Short answer
The Paraclete is a human prophet, and Muslims hold that he is Muhammad (ﷺ). The Greek word parakletos means a helper or advocate. The First Letter of John uses the same word for Jesus. So when Jesus promised "another" Paraclete, he meant someone like himself. He also said this helper could not come until he went away to the Father. Yet the New Testament Gospels show the Holy Spirit already at work. In John, Jesus even gives it to his disciples before he goes up to the Father. Jesus said the Paraclete would not speak on his own, but would speak only what he hears, and would honour Jesus. The Prophet (ﷺ) recited only what was revealed to him, and the Qur'an honours Jesus and his mother. It also says Jesus foretold a messenger named Ahmad.
Full explanation
The Christian reading
Christians identify the Paraclete with the Holy Spirit. The King James Version, the old English Bible, calls the Paraclete the "Comforter". Christians rely first on John 14:26. In the standard Greek text, that verse names him the Holy Spirit.
“But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.”
Jesus was the first Paraclete
In 1 John 2:1 the King James Version translates parakletos as "advocate", a helper who speaks for you. It is the same Greek word the King James Version renders "Comforter" in John. There, Jesus himself is the Paraclete. In John 14:16 Jesus promises "another" Paraclete. The Greek word John uses for "another" is allos. Vine's Expository Dictionary, a standard Christian reference, defines it as another of the same sort. It gives this very verse as its example: another like Christ himself. Vine's entry only defines the word. It does not say who the promised one is, and Christians take him to be the Holy Spirit. Jesus was with them as a man. He promised another of the same kind to take his place once he had gone (16:7). The first Paraclete was a man who taught, spoke and bore witness. The one promised in his place is described doing the same things.
“My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:”
“And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;”
A standard Christian dictionary of New Testament Greek. It explains that the Greek has two words for another: allos, another of the same sort, and heteros, another of a different sort. It gives John 14:16 as its example: Christ promised another Comforter, allos, another like himself, not heteros.
In his appendix on the Paraclete, Brown notes that the word is peculiar to John's writings, and that in 1 John 2:1 Jesus himself is a parakletos. He records that Christian tradition identifies the Paraclete with the Holy Spirit, but that scholars including Spitta, Delafosse, Windisch, Sasse, Bultmann and Betz doubted this, suggesting the Paraclete was once an independent saving figure later confused with the Holy Spirit. Brown himself keeps the traditional identification.
He could not come until Jesus left
Jesus made his own departure the condition. If he did not go away, the Paraclete would not come. And he said where he was going: to the one who sent him. But the Holy Spirit was already present. It moved on the waters at creation. It was with David, and it filled John the Baptist from the womb. It came down on Jesus at the Jordan. And in John, Jesus breathed on the disciples and said "Receive ye the Holy Ghost". That was on the same day he said he had not yet ascended to his Father. Acts says Jesus stayed with them forty days before he was taken up. The Holy Spirit could be given before Jesus went to the Father. The Paraclete could not come until he had gone. They are not the same.
“Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.”
“But now I go my way to him that sent me; and none of you asketh me, Whither goest thou?”
“And the earth was without form and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.”
“Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.”
“For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb.”
“And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.”
“And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:”
“Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.”
“To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God: And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me.”
“And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.”
An early translation without "Holy"
In one of the earliest translations of the New Testament Gospels, John 14:26 reads "the Spirit", without "Holy". This is the Old Syriac, a version in the Syriac language found at Sinai in 1892. John 14:26 is the only verse in John that calls the Paraclete the Holy Spirit. In this early translation, that word is missing. Christian scholars have also doubted the identification. Raymond Brown, a twentieth-century Catholic scholar, records a line of them who thought the Paraclete was once a separate saving figure.
One of the earliest translations of the Gospels, a Syriac palimpsest copied about 400 CE and found at St Catherine's Monastery on Mount Sinai in 1892 by the twin sisters Agnes Smith Lewis and Margaret Dunlop Gibson. At John 14:26 it names the Paraclete as "the Spirit", without the word "Holy".
In his appendix on the Paraclete, Brown notes that the word is peculiar to John's writings, and that in 1 John 2:1 Jesus himself is a parakletos. He records that Christian tradition identifies the Paraclete with the Holy Spirit, but that scholars including Spitta, Delafosse, Windisch, Sasse, Bultmann and Betz doubted this, suggesting the Paraclete was once an independent saving figure later confused with the Holy Spirit. Brown himself keeps the traditional identification.
"The Spirit of truth"
John names the Paraclete "the Spirit of truth" (15:26, 16:13). The First Letter of John comes from the same tradition as the Gospel of John. It ties each "spirit" to a human prophet. Its readers are to test every spirit, because many false prophets have gone out. In this way they can tell "the spirit of truth" from "the spirit of error". In the language of John's letters, a spirit of truth can be a true prophet.
