The term "Son," along with its correlate "Father (Abba)," gives us a true glimpse into the inner being of Jesus-indeed, into the inner being of G.o.d himself. Jesus' prayer is the true origin of the term "the Son." It has no prehistory, just as the Son himself is "new," even though Moses and the Prophets prefigure him. The attempt has been made to use postbiblical literature-for example, the Odes of Solomon (dating from the second century A.D A.D.)-as a source for constructing a pre-Christian, "Gnostic" prehistory of this term, and to argue that John draws upon that tradition. If we respect the possibilities and limits of the historical method at all, this attempt makes no sense. We have to reckon with the originality of Jesus. Only he is "the Son."

"I AM"

The sayings of Jesus that the Gospels transmit to us include-predominantly in John, but also (albeit less conspicuously and to a lesser degree) in the Synoptics-a group of "I am" sayings. They fall into two different categories. In the first type, Jesus simply says "I am" or "I am he" without any further additions. In the second type, figurative expressions specify the content of the "I am" in more detail: I am the light of the world, the true vine, the Good Shepherd, and so on. If at first sight the second group appears to be immediately intelligible, this only makes the first group even more puzzling.

I would like to consider just three pa.s.sages from John's Gospel that present the formula in its strictest and simplest form. I would then like to examine a pa.s.sage from the Synoptics that has a clear parallel in John.

The two most important expressions of this sort occur in Jesus' dispute with the Jews that immediately follows the words in which he presents himself as the source of living water at the Feast of Tabernacles (cf. Jn 7:37f.). This led to division among the people; some started asking themselves whether he might really be the awaited Prophet after all, whereas others pointed out that no prophet is supposed to come from Galilee (cf. Jn 7:40, 52). At this point, Jesus says to them: "You do not know whence I come or whither I am going.... You know neither me nor my Father" (Jn 8:14, 19). He makes his point even clearer by adding: "You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world" (Jn 8:23). It is here that the crucial statement comes: "You will die in your sins unless you believe that I am he" (Jn 8:24).

What does this mean? We want to ask: What are you, then? Who are you? And that, in fact, is just how the Jews respond: "Who are you?" (Jn 8:25). So what does it mean when Jesus says "I am he"? Exegesis understandably set out in search of the origins of this saying in order to make sense of it, and we will have to do the same in our own efforts to understand. Various possibilities have been suggested: typical Revelation discourses from the East (E. Norden), the Mandaean scriptures (E. Schweitzer), although these are much later than the books of the New Testament.

By now most exegetes have come to realize that we should look not just anywhere and everywhere for the spiritual roots of this saying, but rather in the world where Jesus was at home, in the Old Testament and in the Judaism of his lifetime. Scholars have since brought to light an extensive background of Old Testament texts, which we need not examine here. I would like to mention just the two essential texts on which the matter hinges.

The first one is Exodus 3:14-the scene with the burning bush. G.o.d calls from the bush to Moses, who in his turn asks the G.o.d who thus calls him: "What is your name?" In answer, he is given the enigmatic name YHWH, whose meaning the divine speaker himself interprets with the equally enigmatic statement: "I am who I am." The manifold interpretations of this statement need not occupy us here. The key point remains: This G.o.d designates himself simply as the "I am." He just is, is, without any qualification. And that also means, of course, that he is without any qualification. And that also means, of course, that he is always always there-for human beings, yesterday, today, and tomorrow. there-for human beings, yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

At the great time of hope for a new Exodus at the end of the Babylonian exile, Deutero-Isaiah took up once again the message of the burning bush and developed it in a new direction: "'You are my witnesses,' says the LORD, 'and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no G.o.d was formed, nor shall there be any after me. I, I am YHWH, and besides me there is no savior'" (Is 43:10f.). "That you may know and believe me and understand that I am he"-the old formula 'ani YHWH 'ani YHWH is now abbreviated to is now abbreviated to 'ani hu' 'ani hu'-"I he," "I am he." The "I am" has become more emphatic, and while it remains a mystery, it has also become clearer.

