Disputatio LIII: De Felicitate Theologica: Utrum Spiritus Sit Auctor Locutionis Fideli

 On Theological Felicity: Whether the Spirit is the Author of Faithful Speech

Quaeritur

Utrum felicitas locutionis theologicae, id est, rectitudo, auctoritas, et veritas performativa sermonis fidei, non ex intentione vel peritia humana oriatur, sed ex ipso Spiritu Sancto qui loquentem informat, linguam fidei custodiens, purgans, et in Verbo ordinans.

Whether the felicity of theological speech—its rightness, authority, and performative truth—arises not from human intention or rhetorical skill but from the Holy Spirit, who forms the speaker, guards the language of faith, and orders it to the Word.

Thesis

Theological felicity is Spirit-authored rightness of speech. A theological utterance is felicitous not merely when it is grammatically correct or doctrinally sound, but when the Spirit authorizes the speech-act so that the donated referent (Disp. LII), the real presence of the Logos (Disp LI), and the constitutive truth (Disp. L) are joined to the creaturely utterance in one act of fidelis locutio.

Thus: Felicity just in case Spiritus + donatio rei + conformitas ad Verbum. The creature speaks truthfully because the Spirit speaks in, with, and through the creature.

Locus Classicus

1. 1 Corinthians 12:3 — οὐδεὶς δύναται εἰπεῖν· Κύριος Ἰησοῦς, εἰ μὴ ἐν Πνεύματι Ἁγίῳ

“No one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except in the Holy Spirit.”

Since the simplest and most central Christian confession is impossible without the Spirit, felicity is pneumatic.

2. Romans 8:26 — τὸ Πνεῦμα συναντιλαμβάνεται τῇ ἀσθενείᾳ ἡμῶν

“The Spirit helps us in our weakness… He intercedes with groanings too deep for words.”

The Spirit perfects our speech when our words fail.

3. John 14:26 — ἐκεῖνος διδάξει ὑμᾶς πάντα

“The Spirit will teach you all things and remind you of all that I have said.”

Speech becomes felicitous when it is brought under the teaching and remembrance of the Spirit.

4. Augustine, De Trinitate XV.19

“Spiritus est nexus amoris quo redimus ad Verbum.”
“The Spirit is the bond of love through whom we return to the Word.”

The Spirit links the human speaker to the Word He speaks.

5. Luther, WA 10/3, 14

“Spiritus Sanctus est verus doctor verbi.”
“The Holy Spirit is the true teacher of the Word.”

Preaching is felicitous only as the Spirit’s work.

Explicatio

Disputation LII established that reference is donation, that the Spirit gives the res. But a donated referent is not yet a felicitous assertion because etween having the referent and speaking the truth, another act is required: authorization.

1. Felicity as Pneumatic Authorization

In theological speech, felicity is not merely correctness of syntax, or accuracy of doctrinal formulation, or sincerity of the speaker, or even conceptual clarity. Rather it is the Spirit’s act authorizing the finite speaker to speak in the Word’s order.

2. The Structure of Felicity

Felicity occurs if and only if: 

1. The Logos is present (LI),

2. The Spirit donates the res (LII),

3. And the Spirit authorizes the creaturely utterance so that it properly bears the res.

This is why Paul says:

“We speak not in words taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit” (1 Cor 2:13).

3. Felicity and the Operator Λ ⊨* Tₜ

We must distinguish truth-through-the-Logos (Λ ⊨* Tₜ) and felicity as the Spirit’s ensuring that T is a proper vehicle for Tₜ. 

Thus, a felicitous theological assertion occurs just in case there is a Spirit-gifted word that bears the donated res of the Logos’ presence.

4. Felicity as Participation

To speak felicitously is to participate in the Logos’ act (L), the Logos’ presence (LI), and the Spirit’s donation (LII). Accordingly, human speech is grafted into divine speech.

Objectiones

Ob I: According to the speech act theory of Austin and Searle, felicity conditions are human conventions. Accordingly, no Spirit is needed.

Ob II: Classical Protestant orthodoxy assumes that speech is felicitous when it conforms to orthodox doctrine. If this is so, divine authorization appears unnecessary.

Ob III: Liberal Protestantism claims that truthful speech arises from the authenticity of the speaker’s self-expression. If so, felicity does not require external divine agency.

Ob IV: Contemporary linguistic philosophy supposes that felicity resides in correct rule-following within linguistic practice. Thus, no Spirit is needed for proper language-use.

Ob V: Barthian Theology declares that since human speech is incapable of bearing divine truth, only God’s own speech is true. Therefore, talk of “Spirit-authorized human felicity” is incoherent.

Responsiones

Ad I: Theological felicity cannot be reduced to human convention. The Spirit is not a pragmatic condition but the agent who unites human speech to divine reality, transforming finite utterance into a bearer of the infinite Word.

Ad II: Orthodoxy is necessary but not sufficient. One may confess correct propositions without the Spirit’s life. Felicity requires authorization, not merely accuracy.

Ad III: Authenticity is indexical to the self; felicity is ordered to the Logos. Theological speech is not self-expression but participation in divine speech.

Ad IV: Grammar governs internal form; felicity concerns divine empowerment.The Spirit gives a speech-act not only correctness but truth-bearing capacity.

Ad V: Barth rightly insists that God alone reveals—but the Spirit makes human words vehicles of that revelation. Felicity is the mode in which God’s speech becomes creaturely speech without ceasing to be divine in origin.

Nota

Felicity is the Spirit’s bridging act between the donated reference of Disp. LII, and the truthful assertions of Disp. L. It is the pneumatic fitting of human speech to divine being. Thus, we can claim the following about the Trinity: 

• The Father constitutes truth.

• The Son is present as truth.

• The Spirit donates the res and authorizes the word.

Felicity is the Spirit’s signature on human speech because without felicity doctrine becomes mere abstraction, the sacrament becomes only a symbol, preaching is only exhortation, and theology remains only grammar. However, with felicity doctrine becomes light, the sacrament becomes communion, preaching becomes divine address, and theology becomes true participation.

Determinatio

We determine that:

1. Felicity is Spirit-authored, not humanly achieved.

2. A theological utterance is felicitous when the Spirit authorizes it to bear the donated referent.

3. Felicity unites presence, donation, and truth, completing the semantic-ontological structure of theological meaning.

4. The Spirit’s act is the condition of faithful, truthful, and effective theological speech.

5. Thus: The Spirit makes human speech a participation in divine discourse.

Transitus ad Disputationem LIV: De Hyperintensionalitate Divinae Operationis

Having established that the Spirit authorizes speech to carry the divine res, we now turn to the final structural element of our semantic theory and ask as to why divine acts require a hyperintensional semantics.

Thus, we proceed to Disputatio LIV: De Hyperintensionalitate Divinae Operationis: Utrum Actus Dei Non Sint Reducibiles ad Extensiones vel Possibilia, in which we ask whether divine acts differ in such a fine-grained manner that no extensional or modal semantics can capture their truth.