Nontrinitarianism

===Holy Spirit===
{{for|uses of this term in other religions|Holy Spirit}}
{{see also|Holy Spirit (Christian denominational variations)}}
Nontrinitarian views about the Holy Spirit differ from mainstream Christian doctrine and generally fall into several distinct categories. Most scriptures traditionally used in support of the Trinity refer to the [[God the Father|Father]] and the Son, but not to the [[Holy Spirit]].

====Unitarian====
Groups with [[Unitarianism|Unitarian]] theology such as Polish [[Socinians]], the 18th–19th-century [[General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches|Unitarian Church]] and [[Christadelphians]] consider the Holy Spirit to be an aspect of God's power rather than a person.<ref>''The Unitarian: a monthly magazine of liberal Christianity'' ed. Jabez Thomas Sunderland, Brooke Herford, Frederick B. Mott – 1893 "We believe in the Holy Spirit, man's sole reliance for guidance, safety, or salvation, not as a separate person, entity, reality, or consciousness, existent apart from man or God, but as the recognizing sympathetic inter-communication in love between God and the human soul, the direct converse or communion of man's consciousness with Deity."</ref> Christadelphians believe that the phrase ''Holy Spirit'' refers to God's power or character, depending on the context.<ref name="TrinityTrueOrFalse">{{cite book |last=Broughton |first=James H. |author2=Peter J Southgate |title=The Trinity: True or False? |publisher=The Dawn Book Supply |location=UK |url=http://www.biblelight.org/trin/trinind.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111118003323/http://www.biblelight.org/trin/trinind.htm |archive-date=2011-11-18 }}</ref> Similarly, [[Jehovah's Witnesses]] believe that the Holy Spirit is not an actual person but is God's "active force" that he uses to accomplish his will.<ref name="Awake! Is the Holy Spirit a Person?">{{cite journal|journal=Awake!|title=Is the Holy Spirit a Person?|date=July 2006|pages=14–15|quote=In the Bible, God's Holy Spirit is identified as God's power in action. Hence, an accurate translation of the Bible's Hebrew text refers to God's spirit as "God's active force".}}</ref>

==== Binitarianism ====
Groups with [[Binitarianism|Binitarian]] theology, such as [[Armstrongism|Armstrongites]], believe that the Logos and God the Father are co-equal and co-eternal, but they do not believe that the Holy Spirit is an actual person, like the Father and the Son. They believe the Holy Spirit is the Power, Mind, or Character of God, depending on the context. They teach, "The Holy Spirit is the very essence, the mind, life and power of God. It is not a Being. The Spirit is inherent in the Father and the Son, and [[Emanationism|emanates]] from Them throughout the entire universe."<ref>[http://reluctant-messenger.com/HWA/Mystery/Chapter1.html Who and What Is God?] – ''Mystery of the Ages'' – Herbert W. Armstrong. Retrieved 19 May 2012.</ref>

====Modalist groups====
[[Oneness Pentecostalism]], as with other [[Sabellianism|modalist]] groups, teach that the Holy Spirit is a ''mode'' of God, rather than a distinct or separate person in the godhead, and that the Holy Spirit is another name for God the Father. According to Oneness theology, the Holy Spirit is the Father operating in a certain capacity or manifestation. The United Pentecostal Church teaches that there is no personal distinction between God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.<ref>Peter Althouse ''Spirit of the last days: Pentecostal eschatology in conversation'' p. 12. 2003. "The Oneness Pentecostal stream follows in the steps of the Reformed stream, but has a modalistic view of the Godhead"</ref><ref>See under heading "The Father is the Holy Ghost" in David Bernard, The Oneness of God, Chapter 6.</ref><ref name="basic.doctrine.list.father.is.holy.ghost">See also David Bernard, ''A Handbook of Basic Doctrines'', Word Aflame Press, 1988.</ref> The two titles "Father" and "Holy Spirit" (as well as others) are said to not reflect separate "persons" within the Godhead, but rather two different ways in which the one God reveals himself to his creatures. The Oneness view of Bible verses that mention God and his Spirit (e.g. Isaiah 48:16) is that they do not imply two "persons" any more than various scriptural references to a man and his spirit or soul (such as in Luke 12:19) imply two "persons" existing within one body.<ref>See under "The Lord God and His Spirit," in Chapter 7 of David Bernard, [http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/pentecostal/One-Top.htm The Oneness of God] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080216034825/http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/pentecostal/One-Top.htm |date=2008-02-16 }}.</ref>{{unreliable source?|date=May 2017}}{{dead link|date=May 2017}}

