The following quotes were taken from the Early Church Fathers and represent all of the relevant orthodox writings on the subject of the Holy Spirit for the first 220 years of church history (to my knowledge).The Epistle of Barnabas is a late first century document that the early church believed was written by the Barnabas we read about it Acts. The epistle was thought to be scripture by some early Christians and included in the Codex Sinaiticus . It was widely circulated and read in the early church.The author of the Epistle of Barnabas believed that the Holy Spirit had a direct affect on Christians lives, and that the Spirit had been "engrafted" on their own spirits. Clement of Rome was among the Roman church's first century bishops. It's thought that he was the companion of Paul mentioned in Philippians 4:3 . He wrote an epistle to the leadership of the Philippian church in AD 95.Clement wrote in the last decade of the first century that Christians were still being given spiritual gifts. He also wrote that his epistle was inspired by the Holy Spirit. He does not seem to have meant that his epistle was scripture, but merely that the Spirit guided his writing. This suggests that the early church believed the Holy Spirit actively guiding Christian communication.Hermas authored a famous work entitled ' The Shephard .' It was regarded as scripture by some early Christians and included in the Codex Sinaiticus. The author was either the man mentioned by Paul in Romans 16:14 or the brother of Pius I of Rome.Hermas, and the huge portion of the early church that was familiar with his work, believed the Holy Spirit was actively dwelling within every Christian exerting influence on their behavior. When the Christian sinned, or opened the door to the influence of evil spirits in any way, the Holy Spirit's ability to influence that Christian was restricted.Hermas believed the Holy Spirit played an active role in God’s relationship with the average Christian, and that his withdrawal was possible if a Christian continued to restrict his influence. Justin Martyr was a philosopher who converted to Christianity. He was born in AD 100 and was martyred in Rome in AD 165.Even in the late second century, Justin witnessed many new converts to Christianity receiving spiritual gifts, presumably from the Holy Spirit, so that they could contribute to the church in some capacity. These gifts included many of those mentioned in the New Testament: wisdom, strength, healing, prophesy, teaching, and fear.Justin regarded the gifts he saw showered on new second century Christians as the necessary fulfillment of prophesy.Justin believed that the spiritual gifts had been lost among the Jews and transferred to the gentile nations who hadn't rejected Christ.Interestingly, Justin didn't seem to believe that gifts were necessarily transferred from an apostle to a new convert. This would be impossible in the late second century because the last apostle, John, died around AD 100. Irenaeus was the bishop of Lyons, France in the second century. He was influenced by Polycarp Irenaeus believed that God, and his Holy Spirit, were active in the late second century. He supported a continuity between the activities of Jesus, the apostles, and the rest of the church. Irenaeus also didn't link the power of God to the gifts of the Holy Spirit. He believed God's power could be called upon by average Christians united in prayer and fasting.Irenaeus connected the Holy Spirit with conversion, and he claimed the Holy Spirit needed to be preserved within us. This doesn't connect well with the idea that the Holy Spirit only communicates with us via the Bible, because the Bible begins "its" work prior to conversion and salvation.The work of the Holy Spirit in this passage is clearly connected with active working gifts, and no mention of the Bible is made.The Montanists were those involved in the " New Prophesy " movement of the second century. They claimed to be receiving fresh revelations from God. Irenaeus could have signaled against them by saying that the Holy Spirit only worked through the Bible in their time, but he chose to counter with assertions that prophesy also existed in the orthodox churches.Irenaeus assumed a scriptural connection between the Spirit being received by the believer, gifts of the Spirit that manifest in the Christian life, and salvation. The Spirit did not retire after the revelation of the Bible, he remained active in the church.Irenaeus seems to have implied a connection between the indwelling "breath of life" that animates our bodies and the Holy Spirit which indwells us and gives us spiritual life.The gifts of the Spirit are not all miraculous, and they were assumed to be operating in AD 195 (we can assume that by then all the men the apostles laid hands on were dead). Clement mentioned knowledge, righteousness, martyrdom, confession, and preaching as spiritual gifts along side prophesy. Being a martyr doesn't require supernatural power, but it does seem to imply a specific gift from the Holy Spirit.Tertullian's stirring call to become a Christian man and drive out evil