pneuma

Semantic range

1. 1wind or breath
2. 2the human spirit
3. 3a spirit being, good or evil
4. 4the Holy Spirit

The Greek counterpart of rûaḥ, and John 3:8 turns on the overlap: "the wind bloweth where it listeth" — pneuma in both halves of the sentence, so the line simultaneously reads "the Spirit breathes where He wills." The pun is untranslatable and the ambiguity is the point.

The Restoration teaches that spirit is not immaterial: "there is no such thing as immaterial matter. All spirit is matter, but it is more fine or pure" (D&C 131:7–8) — a claim that separates Latter-day Saint theology sharply from the Platonic inheritance of much historic Christianity.

See also

• רוּחַrûaḥ
• παράκλητοςparaklētos
• ψυχήpsychē