“But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:”
“I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.”
“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.”
“We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.”
| Question | The Holy Spirit | The Paraclete |
|---|---|---|
| When is it at work? | Already at work: at creation, with David, in John the Baptist from the womb, and on Jesus at the Jordan. | It could not come unless Jesus went away (John 16:7). |
| Given before Jesus went to the Father? | Yes. Jesus breathed on the disciples and said “Receive ye the Holy Ghost”, on the same day he said he had not yet ascended (John 20:17, 22). | No. Jesus' going away to the one who sent him was the condition (John 16:5-7). |
| What is it called? | John 14:26 is the only verse in John that calls the Paraclete the Holy Ghost. One of the earliest translations, the Old Syriac found at Sinai in 1892, reads only “the Spirit”. | “The Spirit of truth” (John 15:26). The First Letter of John uses “the spirit of truth” when it tells readers to test the prophets. |
1 John 2:1 calls Jesus himself a paraclete. Jesus promised “another”: in Greek allos, another of the same sort. The first Paraclete was a man.
What Jesus said the Paraclete would do
Jesus said he had many things still to tell his disciples that they could not yet bear. The one to come would not speak on his own, but would speak what he hears. He would glorify Jesus and bear witness to him. The Prophet (ﷺ) recited only what the angel Gabriel brought him. The Qur'an says he does not speak from his own desire. It declared the religion complete. It calls Jesus the Messiah (the Christ), a messenger, a word and a spirit from God (﷾), and one of the righteous. It clears his mother of the charge made against her. It confirms his miracles, all done by God's (﷾) leave: those born blind and the lepers healed, and the dead raised. And it gives back his own message: worship Allah (﷾), my Lord and your Lord.
“I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.”
“Nor does he say (aught) of (his own) Desire. It is no less than inspiration sent down to him:”
“Say: Whoever is an enemy to Gabriel-for he brings down the (revelation) to thy heart by Allah's will, a confirmation of what went before, and guidance and glad tidings for those who believe,-”
“This day have I perfected your religion for you, completed My favour upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion.”
“O People of the Book! Commit no excesses in your religion: Nor say of Allah aught but the truth. Christ Jesus the son of Mary was (no more than) a messenger of Allah, and His Word, which He bestowed on Mary, and a spirit proceeding from Him: so believe in Allah and His messengers. Say not "Trinity": desist: it will be better for you: for Allah is one Allah: Glory be to Him: (far exalted is He) above having a son. To Him belong all things in the heavens and on earth. And enough is Allah as a Disposer of affairs.”
“"He shall speak to the people in childhood and in maturity. And he shall be (of the company) of the righteous."”
“That they rejected Faith; that they uttered against Mary a grave false charge;”
“Then will Allah say: "O Jesus the son of Mary! Recount My favour to thee and to thy mother. Behold! I strengthened thee with the holy spirit, so that thou didst speak to the people in childhood and in maturity. Behold! I taught thee the Book and Wisdom, the Law and the Gospel and behold! thou makest out of clay, as it were, the figure of a bird, by My leave, and thou breathest into it and it becometh a bird by My leave, and thou healest those born blind, and the lepers, by My leave. And behold! thou bringest forth the dead by My leave. And behold! I did restrain the Children of Israel from (violence to) thee when thou didst show them the clear Signs, and the unbelievers among them said: 'This is nothing but evident magic.'”
“"Never said I to them aught except what Thou didst command me to say, to wit, 'worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord'; and I was a witness over them whilst I dwelt amongst them; when Thou didst take me up Thou wast the Watcher over them, and Thou art a witness to all things.”
| Jesus said the Paraclete would | What the Prophet brought |
|---|---|
| Not speak on his own, but speak what he hears | The Prophet (ﷺ) recited only what the angel Gabriel brought him. The Qur'an says he does not speak from his own desire. |
| Tell the many things the disciples could not yet bear | The Qur'an declared the religion complete. |
| Glorify Jesus | The Qur'an calls Jesus the Messiah, God's (﷾) messenger, His word, a spirit from Him that He created, and one of the righteous. It clears his mother of the charge made against her. |
| Bear witness to Jesus | The Qur'an confirms his miracles, all done by God's (﷾) leave, and gives back his own message: worship Allah (﷾), my Lord and your Lord. |
Muslims hold that the one Jesus promised is Muhammad (ﷺ), who came after him.
