Holy Spirit in Christianity


Most Christian denominations believe the Holy Spirit, or Holy Ghost, to be the third divine Person of the Trinity, a triune god manifested as God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, each being God. Nontrinitarian Christians, who reject the doctrine of the Trinity, differ significantly from mainstream Christianity in their beliefs about the Holy Spirit. In Christian theology, pneumatology is the study of the Holy Spirit. Due to Christianity's historical relationship with Judaism, theologians often identify the Holy Spirit with the concept of the Ruach Hakodesh in Jewish scripture, on the theory that Jesus was expanding upon these Jewish concepts. Similar names, and ideas, include the Ruach Elohim, Ruach YHWH, and the Ruach Hakodesh. In the New Testament the Holy Spirit is identified with the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of Truth, and the Paraclete.
The New Testament details a close relationship between the Holy Spirit and Jesus during his earthly life and ministry. The Gospels of Matthew and Luke and the Nicene Creed state that Jesus was "conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary". The Holy Spirit descended on Jesus like a dove during his baptism, and in his Farewell Discourse after the Last Supper, Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit to his disciples after his departure.
The Holy Spirit is referred to as "the Lord, the Giver of Life" in the Nicene Creed, which summarises several key beliefs held by many Christian denominations. The participation of the Holy Spirit in the tripartite nature of conversion is apparent in Jesus' final post-resurrection instruction to his disciples at the end of the Gospel of Matthew, "Make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." Since the first century, Christians have also called upon God with the trinitarian formula "Father, Son and Holy Spirit" in prayer, absolution and benediction. In the book of the Acts of the Apostles the arrival of the Holy Spirit happens fifty days after the resurrection of the Christ, and is celebrated in Christendom with the feast of Pentecost.

Etymology and usage

The Koine Greek word pneûma is found around 385 times in the New Testament, with some scholars differing by three to nine occurrences. Pneuma appears 105 times in the four canonical gospels, 69 times in the Acts of the Apostles, 161 times in the Pauline epistles, and 50 times elsewhere. These usages vary: in 133 cases it refers to "spirit" and in 153 cases to "spiritual". Around 93 times, the reference is to the Holy Spirit, sometimes under the name pneuma and sometimes explicitly as the pneûma tò Hagion. It was generally translated into the Vulgate as Spiritus and '.
The English terms "Holy Ghost" and "Holy Spirit" are complete synonyms: one derives from the Old English gast and the other from the Latin loanword '. Like pneuma, they both refer to the breath, to its animating power, and to the soul. The Old English term is shared by all other Germanic languages and it is older; the King James Bible typically uses "Holy Ghost". Beginning in the 20th century, translations overwhelmingly prefer "Holy Spirit", partly because the general English term "ghost" has increasingly come to refer only to the spirit of a dead person.

Names

Hebrew Bible

Source:
  • וְר֣וּחַ קָדְשׁ֑וֹ – His Holy Spirit
  • וְר֣וּחַ קָ֝דְשְׁךָ֗ – Your Holy Spirit
  • וְר֣וּחַ אֱלֹהִ֔ים – Spirit of God
  • נִשְׁמַת־ר֨וּחַ חַיִּ֜ים – The Breath of the Spirit of Life
  • ר֣וּחַ יְהוָ֑ה – Spirit of YHWH
  • ר֧וּחַ חָכְמָ֣ה וּבִינָ֗ה – Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding
  • ר֤וּחַ עֵצָה֙ וּגְבוּרָ֔ה – Spirit of Counsel and Might
  • ר֥וּחַ דַּ֖עַת וְיִרְאַ֥ת יְהוָֽה – Spirit of Knowledge and Fear of YHWH

    New Testament

  • πνεύματος ἁγίου – Holy Spirit
  • πνεύματι θεοῦ – Spirit of God
  • ὁ παράκλητος – The Comforter, cf. Paraclete John 14:26
  • πνεῦμα τῆς ἀληθείας – Spirit of Truth
  • Πνεῦμα Χριστοῦ – Spirit of Christ
Depending on context:
  • πνεῦμα – Spirit
  • Πνεύματος – Spirit

    Biblical portrayal

Old Testament

What the Hebrew Bible calls "Spirit of God" and "Spirit of Elohim" is called in the Talmud and Midrash "Holy Spirit". Although the expression "Holy Spirit" occurs in Ps. 51:11 and in Isa. 63:10–11, it had not yet acquired quite the same meaning which was attached to it in rabbinical literature: in the latter it is equivalent to the expression "Spirit of the Lord". In Gen.1:2 God's spirit hovered over the form of lifeless matter, thereby making the Creation possible. Although the ruach ha-kodesh may be named instead of God, it was conceived of as being something distinct; and, like everything earthly that comes from heaven, the ruach ha-kodesh is composed of light and fire. The most characteristic sign of the presence of the ruach ha-kodesh is the gift of prophecy. The use of the word "ruach" in the phrase ruach ha-kodesh seems to suggest that Judaic authorities believed the Holy Spirit was a kind of communication medium like the wind. The spirit talks sometimes with a masculine and sometimes with a feminine voice; the word ruacḥ is both masculine and feminine.