During the time when Israel was deprived of land and Temple, G.o.d-according to the traditional criteria-could not compete with other G.o.ds, for a G.o.d who had no land and could not be worshiped was not a G.o.d at all. It was during this period that the people learned to understand fully what was different and new about Israel's G.o.d: that in fact he was not just Israel's G.o.d, the G.o.d of one people and one land, but quite simply G.o.d, the G.o.d of the universe, to whom all lands, all heaven and earth belong; the G.o.d who is master of all; the G.o.d who has no need of worship based on sacrifices of goats and bulls, but who is truly worshiped only through right conduct.

Once again: Israel came to recognize that its G.o.d was simply "G.o.d" without any qualification. And so the "I am" of the burning bush found its true meaning once more: This G.o.d simply is is. When he says "I am," he is presenting himself precisely as the one who is, in his utter oneness. At one level, this is of course a way of setting him apart from the many divinities of the time. On the other hand, its primary meaning was entirely positive: the manifestation of his indescribable oneness and singularity.

When Jesus says "I am he," he is taking up this story and referring it to himself. He is indicating his oneness. In him, the mystery of the one G.o.d is personally present: "I and the Father are one." H. Zimmerman has rightly emphasized that when Jesus says "I am," he is not placing himself alongside alongside the "I" of the Father ("Das absolute 'Ich bin,'" p. 6), but is pointing to the Father. And yet precisely by so doing, he is also speaking of himself. At issue here is the inseparability of Father and Son. Because he is the Son, he has every right to utter with his own lips the Father's self-designation. "He who sees me, sees the Father" (Jn 14:9). And conversely: Because this is truly so, Jesus is ent.i.tled to speak the words of the Father's self-revelation in his own name as Son. the "I" of the Father ("Das absolute 'Ich bin,'" p. 6), but is pointing to the Father. And yet precisely by so doing, he is also speaking of himself. At issue here is the inseparability of Father and Son. Because he is the Son, he has every right to utter with his own lips the Father's self-designation. "He who sees me, sees the Father" (Jn 14:9). And conversely: Because this is truly so, Jesus is ent.i.tled to speak the words of the Father's self-revelation in his own name as Son.

The issue at stake in the whole of the dispute in which this verse occurs is precisely the oneness of Father and Son. In order to understand this correctly, we need above all to recall our reflections on the term "the Son" and its rooted-ness in the Father-Son dialogue. There we saw that Jesus is wholly "relational," that his whole being is nothing other than relation to the Father. This relationality is the key to understanding the use Jesus makes of the formulae of the burning bush and Isaiah. The "I am" is situated completely in the relatedness between Father and Son.

After the Jews ask the question "Who are you?"-which is also our question-Jesus' first response is to point toward the one who sent him and from whom he now speaks to the world. He repeats once again the formula of revelation, the "I am he," but now he expands it with a reference to future history: "When you have lifted up the Son of man, then you will know that I am he" (Jn 8:28). On the Cross, his Sonship, his oneness with the Father, becomes visible. The Cross is the true "height." It is the height of "love to the end" (Jn 13:1). On the Cross, Jesus is exalted to the very "height" of the G.o.d who is love. It is there that he can be "known," that the "I am he" can be recognized.

The burning bush is the Cross. The highest claim of revelation, the "I am he," and the Cross of Jesus are inseparably one. What we find here is not metaphysical speculation, but the self-revelation of G.o.d's reality in the midst of history for us. "Then you will know that I am he"-when is this "then" actually realized? It is realized repeatedly throughout history, starting on the day of Pentecost, when the Jews are "cut to the heart" by Peter's preaching (cf. Acts 2:37) and, as the Acts of the Apostles reports, three thousand people are baptized and join the communion of the Apostles (cf. Acts 2:41). It is realized in the fullest sense at the end of history, when, as the seer of the Book of Revelation says, "Every eye will see him, every one who pierced him" (Rev 1:7).

At the end of the disputes reported in chapter 8 of John's Gospel, Jesus utters once again the words "I am," now expanded and interpreted in another direction. The question "Who are you?" remains in the air, and it includes the question "Where do you come from?" This leads the discussion on to the Jews' descent from Abraham and, finally, to the Fatherhood of G.o.d himself: "Abraham is our father...We were not born of fornication; we have one one Father, even G.o.d" (Jn 8:39, 41). Father, even G.o.d" (Jn 8:39, 41).

