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The Holy Spirit and the Filioque

Also known as Procession of the Holy Spirit, and the Son, Filioque clause.

Whether the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father alone or from the Father 'and the Son' (Latin filioque), and whether the Western church could add the phrase to the creed of 381. A principal theological issue between Eastern and Western Christianity.

Researched for v0.1 (AI-assisted); citations are standard references not re-checked in this build. Requires specialist review.

Open in the Scripture LibraryRead John 15:26 in context

Disputed: 2 positions (listed without ranking) — From the Father (alone) as source · From the Father and the Son

Passages

  • John 15:26 (central)
    When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father—He will testify about Me.

    The Spirit 'who proceeds (ἐκπορεύεται) from the Father', sent by the Son.

  • John 14:26
    But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have told you.
  • John 16:7
    But I tell you the truth, it is for your benefit that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.
  • Galatians 4:6
    And because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!”

    'The Spirit of his Son.'

  • Romans 8:9
    You, however, are controlled not by the flesh, but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.

Scripture quotations: Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain. Other translations, the Greek and Hebrew, and word study are in the reader.

What the text establishes, and what interpreters infer

Established by the text

  • John 15:26 says the Spirit proceeds (ἐκπορεύεται, present tense) from the Father and that the Son will send him.
  • Other passages speak of the Spirit as 'of the Son' (Gal 4:6) or 'of Christ' (Rom 8:9).

Inferred by interpreters

  • That the eternal origin of the Spirit is from the Father alone (the 'monarchy' of the Father).
  • That the Spirit's relation to the Son implies an eternal procession from (or through) the Son as well.
  • That the Latin procedere, which is broader than the Greek ἐκπορεύεσθαι, allows a Western formula compatible with the Eastern one.

An inference listed here may be well founded; it is listed separately because the passage alone does not state it.

Historical context

The creed of 381 confessed the Spirit 'who proceeds from the Father'. The phrase 'and the Son' appeared in Latin creeds in Visigothic Spain (Toledo, 589), spread in the Frankish church, and was eventually adopted in Rome's creed in the early eleventh century. Photius of Constantinople wrote against it in the ninth century. The Council of Florence (1439) sought a formula of union that did not last. In 1995 the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity distinguished the Greek ἐκπόρευσις from the Latin processio; Lambeth Conferences (1978, 1988) recommended Anglican churches print the creed without the clause.

Positions

Listed without ranking. Traditions are internally diverse; the notes on each association matter.

From the Father (alone) as source

The Father is the sole source (ἀρχή) of Son and Spirit; adding the filioque to the creed was uncanonical and theologically mistaken.

Argued by

Associated today with

From the Father and the Son

The Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son as from one principle; the clause clarifies the Son's eternal relation to the Spirit.

Argued by

Associated today with

  • Catholic (Latin and Eastern Catholic) — Atlas: Catholic ChurchLatin Church; Eastern Catholic churches may recite the creed without it, and the 1995 clarification stresses compatibility with the Greek formula.
  • Lutheran — Atlas: LutheranismRetains the Western creed.
  • Reformed / Presbyterian — Atlas: Reformed and Presbyterian ChurchesRetains the Western creed.
  • Anglican — Atlas: Anglican CommunionTraditionally retained; Lambeth 1978 and 1988 recommended omission, and practice varies.

Sources

“Source checked” means the work and the point cited were confirmed while building this entry; “partly checked” means only part of it was; “not yet checked” means it is a standard reference awaiting review. None of these is a review of this entry, which remains an unreviewed draft.

  • First Council of Constantinople, Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed: the Spirit 'proceeds from the Father' (381). source not yet checked
  • Third Council of Toledo, Creed with filioque in Visigothic Spain (589). source not yet checked
  • Photius of Constantinople, Mystagogy of the Holy Spirit (c. 886). source not yet checked
  • Council of Florence, Laetentur caeli (decree of union with the Greeks) (1439). source not yet checked
  • Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, The Greek and Latin Traditions regarding the Procession of the Holy Spirit (1995). source not yet checked
  • Lambeth Conference, Resolutions of 1978 and 1988 recommending that the Nicene Creed be printed without the filioque (1978/1988). source not yet checked