Moralia in Job 144

Verse 22. — In all these things Job did not sin, nor did he speak anything foolish against God. 88. Let him not murmur concerning temptation. — Because the grieving soul must with skillful care keep watch, lest, when temptation goads it within, it should break out in words of unlawful speech outwardly, lest it murmur concerning the probation, and the fire which consumes it like gold should, through the excess of unlawful speech, turn into the ashes of chaff. 89. The gifts of God are sometimes usefully withdrawn. The Spirit of prophecy is not always present to the prophets. — Nothing hinders, if what we have said concerning the virtues we should also understand concerning those gifts of the Holy Spirit which are given for the showing forth of virtue.

For to some is given prophecy, to some kinds of tongues, to some the powers of healings. But because these very gifts are not always in the mind in the same manner, it is clearly shown that, lest the mind should lift itself up in presumption, they are sometimes usefully withdrawn. For if the spirit of prophecy were always present to the prophets, assuredly the prophet Elisha would not say: Let her alone, for her soul is in bitterness, and the Lord hath hid it from me (2 Kings iv, 2, LXX). If the spirit of prophecy were always present to the prophets, Amos, when questioned, would not say: I am no prophet, where he also added: Neither a prophet's son; but I am a herdsman, plucking wild figs (Amos vii, 14).

But how was he not a prophet, who foretold so many true things concerning the future? Or how was he a prophet, if concerning himself in the present he denied the truth? But because in that same hour in which he was questioned he perceived that the spirit of prophecy was lacking to him, he truthfully brought forth testimony about himself, saying: I am no prophet. Yet, following on, he added: And now hear the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord: Thy wife shall play the harlot in the city, and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword, and thy land shall be measured by a line; and thou shalt die in a polluted land (Ibid. 16, 17). By which prophetic words it is openly shown that, while he was saying those things about himself, he was filled; and he presently deserved to have the spirit of prophesying, because he humbly acknowledged that he was not a prophet.

And if the spirit of prophecy were always present to the prophets, the prophet Nathan would in no way have granted to King David, when consulting about the building of the temple, that which a little after he denied (2 Sam. vii, 3, 5). 90. To have the Spirit remaining is the privilege of Christ. Who is said to remain also in the disciples. — Whence it is well written also in the Gospel: Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining upon him, this is he who baptizes (John i, 33). For upon all the faithful the Spirit comes, but in the sole Mediator he singularly remains, because he never forsook His humanity, from whose divinity He proceeds. In Him, therefore, He remains, who alone can do both all things and always.

For the faithful, who receive Him, since they cannot always have the gifts of signs as they will, testify that they have received Him, as it were, in a showing forth that passes away. But when again concerning the same Spirit it is said by the mouth of Truth to the disciples, He shall abide with you, and shall be in you (John xiv, 17), what is it that by the divine voice of the Mediator this same abiding of the Holy Spirit is declared a sign, when it is said: Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining upon him? If, therefore, according to the Master's voice, He abides also in the disciples, how then will it be a singular sign, that which remains in the Mediator? Which nevertheless we more quickly recognize, if we distinguish the gifts of the same Spirit. 91.

He is to remain in those gifts by which holiness is conferred, not in those by which this holiness is declared for the profit of others. — For some of His gifts are those without which one in no way attains to life, others those by which the holiness of life is declared for the profit of others. For meekness, humility, patience, faith, hope, charity are His gifts, but those without which men can in no way come to life. But prophecy, the power of healings, kinds of tongues, the interpretation of speeches, are His gifts, but those which show the presence of His power for the correction of the beholders.

In these gifts, therefore, without which one cannot attain to life, the Holy Spirit abides always, whether in His preachers or in all the elect. But in those gifts by whose manifestation not our own life is preserved but the good of others is sought, He does not by any means abide always in the preachers; for He indeed presides always over their heart for living well, yet He does not always show forth through them the signs of the virtues. Rather, He sometimes withdraws Himself from them in the display of signs, so that His virtues may be held the more humbly, in proportion as, when possessed, they cannot be securely held. 92. Far otherwise than in these does He abide in Christ.

But the Mediator of God and men, the man Christ Jesus, possesses that Spirit present in all things, always and continuously; for from Him also the same Spirit is brought forth according to substance. Rightly, therefore, although He abides in the holy preachers, He is declared to abide in a singular way in the Mediator, because in the former He abides by grace unto something, but in the latter He abides by substance unto all things. For just as our body has knowledge only of the sense of touch, while the head of the body possesses at once the use of all five senses, so that it may see, hear, taste, smell, and touch, so the members of the heavenly Head shine forth in certain virtues, but the Head itself blazes in all the virtues.

In a different manner, then, the Spirit abides in Him, from whom He never departs by nature. But His gifts by which one presses on toward life cannot be lost without peril; whereas the gifts by which the holiness of one's life is displayed are for the most part, as has been said, withdrawn without loss. Those, therefore, are to be held fast for our own instruction; these are to be sought out for the advancement of others. In the former let fear alarm us, lest they perish; but in the latter, when at times they are removed for a season, let humility console us, because perhaps they lift the mind up to pride. When, therefore, the signs of virtues granted to us are withdrawn, let us rightly say: The Lord gave, the Lord hath taken away; as it hath pleased the Lord, so is it done; blessed be the name of the Lord.

For then do we truly show that we rightly held what we received, when we bear with equanimity that which is taken away for a moment.