On the Donation of Reference by the Spirit: Whether the Holy Spirit Gives the Theological Referent
Quaeritur
Utrum referentia in theologicis non per designationem humanam sed per donationem divinam constituatur; et utrum Spiritus Sanctus sit ille qui rem ipsam quae per linguam fidei significatur creaturae largitur, ita ut verbum theologicum referat quia res donatur.
Whether reference in theological language is constituted not by human designation but by divine donation; and whether the Holy Spirit is the one who bestows the very reality signified by the language of faith, so that a theological word refers because the res is donated.
Thesis
In theology, reference is not designation but donation. A theological expression does not gain its referent through human intention, mental representation, or linguistic convention, but through the Spirit’s act of giving the res that the expression signifies.
Thus:
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The Logos constitutes being and truth, that is, the Logos is the truthmaker for theological language: Λ ⊨* Tₜ.
The Logos is present as the truth-for-us as we saw in Disputatio LI.
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The Spirit donates the referent of theological language by linking word to real presence.
Hence, theological reference just is the Spirit-given participation in the reality of the Logos.
Locus Classicus
1. John 16:14 — ἐκ τοῦ ἐμοῦ λήμψεται καὶ ἀναγγελεῖ ὑμῖν
ἐκεῖνος ἐμὲ δοξάσει, ὅτι ἐκ τοῦ ἐμοῦ λήμψεται καὶ ἀναγγελεῖ ὑμῖν.
“He will glorify Me, for He will take what is Mine and declare it to you.”
The Spirit takes (λήμψεται) and gives (ἀναγγελεῖ). This is precisely donation: the res is received from Christ and given to the believer.
2. Romans 8:16 — αὐτὸ τὸ Πνεῦμα συμμαρτυρεῖ
“The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit.”
Witness is thus not designation but granted participation. The referent is given, not inferred.
3. 1 Corinthians 2:12 — τὸ ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ χαρισθὲν ἡμῖν
“We have received the Spirit… that we might know the things freely given to us by God.”
Knowing follows giving. The referent precedes the concept.
4. Augustine, De Magistro
“Nemo docet nisi interior magister.”
“No one teaches except the inner Teacher.”
The Spirit gives the res to the mind; language alone cannot.
5. Luther, WA 40/1, 360
“Spiritus est qui dat intellectum verbi.”
“The Spirit is the one who gives the understanding of the Word.”
Understanding presupposes reference. Thus, the Spirit gives the referent by giving the thing signified.
Explicatio
While Disputation L established constitutive truth -- the Logos makes being -- and Disputation LI established presential truth -- the Logos is present as truth-for-us -- Disputation LII establishes semantic truth, for the Spirit gives the referent of theological language.
1. The Problem of Reference in Theology
While ordinary semantics treats reference as a human designation, that is, a word refers because a subject intends it, in theology the following holds:
- the subject cannot circumscribe God,
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the mind does not contain the res,
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signs do not determine their own referents.
Accordingly, designation fails. This suggests that only donation can ground reference.
2. Donation as the Ontological Form of Reference
The Spirit gives the referent by uniting:
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the human word to divine reality,
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the signifier to the Logos’ presence,
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the finite knower to the infinite known.
This act is therefore neither intellectual nor linguistic but ontological.
3. Donation and the Operator Λ ⊨* Tₜ,
We must distinguish these:
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Λ ⊨ T : truth in a model
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Λ ⊨* Tₜ : truth through the Logos
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donation as the Spirit’s act of linking T to Tₜ
Thus, while designation → Λ ⊨ T, donation → Λ ⊨* Tₜ. Accordingly, donation is the movement from linguistic form to divine act.
4. Donation and Participation
Accordingly, to have a referent in theology is to participate in the reality of Christ. The Spirit grants this participation and thus grants reference.
Objectiones
Ob I: According to the Fregean theory of reference, reference is determined by sense or descriptive content. No Spirit is needed.
Ob II: For the Kripkean direct reference theory, terms refer rigidly independent of mental or divine acts, and therefore donation is unnecessary.
Ob III: Postliberalism claims that theological reference occurs within the grammar of Christian usage, and thus metaphysical donation is superfluous.
Ob IV: The Phenomenological critique declares that if God transcends objecthood, He cannot be referred to. Thus, donation is conceptually impossible.
Ob V: Constructivist Hermeneutics argues that reference is constructed within interpretive communities and that donation is an illusion.
Responsiones
Ad I: Since God exceeds conceptual capture, reference cannot be mediated by sense. Thus, the Spirit must donate the reality in excess of description.
Ad II: Rigid designation works only when the designator is already in causal contact with the referent. But the creature has no such causal access to God apart from divine initiative. Thus, rigid designation presupposes donation.
Ad III: Grammar governs felicity, not ontology. Revealed truth requires that the referent be real and given, not merely textual. Thus, without donation, theology becomes semiotic idealism.
Ad IV: Donation is not the giving of God as object but the giving of participation in divine presence. Accordingly, the Spirit gives mode of access, not objectification.
Ad V: Interpretation does not entail construction. Donation is the metaphysical act by which meaning precedes interpretation, and meaning is received because the res is given.
Nota
Donation is the semantic form of participation.
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In Disputatio L, the Logos constitutes being and truth.
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In Disputation LI, the Logos is present as truth-for-us.
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In Disputation LII, the Spirit donates the referent so that theological language participates in this presence.
Thus, theological semantics unfolds as:
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Constitutive Ground because the Logos makes truth.
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Real Presence since the Logos is truth-for-us.
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Donated Reference because the Spirit gives the res of the word.
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Felicity since the Spirit authorizes the creature’s act of speaking.
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Participation because truth becomes ours.
Without donation, theology collapses into:
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designation as in analytic theory,
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symbolism as with Zwingli,
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grammar as postliberalism holds,
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and construction as hermeneutics attempts.
With donation, theology becomes:
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ontologically grounded,
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presential,
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pneumatologically mediated,
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hyperintensional,
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participatory,
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and true.
Determinatio
We determine:
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Reference in theology is donation, not designation;
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The Spirit donates the res of theological language, enabling participation in the Logos;
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Reference is grounded in presence, not sense or convention;
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Donation is the semantic form of the Spirit’s interpretive act;
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Thus, theological language refers truly because the Spirit gives what it says.
Transitus ad Disputationem LIII: De Felicitate Theologica
Having established that reference is a divine donation, we now turn to the complementary question: How does the Spirit authorize the human act of speaking so that donated reference becomes felicitous utterance?
Thus we proceed to Disputatio LIII: De Felicitate Theologica: Utrum Spiritus Sit Auctor Locutionis Fideli where it will be asked whether the felicity of theological language arises from the Spirit’s co-action with the human speaker, rendering theological assertions valid, trustworthy, and performatively true.
