Is the Holy Spirit God the Mother? Part 1: Is the Holy Spirit God?

The “Blue Letter Bible” by Don Stewart is very helpful in answering this question. The name “Holy Spirit” comes from two Greek words: “hagion”, which means holy, and “pneuma” which means “spirit.” The Holy Spirit has many names in the Bible, including “Spirit of God”, “Spirit of Jesus”, “Spirit of Christ, and “Spirit of Truth”. Jesus names the Holy Spirit as “Comforter” and “Helper” (Stewart, 2020).

The Holy Spirit is a person, not simply an influence or force. This is demonstrated in Scripture by the way the Holy Spirit thinks, feels, and acts. Scripture also describes the Holy Spirit as if the Holy Spirit is a person, even in historical situations in Scripture. Also, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to continue what Jesus started, and, as Jesus is a person, so is the one he sent, the Holy Spirit. What is more, the Holy Spirit is spoken of with other people as if the Holy Spirit is a person. The Holy Spirit is compared to personal evil spirits as if the Holy Spirit is also a person (Stewart, 2020).

The Holy Spirit is also directly called God and treated on equal basis with God. The Holy Spirit has the characteristics of God, namely, the Holy Spirit is all knowing, omnipresent, omnipotent, eternal, and embodies love, truth, and holiness. These characteristics are only true of God. The Holy Spirit also does the work of God. The Holy Spirit created the universe, divinely inspired the Bible, and raised Jesus from the dead (Stewart, 2020). 

1 Corinthians 2:10-11 says, “But we know these things because God has revealed to us by his Spirit, and his Spirit searches out everything and shows us even God’s deep secrets. No one can know what anyone else is really thinking except that person alone, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit.” Thus, the Holy Spirit is the only one who can know the mind of God. Also, the Spirit searches out everything and reveals God’s secrets – only persons do this (Stewart, 2020).

Romans 8:27 says, “And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.” The Spirit has a mind, which indicates personhood, and the Holy Spirit intercedes for people, which indicates personhood. Only persons intercede. The Holy Spirit also has emotions. Romans 15:30 says, “I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in earnest prayer to God on my behalf.” This illustrates that the love of Christ is shown through love of the Spirit. Isaiah 63:10 says, “Then the Lord’s people turned against him and made his Holy Spirit sad. So, he became their enemy and attacked them.” The Holy Spirit can be sad and is saddened by sin (Stewart, 2020).

Hebrews 10:29 says, “How much severe punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?” In this verse, the Spirit is insulted. The Spirit clearly has emotions. 1 Corinthians 12:11 says, “But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.” The Holy Spirit works and distributes gifts. The Holy Spirit has a will and choice. The Holy Spirit has a will just like God the Father (Stewart, 2020).

The Holy Spirit can also teach. 1 Corinthians 2:13 says, “And we speak of these things in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual things to those who are spiritual.” The Holy Spirit is the Teacher to all who follow Christ. This is emphasized again in Luke 12:12, “For the Holy Spirit will teach you at that very hour what you ought to say.” Jesus again referenced the Holy Spirit as a person, this time a Helper, in John 15:26-27, saying, “But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me. And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning.” The Spirit of truth is a Helper to all who love God. Jesus continued, “But when the Father sends the Counselor as my representative – and by the Counselor I mean the Holy Spirit – he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I myself have told you” (John 14:26).  The Holy Spirit clearly is a person, one who teaches and reminds.  Jesus has high regard for the Holy Spirit, saying, “But it is actually best for you that I go away, because if I don’t, the Counselor won’t come. If I do go away, he will come because I will send him to you” (John 16:7). This shows that Jesus thinks the Holy Spirit is better for the Church to have than him. The Holy Spirit is our Counselor as well as Helper (Stewart, 2020).

The Holy Spirit also helps to guide Christians. Paul wrote, “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God” (Romans 8:14). The Spirit leads the children of God. Another example is when Paul feels led to go to Jerusalem. He says in Acts 20:22-23, “And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me.” In both these verses, we see that the Holy Spirit is one that guides, compels, and warns (Stewart, 2020).

Another characteristic of the Holy Spirit is comfort. Jesus says, “But I tell you that I am going to do what is best for you. That is why I am going away. The Holy Spirit cannot come to help [if I don’t go]” (John 16:7). The Holy Spirit wants to come and help the children of God (Stewart, 2020).

