In most Christian churches, the Holy Spirit, or Holy Ghost, is the third person of the Trinity.
The Trinity is a God made up of three persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, who share the same qualities and essence and are therefore One God. Christians who don't believe in the Trinity have a big difference in their beliefs about the Holy Spirit.
In Christian theology, pneumatology is the study of the Holy Spirit.
Christianity came from Judaism. People who study the Bible often identify the Holy Spirit with the the Ruach Hakodesh in Jewish scripture. They think that Jesus was expanding upon these Jewish concepts.
Christians believe that the Bible is the work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit revealed truth to the human authors. In the Old Testament the prophets were "carried along" by the Holy spirit when they wrote. Thus the scriptures are said to be "God breathed". The word for breath and spirit are the same in the Greek language. This is the language that the New Testament is written in. Christians think this means that the Holy Spirit helped the authors to write the Bible books.
Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would "convince the world of sin, righteousness and judgement". This means that people know right from wrong, and they know that God will punish evil. This is God's way of bringing people to call on God for salvation. It is part of Divine grace.
The New Testament tells how the Holy Spirit relates to Jesus. The Gospels of Matthew and Luke and the Nicene Creed say that Jesus was "conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary". The Holy Spirit descended on Jesus like a dove during his baptism. After the Last Supper Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit to his disciples after he went to Heaven.
The Christian Bible says that the Holy Spirit comes to live in each Christian. He produces the "fruits of the Spirit", which are love, joy, peace, long-suffering (patience), kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, self-control. The Holy Spirit also gives gifts to Christians. These include the ability to preach the gospel, having strong faith, praying for people to be healed, speaking in other languages and understanding them. Some other gifts are teaching, being kind and helping people. Christians do not all agree about these gifts. Some Christians think that the supernatural gifts no longer are given. They say they were only seen in Bible times. Others think that these miracles still happen today.
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