What the Qur'an says
The Qur'an states that Jesus gave good news of a messenger to come after him, whose name would be Ahmad. Ahmad comes from the same root as Muhammad and means the most praised. The Qur'an says the People of the Book (the Jews and Christians) find the unlettered Prophet (ﷺ) written in two books. These are the Law (the Torah) and the Injil (the Gospel Jesus preached). The Prophet (ﷺ) said no prophet came between Jesus and himself.
“And remember, Jesus, the son of Mary, said: "O Children of Israel! I am the messenger of Allah (sent) to you, confirming the Law (which came) before me, and giving Glad Tidings of a Messenger to come after me, whose name shall be Ahmad." But when he came to them with Clear Signs, they said, "this is evident sorcery!"”
“"Those who follow the messenger, the unlettered Prophet, whom they find mentioned in their own (scriptures),- in the law and the Gospel;- for he commands them what is just and forbids them what is evil; he allows them as lawful what is good (and pure) and prohibits them from what is bad (and impure); He releases them from their heavy burdens and from the yokes that are upon them. So it is those who believe in him, honour him, help him, and follow the light which is sent down with him,- it is they who will prosper."”
Abu Hurayra reports that the Prophet (ﷺ) said he was the nearest of all people to the son of Mary. The prophets are brothers with one father, he said, and there was no prophet between him and Jesus.
Verse by verse
John 14:26 — Gospel of John, chapter 14, verse 26
“But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.”
Cited for
Jesus himself names the Comforter: "which is the Holy Ghost". So the Paraclete is the Holy Spirit.
The response
An early Syriac translation of this verse has only "the Spirit". And the New Testament Gospels do not fit the identification. The Paraclete could not come unless Jesus went away to the one who sent him. Yet the Holy Spirit filled John the Baptist from the womb and came down on Jesus at the Jordan. And in John, Jesus gives the Holy Ghost to his disciples before he has ascended to the Father. Acts says he was taken up forty days later.
Where it lands — The Holy Spirit was already present and given before Jesus went to the Father; the Paraclete could come only after he had gone.
John 7:39 — Gospel of John, chapter 7, verse 39
“(But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)”
Cited for
The Spirit could not be given until Jesus was glorified (John 7:39), so John 20:22 and Pentecost fulfil the promise.
The response
John 7:39 speaks of glorification. But the condition Jesus gives for the Paraclete is different: he must go away to the one who sent him (16:5-7). John's Gospel has Jesus give the Holy Ghost at 20:22. That is on the same day he says he has not yet ascended to his Father. Acts places his going up forty days later. The Spirit is given before Jesus goes to the Father, and the Paraclete comes only after. Pentecost did come after he left, so the timing alone does not settle it. What settles it is the work: the Paraclete speaks only what he hears (16:13). That is a prophet's work, like the prophet promised to Moses, with God's (﷾) words in his mouth (Deuteronomy 18:18).
Where it lands — John 20:22 comes the same day Jesus said he had not yet ascended, and Acts places his going up forty days later.
John 14:16 — Gospel of John, chapter 14, verse 16
“And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;”
Cited for
The Paraclete stays with the disciples for ever, so he cannot be a man born centuries later.
The response
"For ever" fits a final messenger whose message is kept whole and is never replaced. His teaching stays with believers to this day. And John's Gospel does not have the Paraclete come in Jesus' lifetime. Jesus says he will not come unless Jesus goes away.
Where it lands — These words describe a message that remains, and they do not undo the condition that the Paraclete comes only after Jesus has gone.
Perspectives
Mainstream Christian
The Paraclete is the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity. He was poured out on the disciples at the festival of Pentecost.
John 14:26, in the standard Greek text and the KJV, calls the Comforter the Holy Ghost.
Rebuttal
Grant that the standard Greek text names him the Holy Spirit here, and the King James Version "the Holy Ghost". But the Holy Spirit was given before Jesus went to the Father, and the Paraclete could come only after. This is the one verse in John that calls the Paraclete holy, and an early Syriac translation lacks even that word.
The Islamic perspective
The Paraclete is a human prophet who came after Jesus: Muhammad (ﷺ). He spoke only what was revealed to him, completed the message, and honoured Jesus.
1 John 2:1 calls Jesus a parakletos, so "another" Paraclete is naturally one like him.
The Greek word for "another" in John 14:16 is allos, which Vine defines as another of the same sort. The first Paraclete, Jesus, was a man and a prophet who taught and bore witness.
The Paraclete could not come until Jesus left. Yet the Holy Spirit was present and given before Jesus went to the Father.
An early Syriac translation of John 14:26 has "the Spirit" without "Holy".
Several Christian scholars doubted that the Paraclete was originally the Holy Spirit.
The Paraclete speaks only what he hears and glorifies Jesus, which describes the Prophet (ﷺ) and the Qur'an.
The Qur'an says Jesus foretold a messenger after him named Ahmad.