The concept of Spirit in Christianity
Synonyms: Soul, Essence, Psyche, Ghost, Energy, Vitality, Enthusiasm, Nature, Character, Force, Vigor, Ethos, Mind, Disposition
In Swedish: Anda; In Dutch: Geest; In Finnish: Henki; In Spanish: Espíritu; In German: Geist; In Malay: Semangat; In French: Esprit
The below excerpts are indicatory and do represent direct quotations or translations. It is your responsibility to fact check each reference.
Christian concept of 'Spirit'
From: Ante-nicene Fathers
(1) The spirit is mentioned in the text, and it is described as being a different thing from the soul and the power, and it is related to the actions of John.[1] (2) This entity is received by hearts, making them capable of life eternal, and also lays hold on the flesh, as referenced in the provided text.[2] (3) Spirit is where the clear faith is implanted in those who follow demonstrations, ensuring they cannot conceive of anything different, thus solidifying their belief.[3] (4) This enjoined Philip to proceed to that road, and bade the apostle adjoin himself to the chamberlain’s chariot, indicating divine guidance.[4] (5) The text says that those who are baptized, wipe off the sins which obscure the light of the Divine Spirit, and the eye of the spirit is free.[5]
From: Gospel of Thomas Commentary
(1) This represents a non-physical or spiritual element, often contrasted with the flesh or the body, and the interaction or relationship between these two is a central theme of the text.[6] (2) This refers to the non-physical essence of a person, often associated with emotions, thoughts, and the soul.[7] (3) He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.[8] (4) This is reflected in the body, and in the church, all must be considered equal so that the kingdom is truly revealed.[9] (5) This is something that legalism in the church is not nourished by, and it blocks others from knowing it.[10]
From: Expositions of Holy Scripture
(1) The text describes the emotions of Jesus, and how he was affected.[11] (2) This is the power of God dwelling within individuals, and from which they can forecast the measure of the gifts which it can bestow upon them.[12] (3) This refers to the inner readiness and willingness to do good, but it is contrasted with the limitations of the physical body, highlighting the struggle between the two.[13] (4) This is one of the divine entities, and it cleanses us by bringing the truth concerning Christ to bear on our understandings and hearts.[14] (5) The Spirit of Christ, and it is the warmth of the Spirit of Christ at all, and it is the Spirit dwelling in men’s spirits, and may be included in the thoughts of the eye salve with which we are to anoint our eyes.[15]
From: Hymns for Christian Devotion
(1) This is the divine essence, providing the strength to the message, ensuring its influence, and bringing about positive change.[16] (2) This illustrates the essence of an individual, particularly in a place of devotion and supplication.[17] (3) The Spirit is a source of grace, health, and power, and it is associated with light and love, as described within the verses.[18] (4) This entity initiated action upon the water, which was characterized by its constant movement and lack of boundaries, setting the stage for subsequent transformations.[19] (5) The speaker refers to the moment when their essence will transition from their physical form, signifying their departure.[20]
From: Bible cyclopedia, critical and expository
(1) This is one of the characteristics of Satan, along with being the prince of the powers of the air, working in the children of disobedience.[21] (2) The spirit is the animating force of the body, but faith does not derive its life from works, and it is a key difference in understanding.[22] (3) The spirit is the opposite of the flesh in an ethical sense, representing the spiritual nature of a person, and contrasts with the carnal or worldly aspects.[23] (4) The Lord's Supper is the seal of the new covenant in His blood, the sign that we were all made to drink into one Spirit, and the pledge that He who once loved us so dearly as to give Himself for us still loves us as intensely as ever.[24] (5) The churches are one in the unity of the Spirit and headship of Christ, even though they are mutually independent as to external ceremonies and government, as stated in the text.[25]
From: A Dictionary of the Bible (Hastings)
(1) This refers to the Holy Spirit, which gave prophecy, and prophecy can be interpreted only by the voice of God, not by private opinion, as the text indicates.[26] (2) This refers to the essence of a deceased person, believed to be capable of causing harm and prompting certain mourning rituals to make the mourner unrecognizable.[27] (3) Christ taught the Church to perpetuate for mankind in her Lord’s Day all that was of eternal moment in the Sabbath by His Spirit, according to the text.[28] (4) This refers to the Holy Spirit, whose manifestations are described as 'gifts,' highlighting the spiritual dimension of giving and receiving.[29] (5) The spirit is mentioned in the provided text as being opposed by the flesh, and this opposition results in the dualism of antagonistic moral principles.[30]
From: The Complete Sayings of Jesus
