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Quote (Nick Hassan @ May 28 2007,14:40) Hi,
So this concept has been designed by those who devised the trinity theory to try and deal with one of it's worst faults. . The fault is the problem of the son of God. So instead of saying God has a son they say God has always been having a son but that son never has become and never will become a true son because he would no longer be God. It is an eternal begettal.
Nonsense.
Christ is the son of God.
Really?This is very interesting to me. Can WJ, Isaiah, CB or other Trinitarian believers speak to this. Is what Nick has said true about how you see the “eternal begettal” and “sonship” of Jesus?
Quote (Nick Hassan @ Dec. 03 2006,18:56) Why bother with the ideas of men and see what God has told us about Himself and stick with that?
are we all not guilty of this nick? trinitarian, unitarian, jw, christadelphian, mormon and many more variations who claim to be followers of christ – I have seen this practice one this site – using scripture to prove that an argument is the correct one – then someone rebuts it with another equally poignant passage only to be shut down by another with different thought.i find it funny that jesus never really talked theology to the degree we do, but instead he told people parables (except in john – where he uses mythical sayings) and gave the power of life to all he was around. that is why the people loved him – cause he was not like the scribes and synagogue leaders of his day who bored them with assumed knowledge and who made a theology out of a simple statement; forcing them to carry a yoke God the father never intended.
jesus was a breath of fresh air because he caused people to see life rather than live under a burden humanity was not supposed to bare.
none of us can KNOW 100% for sure about anything – cause we were not there when all this was written, did not live in their world and how they thought and to be honest we do not have original manuscripts to judge that what has been written in the latter ones is correct and unchanged. the further we get from the event the more we add our views into this message… and it is getting well away from the simple teaching of jesus…
we can only gather info and come up with a good idea or best idea according to our interpretation of the scriptures. a lot of what we do and say is done because we follow traditions and preconceived ideas taught us from a young age.
one man says what you are following is demonically inspired, another say what you are saying is great and then you say someone else is following man made ideas… yet all claim to be following and inspired by the same anointed, holy spirit power
how can the bridge be crossed… when we make statement like this? God has told us many thing about himself – yet at times they contradict or there would not be differing views on who he was or who the christ was. each person on this site is trying in the best possible way to come into that relationship with the father – seek and you will find, well wot if what we find is different?
jesus did not preach in the way we are talking on this site, he did not speak like we do, or even pray as we teach, so how much of what we know is us trying to work out God, and his ways and how much is actual scriptural gymnastics over relationship.
Just a thought?
Hi A7,
There are far more yet to be born from above into the Body of Christ and trapped into the vain delusion of following men and their denominations and calling it christianity. The road is narrow and few will choose it.WJ and those that believe in the trinity. You forgetting something when you are explaining the trinity. Yes Father, Son and Holy spirit and all are one . You are forgetting that it also states that they are coequal. And that I can prove to you to be false.
Ephesians 4:4-6 There is one body and one Spirit just as we are called in one hope of your calling;
verse 5 ONE LORD, ONE FAITH, ONE BAPTISM,
VERSE 6 'ONE GOD AND FATHER OF ALL, WHO IS ABOVE ALL, AND THROUGH US ALL AND IN YOU ALL.
I was Catholic and thought the doctrine of the trinity to 4 of our children. I know what it is. I mean no disrespect to neither one of you, please understand that, I am having a hard time explaining what I believe to our children too.
Peace to you all
Mrs.Im4TruthQuote (Not3in1 @ July 29 2007,12:54) Quote (Nick Hassan @ May 28 2007,14:40) Hi,
So this concept has been designed by those who devised the trinity theory to try and deal with one of it's worst faults. . The fault is the problem of the son of God. So instead of saying God has a son they say God has always been having a son but that son never has become and never will become a true son because he would no longer be God. It is an eternal begettal.
Nonsense.
Christ is the son of God.
Really?This is very interesting to me. Can WJ, Isaiah, CB or other Trinitarian believers speak to this. Is what Nick has said true about how you see the “eternal begettal” and “sonship” of Jesus?
Hi Not3,
Eternal generation? I don't buy it. I thought I had explained my take on that a few times already. IMO the Logos did not have a beginning, He always was….remember? If NH disagrees maybe he could point us to a verse in the Bible that mentions a preincarnation begettal.Blessings
Quote (IM4Truth @ July 29 2007,20:18) WJ and those that believe in the trinity. You forgetting something when you are explaining the trinity. Yes Father, Son and Holy spirit and all are one . You are forgetting that it also states that they are coequal. And that I can prove to you to be false.
