ACC ~ John 15 v26b
CREEDAL STATEMENT
COUNCIL OF CONSTANTINOPLE 381:
And [we believe] in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord and giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father,[1]
who with the Father and Son
together is worshiped and glorified;
who spoke by the prophets.
NICENE-CONSTANTINOPOLITAN CREED, THIRD ARTICLE (GREEK TEXT).[2]
PROCEEDS FROM THE FATHER, RESTS IN THE SON
JOHN OF DAMASCUS: We believe also in one Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and rests in the Son, the object of equal adoration and glorification with the Father and Son, since he is co-essential and co-eternal; [1] the Spirit of God, direct, authoritative, the fountain of wisdom, and life and holiness; God existing and addressed along with Father and Son; uncreated, full, creative, all-ruling, all-effecting, all-powerful, of infinite power, Lord of all creation and not under any lord; deifying, not deified; filling, not filled; shared in, not sharing in; sanctifying, not sanctified; the intercessor, receiving the supplications of all; in all things like to the Father and Son: proceeding from the Father and communicated through the Son, participated in by all creation, through himself creating and investing with essence and sanctifying and maintaining the universe: having subsistence, existing in its own proper and peculiar subsistence, inseparable and indivisible from Father and Son, possessing all the qualities that the Father and Son possess, except that of not being begotten or born. For the Father is without cause and unborn; since he is derived from nothing but derives from himself his being, nor does he derive a single quality from another. Rather, he is himself the beginning and cause of the existence of all things in a definite and natural manner. But the Son is derived from the Father after the manner of generation, and the Holy Spirit likewise is derived from the Father, yet not after the manner of generation but after that of procession. And we have learned that there is a difference [2] between generation and procession, but the nature of that difference we in no wise understand. Further, the generation of the Son from the Father and the procession of the Holy Spirit are simultaneous. ORTHODOX FAITH 1.8. [3]
[1] See Gregory of Nazianzus Oration 37.
[2] See Gregory of Nazianzus Oration 29.35.
[3] NPNF 2 9:9*.
THE SPIRIT PROCEEDS FROM THE FATHER
DIDYMUS THE BLIND: He does not say, “from God” or “from the Almighty” but “from the Father,” because though the Father and God Almighty are the same, yet the Spirit of truth properly proceeds from God as the Father, the Begetter. … The Father and the Son together send the Spirit of truth: He comes by the will both of the Father and the Son. ON THE HOLY SPIRIT 26. [1]
[1] PL 23:126-27.
THE SPIRIT PROCEEDS
GREGORY OF NAZIANZUS: The Holy Spirit is truly Spirit, coming forth from the Father indeed, but not after the manner of the Son, for it is not by generation but by procession. … There is then one God in three, and these three are one. ON THE HOLY LIGHTS, ORATION 39.12. [1]
PROCESSION BELONGS TO THE SPIRIT
GREGORY OF NAZIANZUS:
The Holy Spirit always existed, and exists and always will exist,
who neither had a beginning nor will have an end …
ever being partaken but not partaking;
perfecting, not being perfected;
sanctifying, not being sanctified;
deifying, not being deified …
Life and Lifegiver;
Light and Lightgiver;
Absolute Good and Spring of Goodness …
By whom the Father is known and the Son is glorified. …
Why make a long discourse of it? All that the Father has the Son has also; except the being unbegotten. And all that the Son has the Spirit has also, except the generation. ON PENTECOST, ORATION 41.9. [2]
[1] NPNF 2 7:356*.
[2] NPNF 2 7:382.
THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE TRINITY
GREGORY OF NAZIANZUS: Tell me, what position will you assign to that which proceeds, which has started up between the two terms of your distinctions [i.e., the terms begotten and unbegotten] and is introduced by a better theologian than you, namely, our Savior himself? Or perhaps you have taken that word out of your Gospels for the sake of your third testament: “The Holy Spirit, who proceeds from the Father.” Because he proceeds from that source, he is no creature. And because he is not begotten, he is no son. And because he is between the unbegotten and the begotten, he is God. And so, escaping the labors of your syllogisms, he [i.e., the Spirit] has manifested himself as God, stronger than your distinctions. What then is procession? Tell me what the unbegottenness of the Father is, and I will explain to you the physiology of the generation of the Son and the procession of the Spirit, and we shall both of us be frenzy-stricken for prying into the mystery of God! [1] And who are we to do these things, we who cannot even see what lies at our feet or number the sand of the sea, or the drops of rain, or the days of eternity, much less enter into the depths of God and supply an account of that nature that is so unspeakable and transcending all words?
