The Son proceeds from the Father
The fact that the Son proceeds from the Father lies at the very core of the Gospel, and it is therefore not difficult to find written in Scripture.(John 5:36) ...the works themselves, which I do, give testimony of me, that the Father hath sent me.
(John 6:39) Now this is the will of the Father who sent me: that of all that he hath given me, I should lose nothing; but should raise it up again in the last day.
(John 6:58) As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father; so he that eateth me, the same also shall live by me.
(John 7:28) I know him, because I am from him, and he hath sent me.
(John 8:16) And if I do judge, my judgment is true: because I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent me.
(John 8:42) Jesus therefore said to them: If God were your Father, you would indeed love me. For from God I proceeded, and came; for I came not of myself, but he sent me
(John 12:49) For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father who sent me, he gave me commandment what I should say, and what I should speak.
(John 13:20) Amen, amen, I say to you, he that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth me: and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.
(John 14:9-11) Have I been so long a time with you and have you not known me? Philip, he that seeth me seeth the Father also. How sayest thou: Shew us the Father? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me? The words that I speak to you, I speak not of myself. But the Father who abideth in me, he doth the works. Believe you not that I am in the Father and the Father in me? Otherwise believe for the very works' sake...
(John 16:26-28) In that day, you shall ask in my name; and I say not to you, that I will ask the Father for you: For the Father himself loveth you, because you have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God. I came forth from the Father and am come into the world: again I leave the world and I go to the Father. I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again I leave the world, and I go to the Father.
(John 16:32) Behold, the hour cometh, and it is now come, that you shall be scattered every man to his own, and shall leave me alone; and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.
(John 17:3) Now this is eternal life: That they may know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent
(John 17:8) Because the words which thou gavest me, I have given to them; and they have received them, and have known in very deed that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.
(John 17:18) As thou hast sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.
(John 17:21) That they all may be one, as thou, Father, in me, and I in thee; that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
(John 17:25) Just Father, the world hath not known thee; but I have known thee: and these have known that thou hast sent me.
The Spirit proceeds from the Son
The fact that the Son proceeds from the Father is not generally disputed, but the significance of the above quotations lies in their parallelism with those describing the relation of the Spirit to the Son and of the Spirit to the Father. This parallelism is the key Scriptural argument with which the West defends the Filioque.As to the Sacred Scripture, the inspired writers call the Holy Ghost the Spirit of the Son (Galatians 4:6), the Spirit of Christ (Romans 8:9), the Spirit of Jesus Christ (Philippians 1:19), just as they call Him the Spirit of the Father (Matthew 10:20) and the Spirit of God (1 Corinthians 2:11). Hence they attribute to the Holy Ghost the same relation to the Son as to the Father... Again, according to Sacred Scripture, the Son sends the Holy Ghost (Luke 24:49; John 15:26; 16:7; 20:22; Acts 2:33; Titus 3:6), just as the Father sends the Son (Romans 3:3; etc.), and as the Father sends the Holy Ghost (John 14:26).First, the Scriptures teach that the Spirit is "of" the Father, just as the Son is:
(Maas)
(Gal 4:6) And because you are sons, God hath sent the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying: Abba, Father.Second, the Scriptures teach that the Spirit is "of" the Father, just as He is "of" the Son:
(Rom 8:9) But you are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
(Phil 1:19) For I know that this shall fall out to me unto salvation, through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ
(John 1:14) And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we saw his glory, the glory as it were of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
(2 John 1:3) Grace be with you, mercy, and peace from God the Father, and from Christ Jesus the Son of the Father; in truth and charity.
(Matthew 10:20) For it is not you that speak, but the Spirit of your Father that speaketh in you.Scripture teaches that the Son "sends" the Spirit just as the Son is sent by the Father:
(2 Corinthians 3:3) Being manifested, that you are the epistle of Christ, ministered by us, and written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in the fleshly tables of the heart.
(Romans 8:14) For whosoever are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
(Matthew 3:16) And Jesus being baptized, forthwith came out of the water: and lo, the heavens were opened to him: and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon him.
(Matthew 12:28) But if I by the Spirit of God cast out devils, then is the kingdom of God come upon you.
(Romans 8:9) But you are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
(Romans 8:11) And if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead, dwell in you; he that raised up Jesus Christ from the dead, shall quicken also your mortal bodies, because of his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
(1 Corinthians 2:14) But the sensual man perceiveth not these things that are of the Spirit of God; for it is foolishness to him, and he cannot understand, because it is spiritually examined.
(1 Corinthians 3:16) Know you not, that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
(1 Corinthians 6:11) And such some of you were; but you are washed, but you are sanctified, but you are justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Spirit of our God.
(1 Corinthians 7:40) But more blessed shall she be, if she so remain, according to my counsel; and I think that I also have the spirit of God.
(1 Corinthians 12:3) Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man, speaking by the Spirit of God, saith Anathema to Jesus. And no man can say the Lord Jesus, but by the Holy Ghost.
