How do we know to refer to the Holy Spirit as He?

Question

Another question really got me to thinking about the Holy Spirit. I thought it better to open a new question rather to divert the focus of that thread. So growing up, I also thought of the 1st Person of the Trinity as Father and the 2nd Person of the Trinity as Son but never really came away with the overwhelming feeling of Holy Spirit as He. "It" would certainly be quite wrong, after all the Holy Spirit is the 3rd Person of the Trinity. What support is there for referring to the Holy Spirit as He?

Answer 1

Jesus calls the Holy Spirit "him":

• John 14:16

  I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever

• John 16:7

  But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.

Answer 2

There is never any indication in the New Testament that the Holy Spirit is a "he". In Greek, gender for normal nouns like "spirit", "rock" or "bread" is a grammatical thing, not a sex thing. This is common in the romance languages as well, if you are familiar with those. The fact that it is neuter does not tell you that it is an "it" as we think in English. The word "day" is feminine, but there is nothing feminine about the daytime. "Death" is masculine, but both males and females die. "teknon", one of the Greek words for child, is neuter, etc... So the fact that the word "spirit" is neuter (and it is, despite what was said in one of the other answers) actually doesn't tell you anything.

People often appeal to things like John 14:16 and 16:7 to prove that the Holy Spirit is male, but this is inaccurate. The word "helper" is masculine grammatically (like the words above). This is why pronouns that refer to "helper" like the "auton" in 16:7 are masculine. To do otherwise would be to commit a grammatical foul.

If you wish to say that the Holy Spirit is a "he", realize that this is an English thing you are doing, not a Greek. Orthodoxy states that the Holy Spirit is a person, so speaking of him/her/it personally entirely makes sense and is appropriate, but personhood in the Godhead need not imply gender. So, theologically, feel free to call him a person. But by arguing about gender you are taking this question beyond what the writers of the New Testament apparently felt like discussing.

Answer 3

Although personal pronouns associated with the Holy Spirit are usually neuter-gendered, since the Greek word πνεῦμα (pneuma) itself is grammatically neuter-gendered (every Greek word possesses a grammatical gender), there are occasions when the Holy Spirit is referred to by Greek masculine-gendered pronouns or demonstratives. There is no reason for this unless the Holy Spirit is a "masculine" person, if you will. Otherwise, we would always see Greek neuter-gendered pronouns or demonstratives in reference to the Holy Spirit.

For example, John 16:13:

John 16:13

Greek text: ὅταν δὲ ἔλθῃ ἐκεῖνος τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς ἀληθείας ὁδηγήσει ὑμᾶς εἰς πάσαν τῆν ἀληθείαν οὐ γὰρ λαλήσει ἀφ᾽ ἑαυτοῦ ἀλλ᾽ ὅσα ἂν ἀκούσῃ λαλήσει καὶ τὰ ἐρχόμενα ἀναγγελεῖ ὑμῖν

English translation: But, when he, the Holy Spirit, comes, he will guide you to all truth, for he shall not speak of himself; but, whatever he hears, he shall speak, and he will show you the coming things.

The Greek word ἐκεῖνος is unequivocally masculine-gendered. If it was neuter-gendered, it would have been εκείνο.

See also John 16:14.