Holy Ghost Or Holy Spirit?

[goldenchild17]

Holy Ghost. Used to use Spirit exclusively until I converted and then I switched. Not exactly sure why, I think it just sorta happened. All the people at my church use Ghost and that's how we say it during the rosary before all our Masses etc. so I went with it. Holy Spirit, and this is just me and don't intend to make any judgments so don't take it as such, Holy Spirit kinda sorta seems to have a new-agey sort of ring to it nowadays. Don't really have much to back that up with, mostly just the feeling I get when I hear it a lot. For me, Ghost just seems to have a more awe-inspiring meaning to it. I think it correctly invokes the feeling of holy fear that we should have for God.

Edited July 18, 2007 by goldenchild17

[Aloysius]

whatever cognitive definitions we ascribe to the words, germanic words tend to have more concrete feels to them and french based words tend to have more abstract feels to them in the English language (has to do with the fact that the germanic ones survived illegally underground and thus were used with more direct, pointed, and sincere things)

even comparing it including what we have learned to cognitively assosiate the word with we have "ghost" as something more personal and concrete; "spirit" as something which is more of an abstract concept. a ghost, whether he be Casper or the Holy Ghost, elicits from the hearer a concrete personal subject; a 'spirit' is much wider abstract conceptual thing, generally speaking... not in what we think about when we hear the word, but in our visceral emotional direct response to the word; all the actual conceptual connotations are much more changeable than these visceral responses to the words, which stay pretty static in language; which is why english speakers tend to use germanic words when being sincere and drawn out french words when being precise and guarded about what they want to say.

I think they both have their usages depending on in which sense you intend to speak... but I totally use "ghost" for prayer based on this reasoning.

[goldenchild17]

nice post, I never really considered that.

[Totus Tuus]

Either

[adt6247]

Note: ghost comes from German "geist", which is equivalent to the Latin "spiritus".

For me, it depends on context which I use. Typically, in conversation or theological writing or whatnot, I use "Holy Spirit", as it fits better with modern English.

When I pray, it's different. I prefer a much more formal, older language for prayer. I tend to either pray in Latin or the type of English found in the Douay-Rheims bible. My Latin vocabulary and grammar is limited at best, and though I know how to say the prayers of the mass, the rosary, etc. in Latin, I tend to do mental prayer and the breviary in English, but an older form. In this type of English, "Holy Ghost" sounds and feels more formal. I like having a form of speech set aside for prayer alone.

I get some funny looks from people when I'm praying in groups, and I'm leading a decade of the rosary or something, and end it with "Glory be to the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost..." (even more funny looks from "Gloria Patri..."), but I don't think it really bothers any one. Except baby-boomer liberals. And in that case, it's a good thing

[tojo]

[quote name='adt6247' post='1341569' date='Jul 26 2007, 04:58 PM']I get some funny looks from people when I'm praying in groups, and I'm leading a decade of the rosary or something, and end it with "Glory be to the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost..." (even more funny looks from "Gloria Patri..."), but I don't think it really bothers any one. Except baby-boomer liberals. And in that case, it's a good thing [/quote]

I get looks for using "thee" and "thy" in the Hail Mary.... lol, I bet you get looks busting out the Latin!