Ephesians 4:4-6 There is one body and one Spirit just as we are called in one hope of your calling;
verse 5 ONE LORD, ONE FAITH, ONE BAPTISM,
VERSE 6 'ONE GOD AND FATHER OF ALL, WHO IS ABOVE ALL, AND THROUGH US ALL AND IN YOU ALL.
I was Catholic and thought the doctrine of the trinity to 4 of our children. I know what it is. I mean no disrespect to neither one of you, please understand that, I am having a hard time explaining what I believe to our children too.
Peace to you all
Mrs.Im4Truth
Hello,
Actually I partially agree with you, there are certain senses Yeshua is not equal with His Father. However, I do affirm that they are equal as to their nature (Heb 1:3). Ephesians 4:6 does not refute this and I would have thought you would be a little more hesitant in citing this verse, given that it also raises some interesting questions of the antitrinitarian. Questions like:If there is one God in us…
Why is is explicitly written that “Jesus Christ” indwells us:
2 Corinthians 13:5
Test yourselves [to see] if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you— unless indeed you fail the test?and why does Yeshua Himself testified that He and the Father will both make Their abode (residence) with us:
John 14:23
Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.How are these statements compatible with your notion that the “one God” that is said to indwell us is a single person, the Father?
Blessings
Hi Is 1.18,
The Spirit of Christ derives from the Spirit of God in eternal unity from the Jordan and flows too into us in the Body from his resurrection, and so expresses both.Is1:18 Let the mind that is in Christ be in us. What mind did Christ have/ The Fathers. The trinity believes that the Holy spirit is a Person., When I said all are one . I did not mean that the Holy spirit is a person, otherwise He would be the Father of Jesus. No it is the Spirit of God that flows through Jesus to us, Jesus being our Mediator so we can go to the throne of God and ask for forgiveness of Sin. I believe even tho sin is not imputed to us , we still have to ask God for forgiveness of our Sins ,not a Priest. We are baptized in the Name of the Father ,of the son, and Holy spirit.
I wish we could all agree and share the Love of God with each other.
Peace Mrs. IM4TruthQuote (t8 @ Dec. 08 2006,20:17) I did a search on Biblegateway for “Eternally Generated” and nothing came up. 
I agree. Sounds pagan.Quote (IM4Truth @ July 30 2007,00:16) Is1:18 Let the mind that is in Christ be in us. What mind did Christ have/ The Fathers. The trinity believes that the Holy spirit is a Person., When I said all are one . I did not mean that the Holy spirit is a person, otherwise He would be the Father of Jesus. No it is the Spirit of God that flows through Jesus to us, Jesus being our Mediator so we can go to the throne of God and ask for forgiveness of Sin. I believe even tho sin is not imputed to us , we still have to ask God for forgiveness of our Sins ,not a Priest. We are baptized in the Name of the Father ,of the son, and Holy spirit.
I wish we could all agree and share the Love of God with each other.
Peace Mrs. IM4Truth
Phil 2:5 does not teach that Yeshua had the Father's mind, that's really stretching the verse, making it say something it clearly doesn't want to. Paul is commanding his readers to have the same 'mindset' as Yeshua with regards to humility, a theme that is further pressed in vss 6-8. You know Mrs im4truth I wish we could agree too, but you can;t expect someone to concur with something that makes no sense to them. The explanation you gave for 2 Corinthians 13:5, John 14:23 cf. Ephesians 4:6 do not account for the contradiction that is so glaringly obvious to me.Quote (IM4Truth @ July 30 2007,00:16) The trinity believes that the Holy spirit is a Person.
