Among the most ancient Christians it was understood that the Holy Spirit is female.  The earliest gospel, Mark, states that the Holy Spirit descended like a dove.  The word for "dove" in Greek is peristera, and it carries the feminine gender.  The Hebrew word ruach meaning "Spirit" is also feminine.  The Hebrew phrase Ruach Elohim is used throughout the Old Testament for “Spirit of God.” 

     Here are some quotes from early Christians, which affirm the femininity of the Holy Spirit:

 

The primordial consciousness permanently exists as three: Father, Mother, and Son.[1] 

 

The Holy Spirit is the mother of all living.[2]

 

Elchasai asserts that the male is the Son of God, and that the female is the Holy Spirit.[3]

 

Christ sits on a throne at the right hand of God, and "On God's left sits a Virgin on a throne, the Holy Spirit, and she praises him.  Seven virgins are at her command."[4] 

 

The seven virgins are apparently a reference to the idea that the Holy Spirit gives forth seven spirits from Herself – an idea that is mentioned by numerous Biblical Prophets, as we shall see shortly.

 

The Gnostics called the primordial Goddess "Mother," "Virgin," "Womb," and "Voice."[5]  Indeed, there are a large number of Gnostic sources that clearly assert that the Holy Spirit is female: 

 

The Logos brings them back to the Father, Mother, and limitless pleasures of Jesus.[6]

 

The Holy Spirit came upon Mary, that is, Sophia and the Most High.  This was the creative force, and it was stashed away, so that what was given to Mary could be fashioned by the Spirit.[7]

 

Callistus says that the Spirit became incarnate in the virgin.[8]

 

I am the Father, I am the Mother, and I am the Son.  I am the sanctified indestructible One. [9]

 

She was the first thought of the Everything.  Her light is like His light, the perfection of the invisible – the perfect Virgin Spirit.[10]

 

I praise the Primal Origin, the aons, and these three:  the Father, the Mother, and the Son.[11]

 

When the Father created the universe, he left a lot for the Mother.[12]

 

Irenaeus described a Gnostic idea that Sophia, in the form of Achamoth, will marry the Christ.[13]  A similar idea is known to exist from Revelation and from drawings in the Catacombs; that the Church is female, and Christ will marry the Church.

     Early Catholic circles were no exception.  They also declared the femininity of the Holy Spirit, calling her "Sophia," which is the Greek name for Divine Wisdom personified as a woman. 

 

The Logos, who is the Son, was always with the Father.  Sophia also, who is the Spirit, was in God's presence before anything was created.[14]

 

The Trinity is God, his Logos, and his Sophia.[15]

 

This was before the Virgin Mary replaced the Holy Spirit as the primary symbol of female divinity in the Orthodox and Catholic Churches – something that did not happen until several hundred years after Jesus walked the earth. 

     As for the Virgin Mary, she was not the real biological mother of Jesus.  Mary was only a womb into which he was placed after he was conceived.  The real mother of Jesus is the Holy Spirit.  Jesus himself testifies to this effect, as did his early followers:

 

My Mother, the Holy Spirit, took me by one of my hairs and carried me to Mount Tabor.[16] 

 

It should be noted here that this comes from the Gospel of the Hebrews, which received an endorsement from Eusebius around 310 AD.  Eusebius was no Gnostic.  He was an Orthodox Christian who despised all forms of heresy.  Several Gnostic books he discarded.  Yet he endorsed the Gospel of the Hebrews, which contains this quote.  Here is what Eusebius said:

 

Some have found a place in the list for ‘The Gospel of Hebrews’ since it has a unique appeal to Hebrews who believe in Christ.  These books (in the list) would all be grouped together with the disputed books, but I feel compelled to list the latter separately, making a distinction between those books which, according to church tradition, are recognized as authentic – and those in a different category, not Biblical, but disputed and familiar to most clergymen, for we should not confuse these with the forgeries published by heretics…”[17] 

    

Early Gnostic sources follow below:

 

Jesus said, “My mother, my true mother, gave me life…”[18]

 

People say Mary got pregnant by the Holy Spirit, but they are wrong.  Since when has a woman procreated with another woman?  Mary is a virgin.  Nothing had sex with her.[19] 

 

This idea is corroborated by Luke, where the angel says to Mary,

 

The Holy Spirit will come to you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.  Therefore, that holy one to whom you shall give birth will be called the Son of God.[20] 

 

We have all heard that the Holy Spirit came to Mary, but who is this other character named the "Most High?"  Translated into Hebrew, the "Most High" is Elyon, who is mentioned many times in the Old Testament, and in the English Bibles is translated consistently as the "Most High."  Elyon is a derivative of El, the Father-God of the ancient Hebrews and of their Western Semitic kinfolk. 

