|
Ruach Studies | "Holy Ghost" in the KJV Spiritanity | Meanings and Uses of Ruach [PDF]
|
|
by
Paul Sumner
During the Middle Ages, Christian translators created a way to make the English Bible reflect their belief that the Holy Ghost was not the Holy Spirit. These theologians coined the phrase "Holy Ghost" to designate the Third Person of the Trinity. In contrast, they used "Holy Spirit" to refer to the Spirit of God or Spirit of the LORD encountered by the Hebrews and Jews in the Old Testament, then by followers of Jesus in the New Testament. In the 16th century, Bible printers reinforced this distinction by introducing capital and small letters. In the OT they used "spirit" and "holy spirit." In the NT they printed "Spirit" and "Holy Ghost," but with subtle distinctions. These translation and printing differences do not exist in the Bible itself, in either Hebrew or Greek. They are invented theological biases imported into the (English) Bible. They provided both verbal and visual validation for the already existing conviction that Christianity was a new revelation distinct from its Hebraic/Jewish foundations. At the end of this study I raise questions about the implicatons of these biases. For example, if the spirit of the Lord in the OT is not the Holy Ghost of the NT, when did the spirit become the Ghost, another person in the Godhead? Are there two spirits in the Godhead? [Top]
The linguistic distinction between "Holy Ghost" and "Holy Spirit" is most readily evident in the King James (Authorized) Version of 1611. In the KJV, "Holy Ghost" occurs 90 times — only in its New Testament portion. [See list: "Holy Ghost" in the KJV.] The phrase "Holy Spirit" occurs four times in the NT (Luke 11:13; Eph 1:13, 4:30; 1 Thess 4:8). But in the original Greek there is no difference between "Holy Ghost" and "Holy Spirit." Compare these KJV texts in which the Greek phrases are identical. Matthew 1:18 — "she was found with child of the Holy Ghost [pneuma hagion]" [Top] The KJV translators were so consistent about maintaining the distinction between "Ghost" and "Spirit" that they broke a key verbal link between two adjoining verses: Acts 16:6 — "they…were forbidden by the Holy Ghost [hagion pneuma] to preach the word in Asia"In context, the phrases "Holy Ghost" and the "Spirit of Jesus" are identical, unless we believe there are two "SPIRITS" working here. Rather, Luke tells his readers that the resurrected Messiah himself superintends the messianic movement — by his invisible presence, his "Spirit" (pneuma), which is named "the Holy Ghost" (hagion pneuma) in the KJV. [Top] Throughout the KJV, "Holy Ghost" is used as a proper noun for Deity, and translators sought to protect the Holy Ghost's independent, co-equal, divine status. He is never depicted as subordinate to or "possessed" by anyone. That is, we never read "the Ghost of Jesus" or "the Ghost of God" or "the Ghost of your Father." Likewise, God and Jesus never give or send "the Ghost." They only dispatch "the Spirit" (John 3:34; 14:26; 15:26). And "Holy Ghost" is always prefaced by the article "the," even though in Greek the article is not always present (Matt 3:11, Luke 4:1, John 20:22). Acts 1:5, 8 — "You will be baptized with the Holy Ghost,… Ye shall receive power after the Holy Ghost is come upon you." In the four places where "Holy Spirit" occurs in the KJV New Testament, the context is one in which the Spirit is passive. That is, he is given, promised, or used by God to seal someone. Luke 11:13 — "How much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?"
The Holy Spirit in Ancient Israel
Psalm 51:11 — "Take not thy holy spirit from me" The Hebrew behind the phrase is ruach qodesh. Ruach is the noun also used in the phrases "Spirit of God" and "Spirit of the LORD" throughout the OT. There are no separate terms in Hebrew to describe God's Spirit or his Holy Spirit. Ruach is Ruach. [See The Meanings and Uses of "Ruach"] In these three passages the Septuagint (Greek Old Testament) has pneuma hagion, the same phrase used in the Greek NT for "Holy Ghost." [Top]   The point is worth emphasing: there is no linguistic basis in the Bible for rendering either ruach or pneuma as both "Ghost" and "Spirit." The distinction lies within the minds of the translators. See the study The Personhood of the Holy Spirit for comments by Roman Catholic and Protestant authorities on their concept of Spirit in the OT and NT. The word "ghost" appears in most modern English NTs. The Greek word behind each is phantasma (Matt 14:26; Mark 6:49) or pneuma (Luke 24:37, 39) [ESV, HCSB, NASB, NIV]. [Top]
BKJV (Before the KJV)
Matthew 1:18These show that the 17th century KJV editors were not innovators, but tradition-bearers of a theological bias rooted not in the text of Scripture. But this tradition did not start with Jerome's Latin Vulgate (5th century), the dominant Bible translation in the Western Catholic church. Jerome did not create two phrases, "Holy Spirit" and "Holy Ghost," but used only "SPIRITUS SANCTUS" in all passages in both his OT and NT. [Top]
The distinction "Holy Spirit" and "Holy Ghost" all but disappeared in Christian English Bible translations after the late 1800s. But "Holy Ghost" still exists in older hymns based on the KJV text, and it's used in at least one modernized KJV edition (The 21st Century King James Version, 1994). However, the underlying theological assumption that originally produced the distinction still exists among Roman Catholics and certain Protestants. Many theologians believe and teach that the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament is not the Holy Ghost or Third Person of the Trinity. They affirm the doctrine that the Third Person came or was revealed at Pentecost after the resurrection of Jesus (Acts 2). Before that time, the third member of the triune Godhead was unknown to the human race. [See comments by Catholic and Protestant authorities in The Personhood of the Holy Spirit.]
