Encyclopedia
In various religions, most notably
Trinitarian Christianity, the
Holy Spirit is the third consubstantial Person of the
Holy Trinity. As such, the various Christian perspectives view Him as God himself, a form of God, or a manifestation of God. The word "Spirit" commonly translates the Greek
New Testament word pneuma . It is important to remember that Scripture on the Holy Spirit can be viewed by different sects of Christians in different ways. The Holy Spirit is the One who guides a person to correctly interpret the word of God and it helps each person reach new levels of understanding. Since it knows each person perfectly and it is understood that people think differently, it can transfer information to people in ways that they would comprehend it.
The Holy Spirit in the New Testament
In mainstream
Christianity, the Holy Spirit is one of the three divine persons of the
Holy Trinity which make up the single substance of God, the others being God the Father and God the Son . The Holy Spirit is different from Jesus in that He does not have a physical manifestation , and that He frequently dwells in and amongst God's people as a spiritual guide or a Comforter.
Christians believe that the Holy Spirit leads people to faith in Jesus and gives them the ability to lead a
Christian life. The Spirit dwells inside every true Christian, each one's body being His temple . He is depicted as a 'Counselor' or 'Helper' , guiding them in the way of the truth. The Spirit's action in one's life is believed to produce positive results, known as the Fruits of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit, brings these gifts into manifestation by enabling a person to access his or her abilities, that were already prestent when he or she had been created. Through the influence of the Holy Spirit a person sees more clearly the world around himself or herself and is enabled to use his or her mind and body in ways beyond the capacity they had previously known. The gifts it gives may include the charismatic gifts such as prophecy, tongues, healing, and knowledge. These gifts can not be viewed as purely charismatic however. Christians holding a view known as cessationism believe these gifts were given only in New Testament times. Christians almost universally agree that certain more mundane "spiritual gifts" are still in effect today, including the gifts of ministry, teaching, giving, leadership, and mercy . In some sects of Christianity, the experience of the Holy Spirit is referred to as being "anointed".
Jesus describes the Holy Spirit as the promised "Comforter" in . After His
resurrection, Christ told His disciples that they would be "
baptized with the Holy Ghost", and would receive power from this event , a promise that was fulfilled in the events recounted in the second chapter of Acts. On the first
Pentecost, Jesus' disciples were gathered in
Jerusalem when a mighty wind was heard and tongues of fire appeared over their heads. A multilingual crowd heard the disciples speaking, and each of them heard them speaking in his or her native
language.
In John's Gospel, emphasis is placed not upon what the Holy Spirit did for Jesus, but upon Jesus giving the Spirit to His disciples. This "Higher"
Christology, most influential in later development of Trinitarian doctrine, sees Jesus as a sacrificial lamb, and as coming among mankind in order to grant the Spirit of God to humanity.
Although the language used to describe Jesus' receiving the Spirit in John's Gospel is parallel to the accounts in the other three Gospels, John relates this with the aim of showing that Jesus is specially in possession of the Spirit for the purpose of granting the Spirit to His followers, uniting them with Himself, and in Himself also uniting them with the Father. . In John, the gift of the Spirit is equivalent to eternal life, knowledge of God, power to obey, and communion with one another and with the Father.
Christian views on the Holy Spirit
Pentecostalism
The Christian movement called Pentecostalism derives its name from the event of Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit when Jesus' disciples were gathered in
Jerusalem. They also believe that, once received, the Holy Spirit is God working through the recipient to perform the gifts of the Spirit. These gifts are potrayed in 1 Corinthians chapter 12.
The Pentecostal movement places special emphasis on the work of the Holy Spirit, and especially on the gifts mentioned above, believing that they are still given today. Pentecostalism holds that the 'Baptism with the Holy Spirit' is distinct from the salvific born again experience, as a usually distinct experience in which the Spirit's power is received by the Christian in a new way, with the result that the Christian can now be more readily used to do signs, miracles, and wonders for the sake of evangelism or for ministry within the church.
