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HOUSMAIL HM031 24
July 1999 THE HOLY SPIRIT - HE? SHE? OR IT? In
an article I read recently, a so called "expert" commentator
claimed that in the Greek text, masculine gender nouns and pronouns are used
to speak about the Holy Spirit. This led to the further claim that this
"proved" that the Holy Spirit is a MALE PERSON. For
those of us who don't read Greek, and are not qualified in Greek grammar, it
can be a daunting task to test this claim. However, with a little effort, it
is not impossible to get at the REAL facts, by stumbling (one Greek letter at
a time) through one of the readily available Greek Grammars, a couple of
Lexicons, and an interlinear Greek/English New Testament. It also helps if
you know my good friend Anthony Buzzard, who has supplied me with the
information which reveals the gender of the respective Greek and Hebrew
words![1] So
then ..... what are the REAL Bible facts about this claim? FACT
NO 1 In
Greek, many nouns which are neuter in English, have either masculine or
feminine gender. That does not mean they have suddenly become male or female
persons, simply because we have switched languages! It is merely one more
evidence of the Tower of Babel still at work in our time! And when we
translate those words back into English, it is simple common sense to
translate the gender as well as the word! FACT
NO 2 Nowhere
in the Greek Text are masculine pronouns used with the word
"Pneuma". (translated into English as "spirit") It is
grammatically impossible! In Greek "pneuma" is neuter gender .....
and the rules of Greek grammar require that pronouns which refer to it MUST
also be neuter gender. FACT
NO 3 In
four places in the New Testament, the Greek word "parakletos"
is translated "comforter". ("helper" in the KJV margin,
or "counsellor" in the RSV) It is used as another name for the Holy
Spirit. (John 14:16, John 14:26,
John 15:26, John 16:7) This
word IS masculine gender, so the rules of Greek grammar require that pronouns
which refer to it must also be masculine gender. But that does not mean at
all, that it MUST therefore refer to a MALE PERSONALITY with separate
existence in its own right. The context in which the word is used, must be
taken into account when determining the correct translation of masculine
gender nouns from Greek to English. In
the only other place where the word appears (1
John 2:1) it refers to Jesus. Of course, it is quite
unnecessary to "prove" that Jesus is a person! And John does not
use it for that purpose. Instead, it is used to describe His OFFICE or ROLE
in Heaven. Careful
reading of those four places in John's Gospel, will show that the use of
"parakletos" has the same purpose in view
as in his epistle. That use is clearly NOT to assign personality to the
Spirit, but to describe the FUNCTION for which the Spirit is given. And since
it is simply another name for the Holy Spirit, common sense ought to dictate
that it be translated with the same gender as "spirit". We can
easily determine from other Bible references to the Spirit of God (especially
in the Old Testament) that the Holy Spirit should be viewed as SOMETHING
which belongs to God, rather than SOMEONE who is a DEITY. It should therefore
be translated into English as a neuter gender noun. A
further illustration of the futility of attempting to use Greek gender to
assign personality to the Spirit, is seen in the reference in John 15:26. Here we have ALL
THREE genders applied to the "spirit" in the same sentence! "When
the COMFORTER (Gk "parakletos"
-masculine) is come ..... even the SPIRIT (Gk
"pneuma" - neuter) of TRUTH (Gk "aletheias" - feminine) he (?) shall testify of
me". No
one in their right mind would seriously suggest that the Greek gender of
"truth" indicates that "truth" is a feminine PERSONALITY!
Why should it be any different with "comforter"? FACT
NO 4 Anthony
Buzzard [1] tells me that Hebrew nouns have only masculine or
feminine gender. There is NO NEUTER gender. The
Hebrew word for "spirit" is "RUACH". This word also has
several other meanings such as "wind", or "breath". When
used in conjunction with "QODESH" (3 times) it is translated
"Holy Spirit". In other places it appears with the word
"god" (without "holy") and is translated "Spirit of
God". In other places God speaks of it as "My Spirit", or
"the Spirit". (e.g. Genesis 6:3; Numbers 11:17 - use a Concordance to
check it out) In
Hebrew, "RUACH" is always FEMININE gender! However, no one in their
right mind, would ever suggest that means God's Holy Spirit is a separately
existing FEMALE DEITY! To
correctly assign English Gender when translating this word, we must make a
careful study of the way it is used in the Old Testament. This will show that
the Spirit of God is NOT spoken of as a person at all. Rather it is clearly
seen to be something which belongs to God in exactly the same way that the
spirit of a man belongs to the man. A man's spirit is NOT another person
existing apart from the man. It is an essential part of the WHOLE man.
Without it the man simply would not exist. God's
Spirit bears the same relationship to God, as the spirit of a man does to the
man. (1 Corinthians 2:2-16) "Hear, O Israel:
The LORD our God is one LORD; and you shall love the LORD your God with all
your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your
might." (Deuteronomy 6:4-5) This
ONE TRUE GOD (John 17:3) has a spirit which
is an integral part of Himself, in exactly the same way that the men He
created also each have a spirit! (Which is not surprising, since we are
created in His image!) Allon [1]
Sir Anthony F. Buzzard, Bt., M.A., (Oxon.), M.A. Th., A.R.C.M., teaches at
the Atlanta Bible College of the Church of God General Conference. |