Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit?

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I was just wondering if you prefer the term Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit, and why?
 
Spirit.

Only because its what I grew up with and feel most accustomed to.
 
Maybe it’s because of the way the word “ghost” is used today, but I tend to think of a “ghost” as being a disembodied soul, whereas a “spirit” is a being that exists without corporeality. That is, a “ghost” is a “spirit” that is lacking its corporeality.

Contrast that with the Holy Spirit which is not lacking a body; it is spirit, that is its entire essence. John 4:24 says “God is spirit” (RSV, NAB), “God is a spirit” (KJV, DR), “Spiritus est Deus” (LV), “πνευμα ο θεος” (original Greek). While the Holy Spirit is figured as a dove (a “body”), it is not a dove proper. Jesus, while a spirit as the Word, took on a human form, a real corporeal body, at the Incarnation.

I find it odd that the Douay-Rheims does not translate spiritum sanctum (or its variants) as “Holy Ghost” in the Old Testament, but only in the New Testament (compare Psalm 51[50]:13; Wisdom 1:5, 9:17; Isaiah 63:10-11; Daniel 13:45; with Luke 1:15, 35, 41, 67 and the rest of the New Testament). It never says “the Ghost of God” (cf. Genesis 41:38, 1 Corinthians 3:16) or “the Ghost of Christ” (cf. Romans 8:9) or “the Ghost of Jesus” (cf. Acts 16:7). In fact, Ephesians 4:30 in the DR reads And grieve not the holy Spirit of God: whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption. The Spirit with which we are sealed is the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Holy Trinity, which elsewhere in the DR is called the “Holy Ghost”. Why not here?

This is why I prefer “Holy Spirit” over “Holy Ghost”.
 
the term “ghost” is kinda scary as I used to watch scary movies a lot in the past. 😃
 
Ghost has only recently been assosciated with evil spirits, mainly due to popular culture and films. It did not draw up pictures of Caspar in the mind.

In the past, the word ghost was like a spirit is now - neither positive nor negative.

Personally I think ‘Holy Ghost’ is more reverent than Holy Spirit. Changing the name of one of the Persons of the Blessed Trinity is not something to be taken lightly.
 
I grew up with Holy Ghost, but I prefer Holy Spirit. To me, ghost brings up an image of a dead person haunting a particular place.
 
I feel spirit is the better term, at least in today’s vocabulary, because spirit still carries the connotations of breath and life and also wind. All of which are important and very biblical images. One’s spirit can be thought of as one’s “life breath,” and respiration is one of the things that keeps us alive.

And breathing and wind are used in connection to the Holy Spirit often–e.g. on Pentecost, when the sound of roaring wind fills the house where the disciples are; at the beginning of Genesis, when the rushing wind moves across the waters, beginning the process of Creation, and when God breathes into Adam’s body; and after the Resurrection when Jesus breathes on the apostles to fill them with the Spirit and give them the ability to forgive sins.

The word ghost does not convey these meanings any more.
 
Unexpected_Dawn said:
I feel spirit is the better term, at least in today’s vocabulary, because spirit still carries the connotations of breath and life and also wind. All of which are important and very biblical images. One’s spirit can be thought of as one’s “life breath,” and respiration is one of the things that keeps us alive.

And breathing and wind are used in connection to the Holy Spirit often–e.g. on Pentecost, when the sound of roaring wind fills the house where the disciples are; at the beginning of Genesis, when the rushing wind moves across the waters, beginning the process of Creation, and when God breathes into Adam’s body; and after the Resurrection when Jesus breathes on the apostles to fill them with the Spirit and give them the ability to forgive sins.

The word ghost does not convey these meanings any more.
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Completely agree. Rightly or wrongly, “ghost” has become so “Art Bell.” Yesterday’s homily discussed much of what you wrote. And also - I think “ghost” is a germanic-influenced translation of “spiritus.” I think other languages kept much closer to the meaning of “spirit” in their names for the Trinity.
 
Ghost is derived from the German while Spirit is derived from the Latin. So I lean towards Spirit, but it reall doesn’t matter 🤷
 
Magnum_V8 said:
Spirit.

Only because its what I grew up with and feel most accustomed to.
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Agree. But since I lead Rosary prayer in the Church and have to sing “Come Holy Ghost” for the opening song, I am quite familiar with both terms now.🙂
 
Genesis315 said:
Ghost is derived from the German while Spirit is derived from the Latin. So I lean towards Spirit, but it reall doesn’t matter 🤷
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I’m old enough to remember saying “Holy Ghost” but young enough that I couldn’t help but think of Casper and scary movies when I heard it back then.

I like “Spirit” because it’s closer to the Latin and I’ve certainly become more used to it. But “Holy Ghost” sounds perfectly natural when I’m singing older English hymns.
 
I think Spirit is more accurate. Plus, it’s rooted in Latin…Spiritus means breath or spirit.
 
Holy Spirit, simply because I’m used to it.

But “Holy Ghost” does not grate my ears in the wrong way; it sounds just as natural to me, for example in hymns, e.g. “Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.”

And no, “Holy Spirit” is not a name of one of the Persons of the Trinity. It’s a description; a title. And it’s not even as if it has been changed; it’s the same word, only the etymology is different. Ghost comes from the German gast, (where we get gust [of wind]). Spirit comes from the Latin spiritus (hence we get words such as re**spirate), **both of which are translations of the Greek pneuma, ‘breath’ or ‘wind’. The Holy Spirit’s name, just like the other two Persons, is YHWH.
 
Resurrexit said:
Personally I think ‘Holy Ghost’ is more reverent than Holy Spirit. Changing the name of one of the Persons of the Blessed Trinity is not something to be taken lightly.
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In what sense is using one English word rather than another “changing the name of one of the Persons of the Blessed Trinity”?

JSA+
 
Anne1964 said:
I grew up with Holy Ghost, but I prefer Holy Spirit. To me, ghost brings up an image of a dead person haunting a particular place.
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:yup: :yup:
When I was a little girl, I got really:crying: scared of the “Holy Ghost” because I thought He was the:eek: Bed-Monster…You know? That creepy “Thing Under The Bed”?? The one that :bigyikes: grabs you, if you get out of bed in the middle of the night??
(I think I maybe listened to too many of my grandfather’s ghost stories as a child…)
Anyhow, I prefer “Holy Spirit”; no weird baggage from childhood…
 
On the flip side, “Spirit” may bring images of demonic seances and such, for some.
 
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