Well, I'm learning a lot from this thread, just not about religion. What I'm learning is how poorly educated and dangerously ignorant Christians are about their own religion, and that there are now generic Christians.

I didn't know there was such a thing as a generic Christian, so I guess this my first new thing I've learned today.

dianavan, I think a lot of confusion comes from people who claim they aren't Christian or denominationally Christian (ie they are feminist, they are enlightened Buddhists, they are generic Christian) attempting to present their beliefs as facts about religion, especially when they themselves have no real experience of those religions. They've just decided they don't like that particular denomination, or they don't like Christians, or they don't like organized religion in general.

It is interesting to me how generational this ignorance is, and how prevalent it is among the "anything goes" baby boomers.

There are distinct differences among the denominations of Christianity, betweeen orthodox and non-orthodox, and between Christians and Jews, about how the holy ghost is interpreted. Mark Clark is correct about the eastern orthodox.

I would respectfully disagree that using "academic" sources to determine what the different religions and denominations believe is better. I think it makes more sense to get the information on what a Catholic believes from Catholic academic sources, what an Episcopalian believes from Episcopalian academic sources, etc.

I can only tell you what my understanding is of the holy ghost in the faith I was raised in, which is the American Catholic church, even though I am no longer a practicing Catholic, and am not a huge fan of organized religion.

So, my understanding of the meaning of the holy ghost to American Catholics, is that the holy ghost is viewed as a divine person. That is the simple, straightforward answer for a subject that is neither simple, nor straightforward. You might want to read more about this at the Catholic Encyclopedia website here:

The person of the Holy Ghost

You can also do a search in their search engine, which brings up many hits.

Remember, there is a big difference in asking about the theological beliefs and traditions of a specific religion, and asking what the historical facts are about that religion. If it is the latter you are interested in, then Mark Clark's suggestion of trying to find more neutral academic sources is the way to go. But if you want to learn what the actual beliefs and traditions are, you should go to the religious academic sources for that particular religion.

What you probably shouldn't do, is rely on Mudcat for theological answers, if this thread is anything to go by.

Try and steer clear of new age shit when studying religion. There is nothing wrong with pagan, wiccan, feminist, etc. spins being put on organized religion, but I think new age interpretations need to be viewed for what they are, which is somebody else's opinion about a subject with which they often have an ax to grind.

I'd also steer clear of interpretations given by people who claim to be Christian, but of no denomination. Historically, there has never been such a thing, although amongst American baby boomers the "I'm just a Christian" is usually (not always) indicative of "born again" and fundamentalist Christians who don't seem to know anything much about religion, but who want to use religion as a justification from right wing secular traditions of a nasty sort.

Just my opinion, of course.