By tracing their origin back beyond Abraham to G.o.d as their Father, Jesus' interlocutors give the Lord the opportunity to restate his own origin with unmistakable clarity. In Jesus' origin we see the perfect fulfillment of the mystery of Israel, to which the Jews have alluded by moving beyond descent from Abraham to claim descent from G.o.d himself.

Abraham, Jesus tells us, not only points back beyond himself to G.o.d as Father, but above all he points ahead to Jesus, the Son: "Your father Abraham rejoiced that he was to see my day; he saw it and was glad" (Jn 8:56). At this point, when the Jews object that Jesus could hardly have seen Abraham, he answers: "Before Abraham came into existence, I am" (Jn 8:58). "I am"-once again, the simple "I am" stands before us in all its mystery, though now defined in contrast to Abraham's "coming into existence." Jesus' "I am" stands in contrast to the world of birth and death, the world of coming into being and pa.s.sing away. Schnackenburg correctly points out that what is involved here is not just a temporal category, but "a fundamental distinction of nature." We have here a clear statement of "Jesus' claim to a totally unique mode of being which transcends human categories" (Barrett, Gospel, Gospel, II, pp. 80f.). II, pp. 80f.).

Let us turn now to the story recounted by Mark about Jesus walking on the water immediately after the first multiplication of the loaves (cf. Mk 6:4552), a story that closely resembles the parallel account in the Gospel of John (cf. Jn 6:1621). H. Zimmermann has produced a painstaking a.n.a.lysis of the text ("Das absolute 'Ich bin,'" pp. 12f.). We will follow the main lines of his account.

After the multiplication of the loaves, Jesus makes the disciples get into the boat and sail to Bethsaida. He himself, however, withdraws to pray "on the mountain." The disciples, in their boat in the middle of the lake, can make no headway because the wind is against them. While he is praying, the Lord sees them, and comes toward them over the waters. Understandably, the disciples are terrified when they see Jesus walking on the water; they cry out in "total confusion." But Jesus kindly speaks words of consolation to them: "Take heart, it is I [I am he]; have no fear!" (Mk 6:50).

At first sight, this instance of the words "I am he" seems to be a simple identifying formula by means of which Jesus enables his followers to recognize him, so as to calm their fear. This interpretation does not go far enough, however. For at this point Jesus gets into the boat and the wind ceases; John adds that they then quickly reached the sh.o.r.e. The remarkable thing is that only now do the disciples really begin to fear; they were utterly astounded, as Mark vividly puts it (cf. Mk 6:51). But why? After their initial fright at seeing a ghost, the disciples' fear does not leave them, but reaches its greatest intensity at the moment when Jesus gets into the boat and the wind suddenly subsides.

Obviously, their fear is of the kind that is typical of "theophanies"-the sort of fear that overwhelms man when he finds himself immediately exposed to the presence of G.o.d himself. We have already met an instance of this fear after the abundant catch of fish, where Peter, instead of joyfully thanking Jesus, is terrified to the depths of his soul, falls at Jesus' feet, and says: "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man" (Lk 5:8). It is this "divine terror" that comes over the disciples here. For walking on the waters is a divine prerogative: G.o.d "alone stretched out the heavens, and trampled the waves of the sea," we read in the book of Job (Job 9:8; cf. Ps 76:20 in the Septuagint version; Is 43:16). The Jesus who walks upon the waters is not simply the familiar Jesus; in this new Jesus they suddenly recognize the presence of G.o.d himself.

The calming of the storm is likewise an act that exceeds the limits of man's abilities and indicates the power of G.o.d at work. Similarly, in the earlier account of Jesus calming the storm on the Sea of Galilee, the disciples ask one another: "Who is this that even wind and water obey him?" (Mk 4:41). In this context too, the "I am" has something different about it. It is more than just a way for Jesus to identify himself. The mysterious "I am he" of the Johannine writings seems to find an echo here too. At any rate, there is no doubt that the whole event is a theophany, an encounter with the mystery of Jesus' divinity. Hence Matthew quite logically concludes his version of the story with an act of adoration (proskynesis) and the exclamation of the disciples: "Truly, you are the Son of G.o.d" (Mt 14:33).