Many Pentecostals also believe that the normative evidence of this infilling of the Holy Spirit is the ability to speak in other tongues .
Catholicism
The
Catechism of the Catholic Church states the following in the first paragraph dealing with the Apostles Creed's article
I believe in the Holy Spirit. "No one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God." Now God's Spirit, who reveals God, makes known to us Christ, his Word, his living Utterance, but the Spirit does not speak of himself. The Spirit who "has spoken through the prophets" makes us hear the Father's Word, but we do not hear the Spirit himself. We know him only in the movement by which he reveals the Word to us and disposes us to welcome him in faith. The Spirit of truth who "unveils" Christ to us "will not speak on his own." Such properly divine self-effacement explains why "the world cannot receive [him], because it neither sees him nor knows him," while those who believe in Christ know the Spirit because he dwells with them."
As regards the Holy Spirit's relationship with the Church, the Catechism states: "The mission of Christ and the Holy Spirit is brought to completion in the Church, which is the Body of Christ and the Temple of the Holy Spirit...Thus the Church's mission is not an addition to that of Christ and the Holy Spirit, but is its sacrament: in her whole being and in all her members, the Church is sent to announce, bear witness, make present, and spread the mystery of the communion of the Holy Trinity...Because the Holy Spirit is the anointing of Christ, it is Christ who, as the head of the Body, pours out the Spirit among his members to nourish, heal, and organize them in their mutual functions, to give them life, send them to bear witness, and associate them to his self-offering to the Father and to his intercession for the whole world. Through the Church's sacraments, Christ communicates his Holy and sanctifying Spirit to the members of his Body."
The Catechism also lists the various symbols of the Holy Spirit in the Bible:
- Water - signifies the Holy Spirit's action in Baptism. As "by one Spirit we were all baptized," so we are also "made to drink of one Spirit." Thus the Spirit is also personally the living water welling up from Christ crucified as its source and welling up in us to eternal life.
- Anointing - The symbolism of anointing with oil also signifies the Holy Spirit, to the point of becoming a synonym for the Holy Spirit. In Christian initiation, anointing is the sacramental sign of Confirmation, called "chrismation" in the Churches of the East. Its full force can be grasped only in relation to the primary anointing accomplished by the Holy Spirit, that of Jesus. Christ means the one "anointed" by God's Spirit.
- Fire - symbolizes the transforming energy of the Holy Spirit's actions. In the form of tongues "as of fire," the Holy Spirit rests on the disciples on the morning of Pentecost and fills them with himself.
- Cloud and light - The Spirit comes upon the Virgin Mary and "overshadows" her, so that she might conceive and give birth to Jesus. On the mountain of Transfiguration, the Spirit in the "cloud came and overshadowed" Jesus, Moses and Elijah, Peter, James and John, and "a voice came out of the cloud, saying, 'This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!'"
- The seal is a symbol close to that of anointing. "The Father has set his seal" on Christ and also seals us in him. Because this seal indicates the indelible effect of the anointing with the Holy Spirit in the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Orders, the image of the seal has been used in some theological traditions to express the indelible "character" imprinted by these three unrepeatable sacraments.
- The hand. It is by the Apostles' imposition of hands that the Holy Spirit is given. The Letter to the Hebrews lists the imposition of hands among the "fundamental elements" of its teaching. The Church has kept this sign of the all-powerful outpouring of the Holy Spirit in its sacramental epicleses.
- The finger. "It is by the finger of God that [Jesus] cast out demons." If God's law was written on tablets of stone "by the finger of God," then the "letter from Christ" entrusted to the care of the apostles, is written "with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of human hearts."
- The dove. When Christ comes up from the water of his baptism, the Holy Spirit, in the form of a dove, comes down upon him and remains with him.
