Holy Spirit in Christianity

[10] The Gospels of Matthew and Luke and the Nicene Creed state that Jesus was "conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary".

[12][13] 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,[14] "Make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

"[15] Since the first century, Christians have also called upon God with the trinitarian formula "Father, Son and Holy Spirit" in prayer, absolution and benediction.

[16][17] 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.

[18] The Koine Greek word pneûma (πνεῦμα, pneuma) is found around 385 times in the New Testament, with some scholars differing by three to nine occurrences.

Around 93 times, the reference is to the Holy Spirit,[19] sometimes under the name pneuma and sometimes explicitly as the pneûma tò Hagion (Πνεῦμα τὸ Ἅγιον).

[61] In John 14:26,[62] Jesus states: "But the Comforter, [even] the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things".

[63] 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.

[71] The view of the Holy Spirit as responsible for Mary's pregnancy, found in the Synoptic Gospels,[72] is different from that found in the apocryphal Gospel of the Hebrews, adopted as canonical by the 4th century Nazarenes, in which Jesus speaks of the Holy Spirit as his mother and thus as female.

[10] The Apostles' Creed echoes the statements in the Gospels of Luke and Matthew, stating that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.

[84] He is the Creator Spirit, present before the creation of the universe and through his power everything was made in Jesus Christ, by God the Father.

[84] In early Christianity, the concept of salvation was closely related to the invocation of the "Father, Son and Holy Spirit",[16][17] and since the first century, Christians have called upon God with the name "Father, Son and Holy Spirit" in prayer, baptism, communion, exorcism, hymn-singing, preaching, confession, absolution and benediction.

[88] The Holy Spirit descended over Jesus in a corporeal way, as a dove, at the time of his baptism, and a voice from Heaven was heard: "This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased.

And he acts to convince the unredeemed person both of the sinfulness of their actions and of their moral standing as sinners before God.

[105] During the same time, the question of procession of the Holy Spirit was addressed by various Christian theologians, expressing diverse views and using different terminology, thus initiating the debate that became focused on the Filioque clause.

In 589, the Third Council of Toledo in its third canon officially accepted the doctrine of the procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father and the Son (a Patre et Filio procedere).

Debates and controversies between the two sides became a significant point of difference within Christian pneumatology, including their historical role in setting the stage for the Great Schism of 1054.

[110] Galatians 5:22–23 names nine aspects and states:[110] But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, self-control; against such there is no law.

[100] They are frequently known by the Greek word for gift, charisma, in English charism, from which the term charismatic derives.

[115][118] These 7 gifts are: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude (strength), knowledge, piety and fear of the Lord.

[119][120] The Filioque debate centers around 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 from the Son" in Latin.

[130] Latter-day Saints believe in a kind of social trinitarianism and subordinationism, meaning that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are understood as being unified in will and purpose, but not in substance.

[132] The LDS Church teaches that the influence of the Holy Ghost can be received before baptism, but the gift, or constant companionship, of the Holy Ghost – which comes by the laying-on of hands by a properly ordained priesthood holder with a line of authority traced back to Christ through Peter – is obtained only after baptism when a person is confirmed.

[133] Joseph Smith, the founder of the church, taught, "You might as well baptize a bag of sand as a man," he said, "if not done in view of the remission of sins and getting of the Holy Ghost.

Theologically speaking these symbols are a key to understanding of the Holy Spirit and his actions, and are not mere artistic representations.

[85][135] ArtThe Holy Spirit has been represented in Christian art both in the Eastern and Western Churches using a variety of depictions.

[146][147][148] The depictions have ranged from nearly identical figures that represent the three persons of the Holy Trinity, to a dove, to a flame.

A dove may also be seen at the ear of Gregory the Great – as recorded by his secretary – or other church father authors, dictating their works to them.

In recent years, however, the Holy Spirit has made an entrance into the world of (Christian) literature through books such as The Shack published in 2007.