Is the Holy Spirit a Person in John’s Gospel?
Trinitarians focus on a few scriptures in which the holy spirit is personified, which, when taken literally, make it appear to be an actual spirit person. Let’s examine the uses in John of the word spirit, wherever it means the holy spirit.
“John bore witness, ‘I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and it remained on him'” (John 1:32 ESV)
The holy spirit is not personified, but said to be “as a dove,” the figure of speech called simile, being used here, involving the comparison of one thing with another thing of a different kind. The holy Spirit is referred to by the pronoun “it.” “It” is not a person. There is no indication of personhood being applied to the holy spirit.
