Catechism Corner — Third Article of the Apostles’ Creed

Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost?

The best translation for the Greek New Testament of pneuma hagion is “Holy Spirit.” So why do we confess “The Holy Ghost” in our liturgy and yet in our Small Catechisms we confess “The Holy Spirit?” The answer is primarily one of history and the changing of language over time. During the 16th century when the Bible was first being translated into many different languages, the English word “ghost” referred to a spiritual entity or life force, whether divine or not. The 1611 KJV thus translated pneuma as “ghost.”

Overtime the meaning of ghost “shifted” to mean disembodied souls or beings and “spirit” has taken up the meaning of divine or spiritual forces. Modern translations therefore translate pneuma as “spirit.” Thus, even though the word pneuma hasn’t changed, the translation has changed because our language has changed.

~Rev. Schultz