Explain the Holy Spirit

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annb

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I have a friend who said to her the Holy Spirit is her conciousness and soul. That doesn’t sound right to me, but I also realized maybe I don’t have a good understanding of the Holy Spirit. “The Lord the Giver of Life” I know that, but could anyone expand on this for me?
 
When somebody says something kooky (and that’s pretty kooky), the first thing you ought to do is ask them WHY they believe this. Because (assuming the person is not a kook) she must have some reason (which seems not kooky) for this. The underlying reason is the focus of your apologetical efforts.

By way of extreme example: suppose somebody said, “every time I eat ice cream, I am taking Communion.” That’s kooky, but don’t bother trying to refute it (because it’s kooky) - get to the heart of what LEADS this person to such a kooky conclusion.
 
Difficult, definitely a mystery, but here goes…

God - Yahweh - knew Himself and that knowledge of Himself was the second Person of the Trinity. In that “knowing” the Father loved the Son … and that ‘Love’, personified, is the Holy Spirit.

The Bible (OT) has - you guessed it - 3 names for God

(1) Yahweh - God the Father who demands Justice
(2) Adonai - The ‘Lord’ who is Mercy
(3) Shekinah - The Pillar of Fire by Night and a Cloud by Day in Exodus, who overshadowed the Ark of the Covenant (and Mary - the new Ark of the Covenant), ie. the Holy Spirit.

“Just as the Shekinah dwelt in the Temple of Solomon so the Shekinah in the flesh was Yeshuah and now dwells in the tabernacles of the world. Thus the central concept of both Jewish and Catholic mysticism is the Divine Presence (Shekinah).”

[Sorry, forget where I got that from.]

The Holy Spirit dwells within baptised Christians (we are temples of the Holy Spirit) guiding us and teaching us.

The Holy Spirit is the ‘Love of God’ personified.
 
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annb:
I have a friend who said to her the Holy Spirit is her conciousness and soul.
Click to expand...
Oh dear, the Trinity just got bigger! 🙂

What your friend may be describing; however, is how the Holy Spirit inspires her. The Holy Spirit is, well, a spirit that is holy…but so much more. The Holy Spirt is the third being of the Trinity and is equal to God and Christ.

I somtimes describe the Holy Spirit as the work hands of God. When God needs to “turn wrenches” on a project, He tends to send in the Holy Sprit to do the work

The Holy Spirit tends to get less glory. For many Catholics its “in the name of the Father, Son, and oh yeah, that Holy Spirit, whatever the heck that is.” That’s a shame becasue the Holy Spirit is a wonderful companion. Feel free to pray to him. (yes, I know the Spirit is genderless)

Christ was conceived of the Holy Spirit in Mary. Does your friend believe she was a part of that?
 
Ok, I think I misread what she emailed me, she did not say she thinks the Holy Spirit is her soul. She says the Holy Spirit inspires her and is her consciousness. I wonder if she meant conscience. That would make a little more sense.
 
Conscience would make more sense, but would still be incorrect. The Holy Spirit is the Third Person of the Trinity. She may be inspired by the Holy Spirit; the Holy Spirit may prompt her in the ways of the Lord. But the conscience is that human faculty of the intellect by which we make judgments about the rightness or wrongness of proposed actions.
 
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