Sentences, Books I–II

Chapter 1 (37).

1. That the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and Son. Here it must be said that the Holy Spirit is from the Father and Son and proceeds from the Father and Son, which many heretics have denied.

2. That he proceeds from both is proved by many testimonies of the divine writings. For the Apostle says¹: God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts. Behold, here he is called the Spirit of the Son. And elsewhere²: Whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. The Son himself also says of the Holy Spirit in the Gospel³: «Whom I send to you from the Father». — «He is called the Spirit of the Father where we read⁴: If the Spirit of him who raised Christ from the dead dwells in you. Christ himself also says⁵: “For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you”».

⁶ solus NRTV (Augustine). 17 sui] om. OP. 19 mitto] mittam LVX (Vulg.). 22 in vobis] om. BCWX.]

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And elsewhere¹³: «Whom the Father will send in my name». Elsewhere the Son himself says of the Holy Spirit¹⁴: «He proceeds from the Father». By these and many other authorities it is shown that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and Son.

3. The Greeks do not concede that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Son. The Greeks, however, say that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father alone and not from the Son. — Why they say this: first cause. They say this because the Truth, speaking in the Gospel that fully contains the faith about the procession of the Spirit, mentions the Father alone, saying¹⁵: «The Spirit who proceeds from the Father». — Second cause. They also say this because in the principal councils held among them¹⁶ their creeds were sanctioned with attached anathemas, so that no one may teach or preach anything else about the faith of the Trinity, or preach it otherwise, than what is contained there. Since these creeds mention the Spirit’s proceeding from the Father and not from the Son, they say that whoever adds that he proceeds from the Son incurs an anathema; hence they accuse us too of being under anathema. — Third cause. They also add, to support their view and as evidence of our condemnation, the Creed that Leo III, in accordance with the tradition of the councils just named, transcribed on a silver tablet and left for posterity, placing it behind the altar of blessed Paul at Rome, for the love and safeguard of the orthodox faith, as he himself says¹⁷. In this Creed the Father alone is mentioned in the procession of the Spirit, in these words¹⁸: «And in the Holy Spirit, Lord and giver of life, proceeding from the Father, who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified together», and so forth. This is the Creed sung at Mass, issued at the Council of Nicaea, at the end of which is added: «Whoever teaches or preaches otherwise, let him be anathema». Therefore the Greeks say we are anathematized because we say that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Son, which is not contained there. For what is said according to us there, «who proceeds from the Father and the Son», was added by the Latins, namely «and the Son».

¹⁹ trp. post causa OP. || quia] quod NOP. 8–9 Secunda] Spiritus secunda causa OP, om. MRW. 9 ideo etiam trp. BCMRTVWX. 15 Tertia om. MPRVW. || Addunt] enim add. BMOPT, exp. T. 22 conglorificandum] glorificandum LMPRX, quod corr. R.]

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4. A reply that determines the foregoing. We interpret those words as follows: «Whoever teaches anything else or preaches otherwise», that is, teaches the contrary or preaches in a contrary manner, let him be anathema. He therefore used «anything else» to mean «the opposite», as the Apostle does in his Epistle to the Galatians²⁷: If anyone preaches another gospel, that is, a contrary one, let him be anathema. He does not say, «If anyone adds to it»; for if he had said that, he would, as Augustine says²⁸, have prejudged his own case, since he wished to come to some people to whom he was writing, such as the Thessalonians, «to supply what was lacking in their faith»²⁹. But one who supplies adds what was lacking; he does not remove what was already there. Whoever goes beyond the rule of faith does not advance along the way but departs from it». — Another reply. We answer the objection they raise from the Gospel as follows: when the Truth says there³⁰ that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father, it does not add «alone», and therefore does not deny that he also proceeds from the Son; rather, it names the Father alone «because he is accustomed to refer to him even what belongs to the Son»³¹, because the Son has it from him.

Chapter 2 (38).

1. The Greeks agree with us in meaning, even if they differ in words. It must nevertheless be understood that the Greeks confess that the Holy Spirit belongs to the Son as he does to the Father, since the Apostle calls him the Spirit of the Son³² and the Truth in the Gospel calls him the Spirit of truth³³. But since the Holy Spirit’s being of the Father or the Son means nothing other than his being from the Father and the Son, they seem to agree with us in this too, in the same judgment of faith, although they differ in words.

2. He shows by Greek authorities that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Son as well. Hence certain Catholic teachers among them, understanding that the foregoing words—by which the Holy Spirit is said to proceed from the Son and to belong to the Son—have one and the same meaning, professed that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Son as well. Hence the Athanasian Creed says: «The Holy Spirit is from the Father and the Son, not made, not created, nor begotten, but proceeding». Behold, it plainly says that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son.

³⁴ add. LRWX. 8 ipse] ipsi BCM. 12–13 Rubric] NTX, omitted in the other manuscripts. 24 licet] in add. LNRVWX.]

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3. Didymus too, their greatest teacher, says in his book De Spiritu Sancto³⁹ that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Son: «The Savior, who is the Truth⁴⁰, says: “He will not speak on his own,” that is, not without me and without the judgment of me and the Father, because he is inseparable from me and from the Father’s will, since he is not from himself but from the Father and me. For the very fact that he subsists and speaks comes to him from the Father and me». — Again⁴¹: «The Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit of truth and the Spirit of wisdom, cannot hear from the Son speaking what he does not know, since he is himself what is spoken forth from the Son, that is, God proceeding from God, the Spirit of truth proceeding from the Truth, the Consoler flowing from Consolation».

4. Cyril, bishop, says in his letter to Nestorius⁴²: «The Spirit is understood in himself, insofar as he is Spirit and not the Son, yet he is not alien to him. For he is named the Spirit of truth and flows forth from him as from God the Father».

5. John Chrysostom too says in a homily on the exposition of the Creed: «This is the Holy Spirit, proceeding from the Father and the Son, who distributes his own gifts as he wills»⁴³. The same author, in another homily⁴⁴, says: «We must believe that the Holy Spirit belongs to the Father and the Son. We say that this Holy Spirit is coequal with the Father and Son and proceeds from the Father and the Son. Believe this, lest evil conversations corrupt good habits»⁴⁵. — Behold, we have clear testimonies from Greek teachers showing that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and Son. Therefore let every tongue confess⁴⁶ that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and Son.

⁴⁷ nec RVX. || nec] non OP. 5 dicit] dixit LVX. 8 loquetur] loquitur NVX. 15 manans] manens LOPM. 25 colloquia mala] prava colloquia OP.]

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