The Holy Spirit

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A watercolor of four lambs with small flames above their heads under a beam of light and a blue swirl of wind, beside a little tree full of fruit

Who is the Holy Spirit?
1. An impersonal power that God puts to work — a holy energy
2. The creature closest to God, standing a little below the Father and the Son
3. The third person of the one God, adored and glorified together with the Father and the Son
4. One more name the Son received after he ascended into heaven
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Answer ③ The third person of the one God, adored and glorified together with the Father and the Son
The Holy Spirit is a “who”, not a “what”. The first is the commonest misunderstanding of all, dropping the Spirit to the level of impersonal energy; the second is the old error of the Pneumatomachians, who counted the Spirit among creatures; and the fourth leans toward modalism, rubbing out the distinction between the persons.
Catechism of the Catholic Church 243-245, 685
The Holy Spirit only began to work once the age of the New Testament arrived.
1. Yes
2. No
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Answer ② No
The Spirit was already at work from creation and spoke through the prophets. At Pentecost the Spirit did not newly come into being; his working, hidden until then, was shown in full.
Catechism of the Catholic Church 702-716
Among the names given to the Holy Spirit, what does “Paraclete” mean?
1. The one called to our side — the one who defends us and consoles us
2. Breath, or wind — a rendering of the Hebrew word ruah
3. The Anointed One — a word with the same root as “Christ”
4. Flame — a name taken from the form in which the Spirit appeared at Pentecost
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Answer ① The one called to our side — the one who defends us and consoles us
Paraclete means “the one called to our side”, so the image carried inside the word is an advocate standing beside you in court. The second is what the word “Spirit” itself means, not what Paraclete means; the third is a word used of Christ; and the fourth is a sign of the Spirit, not a name.
Catechism of the Catholic Church 691-692
What signs showed that the Holy Spirit had come at Pentecost?
1. A dove that came down and rested
2. The sound of a mighty wind, and tongues as of fire
3. A cloud covering the whole mountain, and light within it
4. Holy oil poured on the forehead
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Answer ② The sound of a mighty wind, and tongues as of fire
The Acts of the Apostles tells of the sound of a mighty wind and tongues as of fire. The others are all true signs of the Holy Spirit as well, but they belong elsewhere — the dove at the baptism of Jesus, the cloud and the light at Sinai and at the Transfiguration, the anointing in the rite of Confirmation.
Catechism of the Catholic Church 696-701, 731
Why is the Holy Spirit called “the soul of the Church”?
1. Because the Spirit laid down the laws and the structures of the Church, writing them out one by one
2. Because the Spirit speaks to each person's heart separately, bypassing the teaching of the Church
3. Because the Spirit dwells only inside the Church and does not work outside it
4. Because, as the soul gives life to the body, the Spirit gives life and unity to the Church, the body of Christ
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Answer ④ Because, as the soul gives life to the body, the Spirit gives life and unity to the Church, the body of Christ
This was a comparison St Augustine liked to use. The second is the misunderstanding that appeals to the Spirit in order to step around the teaching of the Church; the third narrows the freedom of the Spirit, who leads people outside the Church's fold as well.
Catechism of the Catholic Church 797-798, 813
The Church says that the Son is “begotten” and that the Holy Spirit “proceeds”. Why two different words?
1. To show that the Holy Spirit came to exist later than the Son
2. To show that both come from the Father from all eternity, but not in the same way
3. The two words mean exactly the same thing; only the translation differs
4. Because the Holy Spirit was made, and so cannot be said to be begotten
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Answer ② To show that both come from the Father from all eternity, but not in the same way
Begetting and procession do not mark an earlier and a later in time; they name two different relations. The first and the fourth lean toward subordinationism, setting the Spirit below the Father and the Son, and the third rubs out the distinction between the Son and the Spirit. The Latin Church confesses that the Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son, while the Eastern Churches stress that the Father is the first origin of the Spirit.
Catechism of the Catholic Church 245-248, 254
The Bible was written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
1. Yes
2. No
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Answer ① Yes
Yes. God used human beings as true authors and had them write what he wanted written. But inspiration is not dictation, and the authors did not lose their senses: their turns of phrase, their times and their literary forms are all still there.
Catechism of the Catholic Church 105-107
How do “the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit” and “the fruits of the Holy Spirit” differ?
1. The gifts are given to the clergy, the fruits to lay people
2. They are one and the same thing, called by two different names
3. The gifts are the power to work miracles, and the fruits are the reward given in return
4. The gifts are permanent dispositions that make us ready to follow the Spirit's promptings willingly; the fruits are the perfections that ripen out of living that way, the first fruits of eternal glory
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Answer ④ The gifts are permanent dispositions that make us ready to follow the Spirit's promptings willingly; the fruits are the perfections that ripen out of living that way, the first fruits of eternal glory
Gifts are received; fruits are borne. Wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and fear of the Lord are the seven gifts, and fruits such as love, joy and peace show themselves in a life lived by those gifts.
Catechism of the Catholic Church 1830-1832
What does the Gospel saying “the sin against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven” mean?
1. It points to someone who knows God's mercy and yet pushes it away to the very end, refusing to repent
2. It means there is a separate list of sins that not even God can forgive
3. It means that taking the name of the Holy Spirit lightly on your lips cuts off the way of forgiveness there and then
4. It means that grave sins committed after baptism can never be forgiven again
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Answer ① It points to someone who knows God's mercy and yet pushes it away to the very end, refusing to repent
God's mercy has no limit, so there is no sin so heavy that the Church cannot forgive it. But whoever refuses repentance to the very end is refusing to accept forgiveness, and the reason the sin remains lies on the human side, not on God's. The fourth is the rigorism that the early Church had already rejected.
Catechism of the Catholic Church 1864, 982
What does the Holy Spirit do when we pray?
1. Prayer is done entirely by human strength, so it has nothing to do with the Holy Spirit
2. The Holy Spirit prays in our place, so we need not pray ourselves
3. The Spirit leads us into prayer and, even when we do not know what to ask for or how, intercedes for us from within
4. The Spirit teaches only a chosen few how to pray
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Answer ③ The Spirit leads us into prayer and, even when we do not know what to ask for or how, intercedes for us from within
Prayer looks like something we start ourselves, but the Holy Spirit is always the one who leads first. The first sees prayer as human effort alone; the second turns that leading into an excuse for idleness; and the fourth narrows the grace of prayer, which stands open to everyone who is baptized.
Catechism of the Catholic Church 741, 2670-2672