--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "Yifu" <yifuxero@...> wrote: > > I find it interesting that Catholics say "Holy Ghost" but > Evangelicals say " The Holy Spirit".
According to Wikipedia, "Ghost" is an earlier usage and comes from the Old English *gast*, meaning "spirit." > I'm not exactly sure what the role of this enigmatic Entity > is - perhaps to inspire people to speak in Tongues, or play > Gospel music on 12-stringed guitars. Wikipedia has a pretty good rundown: ----- In Christian theology pneumatology refers to the study of the Holy Spirit. The English word comes from two Greek words: ðíåõìá (pneuma, spirit) and ëïãïò (logos, teaching about). Pneumatology would normally include study of the person of the Holy Spirit, and the works of the Holy Spirit. This latter category would normally include Christian teachings on new birth, spiritual gifts (charismata), Spirit-baptism, sanctification, the inspiration of prophets, and the indwelling of the Holy Trinity (which in itself covers many different aspects). Different Christian denominations have different theological approaches. Church history contains four critical discussions that have served to progressively define Christian pneumatology: 1. Patristic period. The early Church engaged in a debate over the divinity of the Holy Spirit, with Arius asserting that the Spirit is a "creature" or "angel" and Athanasius countering that the Spirit possesses divine attributes (such as immutability, transcendence, ability to sanctify, and involvement in creation). 2. Medieval period. In this period ensued a debate regarding the relationship between Christ and the Holy Spirit. The Eastern Church asserted that the Holy Spirit "proceeds" from the Father alone (as stated in the original Nicene Creed), while Augustine of Hippo and the medieval Catholic Church added the famed "filioque" clause to the Creed (the Spirit proceeeds from the Father "and the Son"). 3. Reformation and Counter-reformation. Here the relationship between the Spirit and the Scriptures is re-examined. Martin Luther and John Calvin hold that the Spirit has a certain "interpretive authority" to "illuminate" scripture, while Counter-reformation theologians respond that the Spirit has authorized the Church to serve as authoritative interpreter of Scripture. 4. Contemporary era. The contemporary church understands a distinctive relationship between the Spirit and the Church community. Various contemporary theologians grant the Spirit as authority to govern the church, to liberate oppressed communities, and to create experiences associated with faith. ----- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pneumatology > Also, I've never encountered any reports of people having > visions of the "Holy Ghost". Maybe he/she prefers to stay > out of the limelight. Far as I'm aware, the Holy Ghost/Spirit, although it's the "second Person" of the Trinity, is never portrayed in art as a human bean but is always represented symbolically (e.g., by a dove). Paligap observed that the mapping of rishi-devata-chhandas to the Trinity was "a bit tricky," but perhaps from the above it'll be a little clearer. Rishi, the Knower, would obviously be God; and chhandas, the object of knowledge, would be Jesus Christ (the Logos). The Holy Spirit would be devata, the process of knowing, the abstract connection between Rishi/God the Father and chhandas/God the Son. Thus it's the Holy Spirit that descends (or emanates) from God to impregnate Mary, and later to proclaim the adult Jesus as God's Son at his baptism by John.
