What do Catholics believe about the Holy Spirit?

Answer 1

Answer:

The Holy Spirit is a member of the Godhead.

At Christ's baptism by John, did not the voice of the Father come down from heaven saying "This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased" and did not the Holy Spirit come down as a Dove, in other words descend lightly upon the newly baptized Christ. Was there not a time when Mary was seeking her Lord and He said unto her "Do not touch me for I have not yet ascended to my Father in heaven".When upon the cross did he not say "Father forgive them..."? I would rather believe in a Father who has a Son, and whose direction is carried out by the Holy Spirit. This seems to be preferred to a God who talks to Himself

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Answer:

There has been a great misunderstanding that was caused by an attempt centuries ago to explain to new converts what was meant when the then 'catholic' church talked about the Trinity when they mistakenly used the term GOD in three persons. All through the scriptures both Old Testament and New Testament there is absolutely no mention of a Trinity. There is only one God. He has always existed. He exists and will always exist. He created all that there is. When the time was fully come He took on the form of human flesh 'YEHSUA HA MOSIACH' fullfilled the prophesy of 'I am your salvation' by allowing himself to be put to death for 'our' sins. He overcame death istself through resurrection. The gospel of John says, "In the beginning was THE WORD, and THE WORD was GOD and THE WORD was with GOD and in verse 14 'THE WORD BECAME FLESH' - YESHUA HA MOSHIACH Answer The Holy Spirit is basically a "part" of God who helps us discern between right and wrong. (I put the quotes around 'part' because the Holy Spirit is also referred to as a person, or the third person of the Trinity). The word trinity is not in the Bible but we can see the trinity in several verses of Scripture. If you look at when Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, Jesus went down into the water. As he was coming up, the Father spoke, and the Spirit descended on Jesus in the form of a dove. There are other examples as well. Another example of this concept is the rapture. Although there is nothing that says rapture in plain English, we know that God doesn't punish the righteous with the heathen. Notice when Lot was rescued from Sodom, and when Rahab and her family were rescued before Jericho fell. Paul also says, "We are not appointed to wrath" So by this we can know God is going to rescue us sometime between now and the Second Coming of Christ. It is good to have questions, and God doesn't mind that when they are honest questions, but when you are just out to argue, put others down or whatever, then you are letting Satan blind you and letting your questions get between you and God. He loves us all the same, but we still have to humble ourselves to seek him in the proper way. If you continue in this vein, there will always be one more question to answer and you will never have the joy of knowing God as He wants you to know Him. If you knew all the answers before you came to know God, where is there room for faith?? Answer No where in the BIBLE does it say that the HOLY SPIRIT is merely A PART OF GOD. The Holy Spirit IS GOD'S VERY SPIRIT, POWER, ANOINTING AND TESTIFIER that we are CHILDREN OF GOD. You cannot receive conviction of sin without the HOLY SPIRIT's power of persuasion. You cannot receive CHRIST without the HOLY SPIRIT cleansing you of all unrighteousness. HE is the only aspect of GOD that if you blaspheme you cannot be forgiven for. HE is the aspect of God that dwells inside a person when we become BORN AGAIN to TEACH US THE TRUTH about the Word of God, to lead us and guide us to know and honor the LORD. HE is God's essense of HOLINESS that transforms us into the NEW CREATURE IN CHRIST JESUS. WIthout the Holy Spirit you cannot know God or understand God's Word. HE is the least talked about but the most emotional aspect of God. HE GRIEVES! Answer it is the spirit of god .You need the Holy Spirit to go to heaven Answer The Holy Spirit is the literal spirit of God, he is to God what your spirit is to you. answer God's active force. Reasoning from the Scriptures: A comparison of Bible texts that refer to the holy spirit shows that it is spoken of as 'filling' people; they can be 'baptized' with it; and they can be "anointed" with it. (Luke 1:41; Matt. 3:11; Acts 10:38) None of these expressions would be appropriate if the holy spirit were a person.

