Paper 8 Overview: The Infinite Spirit

Paper 8 explores the origin, nature, and functions of the Infinite Spirit, the Third Person of Deity who completes the Trinity. When the Universal Father's infinite thought found perfect expression in the Eternal Son, their united desire for a mutual agent of expression and action brought forth the Infinite Spirit. This divine being emerges as the God of Action who executes the plans of the Father-Son partnership and administers the vast universe of universes.

The Infinite Spirit possesses attributes of both the Father and Son while maintaining a unique identity as the mercy minister and universal organizer. The paper details the Spirit's relationships with the other Deities, his role in spiritual ministry throughout creation, and his omnipresent nature that touches all worlds. Despite being distributed throughout all creation through countless spirit entities, the Infinite Spirit remains a complete and divine personality who, along with the Father and Son, forms the eternal Trinity that governs all reality.

In the dawn of eternity, when the Universal Father's "first" infinite thought found perfect expression in the Eternal Son, there arose a supreme desire in both the Thought-God and the Word-God for a universal agent of mutual expression and combined action. This desire led to an eternal covenant of divine partnership between the Father and Son for the execution of their united concepts throughout eternity. From that moment forward, the Father and Son have continued in this divine union.

At the precise instant when God the Father and God the Son jointly conceived an identical and infinite action to execute an absolute thought-plan, the Infinite Spirit sprang fully into existence as the Third Person of Deity. Although we describe these events in sequential order to help human minds understand, all three Deities are actually existential, having no beginning or end of days. They are coordinate, supreme, ultimate, absolute, and infinite beings who have always existed as three distinctly individualized but eternally associated persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit.

With the personalization of the Infinite Spirit in the eternity of the past, the divine personality cycle became complete and perfect. The appearance of the God of Action set the stage for the universal adventure of creation—the divine panorama that would unfold across the eternal ages. The first act of the Infinite Spirit was to recognize and identify his divine parents, acknowledging both their separate personalities and their combined nature while pledging eternal loyalty to the Father and acknowledging everlasting dependence upon the Son.

This transaction established the Paradise Trinity and prepared the stage of universal space for the creative unfolding of the Father's purpose through the personality of the Son and by the execution of the God of Action. When the Infinite Spirit began to function, one billion perfect spheres (the central universe of Havona) flashed into existence, and the energies of Paradise became actualized. The Spirit works as the exclusive executive of the Father-Son partnership, testifying that the central universe and everything related to it came into being simultaneously with his attainment of personality and conscious existence.

The Conjoint Creator is eternally one with the Universal Father and the Eternal Son, reflecting in perfection the nature of both Paradise Deities. The Third Source and Center is known by numerous titles that reflect different aspects of his multifaceted nature: the Universal Spirit, the Supreme Guide, the Divine Executive, the Infinite Mind, the Spirit of Spirits, and many others. These names help beings of different levels understand various aspects of his infinite nature.

While sharing the perfection, righteousness, and love of the Universal Father, the Infinite Spirit particularly demonstrates the mercy attributes of the Eternal Son. The Spirit functions as the mercy minister of the Paradise Deities to the grand universe, depicting the mercy of God as the divine Sons reveal the love of God. Through the loving ministry and ceaseless service of the Spirit's personalities, the Father's faithfulness and the Son's constancy become real to spirit beings and material creatures throughout the spheres. The Spirit inherits the beauty of thought and character of truth from the Father, coordinating these sublime traits in the cosmic mind.

As the Eternal Son expresses the "first" absolute thought of the Universal Father, the Conjoint Actor perfectly executes the "first" completed creative plan for combined action by the Father-Son partnership. The Third Source and Center came into being simultaneously with the central creation, and only this central creation exists eternally among all universes. Following the personalization of the Third Source, the Universal Father no longer personally participates in universe creation, delegating everything possible to the Eternal Son, who in turn bestows all possible authority and power upon the Conjoint Creator.

The Infinite Spirit serves as the effective agent of the all-loving Father and all-merciful Son in their project of drawing all truth-loving souls to themselves. When the Eternal Son accepted the Father's plan for creature perfection, the Infinite Spirit immediately became the joint administrator of this united purpose, pledging all his resources to this plan of exalting surviving will creatures to Paradise perfection. The Spirit provides the only avenue of approach to the Eternal Son, just as the Son is the only way to reach the Father. Ascending pilgrims must first recognize and attain the Third Person before they can be presented to the Son and the Father.

Paralleling the physical universe held together by Paradise gravity is the spiritual universe where the Son's word interprets the Father's thought and demonstrates divine mercy. Within this creation, the Infinite Spirit and his spirit offspring operate on a vast stage showing forth the combined mercy, patience, and affection of the divine parents toward their intelligent children. The essence of the Spirit's divine character is everlasting ministry to mind, and all his offspring share this desire to minister and serve.

While God is love and the Son is mercy, the Spirit represents ministry—the application of divine love and endless mercy to all intelligent creation. The Spirit personifies the combined love of the Father and Son, making it accessible to the creature creation. Through a series of divinity attenuations, the Spirit and his coordinating spirits draw near to beings on even the most material worlds, appearing as angels to guide mortals through their earthly existence. The Spirit functions as the universal mercy minister not only representing the Father and Son but also in his own name and right, bestowing the universal ministry of mercy in his own behalf.

The outstanding attribute of the Infinite Spirit is omnipresence—his all-pervading presence throughout the universe of universes, akin to a universal and divine mind. Both the Second and Third Persons of Deity are represented on all worlds by their ever-present spirits, allowing the Father to be spiritually present anywhere through either the Son or the Conjoint Actor as he chooses. The Father is most certainly everywhere present, and we perceive his presence through these diverse but associated forces and presences.

In religious writings, the term "Spirit of God" is sometimes used interchangeably for both the Infinite Spirit on Paradise and the Creative Spirit of a local universe. The Holy Spirit specifically refers to the spiritual circuit of the Creative Daughter of the Paradise Infinite Spirit within a local universe, whereas the Infinite Spirit operates universally. Although there are many spiritual influences working in the universe, they function as a unified force in human minds and souls. This united spiritual ministration represents the influence of the Supreme Being, who keeps believers from falling and presents them blameless before the Father.

Despite the widespread distribution and far-flung operations of the Third Source and Center, we must not lose sight of the fact that the Infinite Spirit is a true divine personality. The Spirit is not merely a cosmic presence, eternal action, or holy influence, but also a complete and perfect personality—the divine equal of the Universal Father and Eternal Son. All ascending beings must attain the Spirit before approaching the Father through the Son.

The Infinite Spirit possesses all attributes associated with personality, including absolute mind that "searches all things, even the deep things of God." The Spirit is endowed with both mind and will, distributing gifts "severally as he wills." The Spirit demonstrates love and can experience sorrow, speaks to those who will listen, makes intercession for believers, and directly influences created beings. Despite operating through countless legions of beings throughout the universe, the Third Source and Center remains a person—the Conjoint Creator who works in perfect harmony with the Father and Son in the service of creation and control.