The Holy Spirit also gives commands. In Acts 8:29, “Then the Spirit said to Philip, ‘Go over to this chariot and join it.’” This is a sign of personhood. Another example is in Acts 10:19-20, “While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, ‘Simon, three men are looking for you. So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them.’” The Spirit speaks. The Spirit knows everything. The Spirit sends people. The Spirit also told Paul not to go to Asia. In Acts 16:6, 7, “Paul and his friends went through Phrygia and Galatia, but the Holy Spirit would not let them preach in Asia. After they arrived in Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not let them” (Stewart, 2020).

The Holy Spirit appoints people to lead the church. In Acts 20:28, “Keep watch over yourselves and over all the flock, of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God that he obtained with the blood of his own Son.” The Holy Spirit helps with understanding. Jesus says in John 16:13, “However, when he, the Spirit of truth, has come, he will guide you into all truth; for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will tell you things to come. The Holy Spirit also speaks. Acts 13:2 says, “While they were worshiping the Lord and going without eating, the Holy Spirit told them, ‘Appoint Barnabas and Saul to do the work for which I have chosen them.’”. The Holy Spirit can also speak on behalf of others. Romans 8:26 says, “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”  This word for intercession is used to talk about Jesus’ intercession for believers as well, showing that like Jesus, the Spirit is a unique person (Stewart, 2020).

The Holy Spirit can do miracles. Matthew 12:28 says, “But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come to you.” The Holy Spirit also, in Acts 2:4, “And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.” The Holy Spirit can enable people to speak in other languages. Paul spoke to the power of the Spirit in Romans 15:19, “I have won them over by the miracles done through me as signs from God – all by the power of God’s Spirit. In this way, I have fully presented the Good News of Christ all the way from Jerusalem clear over into Illyricum.” The Spirit can do miracles (Stewart, 2020).

The Holy Spirit also convicts of sin. Genesis 6:3 says, “Then the Lord said, ‘My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days will be a hundred and twenty years.’” Jesus highlights this similar role in John 16:8, “When he [the Spirit] comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment.” The Spirit also sanctifies the believers. 1 Peter 1:2 says, “According to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood…” (Stewart, 2020).

The Holy Spirit’s divinity is shown in that the Spirit creates. Genesis 1:2 says, “Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” The Spirit was with God in the beginning, involved in the creation process. The Holy Spirit is also the authority behind the Scripture. 2 Peter 1:21 says, “For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” Ephesians 6 also highlights this, as the sword of the Spirit is the Word of God (Stewart, 2020).

The Holy Spirit can also be lied to. Acts 5:3 says, “But Peter said, ‘Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself?” Only people can be lied to. Also, later in the same passage, Acts 5 says, “You have not lied just to human beings but to God.” This clearly identifies the Holy Spirit as God. The Holy Spirit can also be resisted. Acts 7:51 says, “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you are forever opposing the Holy Spirit, just as your ancestors used to do” (Stewart, 2020).

Additional proof for the Holy Spirit’s divinity is in Matthew 12:31, which reads, “Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgive people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.” Blasphemy is connected with offenses against God. This is underlined in Revelation 13:6, which says, “It [the beast] opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven” (Stewart, 2020).

The Holy Spirit is God in that the Spirit is eternal, Hebrews 9:14, “…how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.” The Spirit is omniscient: “…these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.” The Spirit is omnipotent, as shown in Job 33:4, “The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.” The Spirit is almighty. The Spirit is known as the “breath of the Lord”. Psalm 33:6 say, “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host.” The Spirit is all powerful and was intricately involved in creation with God the Father. Finally, the Holy Spirit is omnipresent. Psalm 139:7-8 says, “Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.” The presence of God is equated with the presence of His Spirit. God IS Spirit (John 4:24) (Stewart, 2020).

Finally, the Holy Spirit is identified as Yahweh, the Lord God, in several places in Scripture. For example, 2 Corinthians 3:17-18 says, “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord, as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another, for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.”  In context, these verses are situated in a passage talking about Moses seeing God, Yahweh, the Lord, and needing to put a veil over his face. So, when these verses say “the Lord is the Spirit”, the verses are essentially saying “Yahweh is the Spirit.”

