Is the Holy Spirit a "He," "She," or “It,” male, female, or neuter? | GotQuestions.org

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Today's question is, is the Holy Spirit a he, she, or it—male, female, or neuter?

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In this video I'll answer that question from a biblical perspective. Then afterwards, as always,

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I'll share some helpful resources, so stick around until the end. A common mistake made with regard to the

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Holy Spirit is referring to the Spirit as it, something most translations of the Bible are careful to avoid.

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The Holy Spirit is a person. He has the attributes of personhood, performs the actions of persons, and has personal relationships.

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He has insight. He knows things, which requires an intellect. He has a will.

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He convicts of sin. He performs miracles. He guides. He intercedes between persons.

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He is to be obeyed. He can be lied to, resisted, grieved, even insulted.

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He relates to the apostles in Acts 15, verse 28, and to each member of the

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Trinity. The personhood of the Holy Spirit is presented without question in the

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Bible. But what about gender? Linguistically, it is clear that masculine, theistic terminology dominates the

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Scriptures. Throughout both Testaments, references to God use masculine pronouns. Specific names for God—for example,

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Yahweh, Elohim, Adonai, Kurios, Theos, etc .—are all in the masculine gender.

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God is never given a feminine name or referred to using feminine pronouns. The Holy Spirit is referred to in the masculine throughout the

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New Testament, although the word for spirit by itself, pneuma, is actually gender neutral.

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The Hebrew word for spirit, ruach, is feminine in Genesis 1, verse 2, but the gender of a word in Greek or Hebrew has nothing to do with gender identity.

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Theologically speaking, since the Holy Spirit is God, we can make some statements about Him from general statements about God.

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God is spirit, as opposed to physical or material. God is invisible and spirit, that is, non -body.

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This is why no material thing was ever to be used to represent God. If gender is an attribute of the body, then a spirit does not have gender.

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God in His essence has no gender. Gender identifications of God in the Bible are not unanimous.

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Many people think that the Bible presents God in exclusively male terms, but this is not the case.

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God is said to give birth in the book of Job and portrays Himself as a mother in Isaiah.

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Jesus described the Father as being like a woman in search of a lost coin in Luke 15 and Himself as a mother hen in Matthew 23, verse 37.

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In Genesis 1, verses 26 -27, God said, Thus, the image of God was male and female, not simply one or the other.

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This is further confirmed in Genesis 5, verse 2, which can be literally translated as, He blessed them and named them

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Adam. The Hebrew term Adam means man, the context showing whether it means man as opposed to woman or mankind in the collective sense.

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Therefore, to whatever degree humanity is made in the image of God, gender is not an issue. Masculine imagery in Revelation is not without significance, however.

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A second time that God was specifically said to be revealed via a physical image was when

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Jesus was asked to show the Father to the disciples in John 14. He responds in verse 9 by saying,

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Paul makes it clear that Jesus was the exact image of God in Colossians 1, verse 15, calling

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Jesus the image of the invisible God. This verse is couched in a section that demonstrates

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Christ's superiority over all creation. Most ancient religions believed in a pantheon, both gods and goddesses, that were worthy of worship.

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But one of Judeo -Christianity's distinctives is its belief in a supreme creator. Masculine language better relates this relationship of creator to creation, as a man comes into a woman from without to make her pregnant, so God creates the universe from without rather than birthing it from within, as a woman cannot impregnate herself, so the universe cannot create itself.

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Paul echoes this idea in 1 Timothy 2, verses 12 -14, when he refers to the creation order as a template for church order.

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In the end, whatever our theological explanation, the fact is that God used exclusively masculine terms to refer to Himself, and almost exclusively masculine terminology, even in metaphor.

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Throughout the Bible, He taught us how to speak of Him, and it was in masculine relational terms.

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So, while the Holy Spirit is neither male nor female in His essence, He is properly referred to in the masculine by virtue of His relation to creation and biblical revelation.

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There is absolutely no biblical basis for viewing the Holy Spirit as the female member of the

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Trinity. Want to learn more? Subscribe so you don't miss the next video! Visit GotQuestions .org

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for more great content. And check out the details section below this video, there you'll find one book I recommend, along with links to several related questions.

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If you'd like to learn about Bible Munch, or if you're interested in Bite -sized devotionals, subscribe to Bible Munch on YouTube, it's linked right here.