But an actual person? Or just a term that was used?Is 1:18 You dont have to believe what I say. That is up to you. There is scripture that proves it and you just give oher scriptures to go around it. Amen and Amen
Mrs.IN4TruthHey Is 1:18,
NASB: And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, (NASB ©1995)
GWT: His Son is the reflection of God's glory and the exact likeness of God's being. He holds everything together through his powerful words. After he had cleansed people from their sins, he received the highest position, the one next to the Father in heaven.(GOD'S WORD®)
KJV: Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high:
ASV: who being the effulgence of his glory, and the very image of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had made purification of sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
BBE: Who, being the outshining of his glory, the true image of his substance, supporting all things by the word of his power, having given himself as an offering making clean from sins, took his seat at the right hand of God in heaven;
DBY: who being the effulgence of his glory and the expression of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, having made by himself the purification of sins, set himself down on the right hand of the greatness on high,
ERV: who being the effulgence of his glory, and the very image of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had made purification of sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
WEY: He brightly reflects God's glory and is the exact representation of His being, and upholds the universe by His all-powerful word. After securing man's purification from sin He took His seat at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
WBS: Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself made purification of our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
WEB: His Son is the radiance of his glory, the very image of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself made purification for our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
YLT: who being the brightness of the glory, and the impress of His subsistence, bearing up also the all things by the saying of his might — through himself having made a cleansing of our sins, sat down at the right hand of the greatness in the highest,First, we have either “radiance”, “reflection”, “brightness” or “effulgence” of God's glory. “Radiance” does not seem to have a good definition, so we'll look at “brightness” from wikipedia
Brightness is an attribute of visual perception in which a source appears to emit a given amount of light. In other words, brightness is the perception elicited by the luminance of a visual target. This is a subjective attribute/property of an object being observed.
This is further heightened by the use of the word “reflection”
IN BRIEF: n. – The image of something as seen in a mirror; A remark expressing careful consideration.
So it seems that Yeshua is a reflection of God's glory, but not an exact replica of God's glory.
Next, we have “exact representation”, “exact likeness”, “true image” — or something similar — of God's nature.
Representation –
Something that represents, as:
1. An image or likeness of something.
2. An account or statement, as of facts, allegations, or arguments.
3. An expostulation; a protest.
4. A presentation or production, as of a play.
—————————
Likeness –
1. The state, quality, or fact of being like; resemblance.
2. An imitative appearance; a semblance.
3. A pictorial, graphic, or sculptured representation of something; an image.
—————————
1. A reproduction of the form of a person or object, especially a sculptured likeness.
2 . One that closely or exactly resembles another; a double: He is the image of his uncle.
3. a. The opinion or concept of something that is held by the public.
b. The character projected to the public, as by a person or institution, especially as interpreted by the mass media.
4. A personification of something specified: That child is the image of good health.
5. A mental picture of something not real or present.So basically, we don't see equality of Father and Son in Hebrews 1:3 but “likeness”, “image”, “representation”. If what you believe is true, why would the writer of Hebrews go to such pains to use the words he did when he could have written “His glory is that of the Father's and His nature is the same as the Father's”? Instead he used terms that showed strong similarities between Father and Son but that also reduced the likelihood of equality in glory or nature.
Quote (acertainchap @ July 31 2007,06:04) Quote (IM4Truth @ July 30 2007,00:16) The trinity believes that the Holy spirit is a Person.
But an actual person? Or just a term that was used?THE HOLY SPIRIT IS AN ACTUAL PERSON: FORTY PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES
1) Helps: Jn 14:16,26, 15:26, 16:7, Rom 8:26, 1 Jn 2:1.
2) Glorifies: Jn 16:13-14.
3) Can be Known: Jn 14:17.
4) Gives Abilities: Acts 2:4, 1 Cor 12:7-11.
5) Referred to as “He”: Jn 14:26, 15:26, 16:7-8,13.
6) Loves: Rom 15:30.
7) Guides: Jn 16:13.
8) Comforts: Jn 14:26, 15:26, 16:7, Acts 9:31.
9) Teaches: Lk 12:12, Jn 14:26.
10) Reminds: Jn 14:26.
11) Bears Witness: Jn 15:26, Acts 5:32, Rom 8:16.
12) Has Impulses: Jn 16:13.
13) Hears: Jn 16:13.
14) Leads: Mt 4:1, Acts 8:39, Rom 8:14.
15) Pleads: Rom 8:26-27.
16) Longs (Yearns): Jas 4:5.
17) Wills: 1 Cor 12:11.
18) Thinks: Acts 15:25,28.
19) Sends: Acts 13:4.
20) Dispatches: Acts 10:20.
21) Impels: Mk 1:12.
22) Speaks: Jn 16:13-15, Acts 8:29, 10:19, 11:12, 13:2.
23) Forbids: Acts 16:6-7.
