Paraclete
1. The term.-One result of the authoritative place held by the Law among the Jews was that figures of speech borrowed from the sphere of judicial procedure came to play an important part in religious life. This cycle of figurative speech included the term paraclete. In Greek usage a paraclete was one who accompanied an accused person to the judges tribunal, and supported him by testifying and interceding on his behalf. The frequent use of the term paraclete in the religious phraseology of the Jews is confirmed by the fact that when the term, as a Greek loanword, at length found a place in the Hebrew writings of the Synagogue, it was employed not in a literal but in a figurative sense, as, e.g., for the sacrifice by which the Divine forgiveness was secured for Israel.
2. Jesus Himself as the Paraclete (of Christians who fall into sin).-The idea that man requires a paraclete was associated first of all with the thought of the Divine decree by which the status and destiny of human beings are fixed, and it is in this reference that St. John, in his First Epistle (1Jn 2:1), applies the term to Jesus Christ. As the vocation to a divine life puts an end to walking in darkness, believers separate themselves from sin by sincere and penitent confession. Still, this does not do away with the possibility of their choosing falsely and again doing evil; hence there arises the need of a fresh judicial act on Gods part to decide what portion such a sinner retains in Him. Even when the Christian sins, however, Christ maintains fellowship with him, and brings him within the scope of the Divine grape. In that passage, accordingly, Christ is called a Paraclete because He obtains Divine pardon for those who have trespassed. His ability to shield the sinning one is based upon the fact of His own righteousness, for only the righteous, whose mind is at one with the will of God, can ask God to forgive others. This power, moreover, rests also upon the fact that Jesus has by His Cross purchased the worlds forgiveness from God.
3. The Holy Spirit as the Paraclete (of the apostles in their work).-In the last discourse of Jesus, as found in the Fourth Gospel, the name Paraclete is given to the power that secures for the disciples the presence of the Holy Spirit (Joh 14:16; Joh 14:26; Joh 15:26; Joh 16:7). Abstractly, it is not impossible that the Spirit Himself is here called the Paraclete because He too keeps the disciples within the Divine grape through which they are forgiven; here, in point of fact, the term applies to Jesus no less than to the Spirit, for the latter is called another Paraclete; and thus the intercessory function of the Spirit on behalf of the disciples is conjoined with that exercised by Jesus until His departure. The leading thought underlying the passages in question, however, is in conflict with this interpretation, as Jesus is there speaking of how His disciples shall be enabled to complete their task and, as His messengers, to gather His community together. His words serve here to define the authority of the apostolic office, and therefore also of the Church. The relation of the disciples to God is regulated and assured by their union with Jesus, and no account is taken of the possibility that they may rupture that relation by fresh transgression. The parting utterances of Jesus speak of His fellowship with His disciples as indestructible; as perfected, not impeded by His death. He remains in them, and they remain in Him, and they are thus encompassed by the Divine love. This relationship, however, lays upon them their special task-that of living and witnessing for Him, of pleading His claims, and of calling upon men to have faith in Him. As branches in the true Vine they have now the power, as they have also the duty, of bringing forth fruit. This brings them, however, to take part in a dire struggle, and the last discourse of Jesus affirms in words of deep impressiveness that He has made every provision for their warfare with the world and their victory over it. Even now, indeed, their standing is being contested-not, certainly, their standing before God, sinners though they are, for that matter is settled by their fellowship with Jesus, but the sanction of that profession of faith in Him by virtue of which they glorify Him as the Christ.
Now the question whether, and how, the apostles are able to fulfill their mission, and how they may convince the world that their message is true, is solved for them by the fact that the Spirit is with them. The Spirit is their Paraclete because He is the evidence of their standing, the efficacy of their words, the source of their authority, and the guarantee of their success. The reason why they now require another Advocate-a new Paraclete, distinct from Jesus Himself-is that while hitherto Jesus, by His word and His works, vindicated the rights of their faith, and by His presence protected them against all assailants, He can no longer, now that He has passed into the unseen, be their Advocate in His own Person. They require an evidential force which will still be recognizable, a power that will constantly be with them, and become manifest to all to whom they proclaim the word. The historical ground of their authority-the fact, namely, that they had companied with Jesus-is not thereby invalidated (Joh 15:27), but it is not in itself sufficient. Their utterances regarding Jesus are free from every limitation. Thus they describe Him as the Eternal Son, through whom the whole work of God is effected; as the ever-present One, who is in perfect unity with His people; as the One who now worketh, bestowing light and life upon the world. To the historical foundation of the apostolate and the Church, therefore, there must necessarily be added the pneumatic foundation; and the deep significance that attaches to the term Paraclete lies in the distinct expression which it gives to the fact that the historical sanction of the apostles and the community finds its requisite supplement and confirmation in their inward experience and the spiritual possessions they now enjoy.