2 Samuel 23:2-3 affirms this idea, “The Spirit of the Lord speaks by me; his word is on my tongue. The God of Israel has spoken; the Rock of Israel has said to me…” So, when the Spirit speaks, God speaks.  The God of Israel, the Rock of Israel, is Yahweh. The Spirit speaking is the same thing as Yahweh speaking. They are one.

Another passage that shows this is Isaiah 6:8-10 and Acts 28:25-27. Isaiah 6:8-10 says, ^8 “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

⁹ He said, “Go and tell this people:

“‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding;    be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’¹⁰ Make the heart of this people calloused;    make their ears dull    and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes,    hear with their ears,    understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.” Quoting this passage, Acts 28:25-27 says,

^25 “They disagreed among themselves and began to leave after Paul had made this final statement: “The Holy Spirit spoke the truth to your ancestors when he said through Isaiah the prophet:

²⁶ “‘Go to this people and say, “You will be ever hearing but never understanding;    you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.”²⁷ For this people’s heart has become calloused;    they hardly hear with their ears,    and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes,    hear with their ears,    understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.’”  I think these passages show that the Holy Spirit is the Lord. When the Lord is said to speak, this is equivalent to the Holy Spirit speaking. When Yahweh speaks, the Holy Spirit speaks.

Additionally, Hebrews 3:7-12 says, ^“So, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear his voice,⁸     do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion,    during the time of testing in the wilderness,⁹ where your ancestors tested and tried me,    though for forty years they saw what I did.¹⁰ That is why I was angry with that generation;    I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray,    and they have not known my ways.’¹¹ So I declared on oath in my anger,    ‘They shall never enter my rest.’ ” 

¹² See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.” So, the Holy Spirit is speaking and uses the personal pronouns “me” (the Holy Spirit was tested and tried by the Israelites), “I” (the Holy Spirit was angry with that generation), “I” again (the Holy Spirit spoke, saying the Israelites are going astray and do not know the Spirit’s ways),  “I” again (the Spirit spoke in anger that these people will never enter rest), and “my” (the rest belongs to the Holy Spirit). Finally, the Holy Spirit is spoken of as equivalent to the “living God” in verse 12, as the verses previous to verse 12 are about the people turning away from the One speaking, the Holy Spirit. So, the Holy Spirit is God. The passage continues in verse 13, ^13” But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. ¹⁴ We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end. ¹⁵ As has just been said: “Today, if you hear his voice,    do not harden your hearts    as you did in the rebellion.” ¹⁶ Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? ¹⁷ And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies perished in the wilderness? ¹⁸ And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? ¹⁹ So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.” Here we see again that the Holy Spirit and God are used interchangeably. The Holy Spirit said the people would not enter the Spirit’s rest. This is the same thing as God saying it. The Holy Spirit is God.

Psalm 95:6-11, as the passage quoted in the above passage, shows this: “Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker, for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture,    the flock under his care. Today, if only you would hear his voice,⁸ “Do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah,  as you did that day at Massah in the wilderness,⁹ where your ancestors tested me;  they tried me, though they had seen what I did.¹⁰ For forty years I was angry with that generation;    I said, ‘They are a people whose hearts go astray,    and they have not known my ways.’¹¹ So I declared on oath in my anger,    ‘They shall never enter my rest.’” Given the context of this passage, the Holy Spirit is equated with God, Yahweh, again. The Holy Spirit is worthy of worship as God (verse 6). Further, the God of the Israelites is the Holy Spirit (verse 7).  The Father and the Holy Spirit work together as one united being.

Evidently the Holy Spirit is a person and not an impersonal force as Biblical Unitarians claim. Further, the Holy Spirit is God, having the essential characteristics of God. So, could the Holy Spirit be God the Mother? Adam and Eve were created in the image of God. If Jesus is not God, God is two persons, God the Father and the Holy Spirit. God the Father is masculine, so wouldn’t that mean the Holy Spirit would be feminine? As Adam was created in the image of God the Father, perhaps Eve was created in the image of the Holy Spirit – still meaning that both were created in God’s image, but just in different ways as male and female? God the Father and the Holy Spirit are the only two beings in Genesis 1:1-2, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth… and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” Male and female together, according to Genesis 1:26-27, fully image God. So: how could all the persons of God be represented as masculine? Does Scripture give any insight to if the Holy Spirit could be Mother?