Orthodoxy
Eastern Orthodoxy proclaims that the Father is the eternal source of the Godhead, from Whom is begotten the Son eternally and also from Whom the Holy Spirit proceeds eternally. Note that unlike the Catholic Church and western Christianity in general, the Orthodox Church does not espouse the use of the
Filioque in describing the procession of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is believed to eternally proceed from the Father, not from the Father
and the Son. Orthodox doctrine regarding the Holy Trinity is summarized in the Symbol of Faith .
Eastern Catholics and Oriental Orthodox also coincide with
Eastern Orthodox usage and teachings on the matter.
Dispensationalism
According to dispensationalism , we are now living in the Age of the Spirit, or church age. The Old Testament period, under this view, may be called the Age of the Father, or of the law; the period covered by the Gospels, the Age of the Son; from Pentecost until the second advent of Christ, the Age of the Spirit, or the church age .
The Mosaic law was still in effect up to the time when Jesus Christ died on a Roman cross, was buried and rose from the dead . The church age was fully established at Pentecost where the disciples' were given the Holy Spirit, and sent out by Him to plant His church in the world.
A once popular view which is seldom mentioned today is that at the Rapture, the Holy Spirit will be gone from the Earth, based on .
The church age is said to close with the second coming of Christ.
"Holy Spirit" or "Holy Ghost"
Holy Ghost was the common name for the Holy Spirit in
English prior to the 20th century. It is the name used in the
Book of Common Prayer and the
King James Version of the Bible, and is still used by those who prefer more traditional language, or whose religious vocabulary is largely derived from the King James Version . The original meaning of the English word
ghost parallelled the words
spirit or
soul; only later did the former word come to acquire the specific sense of "disembodied spirit of the dead" and the associated pejorative connotations.
In 1901 the
American Standard Version of the Bible translated the name as
Holy Spirit, as had the English Revised Version of 1881-1885 upon which it was based. Almost all modern English translations have followed suit. Some languages still use a word that overlaps both English words, such as the
German Geist.
In the
United Kingdom, Religious Education teachers are told to avoid using "Holy Ghost" as it
"suggests a trivial and spooky element to the third part in the Trinity" .
Gifts and fruit of the Holy Spirit
Fruit of the Spirit
Christians believe the "Fruit of the Spirit" are virtues engendered in an individual by the acceptance of the Spirit and His actions in one's life. They can be found in the
New Testament : "But the fruit of the Spirit is
love, joy,
peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, [and] self-control." The Tradition of the
Roman Catholic Church, , lists 12 Fruits of the Holy Spirit: "charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, [and] chastity." Many Christians believe that these fruits of the Holy Spirit are enhanced over time by exposure to the
written word of God and by the experience of leading a Christian life. They further believe that the Fruits of the Holy Spirit are products of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit: "wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord."
Gifts of the Spirit
Some Christians claim the ability to tap into powers from the Holy Spirit or to be invested with gifts by the Holy Spirit. Claims of inspiration by the Holy Spirit have occurred throughout the history of Christianity. Many have claimed that the Holy Spirit has given them the power to:
- Cure diseases with prayer
- Speak a foreign language that he or she had not learned before
- Hear God speak
- Expel evil spirits that are possessing a person
- Have a strong, personal connection to God
- Speak in a heavenly language unto God
- Prophesy
- Have visions
- Discern spiritual conditions
Some Christians, especially of
Eastern Orthodoxy, believe that early fathers were guided by the Holy Spirit, making their writings almost as canonical as the Testaments.
Numerous other supernatural happenings have been linked to the Holy Spirit, and it is often claimed that the power of the Holy Spirit is manifested more in some than it is in others.
As well as a listing of fruit of the Spirit, there are three listings of gifts of the Spirit. , , and . In each of these references it is made clear that these gifts are for the building up of the Body of Christ, or the Church. Eighteen gifts are mentioned in these three lists: wisdom, knowledge, teaching, leadership, shepherding , prophecy, exhortation, discernment, faith, evangelism, apostleship, miracles, tongues and interpretations of tongues. There is no uniformly accepted standard which makes this list definitive. St. Paul is aware of spiritual power that manifests itself in at least these ways and teaches the church of their presence, role and importance. These are to be distinguished from talents which all of God's children enjoy and are for the believers in Jesus Christ - spiritual gifts to provide the power and abilities needed to do the work of Christ in the world.
