Spirit

An incorporeal being or intelligence; in which sense God is said to be a Spirit, as are angels and the human soul.

See Holy Ghost.

in Hebrew, רות in Greek, πνευμα, and in Latin, spiritus, is in the Scriptures sometimes taken for the Holy Ghost, the third person of the Holy Trinity. The word signifies also the reasonable soul which animates us, and continues in existence even after the death of the body; that spiritual, thinking and reasoning substance, which is capable of eternal happiness, Num 16:22; Act 7:59. The term spirit is also often used for an angel, a demon, and a ghost, or soul separate from the body. It is said, in Act 23:8, that the Sadducees denied the existence of angels and spirits. Jesus Christ appearing to his disciples, said to them, Luk 24:39, “Handle me and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.” And St. Paul calls the good angels “ministering spirits,”

Heb 1:14. In 1Sa 16:14; 1Sa 18:10; 1Sa 19:9, it is said that an evil spirit from the Lord troubled Saul: and we have also the expression unclean spirits. Add to this, spirit is sometimes put for the disposition of the heart or mind: see Num 5:14; Zec 12:10; Luk 13:11; Isa 11:2. Discerning of spirits, or the secret character and thoughts of men, was a gift of God, and placed among the miraculous gifts of the Holy Ghost, 1Co 12:10; 1Jn 4:1.

Spirit and Holy Spirit. The leading significations of the original words thus rendered may be classed under the following heads:—

The primary sense of the term is wind. ’He that formeth the mountains and createth the wind’ (Amo 4:13; Isa 27:8). ’The wind bloweth where it listeth’ (Joh 3:8). This is the ground idea of the term ’spirit’—air—ether—air refined, sublimated, or vitalized: hence it denotes—

Breath, as of the mouth. ’At the blast of the breath of his nostrils are they consumed’ (Job 4:9). ’The Lord shall consume that wicked me with the breath of his mouth’ (2Th 2:8).

The vital principle which resides in and animates the body (Ecc 8:8; Gen 6:17; Gen 7:15).

In close connection with this use of the word is another—

In which it has the sense of apparition—specter (Luk 24:37; Luk 24:39; Mat 14:26).

The soul—the rational immortal principle, by which man is distinguished from the brute creation (Luk 23:46; Act 7:59; 1Co 5:5; 1Co 6:20; 1Co 7:34; Heb 12:9).

The race of superhuman created intelligences.

The term is applied to the Deity, as the sole, absolute, and uncreated Spirit. ’God is a Spirit.’ This, as a predicate, belongs to the divine nature, irrespective of the distinction of persons in that nature. But its characteristic application is to the third person in the Divinity, who is called the Holy Spirit, because of his essential holiness, and because in the Christian scheme it is his peculiar work to sanctify the people of God. He is denominated The Spirit, by way of eminence, as the immediate author of spiritual life in the hearts of Christians.

The words Spirit, and Holy Spirit, frequently occur in the New Testament, by metonymy, for the influence or effects of His agency.

As a procreative power—’the power of the Highest’ (Luk 1:35).

As an influence, with which Jesus was endued (Luk 4:4).

As a divine inspiration or afflatus, by which the prophets and holy men wrote and spoke. ’Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost’ (2Pe 1:21; Num 11:26; Neh 9:30; Eze 3:12; Eze 3:14; Rev 1:10; Rev 4:2; Rev 17:3).

As miraculous gifts and powers, with which the Apostles were endowed, to qualify them for the work to which they were called (Joh 20:22; Act 2:4).

But the phrase, Holy Spirit, is specially used to denote a divine personal agent. The Holy Spirit is associated, as a distinct person, with the Father and the Son, in the baptismal formula and the apostolic benediction. The Father and Son are real persons. It is reasonable to think that the spirit who is joined with them in this solemn form of induction into the Christian church, is also a personal agent, and not an abstraction—a mere power or influence. The subject is baptized into the belief of three personal agents. To suppose that, in this solemn profession of faith, he avows his belief in the Father and the Son, and the power or influence of God, is forced and frigid.

He is baptized into the name of each of the three (Mat 28:19). We are not baptized into the name of an influence or a power, but into the name of a person—of three real and distinct subjects, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

In the apostolic benedictions, the Spirit, as a person, is associated in the same way with the Father and Son (2Co 13:14). In this uniting of the three there is the recognition of the distinct personality of each, in the separate gift which is appropriated to each.

Distinct personal acts and attributes are ascribed to the Holy Spirit too frequently and fully to admit of explanation by the prosopopoeia.

The Holy Ghost speaks, by Esaias the prophet (Act 28:25), expressly (1Ti 4:1). He teaches (Luk 12:12). He reproves the world of sin (Joh 16:8). The spirit helpeth our infirmities, and maketh intercession for the saints (Rom 8:26-27). He is grieved (Eph 4:30).

Apostles are set apart to him in the work of the ministry, and he appoints them to that work (Act 13:2; Act 15:28).

These are all acts which imply a personal agent. And these acts and attributes distinguish the Spirit from the person of the Father on the one hand, and from the personal subjects upon which he acts on the other.

The Spirit, as a personal agent, comes from the Father, is sent by the Father, and of course cannot be the Father. As sent by the Father, He maketh intercession for the saints, according to the will of God, i.e. the Father from whom He came. The Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God (1Co 2:10). If there be no distinct personality of the Spirit separate from that of the Father, the real import of these passages must be, that the Father comes from Himself, is sent by Himself, makes intercession to Himself, according to the will of Himself, and that He searches the deep things of Himself—which is a style of writing not to be ascribed to any rational man, and certainly not to inspired apostles.

The Spirit of God (1Co 2:11) is not a created spirit; and if uncreated, It must be divine in the highest sense; but this Spirit is the Holy Spirit, and a proper person; hence He is God.

As the author of regeneration, or of the new spiritual and incorruptible life in the heart of the believer, He must be divine. This change, the Scriptures abundantly declare, is wrought by the Spirit and power of God.

Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost is the only sin for which there is no remission (Mat 12:31). This sin against the Holy Spirit, in whatever it may consist, is distinguished from all other sins by a degree of guilt which renders it unpardonable. If He be not in his nature truly God, there is nothing in Him to give to sin against Him such a peculiar aggravation. Although it is not simply because the Spirit is God that blasphemy against Him is unpardonable—for then would blasphemy against the Father and the Son also be unpardonable—yet it is a sin against God, and, as being against the third person of the Godhead, it is aggravated to a degree of enormity which it could not receive if committed against any other being than God.

The divine and incommunicable attributes of the Deity are ascribed to the Spirit. These attributes belong exclusively to the divine nature; he who possesses them must have the divine nature and honor as God.

Works truly divine are attributable to the Holy Spirit, as creation and preservation, and especially the work of sanctification.

Of the office of the Holy Spirit, it is only necessary to say, that it is not ministerial, like that of the angels and apostles, but it is the peculiar work in the salvation of man which he performs, as sent by the Father and the Son.

A word employed in various senses in Scripture.\par 1. For THE HOLY, HOLINESS SPIRIT, the third person of the Holy Trinity, who inspired the prophets, animates good men, pours his unction into our hearts, imparts to us life and comfort; and in whose name we are baptized and blessed, as well as in that of the Father and the Son. When the adjective Holy is applied to the term Spirit, we should always understand it as here explained; but there are many places whether it must be taken in this sense, although the term Holy is omitted. See HOLY, HOLINESS SPIRIT.\par 2. BREATH, respiration; or the principle of animal life, common to men and animal: this God has given, and this he recalls when he takes away life, Ecc 3:21 . See SOUL.\par 3. The RATIONAL SOUL which animates us, and preserves its being after the death of the body. That spiritual, reasoning, and choosing substance, which is capable of eternal happiness. See SOUL.\par The "spirits in prison," 1Pe 3:19, it is generally thought, are the souls of antediluvian sinners now reserved unto the judgment-day, but unto whom the Spirit preached by the agency of Noah, etc., 2Pe 2:5, when they were in the flesh. Thus Christ "preached" to the Ephesians, whom he never visited in person, Zep 2:17 .\par 4. An ANGEL, good or bad; a soul separate from the body, Mar 14:26 . It is said, Mal 23:8, that the Sadducees denied the existence of angels and spirits. Christ, appearing to his disciples, said to them, Luk 24:39, "Handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have."\par 5. The DISPOSITION of the mind or intellect. Thus we read of a spirit of jealously, a spirit of fornication, a spirit of prayer, a spirit of infirmity, a spirit of wisdom and understanding, a spirit of fear of the Lord, Hos 4:12 Zec 12:10 Luk 13:11 Isa 11:2 .\par 6. The RENEWED NATURE of true believers, which is produced by the Holy Spirit, and conforms the soul to his likeness. Spirit is thus the opposite of flesh, Joh 3:6 . This spirit is virally united with, an in some passages can hardly be distinguished from the "Spirit of Christ," which animates true Christians, the children of God, and distinguishes them from the children of darkness, who are animated by the spirit of the world, 1Ch 8:1-16 . This indwelling Spirit is the gift of grace, of adoption-the Holy Spirit poured into our hearts-which emboldens us to call God "Abba, my Father." Those who are influenced by this Spirit "have crucified the flesh, with its affections and lusts," Gal 5:16-25 .\par "Distinguishing or discerning of spirits" consisted in discerning whether a man were really inspired by the Spirit of God, or was a false prophet, an impostor, who only followed the impulse of his own spirit or of Satan. Paul speaks, 1Co 12:10 of the discerning of spirits as being among the miraculous gifts granted by God to the faithful at the first settlement of Christianity.\par To "quench the Spirit," 1Th 5:19, is a metaphorical expression easily understood. The Spirit may be quenched by forcing, as it were, that divine Agent to withdraw from us, by irregularity of life, frivolity, avarice, negligence, or other sins contrary to charity, truth, peace, and his other gifts and qualifications.\par We "grieve" the Spirit of God by withstanding his holy inspirations, the impulses of his grace; or by living in a lukewarm and incautious manner; by despising his gifts, or neglecting them; by abusing his favors, either out of vanity, curiosity, or indifference. In a contrary sense, 2Ti 1:6, we "stir up" the Spirit of God which is in us, by the practice of virtue, by compliance with his inspirations, by fervor in his service, by renewing our gratitude, and by diligently serving Christ and doing the works of the Spirit.\par

Hebrew ruach, Greek pneuma. Man in his normal integrity ("whole," holokleeron, complete in all its parts, 1Th 5:23) consists of "spirit, soul, and body." The spirit links man with higher intelligences, and is that highest part receptive of the quickening Holy Spirit (1Co 15:47). The soul (Hebrew nephesh, Greek psuchee) is intermediate between body and spirit; it is the sphere of the will and affections.

In the unspiritual, the spirit is so sunk under the animal soul (which it ought to keep under) that such are "animal" ("seasonal," having merely the body of organized matter and the soul, the immaterial animating essence), "having not the spirit" (Jud 1:19; Jas 3:15; 1Co 2:14; 1Co 15:44-48; Joh 3:6). The unbeliever shall rise with an animal (soul-animated) body, but not, like the believer, with a spiritual (spirit-endued) body like Christ’s (Rom 8:11).

The soul is the seat of the appetites, the desires, the will; hunger, thirst, sorrow, joy; love, hope, fear, etc.; so that nephesh is the man himself, and is used for person, self, creature, any: a virtual contradiction of materialism, implying that the unseen soul rather than the seen body is the man. "Man was made" not a living body but "a living soul." "The blood, the life," links together body and soul (Lev 17:11).

Spirit. Joh 3:8. Both in Greek and Hebrew the word for this implies a "blowing" or "breathing;" its primary sense is "wind." In 2Th 2:8 it is used for "breath;" in Ecc 8:8 for the vital principle; while in other places it denotes the soul. Angels, both good and bad, souls without bodies, are thus designated. Mat 14:26; Luk 24:39. The inclination is similarly expressed; hence we have a spirit of grace and of supplication, Zec 12:10, a spirit of infirmity, Luk 13:11. See Holy Spirit.