====Latter-day Saint movement====
{{see also|Holy Spirit (Christian denominational variations)#Latter Day Saints|l1=Holy Spirit in Mormonism|God in Mormonism}}
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In the LDS Church, the Holy Ghost (usually synonymous with Holy Spirit)<ref>{{Cite book |last= Wilson |first= Jerry A. |contribution= Holy Spirit |contribution-url= http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/EoM/id/3768 |page= [https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofmo01ludl/page/651 651] |editor-last= Ludlow |editor-first= Daniel H |editor-link= Daniel H. Ludlow |year= 1992 |title= Encyclopedia of Mormonism |location= New York |publisher= [[Macmillan Publishing]] |isbn= 978-0-02-879602-4 |oclc= 24502140 |quote= The Holy Spirit is a term often used to refer to the Holy Ghost. In such cases the Holy Spirit is a personage." |title-link= Encyclopedia of Mormonism }}</ref> is considered to be the third distinct member of the [[Godhead (Mormonism)|Godhead]] (Father, Son and Holy Ghost),<ref>{{Cite book |last= McConkie |first= Joseph Fielding |author-link= Joseph Fielding McConkie |contribution= Holy Ghost |contribution-url= http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/EoM/id/3766 |pages= [https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofmo01ludl/page/649 649–651] |editor-last= Ludlow |editor-first= Daniel H |editor-link= Daniel H. Ludlow |year= 1992 |title= Encyclopedia of Mormonism |location= New York |publisher= [[Macmillan Publishing]] |isbn= 978-0-02-879602-4 |oclc= 24502140 |title-link= Encyclopedia of Mormonism }}</ref> and to have a body of "spirit",<ref>[https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/131.7-8?lang=eng D&C 131:7–8] ("There is no such thing as immaterial matter. All spirit is matter, but it is more fine or pure, and can only be discerned by purer eyes; We cannot see it; but when our bodies are purified we shall see that it is all matter.")</ref> which makes him unlike the Father and the Son who are said to have bodies "as tangible as man's".<ref name="DC130_22">[https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/130.22?lang=eng D&C 130:22].</ref> According to LDS doctrine, the Holy Spirit is believed to be a person,<ref name="DC130_22"/><ref>{{citation |url= https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1974/05/the-holy-ghost?lang=eng |title= The Holy Ghost |first= Marion G. |last= Romney |author-link= Marion G. Romney |date=May 1974 |journal= [[Ensign (LDS magazine)|Ensign]]}}</ref> with a body of spirit, able to pervade all worlds.<ref name="MillennialStarXII">{{cite book |title= Millennial Star |volume= XII |date= October 15, 1850 |pages= 305–309 |url= http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/MStar&CISOPTR=2051&REC=12&CISOSHOW=2013 |access-date= March 30, 2011}}</ref>

Latter-day Saints believe that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are part of the Godhead, but that the Father is greater than the Son, and that the Son is greater than the Holy Spirit in position and authority, but not in nature (i.e., they equally share the "God" nature).<ref name="MillennialStarXII"/> They teach that the Father, Son, and Spirit are three ontologically separate, self-aware entities who share a common "God" nature distinct from our "human" nature, who are "One God" in the sense of being united (in the same sense that a husband and wife are said to be "one"), similar to [[Social trinitarianism]].

A number of [[List of sects in the Latter Day Saint movement|Latter Day Saint sects]], most notably the [[Community of Christ]] (the second largest Latter Day Saint denomination), the [[Church of Christ (Temple Lot)]],<ref>{{cite web|title=Basic Beliefs Articles of Faith and Practice|url=http://www.churchofchrist-tl.org/basicBeliefs.html|publisher=Church of Christ|access-date=21 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150121163919/http://www.churchofchrist-tl.org/basicBeliefs.html|archive-date=21 January 2015}}</ref> and derived groups, follow a traditional Protestant trinitarian theology.

====Other groups====
The [[Unity Church]] interprets the religious terms Father, Son, and Holy Spirit [[metaphysically]], as three aspects of mind action: mind, idea, and expression. They believe this is the process through which all manifestation takes place.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.unitypaloalto.org/beliefs/twenty_questions.html |title= Unity Palo Alto Community Church – Beliefs &#124; Twenty Questions and Answers|website=www.unitypaloalto.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071007071544/http://www.unitypaloalto.org/beliefs/twenty_questions.html |archive-date=October 7, 2007}}</ref>

Groups in the [[Rastafari movement]] generally state that it is [[Haile Selassie]] who embodies both God the Father and God the Son, while the Holy (or "''Hola''") Spirit is to be found within every human being. Rastas also say that the true church is the human body, and that it is this church (or "''structure''") that contains the Holy Spirit.