Depiction in art
The Holy Spirit is often
depicted as a
dove, based on the account of the Holy Spirit descending on Jesus in the form of a dove when He was baptized in the
Jordan. In many paintings of the
Annunciation, the Holy Spirit is shown in the form of a dove/lily, representing the
Angel Gabriel's "whispering" of Christ's coming into
Mary's ear.
The dove also parallels the one that brought the olive branch to
Noah after the deluge , and Rabbinic traditions that doves above the water signify the presence of God.
The book of Acts describes the Holy Spirit descending on the
apostles at Pentecost in the form of a wind and tongues of fire resting over the apostles' heads. Based on the imagery in that account, the Holy Spirit is sometimes symbolized by a flame of fire.
Non-Trinitarian Christian views
In the belief of many nontrinitarian religions —
Unitarians and
Jehovah's Witnesses, for instance — the Holy Spirit is God's spirit or God's active force, and not an actual person. These beliefs may be drawn from passages such as these:
"yet for us there is but
one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but
one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live. But not everyone knows this....." - 1 Corinthians 8: 6-7.
John 10:30 - "I and My Father are one".
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches that the name "Holy Spirit" has many references, depending on its usage and the context in which it appears. The term "Holy Spirit" can denote the Holy Ghost; Spirit; the Spirit of God; Spirit of the Lord; Spirit of Christ or even Spirit of Truth. Latter-day Saints teach that these terms are distinct from one another, showing the many aspects and/or functions of God. For example, the
Spirit of God has been used as a synonym for the "Holy Ghost", which is a usage that denotes the nature of the
Holy Ghost, a distinct personage of the Spirit and an actual distinct and separate person of the Godhead.
Spirit of God has also been used to denote a force or power which is impersonal and fills the immensity of space. This latter use is not the
Holy Ghost, but denotes a "non-personage", as the
Power of God or the
Light of God that emanates everywhere.
Examples of these distinctions are shown within the Bible verses as:
- Holy Spirit - ; ;
- Spirit -
- Spirit of God - ; ; ;
- Spirit of the Lord - ; ;
- Spirit of Christ - ;
- Light of Christ - ; ;
- Spirit of Truth - ; ;
There are many other such references within the
Book of Mormon,
Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price.
In the
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Holy Spirit is considered a third and individual member of the Godhead; by virtue of their holy nature and the everlasting covenant existent between them, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit operate as "One God" . The Holy Spirit exists as a distinct and separate being from the Father and the Son, having a body of spirit with no flesh and bones, whereas the Father and the Son are said to be resurrected individuals having immortalized bodies of flesh and bone. Though the
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is technically "Non-Trinitarian", their belief in the Godhead is often misinterpreted as an endorsement of Trinitarianism.
Jehovah's Witnesses point out that personification in the Bible occurs often, including terms such as
wisdom,
sin and death,
water and
blood, and does not indicate that the subject is a person. The fact that the Holy Spirit is referred to impersonally several times is used to assert that references of this manner would not occur in such frequency if this was a divine member of God, just as it does not occur with the Father or the Son. Additionally, at
Jesus' baptism in , Jesus received God's spirit at that time, which Witnesses say conflicts with the idea that the Son was always one with the Holy Spirit. Jesus relates in Mark 13:32 "But of that day and [that] hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father." The Witnesses note that the Holy Spirit is conspicuously missing from this statement, just as it is missing from Stephen's vision in where he sees only the Son and God in heaven.