But this historical dogma meets an exegetical challenge in 1 Peter 1:11: "The prophets…[were] seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating…" This text says "the SPIRIT [pneuma] of Christ" was "within" the ancient Hebrew prophets, "indicating" or "forewitnessing" the coming Messiah's sufferings. Was this pre-Pentecost "spirit" actually Christ's invisible presence? If so, what is the identity of the post-Pentecost "spirit of Jesus/Christ" mentioned in Acts 16:7, Rom 8:9, Gal 4:6, and Phil 1:19? In other words: Is this "Jesus Spirit" someone other than the Holy Ghost? [Top]
Typography Reinforces the Spirit's Place of Honor
Though the Spirit/Ghost verbal distinction was discarded some 130 years ago, translators and publishers rely on another, artificial way of distinguishing theological meanings. This involves typography. In the earliest English translations by Wycliffe, Tyndale, and Cranmer, the word "Spirit" was printed in lower case letters: spirit. So also they did with the names god and jesus. This wasn't an act of irreverence. From ancient times, there was no distinction in hand-written texts or in the first mechanical type fonts. People did not distinguish words or interpret biblical texts using the eye. But in the mid-1500s, doctrine-minded printers introduced a watershed distinction: spirit and Spirit. [Top] Apparently, the first translations to employ the spirit/Spirit distinction were the Protestant Geneva Bible and the Catholic (Counter-Reformation) Rheims edition. Note the evolution: Matthew 3:11 [Top] These typographical choices are used in all translations today. Though not the same way. In modern Roman Catholic versions (e.g., New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible) and in liberal Protestant versions (such as Revised English Bible and New Revised Standard Version) we find two forms of the same word: spirit and Spirit, even though both spirits originate with God. In each version, the form "spirit" (lower case initial letter) occurs in their OT portion, while the upper case form "Spirit" occurs only in their NT. In effect, this repeats the old Spirit-versus-Ghost bias.Note that the adjective "holy" is also diminished in the New Revised Standard Version (1989): Psalm 51:11 — "Do not take your holy spirit from me"[Top] Similarly, the editors of the Catholic New Jerusalem Bible print Isaiah 61:1 as: "The spirit of the LORD God is upon me." Then, to be consistent, when they record Yeshua reading this very passage and applying it to himself (Luke 4:18), they print his words as: "The spirit of the Lord is upon me." With legalistitc consistency, these Catholic editors suggest that since Isaiah the prophet was a pre-Pentecost-Acts-2 Jew, he didn't know about the Third Person of the Godhead. Therefore, Yeshua's reference to the spirit and his quotation of that Hebrew text could not have referred to the Third Person. This implies that Yeshua himself didn't know about the (Holy) Spirit; he only knew God's "spirit." Again, the Latin Vulgate is not the source of this Roman Catholic distinction, for it has "SPIRITUS SANCTUS" (in caps) in all these verses. [Top]
Some other modern English translations print "holy Spirit" in the OT and "Holy Spirit" in the NT (a subtle distinction without explanation). James Moffatt put "sacred Spirit" in his OT and "holy Spirit" throughout his NT. But today nearly all conservative Protestant versions print "Holy Spirit" in both OT and NT. Clearly, editorial opinions exist on what the Bible should "say" — to uninformed readers. To repeat: Typography is an instrument for conveying doctrine. [Top] Scripture was originally written for the ears, not the eyes. (We can't hear a distinction between "spirit" and "Spirit" if spoken.) [Note 2]
Isaiah 63:10 — They rebelled and grieved his HOLY SPIRIT.
