Early Church, John 16:13, Perichoresis & the Filioque
Table of Contents
The Catholic Church teaches that Christians have always believed and affirmed the Filioque, e.g., the Father spiritually breathes/spirates the Holy Spirit through the Son timelessly, eternally. This in turn makes the Holy Spirit the Spirit of both the Father and the Son, which is precisely what the inspired Scriptures proclaim (cf. Acts 16:6-7; Rom. 8:9-17; Gal. 4:4-6; Phil. 1:19; 1 Pet. 1:10-12).
Note what the 2nd council of Lyons in 1274 AD stated:
II
1. On the supreme Trinity and the catholic faith{5}
1. We profess faithfully and devotedly that the holy Spirit proceeds eternally from the Father and the Son, not as from two principles, but as from one principle; not by two spirations, but by one single spiration. This the holy Roman church, mother and mistress of all the faithful, has till now professed, preached and taught; this she firmly holds, preaches, professes and teaches; this is the unchangeable and true belief of the orthodox fathers and doctors, Latin and Greek alike. But because some, on account of ignorance of the said indisputable truth, have fallen into various errors, we, wishing to close the way to such errors, with the approval of the sacred council, condemn and reprove all who presume to deny that the holy Spirit proceeds eternally from the Father and the Son, or rashly to assert that the holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son as from two principles and not as from one. (Second Council of Lyons – 1274)
In this post I will quote excerpts from early Christian theologians and saints, whom even the Eastern Orthodox recognized, that all taught the Spirit derives and receives his essence from the Father through the Son. The readers will see that one of the verses they cite in proof of the Filioque is John 16:13.
St. Ambrose
Chapter 12.
After proof that the Spirit is the Giver of revelation equally with the Father and the Son, it is explained how the same Spirit does not speak of Himself; and it is shown that no bodily organs are to be thought of in Him, and that no inferiority is to be supposed from the fact of our reading that He hears, since the same would have to be attributed to the Son, and indeed even to the Father, since He hears the Son. The Spirit then hears and glorifies the Son in the sense that He revealed Him to the prophets and apostles, by which the Unity of operation of the Three Persons is inferred; and, since the Spirit does the same works as the Father, the substance of each is also declared to be the same.
130. It has then been proved that like as God has revealed to us the things which are His, so too the Son, and so too the Spirit, has revealed the things of God. For our knowledge proceeds from one Spirit, through one Son to one Father; and from one Father through one Son to one Holy Spirit is delivered goodness and sanctification and the sovereign right of eternal power. Where, then, there is a manifestation of the Spirit, there is the power of God, nor can there be any distinction where the work is one. And therefore that which the Son says the Father also says, and that which the Father says the Son also says, and that which the Father and the Son say the Holy Spirit also says.
131. Whence also the Son of God said concerning the Holy Spirit: He shall not speak from Himself, John 16:13 that is, not without the participation of the Father and Myself. For the Spirit is not divided and separated, but speaks what He hears. He hears, that is to say, by unity of substance and by the property of knowledge. For He receives not hearing by any orifices of the body, nor does the divine voice resound with any carnal measures, nor does He hear what He knows not; since commonly in human matters hearing produces knowledge, and yet not even in men themselves is there always bodily speech or fleshly hearing. For he that speaks in tongues, it is said, speaks not to men but to God, for no one hears, but in the Spirit he speaks mysteries. 1 Corinthians 14:2
132. Therefore if in men hearing is not always of the body, do you require in God the voices of man's weakness, and certain organs of fleshly hearing, when He is said to hear in order that we may believe that He knows? For we know that which we have heard, and we hear beforehand that we may be able to know; but in God Who knows all things knowledge goes before hearing. So in order to state that the Son is not ignorant of what the Father wills, we say that He has heard; but in God there is no sound nor syllable, such as usually signify the indication of the will; but oneness of will is comprehended in hidden ways in God, but in us is shown by signs.
