Holy Spirit in Christianity

==Etymology and usage==
The [[Koine Greek]] word ''pneûma'' ({{lang|grc|{{linktext|πνεῦμα}}}}, [[pneuma]]) is found around 385 times in the New Testament, with some scholars differing by three to nine occurrences.<ref name=CompanionBible>''Companion Bible – KJV '' by [[E. W. Bullinger]], Kregel Publications, 1999. {{ISBN|0825420997}}. p. 146.</ref> ''Pneuma'' appears 105 times in the four [[canonical gospel]]s, 69 times in the [[Acts of the Apostles]], 161 times in the [[Pauline epistles]], and 50 times elsewhere.<ref name=CompanionBible/> These usages vary: in 133 cases it refers to "spirit" and in 153 cases to "spiritual". Around 93 times, the reference is to the Holy Spirit,<ref name=CompanionBible/> sometimes under the name ''pneuma'' and sometimes explicitly as the ''pneûma tò Hagion'' ({{lang|grc|{{linktext|Πνεῦμα}} {{linktext|τὸ}} {{linktext|Ἅγιον}}}}). (In a few cases it is also simply used generically to mean ''wind'' or ''life''.<ref name=CompanionBible/>) It was generally translated into the [[Vulgate]] as ''[[wikt:spiritus|Spiritus]]'' and ''{{linktext|Spiritus Sanctus}}''.

The [[English language|English]] terms "Holy Ghost" and "Holy Spirit" are complete synonyms: one derives from the [[Old English]] ''[[wikt:gast#Old English|gast]]'' and the other from the [[Latin]] [[loanword]] ''{{linktext|spiritus}}''. Like ''pneuma'', they both refer to the [[breath]], to its [[vitalism|animating power]], and to the [[soul]]. The Old English term is shared by all other [[Germanic languages]] (compare, e.g., the [[German language|German]] ''[[Geist]]'') and it is older; the [[King James Bible]] typically uses "Holy Ghost". Beginning in the 20th century, translations overwhelmingly prefer "Holy Spirit", partly because the general English term "ghost" has increasingly come to refer only to the spirit of a dead person.<ref>Robin W. Lovin, Foreword to the English translation of Karl Barth's ''The Holy Spirit and the Christian Life'' (1993) {{ISBN|0664253253}}, p. xvii.</ref><ref>[http://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=Hustad+%22inside+a+white+sheet%22 Millard J. Erickson, L. Arnold Hustad, ''Introducing Christian Doctrine''] Baker Academic (2001) {{ISBN|978-0801022500}}, p. 271.</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=2005-04-11 |title=Norfolk schools told Holy Ghost 'too spooky' |url=http://education.guardian.co.uk/faithschools/story/0,13882,1457028,00.html |access-date=2010-05-04 |work=The Guardian |location=London, England}}</ref>