4. The Deity of the Spirit.-One result of this process of thought was the fresh emphasis laid upon the idea that the Spirit shares fully in the nature of God. It is true that even in the earliest stages of Christianity, as elsewhere, the Spirit was spoken of as possessing the quality of Deity; in knowledge, in will, in work, He has part in the creative glory of the Divine power. But the fact that the Spirit now came to be conceived as the Paraclete of the disciples provided a peculiarly cogent reason why He should be thought of, not as a mere property of mans inner life, or as a force that enters into man, but as fully possessed of the Divine power which, coming from above, encompasses man, and so animates all things from within. For the prerogative of Jesus and His disciples was made manifest only when it was proved to be Divine. The disciples cannot demonstrate the Divine status of Jesus by appealing to what they are in themselves. Such demonstration could be given only if it were made manifest that the cause of Jesus was the cause of God. The Spirit is the Advocate of Christians simply because in His work it becomes clear to all that He comes from above and is no merely human possession. Nevertheless He could not be the Advocate of the disciples unless His presence and action were unmistakably related to Jesus; and this relation is made manifest by the fact that the Spirit is possessed by the disciples only, and not by the world (Joh 14:17, Joh 16:7), and that He speaks as the witness of Jesus, and creates faith in His mission (Joh 15:26, Joh 16:14). He causes the word of Jesus to become effective in the disciples, so that it becomes the basis of the teaching which reveals to them the will of God in their present situation (Joh 14:26). Hence the granting of the Spirit causes no separation between the disciples and Jesus, nor does it cut the Church apart from its historical roots; on the contrary, that which had been perfectly wrought by Jesus is brought to its full realization by being renewed in the inner life of the disciples, in their knowledge and in their work. In this connection, too, we note the emergence of Trinitarian formulae, as, e.g., the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name (Joh 14:26). Since Christ and the Spirit both carry out the one purpose of God, and combine their operations in a perfect unity, the work accomplished by Jesus remains permanently effective, and is in reality completed, not superseded, by the work of His disciples.
5. The truth as the medium of the Spirits manifestation.-A thesis that at this point acquired immense importance was that which defines the conditions and phenomena in which the Spirit manifests Himself, and the means by which His self-revelation is secured. The thesis is simply that He becomes manifest by the truth-by the truth alone, though with triumphant power. It is the truth alone which can demonstrate the Divine right of Jesus, of His disciples, and of His Church. Special operations of the Spirit are in themselves insufficient to supply this confirmation, although reference is made likewise to the Spirit as the source of prophecy (Joh 16:13). The latter statement involves the endowing of the apostles with the teaching office, so that in the amplitude of their knowledge and the clearness of their intuition they find the weapons with which they overcome the world; for in the Johannine writings the truth is set in opposition to both falsehood and error, and with constant thanksgiving John declares that Jesus has redeemed His disciples from lies and made them truthful, and that He has freed them from the dominion of error and brought them to the certainty that comprehends God. Similarly, they have received moral succour, for in John falsehood and hatred, darkness and sin, are closely allied, and the one dies away with the other. That nevertheless John speaks of the truth alone as the distinguishing feature of Jesus and His disciples is intimately connected with the fact that the Evangelists whole characterization of Jesus is directed to the one end of establishing faith. Only in the truth can a genuine faith have its birth.
6. The source of this thesis.-In view of the momentous results that flowed from the doctrine of the Paraclete-a doctrine that supplied the norms and motives of the whole subsequent development of the Church-the question regarding the origin of this thesis becomes peculiarly important.
(a) Its connection with Jesus.-The powerful links which connect the statements regarding the Spirit with Jesus Himself are clearly recognizable. Jesus had earnestly considered the gravity of the struggle in which the disciples would have to engage after His death (Mat 10:16-23), and had given them the assurance that in that struggle the Spirit would guide them. In Mat 10:20, etc., the peculiar situation arising out of persecution unto death is met by a reference, not indeed to the name, but doubtless to the thought, of the Paraclete. Similarly, that confidence in the truth which makes absolute devotion to it the distinctive characteristic of the Christian community has its source in Jesus; it is an outcome of the warfare which Jesus waged against all untruthfulness; and the like holds good also of that purely religious conception of the apostolic vocation which proscribes all self-interested ends and lays upon the apostles the obligation of making the power of God manifest to the world.