133. What means, then, He shall not speak from Himself? This is, He shall not speak without Me; for He speaks the truth, He breathes wisdom. He speaks not without the Father, for He is the Spirit of God; He hears not from Himself, for all things are of God.
134. The Son received all things from the Father, for He Himself said: All things have been delivered unto Me from My Father. Matthew 11:27 All that is the Father's the Son also has, for He says again: All things which the Father has are Mine. John 16:15 And those things which He Himself received by Unity of nature, the Spirit by the same Unity of nature received also from Him, as the Lord Jesus Himself declares, when speaking of His Spirit: Therefore said I, He shall receive of Mine and shall declare it unto you. John 16:15 Therefore what the Spirit says is the Son's, what the Son has given is the Father's. So neither the Son nor the Spirit speaks anything of Himself. For the Trinity speaks nothing external to Itself.
135. But if you contend that this is an argument for the weakness of the Holy Spirit, and for a kind of likeness to the lowliness of the body, you will also make it an argument to the injury of the Son, because the Son said of Himself: As I hear I judge, John 5:30 and The Son can do nothing else than what He sees the Father doing. John 5:19 For if that be true, as it is, which the Son said: All things which the Father has are Mine, John 16:15 and the Son according to the Godhead is One with the Father, One by natural substance, not according to the Sabellian falsehood; that which is one by the property of substance certainly cannot be separated, and so the Son cannot do anything except what He has heard of the Father, for the Word of God endures forever, nor is the Father ever separated from the operation of the Son; and that which the Son works He knows that the Father wills, and what the Father wills the Son knows how to work.
136. Lastly, that one may not think that there is any difference of work either in time or in order between the Father and the Son, but may believe the oneness of the same operation, He says: The works which I do He does. And again, that one may not think that there is any difference in the distinction of the works, but may judge that the will, the working, and the power of the Father and the Son are the same, Wisdom says concerning the Father: For whatsoever things He does, the Son likewise does the same. John 5:19 So that the action of neither Person is before or after that of the Other, but the same result of one operation. And for this reason the Son says that He can do nothing of Himself, because His operation cannot be separated from that of the Father. In like manner the operation of the Holy Spirit is not separated. Whence also the things which He speaks, He is said to hear from the Father.
137. What if I demonstrate that the Father also hears the Son, as the Son too hears the Father? For you have it written in the Gospel that the Son says: Father, I thank You that You heard Me. John 11:41 How did the Father hear the Son, since in the previous passage concerning Lazarus the Son spoke nothing to the Father? And that we might not think that the Son was heard once by the Father, He added: And I knew that You hear Me always. John 11:42 Therefore the hearing is not that of subject obedience, but of eternal Unity.
138. In like manner, then, the Spirit is said to hear from the Father, and to glorify the Son. To glorify, because the Holy Spirit taught us that the Son is the Image of the invisible God, Colossians 1:15 and the brightness of His glory, and the impress of His substance. Hebrews 1:3 The Spirit also spoke in the patriarchs and the prophets, and, lastly, the apostles began then to be more perfect after that they had received the Holy Spirit. There is therefore no separation of the divine power and grace, for although there are diversities of gifts, yet it is the same Spirit; and diversities of ministrations, yet the same Lord; and diversities of operations, yet the same God Who works all in all. There are diversities of offices, not severances of the Trinity.
139. Lastly, it is the same God Who works all in all, that you may know that there is no diversity of operation between God the Father and the Holy Spirit; since those things which the Spirit works, God the Father also works, Who works all in all. For while God the Father works all in all, yet to one is given through the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge, according to the same Spirit; to another faith, in the same Spirit; to another the gift of healings, in the one Spirit; to another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another various kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of sayings; but all these works one and the same Spirit, dividing to each one as He will.
140. There is then no doubt but that those things which the Father works, the Spirit works also. Nor does He work in accordance with a command, as he who hears in bodily fashion, but voluntarily, as being free in His own will, not the servant of the power of another. For He does not obey as being bidden, but as the giver He is the controller of His own gifts.