Also noted, in regards to the mentions of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit together , nontrinitarians bring out that none of these verses offer any evidence of the equality of nature or authority among them, just as the numerous simultaneous references to "Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob" or "Peter, James and John", or "Tom, Dick and Harry" do not infer an equality in any manner. Alvan Lamson says in
The Church of the First Three Centuries: "The modern popular doctrine of the Trinity . . . derives no support from the language of Justin Martyr: and this observation may be extended to all the ante-
Nicene Fathers; that is, to all Christian writers for three centuries after the birth of Christ. It is true, they speak of the Father, Son, and . . . holy Spirit, but not as co-equal, not as one numerical essence, not as Three in One, in any sense now admitted by Trinitarians. The very reverse is the fact."
There are many Roman Catholic writings that support the idea of the Holy Spirit not being an actual person. One, the
New Catholic Encyclopedia states: "The O[ld] T[estament] clearly does not envisage God's spirit as a person . . . God's spirit is simply God's power. If it is sometimes represented as being distinct from God, it is because the breath of
Yahweh acts exteriorly. ... The majority of N[ew] T[estament] texts reveal God's spirit as something, not someone; this is especially seen in the parallelism between the spirit and the power of God." .
According to the
New Catholic Encyclopedia, 2nd edition, article:
Spirit of God:
"The OT Old Testament clearly does not envisage God's spirit as a person, neither in the strictly philosophical sense, nor in the
Semitic sense. God's spirit is simply God's Power.
If it is sometimes represented as being distinct from God, it is because the breath of
Yahweh acts exteriorly .......Very rarely do the OT writers attribute to God's spirit emotions or intellectual activity . When such expressions are used,
they are mere figures of speech that are explained by the fact that the RUAH was regarded also as the seat of intellectual acts and feeling .
Neither is there found in the OT or in rabbinical
literature the notion that God's spirit is an intermediary being between God and the world. This activity is proper to the angels, although to them is ascribed some of the activity that elsewhere is ascribed to the spirit of God"
This encyclopedia further states:
".......the NT concepts of the Spirit of God are largely a continuation of those of the OT.......The majority of NT texts reveal God's spirit as something, not someone; this is especially seen in the parallelism between the spirit and the power of God.
When a quasi-personal activity is ascribed to God's spirit, e.g., speaking, hindering, desiring, dwelling , one is not justified in concluding immediately that in these passages God's spirit is regarded as a Person; the same expressions are used in regard to rhetorically personified things or abstract ideas .
Thus the context of the phrase 'blasphemy against the spirit' shows that reference is being made to the power of God".
According to those who hold the minority view of Binitarianism, the Holy Spirit is not a separate being, but the Father and the Son are. One such group, the Living Church of God teaches this about the Holy Spirit, "The Holy Spirit is the very essence, the mind, life and power of God. It is not a Being. The Spirit is inherent in the Father and the Son, and emanates from Them throughout the entire universe . It was through the Spirit that God created all things . It is the power by which Christ maintains the universe . It is given to all who repent of their sins and are baptized and is the power by which all believers may be "overcomers" and will be led to eternal life" .
The view that the Holy Spirit is not a distinct person has been considered to be heretical by mainstream Christianity. For example,
Epiphanius of Salamis referred to some of those as Semi-Arians and
Pneumatomachi and called them, "A sort of monstrous, half-formed people of two natures...Semi-Arians...hold the truly orthodox view of the Son, that he was forever with the Father...but has been begotten without beginning and not in time...But all of these blaspheme the Holy Spirit, and do not count him in the Godhead with the Father and the Son" . Section VI, Verses 1,1 and 1,3. Translated by Frank Williams. EJ Brill, New York, 1994, pp.471-472)
Rastafarian view of the Holy Spirit
As a movement that developed out of Christianity,
Rastafari has its own unique interpretation of both the
Holy Trinity and the Holy Spirit. Although there are several slight variations, they generally state that it is
Haile Selassie who embodies both God the Father and God the Son, while the Holy Spirit is to be found within Rasta believers , and within every human being. Rastas also say that the true church is the human body, and that it is this church that contains the Holy Spirit.