What then, they say, is there lacking to the Spirit that prevents him from being a Son, for if there were not something lacking he would be a Son? We assert that there is nothing lacking—for God has no deficiency. But the difference of manifestation, if I may so express myself, or rather of their mutual relations one to another, has caused the difference of their names. For indeed, there is no deficiency in the Son that prevents his being Father (for sonship is not a deficiency), and yet he is not Father. According to this line of argument there must be some deficiency in the Father, in respect of his not being Son. For the Father is not Son, and yet this is not due to either deficiency or subjection of essence. But the very fact of being unbegotten or begotten or proceeding has given the name of Father to the first, of the Son to the second, and of the third, him of whom we are speaking, of the Holy Spirit that the distinction of the three persons may be preserved in the one nature and dignity of the Godhead. For neither is the Son Father, for the Father is one, but he is what the Father is. Nor is the Spirit Son because he is of God, for the Only Begotten is one, but he is what the Son is. The three are one in Godhead, and the one three in properties, so that neither is the unity a Sabellian one, [2] nor does the Trinity countenance the present evil distinction. What then? Is the Spirit God? Most certainly. Well then, is he consubstantial? Yes, if he is God. ON THE HOLY SPIRIT, THEOLOGICAL ORATION 5(31).8-10. [3]
[1] Sir 1:2.
[2] That is, they are not three manifestations, or modes, of the Godhead.
[3] NPNF 2 7:320-21**.
THE SPIRIT’S PROCESSION IS NOT FROM A PLACE
AMBROSE: If the Spirit proceeds from a place and passes to a place, the Father also will be found in a place, and so will the Son. If he goes out of a place, whom the Fathers sends, or the Son, surely the Spirit passing and proceeding from a place seems to leave both the Father and the Son as a body, according to impious interpretations. I declare this with reference to those who say that the Spirit has motion by descending. But neither is the Father circumscribed in any place, who is over all things not only of a corporeal nature but also of invisible creation, nor is the Son enclosed by the places and times of his works, who as the worker of all creation is over every creature. Nor is the Spirit of truth, namely, the Spirit of God, circumscribed by any corporeal boundaries, [1] who, since he is incorporeal, is over all rational creation by the ineffable fullness of the Godhead, having the power of breathing where he wishes and of inspiring as he wishes over all things. ON THE HOLY SPIRIT 1.11.117-18. [2]
[1] See Wis 7:23.
[2] FC 44:77-78*; CSEL 79:65-66.
THE SPIRIT PROCEEDS FROM THE WORD, WHO IS FROM THE FATHER
ATHANASIUS:
As the Son is an only-begotten offspring, so also the Spirit, being given and sent from the Son, is himself one and not many, nor one from among many, but Only Spirit. As the Son, the living Word, is one, so must the vital activity and gift by which he sanctifies and enlightens be one, perfect and complete. This [activity and gift] is said to proceed from the Father because it is from the Word, who is confessed to be from the Father, that it shines forth, is sent and is given. The Son is sent from the Father. For he says, “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son.” [1] The Son sends the Spirit. “If I go away,” he says, “I will send the Paraclete.” [2] The Son glorifies the Father, saying, “Father, I have glorified you.” [3] The Spirit glorifies the Son, for he says, “He shall glorify me.” [4] The Son says, “The things I heard from the Father I speak unto the world.” [5] The Spirit takes of the Son. “He shall take of mine,” he says, “and shall declare it unto you.” [6] The Son came in the name of the Father. “The Holy Spirit,” says the Son, “whom the Father will send in my name.” [7] LETTER TO SERAPION 1.20. [8]
[1] Jn 3:16.
[2] Jn 16:7.
[3] Jn 17:4.
[4] Jn 16:14.
[5] Jn 8:26.
[6] Jn 16:14.
[7] Jn 14:26.
[8] LAHS 116-18; PG 26:577-80.
