Orleans, 195 (n. 4) Thcophilus 272 (n. 2) Thcophylaclus, 195 (n. 3) Thiersch, 195

Huby,

Vergotc, A., 142 (n. 3) Vermfcs, G. 115 (n. 2), 159 (n.

Weber

(n. 5)

Thils,

Valcnsin, A., and

Vandeyr, D., 192 (n. 3) Vauthier, E., 289 (n. 2) Vaux, Fr de, 22 (n. 3), 26 101, 252 (and n. 1)

(n. 5)

Welch, Wellhausen, 26, 58 Wenschkewitz, H., xiii, 89 (and n. 7), 90 (n. 3), 93 (n. 1), 121 (n. 6), 136 (n, 8), 152 (n. 5), 153 (n. 6), 165 (n. 8) 173 (n, 9), 204 (n. 4), 210 (n. 7), 208 (n. 1), 21 1 (n. 2), 227 (n. 4) Westcott, B. F., 13 (n, 1), 139 (n, 9), 175 (n. 3), 185 (n. 2), 191 (n. 9), 205 (n. 7) Wettc, de, 195 (n. 1) Wiesclcr, 195 (n. 1) Wolf, H. H., 294 (n. 8)

Wordsworth, Chr., 195

(n* 4)