24) Appoints: Acts 20:28.
25) Reveals: Lk 2:26, 1 Cor 2:10.
26) Calls to Ministry: Acts 13:2.
27) Can be Grieved: Is 63:10, Eph 4:30.
28) Can be Insulted: Heb 10:29.
29) Can be Lied to: Acts 5:3-4.
30) Can be Blasphemed: Mt 12:31-32.
31) Strives: Gen 6:3.
32) Is Knowledgeable: Is 40:13, Acts 10:19, 1 Cor 2:10-13.
33) Can be Vexed: Is 63:10.
34) Judges: Jn 16:8.
35) Prophesies: Acts 21:11, 28:25, 1 Tim 4:1.
36) Has Fellowship: 2 Cor 13:14.
37) Gives Grace: Heb 10:29.
38) Agrees: 1 Jn 5:7-8.
39) Offers Life: 2 Cor 3:6, Rev 22:17.
40) Is the Creator: Job 33:4.THE HOLY SPIRIT IS GOD
Compare
Psa 95:7 For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice,
Psa 95:8 Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness:
Psa 95:9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work.
Psa 95:10 Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways:
Psa 95:11 Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.With
Heb 3:7 Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice,
Heb 3:8 Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness:
Heb 3:9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years.
Heb 3:10 Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways.
Heb 3:11 So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.).
TITUS 2:13 awaiting our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ
AMEN AND AMEN!.
C.B. and Keyonn good Post. C.B. I said it before, if the Holy Spirit is a Person then He is the Father of Jesus. There is only one Holy Spirit and that makes us all one with the Father. It is His Spirit. Do you see at all that you are wrong in that. I don't have to give a lot of scriptures to prove my point, one or two is good enough. Your quoting and thinking that it makes a difference if it says GREAT GOD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST. How often does one have to repeat that God is a Title and the Father and Jesus have Names. Other Kings and Emperors where called God in Ancient times, so that is nothing new. But the way you always put it like there is some mysteries meaning about the word God. The Father is greater then the Son, you know scriptures and there is more then one Scripture that is. So I wonder who is stretching the truth. Kejonn explains it pretty good too. That is all I am going to say on this subject. You will have to find somebody else to argue. I am tired of that, besides its not profitable. I know what the trinity is, I lived and was deceived by it for after we got married we were in the Catholic Church for over 20 years. And I said this before I taught that doctrine to 4 of our children, unfortunately.
Peace and Love Mrs.God’s Gift of holy spirit—a “He” or an “It”
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[This article was taken from our book “The Gift of Holy Spirit: The Power to be like Christ.”]
One of the major reasons that holy spirit has not been recognized by Christians to be a gift from God is that personal and masculine pronouns such as “he” or “whom” have been used with pneuma hagion. If we are to be confident that holy spirit is indeed a gift, and not a person, then the question about the pronouns associated with it has to be answered. The pronouns associated with the gift of holy spirit can, and should, be translated as pronouns such as “it,” “which,” and “that.” [1]
We saw in Chapter 2, “The Giver and the Gift,” that pneuma hagion often refers to the gift of God, the divine nature born inside us. This divine nature is a “thing,” not a person. Thus it should be referred to with pronouns such as “it,” “that,” or “which,” and not “who,” or “whom.” For example, Ephesians 1:14 is referring to the gift of holy spirit that is sealed inside us, so the verse should not be translated, “[the promised holy spirit] who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance….” Instead, the translation should read as the KJV has, “[the holy spirit] Which is the earnest of our inheritance…” [2]
There are three primary reasons why people think pneuma hagion is a person. First, it is translated “the Holy Spirit” instead of “holy spirit” even when the Greek text has no article “the.” Second, the “H” and “S” get capitalized, indicating a proper noun, even when there is no reason in the Greek text or context of the verse to capitalize them. Third, personal pronouns such as “he,” or “who,” are used with it. [3] We have covered the addition of “the” to pneuma hagion even when there is no “the” in the Greek texts, and we have also shown that when the gift of God is being referred to, holy spirit, and not “Holy Spirit,” is proper. Now we need to examine how pronouns in languages such as Greek need to be translated.
Unlike English, but like many languages, including Spanish, French, German, Latin, and Hebrew, the Greek language assigns a gender to all nouns. This gender assignment happened in ancient antiquity, and often there seems to be no reason why a particular noun has a particular gender assigned to it. When a language such as Greek, which assigns genders to nouns, is spoken or written, proper grammar dictates that the gender of any pronoun relating to that noun must agree with the gender of the noun.
