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Holy Spirit
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The view that the Holy Spirit is not a distinct person has been considered to be heretical by mainstream Christianity, including Roman Catholicism. For example, Epiphanius of Salamis referred to some of those as Semi-Arians and Pneumatomachi ("spirit-fighters") and called them, "A sort of monstrous, half-formed people of two natures … Semi-Arians … hold the truly orthodox view of the Son, that he was forever with the Father...but has been begotten without beginning and not in time … But all of these blaspheme the Holy Spirit, and do not count him in the Godhead with the Father and the Son" (Epiphanius. The Panarion of Epiphanius of Salamis, Books II and III (Sects 47-80), De Fide). Section VI, Verses 1,1 and 1,3. Translated by Frank Williams. EJ Brill, New York, 1994, pp.471-472)
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The Father is God, and the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, but there is only one God. "Wait a minute," some people say. "One plus one plus one equals one? This can’t be right. It just doesn’t add up."
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The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches that the name "Holy Spirit" has many references, depending on its usage and the context in which it appears. The term "Holy Spirit" can denote the Holy Ghost; Spirit; the Spirit of God; Spirit of the Lord; Spirit of Christ (or Light of Christ) or even Spirit of Truth. Latter-day Saints teach that these terms are distinct from one another, showing the many aspects and/or functions of God. For example, the Spirit of God has been used as a synonym for the "Holy Ghost", which is a usage that denotes the nature of the Holy Ghost, a distinct personage of the Spirit and an actual distinct and separate person of the Godhead. Spirit of God has ... been used to denote a force or power which is impersonal and fills the immensity of space. This latter use is not the Holy Ghost, but denotes a "non-personage", as the Power of God or the Light of God that emanates everywhere.
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A theology of the Holy Spirit developed slowly, largely in response to controversies over the relation of Jesus Christ to God the Father. In 325, the Council of Nicaea condemned as heresy the Arian teaching that the Son was a creature, neither equal to, nor coeternal with, the Father. In 381, the Council of Constantinople condemned the logical extension of that view, that the Holy Spirit was created by the Son. The council stated: “I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of Life, who proceeds from the Father. Together with the Father and the Son he is adored and glorified.” Later pronouncements brought only one important doctrinal change, the 9th-century addition of filioque to the creed of Constantinople. That addition, that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the son, has been a source of discord between Eastern and Western Christianity ever since.
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When the Holy Spirit does something, God is doing it. When the Holy Spirit speaks, God is speaking. When Ananias lied to the Holy Spirit, he lied to God (Acts 5:3-4). As Peter said, Ananias did not lie to God’s representative, but to God himself. People do not "lie" to an impersonal power.
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A formal doctrine of the Holy Spirit did not begin to be developed until the early third century. Tertullian (c.160-c.225) and the Montanist heresy showed the need to distinguish between true and false activities of the Holy Spirit. Origen of Alexandria (c.185-c.254) taught that the Spirit worked primarily within the Church, whereas the Word (Christ) worked within the whole of creation.
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Holy Spirit