(b) Its relation to the Johannine theology.-At the same time the statements regarding the Paraclete are connected at all points with the peculiar content of the Johannine theology: with its absolute rejection of the world, as being the realm of darkness, its bringing the gospel under the single aim of evoking faith in Jesus, its subordination of all external results to the spiritual process of generating the knowledge of God, its synthesis of historical recollection with the mystic vision that looks within and there becomes assured of communion with God. What had come down from Jesus Himself, and what had emerged in the historical development in which the writer had shared, are inextricably combined in these statements; nor is it possible for us to dissociate them any more than John himself would do.
Literature.-Besides the Commentaries (esp. Meyer on Joh 14:16 and Dsterdieck on 1Jn 2:1), J. Buxtorf, Lex. Chald. Talmud. et Rabbin., ed. B. Fischer, Leipzig, 1866-74, s.v.; Grimm-Thayer_, Gr.-Eng. Lexicon of the NT2, Edinburgh, 1890, s.v.; H. Cremer, Bibl.-Theol. Lexicon of NT Greek3, do., 1880, s.v.; G. C. Knapp, Scripta Varii Argumenti, 2 vols., Halle, 1805; J. Pearson, An Exposition of the Creed, new ed., London, 1872, p. 499 ff.; J. C. Hare, The Mission of the Comforter3, do., 1876; R. C. Trench, On the Authorized Version of the NT2, do., 1859; J. B. Lightfoot, On a Fresh Revision of the English NT, do., 1891, p. 55 ff.; E. Hatch, Essays in Biblical Greek, Oxford, 1889, p. 82; J. Robson, The Holy Spirit the Paraclete, Edinburgh and London, 1894, p. 3 ff., ExpT_ v. [1893-94] 320 ff.; G. G Findlay, ExpT_ xii. [1900-01] 445; M. Jastrow, Dictionary of the Targumim, etc., 2 vols., London and New York, 1903, s.v. i; J. Worthington-Atkin, The Paraklete, London, 1906; T. D. Bernard, The Central Teaching of Jesus Christ, do., 1892, p. 157 ff.; H. B. Swete, The Holy Spirit in the New Testament, London, 1909, The Holy Spirit in the Ancient Church, do., 1912.
A. Schlatter.
Fuente: Dictionary of the Apostolic Church
PARACLETE
An advocate or comforter; generally applied to the third person in the Trinity, Joh 15:26.
Fuente: Theological Dictionary
Paraclete
(Greek: advocate or consoler)
An appellation of the Holy Ghost. Christ promises to send the Apostles “another Paraclete” (John 14:16) so they may not be desolate orphans when He departs. Christ was the first advocate or comforter and He continues His advocacy for us in Heaven (John 11:1). The Holy Ghost is the advocate in the Church, Who pleads God’s cause with men, Who keeps the Church from error, and sanctifies souls through the ministry of the word and the sacraments. The supernatural power that produces all the effects of grace on earth is appropriated to the Holy Ghost though really the work belongs to the Blessed Trinity.
