God the Holy Spirit, Mentor's Guide, MG14

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G O D T H E H O L Y S P I R I T

III. The Spirit Who Proceeds from the Father and the Son

A. The Filioque

There is one small phrase in the Nicene Creed that was not in the original text agreed on by the Church council in 381. That small phrase called the filioque [fee-lee-OH-kway], which is Latin for “and the Son,” has been a source of great argument in the Church. The Eastern part of the Church which eventually became the Eastern Orthodox Church still uses this original form of the Creed. The Western part of the Church, which eventually became the Roman Catholic Church was fighting heresies which continued to deny that Jesus was truly God. In order to uphold Trinitarian teaching, the phrase “and the Son” was added to make it clear that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are always interconnected in their actions and essence. 1. The Eastern Church objected saying that only God the Father can be the source of all things. (Although all three persons of the Trinity are co-eternal and co-equal, it is still true that the son is begotten by the Father and not the Father by the Son.) Therefore Scripture says: John 15.26 “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.

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2. The Western Catholic Church and (eventually the Protestant churches that broke away from them) made the following counter-arguments to Eastern Orthodox churches.

a. The Holy Spirit is not only called the “Spirit of God” but also the “Spirit of Jesus.”

(1) John 14.16-18

(2) John 16.13-14

(3) Gal. 4.6