The Parakletos and Holy Spirit

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" Parakletos

 

This is a distinctive Johannine term for the Holy Spirit, found

nowhere else in the New Testament apart from 1 John, although it is

important to note that the two terms, Holy Spirit and Paraclete

(anglicized version) are synonymous - in 14.26, both terms are used,

clearly of the same Being. There are 5 paraclete passages, all

occurring in the 'Farewell Discourses' of Chs 14-16. Specifically

they are 14:15-17; 14:26; 15.26; 16:7-11 and possibly 16:12-15. The

choice of the term Paraclete, however, is so distinctive as to

warrant special study in any consideration of John's distinctive

treatment of the Holy Spirit.

 

The gender of parakletos is masculine as opposed to the neuter of

Holy Spirit. Some have suggested that this is significant,

with 'Holy Spirit' being some 'impersonal force' whose nature is

revealed as the term 'Parakletos' is used " ... (parakletos) tends

to remove the Spirit from the sphere of abstract, impersonal force

into that of personality. " Barrett p 77. However, it's worth noting

that the Holy Spirit is always referred to as 'He' even in Pneuma

passages, and it's clear from verses like 14:26 that the personal

characteristics of the Paraclete are also those of Pneuma. Despite

Barrett's claim that " None of the earlier references in the gospel

to the Spirit show the same measure of personalization as to the

last discourses. " , and that " .. a simple consecutiveness of thought

is not to be looked for in John's writing. " it does not appear to

me (or to many other scholars) that there is any fundamental

contradiction in the presentation of Paraclete and Pneuma, although

there may be some development of concepts and thought.

 

The meaning of the work parakletos is debatable. Literally, it

means 'one called to the side of another' (W F Howard 'Christianity

according to St John'), and is used also in 1 Jn 2:1, where it's

meaning is Advocate. Where I come from (Guernsey), this is the word

we use for a lawyer or barrister, and we have already seen in the

Eschatology and Judgement section that there is a lot of 'courtroom'

terminology in John; Ladd points out that the usage of the term is

not all courtroom, however. In the King James Version (as anyone

who has ever used the Church Anthem Book will know) the word is

translated as (another) Comforter. Nice, though this translation

is, it is misleading, so Bultmann states that 'comforter' is not

quite the role suggested by John Chs 14-16. R Brown states that

consolation is the 'context' of the role, not the substance of it.

I'm not so sure. I think the usage of the word 'Comforter' has

altered since the 16th/17th Century. After all, the 23rd Psalm

talks of 'Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me'. Now, I'm not sure

when you were last 'comforted' by a rod or staff, dears, but the

expression, to me, does not conjure up a very 'conventional' idea of

what we would mean by 'comforting' - certainly in the social-worker

sense! I suspect that the word implies a mixture of consolation,

encouragement, exhortation and downright chivying which seems to me

to be very characteristic of the Paraclete in Chs 14-16. However!

 

Another suggested translation of parakletos is Intercessor. This

suggestion is rejected by both Brown and Bultmann, for good

reasons. The intercessory role is played by Jesus in the 4th

Gospel. The Holy Spirit does not intercede. Rather, he takes what

is of Jesus, and passes it on. He 'bears witness' to Jesus.

 

Bultmann argues for the the term Revealer - in connection with

Gnostic Redeemer myths, with their saviours who 'reveal' the way to

heaven - self knowledge for the Gnostic, knowledge of the Redeemer

Christ, for the the 4th Evangelist. Naturally, many scholars want

to question whether there is dependence (or even response to)

Gnostic myth. There is more support for A Hunter's suggestion of

Helper but even this is often considered too general (e.g. Brown).

 

Ladd suggests that Mediator (melits Hb) best sums up the role of the

Paraclete - it also means Teacher. The word is found in Job 33:23,

the Qumran writings and the Aramaic targum of Job. Ladd suggests

that these terms best express the roles of the Paraclete in the Last

Supper Discourses. " There is therefore a background in Jewish

thought for combining the roles of advocacy and instruction. "

Schnackenburg, Dodd and Brown would agree that this term best sums

up the " complex role of the Paraclete. " although for me it does not

do justice to the 'courtroom theme' of the gospel as a whole.

 

So we return to Advocate. This certainly fits the picture of the

Paraclete aiding the disciples under persecution, as in the

Synoptics. It also fits the picture painted in Ch 16 of the

Paraclete acting as the 'prosecution' - convicting the world of sin,

righteousness and judgement, and acting as the continuing presence

of Jesus, who, of course, did this in Israel during his earthly

ministry. Sanders and Mostin add to this courtroom terminology with

their suggestion of Strengthener or Champion, as in the character

witnesses who plead cases for the defendant. The role of the

Paraclete in helping the disciples defend themselves against false

accusations seems to bear this out. Barrett describes the courtroom

scenario of John as " a lawsuit of cosmic dimension. "

 

Rabbinic literature uses the word sunegoros (Gk) as a synonym for

parakletos . It means 'vindicator', (See Jn 16:8-11) This would

bear out the courtroom usage, although some scholars point out that

the role of the Holy Spirit is more adversarial (that is, the

prosecution or accuser) - although this is only in the context

of 'The World'. It seems that John may wish to present both aspects

of the Paraclete's role, to vindicate Christ is to stand as accuser

of the world which condemned Him. "

 

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