Let us move on now to the sayings in which the "I am" is given a specific content by the use of some image. In John there are seven such sayings; the fact that there are seven is hardly accidental. "I am the Bread of Life," "the Light of the World," "the Door," "the Good Shepherd," "the Resurrection and the Life," "the Way, the Truth, and the Life," "the True Vine." Schnackenburg rightly points out that we could add to these princ.i.p.al images the image of the spring of water-even though it does not literally form part of an "I am" saying, there are nevertheless other sayings in which Jesus presents himself as this spring of water (cf. Jn 4:14, 6:35, 7:38; cf. also 19:34). We have already considered some of these images in detail in the chapter on John. Let it suffice here, then, to summarize briefly the meaning that all these Johannine sayings of Jesus have in common.

Schnackenburg draws our attention to the fact that all these images are "variations on the single theme, that Jesus has come so that human beings may have life, and have it in abundance (cf. Jn 10:10). His only gift is life, and he is able to give it because the divine life is present in him in original and inexhaustible fullness" (Barrett, Gospel, Gospel, II, p. 88). In the end, man both needs and longs for just one thing: life, the fullness of life-"happiness." In one pa.s.sage in John's Gospel, Jesus calls this one simple thing for which we long "perfect joy" (Jn 16:24). II, p. 88). In the end, man both needs and longs for just one thing: life, the fullness of life-"happiness." In one pa.s.sage in John's Gospel, Jesus calls this one simple thing for which we long "perfect joy" (Jn 16:24).

This one thing that is the object of man's many wishes and hopes also finds expression in the second pet.i.tion of the Our Father: thy Kingdom come. The "Kingdom of G.o.d" is life in abundance-precisely because it is not just private "happiness," not individual joy, but the world having attained its rightful form, the unity of G.o.d and the world.

In the end, man needs just one thing, in which everything else is included; but he must first delve beyond his superficial wishes and longings in order to learn to recognize what it is that he truly needs and truly wants. He needs G.o.d. And so we now realize what ultimately lies behind all the Johannine images: Jesus gives us "life" because he gives us G.o.d. He can give G.o.d because he himself is one with G.o.d, because he is the Son. He himself is the gift-he is is "life." For precisely this reason, his whole being consists in communicating, in "pro-existence." This is exactly what we see in the Cross, which is his true exaltation. "life." For precisely this reason, his whole being consists in communicating, in "pro-existence." This is exactly what we see in the Cross, which is his true exaltation.

Let us look back. We have found three terms in which Jesus at once conceals and reveals the mystery of his person: "Son of Man," "Son," "I am he." All three of these terms demonstrate how deeply rooted he is in the Word of G.o.d, Israel's Bible, the Old Testament. And yet all these terms receive their full meaning only in him; it is as if they had been waiting for him.

All three of them bring to light Jesus' originality-his newness, that specific quality unique to him that does not derive from any further source. All three are therefore possible only on his lips-and central to all is the prayer-term "Son," corresponding to the "Abba, Father" that he addresses to G.o.d. None of these three terms as such could therefore be straightforwardly adopted as a confessional statement by the "community," by the Church in its early stages of formation.

Instead, the nascent Church took the substance of these three terms, centered on "Son," and applied it to the other term "Son of G.o.d," thereby freeing it once and for all from its former mythological and political a.s.sociations. Placed on the foundation of Israel's theology of election, "Son of G.o.d" now acquires a totally new meaning, which Jesus had antic.i.p.ated by speaking of himself as the Son and as the "I am."

This new meaning then had to go through many difficult stages of discernment and fierce debate in order to be fully clarified and secured against attempts to interpret it in light of polytheistic mythology and politics. For this purpose the First Council of Nicea (A.D. 325) adopted the word consubstantial consubstantial (in Greek, (in Greek, h.o.m.oousios h.o.m.oousios). This term did not h.e.l.lenize the faith or burden it with an alien philosophy. On the contrary, it captured in a stable formula exactly what had emerged as incomparably new and different in Jesus' way of speaking with the Father. In the Nicene Creed, the Church joins Peter in confessing to Jesus ever anew: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living G.o.d" (Mt 16:16).

GLOSSARY.

(PREPARED BY THE PUBLISHER).

Apocalypse: n. Genre focused on eschatology and/or visions of heavenly mysteries. See eschatology eschatology. Adjective: apocalyptic. apocalyptic.

Apocryphal: adj. Designates writings not included in the Church's canon of Holy Scripture.

Aramaic: n. A Semitic language, a dialect of which was probably spoken by Jesus. The New Testament preserves several of his words in Aramaic.