Fuente: New Catholic Dictionary
Paraclete
Paraclete, Comforter (L. Consolator; Gr. parakletos), an appellation of the Holy Ghost. The Greek word which, as a designation of the Holy Ghost at least, occurs only in St. John (xiv, 16, 26; xv, 26; xvi, 7), has been variously translated “advocate”, “intercessor”, “teacher, “helper”, “comforter”. This last rendering, though at variance with the passive form of the Greek, is justified by the Hellenistic usage, a number of ancient versions, patristic and liturgical authority, and the evident needs of the Johannine context. According to St. John the mission of the Paraclete is to abide with the disciples after Jesus has withdrawn His visible presence from them; to inwardly bring home to them the teaching externally given by Christ and thus to stand as a witness to the doctrine and work of the Saviour. There is no reason for limiting to the Apostles themselves the comforting influence of the Paraclete as promised in the Gospel (Matthew 10:19; Mark 13:11; Luke 12:11, 21:14) and described in Acts, ii. In the above declaration of Christ, Cardinal Manning rightly sees a new dispensation, that of the Spirit of God, the Sanctifier. The Paraclete comforts the Church by guaranteeing her inerrancy and fostering her sanctity (see CHURCH). He comforts each individual soul in many ways. Says St. Bernard (Parvi Sermones): “De Spiritu Sancto testatur Scriptura quia procedit, spirat, inhabitat, replet, glorificat. Procedendo praedestinat; spirando vocat quos praedestinavit; inhabitando justificat quos vocavit; replendo accumulat meritis quos justificavit; glorificando ditat proemiis quos accumulavit meritis”. Every salutary condition, power, and action, in fact the whole range of our salvation, comes within the Comforter’s mission. Its extraordinary effects are styled gifts, fruits, beatitudes. Its ordinary working is sanctification with all it entails, habitual grace, infused virtues, adoption, and the right to the celestial inheritance. “The charity of God”, says St. Paul (Romans 5:5), “is poured forth in our hearts by the Holy Ghost who is give to us.” In that passage the Paraclete is both the giver and the gift: the giver of grace (donum creatum) and the gift of the Father and the Son (donum increatum). St. Paul teaches repeatedly that the Holy Ghost dwells in us (Romans 8:9, 11; 1 Corinthians 3:16).
That indwelling of the Paraclete in the justified soul is not to be understood as though it were the exclusive work of the third Person nor as though it constituted the formalis causa of our justification. The soul, inwardly renovated by habitual grace, becomes the habitation of the three Persons of the Blessed Trinity (John 14:23), yet that indwelling is rightly appropriated to the third Person who is the Spirit of Love. As to the mode and explanation of the Holy Ghost’s inhabitation in the soul of the just, Catholic theologians are not agreed. St. Thomas (I, Q. XLIII, a. 3) proposes the rather vague and unsatisfactory simile “sicut cognitum in cognoscente et amatum in amante”. To Oberdoffer it is an ever acting force, maintaining and unfolding habitual grace in us. Verani takes it to be merely objective presence, in the sense that the justified soul is the object of a special solicitude and choice love from the Paraclete. Forget, and in this he pretends to bring out the true thought of St. Thomas, suggests a sort of mystical and quasi-experimental union of the soul with the Paraclete, differing in degree but not in kind from the intuitive vision and beatific love of the elect. In so difficult a matter, we can only revert to the words of of St. Paul (Romans 8:15): “You have received the spirit of adoption whereby we cry: Abba (Father).” The mission of the Paraclete detracts nothing from the mission of Christ. In heaven Christ remains our parakletos or advocate (1 John 2:1). In this world, He is with us even to the consummation of the world (Matthew 28:20), but He is with us through His Spirit of whom He says : “I will send Him to you. He shall glorify me; because He shall receive of mine, and shall shew it to you” (John 16:7, 14). See HOLY GHOST.
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J. F. SOLLIER Transcribed by Sean Hyland
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume XICopyright © 1911 by Robert Appleton CompanyOnline Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. KnightNihil Obstat, February 1, 1911. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., CensorImprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York
Fuente: Catholic Encyclopedia
Paraclete
(, lit. one called near for aid; A.V. Comforter). This word is applied in the original to Christ in 1Jn 2:1, where it is translated advocate (q.v.). Indeed, in that famous passage in which Christ promises the Holy Spirit as a paraclete (comforter) to his sorrowing disciples, he takes the title to himself: I will send you another paraclete (Joh 14:16). The question then is, In what sense does Christ denominate himself and the Spirit sent from him and the Father, , paraclete? The answer to this is not to be found without some difficulty. and it becomes the more difficult from the fact that in genuine Greek the verb has a variety of significations: (1) To call to a place, to call to aid; (2) to admonish, to persuade, to incite; (3) to entreat, to pray. To these may be added the Hellenistic signification, to console; to soothe; to encourage. Finally. the rabbins also in their language use the word (peraklit) for the Angel of Intercession (Job 43:23), a fact which must be taken into consideration. In the explanation of the word the leading circumstance to guide us must be to take that signification which is applicable to the different passages in which it occurs. For we may distinguish three interpretations:
(1.) Origen explains it where it is applied to the Holy Spirit by Consolator (), while in 1Jn 2:1 he adopts the signification of Deprecator. This is the course taken by most of the Greek commentators: (Suicer, Thesaur. s.v.), and which has been followed by Erasmus, Luther, and others. But to this Tholuck and others object that, not to insist that the signification cannot be grammatically established (for no admissible instance can be adduced where the passive is used in an active sense for ), it is suitable to a very few passages only, while to others it is either too circumscribed or altogether inappropriate.
