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“But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.” – Matthew 24:36 ESV

The third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, is conspicuously missing from this list of personages who know or don’t know when Jesus will return. Jesus did mention that the angels didn’t know, but how do Trinitarians explain why Jesus chose not to include the Holy Spirit as either knowing or not knowing?

It's my understanding that Trinitarian doctrine defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit. They are three distinct persons (hypostases) sharing one essence (homoousion).

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Also note that Paul provides this insight:

. . . these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. - 1 Corinthians 2:10 ESV

Thus, I would assume that the Holy Spirit would know.

Related but different: Mark 13:32 - Why doesn't the Holy Spirit know?

Similar, but not answered from Trinitarian doctrine: How do Trinitarians deal with Mark 13:32 in regards to the holy spirit?

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    Jesus talks in many places only about himself and the Father. Do you think this part is somehow different, or it would be more important to include the Spirit, or would your question apply to other parts too?
    – JiK
    Commented Aug 16 at 12:48
  • @ curiousdannii The Dieter who asked this Q in Hermeneutics does not have a Christianity a/c. So should not the (faceless) Dieter above, who did not ask this, have his uncontactable avatar replaced with the correct Dieter one (which has his nice face on it)?
    – Anne
    Commented Aug 17 at 8:13
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    @Anne If Dieter creates an account here any time in the future then it will be linked up correctly.
    – curiousdannii
    Commented Aug 17 at 12:12
  • @curiousdannii Let's hope he does, for his contribution on Christianity would be more than a little helpful to us all!
    – Anne
    Commented Aug 17 at 12:15

3 Answers 3

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Given what is said in prophecies about Christ's sudden and unexpected return in the book of Revelation, there was no need for Jesus to include him in that sentence. The Holy Spirit's infinite knowledge would include knowing that that date would only become known to others when the Father permitted others to know. We are only given to learn a tiny bit about the Holy Spirit. But trinitarians believe him to be included in only God knowing.

I refer to Revelation chapter 14 but hesitate to go into it, as that might create a debate about what is only a clue, that leads to interpretations. It's just that in verse 13 the Spirit speaks (about martyrs of the faith whose souls were already under heaven's altar, see Rev. 6:11). The Spirit speaks about a time-period beginning in the 1st century with the martyrdom of Christians, going on till this very day, but we can only know that with hindsight, for Christ still has not returned. Yet in chapter 14 we are then told of one sitting on a cloud "like unto the Son of man". An angel comes out of heaven's temple to say the time has come to reap (link to Matthew 13:30-43). Then another angel is told the time has come for the winepress of God's wrath to be filled. This is the time of Christ's return to usher in the Day of Resurrection and Judgment, as per Matthew 24:36. Just before it happens, it appears that the angels in heaven are given to know.

There appears to be a sequence of instructions about who is to do what, issuing from the heavenly temple. Given what Jesus said in Matthew 24:36, God knew back then when that time would be, and when others would get to know. After the glorified Christ returned to heaven, this bit in the prophecy of Psalm 2 was fulfilled:

"Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance..." etc. Psalm 2:6-8 K.J.V. (emphasis mine.)

There could be a great span of time between Christ asking, and then breaking the nations as with a rod of iron. Hindsight would indicate this. Therefore, when Jesus said (before that prophecy was fulfilled with his resurrection) that he didn't know the time, that makes perfect sense. He had to return to heavenly Mount Zion (where the heavenly temple is figuratively located) to make his request. Then, when God decreed the time had come to break the nations in wrath, Christ would descend. The Holy Spirit in heaven would already know that time but remain silent about it, only acting upon the Father's heavenly instruction to "go forth", with the two reapings of the one harvest, to those doing that work, and then the action would start.

What is clear is that the Father has his role and particular functions in the Godhead, as does the Son, as does the Holy Spirit. It is in the Father's jurisdiction to determine and decree such times, then delegation takes place. The timing of matters once Christ returned to heaven in glory is not given to us to know. We only know that when the Father says "Go", that command is conveyed to those who are to go, and invariably the Holy Spirit is the conveyor of such instructions. In the scriptures he speaks the least of all three Persons in the Godhead. He acts, and his role is to glorify Christ. When Christ only mentioned the angels in heaven and the Son (on Earth at the time of speaking) not knowing, there was no need to mention the Holy Spirit, who had not as yet been poured out on Christians. That would not happen till after Christ's resurrection, and then Christians began to learn about his awesome power and role.

None of this amounts to a 'trinitarian' explanation, but I believe in the Trinity doctrine, and can only assume such things. You assume that the Holy Spirit would know the date of Christ's return even before Jesus said those words prior to being resurrected. Yes, he could have known but would never speak of such a thing. Until the Father spoke the command (which is still future), he would refrain from presumptuously speaking of that date, for his role in the Godhead is to act on the Father and the Son's expressed will.

