Definition for Muliplication
Glossary
Multiplication versus Addition
To help understand the meaning of fruitfulness, we first need to understand the distinction between multiplication and addition. In the creation account of Genesis, the very first positive command that God gives to living creatures is to multiply. Every living thing that God creates is given the command to multiply. In the case of man, this command is not simply God’s desire for us to replace ourselves. After all, at the time of God’s command, death had not yet entered into the world. Consequently, there was nothing to replace. Scripture is rife with examples of the severe consequences of intentional unfruitfulness. Therefore, we can conclude that fruitfulness is extremely important to God, which is logical since we are created in the image and likeness of an eternally and unceasingly fruitful God.
The Holy Spirit is described as the Life and the Breath of God. Love is dynamic. It exists in the will as a force — a principle of movement, a weight or force of attraction.[1] The Holy Spirit is the personification of action, the working Person of the Trinity, so to speak.[2] The Holy Spirit does not speak the Word, but He is the force, the breath, by which the Word is generated–expressed–and sent by the Father.[3] The Holy Spirit always multiplies; he never increases by addition. Fruitfulness, through the power of the Holy Spirit, is always multiplicative — always creative (cf. Jdt. 16:14; Ps. 51:10; Is. 65:17; Eph. 2:14-18). God creates through expression; the Father expresses creation through the eternal Word and in the Holy Spirit. In Psalms, we read, “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and all their host by the breath of his mouth [the Father is the mouth of God-SML]” (Ps. 33:6). Furthermore, to the degree that each human person responds to, and cooperates with, the promptings of the Breath of God, they become co-creators with God. They become that which is multiplied.
Most people considerably underappreciate the distinction between multiplication and addition. The simplest way I can think of to distinguish between the two is this; multiplication results in an increase in the quantity of that which is multiplied without a corresponding decrease in quantity from somewhere else. For example, if we have a single tennis ball in a bucket and want to increase the number, we can add more balls by going to the tennis court and gathering up loose balls and dumping them in the bucket, or by buying more at the store. The net gain or loss in the total number of tennis balls in existence is zero. We increased the number of balls in the bucket by taking them away from somewhere else. Furthermore, the single ball we had in the bucket played no part in the increase in the number of balls in the bucket. Multiplication, on the other hand, is very different.
Let us imagine a manufacturing technology has advanced to the point where we are able to make exact duplicates of inanimate objects by taking a molecule from a single tennis ball, for example, and making that molecule grow (similar to mitosis: cell division) at a rapid pace until—voila! We have a multiplied ball. Repeating this process using the same original tennis ball, we can produce, let us say, five more tennis balls. The net number of balls in existence increased because we did not take any of the five newly created balls from somewhere else. The original tennis ball was fruitful because it was that which was multiplied.
Does the power of the Holy Spirit cause other types of multiplication? Let us look at some organic examples. In Part III of our blog series about covenants, we discussed the synergy between water and light to affect cellular activity at every level. This interaction can result in the starting, stopping, speeding up, or slowing down of biological processes — the functioning of the body’s DNA. Biological healing is likely the power of the Holy Spirit multiplying healthy cells to heal illness or injury. The following is one more example of biological processes affected through water-light interaction.
Contrary to old and traditionally held beliefs, research is beginning to dispel the idea that hormones are the primary cause for the triggering of cell division (mitosis) in growing embryos.[4] Ongoing research in the field of biological light (both generated and stored) now suggests it is signaling primarily coming from light in the UV spectrum originating from within the cell itself, termed mitogenic radiation (MGR) that causes and directs mitosis.[5] Research suggests that MGR, accompanied by enzymatic and non-enzymatic reaction,[6] provided active oxygen and structured water was present, are the primary catalysts.[7] In other words, hormones are involved, but they are reacting to information that comes from photons of light, which were produced in part by the presence of dynamically structured vicinal water molecules.[8] Remember also that the spiritual soul itself is light, and the rational soul is the substantial form of the body. Could it be the soul that is the light that guides both cell mitosis and differentiation? I believe it is. It seems to be the logical conclusion.
What is the practical application of this research as it relates to Scripture? In each of the Gospels, an account is given of Peter taking a sword and cutting off the ear of the high priest’s slave (Mt 25:51, Mk 14:47, Jn 18:10, and Lk 22:50). In Luke’s account, however, more information is provided. Jesus is also described as touching the slave’s ear, after which it was healed. All such healings occur through the power of the Holy Spirit.[9] Since this miracle can be classified as an Actual Gratuitous grace, its accomplishment was not conditional on the purity of recipient’s heart, or even on the servant’s faith. I believe it is quite possible that the healing took place through the multiplication (cell mitosis directed by water and light) and healing of the damaged/missing cells.