Very different is the idea which Scripture gives of the Spirit from that which is to be understood by the word soul. With the exception of Job 26:4, and Pro 20:27, where neshamah (נשׁמה), ’a breathing being,’ is used, the word spirit always represents the Hebrew Ruach (רוח). [There are two verbs cognate with this word: one signifies the being refreshed (1Sa 16:23; Job 32:20; see also Jer 22:11, where large signfies airy or ventilated); the other signifies to smell, hence to be keel, or ’ of quick understanding’ (Isa 11:3).] Compare the Assyrian Rukhu.

The word Ruach, like its Greek equivalents, πνευ̂μα and ἄνεμος, the Latin spiritus, the English ghost, and similar words in other languages, originally signifies wind or breath. It is the only word rendered wind in the O.T. It is rendered whirlwind, in Eze 1:4; tempest, in Psa 11:6; cool (wind), in Gen 3:8; air, in Job 41:16; blast, in Exo 15:8, 2Ki 19:7, Isa 25:4; Isa 37:7. Thus, as blood represents the animal life, so does wind the spiritual element in life.

Ruach is frequently rendered breath, e.g. Gen 6:17, ’the breath of life.’ as long as this breaThis sustained in a man, he lives (Job 27:3); when it goes forth, he returns to his earth (Psa 146:4). The most remarkable passage in which the action of breath and wind is identified with the source of life is the vision of the dry bones in Eze 37:1-28 in this, as in some other passages, it is not easy to distinguish between the physical and the super-physical breath, both of which are gifts from God.

In Jos 2:11, where we read ’there remained no more courage in any man,’ the word might be rendered breath in Jdg 8:3, the deep breathing is a sign of anger, and accordingly the word is so rendered in 1Sa 1:15, it is a sign of earnest prayer, or perhaps of the agitation of the heart in Gen 26:35, it is a sign of grief; it is here rendered mind instead of spirit, unfortunately, and this has also been the case in Pro 29:11; Eze 11:5; Eze 20:32; and Hab 1:11.

It is clear that the wind is regarded in Scripture as a fitting emblem of the mighty penetrating power of the Invisible God; and that the breaThis supposed to symbolise, not only the deep feelings which are generated with in man, suc has sorrow and anger, but also kindred feelings in the Divine nature. God is not set forth in Scripture as a soul 3³--i.e. the centre of physical appetite and the animating principle of a body--but as a spirit, that is, an unseen living being, capable of deep emotions. Moreover, it is revealed that God, and He alone, has the faculty of communicating his Spirit or life to his creatures, who are thus enabled to feel, think, speak, and act in accordance with the Divine will.

See SOUL.

In the Bible, the creative, animating power or divine influence of God

See World Spirit or World Mind

SPIRIT (πνεῦμα).—This word occupies a very important place in the writings of the Evangelists, covers a wide area of thought, and is not always clearly defined as to the particular use it is put to in a given context. The prominent place thus assigned to the word may be considered as indicative of the position which the principal idea embodied by it fills in the general scheme of constructive Christian psychology. In this respect we have a good example of the almost instinctively creative power of Jewish, and especially of Christian-Jewish, religious thought. In classical writings πνεῦμα is found largely employed in a physiological sense (cf. τῷ πνεύματι τοῦ στόματος αὐτοῦ, 2Th 2:8; and for a similar use see Joh 3:8, Heb 1:7), but in them it never appears as a psychological term, as it does so often in Biblical writings both of the OT and the NT (see Cremer’s Bibl.-Theol. Lex. s.v.).

The determining factor in the employment of this word by NT writers is the profound belief, inherited from the prophets and teachers of the OT, that there existed from the very beginning a unique fellowship between God and man (cf. πνοὴν ζωῆς, Gen 2:7 [LXX Septuagint ]). In spite of much and repeated unfaithfulness on man’s part (cf. the difficult, though, for our present purpose, the sufficiently significant passage, ‘My spirit shall not remain [καταμείνῃ] for ever in man,’ Gen 6:3), this fellowship continued to be realized more and more intensely as one generation succeeded another, and warriors and poets, prophets and priests, all found their inspiration in the firm belief that the Spirit of God was the living motive power animating their words and deeds.

There can be no doubt that the Incarnation formed the culminating point, as well as the final guarantee of the truth, of this historic realization. Henceforth there was established in the human consciousness a relationship between God and man which can be conveyed only in terms expressive of the closest mutual intimacy and communion. Not only can it be asserted that God’s Spirit ‘dwells in’ man, but the counterpart of that truth consists in the resultant abiding of man ‘in the Spirit’ (ἐν πνεύματι, Rom 8:9). The consequence of the Divine Spirit’s activity in this sphere is the co-operative activity of man’s spirit attesting the reality of the relationship and working towards ‘the righteousness of God’ (Rom 10:3, 2Co 5:21; cf. Rom 8:10-16). The Pauline identification of ‘the Spirit of Christ’ and ‘the Spirit of God’ is for us ultimately justified in the twofold story of the birth of Jesus, narrated, as we must think, from two distinct points of view. The Spirit of God was the operative agency by which the Incarnation was accomplished (Mat 1:18; Mat 1:20; cf. the interchangeable terms πνεῦμα ἅγιον and δύναμις Ὑψίστου, Luk 1:35). The revelation of the Sonship of Jesus followed immediately upon His anointing (ἔχρισεν, Act 10:38) with the Holy Spirit, and the twofold connexion established by the Synoptists between this revelation and His Temptation seems to establish beyond doubt that, in their opinion, the consciousness of Jesus became then for the first time fully alive to the wondrous position which He occupied, and to the character of the work He was destined to undertake (cf. the burden of the heavenly message ὁ υἱός μου ὁ ἀγαπητός, and the implied doubt repeated in the Temptation εἰ υἱὸς εἶ τοῦ θεοῦ, as well as the part played by the Spirit in each of these incidents, Mat 3:16; Mat 4:1 ff., Mar 1:11 f., Luk 3:22; Luk 4:1 ff., also Joh 1:32 f.; see Plummer, ‘St. Luke,’ in ICC [Note: CC International Critical Commentary.] , ad loc.).

