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Philologus (F. W. Emmons)
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Wind and Spirit (1832)
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Wind or Spirit, in John 3:8.
FROM
THE MILLENNIAL HARBINGER.
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| No. 12 |
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| BETHANY, VIRGINIA:
MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 1832. |
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Vol. III. |
I saw another messenger flying through the midst of heaven, having everlasting
good news to proclaim to the inhabitants of the earth, even to every nation
and tribe, and tongue, and people-- saying with a loud voice, Fear God and
give glory to him, for the hour of his judgments is come: and worship him who
made heaven, and earth, and sea, and the fountains of water.--JOHN.
Great is the truth and mighty above things, and will prevail.
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FOR THE MILLENNIAL HARBINGER.
Wind and Spirit.
"The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but
canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is
born of the Spirit."
Common translation of
John iii. 8.
THE popular exposition of this passage of scripture, so far as we
have been able to learn it, is, that the' comparison here is between the
wind in its effects, and the Holy Spirit in its effects, on the regenerated.
As the wind blows where it pleases, so does the, Holy Spirit.
How is this made out? By the insertion of two supplements, it and
with--"So it is with every one that is born of the Spirit." As we
cannot tell whence the wind comes, and whither it goes; so neither
can the subjects of it tell whence the Holy Spirit comes, how it operates,
and whither it goes. It operates alike sovereignly and mysteriously.
How lame and blind all this!
In order to come at the TRUTH, let it be premised--
1. We have but one word in the Greek language for wind and spirit,
viz. pneuma. [604]
2. An important rule of interpretation is, that "when any word or
expression is ambiguous, and may, consistently with common use, be
taken in different senses, it must be taken in that sense, which is
agreeable to the subject of which the writer was treating;" consequently,
the meaning of pneuma, and its proper translation into English,
must always be determined by the connexion in which it stands.
3. The subject of discourse between the Saviour and Nicodemus
was not wind, but spirit. PNEUMA is four times rendered in this connexion
spirit. It is so rendered in the predicate of the passage under
consideration: but only in the subject rendered wind.
Therefore, if to be born again, is to be born, not of wind, but of
Spirit--if that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit, and not wind;
then must the Saviour's words,
verse 8. (John iii.)
be rendered--
The Spirit breathes where it pleases, and you hear the report of it;
but know not whence it comes and whither it goes: so is every person
who is born of the Spirit.
Now for the meaning of this:--
The comparison is continued from the
6th verse
between the begetter
and the begotten--between the Holy Spirit and the person begotten
or born of it. "That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and
that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." An identity of nature being
here declared; an identity in the aspect and effect of their influences
is declared in the sentence under consideration. "You hear the report
of it"--the sound or rumor of its operations. (That the Spirit operates,
and so operates as to effect an important change in all who
"enter into the kingdom of God," being born of Spirit, had been asserted
just before--"Except a man be born again, he cannot see (discern)
the kingdom (or reign) of God.") "So is everyone who is born
of the Spirit"--So is he to you, Nicodemus, and to all like you, out of
the kingdom, who have not submitted to the government of Messiah
the Prince of Peace. As you know not whence the Spirit of God
comes, and whither it goes; alike ignorant are you of the subject of
divine influence, You discern him not. An entire stranger are you
to the new principles, views, and feelings, by which he is actuated.
PHILOLOGUS.
[The Millennial Harbinger (December 1832): 604-605.]
ABOUT THE ELECTRONIC EDITION
Philologus's "Wind and Spirit" was first published in The Millennial
Harbinger, Series, Vol. 3, No. 12, December 1832. The electronic
version of the letters has been produced from the College Press reprint
(1976) of The Millennial Harbinger, ed. Alexander Campbell
(Bethany, VA: A. Campbell, December 1832), pp. 604-605.
The first half of this essay appears in the
critical
notes on John 3:8 in Alexander Campbell's The Living Oracles
(Bethany, VA: McVay and Ewing, 1835), pp. 53-54. The only clue to the
identity of the writer is Campbell's credit to him as a "fellow-student
of the original, and a joint laborer in the work of reformation, to
whom we formerly suggested an inquiry on this subject."
In response to a query about the identity of Philologus, Lee Snyder
writes in an e-mail letter of 3 February 1999:
Hans [Rollmann] passed on to me your question about the identity of
"Philologus." You suspected that his identity is either Thomas
Campbell or Frances W. Emmons. As far as I can tell, your suspicions
are right--he is FWE. The proof for this is as follows:
In MH 1836, p. 424, in a letter from Robert Richardson to FWE,
Richardson refers to Emmons and himself as "Discipulus and Philologus."
Which was which? Well, we know that Richardson was "Discipulus" (he
confesses this in MH 1857, p. 703). So that leaves FWE as
"Phililogus."
Pagination in the electronic version has been represented by placing
the page number in brackets following the last complete word on the
printed page.
Inconsistencies in spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and
typography have been retained; however, corrections have been offered
for misspellings and other accidental corruptions.
Emendations are as follows:
Printed Text [ Electronic Text
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
p. 604: scriptnre, [ scripture,
p. 605: oper- rates, [ operates,
Addenda and corrigenda are earnestly solicited.
Ernie Stefanik
Derry, PA
Created 6 February 1999.
Updated 2 July 2003.
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Philologus (F. W. Emmons)
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Wind and Spirit (1832)
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