(2.) Aware of this, others, after the example of Theodore of Mopsuestia, sanctioned by Mede, Ernesti, and others, would translate it teacher. But neither does this sense seem adapted to all the passages. It would also be difficult to deduce it from the usages of the language; for not to mention that in this case also the active signification would be assumed for the passive form we are pressed with the question whether the verb can anywhere in the New Testament be found in the sense of to teach, as this hypothesis assumes. It is at least very certain that this sense never was transferred to the rabbinical , the peraklita, advocate or interpreter. (Buxtorf, Lex. Talmudicum, col. 1843).
(3.) The considerations which tell against these views incline the balance in favor of a third sense, which is that of assistant, helper, coadjutor; hence advocate (intercessor). Demosthenes uses it with this force in a judicial sense (see Index, ed. Reiske); and it occurs in the same sense in Philo (see Loesner, Observatt.), and in the rabbinlical dialect. It is supported by Rom 8:26, and, which is still more to the purpose, is appropriate to all the passages in the New Testament where the word occurs. After the example of the early Latin fathers, Calvin, Beza, Lampe, Bengel, Knapp, Kuinil, Tittmann, and many others, have adopted this sense. Tertullian and Augustine have advocate. The A.V. renders the word by advocate in 1Jn 2:1, but in other places (Joh 14:16; Joh 14:26; Joh 15:26; Joh 16:7) by comforter. How much better, however, the more extensive term helper (including teacher, monitor, advocate) agrees with these passages than the narrow term comforter may be shown by a single instance. Jesus says to his disciples, I will send you another paraclete (Joh 14:16), implying that he himself had been such to them. But he had not been in any distinguishing sense a comforter or consoler, because, having him present with them, they had not mourned (Mat 9:15). But he had been eminently a helper, in the extensive sense which has been indicated; and such as he had been to them to teach, to guide, and to uphold the Holy Spirit would become to them after his removal (see the commentators above named, particularly Tholuck and Tittmann on Joh 14:16; also Knapp, De Sp. S. et Christi Paracletis, Halle, 1790; Hare, Mission of the Comforter). See the treatises De Paracleto, by Scherff (Lips. 1714), Knapp (Halle, 1790), Volborth (Gotting. 1786), Hugenholz (Leyden, 1834). SEE HOLY SPIRIT.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Paraclete
PARACLETE ().The term is used only in (Revised Version margin) ; and is applied to Christ in 1Jn 2:1, and to the Holy Spirit in Joh 14:16; Joh 14:26; Joh 15:26; Joh 16:7. For an examination of the Greek word and its cognates, see Paraclete in Hasting’s Dictionary of the Bible iii. 665 ff., also art. Advocate in present work. A passive meaning, called to ones help, is required by both the form and the classical usage, in which generally the word is technical, and denotes the adviser of a defendant, or his representative and counsel in a court of law. Gradually the two ideas of previous engagement by a client and of action only in the court or presence of a judge fall away, and the word comes to denote one who, in something of a representative character, carries on the cause and promotes the interest of another.
In Philo the process of the widening of the meaning of the word, used by him sometimes in a technical and sometimes in a more general sense, may almost be traced (cf. Hatch, Essays in Bibl. Greek, 1889, 82 f.), without the assumption of any Johannine dependence upon Philo. In the Talm. [Note: Talmud.] and Targ. [Note: Targum.] the word is transliterated or . In the Targ. [Note: Targum.] at Job 33:23 is rendered paraclete, the idea being apparently that a special agency from God is needed to show unto man what is right, and so produce repentance. Pirke Aboth, iv. 15, represents obedience to a single precept of the Law as a mans paraclete, averting punishment from him. In Shabb. 32a, the technical use of the word occurs, and the passage proceeds to assert that repentance and good works act in a similar way as paracletes for a man, ensuring his salvation. Similarly Baba Bathra, 10a, makes all acts of charity and benevolence paracletes between Israel and the Father in heaven. The two daily offerings and the sin-offering (Zebahim, 7b) are paracletes, interceding for man and securing the favour of the King. In Talmudic times, consequently, the process of change had been carried so far that the word was capable of an impersonal use, and even the plants of Succoth might be spoken of as paracletes, praying in mans behalf for rain (Taanith, i. 63c). An earlier stage is occupied by the Johannine writings, where the word is still personal, though the strictly passive sense had already gone, and the judicial suggestiveness was disappearing.