The realization of the abiding presence of the Spirit continued to be for Jesus the dominating feature in His ministry of power (see Mat 12:28; cf. the corresponding expression ἐν δακτύλῳ θεοῦ, Luk 11:20), and gives terrible force and point to His solemn warning against that continued deliberate opposition to His claims which springs from love of darkness and obedience to the spirit of evil. Here, too, lay the secret of that absolute conviction of the truth of His message to the world, resulting as it did in the astonished recognition of its inherent authority by those who heard it (cf. Joh 6:63; Joh 7:39; Joh 7:46, Mat 7:28 f., Mat 13:54; Mat 22:33, Mar 1:22; Mar 6:2; Mar 11:18, Luk 4:32). Nor would Jesus confine this conviction to Himself. The descriptive title ‘the Spirit of truth,’ three times reiterated in the Johannine discourses, emphasized that side of His teaching which laid particular stress on the identity of the guiding principle of His life and work with that moulding the activity of His disciples. At the same time it guaranteed the continuity of the context of His message and theirs to the world (Joh 14:17; Joh 15:26; Joh 16:13, cf. the actual bequest in which His promises were, partly at least, fulfilled, Joh 20:22; see also Joh 7:39). That they might entertain no doubt as to the authoritative position they were to occupy in carrying out the work begun by Him, Jesus spoke of His own permanent return to them as practically identical with the continual abiding of the Holy Spirit in and with them (cf. the phrase ἔρχομαι πρὸς ὑμᾶς, Joh 14:18). ‘Christ is in fact from the moment of His Resurrection ever coming to the world and to the Church, and to men as the Risen Lord’ (Westcott, Gospel of St. John, on Joh 14:3). In fact the work of ‘the Spirit of truth’ is mainly the glorification of Jesus by gradually making Him known to the world as to His Person and work (ἐκεῖνος ἐμὲ δοξάσει, ὅτι ἐκ τοῦ ἐμοῦ λἡμψεται καὶ ἀναγγελεῖ ὑμῖν· πάντα ὅσα ἔχει ὁ πατὴρ ἐμά ἐστιν, κ.τ.λ., Joh 16:14 f.; cf. ἐκεῖνος μαρτυρήσει περὶ ἐμοῦ, Joh 15:26).

The profound oneness of Jesus and His followers is nowhere more insistently dwelt on than in these passages, and that not alone in the character of the aims which He and they have in view, but also in the motive power helping and the underlying principle guiding them, which are identified by Him as the forces at work in His own life and Person. By an argument a fortiori He gives them an assurance that He will bestow the Holy Spirit on those who recognize their need of His guidance (Luk 11:13). To such the gift will always be proportionate to their immediate needs (Luk 12:12). We must not forget that the peculiar Lukan phrase πνεύματος ἁγίου ἐπλήσθη (Luk 1:15; Luk 1:41; Luk 1:67) is used in connexion with the spiritual experiences of three people whose work lay in the preparatory stage of the coming Kingdom of the Incarnation.

Notwithstanding the transcendent relationship in which Jesus stood to the Holy Spirit, we are not left without witness that even in this sphere of His life He was like us in all things (see Westcott, Gospel of St. John, on Joh 11:33). It is this word (τὸ πνεῦμα) that is used to describe the death on the cross by three of the Evangelists (cf. Mat 27:50, Luk 23:46, Joh 19:30), although in other places we find ψυχή employed in a sense very similar (see Joh 10:15; Joh 10:17, cf. Joh 15:3; Joh 10:11). It is possible, however, to see in the use of the former word a wider range of thought, as if it was intended to include the latter in its scope. It is as if Jesus desired to commend to His Father’s keeping not only the spirit, the principle of His highest and Divinest life, but also the soul, the seat of His personal earthly life (cf. Hasting’s Dictionary of the Bible , vol. iv. 612^a).

That ψυχή is, nevertheless, sometimes found to denote more than this is evident from references by Jesus Himself to its indestructibility and its incomparable value as the goal of all human progress, where we should have expected either τνεῦμα or πνεῦμα and ψυχή to convey His full meaning (cf. Mat 10:28; Mat 10:39, Luk 17:33, Mar 8:35, Joh 12:25). The distinction and confusion, however, in these two words are in accordance with OT usage, where ru̇ah (NT πνεῦμα) denotes the Divinely imparted principle of life, and nephesh (NT ψυχή) the result of the impartation (see 1Co 15:45; cf. Gen 2:7, where nephesh hayyâh occurs, an expression which is also used of the lower life of the animal creation, Gen 1:20). The indiscriminate use of these two words to denote the same idea is found, e.g., in Isa 26:9 (LXX Septuagint ), a parallel to which we have in the Song of the Virgin Mary (Luk 1:46 f.). See Soul.

In other places where this word is used in connexion with the Personality of Jesus, we find it employed somewhat vaguely and in loose contrast with the outward or physical senses. He is said to have perceived the gist of the murmured reasonings of His critics ‘in his spirit’ (ἐπιγνοὺς τῷ πνεύματι αὐτοῦ, κ.τ.λ., Mar 2:8; cf. Gould, ‘St. Mark’ in ICC [Note: CC International Critical Commentary.] , ad loc.). There is here an evident contrast implied between that intuitive knowledge gained by inference and deduction, and that acquired by direct hearing with the ears. Again, He is spoken of as sighing inwardly, as distinct from audibly (ἀναστενάξας τῷ πνεύματι αὐτοῦ, Mar 8:12), and being indignant ‘within himself’ or ‘in his spirit,’ without expressing His feelings in words (cf. ἐνεβριμήσατο τῷ πνεύματι, Joh 11:38, and ἐν ἑαυτῷ, Joh 11:38). An interesting example of a subtle psychological distinction between πνεῦμα and ψυχή is found in the personal experiences of Jesus with two distinct sources of trouble and sorrow. As the cross drew near, His ‘soul’ (ἡ ψυχή μου τετάρακται, Joh 12:27) revolted from the horrors of the vision; while we, as we read the narrative of self-revelation, perceive the origin and cause of His sympathy with ‘the feeling of our infirmities’ (Heb 4:15). On the other hand, and in close connexion with His approaching death, there was the dark treachery of Judas; and when we remember the profound joy and holy satisfaction with which Jesus reviewed the success of His work in keeping near Him those committed to His charge (see Joh 17:12), we can understand the grief caused by the loss of ‘the son of perdition.’ With reference to this fact, St. John notices that Jesus ‘was troubled in spirit’ (Ἰησοῦς ἐταράχθη τῷ πνεύματι, Joh 13:21), as though he would wish us to infer that He was stirred to the very depths of His being by the sight of a soul hurrying to its doom.