     In other words, it was God the Father and the Holy Spirit who conceived Jesus Christ.  The "biological" parents of Jesus are the other two members of the Trinity.  Mary had nothing to do with it.  Rather, her womb was merely used to incubate Jesus after conception.  God did this in order to deceive the hound of hell, the princes of the pit, and the archons of Abaddon into believing Jesus was more human than he really was, so that when he descended into the underworld to preach the gospel to the dead, Abaddon would believe he was only a dead man, and fail to recognize him as a living God.  Thus Jesus was a Trojan horse in hell who "led captives out of hell and gave gifts to human kind – for what does it mean that he ascended but that he first descended?"  As the Apostle wrote, "The gospel was preached to the dead."[21]

 

Wisdom is personified in the book of Proverbs in such a way that She is equal with God.  The Hebrew word for Wisdom, Chokmah, carries the feminine gender.  The Greek word for Wisdom, Sophia, also carries the feminine gender.  Both ancient Jewish and ancient Christian authorities point to Her co-divinity with God, as we shall demonstrate.  Speaking as Wisdom in the first person, the Bible states,

 

YHWH possessed (qanah) Me (Wisdom) from the beginning of His way, before his ancient works.  I was appointed from before infinity, from the beginning, before the cosmos existed.[22]

 

From this we can clearly see that Wisdom is coeternal with God – not created by God. 

 

We should note that the RSV’s and JPS’s translation of the Hebrew word qanah as “created” is in the minority.  More translations accept the meaning “to possess,” such as the KJV, NIV, the Standard Version, the Authorized Version of 1611, Webster’s, and World English - all of these acknowledge a meaning other than “created.”  The New American Bible translates it “begot,” just as the Son was begotten, not created.  In any case, the context makes the meaning plain enough.  As Origen said,

 

We have not been able to find anything in Scripture which indicates that the Holy Spirit was formed or created – not even in the way Solomon speaks about Divine Wisdom.[23]

 

Moreover, She is not found alone with God, but with the Word beside Her – and so the Blessed Trinity is revealed in Proverbs,

 

Listen to Wisdom (Chokmah, feminine) and set your heart towards Understanding (Tawboon, masculine).  Yes, if you call out for Knowledge (Beenah, feminine) and lift up your voice for Understanding (Tawboon, masculine)… For YHWH gives Wisdom (Chokmah, feminine).  Out of His mouth comes discernment and Understanding (Tawboon, masculine).[24]

 

Given the similarity in meaning between the Hebrew Tawboon and the Greek Logos, both of which are masculine in gender, we can identify Tawboon with Logos, Understanding with Christ.  Thus we have here Son and Spirit, Understanding and Wisdom, together with God, completing the Holy Trinity.

 

That the early church identified Lady Wisdom with the Holy Spirit is beyond a doubt,

 

For the Word and Wisdom were always present with God, the Son and the Spirit, by Whom and in Whom He freely and spontaneously created everything.  These are the Ones to Whom He said, “Let us make man in Our own image and likeness… Therefore, it was not angels who made us.”[25]

 

The Word, Who is the Son, was always with the Father.  Wisdom, too, Who is the Spirit, was in God’s presence before anything was created.  For the Spirit declared by Solomon, “By Wisdom God set the foundations of the earth, and by Understanding He set up the heaven.  By His knowledge the Deep burst forth and the clouds dropped down the dew...”  and again, “When he began the heavens, I was with Him…”  Therefore, there is one God, Who, by the Word and Wisdom created and arranged everything.”[26]

 

The ancient Jews confirmed Her divinity also, as their interpretations of Proverbs bear witness,

 

Wisdom came forth before all things, and prudent Understanding from eternity.[27]

 

Wisdom will praise Herself… “From eternity, in the beginning He brought Me forth, and for eternity I will never cease to exist.”[28]