141. Consider meanwhile whether you can say that the Spirit effects all things which the Father effects; for you cannot deny that the Father effects those things which the Holy Spirit effects; otherwise the Father does not effect all things, if He effects not those things which the Spirit also effects. But if the Father also effects those things which the Spirit effects, since the Spirit divides His operations, according to His own will, you must of necessity say, either that what the Spirit divides He divides according to His own will, against the will of God the Father; or if you say that the Father wills the same that the Holy Spirit wills, you must of necessity confess the oneness of the divine will and operation, even if you do it unwillingly, and, if not with the heart, at least with the mouth.
142. But if the Holy Spirit is of one will and operation with God the Father, He is also of one substance, since the Creator is known by His works. So, then, it is the same Spirit, he says, the same Lord, the same God. 1 Corinthians 12:5 And if you say Spirit, He is the same; and if you say Lord, He is the same; and if you say God, He is the same. Not the same, so that Himself is Father, Himself Son, Himself Spirit [one and the selfsame Person]; but because both the Father and the Son are the same Power. He is, then, the same in substance and in power, for there is not in the Godhead either the confusion of Sabellius nor the division of Arius, nor any earthly and bodily change.
St. Athansius
Athanasian scholars have stated that this beloved saint and renowned defender of the Trinity believed in the Spirit’s procession from the Father through the Son. As the following translator noted:
Yet if we regard what is implicit, rather than what is explicit, in these letters, we are justified in claiming that the procession of the Spirit through the Son is a necessary corollary of his whole argument.
If, as he argues in c. Ar. IlL3-6, the fact that the Son is in the Father involves that the Son is from the Father,43 must it not be equally true that the Spirit, being in the Son, must be from the Son? If it is lawful to argue from unity of operation to unity of essence,44 must we not acknowledge that He from whom the Spirit receives the things of the Father no less bestows upon Him that divine life of which the Father is the unique source? Must not the temporal mission rest on an eternal relationship? By reaffirming the propriety of the Spirit to the Son, Athanasius not only secured, at a decisive hour, the Church's faith in the one Godhead; he fixed the line upon which its Pneumatic doctrine was to develop.45 (The Letters of St. Athanasius Concerning the Holy Spirit, Translated with Introduction by C.R.B. Shapland [The Epworth Press, 1951], Introduction, pp. 42-43; emphasis mine)
Here's the relevant section of Athanasius’ reply, which seems to affirm Shapland’s point:
20. But if there is such co-ordination1 and unity within the holy Triad, who can separate either the Son from the Father, / or the Spirit from the Son or from the Father himself? Who would be so audacious as to say that the Triad is unlike itself and diverse in nature,2 or that the Son is in essence foreign from the Father, or the Spirit alien from the Son? But how are these things? If one should make inquiry and ask again: How, when the Spirit is in us, the Son is said to be in us? How, when the Son is in us, the Father is said to be in us? Or how, when it is truly a Triad, the Triad is described as one?3 Or why, when the One is in us, the Triad is said to be in us?-let him first divide4 the radiance from the light, or wisdom from the wise, or let him tell how these things are. But if this is not to be done, much more is it the audacity of madmen to make such inquiries concerning God. For tradition, as we have said, does not declare the Godhead to us by demonstration in words,5 but by faith and by a pious and reverent use of reason.6 For if Paul proclaimed the saving Gospel of the Cross, 'not in words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power'7; and if in Paradise he heard 'unspeakable words which it is not lawful for a man to utter'8: who can declare the holy Triad itself? Nevertheless, we can meet this difficulty, primarily by faith and then by using the illustrations mentioned above, I mean the image9 and the radiance, fountain and river, essence and expression. As the Son is in the Spirit as in his own image,10 so also the Father is in the Son. For divine Scripture, by way of relieving11 the impossibility of explaining and apprehending these matters in words, has given us illustrations of this kind; that it may be lawful, because of the unbelief of presumptuous men, to speak more plainly, and to speak without danger, and to think legitimately, and to believe that there is one sanctification,12 which is derived from the Father, through the Son, in the Holy Spirit.