Let us look at three scriptural passages, two of which deal directly with organic subjects, that serve as examples of the Holy Spirit’s involvement in fruitfulness accomplished via multiplication:
1) “For thus says the Lord the God of Israel, ‘The jar of meal shall not be spent, and the cruse of oil shall not fail, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth.’” And she went and did as Eli′jah said; and she, and he, and her household ate for many days” (1Kgs 17:14-15). In this passage, Elijah possessed the power of the Holy Spirit, as symbolized by his possession of the mantle of sheepskin (cf. 1Kgs 19:13, 19; 2Kgs 2:8, 13-14).[10]. Note also that God revealed to St. Hildegard that the flesh of fallen man was referred to as sheepskin. She writes, “In place of his luminous garment, Adam was given a sheepskin, and God substituted for Paradise a place of exile.”[11] Similar to the previous passage, see also 2Kgs. 4:2-6;
2) After feeding five thousand people, using only that which was produced from five barley loaves and two fish, Jesus “told his disciples, ‘Gather up the fragments left over, that nothing may be lost.’ So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves” (Jn. 6:12-13), and;
3) In Ezekiel’s dream of the New Covenant of salt (Ezek. 47:1, 3-5), the water that flowed from the opening (mouth) of the rebuilt Temple signifies the Living Water that Jesus promised to give to us. In his dream, this water did not have any other contributory. The water coming from the mouth of the Temple was not being “added” to by any other water source. The Living Water was being multiplied. It became deeper and deeper as it flowed further and further out from its source, the threshold of the Temple. Said phenomenon being contrary to the natural laws of physics. This multiplication of grace (Living Water) of the Holy Spirit can be seen more clearly and more profoundly by reading what John had to say on the subject. He writes, “If any one thirst, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.’ Now this he said about the Spirit, which those who believed in him were to receive; for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified” (Jn. 7:37-39).
Short Summary of Fruitfulness
Fruitfulness can be accomplished in one of two ways: multiplication or addition. When encountering the word fruitful, we should exercise caution concerning which manner of fruit is intended. Failure to do so can lead to grave theological error. When God commands man to be fruitful and multiply, he is referring exclusively (as it relates to the commandment in Gen 1:28) to begetting, which is the only means by which original man (before the fall) can multiply. Unfortunately, some are attempting to muddy the theological meaning of fruitfulness in our current evil times. They seek to justify same-sex (so-called) marriage by separating the sex act from the natural and biblical requirement for the conjugal act to be open to new life via multiplication (not addition), which is not possible when the sex act is intentional or inherently sterile. In the case of intentionality, the partner(s) intention(s) is for 100% effectiveness in achieving that sterility; however, in reality, that may not be achieved.
Let us look at fruitfulness that is additive. Actual grace provides many examples of fruitfulness that are additive but not multiplicative. According to Fr. John Hardon, “Actual grace is a “temporary supernatural intervention by God to enlighten the mind or strengthen the will to perform supernatural actions that lead to heaven.”[12] Jesus revealed to St. Faustina that the graces he gives to one soul would overflow and radiate out to another soul.[13] Jesus’ words would apply to the Actual graces overflowing and radiating from person #1 and received by person #2. As a result, the purity of person #2 will be “added to” — fruitfully increased.
Updated: 04/28/2022
ENDNOTES:
[1]. Rev. Fr. Edward Leen, The Holy Spirit. (New York, NY: Sheed & Ward, 1939; Sceptor Publishers, 1998, 2008), 29-34.
[2] Francois-Xavier Durrwell, Holy Spirit of God (original English translation published by Geoffrey Chapman, a division of Cassell, Ltd., 1986; reprint published by Servant Books, Cinncinati, OH, 2006), 14-15.
[3] Ibid., 199.
[4] L.V. Beloussov, V.L. Voeikov. “From Mitogenetic Rays to Biophotons.” Biophotonics and Coherent Systems in Biology. ed. L.V. Beloussov, V.L. Voeikov, V.S. Martynyuk. (Kindle Locations 92-94). Kindle Edition.
[5] Ibid., 105-107.
[6] Ibid., 145-147.
[7] Ibid., 171-172.
[8] Loewenstein, The Touchstone of Life: Molecular Information, Cell Communication, and the Foundations of Life, 14.
[9]. Durrwell, Holy Spirit of God, 14-15.
[10]. Origen, “Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew,” Book XIII, 2, translated by John Patrick, from Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 9., edited by Allan Menzies, (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1896.), http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/101613.htm.
[11]. Hildegard of Bingen’s Book of Divine Works: With Letters and Song. All rights reserved. <http://www.Innertraditions.com> Reprinted with permission of publisher. Kindle Locations 657-658.
[12] Fr. John Hardon, (2013-06-25), Catholic Dictionary: An Abridged and Updated Edition of Modern Catholic Dictionary (p. 9). The Doubleday Religious Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
[13] Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska: Divine Mercy in My Soul, Marian Press (2014), Kindle Edition Kindle Locations 2935-2939.