A Babylonian origin has been claimed for the doctrine of the Paraclete on such grounds as that Nusku is persuaded by Ea and Marduk to join in the intervention against the revolted evil genii. But Nusku was only a messenger of Bel (Jensen, ZA [Note: A Zeitschrift fr Assyriologie.] xi. 29; Jastrow, Rel. of Bab. [Note: Babylonian.] 220 f.); and though he continued for some time to be known to the northern Semites (cf. the Nrab inscr. in Cooke, North-Semitic Inscr. 186 ff.), his assumed functions differed generally from those of a paraclete, and entirely from those referred to in the Fourth Gospel. The term is certainly not Babylonian in its origin; and preparations for its NT use may be found not only in Philo and the Targums, but even in Psa 34:7 and Job 33:23, though neither Jesus nor the author of the Johannine literature needed such preparations. Both had sufficient literary faculty to be able to pass without guidance from the literal to a metonymous sense of a word, and to place it appropriately amid new connexions.
The term is applied both to Christ Himself and to the Holy Spirit in meanings that may be classified. Christ is referred to as a Paraclete in two passages. 1. During His historic manifestation (cf. another in Joh 14:16) He acted in two ways concurrently upon men, promoting the interests of God. Immanently He was in them the light which lighteth every man (Joh 1:9); and objectively He brought to bear upon them from without the influence of His example and teaching. It is in the latter sphere that His provisional work as Paraclete, agent for God amongst men, is to be found. Evidently He regarded it as less permanently valuable for man than the indwelling life, which the coming of the Spirit would enrich, securing thus the control and the development of the regenerate heart from within; and hence He could say, It is expedient for yon that I go away (Joh 16:7). 2. Since Pentecost, Christ acts as Paraclete for man with God (1Jn 2:1). In His immanence He represents all, as His propitiation avails for all; but specifically His immanental union with believers is made more effective by their attitude of consent and devotion, and He carries on their cause with the Father, covering their sins and acting personally in their behalf (cf. Heb 7:25, Rom 8:34, Luk 22:32; Luk 23:34, Joh 17:24).
On the other hand, the Spirit is the Paraclete of God with and in man, sent to carry on His cause and to make perfect the surrender to Him and the service of His people. The term sent is used officially of the Spirit, as of the Incarnate in regard to His historical manifestation. The distinction must not be unduly pressed; but the Paracletes work in the hearts of the disciples themselves is the prominent assurance of Joh 14:16; Joh 14:26, His work through them on the world that of Joh 16:7 ff., whilst Joh 15:26 f. is intermediate, and combines the qualifying grace with the incitement to witness.
The Paraclete is not mentioned by that name elsewhere in the Gospels; but His functions as such are referred to not only in the intimate conversation on the evening of the betrayal, but in such preparatory words as Joh 1:33; Joh 7:38 f. And though the word is Johannine, the teaching has its parallels in the Synoptics (Mat 10:20, Mar 13:11, Luk 11:13; Luk 12:12; Luk 24:49); and the general idea which our Lord, according to the testimony of all the Evangelists, sought to communicate and to expand, seems to have been that since He could no longer remain in the flesh to promote the cause of God in His disciples, He would act in heaven as their representative with the Father, and the Holy Spirit would come to dwell in them and to further whatever tended to their perfection and to Gods glory.
Literature.To the works cited in Hasting’s Dictionary of the Bible iii. 668, add Welldon, Revelation of the Holy Spirit, 107 ff.; G. G. Findlay in Exp. Times, xii. (1901) 445; and Jastrow, Dict. of Targ. [Note: Targum.] etc., s.v. .
R. W. Moss.
Fuente: A Dictionary Of Christ And The Gospels
Paraclete
PARACLETE.See Advocate, Paul, p. 693a.
Fuente: Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible
Paraclete
para-klet:
1. Where Used:
This word occurs 5 times in the New Testament, all in the writings of John. Four instances are in the Gospel and one in the First Epistle. In the Gospel the in the Epistle, 1Jo 2:1. Paraclete is simply the Greek word transferred into English. The translation of the word in English Versions of the Bible is Comforter in the Gospel, and Advocate in the Epistle. The Greek word is , parakletos, froth the verb , parakaleo. The word for Paraclete is passive in form, and etymologically signifies called to one’s side. The active form of the word is , parakletor, not found in the New Testament but found in Septuagint in Job 16:2 in the plural, and means comforters, in the saying of Job regarding the miserable comforters who came to him in his distress.