"Well, as Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the infant in her womb leaped; and Elizabeth was filled with holy spirit." (Luke 1:41)

"I, for my part, baptize you with water because of your repentance; but the one coming after me is stronger than I am, whose sandals I am not fit to take off. That one will baptize you people with holy spirit and with fire." (Matthew 3:11)

"...namely, Jesus who was from Naz�¢ï¿½�²a���·reth, how God anointed him with holy spirit and power, and he went through the land doing good and healing all those oppressed by the Devil; because God was with him." (Acts 10:38)

Jesus also referred to the holy spirit as a "helper" (Greek, pa���·ra�¢ï¿½�²kle���·tos), and he said that this helper would "teach," "bear witness," "speak," and 'hear.' (John 14:16, 17, 26; 15:26; 16:13) It is not unusual in the Scriptures for something to be personified. For example, wisdom is said to have "children." (Luke 7:35) Sin and death are spoken of as being kings. (Romans 5:14, 21) While some texts say that the spirit "spoke," other passages make clear that this was done through angels or humans. (Acts 4:24, 25; 28:25; Matt. 10:19, 20; compare Acts 20:23 with 21:10, 11.) At 1 John 5:6-8, not only the spirit but also "the water and the blood" are said to 'bear witness.' So, none of the expressions found in these texts in themselves prove that the holy spirit is a person.

The correct identification of the holy spirit must fit all the scriptures that refer to that spirit. With this viewpoint, it is logical to conclude that the holy spirit is the active force of God. It is not a person but is a powerful force that God causes to emanate from himself to accomplish his holy will.-Psalm 104:30; 2 Peter 1:21; Acts 4:31.

"If you send forth your spirit, they are created; And you make the face of the ground new." (Psalm 104:30)

"For prophecy was at no time brought by man's will, but men spoke from God as they were borne along by holy spirit." (2 Peter 1:21)

"And when they had made supplication, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken; and they were one and all filled with the holy spirit and were speaking the word of God with boldness." (Acts 4:31)

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That the Holy Spirit is a "person" is clearly explained by Christ.

In the Book of John, Chapter 16 verses 5-12 Jesus says:

"But now I am going to Him who sent Me; and none of you asks Me, 'Where are You going?' 6 "But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. 7 "But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. 8 "And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; 11 and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged. 12 "I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 "But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. 14 "He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. 15 "All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you. That Christ understood the Holy Spirit to be a person is clear by His references to "He" and "Him."

Also, in Ephesians 4, verse 30 we are instructed not to grieve the Holy Spirit. One cannot grieve a "force," only a person can be grieved.

"Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption."

Finally, in Romans Chapter 8 verse 26 we are told:

In the same way the Spirit also helps our weaknesses; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

Once again we see scripture referring to the holy Spirit as a person, one who intercedes/prays and groans, who has a mind. None of these references can be interpreted to mean a "force." To do so would be a stretch of reasoning on the highest order.

These are not the only examples where the Spirit's "personhood" is spelled out clearly, but they stand as sufficient evidence that the One who indwells us, teaches us, seals us, intercedes for us, is grieved by us, etc, is just as distinct a "person" as are God the Father and God the Son. "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air..." Our Lord and God is well beyond our ability to fully comprehend or explain. Without His revelation of Himself we have nothing on which to hang our beliefs. God has revealed Himself as three "persons" and we must take that by faith whether we understand it or not. It does not mean He has multiple personality disorder, not does it mean we have three Gods. We simply have a God who has levels of complexity we cannot fully understand. Praise God.

Catholic Answer The Holy Spirit is the Third Person of the Trinity. This is a Mystery, which has been revealed to us over the centuries, we will never fully understand it, but I can give you two little things to help you get a look at what the Holy Spirit is:

1) Let's start with the Trinity. First, look at yourself, you are composed of your body and your spirit, but you only have one person - ME, but I "have" this body and I have a spirit. So you are one person comprised of two things. The Trinity is the other way around. It is One spirit or "thing" so to speak, but three Persons each possess that one thing. the One Thing is God, and Three Persons possess that Godhead - the other way around from us.