spirits and false gods is inspiring. It also suggests that the world was still "enchanted" in AD 197. Spiritual forces were still at work. The world had not become a cold dead material thing devoid of God's power. God's work had not been reduced to the reading of a book.Tertullian implied a spiritual distinction between "miraculous gifts" and "spiritual endowments." Even if miracles have ceased, the work of the Holy Spirit has not ceased, and he continues to endow people with gifts and assistance.God grants the baptized Christian a measure of his gifts. Tertullian could have said: "Go read your Bible If you want the Holy Spirit," but he counseled a prayerful request.Tertullian had some involvement with the Montanist movement, and he thus requested signs from his opponents to counter his own claims of having contact with the Spiri.Tertullian assumed that the gifts Paul talked about would continue into his era.For Tertullian, even faith was a gift from God. It wasn't possible to explore God without the Holy Spirit. A person could not simply use the Bible to attain faith and come to a knowledge of God. It was a cooperative effort.Origin wrote that scripture should be interpreted primarily by those with the gift to understand it given by the Holy Spirit. If he was right, we definitely still need gifts today.The Holy Spirit must bestow a certain measure of grace on people before they can understand God's word.The Spirit gives gifts and indwells Christian souls. The loss of salvation or spiritual power results from the withdrawal of the Spirit from within us.Spiritual aestheticism is a path to greater communion with the Spirit.Coming to God isn't just the process of picking up a Bible, using human reason, and becoming a Christian via a five step program . There's a mystical interplay between the Spirit and the individual it draws to God.If even the apostles needed enlightenment from the direct intervention of the Holy Spirit, then how much more do we need it?The Spirit cooperates with us to produce virtues.The Holy Spirit works in the world. Spiritual powers are influencing the social, cultural, and spiritual world we experience around us. The world isn't just a material object created by a deistic God who dropped the Bible and left. We're as bad as the pre-flood population if that has happened (perhaps it has and we're headed for disaster).Some portion of Holy Spirit gifts are given to all men, but they're was a specific miraculous share that was present in the early church. The Holy Spirit is at work everywhere in our world.The Holy Spirit helps us come to a knowledge of the truth.Baptism is a dead act without the presence of the Holy Spirit to sanctify and give it meaning. Our salvation is more than a rational human action.The " charismata " are the gifts imparted by the Holy Spirit on saints (they belong to every saint, but they can also be miraculous):charismaThe Spirit is inside every Christian, and the Spirit is working in cooperation with Christians. The Spirit isn't just a book to be consumed and memorized, but a being seeking a relationship.The Spirit was always present with the apostles, but he was only often within the prophets (so claims Novation). Novation claimed the Holy Spirit was responsible for many non-miraculous activities in the church, including: discrimination of spirit, government, and instructing teachers. We should expect that these works have continued into modern times. Why would they have ceased? Where is the biblical evidence that non-miraculous assistance has ceased?Origin wrote that there were some miraculous gifts still floating around a century and a half after the last apostle died.Why would God have ceased bestowing his Spirit on us simply because the Bible was completed? Origin believed God still gave Christians his Spirit even after the Bible had been finished for a century and a half.The post-Bible work of God is not entirely rationalistic. There are mystical powers at work in the world, Satan is moving men's minds, and we should beware of reducing the world to a cold dead object for our manipulation.The Jews lost the Spirit of God, and they lost the signs that went with it. The Jews are no longer a chosen people, a blessed people, or even a righteous people. The Spirit has left them.How does this operate? We cannot know, but our lack of understanding doesn't mean it can't happen.The border between miraculous and providential becomes confused at the point of wisdom. Is this a miraculous measure of wisdom or simply providentially developed wisdom? Maybe the categories themselves represent a false dichotomy.Origin's description of a prophetess appears to be similar to what was experienced by the possessed girls of the Oracle of Delphi (the movie portrays this ). It is from records like this, no doubt, that the modern charismatic movement derives its practices.By Origin's time, the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit had begun to diminish, but they'd always served as a sign that the Holy Spirit was at work in his church, and we should remember them as representing what he's doing in us... even now.