What is meant by “the Holy Spirit?”
In both Hebrew and Greek, the word for “spirit” (ruach, pneuma) also means “breath” and “wind,” conveying the idea of an invisible cause with visible effects. For this reason, the Scriptures often emphasize the effects of the Holy Spirit: “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse… And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him: the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD” (Isa 11:1–2); “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control… If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit” (Gal 5:22–25; see Q211, Q390).
Promising the coming of the Holy Spirit to his Apostles, the risen Lord says: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Act 1:8; see Q016, Q050).
The Holy Spirit, however, is not an impersonal power or force, as the Scriptures make clear: “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts” (Zec 4:6). The Holy Spirit has a will, can be grieved, and can even be lied to: “However, it is the one and same Spirit who works all of these, distributing to each one individually as he intends” (1Co 12:11; see Q402); “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by which you were sealed for the day of redemption” (Eph 4:30; see Q307, Q353); “Why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit?… You have not lied to men, but to God” (Act 5:3–4; see Q108, Q239).
The Orthodox Catholic faith confesses that, like the Word of God, the Holy Spirit of God is personal and hypostatic. Accordingly, an acceptable, albeit admittedly imperfect, way to speak of the Holy Spirit is to say: “The Holy Spirit is the divine, uncreated hypostasis and mind who manifests (shows, reveals) what is true and existing.”
