Procession of the Spirit
Catholic teaching receives the Creed of 381, which says the Spirit proceeds from the Father, and confesses in the Latin tradition that the Spirit proceeds eternally from Father and Son as from one principle and through one spiration.
Key points
- The Father remains the first origin in the Catholic explanation.
- John 15:26 speaks of procession from the Father and the Son's sending of the Spirit; Catholic doctrine also draws on later Trinitarian interpretation.
Scripture
- John 15:26 — Jesus says he will send the Spirit from the Father and that the Spirit proceeds from the Father; the verse includes both sending and procession.
- John 14:26 — The Father sends the Spirit in the Son's name; distinguish this mission from eternal origin.
Primary sources
Augustine writes in On the Trinity:
Augustine describes Father and Son as one beginning of the Spirit, not two independent beginnings.
the Father and the Son are a Beginning of the Holy Spirit, not two Beginnings
Passage context and translation
Augustine reasons about the Father's and Son's relation to the Spirit while insisting that the Trinity is not divided into competing sources.
Before the excerpt
it must be admitted that
After the excerpt
but as the Father and Son are one God, and one Creator, and one Lord relatively to the creature