Holy Ghost vs. Holy Spirit
 

Hello,

I have a question on the difference between Holy Ghost and Holy Spirit. I thought those two were the same but in different names. But when I read the preface of KJ21, it read:

"For your ease of reading, we have replaced obsolete and archaic words by the most exact modern synonyms, painstakingly chosen so as to ensure no change in meaning. For example, ... Holy Ghost by Holy Spirit. These are only a few examples among many."

And I was thinking if someone asked me why it is wrong to change from Holy Ghost by Holy Spirit, I wouldn't be able to give a detailed answer on that other than explaining why the words of God should not be changed.

So please help me here.
Thank you!

I just realized that this thread should have been under Bible Studies. Should I change or leave it. I don't know if I can even delete this thread I started.
Bro.Brandon, any suggestion?

Holy Ghost and Holy Spirit are the same thing..

But it seems from a quick read that the Holy Ghost is used when it is use in a titular sense (THE Holy Ghost), and Holy Spirit or Holy spirit is used when it is referring to a secondary operation of the Holy Ghost (sealed with that holy spirit).

I could be entirely wrong. I just did a quick search.

This thread is fine in this forum.

Here's what Millard J. Erickson said about it in "Christian Theology" 2nd edition, p.863:
"Complicating this matter is the unfortunate terminology of the King James Version and other older English translations, which refer to the Holy Spirit as the "Holy Ghost." Many persons who grew up using these versions of the Bible conceive the Holy Spirit as something inside a white sheet."

Is that so? So people read the King James Bible and think the third person of the Trinity is flying around like Casper? Like a bad Halloween costume? I don't think so. I still remember reading that in seminary and thinking, "That has to be one of the most ridiculous statements I've heard from a theologian." From that point in the class on, anytime I ever wrote or spoke about the Holy Spirit, I made it a point to refer to Him as the HOLY GHOST. I don't know why that bothered me so much at the time, but it ticked me off pretty good.

Er.. that idea of Holy Ghost being something like Casper has never occurred to me, ever! :shocked::shocked:

Actually, I remember hearing this Pentecostal lady saying when she received "holy ghost" she had this white sheet (like a table cloth or something like that) on top of her.. Perhaps the Pentecostals may think so..?

So basically the reason why they changed "Holy Ghost" to "Holy Spirit" would be because they thought people would conceive Holy Ghost as something inside a white sheet..? :S

It is very much a trained habit for me to use "Holy Spirit" instead of "Holy Ghost", although I completely agree that the use of "Ghost" is entirely proper. The earlier explanation as to the person as "Ghost" and office as "Spirit" make some sense. (I have not spent much time examining it.)

My training comes as a result of an overwhelming misuse of the name "Holy Ghost" by shysters and fly-by-night tent preachers that frequent our area as well as the large presence of "churches" that specialize in giving everyone in sight the "holyghost" (with the emphasis on the first syllable), whether or not they show ANY signs of true salvation. ( I've had an uncountable number of bus kids and Bible Club kids of assorted young ages who have told of getting the "holyghost" at their church. None have come close to explaining what that really meant). All that to say, I trained myself to speak of the "Holy Spirit" always in an effort to distance my words from the confusion that abounds around here.

Nope. Until my class with Erickson's theology book, I had never heard of such a thing, and I grew up in a Pentecostal environment. That white sheet thing, that's the Klan, that's not the Pentecostals.

Tough to say. That's the age-old question of which came first...the corrected modern versions or the corrections to the modern versions? Maybe Erickson's mother was Pentecostal and talked about the HOLYGhost (I like that accent!) and the kids at school made fun of him about it, so now he's real sensitive.

Holy Ghost is found in the NT only 89 times

Holy Spirit is found in both testaments 7 times

Holy Spirit seems to always be used when it is in someone

Holy Ghost refers to the third person of the Godhead but both inside and outside of a person

The usage of ghost has changed over time. There was no confusion 400 years ago though.

Holy Spirit

(or Holy Ghost)

• noun (in Christianity) the third person of the Trinity; God as spiritually active in the world.
http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/holyspirit?view=uk

ghost

• noun 1 an apparition of a dead person which is believed to appear to the living. 2 a faint trace: the ghost of a smile. 3 a faint secondary image produced by a fault in an optical system or on a cathode ray screen.

• verb act as ghost writer of.

— PHRASES give up the ghost die or stop functioning.

— ORIGIN Old English, "spirit, soul".
http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/ghost?view=uk


spirit

• noun 1 a person’s non-physical being, composed of their character and emotions. 2 this regarded as surviving after the death of the body, often manifested as a ghost. 3 a supernatural being. 4 the prevailing or typical character, quality, or mood: the nation’s egalitarian spirit. 5 (spirits) a person’s mood. 6 courage, energy, and determination. 7 the real meaning or intention of something as opposed to its strict verbal interpretation. 8 chiefly Brit. strong distilled liquor such as rum. 9 a volatile liquid, especially a fuel, prepared by distillation.

• verb (spirited, spiriting) (spirit away) convey rapidly and secretly.

— PHRASES in spirit in thought or intention though not physically. when the spirit moves someone when someone feels inclined to do something.

— ORIGIN Latin spiritus ‘breath, spirit’, from spirare ‘breathe’.