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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadMcClintock Biblical Encyclopedia: Procession of the Holy Ghost
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that doctrine regarding the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity which teaches that as the Son proceeds (or is born) from the Father, so the Holy Ghost proceeds (or emanates) from the Father and from the Son, but as from one principle. The subject has been fully discussed in its historical relations in the art. FILIOQUE CONTROVESY SEE FILIOQUE CONTROVESY , and as a theological question in the art. HOLY GHOST SEE HOLY GHOST.
But since the writing of those articles the subject has been revived and taken a new historical form-the formation of a new religious body from the ranks of the Romish Church, now known as the Old Catholics (q.v.). At their second annual conference or synod held in Bonn, Germany, in 1875, preparations were made for a “Union Conference” of the Old Catholic, Oriental, and Anglican churches, and such a conference accordingly convened at Bonn on Aug. 12 of that year and lasted five days. (Those interested in the character and nationality of its distinguished attendants will do well to consult the Methodist Quar. Oct. 1875, p. 673-675.) In the last session of that conference a common formula was adopted respecting the doctrine of the Procession, which Westerns and Orientals alike agreed to; and though it did not finally settle the question, and the controversy is still alive as we write, it is yet a very hopeful sign of an early union of different branches of the Church of Christ which have so little at variance and so much in common. The discussions regarding the subject were long and animated, and for some time the Orientals held out against the adoption of ¶ 3, but by their final adoption of it an enormous step towards completer understanding has been made. The following are the resolutions:
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“2. We agree together in acknowledging that the addition of the Filioque to the Creed did not take place in an ecclesiastically regular manner.
“3. We acknowledge on all sides the representation of the doctrine of the Holy Ghost, as it is set forth by the Fathers of the undivided Church.
“4. We reject every proposition and every method of expression in which in any way the acknowledgment of two principles or ἀñ÷áß or áὶôßáé in the Trinity may be contained.
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“1. The Holy Ghost goes forth out of the Father ( ἐê ôïῦ ðáôñüò ) as the Beginning ( ἀñ÷ή ), the Cause ( áὶôßá ), the Source ( ðçãή ) of the Godhead (De recta Sententia, n.1; Contra Manich. n. 4).
“2. The Holy Ghost goes not forth out of the Son ( ἐê ôïῦ õἱïῦ ), because there is in the Godhead but one Beginning ( ἀñ÷ή ), one Cause ( áὶôßá ), through which all that is in the Godhead is produced (De Fide orthod. i, 8: ἐê ôïῦ íἱïῦ äὲ ôὸ ðíåῦìá ïὐ ëÝãïìåí , ðíåῦìá äὲ õἱïῦ ὀíïìÜæïìåí ).
“3. The Holy Ghost goes forth out of the Father through the Son (De Fide orthod. i, 12: ôὸ äὲ ðíåῦìá ôὸ ἃãéïí ἐêöáíôïñéêὴ ôïῦ êñõößïõ ôῆò èåüôçôïò äýíáìéò ôïῦ ðáôñüò , ἐê ðáôñὸò ìὲí äἰ õßïῦ ἐêðïñåõïìÝíç . Ibid.: õἱïῦ äὲ ðíåῦìá , ïὐ÷ ὡò ἐî áὐôïῦ , ἀëë᾿ ὡò äἰ áὐôïῦ ἐê ôïῦ ðáôñὸò ἐêðïñåõüìåíïí . C. Manich. n. 5: äéὰ ôïῦ ëüãïõ áὐôïῦ ἐî áὐôïῦ ôὸ ðíåῦìá áὐôïῦ ἐêðïñåõüìåíïí . De Hymno Trisag. 1. 28: ðíåῦìá ôὸ ἃãéïí ἐê ôïῦ ðáôñὸò äéὰ ôïῦ õἱïῦ êáὶ ëüãïõ ðñïúüí . Hom. in Sabb. s. n. 4: ôïῦô᾿ ἡìῖí ἔóôé ôὸ ëáôñåõüìåíïí ... ðíåῦìá ἃãéïí ôïῦ èåïῦ êáὶ ðáôñüò ὡò ἐî áὐôïῦ ἐêðïñåõüìåíïí , ὅðåñ êáὶ ôïῦ õἱïῦ ëÝãåôáé , ὡò äἰ áὐôïῦ öáíåñïýìåíïí êáὶ ôῆ êôßóåé ìåôáäéäüìåíïí , ἀëë᾿ ïὐê ἐî áὐôïῦ ἔ÷ïí ôὴí ὕðáñîéí ).