(1 John 4:2) By this is the spirit of God known. Every spirit which confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, is of God
(Ephesians 4:30) And grieve not the holy Spirit of God: whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption.
(Luke 24:49) And I send the promise of my Father upon you: but stay you in the city till you be endued with power from on high.John 16:7 is a curious passage because it raises the interesting question of why the Spirit cannot come until the Son has gone. The answer is not hard: it is because the Spirit is sent by the Son. This is why the Son must go to the Father before the Spirit can be sent. If it is only when the Father and the Son are together that the Spirit can be sent, then it follows that the Father does not send by Himself, and that He does send "with the Son". When we meditate on it in this way, there is, perhaps, no other Scripture which so clearly manifests the procession of the Spirit from both the "Father and the Son" ("Patre Filioque").
(John 15:26) But when the Paraclete cometh, whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceedeth from the Father, he shall give testimony of me.
(John 16:7) But I tell you the truth: it is expedient to you that I go: for if I go not, the Paraclete will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.
(John 20:22) When he had said this, he breathed on them; and he said to them: Receive ye the Holy Ghost.
(Acts 2:33) Being exalted therefore by the right hand of God, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath poured forth this which you see and hear.
(Titus 3:6) Whom he hath poured forth upon us abundantly, through Jesus Christ our Saviour...
(Acts 2:33) Being exalted therefore by the right hand of God and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath poured forth this which you see and hear.
Among all these verses, John 15:26 is of particular note because it illustrates how the Son is sometimes assumed to participate with the Father in their relation to the Spirit. St. Thomas Aquinas explains: "...it is clear that when in the Gospel the Holy Spirit is said to proceed from the Father, he is to be understood to proceed as well as from the Son, even though in the Gospel this is not added. For those things which are predicated of the Father must be understood of the Son as well..." (Contra Errores Graecorum) and again in the Summa: "For when the Lord says, 'No one knoweth the Son, but the Father,' the idea of the Son knowing Himself is not excluded. So therefore when we say that the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father, even though it be added that He proceeds from the Father alone, the Son would not thereby be at all excluded...' (Summa, Q. 36). Regarding the phrase 'Father alone', St. Thomas is not referring to any passage of Scripture, of course; instead, this phrase comes from certain Eastern theologians who used it in their denial of the Filioque. It is as a result of this phrase "Father alone", in fact, that these Eastern schismatics have been described as "monopatrists".
The Son and Father are One
It is not difficult to see from the above that Scripture repeatedly, explicitly and specifically tells us to believe that the Spirit is "of" the Son. The reason for this forms the entire root and meaning of the Gospel: that the Father and the Son are one. Thus, as St. Thomas says, "even though it be added that He proceeds from the Father alone, the Son would not thereby be at all excluded..." The significance of this fact cannot be underestimated because it is the essence of the Faith from which all Truth arises. As a result, evidence of it is not lacking in Scripture.(John 1:1) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 5:19) Then Jesus answered, and said to them: Amen, amen, I say unto you, the Son cannot do any thing of himself, but what he seeth the Father doing: for what things soever he doth, these the Son also doth in like manner.
(John 10:30) I and the Father are one.
(John 10:38) ...believe that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.
(John 14:9) Have I been so long a time with you; and have you not known me? Philip, he that seeth me seeth the Father also. How sayest thou, shew us the Father?
(John 14:10) Do you not believe, that I am in the Father, and the Father in me?
(John 14:16,20) And I will ask the Father: and he shall give you another Paraclete, that he may abide with you for ever... In that day you shall know, that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.
(John 14:24) He that loveth me not keepeth not my words. And the word which you have heard is not mine; but the Father's who sent me.
(John 14:28) You have heard that I said to you: I go away, and I come unto you. If you loved me, you would indeed be glad, because I go to the Father: for the Father is greater than I.
(John 17:9-10) I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them whom thou hast given me: because they are thine: And all my things are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.
(John 17:22) And the glory which thou hast given me, I have given to them; that they may be one, as we also are one... (1 John 5:7) And there are three who give testimony in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost. And these three are one.
In contrast to frequently repeating that the Spirit is from the Father and the Son (either simultaneously or separately), Scripture never says the Father proceeds from the Son or that the Father proceeds from the Spirit or that the Son proceeds from the Spirit. Thus the divine wisdom of Scripture specifically and consciously avoids all the other conceivable permutations of procession within the Trinity except for (a) the procession of the Son from the Father, (b) the procession of the Spirit from the Father, and (c) the much-contested procession of Spirit from the Son. This last we see nowhere more clearly and fully explained than in John 16:13-15:
"But when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will teach you all truth. For he shall not speak of himself; but what things soever he shall hear, he shall speak; and the things that are to come, he shall shew you. He shall glorify me; because he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it to you. All things whatsoever the Father hath, are mine. Therefore I said, that he shall receive of mine, and shew it to you" (John 16:13-15).
