The Lord Is the Spirit. John A. Studebaker

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The Lord Is the Spirit - John A. Studebaker


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conception of the procession of the Spirit from the Father and through the Son did not stand in direct opposition to Filioque. It was only with Photius that the issue became one of serious controversy, so much so that the Filioque addition became grounds for official separation. For Photius, “the distinction between the divine persons was adequately explained by the personal properties of each.”81 In 867, while Patriarch of Constantinople, Photius attacked Filioque on several fronts, arguing that: (1) it was a Western innovation, (2) it was unbiblical (nowhere in Scripture, he proclaimed, is the Son mentioned as the source of the Spirit within the divinity), (3) the Western position splits the divinity (because the Spirit appears to proceed from two principles), and (4) Augustinian thought (that the Father and Son form a single source) cancels the distinction between the Father and Son. Photius’ most persuasive argument, however, is that the Augustinian view distorts the idea of personal source (the Father being that source), by replacing it with an essentially impersonal one—the relationship between the Father and the Son.

      The “Executorial Authority” of the Spirit—Definition and Storyline

      Medieval theology challenges the universal Church to consider whether or not the Holy Spirit’s authority to execute God’s will in the world is in any way related to the authority of Jesus Christ, the one who proclaims, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matt 28:18). Is the Spirit’s authority executed under the authority of Christ or, as the Eastern tradition implies, is the Spirit somewhat “independent” of Christ’s authority in his execution of God’s will?

      2. The Western view implies that the Spirit has an authority derived from and delegated by both the Father and the Son for the primary purpose of glorifying the Son (John 16:13–14). The Spirit does this by carrying out the Son’s will after his departure. Therefore, we may infer that an analogy to an executor of a will may best describe the Western understanding of the Spirit, as one who has been given the authority to carry out Jesus’ will on earth after Jesus has departed. It would then seem to be more accurate to speak of the Western understanding of the Spirit’s authority as that of an “executorial authority” rather than as an “executive authority.”

      Before attempting to “resolve” this debate exegetically (in chapter 3), we may make an initial comparison of these two views along two lines—historical (i.e., the impact of the respective positions upon history), and theological (i.e., the strengths and the weaknesses of the theological positions themselves). First, in our historical analysis, we notice two related themes regarding the Eastern Church: (1) it never completely broke from the handcuffs of imperialism, and (2) it did not recognize the authority of Christ over the Holy Spirit in ecclesiastical and soteriological issues to the same degree as the West. While granting “monarchical” authority to the Father as divine source, the “working out” of this authority in the context of humanity tends to escape into mysticism. Berman notices that this tendency is revealed in Eastern art:

      The Western Church, on the other hand, and Western culture as well seem to exemplify some strong benefits in association with of the Filioque. The clause was ratified by Popes who, in general, attempted to insure that the Church would not be mastered by the State but would be subject to Christ alone. Christ is King; the Pope is “vicar.” The results of their “incarnational” focus seem non-coincidental in at least two ways—the rapid development of the Catholic faith, and the progress of Western culture and the Western legal system. Berman provides the logic needed for such a conclusion:

      But Western theology of the eleventh and twelfth centuries shifted the emphasis to the second person of the Trinity, to the incarnation of God in this world, to God the redeemer. God’s humanity in Christ took the center of the stage. This was reflected in the papal amendment of the Nicene Creed by the proclamation that the Holy Spirit “proceeds” not only “from the Father” but also “from the Son” (Filioque). God the Father, representing the whole of creation, the cosmic order, was incarnate in God the Son, who represents mankind. By the Filioque clause, God the Holy Spirit, who is identified in the Nicene Creed with the Church, was said to have his source not only in the First Person but also the


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