Holy Ghost

Holy Ghost is the older English designation for the Holy Spirit (Hebrew rûaḥ haqqōdeš, Greek pneuma hagion), the third person of the Trinity. The King James Version consistently used Ghost where modern versions prefer Spirit, reflecting the Germanic geist (spirit, mind) preserved in the English word ghost. Both terms render the same underlying Hebrew and Greek words without difference in theological meaning. The personality of the Holy Spirit is established in Scripture by the attributes assigned to him: he thinks (Romans 8:27), wills (1 Corinthians 12:11), speaks (Acts 13:2), grieves (Ephesians 4:30), and can be blasphemed (Matthew 12:31)—attributes that belong only to a personal being.

The Spirit's work spans both Testaments: in the Old Testament, the Spirit empowers leaders, prophets, and craftsmen; in the New, he convicts the world of sin, regenerates the believer, baptizes believers into the body of Christ, indwells and seals them, and distributes spiritual gifts. The Pentecost event in Acts 2 marks the distinctive new covenant gift of the Spirit in fulfillment of Joel's prophecy. Trinitarian theology affirms the Spirit as fully divine, co-equal and co-eternal with the Father and Son, proceeding from the Father (and in Western theology, from the Son—the filioque clause).