Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is the divine person of the Christian Trinity, understood as God’s presence and action in the world and in believers.
Trinity: Christian doctrine that God is one being in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Spirit is one of the three persons named in this doctrine.
Pentecost: The event in Acts when the Holy Spirit comes upon Jesus’ followers in Jerusalem. It is the New Testament’s defining account of the Spirit empowering the early church.
Ruach: A Hebrew word meaning wind, breath, or spirit, used in the Hebrew Bible. Its range of meanings informs biblical language about God’s Spirit.
Arianism: An early Christian movement that denied the Son’s full equality with God the Father. The disputes it provoked helped clarify how early Christians articulated the Spirit’s divinity.
Christianity: A monotheistic religion centered on the life, teachings, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Christian traditions provide the shared setting for belief in the Holy Spirit.
Spiritual gifts: Abilities or forms of service that the New Testament attributes to the Holy Spirit. These gifts describe ways the Spirit equips members of Christian communities.
New Testament: The collection of Christian scriptures written in the first centuries CE. Its accounts and letters supply the main early Christian texts about the Spirit.
Filioque: A Latin phrase meaning “and the Son,” added in Western Christianity to the creed’s account of the Spirit’s procession. The phrase marks a lasting East–West dispute about the Spirit’s relation to Father and Son.
Person (theology): A distinct personal identity in theological accounts of God, not necessarily a separate being. The Spirit’s distinction from Father and Son is expressed through this theological term.
Fruit of the Spirit: The virtues listed in Galatians as the Spirit’s fruit in a person’s life. The list portrays the Spirit’s work as transformed character, not only extraordinary power.