Babylonian Exile: n. See exile exile.

Babylonian Talmud: n. Best-known version of the Talmud, whose composition goes back to Jews living in Babylon in the third century A.D. A.D.

Book of Enoch: n. Collection of five apocryphal texts. Usually refers to apocalyptic 1 Enoch, the whole of which is preserved only in Ethiopic. See apocryphal apocryphal, apocalypse apocalypse.

Byzantine liturgy: n. Liturgy of the Eastern Orthodox and of Christians of the same tradition in communion with Rome.

Cathedra: n. Latinized form of Greek for "chair." Refers here to the "chair" of a teacher, with a connotation of "professorial chair" that German readers will hear in the word cathedra. cathedra.

Cephas: n. Aramaic term meaning "rock." The name conferred by Jesus upon Simon Peter.

Christology: n. Branch of theology dealing with the person and work of Jesus Christ. Also the set of claims about Jesus as Messiah and divine Son reflected in the New Testament. Adjective: Christological. Christological.

Church Fathers: n. See Fathers of the Church Fathers of the Church.

Communio: n. Latin for "fellowship." Connotes here a deep interconnection. Greek equivalent is koinonia koinonia.

Community: n. Often refers here to the early church contexts in and for which the New Testament books are thought to have been written.

Consubstantial: adj. Possessing numerically one and the same being or substance. Christ, as Son, is consubstantial with the Father, just as all three persons of the Trinity are consubstantial with one another. Greek equivalent is h.o.m.oousios h.o.m.oousios.

Decalogue: n. The Ten Commandments.

Deutero-Isaiah: n. Anonymous prophet to whom Isaiah 4055 is ascribed.

Eastern Church: n. The Eastern Orthodox Church and the Churches of the same tradition in communion with Rome.

Ecclesial: adj. Pertaining to the Church or reflecting the mind of the Church.

Ecclesiology: n. Branch of theology dealing with the Church. Also refers here to the claims about the Church's nature and mission reflected in the New Testament. Adjective: ecclesiological. ecclesiological.

Ekklesia: n. Transliteration of Greek for "Church."

Embolism: n. A prayer of the Ma.s.s immediately following the Our Father that begins: "Deliver us, Lord."

Epiphany: n. Liturgical feast traditionally celebrated on January 6. a.s.sociated with the adoration of the magi, a symbol of the revelation of Christ to the nations. See feast, liturgy feast, liturgy.

Eschatological: adj. See eschatology eschatology.

Eschatology: n. Doctrine about, or content of, the end times. Refers also to the ultimate truth and fullness Christ brings us as the Kingdom of G.o.d in person.

Eschaton: n. Greek term referring to final state of the world after the Second Coming of Christ.

Exaltation: n. Christ's elevation on the Cross and in his Resurrection.

Exalted: adj. See exaltation exaltation.

Exile: n. The deportation of the Jews from their homeland, especially the sixth-century B.C. B.C. deportation to Babylon. deportation to Babylon.

Ezra, 4: n. Apocryphal apocalyptic work thought to date from the end of the first century A.D. A.D.

Farewell Discourses: n. Discourses of Jesus found in John 13:3117:26.

Fathers of the Church: n. Saintly theologians writing between the first and eighth centuries A.D. A.D. who are main sources of Catholic doctrine. who are main sources of Catholic doctrine.

Feast: n. A liturgical celebration commemorating some particular event. See liturgy liturgy.

Form criticism: n. An exegetical method that a.n.a.lyzes the literary genre of a biblical text in terms of its sociological context with the aim of reconstructing the process of oral and written tradition leading from the actual historical events to the text's final form.

Fourfold sense of Scripture: n. An ancient doctrine holding that, beyond its literal meaning, Scripture has a "spiritual" sense, traditionally subdivided into three parts: allegorical (concerning the fulfillment of the Old Testament history in Christ), tropological (how we should live our lives), and anagogical (about the ultimate end of history).

Gate liturgy: n. A special liturgy having to do with entrance through the Temple gates in Jerusalem.

Gnosticism: n. Complex intellectual-spiritual movement roughly contemporaneous with Christianity that identified matter with evil and taught a secret knowledge (gnosis) to liberate man's divine spark from it. Adjective: gnostic. gnostic.