As the Son is an only-begotten offspring,13 so also the Spirit, being given and sent from the Son, is himself one and not many, nor one from among many,14 but Only Spirit. As the Son, the living Word, is one, so must the vital activity15 and gift whereby he sanctifies and enlightens be one perfect and complete; which is said to proceed from the Father16, because it is from the Word, who is confessed to be from the Father, that it shines forth17 and 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. '18 The Son sends the Spirit19; 'If I go away,' he says, 'I will send the Paraclete.'20 The Son glorifies the Father, saying: 'Father, I have glorified thee.'21 The Spirit glorifies the Son; for he says: 'He shall glorify me.'22 The Son says: 'The things I heard from the Father speak I unto the world.'23 The Spirit takes of the Son24; 'He shall take of mine,' he says, 'and shall declare it unto yoU.'25 The Son came in the name of the Father. 'The Holy Spirit,' says the Son, 'whom the Father will send in my name.'26
21. But if, in regard to order and nature1 the Spirit bears the same relation to the Son as the Son to the Father, will not he who calls the Spirit a creature necessarily hold the same to be true also of the Son?2 For if the Spirit is a creature of the Son, it will be consistent for them to say that the Word is a creature of the Father. By holding such opinions the Arians have fallen into the Judaism of Caiaphas.3 But if those who say such things about the Spirit claim that they do not hold the opinions of Arius, let them avoid his words and keep from impiety toward the Spirit. For as the Son, who is in the Father and the Father in him, is not a creature but pertains to the essence of the Father (for this you also profess to say); so also it is not lawful to rank with the creatures the Spirit who is in the Son, and the Son in him,4 nor to divide him from the Word and reduce the Triad to imperfection. (Ibid., Epistle One, pp. 113-119; emphasis mine)
St. Epiphanius of Cyprus
Chapter Eight
(1) Each of the names is mononymic, not having a duplication.1 For the Father is Father and has no parallel, nor is he joined together with another father, so that there may not be two gods.2 (2) And Son is only-begotten, true God from true God, not having the name of Father, nor being alien from the Father, but existing as Son of the Father. He is only-begotten, that the “Son” may be mononymic;3 and he is God from God, in order that Father and Son may be called one God. (3) And the Holy Spirit is one-of-a-kind,4 not having the name of “Son,” nor having the naming of “Father,” but thus called Holy Spirit, not alien from the Father. (4) For the Only-begotten himself says: “The Spirit of the Father,”5 and “the one proceeding from the Father,”6 and “he will receive from what is mine,”7 in order that he may not be believed alien from the Father and the Son, but of the same ousia, the same divinity, divine Spirit, the “Spirit of truth,”8 the “Spirit of God,”9 the Spirit “Paraclete,”10 called mononymicly,11 not having a parallel, not being equated with some other spirit, not called by the name of the Son or being named with the naming of the Father, in order that the mononymic names may not be homonymic, (5) except “God” in the Father, “God” in the Son, in the Holy Spirit, “of God”12 and “God.”13 (6) For the “Spirit of God,”14 both Spirit of the Father and Spirit of the Son, is not according to some synthesis, as soul and body are in us, but is in the midst of Father and Son, from the Father and the Son, third in naming.15 (7) For it says, “Going forth, baptize in the name of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.”16 And if the Father baptizes in his own name, in the name of God, and the perfect seal in the name of God has been sealed in us, and Christ baptizes in his own name, in the name of God, and the perfect seal in the name of God has been sealed in us, who would dare to wage war against his own soul, saying that the Spirit is alien from the divinity? (8) For if in the name of the Father and in the name of the Son and in the name of the Holy Spirit, there is one seal of the Trinity. Therefore, there is one power of the divinity in the Trinity. And if God is the One, but the others are created and not God, by what reason are the two connected to the one in the seal of perfection? (9) Then at any rate, we were sealed