2) Now, the Trinity, this is the classical explanation that theologians have used for centuries. God, the Father has an idea. Again, It is the opposite from human beings. We possess many ideas, but we can only think of each one idea at a time, we just switch back and forth pretty rapidly, thus having multiple ideas - in a row, so to speak. God the Father only has One Idea, but that One Idea comprises everything, He never has another Idea, as He can't change - He is not in time (time is just a measure of change, and God the Father cannot change.) Because He is God, His One Idea is also God, and is what we call the Second Person of the Trinity, the Word (as It is called in Scripture) or the Son Who became incarnate as Our Blessed Lord, of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Now the Love that exists between the Father and the Son is also God, and eternal, so that Love is a Third Person, and that is what we call the Holy Spirit.

Islamic View:

The holy spirit is the angel Gabriel (or Jibril in Arabic). Per Islamic religion, Allah (or God in English and same God worshiped in Christianity and Judaism as well as Islam) is the one and only one God with no partner, no son, no father, no companion, no associate, and no equivalence.

Answer 2

From the Nicene Creed:

"We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son, He is worshiped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets."
The way the Holy Spirit was explained to us in school: First, there is only One God. Think of it this way, a human being has two natures, a body and a spirit (soul), but together they make up only one person. God is the other way around, He has only one nature - the Divine Spirit or Soul, but in that Divine Nature there are three persons. The three persons together share the Nature and together are God - but only one God, just as a person has two natures but only one person - simple, right? God, the Father has an Idea. In a human being we have many ideas, sequentially (in time). One can only think of one thing at a time, but a lot of things over time. God only has One Idea, but that Idea has no time and encompasses everything. The Idea is the Word, which we call the Son. Who came to earth and took on a human body to become the son of Mary - Jesus Christ. Now, God the Father knows the the Son and loves Him. The Son knows the Father and loves Him. This Love, like the Father and the Son is eternal, and we call that the Holy Spirit or the Holy Ghost. So, while God is only one, He is at the same time, a family, the Father, the Son proceeding from the Father, and the Holy Spirit proceeding from them both.

Answer 3

As the Third Member of the Holy Trinity, the Holy Spirit plays a huge role in the Catholic Church. So large, that I could write a book on the subject if I so wished. Therefore, I will give you a link to the Catechism of the Catholic Church online and the paragraph numbers describing the role of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, you may pick and choose how much you want to read as you wish.

Paragraph #'s:

14, 152, 202, 244, 304, 683-749, 767-768, 797-801, 813, 819, 827, 852, 976, 1091-1109, 1266, 1303, 1433, 1508, 1520, 1585-1589, 1699, 1742, 1824, 1830-1832, 1845, 1864, 2003, 2017, 2652

Answer 4

An Old English phrase 'Holy Ghost' is the same Greek term 'pneuma' used today as 'Holy Spirit.'

For the majority in Christianity (Catholic), the Holy Spirit is a 3rd, separate and individual being in the Godhead - called the trinity theory - a mystery to this day.

For the many of the Fundamentalist (Evangelicals), the Holy Spirit is the power and the essence of God. This Spirit of God is never prayed to or identified as a personage in Scripture - like God the Father and Jesus Christ are. It is this Spirit that God released into the world on the first Pentecost in 31 AD, Jerusalem on the Apostles, disciples and 3,000 of the crowd. It is continuing to enter repentant and baptized Christians to this day, making these the 'firstfruits' of Christ spoken about in the New Testament.

The Bible describes the Holy Spirit and its functions for us. God's spirit is often associated with wind (breathe), fire, water, oil and light. But never a person. There are other analogies likening the Holy Spirit to life itself - "The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life" (Job 33:4). And as Jesus said, "It is the Spirit that gives life" (John 6:63). It is likened to a 'mind:' "Now God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints accorting to the will of God" (Romans 8:27). Finally, Jesus called the Holy Spirit the 'Helper' who would bring rememberance to His disciples (John 14:26).

All in all, the Scripture presents the varied characteristics connected with enabling the nature of God in you:

2 Corinthians 3:17-18

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.

Answer 5

Catholic Answer

The Holy Spirit is the third PERSON of the Trinity. The God head- God the Father, God the Son (Jesus), and God the Holy Spirit. He is the comforter, we see Him mentioned in Genesis 1 - and the Spirit of the Lord was upon the waters.

Answer 6

The Holy Spirit (also traditionally called the Holy Ghost) is God, the third Person of the Blessed Trinity. He proceeds from both God the Father and God the Son.