Hermeneutic: adj. Pertaining to interpretation, here of Scripture.

Herodian Temple: n. Temple at Jerusalem under Herod the Great (74 B.C. B.C.A.D. 4), who embellished it but also staffed it in conformity to his politics. 4), who embellished it but also staffed it in conformity to his politics.

Herodians: n. Sect or party mentioned by the New Testament among Jesus' adversaries.

High-priestly prayer: n. Jesus' prayer to the Father at the Last Supper. See John 17.

Historicity: n. Here, the historical factuality or reliability of the Gospels.

History of salvation: n. The sequence of G.o.d's historical interventions recorded in the Bible. Underscores that revelation is a matter of historical action, and not simply of ideas.

h.o.m.oousios: adj. Possessing numerically one and the same being or substance. Christ, as Son, is adj. Possessing numerically one and the same being or substance. Christ, as Son, is h.o.m.oousios h.o.m.oousios with the Father, just as all three persons of the Trinity are with the Father, just as all three persons of the Trinity are h.o.m.oousios h.o.m.oousios with one another. Synonymous with with one another. Synonymous with consubstantial. consubstantial.

Icon: n. In the Eastern Church, an image, painted according to strict theological and artistic rules, of a sacred personage. See Eastern Church Eastern Church.

Iconographic: adj. Here, pertaining to traditional icon motifs. See icon icon.

Incarnation: n. The act whereby the Son of G.o.d became man. Adjective: incarnational. incarnational. The adjective can also connote an emphasis on the goodness of material creation. The adjective can also connote an emphasis on the goodness of material creation.

Kenosis: n. The self-emptying of Christ to the point of the Cross. n. The self-emptying of Christ to the point of the Cross.

Koine: n. h.e.l.lenistic form of Greek in which the New Testament was written. n. h.e.l.lenistic form of Greek in which the New Testament was written.

Koinonia: n. Greek for "fellowship." Connotes here a deep interconnection. Latin equivalent is n. Greek for "fellowship." Connotes here a deep interconnection. Latin equivalent is communio communio.

Kyrios: n. Greek for "Lord." Used in the Greek translation of the Old Testament as a name for G.o.d and in the Greek New Testament as a name for G.o.d and Christ.

Latin Fathers: n. Latin-speaking Fathers of the Church such as Augustine. See Fathers of the Church Fathers of the Church.

Liturgy: n. Ritual worship of G.o.d, especially in the Temple or synagogue (for Jews) or in a church (for Christians). More specifically, the ritual of the Eucharist or the Ma.s.s.

Logos: n. Greek for "reason," "rationality," or "meaning." Also Jesus as the Word of G.o.d (see John 1:1). When used in that sense here it appears with uppercase L L.

Magisterium: n. The office and exercise of formulating doctrine in the Catholic Church.

Mandaean scriptures: n. Sacred texts of dualistc sect (Mandaeans) dating back to early Christian era.

Mishnah: n. Basic text of rabbinic teaching composed around A.D. A.D. 200. 200.

Modernist: n. Adherent of an early-twentieth-century liberal movement in the Catholic Church called Modernism that challenged the origin of Church teaching in an objective divine self-revelation.

Mosaic (uppercase (uppercase M M): adj. Of or pertaining to Moses.

Nicea, Council of: n. a.s.sembly in A.D. A.D. 325 that officially sealed belief in Jesus' full divinity. 325 that officially sealed belief in Jesus' full divinity.

Odes of Solomon: n. Forty-two poems attributed to Solomon dating from the early Christian era.

Ontology: n. Refers here to what things are, are, as distinct from what they as distinct from what they do do or or have have. Adjective: ontological. ontological.

Paraclete: n. From Greek for "advocate," "one who comforts." Refers in John's Gospel to the Holy Spirit.

Parousia: n. Greek term used to refer to Christ's Second Coming at the end of time.

Paschal lamb: n. The Pa.s.sover lamb.

Paschal Mystery: n. Jesus' death, descent into h.e.l.l, and Resurrection, understood as fulfillment of the Jewish Pa.s.sover.

Pneuma: n. New Testament term for the Holy Spirit. Adjective: pneumatic. pneumatic. The adjective also connotes the divine life the Spirit gives the whole man, body and soul. The adjective also connotes the divine life the Spirit gives the whole man, body and soul.