Holy Spirit (Christian denominational variations)

A well-known example is the Filioque controversy, the debates centering on whether the Nicene Creed should state that the Spirit "proceeds from the Father" and then have a stop, as the creed was initially adopted in Greek (and followed thereafter by the Eastern Church), or should say "from the Father and the Son" as was later adopted in Latin and followed by the Western Church, "filioque" being "and the Son" in Latin.

Though really distinct, as a Person, from the Father and the Son, He is consubstantial with Them; being God like Them, He possesses with Them one and the same Divine Essence or Nature...It is by His operation that the Incarnation of the Word, is accomplished.

The Eastern Orthodox position is that the Son sent the Holy Spirit at Pentecost only "in time, in human history, as part of the economy of our salvation" but not from eternity.

The majority of mainstream Protestantism hold similar views on the theology of the Holy Spirit as the Roman Catholic Church, as described above.

[2][3] Methodist theology teaches:[12] The Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father and the Son (John 15:26), and is one with Them, ever present and efficiently active in and with the Church of Christ.

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.

Much of Pentecostalism differentiates the "baptism with the Holy Spirit" from the salvific born again experience, considering it a usually distinct experience in which the Spirit's power is received by the Christian in a new way, with the belief that the Christian can be more readily used to perform signs, miracles, and wonders for the sake of evangelism or for ministry within the church (the body of Christ) and the community.

During the late 19th century, the prevailing view in the Restoration Movement was that the Holy Spirit currently acts only through the influence of inspired scripture.

[15] As one student of the movement puts it, "[f]or better or worse, those who champion the so-called word-only theory no longer have a hold on the minds of the constituency of Churches of Christ.

"[14] Non-trinitarian views about the Holy Spirit differ significantly from mainstream Christian doctrine and generally fall into several distinct categories.

[16] Christadelphians believe that the phrase Holy Spirit refers to God's power, mind or character depending on the context.

[17] Though Arius believed that the Holy Spirit is a person or high angel, that had a beginning, modern Semi-Arian groups such as Dawn Bible Students and Jehovah's Witnesses believe that the Holy Spirit is not an actual person but is God's "power in action", "breath" or "divine energy", which had no beginning, and which proceeds only out of the Father, and through the Son, which the Father uses to accomplish his will.

Jehovah's Witnesses do not typically capitalize the term, and define the Holy Spirit as "God's active force".

Oneness Pentecostalism, as with other modalist groups, teach that the Holy Spirit is a mode of God, rather than a distinct or separate person from the Father.

[19] These two titles "Father" and "Holy Spirit" (as well as others) do not reflect separate "persons" within the Godhead, but rather two different ways in which the one God reveals himself to his creatures.