Instances are not wanting in the Gospels of contrasts, simple and definite, in which this word plays a part, though we have no example of the antitheses so familiar to students of the Pauline Christology. Perhaps the nearest to the latter is the reference by Jesus to the contrast between the strength and perseverance of the spirit and the weakness of the flesh (τὸ πνεῦμα πρόθυμου … ἡ σὰρξ ἁσθενής, Mar 14:39 = Mat 26:41). When, in His conversation with Nicodemus, Jesus refers to fleshly (ἐκ τῇς σαρκός) birth and spiritual (ἐκ τοῦ πνεύματος) birth, He is not contrasting the limitations of the one with the inherent independence, as to time, space, etc., with their consequent imperfections, of the other. He has in His mind simply the two spheres of being to which man, quâ man, stands related. By his σάρξ he is in fellowship, spiritual, mental, and physical, with the whole visible creation. By his πνεῦμα he touches and enters the sphere of spiritual life in the entirety of his complete nature. Both orders of existence have their characteristic principles, and it is man’s unique privilege to unite the two in his complete life and experience. The perfect synthesis is accomplished only in the Incarnation, and it is only by keeping steadily in view the two great constituent elements in Jesus’ Person that we shall succeed in truly interpreting His language in His discourses at Capernaum, which were so vitally misunderstood. Neither the spirit alone nor the flesh alone can apprehend and appropriate the Christ, the Son of Man. ‘The flesh’ is of no avail (ἡ σὰρξ οὐκ ὠφελεῖ οὐδέν, Joh 6:63), ‘the spirit’ alone has the power of conveying life (τό πνεῦμά ἐστιν τὸ ζωποιοῦν). At the same time, in order to a genuine participation, the life-giving message must be clothed in language which may be heard and, in part at least, understood (τὰ ῥήματα … πνεῦμά ἐστιν καί ζωή). The historic fact of the Incarnation was necessary to meet the needs of man both on his spiritual and fleshly side, and so we understand the force of the words of the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews (οὐ γὰρ δή που ἀγγέλων ἐπιλαμβάνεται, Heb 2:16). And while it would be going beyond the strict limits of certainty to say that Jesus on this occasion is making specific reference to the rite which He afterwards instituted in words of similar import, it will scarcely be disputed that in His Last Supper He embodied the principles referred to above. In it, too, ‘the flesh profiteth nothing,’ it is the spirit that giveth life; but the invisible, intangible spirit is clothed with a visible, tangible body, while man, working through and by the latter, reaches upwards and partakes of the former (cf. Westcott, Gospel of St. John, ad loc.).

When Jesus, in His conversation with the woman of Samaria, identifies Spirit with the Being of God (πνεῦμα ὁ θεός, Joh 4:24), He at once proceeds to foreshadow the abiding result, as well as the condition of man’s approach to Him. The arena, so to speak, upon which the activity of the Divine Spirit displays His manifold and world-wide character, is the human spirit. If we are to offer to God a spiritual (ἑν πνεύματι) worship, and apprehend clearly the methods by which He quickens human life, the first and last requisite is that we shall be in the Spirit (Joh 4:24; cf. Rom 8:15 f., Eph 2:18 etc.). It is not enough, though it is perfectly true, to say that ‘the spirit in man responds to the Spirit of God’ (Westcott, Gospel of St. John, on Joh 4:23). The spirit in man becomes the spirit of man (τῷ πνεύματι ἡμῶν, Rom 8:16), and acting, as it does, in harmony with the Spirit of God, is guided into all the truth (cf. the sequence τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς ἀληθείας … εἰς τὴν ἀλήθειαν πᾶσαν, Joh 16:13). Henceforth man’s, spiritual home is within the region of that absolute truth which the Person and the work of Jesus were destined to disclose and make real.

Just as we are led to believe in and hope for this co-operative activity of the Holy Spirit, so the Evangelists are insistent in the belief that the spirits of evil are ever watchful to make their home within us. In words of solemn warning Jesus implies that our need of spiritual guidance is so profound that we stand in constant danger of harbouring these active enemies (note εἰς τὸν οἰκόν μου, Luk 11:24), and that the only way of successfully guarding against their presence is to admit the Holy Spirit as the supreme and only Guest (cf. Plummer, ‘St. Luke,’ in ICC [Note: CC International Critical Commentary.] , on Luk 11:25). So close is the analogy between these conceptions that St. Mark does not hesitate to denote the presence and the relation of the evil spirits to the possessed by using the same preposition (ἐν) which he employs when speaking of the guiding influence of the Holy Ghost (Mar 1:24; Mar 3:22; Mar 5:2; cf. Mar 12:36, Luk 2:27). The diseases which these spirits were supposed to convey to their victims were often spoken of as belonging to them inherently (Mar 9:17; Mar 9:25 etc. See art. Demon).

We shall not be surprised, after these considerations, to learn that when men have the same ends in view, pursue them by similar methods of work, and betray the same general characteristics in their mental and spiritual outlook, they are said to have the same spirit. John the Baptist and Elijah, though separated by centuries of time, were believed to be so far identified that the former lived and acted ‘in spirit and in power’ (ἐν πνεύματι καὶ δυνάμει, Luk 1:17), i.e. under the shadow and guidance of the latter (cf. Jesus’ method of interpreting the popular belief in the pre-Messianic return of Elijah, Mat 11:14). At the same time, the historian is careful to note that the Baptist’s childhood was marked by a gradual development and strengthening in spirit side by side with his bodily growth (Luk 1:80). See, further, artt. Flesh, Holy Spirit, Soul.

Literature.—In addition to the Lexx. and Dictionary artt. and the Lit. at Soul, see Laidlaw, Bible Doct. of Man, esp. 131 ff.; Weiss, Bibl. Theol. of NT, § 27; W. H. Hodge, ‘Bibl. Usage of Soul and Spirit’ in Pres. Ref. Rev. viii. (1897), 251; F. E. Brightman, ‘Soul, Body, Spirit’ in JThSt [Note: ThSt Journal of Theological Studies.] ii. (1900) 273; W. H. Schoemaker, ‘Use of Pneuma in NT’ in JBL [Note: BL Journal of Biblical Literature.] xxiii. (1904) 13.