THE SON SENDS THE SPIRIT FROM THE FATHER
HILARY OF POITIERS: The Advocate shall come, and the Son shall send him from the Father, and he is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father. … He will send from the Father the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father. [The Son] therefore cannot be the recipient, since he is revealed as the sender. It only remains to make sure of our conviction on the point, whether we are to believe an egress of a co-existent being or a procession of a being begotten. … If one believes that there is a difference between receiving from the Son and proceeding from the Father, surely to receive from the Son and to receive from the Father will be regarded as one and the same thing. … For when he says that all things whatever the Father has are his and that for this cause he declared that it must be received from his own, he teaches also that what is received from the Father is yet received from himself, because all things that the Father has are his. ON THE TRINITY 8.19-20. [1]
[1] NPNF 2 9:142-43*; CCL 62A:330-32.
THE SPIRIT OF THE FATHER AND THE SON
AUGUSTINE: That he is the Spirit of the Father is what the Son himself says: “He proceeds from the Father,” and in another place, “For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.” [1] That he is also the Spirit of the Son is what the apostle tells us: “God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying Abba, Father,” [2] that is, “making us cry.” It is, after all, we who cry out but in him, that is to say, through his pouring out charity in our hearts, without which anyone who cries out, cries out in vain. That is why he also says, “Whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ is not one of his.” [3] So to which person of the Trinity would communion in this companionship properly belong, if not to that Spirit who is common to Father and Son? SERMON 71.29. [4]
[1] Mt 10:20.
[2] ESUS IS INFORMED THAT LAZARUS IS SICK | JOHN 11:1-5
[3] Rom 8:9.
[4] WSA 3 3:264; RB 75:97.
THE SPIRIT SENT BY FATHER AND SON
AMBROSE: When you hear that the Son sends the Spirit, you might believe that the Spirit is of inferior power. So both the Father and the Spirit sent the Son. Also, the Father and the Son sent the Spirit. The Father sent him because it is written, “But the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name.” The Son sent him, because he said, “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth.” If, then, the Son and the Spirit send each other, as the Father sends, there is no affront of subjection but a community of power. ON THE HOLY SPIRIT 3.1.7-8. [1]
[1] FC 44:156; CSEL 79:152-53.
BOTH FATHER AND SON SEND THE SPIRIT
CHRYSOSTOM: [The Spirit] shall be worthy of belief because he is the Spirit of truth. This is why he called it not the Holy Spirit but the “Spirit of truth.” But when he says it “proceeds from the Father,” he shows that [the Spirit] knows all things precisely, just as Christ also says of himself, “I know from where I come and where I am going.” [1] He also was speaking in that place about truth. “Whom I will send” indicates that it is no longer the Father alone but the Son also who sends. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 77.3. [2]
[1] Jn 8:14.
[2] NPNF 1 14:284**.
NOT THE SPIRIT OF ONE, BUT OF BOTH FATHER AND SON
AUGUSTINE: If it is asked here whether the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Son also, we may answer in this way: The Son is the Son of the Father alone, and the Father is the Father of the Son only. But the Holy Spirit is not the Spirit of one but of both, since Christ himself said, “The Spirit of your Father which speaks in you.” [1] And the apostle says, “God has sent the Spirit of his Son into your hearts.” [2] … This indeed, I think, is the reason why he is called peculiarly the Spirit. For both of the Father and the Son separately we may say that each is a Spirit. For God is a Spirit, [3] that is, God is not carnal but spiritual. But what each is separately in a general sense, he who is not either one separately, but the union of both, is spiritually. But if the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the Son, why shouldn’t we believe that he proceeds from the Son seeing that he is also the Spirit of the Son? Indeed, if he did not proceed from the Son, Christ would not after the resurrection have breathed on his disciples and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” [4] … This too is what is meant by the virtue that went out of him and healed all. If the Holy Spirit then proceeds both from the Father and the Son, why does the Son say, “Who proceeds from the Father”? He says this because it agrees with his general way of referring all that he has to him from whom he is. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 99.6-8. [5]
[1] Mt 10:20.
[2] Gal 4:6.
[3] Jn 4:24.
[4] Jn 20:22.
[5] NPNF 1 7:383-84**; CCL 36:585-87.
Jn
[1]Western Latin churches later added the word filioque, which eventually brought about schism between Eastern and Western Christianity that continues today.
[2]ACO 1.1.7:66.