50 Fun Facts About The Holy Spirit

In Luke's account of the baptism of Jesus, the Holy Spirit descends in bodily form like which bird?

Dove imagery for the Spirit comes from this scene, recorded in all four Gospels, where a voice from heaven then tells Jesus, 'with you I am well pleased'.

When the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost in Acts 2, what seemed to come to rest on each believer?

Tongues of fire appeared after a sound like a violent wind filled the house, and the believers then began speaking in languages they had never learned.

What did mockers in the crowd at Pentecost accuse the Spirit-filled apostles of being?

Drunk on 'too much wine' was the jibe, and Peter replied that it was only nine in the morning before preaching his first sermon.

Which sin against the Spirit did Jesus say would not be forgiven in this age or the age to come?

Blasphemy against the Spirit is often called the unforgivable sin, and Jesus named it after Pharisees claimed he drove out demons by the power of Beelzebul.

Which angel told the virgin Mary that the Holy Spirit would come on her and she would bear a son?

Gabriel added that 'the power of the Most High will overshadow you', and Mary answered, 'I am the Lord's servant.'

Warning against sexual immorality, Paul tells the Corinthians the body is what of the Holy Spirit?

A temple of the Holy Spirit is Paul's image in 1 Corinthians 6, and he follows it with 'You are not your own; you were bought at a price.'

Where did the Spirit lead Jesus right after his baptism, to be tempted by the devil for forty days?

The wilderness was no detour: Mark says the Spirit 'sent him out' there at once, and he stayed among the wild animals while angels attended him.

Pentecost, from the Greek for 'fiftieth', falls that many days after which Christian festival?

Easter Sunday is counted as day one, so Pentecost always falls on a Sunday too, and Greek-speaking Jews first used the name for the harvest festival of Shavuot.

Which judge of Israel tore a lion apart bare-handed when the Spirit of the Lord came upon him?

Samson is empowered the same way in Judges 15, when his ropes fall away and he strikes down a thousand men with the fresh jawbone of a donkey.

Which 1611 English Bible, still widely read, typically calls the Holy Spirit the 'Holy Ghost'?

The King James Version says 'Holy Ghost' because the Old English gast meant spirit, and modern Bibles switched partly because 'ghost' came to mean only the spirit of a dead person.

Which Pharisee visited Jesus by night and was told that he must be born of the Spirit?

Nicodemus was baffled, so Jesus compared the Spirit to the wind, which 'blows wherever it pleases' though no one can tell where it comes from.

Which letter of Paul lists joy, peace, kindness and gentleness among the fruit of the Spirit?

Galatians sets the fruit of the Spirit against a darker list of 'acts of the flesh' that includes hatred, jealousy and fits of rage.

The term charism, used for a gift of the Holy Spirit, comes from the Greek charis, meaning what?

Grace is the root idea, since a charism is a favour freely given, and the same Greek family of words gave English 'charisma'.

Which relative of Mary was filled with the Holy Spirit as her unborn baby leaped at Mary's greeting?

Elizabeth then exclaimed, 'Blessed are you among women', a greeting that was later woven into the Hail Mary prayer.

In which city did the risen Jesus tell his apostles to wait for the promised gift of the Spirit?

Jerusalem was where the Spirit came days later, among crowds that included visitors from Rome, Egypt and Mesopotamia.

After listing spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians, which quality does Paul rank above faith and hope?

Love outlasts every gift in Paul's argument: prophecies will cease and knowledge will pass away, yet love 'never fails'.

In the armour Paul urges Christians to put on, what does the sword of the Spirit stand for?

The word of God is the only weapon in the kit: the belt, breastplate, shield and helmet that Paul lists alongside it are all for protection.

Which prophet saw a valley of dry bones rise again as God promised, 'I will put my Spirit in you'?

Ezekiel heard the bones rattle together and watched them stand up as 'a vast army', a picture of exiled Israel being brought home.

Which ruler begged God not to take the Holy Spirit from him after his adultery with Bathsheba?

David made the plea in Psalm 51, one of only three places where the Hebrew Bible uses the exact phrase 'holy spirit'.

In Catholic teaching, which sacrament completes baptism and strengthens the Spirit's seven gifts?

Confirmation is called chrismation in Eastern churches, where it is given to infants immediately after baptism rather than years later.

Which of the Spirit's seven gifts shares its name with a cardinal virtue and concerns courage?

Fortitude, for Thomas Aquinas, meant endurance as much as bravery: firmness of mind both in doing good and in enduring evil.

The seven gifts of the Spirit come from which prophet's vision of a shoot from Jesse's stump?

Isaiah's Hebrew text names only six qualities, and the seventh, piety, entered the list through the ancient Greek translation.

Which prophet's promise, 'I will pour out my Spirit on all people', did Peter quote at Pentecost?

Joel had pictured sons and daughters prophesying, young men seeing visions and old men dreaming dreams, and Peter announced that the day had come.

Which couple fell dead in Acts after Peter said they had lied to the Holy Spirit over a land sale?

Ananias and Sapphira kept back part of the money while appearing to give it all, yet Peter said the land and its price had been theirs to keep.

Which first Christian martyr, full of the Holy Spirit, saw heaven open just before he was stoned?

