The name of the Holy 'Ghost'

[James F.]

In the Bible, it calls the Third Person of the Trinity the Holy Ghost. Why is He called the Holy Ghost?

[Father David Moser]

Simply the old english way of translating "spirit". You will find the "holy ghost" useage more prominantly in Anglican sources, but certainly not limited to them since it is to be found in the KJV. Also, and not being a linguist I couldn't say one way or the other for certain, I note that there are subtle differences used between "spirit" and "soul" (two clearly different words in English, but in slavonic or greek it seems to me that they tend to have a closer relationship) Perhaps someone more adept at comparative linguistics than I could comment.

Fr David Moser

[M.C. Steenberg]

Simply the old english way of translating "spirit". You will find the "holy ghost" useage more prominantly in Anglican sources, but certainly not limited to them since it is to be found in the KJV. Also, and not being a linguist I couldn't say one way or the other for certain, I note that there are subtle differences used between "spirit" and "soul" (two clearly different words in English, but in slavonic or greek it seems to me that they tend to have a closer relationship) Perhaps someone more adept at comparative linguistics than I could comment.

'Ghost' is still a common usage in Britain, especially in Anglican churches; though in Orthodox communities in the UK 'Spirit' has come to predominate -- as Fr David notes, these are simply issues of differing terms in various traditions of the English language. The term in Greek is pneuma, which is 'spirit'; 'ghost' in most English usage today has different connotations than it did when it was a common translation of this term.

There is a different term in Greek, pnoe, that can be 'soul' (though this is often nous) - but often such distinctions depend a great deal on the author being cited.

INXC, Matthew

[Olga]

"Soul" in Greek is more commonly "psyche", whereas "pnoe" is "breath". "Nous" refers more to "mind", though this word also has connotations of "spirit". The Slavonic for "soul" is "dukh" (u=oo).

[M.C. Steenberg]

"Soul" in Greek is more commonly "psyche", whereas "pnoe" is "breath". "Nous" refers more to "mind", though this word also has connotations of "spirit". The Slavonic for "soul" is "dukh" (u=oo).

This has to be somewhat qualified (or at least recognised as highly contextual). In a great many of the ascetical writings in particular, nous is better 'soul' than 'mind'; and in many of the early writings of the Church, pnoe was preferred over psyche for 'soul', precisely because as 'breath' it described the soul as a thing breathed by God, rather than a kind of spiritual substance (which is how psyche was being used in a great many circles). It is worth noting, too, that pneuma can also mean 'soul' in discussions on the human person.

INXC, Matthew