 

She knows and understands everything.[29]

 

Wisdom is more versatile than any motion.  Since She is pure, she pervades and penetrates everything.  She is the breath (Ruach/Spirit) of God’s power, and the spotless emanation of the Almighty’s glory.  Thus, no unclean thing finds a place within Her.  She is the reflection of eternal light, a spotless mirror of God’s works, the image of His goodness.  She is only one, but She can accomplish anything, and being within Herself, She rejuvenates everything.  Throughout all generations She lives within holy souls, making them God’s friends and His prophets.[30]

 

This last quote is especially interesting, since it points to the fact that ancient pre-Christian Judaism identified Wisdom with the Spirit of prophecy, a trait of the Holy Spirit.

 

So Why Do They Call the Holy Spirit “He,” Not “She?”

 

Certainly, English Bibles have been calling the Holy Spirit “He” according to the masculine gender for a long time.  You might ponder, “There must be a reason for this.”  Indeed there is!  Jesus said,

 

But the Parakletos, Who is the Holy Spirit, Who the Father will send in My name, He will teach you everything…”[31]

 

The pronoun “He” is demanded since the Greek word Parakletos, is a masculine noun.  It means “advocate” (or “comforter” as Origen and the KJV would have it).

 

Many Christians regard the word Paraklete as a proper name for the Holy Spirit, but this assumption is false, because the Holy Spirit is not the only Paraklete.

 

If anyone sins, we have a Parakletos Who is with the Father – Jesus Christ the righteous.[32]

 

We see here that Jesus Christ is a Paraklete along with the Holy Spirit, Who is another Paraklete.

 

I (Christ) will pray to the Father and He will give you another Parakletos, Who will live with you forever, even the Spirit of truth.[33]

 

What does the term “another” mean except that there must be at least two Parakletes, the Son and the Spirit.  Therefore, the word “Paraklete” cannot be a specific name for the Holy Spirit.  It is not a proper name.  It is only a descriptive noun whose gender is incidental and unimportant.  Once this is grasped, the masculinity of the Holy Spirit becomes completely unnecessary. 

 

Another reason for why the Holy Spirit is traditionally called “He” occurs because of Hebrew-Greek translation issues.  As discussed above, the Hebrew word Ruach, a feminine noun meaning breath, wind, or spirit, was used frequently in the Hebrew Bible in the phrase Ruach Elohim which means “Spirit of God.”  Thus, the Holy Spirit of the Old Testament is undoubtedly feminine.  When the Hebrew was translated into Greek, the Greek word Pneuma was chosen to substitute for Ruach, since it also meant breath, wind, or spirit.  But the gender was lost in translation, for Pneuma carries a neuter gender.  Thus, the phrase Pneuma to Agion, which is used very commonly throughout the New Testament and means “Holy Spirit,” actually possesses a neuter gender.  We can see the linguistic tension displayed by studying several translations of Acts 8:15-16,

 

He prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, for IT had not yet fallen on any of them – RSV

 

He prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Ghost: (For as yet HE was fallen upon none of them) – KJV

 

Prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them - NIV

 

The RSV preserves the most literal meaning, calling the Holy Spirit an “it,” according to pneuma’s neuter gender.

 

The KJV calls the Holy Spirit “He” in an attempt to preserve the Personhood of the Trinity’s third member, but the literal translation demands the pronoun “It.”

 

The NIV attempts to sidestep the issue altogether, intentionally ignoring the actual Greek and spelling out the noun again when, in fact, the Greek text demands a pronoun instead.

 

In any case, the Holy Spirit is most definitely female.  Furthermore, She gives forth seven spirits from Herself:

 

Wisdom (Sophia) has built Her house.  She has hewn out Her seven pillars… She says, “Come, eat My bread and drink the wine I have mixed.”[34]

 

Grace and peace be with you from Him Who is, Who was, and Who is to come, and from the seven Spirits Who are before His throne, and from Jesus Christ… I saw seven golden candlesticks… seven stars.[35]

 

Behold!  A candlestick of gold, with a bowl on top, and seven lamps, and seven passageways to each lamp.[36]

 

There are seven eyes on that stone.[37]

 

These are the seven eyes of Yahweh, which run to and fro across the whole earth.[38]