What does The Holy Spirit mean?

Answer 1

Both the Greek word (pneu-ma) and the Hebrew word ru-ach have the same ROOT meaning of 'breath'; but also has extended meanings beyond that basic sense. It can also mean: 'wind' the vital force in living creatures; one's own spirit (or temperament, if-you-will). It also refers to 'spirit persons' or 'spirit creatures', as in God and including angelic creatures. But it can also refer to 'the force - emanating from God'; or God's active force; and since it is always used in a 'holy way' and with a completely holy purpose, it can be called, God's holy spirit (with no caps, since it is a 'force' not a 'person'. (you can compare various souces:Koehler and Baumgartner's Lexicon in Veteris Testamenti Libros, Leiden, 1958, pp. 877-879; -- Brown, Driver, and Briggs' Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament, 1980, pp. 924-926; -- Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, edited by G. Friedrich, translated by G. Bromiley, 1971, Vol. VI, pp. 332-451.) All these meanings have something in common. They all refer to that which is invisible to human sight; and which gives evidence of 'force' in motion, or 'active'.

Not until the 4th century did the teaching that the holy spirit was a person and part of the "Godhead" become official church dogma. Early church "fathers" did not so teach; Justin Martyr of the second century C.E. taught that the holy spirit was an 'influence or mode of operation of the Deity'; Hippolytus likewise ascribed no personality to the holy spirit. The Scriptures themselves unite to show that God's holy spirit is not a person but is God's active force by which he accomplishes his purpose and executes his will.

The only place where the 3 are mentioned together is in 1 John 5:7, which turns out to be a spurious ADDITION by humans into The Bible. This was a serious and deliberate mis-translation, that has caused the confusion.

A footnote in The Jerusalem Bible, a Catholic translation, says that these words are "not in any of the early Greek MSS [manuscripts], or any of the early translations, or in the best MSS of the Vulg[ate] itself." A TextualCommentary on the Greek NewTestament, by Bruce Metzger (1975, pp. 716-718), traces in detail the history of the spurious passage. It states that the passage is first found in a treatise entitled LiberApologeticus, of the fourth century, and that it appears in Old Latin and Vulgate manuscripts of the Scriptures, beginning in the sixth century. Modern translations as a whole, both Catholic and Protestant, do not include them in the main body of the text, because of recognizing their spurious nature.-RS, NE,NAB.

Part of what has caused the confusion is changing the word 'spirit' into 'Ghost'. The word 'Ghost' is a 'personage'. But the rood of the word 'spirit', is not a personage, but a 'force'.

Answer 2

Both the Greek word (pneu-ma) and the Hebrew word ru-ach have the same ROOT meaning of 'breath'; but also has extended meanings beyond that basic sense. It can also mean: 'wind' the vital force in living creatures; one's own spirit (or temperament, if-you-will). It also refers to 'spirit persons' or 'spirit creatures', as in God and including angelic creatures. But it can also refer to 'the force - emanating from God'; or God's active force; and since it is always used in a 'holy way' and with a completely holy purpose, it can be called, God's holy spirit (with no caps, since it is a 'force' not a 'person'. (you can compare various souces:Koehler and Baumgartner's Lexicon in Veteris Testamenti Libros, Leiden, 1958, pp. 877-879; -- Brown, Driver, and Briggs' Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament, 1980, pp. 924-926; -- Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, edited by G. Friedrich, translated by G. Bromiley, 1971, Vol. VI, pp. 332-451.) All these meanings have something in common. They all refer to that which is invisible to human sight; and which gives evidence of 'force' in motion, or 'active'.

Not until the 4th century did the teaching that the holy spirit was a person and part of the "Godhead" become official church dogma. Early church "fathers" did not so teach; Justin Martyr of the second century C.E. taught that the holy spirit was an 'influence or mode of operation of the Deity'; Hippolytus likewise ascribed no personality to the holy spirit. The Scriptures themselves unite to show that God's holy spirit is not a person but is God's active force by which he accomplishes his purpose and executes his will.

The only place where the 3 are mentioned together is in 1 John 5:7, which turns out to be a spurious ADDITION by humans into The Bible. This was a serious and deliberate mis-translation, that has caused the confusion.

A footnote in The Jerusalem Bible, a Catholic translation, says that these words are "not in any of the early Greek MSS [manuscripts], or any of the early translations, or in the best MSS of the Vulg[ate] itself." A TextualCommentary on the Greek NewTestament, by Bruce Metzger (1975, pp. 716-718), traces in detail the history of the spurious passage. It states that the passage is first found in a treatise entitled LiberApologeticus, of the fourth century, and that it appears in Old Latin and Vulgate manuscripts of the Scriptures, beginning in the sixth century. Modern translations as a whole, both Catholic and Protestant, do not include them in the main body of the text, because of recognizing their spurious nature.-RS, NE,NAB.

Part of what has caused the confusion is changing the word 'spirit' into 'Ghost'. The word 'Ghost' is a 'personage'. But the rood of the word 'spirit', is not a personage, but a 'force'.