in a royal name, the one of the Father (and the others are not royal), but we further have been enslaved to elements and created things. And, the name alone of the Father was not able to save, but the one who created added to himself two other elements, according to the thinking of those who blaspheme, in order that his divinity might add other powers and might be able to save the one sealed by him, and that the man created by him might gain redemption through the forgiveness of sins.17 (Epiphanius of Cyprus, Ancoratus (Fathers of the Church Patristic Series), translated by Young Richard Kim [The Catholic University of America Press, 2014], pp. 72-74; emphasis mine)
(3) We believe in one God, almighty Father, Maker of all things both visible and invisible,3 (4) and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten from God the Father, only-begotten,4 that is, from the ousia of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten not made,5 homoousios with the Father,6 through whom all things came to be, both that which is in the heavens and that which is on the earth, both visible and invisible.7 (5) [We believe in] the one who, for the sake of us men and for the sake our salvation, descended and was made flesh, that is begotten perfectly from holy Mary the ever-virgin through the Holy Spirit, who became man,8 that is, assumed a perfect man, soul and body and mind and all that is a man apart from sin: (6) who not from a seed of man nor in a man,9 but in himself formed anew flesh into one holy unity,10 not just as he breathed and spoke and operated in prophets, but perfectly became man.11 (7) “For the Logos became flesh,”12 not having substituted a change,13 nor changing his own divinity into humanity,14 having united [these] in one holy perfection and divinity of his own.15 For the Lord Jesus Christ is one and not two, the same God, the same Lord, the same king.16 (8) [We believe in] the same one who suffered17 in flesh and rose and ascended into the heavens in the body itself, gloriously seated at the right hand of the Father,18 who comes in the body itself in glory to judge the living and the dead, of whose kingdom there will not be an end.19 (9) And [we believe in] the Holy Spirit, the one who spoke in the Law and declared in the prophets, descended upon the Jordan, speaks in the apostles, dwells in the saints.20 (10) Thus we believe in him,21 because he is the Holy Spirit, Spirit of God,22 perfect Spirit, Spirit Paraclete,23 uncreated,24 who proceeds from the Father25 and receives from the Son and is being believed.26 (11) We believe in one catholic and apostolic church and in one baptism of repentance and in a resurrection of the dead and a just judgment of souls and of bodies and in a kingdom of heavens and in everlasting life.27 (12) Those who say that there was ever [a time] when the Son or the Holy Spirit was not, or that he came to be from non-existence28 or from another hypostasis or ousia,29 saying that the Son of God or the Holy Spirit is mutable or variable, these men the catholic and apostolic church,30 the mother of both you and us,31 anathematizes. And again we anathematize those who do not confess a resurrection of the dead32 and all the heresies which are not of this right faith. (Ibid., pp. 225-227; emphasis mine)
St. Didymus of Alexandria
On the Holy Spirit
Jn 16.13b: Divine speech [153–162]
153. Next, in what follows, the Savior, who is also the Truth, speaks about the Spirit of Truth who is sent by the Father and is the Paraclete: For he will not speak on his own accord [Jn 16.13b]. By this he means “not without me and not without my and the Father’s authority, seeing that he is inseparable from my and the Father’s will because he is not from himself but from the Father and me. For his very being and speaking belongs to him from the Father AND FROM ME. As for me, I speak the truth, by which I mean that I inspire what he speaks, for he is the Spirit, after all, of Truth.”
154. Now when we say that there is “saying and speaking” within the Trinity, we should not understand this as taking place in the manner to which we are accustomed when we converse and speak among ourselves in turn, but in the way that conforms with incorporeal natures and especially with the Trinity, who instills his will in the heart of believers and those worthy of hearing it. This is what “saying and speaking” means.
