The Holy Spirit as a Divine Person

The Holy Spirit as a Divine Person

The Church teaches that the Holy Spirit is a Divine Person. What are some of the ways that we can understand this teaching? 

We can ask ourselves, what makes a person. What are some characteristics of personhood.

In regards to the Trinity, the three are all distinct Divine Persons. When we say that the Holy Spirit is a "person", it means that the Holy Spirit has a personality. The Holy Spirit is not a person that has a physical body like Christ. But it doesn't mean that the Holy Spirit is not a person. 

The Holy Spirit actually has three personalities. The Holy Spirit has intelligence. The Holy Spirit has emotions. The Holy Spirit has a will and make decisions.

The Holy Spirit has intelligence. 

In 1 Corinithians 2: 11-12, St. Paul writes: "Among human beings, who knows what pertains to a person except the spirit of the person that is within? Similarly, no one knows what pertains to God, except the Spirit of God. We have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit that is from God, so that we may understand the things freely given us by God. And we speak about them, not with words taught by human wisdom, but with words taught by the Spirit, describing spiritual realities in spiritual terms." 

If the Holy Spirit doesn't have intelligence, the Holy Spirit could not communicate and teach us things that pertain to God in spiritual terms. So St. Paul helps us to understand that the Holy Spirit has intelligence, and shares that through God's Holy Words. 

The Holy Spirit also has emotions. For instance, in the letter to Ephesians 4:30, St. Paul writes: "Do not grieve the Holy Spirit, with which you were sealed for the day of redemption." Isn't that interesting that the Holy Spirit experiences deep sorrow and sadness. What could we possibly do to make the Holy Spirit grieve? When we sin or do something that is not in the same mind and attitude of Christ. One of the Holy Spirit's personality is that the Holy Spirit also has emotion.

The third personality of the Holy Spirit is will or decision. The Holy Spirit can decide to impart different kinds of spiritual gifts to each individual for the building up of Christ's body. In Isaiah 11, he enumerates the 7 gifts of the Holy Spirit. And also in 1 Corinthians 12, St. Paul writes "There are different spiritual gifts but the same Spirit. There are different forms of service but the same Lord...But the one and same Spirit produces all of these, distributing them individually to each person as he wishes." We were taught in religious education that there are seven specific gifts of the Holy Spirit: Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Fortitude, Knowledge, Piety and Fear of the Lord. 

But according to St. Paul, not everyone has all of the seven gifts, and not everyone has the same equal amount in a particular spiritual gifts. It depends upon the Holy Spirit's decision and choosing. We are called to discover whatever gift that the Holy Spirit gives us, and to utilize them in the best way to build up the Body of Christ.

Again, the Holy Spirit is a Divine Person, meaning that the Holy Spirit has a unique personality. The Holy Spirit has intelligence. The Holy Spirit has emotion. The Holy Spirit has a will and decides what spiritual gifts that each individual can have in order to benefit the body of Christ.