In French, for example, a table is feminine, la table, while a desk is masculine, le bureau. Thus a literal translation of a French novel might contain the line, “I like the table, she is just right for the room, but I do not like the desk, he is too big.” In translating from French to English, however, we would never translate “the table, she,” or “the desk, he.” Not only is it improper English, it misses the point. Even the French people do not think of tables and desks as being masculine or feminine. It is simply a part of the language that has come down to them. And just as we would not say, “the desk, he,” we would never insist that a table or desk was somehow a person just because it had a masculine or feminine pronoun. Furthermore, good English translators recognize that even though a noun is assigned a gender in another language and the pronoun follows the noun, their job is to bring the meaning of the original into English, not introduce confusion as they translate. Hence, someone translating from French to English would use the English designation “it” for the table and the desk, in spite of the fact that in the original language the table and desk have a masculine or feminine gender.
What is true in the examples from the French language is true in any language that assigns a gender to nouns. In Spanish, a car is masculine, el carro, while a bicycle is feminine, la bicicleta. Again, no English translator would translate “the car, he,” or “the bicycle, she.” People translating Spanish into English use the word “it” when referring to a car or bicycle.
Let’s examine some examples in the Bible. The Greek word for “lamp” is luchnos, a masculine noun, and therefore proper grammar dictates that any pronoun associated with it is masculine. Thus, if the Greek text of Matthew 5:15 were translated literally, it would read, “Nor do they light a lamp and place him under the bushel.…” However, every version we checked said, “it” and not “him,” as proper English dictates. The Greek word for wine is oinos, a masculine noun, so it takes a masculine pronoun. Christ taught that no one puts new wine in old wineskins, because the wineskins would burst and the wine, “he will be poured out.” Of course, English versions say “it” will be poured out.
The same grammatical rule, that the pronoun must agree with the noun, is followed when the noun is feminine. According to the literal Greek text, Christ told his disciples that when they entered into a “city” (polin; feminine) or “village” (kome; feminine), to “…find out who in her is worthy…” (Matt. 10:11; literal). The English versions correctly read, “it” instead of “her.” Similarly, the Greek word for fig tree is suke, a feminine noun. When Jesus was entering Jerusalem, he saw a fig tree, but when he came to “her” he found nothing but leaves (Mark 11:13). Again, all the English versions say “it,” not “her.” [4] When translating from another language into English, we have to use the English language properly. Students of Greek, Hebrew, Spanish, French, German, etc., quickly discover that one of the difficult things about learning the language is memorizing the gender of each noun—something we do not have in the English language.
Once we clearly understand the gender of a pronoun is determined by the gender of the noun, we can see why one cannot build a doctrine on the gender of a noun and its agreeing pronouns. Only confusion would result from that kind of erroneous exegesis. For example, the noun pneuma (spirit) is neuter in gender and thus is naturally translated “it.” However, referring to the exact same reality, the parakletos, (John 14:16, etc., “Counselor” [5]), is masculine. Theologians agree that the counselor is “the Holy Spirit” (or to us, holy spirit), which was to come. Since parakletos is masculine, and spirit (pneuma) is neuter, are we to believe the gender of holy spirit changes somehow? Of course not, that would be ridiculous. Worse, since “spirit” in Greek is neuter, but “spirit” in Hebrew, also a biblical language, is feminine, are we to believe the sex of the holy spirit changed after the time of Jesus when the believers started to speak and write in Greek? Of course not.
Here is another good example of how confusing a theology would be if one tried to build it from the gender of nouns. Sometimes the Greek word logos is used to refer to the Word of God (Luke 5:1), and logos is a masculine noun. Sometimes the Greek word rhema is used of the Word of God (Matt. 4:4), and rhema is a neuter noun. Are we to believe that, first, the Word of God even has gender, and second, that it somehow changes gender? Of course not.