Other views
Judaism
Judaism as a whole does not have a developed pneumatology. Most Jews consider the Holy Spirit to be a thoroughly Christian concept. "The designation of the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Ghost, stems from a Hebrew figure of speech, the
ruah hakodesh . In Jewish usage, however, this concept was never identified with a separate person, but with a Divine power which could fill men, as, for instance, the prophets." -
The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, 1943, 1969, see: "Trinity", pp. 308. See also:
ShekhinahIslam
Islamic interpretations consider the Holy Spirit to be another name for the
archangel Gabriel or an impersonal, supra-angelic Agent of Revelation. In Sura 2.97, the
Qur'an states that Gabriel delivered the Word of God to the Prophet
Muhammad. The actual term "Holy Spirit" ????? ????? is used in the following verses in the Qur'an: ; ;; and In these verses, the Holy Spirit is strongly supportive of Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad in their divine missions. The Qur'an also mentions the Holy Spirit in Sura 21:91, yet the term "Our Spirit" is used. The 91st Ayah of Sura Al-Anbiya is in clear reference to the Virgin Mary and Jesus, while "Our Spirit" refers to Gabriel. In Islam, angels are genderless and have no will of their own, meaning it is impossible for them to disobey God, . There is also a reasonable debate for and using the Holy Ghost and the archangel Gabriel interchangeably.
Mandaeanism
Hinduism
There are parallels between the Holy Spirit and
Kundalini, the divine intelligence behind spiritual awakening and maturation in
Yoga. Kundalini is both a power that proceeds from the Absolute and a divine person, a
Goddess or Shakti. She is also God immanent in the human being.
Several scriptures of Vedic tradition describe that God is present in the heart as the supreme witness, Paramatman and absolutely everything is known to Him from the start, he is considered more close to the person, than that person's jugular vein} - Vedanta Sutra 1.2.11, Katha Upanishad 1.3.1, Chandogya Upanishad 8.1.1 and other Upanishads.
Bhagavad Gita, a summary of Upanishads, has many verses about Paramatman. Several are:
10.20: "I am the Supersoul, O
Arjuna, seated in the hearts of all living entities. I am the beginning, the middle and the end of all beings."
15.15: "I am seated in everyone’s heart, and from Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness. By all the Vedas, I am to be known. Indeed, I am the compiler of Vedanta, and I am the knower of the Vedas."
18.61: "The Supreme Lord is situated in everyone’s heart, O Arjuna, and is directing the wanderings of all living entities, who are seated as on a machine, made of the material energy."
Comparisons in fiction
In several popular role-playing games, the measure of
Honour or
Grace to
Paladins can be superficially compared to the views towards the Holy Spirit. The Paladin, by doing good deeds and helping others , is favoured by the deity he serves, which translates into points of Experience and Honour. These points mark his ability to do Paladin spells like healing, repulsing undead, blessing, giving strength etc which are usually dependent on the Charisma ability . When doing honourless or evil actions, the god punishes the Paladin by taking away these abilities.
A good parallel is the Force of
Star Wars and the
Jedi knights, that have many in common with the concept of the Paladins. The Force resembles some interpretations of the Holy Spirit in that it flows between living beings and holds the universe together. A Jedi by having connection to the Force can use it and obtain abilities from it that partially resemble of the 'Fruits' of the Holy Spirit. Note that the Holy Spirit, however, is believed to be a personal being by mainstream Christianity, whereas the Force is impersonal . The Force is more usually compared to the Chi.
J.R.R. Tolkien, Christian fantasy author, in the Ainulindalë speaks about the Flame Imperishable by which the Ilúvatar the Creator made the Ainur and brought Being to the world of his mythos. The Flame was not a separate being, but was in the Creator.
Gandalf also mentions the Secret Fire which he claims he serves, before the
Balrog . This description is to be understood as a model of the Holy Spirit, which appeared at
Pentecost as "tongues of fire" which descended on the heads of the Apostles.
See also
External links