2. General Meaning:
In general the word signifies: (1) a legal advocate, or counsel for defense, (2) an intercessor, (3) a helper, generally. The first, or technical, judicial meaning is that which predominates in classical usage, corresponding to our word advocate, counsel, or attorney. The corresponding Latin word is advocatus, advocate, the word applied to Christ in English Versions of the Bible in the translation of the Greek word parakletos, in 1Jo 2:1. There is some question whether the translation Comforter in the passages of John’s Gospel in the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American) is warranted by the meaning of the word. It is certain that the meaning comforter is not the primary signification, as we have seen. It is very probably, however, a secondary meaning of the word, and some of its cognates clearly convey the idea of comfort in certain connections, both in Septuagint and in the New Testament (Gen 37:35; Zec 1:13; Mat 5:4; 2Co 1:3, 2Co 1:4). In the passage in 2 Corinthians the word in one form or another is used 5 times and in each means comfort. In none of these instances, however, do we find the noun Paraclete, which we are now considering.
3. In the Talmud and Targums:
Among Jewish writers the word Paraclete came to have a number of meanings. A good deed was called a paraclete or advocate, and a transgression was an accuser. Repentance and good works were called paracletes: The works of benevolence and mercy done by the people of Israel in this world become agents of peace and intercessors (paracletes) between them and their Father in heaven. The sin offering is a paraclete; the paraclete created by each good deed is called an angel (Jewish Encyclopedia, IX, 514-15, article Paraclete).
4. As Employed by Philo:
Philo employs the word in several instances. Usually he does not use it in the legal, technical sense. Joseph is represented as bestowing forgiveness on his brethren who had wronged him and declaring that they needed no one else as paraclete, or intercessor (De Joseph c. 40). In his Life of Moses, iii. 14, is a remarkable passage which indicates Philo’s spiritualizing methods of interpreting Scripture as well as reflects his philosophic tendency. At the close of a somewhat elaborate account of the emblematic significance of the vestments of the high priest and their jeweled decorations, his words are: The twelve stones arranged on the breast in four rows of three stones each, namely, the logeum, being also an emblem of that reason which holds together and regulates the universe. For it was indispensable (, anagkaon) that the man who was consecrated to the Father of the world should have, as a paraclete, his son, the being most perfect in all virtue, to procure the forgiveness of sins, and a supply of unlimited blessings. This is rather a striking verbal or formal parallel to the statement in 1Jo 2:1 where Christ is our Advocate with the Father, although of course Philo’s conceptions of the Divine reason and son are by no means the Christian conceptions.
5. The Best Translation:
If now we raise the question what is the best translation of the term Paraclete in the New Testament, we have a choice of several words. Let us glance at them in order. The translation Comforter contains an element of the meaning of the word as employed in the Gospels, and harmonizes with the usage in connection with its cognates, but it is too narrow in meaning to be an adequate translation. Dr. J. Hastings in an otherwise excellent article on the Paraclete in HDB says the Paraclete was not sent to comfort the disciples, since prior to His actual coming and after Christ’s promise the disciples’ sorrow was turned into joy. Dr. Hastings thinks the Paraclete was sent to cure the unbelief or half-belief of the disciples. But this conceives the idea of comfort in too limited a way. No doubt in the mind of Jesus the comforting aspect, of the Spirit’s work applied to all their future sorrows and trials, and not merely to comfort for their personal loss in the going of Christ to the Father. Nevertheless there was more in the work of the Paraclete than comfort in sorrow. Intercessor comes nearer the root idea of the term and contains an essential part of the meaning. Advocate is a closely related word, and is also suggestive of the work of the Spirit. Perhaps there is no English word broad enough to cover all the significance of the word Paraclete except the word Helper. The Spirit helps the disciples in all the above-indicated ways. Of course the objection to this translation is that it is too indefinite. The specific Christian conception is lost in the comprehensiveness of the term. Our conclusion, therefore, is that the term Paraclete itself would perhaps be the best designation of the Spirit in the passage in John’s Gospel. It would thus become a proper name for the Spirit and the various elements of meaning would come to be associated with the words which are found in the context of the Gospel.