“4. The Holy Ghost is the Image of the Son, who is the Image of the Father (De Fide orthod. i, 13: åἰêώí ôïῦ ðáôñὸò ὁ õἱüò . êáὶ ôïῦ õἱïῦ ôὸ ðíåῦìá ), going forth out of the Father and resting in the Son as the force beaming forth from Him ( ôïῦ ðáôñὸò ðñïåñ÷ïìÝíçí êáὶ ἐí ôῷ ëüãå ἀíáðáíïìÝíçí êáὶ áὐôïῦ ïὔóáí ἐêöáíôéêὴí äüíáìéí . Ibid. i, 12: ðáôßñ ... äéὰ ëüãïõ ðñïâïëåὺò ἐêöáíôïñéêïῦ ðíåýìáôïò ).
“5. The Holy Ghost is the personal Production out of the Father, belonging to the Son, but not out of the Son, because he is the Spirit of the Mouth of the Godhead, which speaks forth the Word (De Hymno Trisag. n. 2S: ôὸ ðíåῦìá ἐíõðüóôáôïí ἐêðüñåõìá êáὶ ðñüâëçìá ἐê ðáôñὸò ìÝí , õἱïῦ äÝ , êáὶ ìὴ ἐî õἱïῦ , ὡò ðíåῦìá óôüìáôïò èåïῦ , ëüãïí ἐîáããåëôéêüí ).
“6. The Holy Ghost forms the mediation between the Father and the Son, and is bound together to the Father through the Son (De Fide orthod. i, 13: ìÝóïí ôïῦ ἀãåííήôïõ êáὶ ãåííçôïῦ êáὶ äἰ õἱïῦ ôῷ ðáôñὶ óõíáðôüìåíïí ).
“N. B. — It is to be noted here that the German preposition aus (out of) equals ἐê or ex. as denoting out of a cause or origin: whereas the word von (from) is equivalent to ἀðü or ab; while drwch (through) denotes Stin or per, through the instrumentaelity of.”
Since that conference the Filioque question has been much agitated in England, and it has been asserted, by High-Churchmen especially, that the exclusion of the Filioque from the Creed was granted by Dr. Dollinger and canon Liddon at Bonn. What the conference did may be stated as follows: It declared, as bishop Pearson had already admitted, that the Filioque was inserted in an cecumenical creed by an inadequate authority, and therefore irregularly. It formulated certain propositions which might serve to show that when the Latins accept and the Easterns reject the Filioque they do not differ, as has been too generally supposed; since the Latins reject any assertion of two principles or causes in the Godhead, and the Easterns admit a ìåóéôåßá of the Son, in the eternal procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father. Whatever may have been the hopes and fears of individual members of the conference, no proposition was brought forward respecting the exclusion of the Filioque from the Creed of the Western Church. See Schaff, Creeds (Index in vol. 3); Forbes, Nicene Creed; Neale, Eastern Church (Introd.), 1095-1168; Stanley, Eastern Church; Mag, Hist. des Dogmes (Index in vol. 2); Martensen, Dogmqatics (see Index); Meth. Quar. Jan. and April, 1876; New-Englander, July, 1870. See also Pusey's Letter to Liddon On the Clause “And the Son” (Lond. 1876, 8vo).