Our point is this: no translator should ever use the gender of the nouns in a language to build a theology. Only error could result from that kind of exegesis. The way to properly translate the Scripture from a language that assigns gender to nouns is to study the subject matter and understand the subject being discussed, and then translate accordingly. Does pneuma hagion have a gender? We know people come in two genders, masculine and feminine, so references to people should be either “he,” or “she.” Animals also have a gender. Rocks do not, and should be “it” (by the way, in Greek, “rock” is feminine while in Hebrew it is masculine
). In the case of pneuma hagion, when it is used as a name for God, and refers to God, it is proper to use the pronoun “He,” or other personal pronouns such as “Who.” [6] When it is referring to God’s gift, it is proper to use pronouns such as “it,” “which,” “that,” etc. [7]Once the above information is understood, it becomes clear why some versions of the Bible use personal pronouns such as “who” or “whom” when referring to pneuma hagion. If the translators believe pneuma hagion refers to the third person of the Trinity, they will believe that it is proper to use masculine pronouns and personal pronouns. Thus, their versions read “the Counselor…he” in the gospel of John, and “he,” “who,” or “whom” in other places in the New Testament. However, we, believe pneuma hagion refers to the gift of God, it must be used with pronouns such as “it,” “which,” and “that.”
One point should be certain from all the above discussion. No one can build a case for the “person” or “non-person” of pneuma hagion simply because an English version of the Bible reads “he,” or “who” in association with holy spirit, or because the noun “Counselor” is masculine. One must study the context to see how the pronouns should be translated.
Having discussed nouns and their associated pronouns, we should now say something about verbs. Every Bible student should be aware that Greek verbs have no gender, and that the gender associated with any given verb is ascertained from the context. It is vital to understand this because there are quite a few verses referring to spirit in which a masculine personal pronoun has been added because of the theology of the translator, although there is no definitive reason for it in the Greek text. This unwarranted addition of the personal pronoun naturally leads people to conclude that “the Holy Spirit” must be a person.
One such verse is John 16:13a: “But when he [referring to the “helper” in verse 7 and following through the context], the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth….” The phrase, “he will guide,” is the Greek verb hodegeo. It is a third person singular verb, and, as we said, Greek verbs have no gender. Since Trinitarians believe the context of John 16 is the “Person,” “the Holy Spirit” they translate hodegeo as “he will guide.” But since the verb has no gender, it could just as easily be translated “it will guide” or “she will guide,” whichever is best supported by the context. When we understand this, then we will scrutinize the context to see whether the subject being referred to is a “he,” “she,” or “it.” In this case, we believe that the context is God’s gift of holy spirit, which is not a person, and that the verse should be properly translated, “it will guide.”
Greek verbs do not have a gender, so any assigned to it is the interpretation of the translator. This comes up in many areas besides holy spirit. For example, Luke 11:24 speaks of demons, and some versions say that when an unclean spirit comes out of a man, “he goes” through arid places. But are we sure the demon is a “he”? The Greek verb is genderless, and can be masculine, feminine, or neuter. Thus there are versions that say “he” (cp. KJV; RSV) and versions that say “it” (cp. NASB; NRSV), but because of mainstream theology, none say “she,” although biblically that is a possibility. [8]
Another example regarding “spirit” is in the gospel of John. In this verse, Jesus is talking with his disciples about the spirit of truth, and he says, “…but you know Him because He abides with you, and will be in you.” (John 14:17b-NASB). The words “He abides” are an interpretation of the Greek, which is simply, “abides” in the third person singular, and thus could be “he abides,” “she abides,” or “it abides.” In this case, because Jesus is speaking of God’s gift of holy spirit, which is a “thing” and not a “Person,” it is proper to say, “it abides.”
God’s holy spirit is a most amazing and valuable gift, and it behooves us as Christians, especially those who translate the Bible, to understand it. Bible students who are not familiar with the original languages can only do this when the Greek and Hebrew texts are properly translated. If the translation is not accurate, then we do not have the Word of God, we have the words of men. Translating Scripture is one of the most important and spiritual of all responsibilities, because millions of people who do not read the original languages trust the translation to accurately represent the original. When it comes to the subject of God’s gift of holy spirit, countless Christians have been misled or confused by the improper use of the pronoun “he,” or other personal pronouns. When the pronouns associated with pneuma, spirit, are translated correctly, it is much easier to see the love and mercy of God expressed to us by His giving to us the wonderful gift of holy spirit.
PASTED FROM TRUTHORTRADITION.COM – a Biblical Unitarian website. I like a lot of what they teach. Some things I do not agree with, but sometimes it is possible to spit out the seed with the fruit.
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