J. R. Willis.

See HOLY SPIRIT (Hebr. ; Greek, πνεῦμα ἅγιον):

SPIRIT.—The term is applied to God as defining His nature generally (Joh 4:24), and also as describing one element in that nature, His self-consciousness (1Co 2:11). It expresses not only God’s immateriality, but also His transcendence of limitations of time and space. In the phrases ‘Spirit of God,’ the ‘Spirit of the Lord,’ the ‘Spirit of Jesus Christ,’ the ‘Holy Spirit,’ the ‘Spirit of Truth,’ the third Person in the Godhead is described (see Holy Spirit). The term is applied to personal powers of evil other than man (Mat 10:1; Mat 12:45, Luk 4:33; Luk 7:21, 1Ti 4:1; cf. Eph 6:12), as well as personal powers of good (Heb 1:14), and to human beings after death, either damned (1Pe 3:19) or blessed (Heb 12:23). It is used also as personifying an influence (1Jn 4:6, Eph 2:2, Rom 8:15). Its most distinctive use is in the psychology of the Christian life. The contrast between ‘soul’ and ‘spirit,’ and between ‘flesh’ and ‘spirit,’ has already been noted in the articles on these terms. While soul and spirit are not to be regarded as separate faculties, yet ‘spirit’ expresses the direct dependence of the life in man on God, first in creation (Gen 2:7), but especially, according to the Pauline doctrine, in regeneration. The life in man, isolating itself from, and opposing itself to, God, is soul; that life, cleansed and renewed by the Spirit of God, is spirit; intimate as is the relation of God and man in the new life, the Spirit of God is distinguished from the spirit of man (Rom 8:16), although it is not always possible to make the distinction. In Acts the phrase ‘holy spirit’ sometimes means the subjective human state produced (‘holy enthusiasm’), and sometimes the objective Divine cause producing (see ‘Acts’ in the Century Bible, p. 386). As the Spirit is the source of this new life, whatever belongs to it is ‘spiritual’ (pneumatikon), as house, sacrifices (1Pe 2:5), understanding (Col 1:9), songs (Col 3:16), food, drink, rock (1Co 10:3-4); and the ‘spiritual’ and ‘soulish’ (rendered ‘carnal’ or ‘natural’) are contrasted (1Co 2:14; 1Co 15:44; 1Co 15:46). Spirit as an ecstatic state is also distinguished from mind (1Co 14:14; 1Co 14:16), as inwardness from letter (Rom 2:29; Rom 7:6, 2Co 3:6). The old creation—the derivation of man’s spirit from God (Gen 2:7, Isa 42:5), offers the basis for the new (Rom 8:1-17, 1Co 2:11-12), in which man is united to God (see Inspiration).

Alfred E. Garvie.

(Lat. spiritus, spirare, "to breathe"; Gk. pneuma; Fr. esprit; Ger. Geist). As these names show, the principle of life was often represented under the figure of a breath of air. The breath is the most obvious symptom of life, its cessation the invariable mark of death; invisible and impalpable, it stands for the unseen mysterious force behind the vital processes. Accordingly we find the word "spirit" used in several different but allied senses: (1) as signifying a living, intelligent, incorporeal being, such as the soul; (2) as the fiery essence or breath (the Stoic pneuma) which was supposed to be the universal vital force; (3) as signifying some refined form of bodily substance, a fluid believed to act as a medium between mind and the grosser matter of the body. The hypothesis of "spirits" in this sense was familiar to the Scholastic age, in fact down to the end of the eighteenth century, "animal spirits", "vital spirits", "natural spirits" were acknowledged agencies in all physiological phenomena (cf. Vesalius, Descartes, Harvey, Erasmus, Darwin, etc.) "Magnetic" spirits were employed by Mesmer in his theory in very much the same way as modern Spiritists invoke the "ether" of the physicists.In Psychology, "spirit" is used (with the adjective "spiritual") to denote all that belongs to our higher life of reason, art, morality, and religion as contrasted with the life of mere sense-perception and passion. The latter is intrinsically dependent on matter and conditioned by its laws; the former is characterized by freedom or the power of self-determination; "spirit" in this sense is essentially personal. Hegelianism, indeed, in its doctrines of Subjective, Objective, and Absolute Spirit, tries to maintain the categories of spiritual philosophy (freedom, self-consciousness and the like), in a Monistic framework. But such conceptions demand the recognition of individual personality as an ultimate fact.In Theology, the uses of the word are various. In the New Testament, it signifies sometimes the soul of man (generally its highest part, e. g., "the spirit is willing"), sometimes the supernatural action of God in man, sometimes the Holy Ghost ("the Spirit of Truth Whom the world cannot receive"). The use of this term to signify the supernatural life of grace is the explanation of St. Paul’s language about the spiritual and the carnal man and his enumeration of the three elements, spirit, soul, and body, which gave occasion to the error of the Trichotomists (1 Thessalonians 5:23, Ephesians 4:23).Matter has generally been conceived as in one sense or another the limitation of spirit. Hence, finite spirits were thought to require a body as a principle of individuation and limitation; only God, the Infinite Spirit, was free from all admixture of matter. Thus, when we find the angels described as asomatoi or auloi, in the writings of the Fathers, this properly means only that the angels do not possess a gross, fleshly body; it does not at all imply a nature absolutely immaterial. Such Scripture expressions as "bread of angels", "they shall shine as the angels", as well as the apparitions of these heavenly beings, were adduced as proofs of their corporeality. So speak Sts. Ambrose, Chrysostom, Jerome, Hilary, Origen and many other Fathers. Even in Scholastic times, the degree of immateriality that belongs to finite spirits was disputed. St. Thomas teaches the complete simplicity of all spiritual natures, but the Scotists, by means of their famous materia primo prima, introduced a real composition, which they conceived to be necessary to a created nature. As regards the functions of spirits in the world, and their active relations to the visible order of things, see GUARDIAN ANGELS and DEMONOLOGY. Scripture abounds in instances of their dealings with men, chiefly in the character of intermediaries between God and His servants. They are the heralds who announce his commands, and often too the ministers who execute His justice. They take a benevolent interest in the spiritual good of men (Luke 15:10). For these reasons, the Church permits and encourages devotion to the angels.----------------------------------- BERKELEY, Siris in Works, II. See also bibliographies, SPIRITUALISM; SOUL. MICHAEL MAHER JOSEPH BOLLAND Transcribed by Scott Anthony Hibbs The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume XIVCopyright © 1912 by Robert Appleton CompanyOnline Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. KnightNihil Obstat, July 1, 1912. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., CensorImprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York

spir´it (רוּח, rū^aḥ; πνεῦμα, pneúma; Latin, spiritus):

