Definition of Truth of God in Scripture
Glossary
Truth: Jesus is referred to as a stone, not only because he is the Person of the Trinity who can be seen and touched, but also because he is Truth incarnate. The Truth of God is unchangeable.[1] Hence, the appropriateness of stone as a symbol for Jesus, who is Truth incarnate. However, relative to the heart of fallen man, it still reflects a state of unchangeableness, but negatively. In Scripture, a spirit (inner heart) of stone denotes an intractable unwillingness to follow God’s commands and/or repent of our sins (cf. Ex. 7:13, Dt. 2:30, Mt. 19:8).
The Holy Spirit is, among other appropriations, the fire from within the Father and the Son, compelling them to express Truth, what is known and good. The Holy Spirit is not Himself expressed but proceeds from the Father (Truth known through the intellectual generation of the Son) through the Son (Truth known through seeing the Father). When one sees pictures of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, one may notice flames coming from his heart; those flames symbolize the Holy Spirit — Holy Desire, Divine Charity.
Recall Pentecost when the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles (Acts 2:1-4). He took the form of fiery tongues, inflaming the hearts of the Apostles. The fire represents the radiating Holy Desire of the Holy Spirit, bringing all truth and recalling to their minds all the Truth that Jesus had taught them (Jn. 14:25-26). The tongues represented the Holy Fire of Truth that must be radiated outward — must be expressed. Absent breathing in and out, we would quickly die. This breathing in and out is an oft-used description of the action of the Holy Spirit.[2] Jesus tells us that he came to set the world on fire (Lk. 12:49-56). The Holy Spirit is the oxygen (the Breath) without which a fire cannot burn.
The person in whom the Breath dwells is on fire to breathe out the Breath (Truth known and Loved) and then breath in the Breath — the Holy Desire for union with that Truth that is known (cf. Lk. 24:32, 3:16). In certain circumstances, a heart of flesh denotes the opposite (e.g., Ez. 11:19). For example, when the Holy Spirit is dwelling in the spirit of man, the phrase, heart of stone, is used to denote a heart that is overflowing with pride and lust. On the other hand, the term, heart of flesh, indicates good — a heart that radiates love. Ezekiel writes, “A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will take out of your flesh the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh” (Ez. 36:26). After receiving a new heart and a new spirit, a heart of flesh (an integral component of the mouth sending out grace) becomes essential to express the new heart and new spirit accurately.
Understanding the heart of flesh in the context of a new spirit, from which grace overflows, would best be elaborated by reading my two-part article on the creation of Eve from Adam’s rib. It can be found at STOSSbooks.com. They are titled: “Woman: The holy spirit of the Family.”[3]
The difference in the connotation of stone between Jesus and man is this: Jesus’ mouth/body never changes to accurately express a spiritual heart that has changed its degree of purity. There is never a speck of impurity in His Sacred Heart, which would necessitate a change. His body, in its function as the mouth to send out the overflow of the human spiritual heart, never needs to change. However, man’s disordered flesh is often referred to as a garment or robe. Man’s garment is constantly becoming dirty and in dire need of washing.
In Baptism, man receives a clean new garment. However, as a result of repetitive sinfulness, it is constantly soiled and needs to be rewashed through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. St. Paul writes, “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word” (Eph. 5:25-27). Without the resurrection of Jesus and the subsequent ascension to the Father body and human soul, Baptism would not be possible — the Holy Spirit could not have descended to us. Upon our resurrection, when our spiritual soul reunites with our body (both now pure and unchangeable), the body is referred to as a white stone (cf. Rev. 2:17).
Man is symbolized by stone when the body is referred to in the context of a nuptial relationship to the NC Temple — Jesus’ resurrected body — via Baptism and the Eucharist. St. Hildegard tells us Baptism is the Sacrament through which the Church grows “by the building up of the living stones, who are washed white in the pure font,” in preparation for the wedding banquet of the Lamb.[4] Although redeemed man is often symbolized by stone, he is also represented by precious stones, e.g., diamond, onyx, and sapphire.[5]
The dust of DNA is a crystalline matrix. Likewise, all rocks and stones are two or more minerals, i.e., existing in a crystalline matrix. Therefore, all Redeemed souls, in a state of grace, are clothed with a body that can accurately be described as actual precious stones.
Let’s look at a few examples of the latter:
1. “‘You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, carnelian, topaz, and jasper, chrysolite, beryl, and onyx, sapphire, carbuncle, and emerald; and wrought in gold were your settings and your engravings. On the day that you were created they were prepared’” (Ez. 28:13);2. “Take twelve stones from here out of the midst of the Jordan, from the very place where the priests’ feet stood, and carry them over with you, and lay them down in the place where you lodge tonight” (Josh. 4:3) and “when your children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones mean to you?’ Then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial for ever” (Josh. 4:6-7). These twelve stones were a symbol of the twelve tribes of Israel and a type of the twelve Apostles of Jesus.
ENDNOTES:
[1] St. Hildegard of Bingen, Scivias, (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1990), 317 (Paulist Press; all rights reserved; used with permission).
[2] Durrwell, Holy Spirit of God, 31.
[3] https://www.stossbooks.com/blog/index.php?8-17---woman--the-holy-spirit-of-the-family----part-i.
[4] St. Hildegard of Bingen, Scivias, 172.
[5] cf. Ibid., 432.