Christianity introduced many new ideas into the world for which current terms were inadequate media of expression. In some cases it is best to adopt the Christian term itself, in our translations, and let the word slowly acquire its own proper significance in our thought and life. If, however, instead of translating we simply transfer the word Paraclete as a designation of the Holy Spirit in the Gospel passages, we would need then to translate it in the passage in the Epistle where it refers to Christ. But this would offer no serious difficulty. For fortunately in the Epistle the word may very clearly be translated Advocate or Intercessor.
6. Christ’s Use of the Word:
We look next at the contents of the word as employed by Jesus in reference to the Holy Spirit. In Joh 14:16 the Paraclete is promised as one who is to take the place of Jesus. It is declared elsewhere by Jesus that it is expedient that He go away, for unless He go away the Paraclete will not come (Joh 16:7). Is the Paraclete, then, the successor or the substitute for Christ as He is sometimes called? The answer is that He is both and neither. He is the successor of Christ historically, but not in the sense that Christ ceases to act in the church. He is the substitute for Christ’s physical presence, but only in order that He may make vital and actual Christ’s spiritual presence. As we have seen, the Paraclete moves only in the range of truths conveyed in and through Christ as the historical manifestation of God. A Kingdom of the Spirit, therefore, is impossible in the Christian sense, save as the historical Jesus is made the basis of the Spirit’s action in history. The promise of Jesus in Joh 14:18, I come unto, is parallel and equivalent in meaning with the preceding promise of the Paraclete. The following are given as the specific forms of activity of the Holy Spirit: (1) to show them the things of Christ, (2) to teach them things to come, (3) to teach them all things, (4) to quicken their memories for past teaching, (5) to bear witness to Christ, (6) to dwell in believers, (7) other things shown in the context such as greater works than those of Christ (see Joh 14:16, Joh 14:17), (8) to convict of sin, of righteousness and judgment. It is possible to range the shades of meaning outlined above under these various forms of the Spirit’s activity. As Comforter His work would come under (1), (2), (3) and (6); as Advocate and Intercessor under (6), (7), (8); as Helper and Teacher under (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7), (8).
The manner of the sending of the Paraclete is of interest. In Joh 14:16 the Paraclete comes in answer to Christ’s prayer. The Father will give the Spirit whom the world cannot receive. In Joh 14:26 the Father will send the Spirit in Christ’s name. Yet in Joh 15:26 Christ says, I will send (him) unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, and in Joh 16:7, If I go, I will send him unto you. See HOLY SPIRIT.
7. As Applied to Christ:
It remains to notice the passage in 1Jo 2:1 where the term Paraclete is applied to Christ: If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; 1Jo 2:2 reads: and he is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the whole world. Here the meaning is quite clear and specific. Jesus Christ the righteous is represented as our Advocate or Intercessor with the Father. His righteousness is set over against our sin. Here the Paraclete, Christ, is He who, on the basis of His propitiatory offering for the sins of men, intercedes for them with God and thus averts from them the penal consequences of their transgressions. The sense in which Paraclete is here applied to Christ is found nowhere in the passages we have cited from the Gospel. The Holy Spirit as Paraclete is Intercessor or Advocate, but not in the sense here indicated. The Spirit as Paraclete convicts the world of sin, of righteousness and judgment. Jesus Christ as Paraclete vindicates believers before God.
Literature.
Grimm-Thayer, Gr-Eng. Lexicon of the New Testament; Cremer, Biblico-Theol. Lexicon; HDB, article Paraclete; DCG, article Paraclete; EB, article Paraclete; Jew Encyclopedia, article Paraclete; Hare, Mission of the Comforter; Pearson, On the Creed; Taylor, Sayings of the Jewish Fathers; various comms., Westcott, Godet and others. See list of books appended to article on HOLY SPIRIT.
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Paraclete
This is a Greek word, though sometimes used by English writers. It is translated ‘Comforter,’ referring to the Holy Spirit, in Joh 14:16; Joh 14:26; Joh 15:26; Joh 16:7; and ‘Advocate,’ referring to the Lord Jesus, in 1Jn 2:1. See ADVOCATE.
Fuente: Concise Bible Dictionary
Paraclete
(Gr. parakaleo, to call to one’s aid) One who is called to assistance. More specificallythe designation of the function of the Holy Spirit, the third embodiment of the Christian Trinity. — V.F.