Questions about the Holy Spirit

[Worlds]

I’ve been having some struggle in grasping the ideas about the Holy Spirit. For the longest time, I’ve thought of Him as just some sort of force, but not as an actual sentient being in God. I know that He is the Love between The Father and Son, and that the Hoy Spirit came down from heaven and conceived Jesus into Mary. But in that case, wouldn’t that mean the Holy Spirit was Jesus? Also, if He is the Spirit of God, why would he be a separate Person, because The Father is already a spiritual Being, and so was the Son (before He was conceived). Or is the Holy Spirit just a way of understanding God and His grace, that was created by humans (I know that this is unlikely, but I don’t know).
Sorry if that paragraph was confusing!
Also, what does it mean to “blaspheme against the Holy Spirit”? I’ve read about to in the Bible, but don’t quite understand what it means. And if it means what I think it might mean, I’m afraid I may have committed the unforgivable sin.

I know I’m asking a lot, but I’m very confused about all of this. Any help is much appreciated! May God bless you!

 

[catholictiger]

I’ve thought of Him as just some sort of force,

no

but not as an actual sentient being in God

We must be precise. The Holy Spirit is the third person of the trinity, Fully God, and proceeds from the Father and the Son.

I know that He is the Love between The Father and Son

This is a difficult question to answer, because this is commonly used, and use by Aquinas to explain the trinity. But there is a problem with saying that the Holy Spirit is Love than you are reducing the spirit to a transcendental, God is higher than the transcendentals. Plus how could the spirit be love and the Father and Son not be love. That is impossible, that would destroy simplicity.

That is a good way to think about it, but there are problems if you believe this is actually how it works.

I’m sure people are going to argue this point, but I will leave it at this.

that the Hoy Spirit came down from heaven and conceived Jesus into Mary.

This is another interesting point. Yes we give certain actions of God to certain persons. The spirit conceived Jesus into Mary, but the father and the son also do the same act. We just apply that act to the spirit.

These are complex trinitarian points which are hard to explain quickly, and It’s late (at-least for a seminarian)

wouldn’t that mean the Holy Spirit was Jesus?

no because revelation tells us that it was the Son of God who Mary conceived. This comes straight from revelation. This is a complex Christological point, I haven’t dealt with that in my intellectual formation, I have an idea how it works but I don’t want to lead you astray.

Also, if He is the Spirit of God, why would he be a separate Person, because The Father is already a spiritual Being,

the father isn’t a spiritual being the Father is God who simply is. (aka exists)

Or is the Holy Spirit just a way of understanding God and His grace

nope that would be a heresy

I’m going to leave it at this I bet more people will respond to this thread I’ll be back tomorrow

 

[Kmon23]

Take this all with a grain of salt as there is always the possibility I am teaching error. If I am, I hope my brothers and sisters in Christ may correct me.

I tend to not look at the Holy Spirit as the love shared between the two other persons of the Trinity. The issue is that if that is true, then what about the love shared between the Holy Spirit and the Father? It may be an analogy, but not one that holds long when looked under theological lenses.

A better and more accurate way of looking at it is that there is the eternal source and origin of the Godhead. This is the 1st person of the Trinity. This is God the Father. The Son is the second person of the Trinity, and He is eternally begotten. There is also the third person of the trinity, and that is the Holy Spirit which eternally proceeds from the Father.

Each person is not the other. However, each is God, and there is only one God. They all share one divine essence, hence why we are monotheists. Also, understand that a quality or aspect must only pertain to a single person of the Trinity or all three. This is because if applied to one, then that quality is what separates that person as a separate person from the rest of the Trinity (hence why we have three persons). However, if it applies to more than one person, it must apply to all three because all three persons are equal to each other. This leads to an issue with the filioque for the Orthodox church where the procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father and the Son means that the Father and Son share something that the Holy Spirit does not, hence why from their understanding, the Holy Spirit is then lesser than the other two persons. However as Kallistos Ware says, it’s just semantics with different theological understanding that is still orthodox in teaching. What you need to know is that each person is equal to each other and all equally God. There are differences between them that makes them separate persons, but those differences do not relegate any of the persons being greater,lesser, or somehow separate from the rest of the persons of the Trinity.

Although long, I say the previous paragraph because every person of the Trinity are equal and are all God. Also, don’t think of one person or another as “spiritual” beings because applying terms in a layman’s context does not work in a theological framework. This is because when it comes to philosophy and theology, every word has a specific meaning. So when you say “spiritual” I have no idea what you are saying. By spiritual if you mean something beyond the physical realm/corporeal being, then yes (besides Jesus taking on flesh). If you mean in this context of spiritual, then technically God is pure spirit. Just be clear on what you mean by “spiritual” because if we don’t apply careful definitions it can lead to heresy (such as the Holy Spirit just being a “force” of the spirit God the Father). There is God, and He is the unchanging being, the first mover, just God. He is the I am.

I am sort of just rambling to hopefully give you more understanding since your latter questions seem to stem from misunderstandings of previous statements/question.

 

[sudy]

If you take a look at John 14:16, Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as ‘another’ Paraclete. This suggests to me something similar to Jesus.
Then, in John 16:7 it says unless Jesus goes, the Paraclete will not come, but that Jesus will send Him.

All of this suggest to me three persons of one God.

 

[catholictiger]

if you want to know what the church officially teaches on the HS read CCC 683-747

 

[mikeeh]

God the Father is up in heaven. God the Holy Spirit is here on earth. In the Old Testament the Spirit would go around helping the prophets and people. Then the Father sent the Son through the Holy Spirit to redeem the world. When the Son was baptized the Holy Spirit came down and stayed with him while he was with us. After the resurrection the Son and the Father sent the Holy Spirit back to be in all of us. The Holy Spirit was no longer just the Spirit that helps from time to time, he was now able to be with us and in us. Each person of God has his role. The Father is our creator, the Son is our savior, and the Holy Spirit is our sanctifier. Or as simply as I can put it: the Father creates the love, the Son gives us the love, and the Holy Spirit helps us receive and use the love in our lives. It’s okay not to understand the Holy Spirit and the Holy Trinity, I barely understand it myself. I took a workshop at the LA Religious Education Congress about the Trinity and the priest giving the workshop said if he truly understood the Trinity he’d be God. The good news is, it’s hard to blaspheme against the Holy Spirit because it’s hard to understand who the Holy Spirit is, so most people don’t truly understand what they are doing.

 

[Worlds]

God the Father is up in heaven. God the Holy Spirit is here on earth. In the Old Testament the Spirit would go around helping the prophets and people. Then the Father sent the Son through the Holy Spirit to redeem the world. When the Son was baptized the Holy Spirit came down and stayed with him while he was with us. After the resurrection the Son and the Father sent the Holy Spirit back to be in all of us. The Holy Spirit was no longer just the Spirit that helps from time to time, he was now able to be with us and in us. Each person of God has his role. The Father is our creator, the Son is our savior, and the Holy Spirit is our sanctifier. Or as simply as I can put it: the Father creates the love, the Son gives us the love, and the Holy Spirit helps us receive and use the love in our lives. It’s okay not to understand the Holy Spirit and the Holy Trinity, I barely understand it myself. I took a workshop at the LA Religious Education Congress about the Trinity and the priest giving the workshop said if he truly understood the Trinity he’d be God. The good news is, it’s hard to blaspheme against the Holy Spirit because it’s hard to understand who the Holy Spirit is, so most people don’t truly understand what they are doing.

Thank you so much… This really helped a lot. It really put things into perspective for me, that I probably will never really comprehend the wonder of The Trinity. But again, thank you, and God bless you!