(1) The gift received.[31] (2) The entity that led Jesus into the wilderness, setting the stage for the encounters with the devil and the period of fasting.[32] (3) A state in which Paul was bound, and was going to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that would befall him there.[33] (4) This is something that speaks within someone, implying divine guidance or inspiration during a moment.[34] (5) The Spirit is related to the concept of spiritual rebirth, with its actions being likened to the unpredictable nature of the wind, as illustrated in the conversation.[35]
From: A Cyclopedia of Biblical literature
(1) This refers to the soul.[36] (2) The essence that the prophet says those who in a remote age, imbibing their spirit, should fall after the same example of unbelief.[37] (3) This refers to the Holy Spirit, which the Galatians had received, and the Apostle appeals to their experience of it.[38] (4) The spirit of the Old Testament was to be explained by the Apostles, which were hidden from the Jewish doctors, and it was essential to their office.[39] (5) The pouring out of the grace of the Spirit upon the church happened after the ascension, which also marked the beginning of the higher exercises of His office as a mediating priest.[40]
From: Works of St. Anselm
(1) Spirit is love, and is the Breath of the Father and Son, and is regarded as such because from both breathing in their transcendent way it mysteriously proceeds, reflecting their shared essence.[41] (2) The Spirit exists simply, and created beings are not comparable with it, as it has a unique and singular way of existing and it alone exists perfectly.[42] (3) This entity, representing love, exists within the Father and the Son, with all three entities existing within each other in perfect equality, without any one surpassing the others.[43] (4) This is the divine entity, described as the supremely good and powerful being, who is the Lord and ruler of all.[44] (5) The text references the Spirit as a distinct entity, emphasizing his role as the one that proceeds or emanates.[45]
From: Summa Theologica (English translation)
(1) The text states that the faithful of Christ are an epistle, as it were, written with the Spirit of God, according to 2 Cor. 3:2, [3].[46] (2) The Apostle's speech and preaching was not in the persuasive words of human wisdom, but in the showing of this and power.[47] (3) This is what devotion causes an interior sacrifice of, and is also afflicted by the present life.[48] (4) This refers to the essence of a person, and the text explains that spiritual sins belong to this, to which it is proper to turn to God, and to turn away from Him.[49] (5) This is the essence of the law of life, and it is associated with the writing of Christ's doctrine, which is meant to be in the heart.[50]
From: The city of God
(1) It is the opposite of the flesh, and it is associated with the desire to live according to God and not according to man, as the text details.[51] (2) This is the part of a human that the flesh can lust against.[52] (3) This is what the good also war with the wicked, in which the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh, in each individual, as stated in the text.[53] (4) This is a term used to describe the one of God from whom a man receives his virtues, according to the provided text.[54] (5) The text mentions the spirit as lusting against the flesh, creating an internal conflict that makes it difficult to attain the supreme good.[55]
From: The Little Flowers of St. Francis
(1) This is a force that drove the individual to run through the garden, wood, and church, showing his strong emotions.[56] (2) The spirit is a crucial element, as it is the spirit of life that filled the chalice, and influenced the friars' spiritual states and fates.[57]
From: The Writings of St. Francis of Assisi
(1) The element that rests upon those who do these things and persevere to the end, making them children of the heavenly Father.[58]
From: The Second Helvetic Confession
(1) This is a reference to the work of the Spirit, which the powers of the flesh and remnants of the old man are not so efficacious as to extinguish.[59] (2) This is a spiritual aspect, and a person can feel withdrawn from it, and the flesh should be deprived of its fuel so that it may the more willingly and easily obey this.[60] (3) This is the same preaching of the Gospel, becoming effectual and living in the hearts of believers through the illumination of the Holy Spirit.[61] (4) For the Lord himself has said in the gospel, "It is not you who speak, but this of my Father speaking through you"; therefore "He who hears you hears me, and he who rejects me rejects him who sent me".[62]
From: The Existence and Attributes of God
(1) This represents the Holy Spirit, which is considered the third person of the Trinity, and it is a divine force, and is involved in spiritual understanding.[63] (2) The spirit of wisdom is put in the understanding, and the will is formed to a pliableness to his offers, where there was before folly.[64] (3) This is a distinct function in the Trinity, and is the one who applies the promise, and renews us to be his temples.[65] (4) The spirit is the first act in religion, and not giving God our spirit is a great sin, implying a mockery of God, and an alienation of our hearts from Him is a real scorn put upon Him.[66]
