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What is The Holy Spirit?
Aka: Holy Ghost, Paraclete

Here are some additional definitions from well know reference works:

In Christianity, the third person of the Trinity. Though references to the spirit of God abound in the Hebrew Bible, Christian teaching about the Holy Spirit is derived mainly from the Gospels. The Holy Spirit descended on Jesus at his baptism, and outpourings of the Spirit are mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles, in which healing, prophecy, exorcism, and speaking in tongues are associated with its activity. The Holy Spirit also came to the disciples during Pentecost. The definition of the Holy Spirit as a divine person equal in substance to the Father and the Son was made at the Council of Constantinople (AD 381).

From Wendy Doniger, ed., Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of World Religions(1999). Text © Merriam-Webster, Inc.

Holy Spirit. Judaism. In the Hebrew Bible, ruah ha-Qodesh/Kodesh is the breath of God, and thus the effective and inspiring consequence of God at work in creation. The Holy Spirit is also known as ruah Elohim and ruah Adonai, indicating that no separate 'person' in relation to God is intended, but rather that this is the way in which God enables humans to do or say particular things.

Christianity. Formally, the Holy Spirit (or 'Holy Ghost', especially in liturgical use) is the third person of the Trinity. The Spirit is distinct but coequal with the Father and the Son, and is in the fullest sense God. This understanidng was canonized in the 4th cent. In the fathers before the 4th cent., the Holy Spirit is variously identified with the Son, or with the Logos, or with God's wisdom. No particular activity of God is consistently said to be that of the Spirit, although Origen held that the characteristic sphere of the Spirit's operation was the Church, as contrasted with the whole creation which was that of the Logos. But from 360 CE onwards the doctrine of the Spirit became a matter of controversy when the Pneumatomach(o)i ('spirit-fighters') denied the full divinity of the Spirit. The Cappadocian fathers argued against them, e.g. Basil in his On the Holy Spirit, and were victorious at the Council of Constantinople (381). In the West this doctrine was elaborated by Augustine in his On the Trinity, especially in his understanding of the Spirit as the bond of unity in the Trinity.

From John Bowker, ed., The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (2000). Text © Oxford University Press.

For more of these definitions.

But these formal definitions are unlikely to satisfy one's thirst for understanding, let alone lead to a deeper appreciation of the power and importance of the Holy Spirit in our own lives as well as the world around us. For that, here is some additional reading:

The Holy Spirit: powerful and everpresent, but poorly understood.

For more about the Holy Spirit

For more about the Trinity

All About Pentecost

For more about Pentecostalism

What is Glossolalia / Speaking in Tongues?

For the story of Pentecost from Acts 2

For a meditation on Pentecost

Charles Henderson

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The Rev. Charles P. Henderson is a Presbyterian minister and is the author of God and Science (John Knox Press, 1986).  
A revised and expanded version of the book is appearing here.
God and Science (Hypertext Edition, 2015).
He is also editor of a new book, featuring articles by world class scientists and theologians, and illustrating the leading views on the relationship between science and religion:
Faith, Science and the Future (CrossCurrents Press, 2017).

Charles also tracks the boundry between the virtual and the real at his blog: Next World Design, focusing on the mediation of art, science and spirituality in the metaverse.  

For more information about Charles Henderson.
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