A question asked recently – Is the Holy Spirit of God male?
The question in part arises from a discussion of gender pronouns, the perception of the “gender role” of spiritual gifts and even the question of the personhood of the Holy Spirit.
In my days in theological institutions there were some basic principles laid out. The Holy Spirit can be grieved – that denotes an emotional/personal being. The Holy Spirit is fully discovered as Jesus leaves and the Comforter comes. The Holy Spirit appears in both Old Testament and New Testament.
The Greek words used for the Holy Spirit can be seen as gender neutral (pneuma) or masculine (paracletos). Of course, I have spent some time trying to write a grammar, and to interpret how grammarians see various words. The assignment of gender in a word may also be disregarded in following eons – as far as “gender” goes – while still maintaining the endings related to the gender of the word.
If you understand what I have just said, let me add this. A word study can help but isn’t always enough to prove a hypothesis.
Often context is as important. Read, read, read! Wrap the word with other words until there is a sense of what the present looks like (the play on tenses is fully intentional).
So, what have I said? Just a lot of words?
Simply put, I’m open to saying the Holy Spirit is feminine (and there is lots of historical references). But, I would rather say the Holy Spirit is gender neutral – in fact the term “gender” is not really applicable to a Spirit.