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Him (Part Five) - God Is Spirit - myth and myth buster","","A religious teaching outlining the attribute that “God is spirit” and clarifying misconceptions using a myth and myth-buster structure. The text contrasts popular pop-culture ideas—such as the Casper character—with Jesus’ words in John 4:24, emphasizing God’s presence everywhere in truth. It explains what the spirit attribute does not mean (no material composition) and what it does mean (a pure, perfect Spirit Being), supporting points through related Scriptures about invisibility, light, and the prohibition of idols.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":45,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/religion-spirituality/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/what-you-need-to-know-about-him-part-five-god-is-spirit-myth-and-myth-buster/503869/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/what-you-need-to-know-about-him-part-five-god-is-spirit-myth-and-myth-buster/503869.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"iuabcfuw","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-11","2026-10-03",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":29},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What popular myth does the teaching address about God being a spirit?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"It compares the biblical idea of God as spirit to the friendly ghost notion popularized by the Hollywood film Casper, treating God as if He were a harmless celestial ghost figure.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"How does the author use Jesus’ words in John 4:24 to correct the misunderstanding?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"The teaching highlights that Jesus said “God is spirit,” not “God is a spirit,” emphasizing that God is not limited to one place or time but is present everywhere.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"What does “God is spirit” mean and what does it not mean according to the text?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"It does not mean God is made of pure thought, energy, vapor, steam, space, or air. 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Him (Part Five)  \nHarold Willmington  \nLiberty University, [hwillmington@liberty.edu](hwillmington@liberty.edu)  \nFollow this and additional works at: [https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/will_know](https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/will_know)  \n Part of the Religion Commons  \nRecommended Citation  \nWillmington, Harold, \"What You Need to Know about ... Him (Part Five)\" (2011) . . 83.  \n[https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/will_know/83](https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/will_know/83)  \nThis Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Willmington School of the Bible at Scholars Crossing. It has been accepted for inclusion in by an authorized administrator of Scholars Crossing. For more information, please contact [scholarlycommunications@liberty.edu](scholarlycommunications@liberty.edu).  \nWHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT HIM – PART FIVE  \nby Dr. H. L. Willmington September 19, 2011  \nGOD IS SPIRIT  \nThis is the fifth in a series in regard to basic facts about the God of the Bible!  \nWe begin with a common myth, followed by a myth buster.  \n• The myth:  \nIf God is said to be a Spirit, then He can rightly be thought of as a good-natured, celestial Casper the Friendly Ghost figure.  \nThis concept of course comes from the popular 1995 Hollywood film, Casper the Friendly Ghost. According to the movie, Casper (full name, Casper McFadden), was a twelve-year old boy living in New York who was sledding in the snow but who stayed out too long and died of pneumonia. However, he is somehow able to return as a ghost. In fact he first appeared upon the scene in 1936 in a children’s book and later in an animated cartoon on The Friendly Ghost. Thus, one of the little songs honoring him in those early days reads:  \nCasper, the friendly ghost,  \nThe friendliest ghost you know,  \nThough grown-ups might look at him with fright,  \nThe children all love him so!  \nBut there’s even more    \nCasper’s popularity afforded him the kind of exposure that was sure to give him lots of friends, even if it was with the Hollywood set. But it did him and others alot of good. But the middle of the next decade, Casper was the ‘spooks’-person for UNICEF, as well as a pitchman for General Electric, the Apollo 16 flight to the moon, Major League Baseball’s National League, the American Dental Association, the Boys Scouts of America, and even . . . Chex.  \nSo, a little respect, please. I mean Casper is not just a ghoulish ghost, but rather a full-fledged super spook. Well, whatever, this Hollywood fable is light years removed from the Holy Word fact in regard to the title, GOD IS SPIRIT.  \n• The myth buster:  \nLet’s begin the debunking by observing Jesus’ statement to a Samaritan woman:  \n“God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship him in spirit  \nand in truth”(John 4:24) .  \nIt is vital to note what the Savior did not say. He did not say “God is a spirit”, but rather,“God is spirit” which does not limit Him to any one place at any onetime (as would be the case for Casper) but rather is everywhere, at all times in His full presence! (Don’t even try to understand, friend, just accept it.)  \nSo, just what all is involved here?  \n• What this attribute does not mean:  \nIt does not imply God is made of pure thought or energy, or of vapor, steam, space or air. It does not infer God consists of some exotic and unknown refined or radically altered form of either matter or anti-matter.  \n• What this attribute does mean:  \nIt means that God exists as a pure and perfect Spirit Being—not having size or dimensions; thus, the very nature of His existence is the ultimate existence, far superior to and totally different from anything He has created.  \nEmery Bancroft has written:  \nGod as Spirit is incorporeal, invisible, without material substance, without physical parts or passions and therefore free from all temporal limitations. (Elemental Theory, p. 23)  \nSome have been","cbCaicTTTdG8fyoV","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaicTTTdG8fyoV","pdf",246408,"English","# GOD IS SPIRIT\n## The myth\n## The myth buster: John 4:24\n## What this attribute does not mean\n## What this attribute does mean","[{\"question\":\"What popular myth does the teaching address about God being a spirit?\",\"answer\":\"It compares the biblical idea of God as spirit to the friendly ghost notion popularized by the Hollywood film Casper, treating God as if He were a harmless celestial ghost figure.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the author use Jesus’ words in John 4:24 to correct the misunderstanding?\",\"answer\":\"The teaching highlights that Jesus said “God is spirit,” not “God is a spirit,” emphasizing that God is not limited to one place or time but is present everywhere.\"},{\"question\":\"What does “God is spirit” mean and what does it not mean according to the text?\",\"answer\":\"It does not mean God is made of pure thought, energy, vapor, steam, space, or air. It means God exists as a pure and perfect Spirit Being, incorporeal and invisible, without size or dimensions.\"}]","What You Need to Know about ... Him (Part Five) - God Is Spirit - myth and myth buster | PDF",1791061197,15]