If the Holy Spirit is described as God’s “power” (Acts 1:8), does this contradict His being a divine Hypostasis?
Q445 · The Holy Spirit and Divine Salvation[792 ]
St. Ambrose says, “In this place he used the word Power, and implied the Spirit. For as the Father is Power, so, too, the Son is Power, and the Holy Spirit is Power. Of the Son you have read that Christ is ‘the Power of God and the Wisdom of God’ (1 Cor. 1:24). We read,
898 St. Macarius the Great, Fifty Spiritual Homilies of St. Macarius the Egyptian , trans., A. J. Mason (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1921) Homily 5.11: p. 54, amended.
899 St. Macarius the Great, Fifty Spiritual Homilies of St. Macarius the Egyptian , trans., A. J. Mason (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1921) Homily 12.8: p. 92.
900 St. Ambrose of Milan, On the Holy Spirit 1.16.177–178 (NPNF II/10:114).
too, that the Father is Power, as it is written: ‘You shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power of God’ (Matt. 26:64).”901
The Fathers cited
- St. Ambrose