New Testament

The term Holy Spirit appears at least 90 times in the New Testament. The sacredness of the Holy Spirit to Christians is affirmed in all three Synoptic Gospels, which proclaim that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is the unforgivable sin. The participation of the Holy Spirit in the Trinity is suggested in Jesus' final post-Resurrection instruction to his disciples at the end of the Gospel of Matthew : "Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit".

Synoptic Gospels

The Holy Spirit is mentioned by all three authors of the synoptic Gospels. Most of the references are by the author of the Gospel of Luke; this emphasis is continued by the same author in the Book of Acts.
The Holy Spirit does not simply appear for the first time at Pentecost after the resurrection of Jesus, but is present in Luke prior to the birth of Jesus. In Luke 1:15, John the Baptist was said to be "filled with the Holy Spirit" prior to his birth, and the Holy Spirit came upon the Virgin Mary in Luke 1:35. Later, in Luke 3:16, John the Baptist stated that Jesus baptized not with water but with the Holy Spirit; and the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus during his baptism in the Jordan River. In Luke 11:13, Jesus provided assurances that God the Father would "give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him".
Mark 13:11 specifically refers to the power of the Holy Spirit to act and speak through the disciples of Jesus in time of need: "Be not anxious beforehand what ye shall speak: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye; for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Spirit." Matthew 10:20 refers to the same act of speaking through the disciples, but uses the term "Spirit of your Father".

Acts of the Apostles

The Acts of the Apostles has sometimes been called the "Book of the Holy Spirit" or the "Acts of the Holy Spirit". Of the seventy or so occurrences of the word Pneuma in Acts, fifty-five refer to the Holy Spirit.
From the start, in Acts 1:2, the reader is reminded that the ministry of Jesus, while he was on earth, was carried out through the power of the Holy Spirit and that the "acts of the apostles" continue the acts of Jesus and are also facilitated by the Holy Spirit. Acts presents the Holy Spirit as the "life principle" of the early Church and provides five separate and dramatic instances of its outpouring on believers in Acts 2:1–4, 4:28–31, 8:15–17, 10:44, and 19:6.
References to the Holy Spirit appear throughout Acts, for example Acts 1:5 and 8 stating towards the beginning, "For John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized in the Holy Spirit. ...Ye shall receive power, when the Holy Spirit is come upon you", referring to the fulfillment of the prophecy of John the Baptist in Luke 3:16, "he shall baptize you in the Holy Spirit".
The Holy Spirit was first bestowed upon the Gentiles in Caesarea Maritima.

Johannine literature

Three separate terms, namely Holy Spirit, Spirit of Truth and Paraclete are used in the Johannine writings. The "Spirit of Truth" is used in John 14:17, 15:26, and 16:13. The First Epistle of John then contrasts this with the "spirit of error" in 1 John 4:6. 1 John 4:1–6 provides the separation between spirits "that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God" and those who in error refuse it – an indication of their being evil spirits.
In John 14:26, Jesus states: "But the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things". The identity of the "Comforter" has been the subject of debate among theologians, who have proposed multiple theories on the matter.

Pauline epistles

The Holy Spirit plays a key role in the Pauline epistles; and the Apostle Paul's pneumatology is closely connected to his theology and Christology, to the point of being almost inseparable from them.
The First Epistle to the Thessalonians, which was likely the first of Paul's letters, introduces a characterization of the Holy Spirit in 1 Thessalonians 1:6 and 1 Thessalonians 4:8 which is found throughout his epistles. In 1 Thessalonians 1:6 Paul refers to the imitation of Christ and states: "And ye became imitators of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit", whose source is identified in 1 Thessalonians 4:8 as "God, who giveth his Holy Spirit unto you".
These two themes of receiving the Spirit "like Christ" and God being the source of the Spirit persist in Pauline letters as the characterization of the relationship of Christians with God. For Paul the imitation of Christ involves readiness to be shaped by the Holy Spirit, as in Romans 8:4 and 8:11: "But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwelleth in you, he that raised up Christ Jesus from the dead shall give life also to your mortal bodies through his Spirit that dwelleth in you."
The First Epistle to the Thessalonians also refers to the power of the Holy Spirit in 1 Thessalonians 1:5, a theme also found in other Pauline letters.