1.    Primary and Figurative Senses

(1)    As Wind, Breath

(2)    As Anger or Fury

(3)    As Mental and Moral Qualities in Man

2.    Shades of Meaning

(1)    As Life-Principle

(2)    As Surviving Death

(3)    Spiritual Manifestations

3.    Human and Divine Spirit

(1)    The Human as Related with the Divine

(2)    Operations of the Divine Spirit as Third Person of the Trinity

4.    Old Testament Applications

5.    Various Interpretations

1. Primary and Figurative Senses:

(1) As Wind, Breath:

Used primarily in the Old Testament and New Testament of the wind, as in Gen 8:1; Num 11:31; Amo 4:13 (“createth the wind”); Heb 1:7 (angels, “spirits” or “winds” in margin); often used of the breath, as in Job 12:10; Job 15:30, and in 2Th 2:8 (wicked consumed by “the breath of his mouth”).

(2) As Anger or Fury:

In a figurative sense it was used as indicating anger or fury, and as such applied even to God, who destroys by the “breath of his nostrils” (Job 4:9; Exo 15:8; 2Sa 22:16; see 2Th 2:8).

(3) As Mental and Moral Qualities in Man:

Hence, applied to man - as being the seat of emotion in desire or trouble, and thus gradually of mental and moral qualities in general (Exo 28:3, “the spirit of wisdom”; Eze 11:19, “a new spirit” etc.). Where man is deeply stirred by the Divine Spirit, as among the prophets, we have a somewhat similar use of the word, in such expressions as: “The Spirit of the Lord came ... upon him” (1Sa 10:10).

2. Shades of Meaning:

(1) As Life-Principle:

The spirit as life-principle in man has various applications: sometimes to denote an apparition (Mat 14:26, the King James Version “saying, It is a spirit”; Luk 24:37, the King James Version “had seen a spirit”); sometimes to denote angels, both fallen and unfallen (Heb 1:14, “ministering spirits”; Mat 10:1, “unclean spirits”; compare also Mat 12:43; Mar 1:23, Mar 1:26, Mar 1:27; and in Rev 1:4, “the seven Spirits ... before his throne”).

(2) As Surviving Death:

The spirit is thus in man the principle of life - but of man as distinguished from the brute - so that in death this spirit is yielded to the Lord (Luk 23:46; Act 7:59; 1Co 5:5, “that the spirit may be saved”). Hence, God is called the “Father of spirits” (Heb 12:9).

(3) Spiritual Manifestations:

Thus generally for all the manifestations of the spiritual part in man, as that which thinks, feels, wills; and also to denote certain qualities which characterize the man, e.g. “poor in spirit” (Mat 5:3); “spirit of gentleness” (Gal 6:1); “of bondage” (Rom 8:15); “of jealousy” (Num 5:14); “of fear” (2Ti 1:7 the King James Version); “of slumber” (Rom 11:8 the King James Version). Hence, we are called upon to “rule over our own spirit” (Pro 16:32; Pro 25:28), and are warned against being overmastered by a wrong spirit (Luk 9:55 the King James Version, “Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of”). So man may submit to the “spirit of error,” and turn away from the “spirit of truth” (1Jn 4:6). Thus we read of the “spirit of counsel” (Isa 11:2); “of wisdom” (Eph 1:17).

3. Human and Divine Spirit:

(1) The Human as Related with the Divine:

We go a step higher when we find the human spirit brought into relationship with the Divine Spirit. For man is but a creature to whom life has been imparted by God’s spirit - life being but a resultant of God’s breath. Thus life and death are realistically described as an imparting or a withdrawing of God’s breath, as in Job 27:3; Job 33:4; Job 34:14, “spirit and breath” going together. The spirit may thus be “revived” (Gen 45:27), or “overwhelmed” (Psa 143:4), or “broken” (Pro 15:13). And where sin has been keenly felt, it is “a broken spirit” which is “a sacrifice to God” (Psa 51:17); and when man submits to the power of sin, a new direction is given to his mind: he comes under a “spirit of whoredom” (Hos 4:12); he becomes “proud in spirit” (Ecc 7:8), instead of being “patient in spirit”; he is a fool because he is “hasty in spirit” and gives way to “anger” (Ecc 7:9). The “faithful in spirit” are the men who resist talebearing and backbiting in the world (Pro 11:13). In such instances as these the difference between “soul” and “spirit” appears. See SOUL; PSYCHOLOGY.

(2) Operations of the Divine Spirit as Third Person of the Trinity:

On this higher plane, too, we find the Divine Spirit at work. The terminology is very varied here: In the New Testament we read of the “Holy Spirit” (1Co 6:19; Mat 1:18, Mat 1:20; 1Th 1:5, 1Th 1:6); the “Spirit of God” (1Co 2:10 ff; 1Co 3:16; Rom 8:9, Rom 8:11; Eph 3:16, etc.); the “Spirit of Christ” (Rom 8:9; 1Co 3:17; Gal 4:6); or simply of “Spirit,” with distinct reference to God (1Co 2:10; Rom 8:16, Rom 8:23, etc.). God Himself is Spirit (Joh 4:24). Hence, God’s power is manifested in human life and character (Luk 4:14; Rom 1:1; 1Co 2:4; especially Luk 24:49). The Book of Acts may be termed the Book of the Holy Spirit, working with power in man. This Spirit is placed on a level with Father and Son in the Apostolic Benediction (2Co 13:14) and in the parting message of the Saviour to His disciples (Mat 28:19). As the agent in redemption and sanctification His work is glorified by lives “renewed” in the very “spirit of the mind” - a collocation of terms which has puzzled many interpreters (Eph 4:23, Eph 4:24), where pneúma and noús appear together, to indicate a renewal which is all-embracing, ’renewed in the spirit of your mind, so that the new man is put on, created in righteousness and true holiness’ (see also Joh 14:17, Joh 14:26; Joh 15:26; Joh 16:13; 1Co 12:11, etc.).