155. When we human beings speak to one another about something, we first conceive what we want to say in our mind without speech. Then when we want to convey it into the mind of another, we set the tongue in motion as an instrument, and by striking it like a kind of plectrum on the strings of the teeth, we emit an articulate sound. So then, just as we control how we strike our tongue on the palate and the teeth and modulate how we force our air into various utterances in order to communicate to others what we have in mind, so too it is necessary for the listener to offer open ears uninhibited by any impediment and to turn them126 to what is being said in order for him to be able to know what is being expressed just as the one who is speaking knows them.
156. But, God, who is simple and of a nature that is incomposite and unique, possesses neither ears nor organs with which he emits a voice. Rather, his solitary and incomprehensible substance is not composed of any members or parts. The very same point should be understood likewise with regard to the Son and the Holy Spirit. 157. Therefore, when we read in Scripture: The Lord said to my Lord [Ps 109.2], and elsewhere: God said: “Let there be light!” [Gen 1.3], and things similar to these, we ought to understand them in a way worthy of God.
158. Nor does the Father announce his will to the Son, who is Wisdom and Truth, as if he does not already know it. For the Son, who is wise and true, has in wisdom and in substance everything that the Father speaks. Therefore, when Father speaks and the Son hears, or vice versa, when the Son speaks and the Father hears, it indicates that in the Father and the Son there is the same nature and agreement.127 159. Nor is it possible for the Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit of Truth and the Spirit of Wisdom, to hear what he does not know when the Son speaks, since he is the very thing expressed by the Son.128
160. Next, so that no one separates the Holy Spirit from the will and fellowship of the Father and the Son, it is written: For he will not speak on his own accord, but he will speak as he hears [Jn 16.13].129 The Savior said something similar to this about himself: As I hear, so I judge [Jn 5.30]. And elsewhere: The Son is not able to do anything on his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing [Jn 5.19]. 161. For if the Son of the Father is one, not according to the error of Sabellius who confuses the Father and the Son, but according to their inseparability of essence or substance, then he is unable to do anything without the Father. The works of separate individuals are distinct, but when the Son sees the Father working, he is himself also working, yet working not in a second rank and after him. After all, the works of the Son would begin to diverge from those of the Father if they were not performed by equals.
162. In addition, it is written: For whatever he does—no doubt meaning the Father–the Son does these same things likewise [Jn 5.19]. When the Father and the Son work, if they do not work in order as a second after a first but simultaneously, then all the things which they do are the same and not dissimilar, and the Son is unable to do anything on his own accord since he cannot be separated from the Father. Likewise, the Holy Spirit, who is in no way separated from the Son on account of their sharing130 of will and nature, is not believed to speak on his own accord, but speaks all that he speaks according to the Word and Truth of God.
Interpretation of John 16.14: how the Spirit “receives” the Son [163-169]
163. The following words of the Lord confirm this opinion: He will glorify me—that is, the Paraclete—because he will receive from what is mine [Jn 16.14]. Again, “receive” here ought to be understood in a way that is appropriate to divine nature. 164. For just as, when the Son gives, he is not deprived of those things which he gives and does not share with others to his own detriment, so too the Spirit does not receive what he did not have before. If he receives what he did not have earlier, then when the gift is transferred to another, its bestower is left empty-handed, ceasing to have what he gave.131
165. Therefore, just as we understood the natures of incorporeals in our discussion above, so too we now ought to acknowledge that the Holy Spirit receives from the Son that which belongs to his own nature. This does not signify that there is a giver and a receiver, but one substance, since the Son is said to receive the same things from the Father which belong to his very being.132 For the Son is nothing other than those things which are given to him by the Father, and the substance of the Holy Spirit is nothing other than that which is given to him BY THE SON. 166. These statements are made for this reason: so that we may believe that in the Trinity the nature of the Holy Spirit is the same as that of the Father and the Son.133
167. Now every human term can indicate nothing other than corporeal things, and the Trinity (the subject of our present discussion) is beyond all material substances. For these reasons, no word can be applied to him in the proper sense and thereby signify his substance. Rather, when we speak about incorporeals in general and especially about the Trinity, every thing we say is said καταχρηστικῶς, that is, in an improper sense.
