Lecture on Eastern Orthodox and the Filioque

Historical Context

• Year: 1264
• Pope Urban IV
  • Former Patriarch of Jerusalem
  • Aimed to reunite the Greek and Latin churches
• Philistines: Obstacle to church reunion
• Nicene Creed Differences
  • Greek: "We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life."
  • Latin: "We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son."
  • The phrase "and the Son," or Filioque, is a major doctrinal difference.

Historical Debates

• Debates date back to 8th century, causing schisms in the 9th century.
• Great Schism in the 11th century.
• Discussed in the 13th and 15th century reunion councils.

St. Thomas Aquinas' Role

• Pope Urban IV's Request
  • Asked Aquinas to respond to Nicholas of Croatoan's work, Libelus.
• Against the Error of the Greeks
  • Aquinas aimed to show the genuine sense of sources quoted by Nicholas of Croatoan.
  • Argued against Nicholas's thesis that differences were purely nominal.

Aquinas' Theological Argument for the Filioque

• Relative Opposition
  • Designates a relation excluding the identity of subjects (e.g., Fatherhood and Sonship).
  • Different from relations like brotherhood and friendship, which can exist without distinct subjects.
• Two Modes of Predication
  • Absolute: Essential to the Trinity (e.g., loving, just, wise).
  • Relative: Order to another, coming from procession (e.g., Father, Son, Spirit).
  • Agreed upon by both Eastern and Western Fathers.

Distinctions in the Trinity

• Persons are consubstantial and distinguished by what is relative, not absolute.
• Father and Son: Father is the Father of the Son.
• Father and Spirit: Spirit is the Spirit of the Father.
• Son and Spirit Distinction:
  • Must be a relation of procession to avoid infinite regress.

St. Thomas's Argument

• Procession and Distinction
  • Real distinction requires relative opposition, implying procession.
  • Distinction between Son and Spirit must include procession.
• Five Points of the Argument
  1. Real distinction necessitates relative opposition.
  2. Relative opposition implies a relation.
  3. Relation presupposes procession.
  4. Procession requires Son as the principle of the Spirit or vice versa.
  5. Accepted thesis: Son is the principle of the Spirit (Filioque).

References to St. Thomas's Works

• Listed eight instances where Aquinas discusses the Filioque, including Summa Theologiae and De Potentia.

Conclusion

• Foundational principles of Trinitarian theology lead to the Filioque.
• These are not merely Latin principles but are admitted by Fathers of both East and West.
• Filioque is necessary for the theological distinction between the Son and the Spirit.