From: The Book of the Bee
(1) This is what the harpist of David is known for, making it known that although there was a beginning of the framing of Adam and the other creatures, it had no beginning in the mind of God.[67] (2) An entity thought by some to be the Holy Spirit, while others believe it to refer to the air.[68]
From: The Book of the Cave of Treasures
(1) This refers to the eye of the Spirit.[69] (2) Also known as the Paraclete, it was received by the Apostles at Pentecost, during which tongues were distributed among them.[70]
From: The Kebra Nagast
(1) The disciples were told to walk in this, suggesting a spiritual path.[71] (2) This descended upon David, which indicates divine inspiration, and is a source of knowledge and understanding.[72]
From: The Works of Dionysius the Areopagite
(1) A term used to signify an aspect of the Divine nature as part of the Godhead.[73]
Gnostic concept of 'Spirit'
From: Fragments of a Faith Forgotten
(1) The Spirit is not a breath or wind, but a subtle odour spreading everywhere, which is one of the three original principles, intermingled with Light and Darkness, and it strives to raise powers and rescue them from Darkness.[74] (2) The spirit was what many gospels and apocalypses were thus compiled under the inspiration of, as it was claimed—all purporting to be the instruction vouchsafed by Jesus to His disciples after the 'resurrection from the dead,' which mystical phrase they mostly represented as meaning the new birth or Gnostic illumination, the coming to life of the soul from its previous dead state.[75] (3) The spirit is infused into man, and the spirit desired to follow its Father into the height, and the spirit in man was thereby tormented, according to the text.[76] (4) The Holy Spirit is a part of the Baptisms that Jesus gives to the disciples, which is used with the wine jars and vine-branches, and the supernal givers of the Baptism are the Seven Virgins of Light.[77] (5) This is incarnated into the plane where there is male and female, and is thus cut off from the great life and motion of the Pleroma, and is also clothed with Wisdom.[78]
From: Pistis Sophia
(1) The spirit is what the disciples will be filled with, allowing them to be called spiritual and perfected in all fullness, according to the Savior.[79] (2) The spirit is a key concept, it came down from the height through the First Mystery, and is related to forgiveness and inheriting the Light-kingdom.[80] (3) This refers to the counterfeiting spirit, which is hostile to the soul, and it leads the soul to commit sins and mischief; this spirit plays a critical role in the soul's journey.[81]
From: The Gnostics and Their Remains
(1) The conscience, which gathers to itself out of the portion of evil that resides in the meats and the lusts thereof, growing to its full stature.[82]
The concept of Spirit in local and regional sources
Spirit in the text encapsulates the essence of decision-making regarding sin and represents a divine influence in personal experiences, particularly highlighted by the encounter Edwin has with a mysterious figure, symbolizing spiritual intervention.
From: The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda
(1) The fundamental essence, viewed as unchanging and eternal, is the driving force behind nature's movement, representing the ultimate reality, and it never becomes matter, nor does matter become this.[83] (2) This is what one needs to find the hidden manna and to fully understand the words of Christ.[84] (3) This is what the lady said they worship, and it is a key part of the conversation about what they worship, and the monk asked what it is.[85] (4) The text indicates the path does not lie in forms, nor in philosophical problems, but it is necessary to cleanse it, which is pure in its own nature.[86] (5) The power of this has had many manifestations in the realm of matter, and is also referred to as the Infinite.[87]
From: Triveni Journal
(1) The essence of a person, which achieves purity, and its final state is suggested by the light illuminating the surroundings, symbolizing a transition from the physical to the spiritual realm.[88] (2) Supernatural entities that the aunt believes in and insists are real despite the narrator's skepticism.[89] (3) The universal essence that Sri Aurobindo indicates as the source of profound knowledge and unity.[90]
From: Folklore of the Santal Parganas
(1) The essence of the boy that the bonga girl takes away with her after his death, indicating a connection beyond life.[91] (2) Supernatural entities that the woman observes after the Jugi blesses her eyes, including bongas, bhuts, dains, churins, and souls of dead men.[92]
From: Bede's Ecclesiastical History of England
(1) This term refers to the part of a person that makes a decision to consent to sin.[93] (2) The nature of the mysterious figure encountered by Edwin, indicating divine intervention in his life.[94]
From: Sanskrit Words In Southeast Asian Languages
(1) This refers to the soul, the non-physical essence of a person, the life force.[95] (2) Spirit refers to the nonphysical part of a person, associated with feelings, character, and soul, as the provided text indicates.[96]