168. And so, the Holy Spirit glorifies the Son by showing him and manifesting him to the pure in heart who are worthy of understanding him, seeing him,134 and knowing the Splendor of his substance135 and the Image of the invisible God [Col 1.15]. The Image himself glorifies the Father in turn, by showing himself to pure minds, thereby introducing him to those who do not know him: He who sees me sees the Father [Jn 14.9]. 169. In addition, the Father glorifies his Only-Begotten by revealing the Son to those who have merited to attain the summit of knowledge, showing his magnificence and power. Furthermore, the Son himself glorifies the Holy Spirit by bestowing him on those who have prepared themselves to be worthy of his gift and by distributing to them the sublimity of his glorification and greatness.
Interpretation of John 16.15: the mutual possessions of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit [170–173]
170. Next he explains the manner in which he said: he will receive from what is mine, by immediately adding: all things which the Father has are mine; for this reason I said, “from what is mine he will receive and will announce to you.” [Jn 16.15]. It is as if he said: “Although the Spirit of Truth proceeds136 from the Father [Jn 15.26] and God gives the Holy Spirit to those who ask him [Lk 11.13], nonetheless since all things which the Father has are mine, even the very Spirit of the Father is mine and he will receive from what is mine.”
171. Now when such things are said be careful not to slip into the error of a depraved understanding and think that the Father and the Son hold some object or possession. Rather, that which the Father has substantially, that is, eternity, immutability, incorruptibility, immutable goodness subsisting of and in itself—these same things the Son has as well. In addition, whatever the Son himself is and whatever belongs to the Son, these same things the Father has as well.
172. Let the snares of the dialecticians be far from here! Banish from the truth those sophisms of theirs that seize an opportunity for impiety from pious preaching and say: “Therefore, the Father is the Son and the Son is the Father.” For if he had said: “All things whatsoever God has are mine,” then impiety would have an opportunity for fabrication and such a lie would seem to be plausible. But since he said: All that the Father has is mine [Jn 16.15], by using the name of “Father” he declared himself to be the Son. He who is his Son does not usurp his paternity, even if the Son himself is also the father of many saints through the grace of adoption, according to that passage in the psalms where it is read: If your sons keep . . . [Ps 131.12], and again: If his sons forsake my law . . . [Ps 88.31].
173. From this text and in the sense already established, it follows that the Son also possesses what belongs to the Father (we mentioned above what those things are), and that the Holy Spirit also possesses what belongs to the Son. For he said: From what is mine he will receive, for this reason he will announce to you what is to come [Jn 16.13]. Indeed, certain knowledge of future events is granted to holy men through the Spirit of Truth. This is why the Prophets, filled with this same Spirit, used to foretell in oracles events to come and gazed upon them as if they were already present.
Conclusion to the interpretation of John 16.12–15 [174]
174. This discussion of the present chapter of the Gospel should suffice and more than suffice, given the poverty of our talent. But if the Lord has accorded a revelation to certain others, drawing them close to the Truth and making them more capable of discerning the Truth, then we concede that their account is better since he who is the Spirit of Truth gives it support. Furthermore, we ask those who will read this to forgive our lack of expertise and pardon the eagerness of someone who desires to offer all that he can to God, even if he was unable to accomplish his plan. (Works on the Spirit (Popular Patristics) by St Athanasius the Great, Didymus the Blind, edited by John Behr, translated by Mark DelCogliano, Andrew Radde-Gallwitz, & Lewis Ayres, St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 2022; emphasis mine)
Further Reading
Filioque, Petrine & Roman Primacy
Origen: Monarchia & the Filioque
Epiphanius of Cyprus on the Filioque
Augustine, Filioque & Economic Processions
More on Augustine & the Filioque
St. Gregory of Nyssa on the Filioque
Answering Islam – Sam Shamoun Theology Newsletter
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