Christ begins this explanation of the Spirit's existence by stating that He is 'of truth'. What is truth? Only two chapters earlier during the very same monologue Jesus tells us: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life" (John 14:6). Thus, from the very beginning of this discourse on the Spirit it is made clear that He is 'of' the Son. Jesus emphasizes this point by teaching that the Spirit does not speak 'of Himself', for (as was already stated) the Truth which the Spirit teaches is of the Son. This is only the prelude to the central point, however, for only then comes the crux of the whole passage, namely: 'he shall receive of mine'. That this 'reception' is, in fact, procession cannot be doubted because, "Procession is the only conceivable way of receiving which does not imply dependence or inferiority" (Maas). The Apostles and, indeed, all Christians 'receive of' the Son, and yet they are inferior to, and dependent on, Him. Therefore, if the Spirit's reception is not that of inferior, dependent men (inspiration), then what other mode can be conceived of than that of the peerless, sempiternal God (spiration)? If the Spirit is not 'of' the Son in the way of the created, then we must confess Him to be 'of' the Son in the way of the un-created: eternally and consubstantially, God.
This, however, is not the conclusion of the passage, for Christ goes on to give us what is probably the single most pivotal passage in history of the Church on the relationship of the Father and the Son with reference to the Holy Spirit: 'All things whatsoever the Father hath, are mine.' According to the West, there is only one thing which the Father cannot share with the Son: the 'Paternity' by which we know the Father is not the Son and vis versa. The reason this cannot be shared is obvious: if it were, the names 'Father' and 'Son' would become meaningless and collapse the Trinity into an heretical duality. This is the essential (and spurious) argument of the East against the Filioque, yet in this they have strayed from preserving the full and timeless appreciation for the infinite beauty of Jesus' profound and unutterable unity with His divine Father, which is so sweetly contained in the simplicity of this word: 'all'. The Filioque, therefore, can be reduced to a fairly simple question: are the Father and the Son still separate if the Spirit proceeds from both?
The answer is "yes" because the Father and the Son are separated by the "unorginateness" of the Father and the "begottenness" of the Son, not the procession of the Spirit. If the Father were to proceed from the Son or the Spirit, then He would cease to be "unoriginate", or if the Spirit were to beget the Son, then the Father would cease to be "father", but this is not what the Filioque says. It says that if the Spirit proceeds from the Son, then the Father remains "father" and the Son remains "son", and we can still distinguish the two while the Spirit proceeds from both. Once we can grasp this, then it becomes easy to see that the Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son:
- The Father sends the Spirit.
- The Father and the Son share all things.
- The Father and the Son share the sending of the Spirit.
Sources and Further Reading
Eternal Word Television Network. (n.d.). Ecumenical Council of Florence. In Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils. Retrieved from ewtn.com/library/councils/florence.htm
Forget, J. (1910). Holy Ghost. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved from newadvent.org/cathen/07409a.htm
Maas, A. (1909). Filioque. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved from newadvent.org/cathen/06073a.htm
Schaefer, F. (1907). John Beccus. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved from newadvent.org/cathen/02380b.htm
Salza, J. (n.d.). The Holy Spirit. Retrieved from http://scripturecatholic.com/the_holy_spirit.html
Aquinas, St. Thomas. (n.d.). Contra Errores Graecorum. (P. D. Fehlner, Trans., & J. Kenny, Ed.). Retrieved from http://josephkenny.joyeurs.com/CDtexts/ContraErrGraecorum.htm
Aquinas, St. Thomas. (1920). Summa Theologica. (Fathers of the English Dominican Province, Trans.). Retrieved from http://www.newadvent.org/summa/index.html
Makarios, & Nikodemos. (n.d.). Philokalia. Retrieved from archive.org/stream/Philokalia-TheCompleteText/Philokalia-Complete-Text_djvu.txt
Catholic Apologetics Information. The Church fathers on Filioque. Retrieved from catholicapologetics.info/apologetics/protestantism/filofathers.htm
Huysman, W. R. (2009, August 4). Filioque [Web log comment]. Retrieved from catholicpatristics.blogspot.com/2009/08/filioque.html
Huysman, W. R. (2011, February 21). Pope St. Leo III & Filioque (Palmieri) [Web log comment]. Retrieved from thebananarepublican.blogspot.com/2011/02/pope-st-leo-iii-filioque-palmieri.htm
Basil. (n.d.). De Spiritu Sancto. (B. Jackson, Trans. & K. Knight, Ed.). New Advent. (Original work published 4th century). Retrieved from newadvent.org/fathers/3203.htm
Saint and Sinner. (n.d.). The 'Filioque'. Retrieved from lightshinesindarkness.com/filioque.htm
Arendzen, J. (1911). Pneumatomachi. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved from newadvent.org/cathen/12174a.htm
Cyril. (n.d.). Twelve Anathemas. (Early Church Texts, Trans.). Retrieved from earlychurchtexts.com/public/cyrilofalex_twelve_anathemas.htm
Fortescue, A. (1911). Photius of Constantinople. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved from: newadvent.org/cathen/12043b.htm
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