fall, nor is it affected by original or hereditary sin.

Chapter XXXVI. God's Spirit in Man

1. Man is placed in an animal world of dull feelings, of blind and crude
cravings. Yet his clear understanding, his self-conscious will and his
aspirations forward and upward lead him into a higher world where he
obtains insight into the order and unity of all things. By the spirit of
God he is able to understand material things and grasp them in their
relations; thus he can apply all his knowledge and creative imagination to
construct a world of ideals. But this world, in all its truth, beauty and
goodness, is still limited and finite, a feeble shadow of the infinite
world of God. As the Bible says: "The spirit of man is the lamp of the
Lord, searching all the inward parts."(690) "It is a spirit in man, and
the breath of the Almighty, that giveth them understanding."(691)

2. According to the Biblical conception, the spirit of God endows men with
all their differing capacities; it gives to one man wisdom by which he
penetrates into the causes of existence and orders facts into a scientific
system; to another the seeing eye by which he captures the secret of
beauty and creates works of art; and to a third the genius to perceive the
ways of God, the laws of virtue, that he may become a teacher of ethical
truth. In other words, the spirit of God is "the spirit of wisdom and
understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge
and the fear of the Lord."(692) It works upon the scientific interest of
the investigator, the imagination of the artist and poet, the ethical and
social sense of the prophet, teacher, statesman, and lawgiver. Thus their
high and holy vision of the divine is brought home to the people and
implanted within them under the inspiration of God. In commenting upon the
Biblical verse, "Wisdom and might are His ... He giveth wisdom to the
wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding,"(693) the sages
wisely remark, "God carefully selects those who possess wisdom for His
gift of wisdom." Even as a musical instrument must be attuned for the
finer notes that it may have a clear, resonant tone, so the human soul
must be made especially susceptible to the gifts of the spirit in order to
be capable of unfolding them. Thus the Talmud records an interesting
dialogue on this very passage between a Roman matron familiar with the
Scripture, and Rabbi Jose ben Halafta. She asked sarcastically, "