4. Old Testament Applications:

In the Old Testament this spirit of God appears in varied functions, as brooding over chaos (Gen 1:2; Job 26:13); as descending upon men, on heroes like Othniel, Gideon, etc. (Jdg 3:10; Jdg 6:34), on prophets (Eze 37:1), on “cunning workmen,” like Bezalel and Aholiab (Exo 31:2, Exo 31:3, Exo 31:4, “filled with the Spirit of God”), and specially in such passages as Psa 51:11, where the very presence of God is indicated by an abiding influence of the Holy Spirit: “The Spirit of Yahweh is Yahweh himself.”

5. Various Interpretations:

May we not reach a still higher stage? Wendt in his interesting monograph (Die Begriffe Fleisch und Geist), of which extracts are given in Dickson’s St. Paul’s Use of the Terms Flesh and Spirit, draws attention to the transcendental influence of the Divine rū^aḥ in the Old Testament as expressed in such phrases as ’to put on’ (Jdg 6:34), ’to fall upon’ (Psa 14:6, 19), ’to settle’ (Num 11:25 f). May we not then rightly assume that more is meant than a mere influence emanating from a personal God? Are we not right in maintaining with Davidson that “there are indeed a considerable number of passages in the Old Testament which might very well express the idea that the Spirit is a distinct hypostasis or person.?” (see SUBSTANCE). Rejecting the well-known passage in Genesis: “Let us make man after our own image,” which some have interpreted in a trinitarian sense, we may point to such texts as Zec 4:6, “by my Spirit”; Isa 63:10, Isa 63:11, “They rebelled, and grieved his holy Spirit”; “Where is he that put his holy Spirit in the midst of them?” This is borne out by the New Testament, with its warnings against “grieving the Holy Spirit,” “lying against the Holy Spirit,” and kindred expressions (Eph 4:30; Act 5:3). It is this Spirit which “beareth witness with our spirit, that we are children of God” (Rom 8:16) - the spirit which, as Auberlen has put it (PRE¹, article “Geist des Menschen”), “appears in a double relationship to us, as the principle of natural life, which is ours by birth, and that of spiritual life, which we receive through the new birth (Wiedergeburt).” Hence, Paul speaks of God whom he serves “with his spirit” (Rom 1:9); and in 2Ti 1:3 he speaks of serving God “in a pure conscience.” See CONSCIENCE; FLESH; HOLY SPIRIT; PSYCHOLOGY; SOUL.

The Hebrew word that in the Old Testament is usually translated ‘spirit’ is ruach. The equivalent New Testament Greek word, also usually translated ‘spirit’, is pneuma. Both ruach and pneuma had very broad meanings. They could mean, among other things, wind (1Ki 18:45; Joh 3:8), breath (Gen 7:15; Gen 7:22; Act 9:1), human emotion (Gen 41:8; Num 5:14; Joh 13:21; Act 18:25), human understanding (Isa 29:24; Mar 2:8), will-power (Jer 51:11; Act 19:21), human life itself (Gen 45:27; Luk 8:55) and evil beings of the unseen world (1Sa 16:23; Mar 1:23; see UNCLEAN SPIRITS). Both words were also used of God’s Spirit, the living power of God at work (Jdg 6:34; Act 8:39; see HOLY SPIRIT).

Relationship with God

An examination of the usage of ruach in the Old Testament shows that its basic meaning has to do with something unseen and powerful that is full of life or life-giving. The word can be used of God who gives life to all human beings and animals (Job 33:4; Psa 104:30) and of the life that God gives to all human beings and animals (Gen 7:15; Gen 7:22).

According to this usage, ruach might be defined as the ‘life-force’ or ‘breath of life’ that God created. It belongs to him. He gives it to all people and animals for the time of their earthly existence and he takes it back at death (Num 16:22; Psa 104:29; Ecc 12:7). Pneuma can have a similar meaning in the New Testament (Heb 12:9; Jas 2:26).

However, both ruach and pneuma may be used specifically of the human spirit. That is, they may refer to the human spirit in a way that makes it different from the general life principle that humans share with animals (Pro 11:13; Pro 15:13; Pro 16:2; Pro 16:18-19; Pro 16:32; 1Co 2:11; 2Co 7:1; 1Pe 3:4; see HUMANITY, HUMANKIND). The New Testament goes further and uses pneuma to refer to that higher aspect of human existence that enables people to communicate with God and have religious experiences (Rom 8:16; 1Co 5:5; 1Co 7:34; Gal 6:18; Php 3:3).

‘Spirit’ may at times be another word for ‘heart’. In such cases it speaks of a person’s whole inner life (Psa 51:10; Psa 51:17; Pro 16:2; Mat 5:3; Rom 1:9; Philem 25; see HEART; MIND).

Through sin, the spirit has been corrupted. It is not able to save people from spiritual ruin or bring them eternal life. It is, in a sense, dead, and needs to be born anew through the creative power of the Spirit of God (Eze 36:26-27; Joh 3:6). This leads, then, to an even more restricted meaning of the word, particularly in the New Testament, where the reference is to the reborn spirit of the person whom God has created anew (Rom 8:10; 1Co 2:14-15; Eph 4:23; see REGENERATION; SOUL).

Life after death

Yet another usage of the word ‘spirit’ is in reference to life after death. When the life of the body comes to an end, people do not cease to exist. Because they are no longer ‘in the body’, they are no longer in the physical world, but they continues to exist in the unseen world. They live on in their spirit (Heb 12:23; 1Pe 3:18; 1Pe 4:6). This kind of existence is only temporary, for human destiny is not to live for ever in a bodiless spirit, but to experience eternal life in a renewed body (1Co 15:35-54; Php 3:21; 1Jn 3:2; see BODY).

See “Holy Spirit.”