As for the question quoting 1 Cor. 2:10 ESV, "these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God", verse 11 goes on to say the Spirit of God knows the things of God. But there's a critical difference between his knowing and our knowing. Humans are not to be told when Christ will return. This certainly indicates that the Holy Spirit knew things like the time of Christ's return. However, there was no call for Jesus to go into such details, as the Spirit had not yet been given.

Fortunately, this question has been moved to this site, as the verse in question itself does not answer the question. Other texts have to be invoked. When those are prophecies, some of which are still future, interpretation is required. And we all know how dodgy interpretations of prophecies often are! Including my take. The correct answer will be revealed to those in the glory, with Christ.

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First of all, as St Augustine teaches in De doctrina christiana, one should interpret the more dark Scriptural passages by considering and checking them in the light of the passages that tell more clearly the issue discussed in the obscure passages.

Now, as you have mentioned, Paul explicitly writes that Holy Spirit knows the entirety of God (“depths” means entirety) (1 Cor 2:10), and this knowledge cannot be processual as growing from ignorance to knowledge (for then we reduce Holy Spirit to the level of a creature, but since Holy Spirit is not a creature for creatures are created by Father through Holy Spirit - and through Logos for that matter - /cf. Psalms 33:6; 104:30/) but in the immediacy of eternity, then we can say with a 💯 % certainty that Holy Spirit knows all future events, and “all” surely includes the moment of the Second Advent of Christ.

Moreover, since the Holy Spirit as God is infinite, He cannot be possessed by any creature, by even the highest of archangels or by even highest of the saints - who are higher than archangels for in general humans are more dignified creatures than angels - in full immediacy, or in Descartian terms in actual infinity, for it can be possessed in the manner of actual or actualized infinity only by equal, by God; the Father fits to be such, and also the Son is such, for He also is fit to have the Holy Spirit immeasurably (John 3:34), for which reason also Christ can know human hearts (cf. John 2:25; Luke 5:22 etc.), the feature of heart-knowing (καρδιογνώστης - Acts 15:8) being a solely divine - neither angelic, nor human, nor beastly and nor demonic - feature. If so, then we can say again with a 💯 percent assuredness that it is impossible also for the Son not to know the time of His second Advent, moreover, unless one mindlessly and dangerously wants to be an idle quibbler with reference to the text that has to do everything with his eternal salvation, the Lord clearly separates Himself from the disciples who are not entitled to know the time of His second Coming, with a clear notion and implication that He Himself knows it (Acts 1:7), for unless it is so, He would have said “it is not for us to know times set by Father in His authority”, but the Lord says “it is not for you…”, for His and the Father’s authority is one and the same authority.

The equal knowledge of the Lord’s second Coming by all the divine Hypostases - of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit - being firmly established, we can safely proceed to answer of the current question of why does not Lord mention the Holy Spirit as either knower or not knower of His second Coming in Matthew 24:36.

I have my solutions for that, inspired by the beautiful patristic hermeneutics, but am tired and lazy at the moment to communicate them. Will do later. But what I have written above, should serve as a starting point of discussion lest a blasphemy that either Son or Holy Ghost do not know anything that the Father knows may even hypothetically lurk in farthest horizons of our thoughts.

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  • +1 Excellent answer so far! Many thanks. I'm looking forward to your own solutions to the question.
    – Dieter
    Commented Aug 16 at 3:46
  • @Dieter Thanks! I will. Commented Aug 16 at 4:17
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In logic your question is basically "an argument from silence." No one can present proof of a negative assertion, (such as in the book of Acts Luke does not present Jesus as God.) Despite the fact that Jesus is declared to be God in other epistles of the New Testament and in the gospels.

And btw, who says the three persons of the Trinity have to be mentioned in verses that do not mention any one of them, you? The Holy Spirit a person who has a mind, Romans 8;27. The Holy Spirit dispenses gifts to different individuals according as He wills. (1 Corinthians 12:9-11).

At Acts 16:6-7. The Holy Spirit forbade some from going to preach in certain places. Why does not the verses say, "God forbade some from going to preach in certain places?"

And look at Acts 5:3-4, "But Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit, and keep back some of the price of the land? v4, "While it remained unsold did it not remain your own? And after it was old, was it not under your control? Why is it that you have conceived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men, but to God." So what's your point? Or what are you trying to prove?

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    Good points! Only it is not factual that Luke does not address Christ as God, for he explicitly does: “Take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock, over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God which He hath purchased with His own blood” (Acts 20:28), now we are bought not by Father’s or the Holy Spirit’s blood, which They do not have, but by Christ’s blood shed for us on the Cross. Commented Aug 16 at 4:30
  • Agreed with Levan. The Acts part needs fixing.
    – bob
    Commented Aug 16 at 19:48

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