Mark 12:36 — David himself said in the HOLY SPIRIT:
Ever since the spirit/Spirit distinction was created in the 1500s, translators and editors have had to decide whether to capitalize SPIRIT or not. (See marginal readings throughout their NTs.) But the original texts did not create (nor solve) the problem. [Top]
Bible versions reveal beliefs residing in the translators and in their sponsoring traditions. This isn't unique to Christians. Jewish Bibles in English typically print "holy spirit," "spirit of God," and "spirit of the LORD," all lower case. Orthodox Jews don't believe in the doctrine of the Trinity nor in the separate personality of the Spirit, apart from God. In this, Jews agree with Catholic tradition — that is, about the absence of trinitarian doctrine in the Hebrew Bible/OT. These verbal and typographical distinctions that Christian theologians developed should provoke us to query the validity of the beliefs that created them. If these verbal and visual choices misrepresent the original text of Scripture for doctrinal purposes, we have an obligation to examine their doctrines. [Top]
Answers will come from an informed study of Scripture, in their original languages. [Top]
In the end, if these post-New Testament Christian views about the Spirit are valid, we are led to reach at least Three Conclusions about the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament:
[Top]
What Yeshua Apparently Didn't Know
In the synagogue at Capernaum, Yeshua declared he was anointed with "the spirit of the Lord" (Luke 4:18). He was quoting from Isaiah 61 — a pre-Pentecost Jewish text. Was he anointed with God's "OT spirit" or with the "NT Holy Ghost"? Since he was anointed with God's Spirit, thus conveying on him the title "Christ" [Grk, christos], we could amplify his title to mean: "the Anointed One with God's Holy Spirit." We should note that Yeshua never spoke to or prayed to the Spirit. He never included him in his anguished cries to God, his father. Nor did he direct his disciples to ask for the Spirit's counsel in their lives. He told them to pray, "Our Father who is in heaven" (Matt 6:9). One time, when he burst into praise to God, he didn't include praise of the Holy Spirit: "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth" (Matt 11:25). And another time he said, "I am not alone, the Father is with me" (John 16:32). He mentioned no one else. Does this imply that Yeshua was completely oblivious to the reality of the Third Person? [Top]
Who Was Yeshua's Real Father?
Luke 1:35 — "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, even the Power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy offspring shall be called the Son of God." If the Spirit is a distinct person, separate from God, must we not conclude that the Spirit is Yeshua's true Father — and that God's title "the Father" has no real meaning? [Note 3] From that it follows that Yeshua was erroneously looking to the wrong Person of the Godhead as the one who gave him life and nurtured him — from Bethlehem to the Tree, then to resurrection and enthronement at the Father's right hand. In light of that, as shocking as it may be, we ultimately cannot take Yeshua's testimonies seriously — if later Christian doctrines about the Third Person are true. In other words: Christianity has more authority than Jesus. Do we want to go there?
[Top] John Wycliffe translated from Jerome's Latin Vulgate, not from Greek texts. Even though Wycliffe made a "spirit" and "ghost" distinction in his version, Jerome did not. He uniformly used the word spiritus. Therefore, Wycliffe's choice to use goost in some texts and spirit in others derived from theological traditions within the English church. It would be worth checking the translations of Coverdale (1535), Matthew (1537), and the Great Bible (1539) to see if these distinctions also exist in them. Fragments of pre-14th century Bible translations have no ghost/spirit distinction: Gothic [Ahma=Spirit], Anglo-Saxon [Gast=Spirit], Old English [Gast=Spirit], Middle English [Gost/Goost=Spirit]. The English word "Spirit" derives from the Latin spiritus. [Joseph Bosworth, The Gothic and Anglo-Saxon Gospels (London: n.p., 1865); Shorter Oxford English Dictionary (1933), Vol. 1, pp. 790-91.] [Return to footnote marker] [Top] "In the English we have been obliged to a put a capital S when the Holy Spirit was referred to and so have retained it wherever we thought this was the case; but in some places it is really doubtful, and becomes a question for the spiritual judgment of the reader.
"The Greek will not help in the difficulty, because in the earliest copies every letter was a capital." [pages ix–x] [3] Repeatedly, the NT distinguishes between "God" and his or the "Spirit" (Acts 2:32-33; Rom 8:9; 1 Cor 12:3-6; 2 Cor 13:14; 1 Peter 1:2). To bridge a perceived theological gap, theologians coined the phrase "God the Spirit" in order to give balance to the phrase biblical "God the Father." They also created the phrase "God the Son." They could thus precisely delineate the three members of the Godhead with their appropriate titles: God the Father, God the Son, God the Spirit. They did not import these two new phrases into the Bible itself. They are only used in their teaching. [Return to footnote marker] [Top] |
|
Ruach Studies | "Holy Ghost" in the KJV Spiritanity Meanings and Uses of Ruach [PDF]
|