Stephen died praying, 'Lord, do not hold this sin against them', while his killers left their coats at the feet of the future apostle Paul.

Which sin is named after the sorcerer who offered Peter money for the power to give the Spirit?

Simony, the buying or selling of church offices, recalls Simon Magus of Samaria, whom Peter told, 'May your money perish with you'.

What does Paul say the Spirit of adoption leads believers to cry out?

Abba, Aramaic for father, is the same intimate address Jesus used when he prayed in Gethsemane on the night of his arrest.

In the second verse of Genesis, before light is created, the Spirit of God is hovering over what?

The waters lay in darkness over an earth still 'formless and empty', in what is the Bible's first mention of the Spirit of God.

What did the risen Jesus do to his disciples in John 20 as he said, 'Receive the Holy Spirit'?

Jesus breathed on them behind locked doors on the evening of his resurrection, then added, 'If you forgive anyone's sins, their sins are forgiven.'

Which doctrine holds that spiritual gifts such as prophecy and healing ended with the apostolic age?

Cessationism took shape among Calvinists during the Reformation, as a reply to Catholic claims that miracles proved their church's authority.

Which quality ends Paul's list of the fruit of the Spirit, after faithfulness and gentleness?

Self-control closes a list of nine qualities, to which Paul adds the dry remark, 'Against such things there is no law.'

Which verb completes Paul's warning: 'Do not ___ the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed'?

Grieve sits amid practical advice: the next lines tell believers to drop bitterness, rage and slander and to be kind and forgiving instead.

Which Roman centurion's household received the Holy Spirit while Peter was still preaching to them?

Cornelius and his guests were Gentiles, and Peter's Jewish companions were astonished to see the Spirit poured out on them before they were even baptized.

In which town's synagogue did Jesus read 'The Spirit of the Lord is on me' and declare it fulfilled?

Nazareth turned on him within minutes: the congregation drove him out of town and tried to throw him off the cliff it was built on.

When the Spirit rested on seventy elders, who wished that all the Lord's people were prophets?

Moses said it to Joshua, who had begged him to stop Eldad and Medad from prophesying back in the camp.

By which traditional British name, once marked by a Monday bank holiday, is Pentecost also known?

Whitsun means 'White Sunday', possibly after the white robes of the newly baptized, and its Monday stayed a British bank holiday for a century.

What is Jesus' parting command to baptize in the name of Father, Son and Holy Spirit called?

The Great Commission was given on a mountain in Galilee and closes Matthew's Gospel with the promise, 'I am with you always, to the very end of the age.'

Which craftsman of the Tabernacle did God fill with his Spirit to work in gold, silver and bronze?

Bezalel went on to build the Ark of the Covenant itself, with Oholiab of the tribe of Dan appointed as his assistant.

'Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit' was a message for which governor of post-exile Judah?

Zerubbabel received the promise through the prophet Zechariah, who added that the man who laid the foundation of God's house would also finish it.

Which prophet tied himself up with Paul's belt to show what the Holy Spirit said awaited Paul?

Agabus had form as a forecaster: earlier in Acts he predicted, through the Spirit, a severe famine that came during the reign of Claudius.

Which Greek-derived title meaning advocate does Jesus give the Spirit in John's farewell discourse?

Paraclete occurs only five times in the New Testament, all in John's writings, and English Bibles also translate it as counsellor or helper.

Which branch of Christian theology is devoted to the study of the Holy Spirit?

Pneumatology joins two Greek words, pneuma for spirit and logos for teaching, and it covers both the person and the works of the Spirit.

Which Greek-derived term names the speaking in unknown languages that marks Pentecostal worship?

Glossolalia is sometimes distinguished from xenoglossy, the belief that the speaker is using a real language they have never learned.

Which Los Angeles street gave its name to the 1906 revival that fuelled Pentecostalism's spread?

Azusa Street's meetings were led by William J. Seymour, a son of freed slaves, in a former church building that had lately served as a stable.

Which Hebrew term, also meaning wind, does the Old Testament use for the Spirit of God?

Ruach is grammatically feminine in Hebrew, whereas the matching Greek word is neuter and the Latin spiritus is masculine.

Which Latin term meaning 'and the Son' did the Western church add to the Nicene Creed?

Filioque makes the creed say that the Spirit proceeds from both Father and Son, and the quarrel over it was a major cause of the schism of 1054 between East and West.

Which noun completes the Nicene Creed's line on the Holy Spirit, 'the Lord and Giver of ___'?

'Giver of life' belongs to the creed as revised in 381, since the version agreed at Nicaea in 325 had stopped short at 'And in the Holy Ghost.'

Which part of the Eucharistic prayer calls the Holy Spirit down upon the bread and wine?

Epiclesis is, for the Eastern Orthodox, the moment the change in the gifts is completed, whereas Western churches historically tied it to Christ's words of institution.

Which second-century movement from Phrygia claimed fresh revelations from the Holy Spirit?

Montanism was led by Montanus with two prophetesses, Prisca and Maximilla, and its best-known defender was the Latin theologian Tertullian.

Who was told by an angel in a dream that the child Mary carried was conceived from the Holy Spirit?

Joseph had planned to divorce Mary quietly, but when he woke from the dream he took her home as his wife instead.