Holy Spirit

In various religions, most notably Christianity, the Holy Spirit (also called the Holy Ghost in Trinitarian Christianity) is a form of God, being the third Person of the Holy Trinity. The word "Spirit" commonly translates the Greek New Testament word pneuma (Greek: ??????).

In the Gospel of John

In John's Gospel of the New Testament, the emphasis is placed not upon what the Holy Spirit did for Jesus, but upon Jesus giving the Spirit to His disciples. This "Higher" Christology, which was the most influential in the later development of Trinitarian doctrine, sees Jesus as a sacrificial lamb, and as coming among men in order to grant the Spirit of God to humanity.

Related Topics:
New Testament - Christology

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Although the language used to describe Jesus' receiving of the Spirit in John's Gospel is a parallel to accounts in other Gospels, nevertheless, John reports this with the aim in view 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. (See Raymond Brown, "The Gospel According to John", chapter on Pneumatology). 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.

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