In today’s world, we struggle with anything that is spiritual. Why? Because it is invisible, and we cannot touch or see it. The Holy Scriptures speak to the spirit in a variety of ways. One cannot begin to understand the O. T. scriptures without looking to Jewish scholars and its history. One source comments that there is a common thread between the English (spirit), the Hebrew (ruach), and the Greek (pneuma). The common thread is that all three represent something non-physical and normally invisible. (source:bibletools.org/index/cfm) Thus, with one exception, quotes the same source, the spirit is “never seen.”
“What may ever be seen is what the spirit causes,” according to one source in my research. This beautiful phrase coincides with the belief that the Holy Spirit brings faith by water and the Word in Holy Baptism. For St. Paul says, “No one can say Jesus is LORD except by the Holy Spirit.” (1 Cor. 12:3)
Since the Spirit is indeed invisible, the Jewish interpretation describes the invisible with those of the mind. As the spirit is invisible, so are the things of the mind. Let us take a look at the Jewish discussion on the parts of the soul as listed in Table 1 below.
Table 1: Jewish: Three Parts of the Soul
| Hebrew Term | Definition | Location/Function |
| Nefesh | Lower part of the soul: linked to instincts and bodily cravings | Provided at birth.
Primary place: Liver (Knowledge) |
| Ruach | Middle part of the soul:
moral values: ability to distinguish good & evil |
Primary place: Heart
(Intellect) |
| Neshamah | Higher soul or super soul.
Intellect and allows man to enjoy & benefit from afterlife |
Primary place: Brain
(Wisdom) |
As we look further into the use of the word “spirit” in the Bible, we find hundreds of uses both in the O. T. and the N. T. Most of the O. T. references for the use of “wind, spirit or breath” is the form ruach. Table 2 below describes the O. T. references to ruach as compared to the total uses of the word spirit, wind, or breath. As one can see, the majority is ruach regardless of the Authorized Version (AV) or the Revised Version (RV).
Table 2: Ruach Use in the Old Testament
| Translation | Hebrew Word | Authorized Ver. (AV) | Revised Ver. (RV) |
| Spirit | Breath, wind, or spirit | 389 (348 times in Tanakh) | 389 |
| · ruach | 235 | 224 | |
| · neshamah | 2 | not available | |
| · other (22 different ways: AV) | 152 | 165 (number not available) |
Source: ecclesia.org/truth/ruach.html
Note: Greek word (pneuma) is used 383 times in the N. T.
Invisible Force
Regardless of the AV or RV, the one root idea running through all the passage is invisible force. (source:ecclesia.org) Wherever the word of ruach is used, it always represents that which is invisible by its manifestations. The same source says, “As coming from God, it is the invisible origin of life.” The root idea throughout is further applied to various persons (of the Godhead), and other aspects.
We need to go back to the beginning, i.e. Genesis 1:2. “Now the earth was formless and void, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God (ruach Elohim) was hovering over the waters.” The Hebrew words for the “Holy Spirit” are Ruach HaKadosh.
This idea of “invisiblity” is quoted throughout scripture. Not only does the spirit refer to God – and His angels – but to the power in its inhabitants (believers).
The Spirit: – The LORD and giver of life (Nicene Creed)
Much has been written over the trinitarian nature of God. Many believe and confess with the fathers of the church, while many others deny the trinitarian nature of God. Some refer to God as a “family” and deny the trinitarian nature of God – even the person of the Holy Spirit. While others continue to support the early church fathers, including Athanasius; some would quote scripture to deny the trinity (and the Spirit) while others are dogmatic in their support of the Holy Spirit as a person in the trinity.
The opening verses in scripture say, “Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God (ruach Elohim) was hovering over the waters.” (Genesis 1:2) According to ecclesia.org and its Appendix 9 to the Companion Bible, Ruach is divided in nine separate ways. The N. T. equivalents (pneuma) is used fourteen different ways, both according to bibletools.org.
Nave’s Topical Bible is a major source to investigate the various uses of the “Holy Spirit” in scripture. Dr. Nave was a chaplain the U. S. Army and while serving, he took time and spent 14 years of “delightful and untiring” study of the Word of God. The results were published in the early 1900s. We know from previous comments, there are over seven hundred uses of the root word, “spirit” in both Hebrew and Greek. The issue has been and continues to be: “Is the Holy Spirit a trinitarian member?” A great deal of arguments relates to 1 John 5: 7-8. The issue was the “Johannine Comma:” which is an interpolated phrase in 1 John 5:7-8. It has been a touchy subject for both Protestants and Catholics alike over the doctrine of the Trinity. The passage first appeared in an edition of the Vulgate – the Latin translation of the Bible. It was not until the 15th century that the phrase entered the Greek manuscripts. Two of the three Christian Creeds address specifics related to the person of the Holy Spirit. The Athanasian Creed (verse 22) says, “The Holy Spirit is of the Father, and of the Son, neither made nor created nor begotten, but proceeding.” This creed, along with its predecessor the Nicene Creed, created much stir in the Church (Nicaea Christians vs. Arians).
Laced in between many of the seven ecumenical councils were several Councils of Carthage (Africa). They were held in the third, fourth, and fifth centuries. The “Synod of 484” was hastily called and has been referred to as: “The Vandal Synod of Carthage.” The council was an unsuccessful attempt to persuade the Nicene bishops to accept the Arian view. Many of the bishops who refused to accept the Arian view were either exiled or executed.
I have selected various verses from Genesis through the N. T. related to the ruach (pneuma).
| Bible Reference | Text |
| Genesis 1:2 | And the Spirit of God hovered over the waters |
| Psalm 51:11 | Do not cast me from Your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. |
| Isaiah 11:2 | The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him – the Spirit of wisdom . . . |
| Matthew 1:18 | . . .but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. |
| John 15:26 (Jesus’ speaking) | when the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father. . . |
| John 16:13 (Jesus’ speaking) | But when he, the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth |
| John 20:22 (Jesus’ speaking) | And when he breathed on them and said, receive the Holy Spirit. |
| Acts 1:2 | Until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles. |
| Romans 15:13 | May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as your trust in him so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit |
| 1 Corinthians 3:16 | You are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you . . . |
| 1 Corinthians 12:3 | . . .And no one can say, “Jesus is LORD,” except by the Holy Spirit |
| 2 Corinthians 13:14 | May the grace of the LORD Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. |
| Galatians 4:6 | Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts |
| Titus 3:5 | . . .He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. |
| 2 Peter 1:21 | . . .men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit |
| 1 John 4:2 | This is how you recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God. |
| 1 John 5:6-8 | And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. . .For there are three that testify |
Closing: I was born into a Christian family and was brought to the waters of baptism as an infant, by water and the Word, I received the gift of faith by the Holy Spirit. That Spirit-given faith acknowledges Jesus, the Christ, as the only way of salvation based on His sacrificial death, burial, resurrection, and ascension. As a lover of hymnody, I would like to share the words of the hymnist, Martin H. Franzmann in his hymn: Thy Strong Word.
God the Father, light-creator,
To Thee laud and honor be.
To Thee, Light of Light begotten,
Praise be sung eternally.
Holy Spirit, light-revealer,
Glory, glory be to Thee.
Mortals, angels, now and ever
Praise the holy Trinity!
(LSB 578, verse 6)
Peace
Connected in Him, I stand
GHR
