Within the religion of Christianity, God is often referred to as the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost. Within traditional Trinitarian Christian beliefs, the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost makes up the third person within the Holy Trinity. As a part of what is known as the Godhead, the Holy Ghost is considered to be one in the same or equal to both God the Son and God the Father. The Christian Trinitarian concept featuring the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost was the last of the three main elements to be developed, thus completing the trinity as we know it today. Within the trinity itself, it is believed that there is more diversity between the Holy Spirit and the other two elements, than there is between God the Father and God the Son. Although the concept and role of the Holy Spirit is well established and clearly defined within Christian beliefs, there often arise debate between various Christian denominations regarding minor details of the Holy Spirit's religious role.
As far as Christian doctrine is concerned, it is a widely held mainstream Christian belief that the Holy Ghost is one of three separate figures within the Godhead, or Holy Trinity. The being itself is regarded to be God himself, and the personal presence of the Almighty. The best way to describe it would be that the Holy Spirit is both coequal and coeternal with God the Son and God the Father, yet different. As detailed within the Nicene Creed, it is the Holy Spirit that proceeds from God the Father. The New Testament of the Christian Bible lays out in fine detail just how sacred the concept of the Holy Spirit is, especially within the four main Gospels. Within this scripture it states that any blasphemy that takes place directly against the Holy Spirit is an unforgivable sin. However within other parts of the New Testament, it mentions that committing blasphemy against the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost is no longer possible now.
There are many symbols often associated with the Holy Ghost throughout Christian scripture and religious art. Sometimes these symbols are used as a metaphor to paint powerful imagery with regard to the Holy Spirit, while at other times the symbols are merely used for softer artistic purposes. Probably the most commonly used symbol to represent the Holy Spirit, would be that of water. Based on the fact that Christians are baptized in the Holy Spirit, or made to drink of the Holy Spirit, the two elements of water and the Holy Spirit are often compared to each other. The second most frequent symbol used to described the Holy Spirit, is that of the dove. When Jesus Christ arose from the water after being baptized, the Holy Spirit fell upon him in the form of a pure white dove. The Christian Bible goes on to state that after the Holy Spirit fell upon Jesus Christ, it went into him, and remains with him for all of time, as they are both one in the same spirit.
With regard to the two terms Holy Spirit and Holy Ghost, they carry the exact same meaning, hence the title of this article. The term Holy Ghost is thought to have originated in England within the 20th century. It is also used within the Book of Common Prayer, the King James Bible Version, Catholic Douay Rheims Bible, and amongst Christians whose religious vocabulary is predominately based on any of the afore mentioned books. Christians are at liberty to use either terms in any context, due to the fact that both are so commonly used, and will not be misunderstood. The term Holy Spirit is probably used with more frequency than the term Holy Ghost, as most English Bibles across all of the major denominations lean towards the use of Holy Spirit. That concludes this very brief article, we hope that you have enjoyed it. For other religious and angels based articles, we would like to encourage you to continue browsing our site.
