Recently I responded to a question about what it means that Jesus is the “begotten” Son of God. Read that article here: What Does It Mean that Jesus is the “Begotten” Son of God?
In that post, I mentioned that whereas the Bible says that Jesus is “from the Father” (the doctrine of “eternal generation”), the Bible says that the Holy Spirit “proceeds” from the Father — and, according to the Western Christian tradition, “from the Father and the Son.”
That raises some important questions:
- Where does that language come from?
- Is it biblical?
- Why do Western Christians add that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son? What is the history of that?
In this article, I will walk you through the biblical foundation for the “procession” of the Holy Spirit, and the historical argument between Western and Eastern Christians about whether to add the clause “and the Son.”
The Biblical Language: “Proceeds from the Father”
The key verse behind this language comes from Jesus Himself:
“When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.” (John 15:26)
This is the only place in the Bible where the word “proceeds” (Greek: ekporeuetai) is explicitly used to describe the Holy Spirit’s relationship to the Father.
Two important things are happening in this verse:
- The Spirit proceeds from the Father – This speaks to the Spirit’s eternal origin.
- The Son sends the Spirit – This speaks to the Spirit’s mission in time.
Christians have historically distinguished between these two ideas:
- Eternal procession: Who the Spirit is in relation to the Father.
- Temporal mission: What the Spirit does in being sent into the world.
This is similar to the distinction between the “ontological” and the “economic” Trinity. For more on that, read: The Trinity: Ontological & Economic
But this verse raises a question: If the Spirit proceeds from the Father, what is the Son’s role?
The Son’s Role in Sending the Spirit
Other passages fill in that picture:
- John 16:7 — Jesus says of the Spirit, “I will send him to you.”
- John 20:22 — Jesus breathes on the disciples after His resurrection and says, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”
- Galatians 4:6 — “God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts.”
These verses strongly connect the Spirit not only to the Father, but also to the Son.
So while John 15:26 emphasizes that the Spirit proceeds from the Father, the broader New Testament shows that the Spirit is also intimately related to the Son—to the point where He is even called “the Spirit of the Son.” In fact, in John 14, when telling His disciples at the Last Supper that He would not abandon them through this departure from this world, Jesus said that He would come to them, in the context of sending the Holy Spirit to them (see John 14:18). Furthermore, the New Testament authors tell us that the Holy Spirit indwells those who believe in Jesus, and then Paul tells us in Colossians that Christ dwells in us who believe (cf. Ephesians 1:13-14; Colossians 1:27)
Why “Proceeds”? What Does that Mean?
In addition to accurately reflecting the words of Scripture, “proceeds” (for the Spirit) and “begotten” (for the Son) describe the distinct ways each person of the Trinity relates to the Father. Since the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all fully God, these relationships distinguish them as unique persons.
The Father is unbegotten (He is the source). The Son is eternally begotten of the Father. The Spirit proceeds from the Father and is sent by the Son. The Son is not the Father because He is begotten, and the Spirit is not the Father or the Son because He proceeds. In God’s temporal mission, the Spirit is then sent by the Son and glorifies the Son, and the Son, in turn, glorifies the Father.
The Early Church and the Nicene Creed
As the early church wrestled with how to faithfully summarize biblical teaching, they gathered for the Council of Nicaea (325 AD). At that gathering, they produced the Nicene Creed, which affirmed that the Son is “begotten, not made.”
Later, at the Council of Constantinople (381 AD), the church expanded the creed to include a fuller statement about the Holy Spirit:
“We believe in the Holy Spirit… who proceeds from the Father…”
Notice: no mention of “and the Son” yet.
At this point, the church was primarily concerned with affirming:
- The full divinity of the Spirit
- His distinct personhood
- His procession from from the Father (directly using the language of John 15:26)
The Addition of “and the Son” (Filioque)
The phrase “and the Son” (Latin: Filioque) was added later in the Western church.
It first appeared in regional councils in the West (notably in Spain in the 6th century) as a way to combat false teachings that undermined the divinity of the Son.
The reasoning went like this:
- If the Spirit proceeds from the Father alone, some might conclude that the Son is less central or less divine.
- But if the Spirit proceeds from both the Father and the Son, it reinforces the full equality and unity of the Father and the Son.
By the early Middle Ages, the Western church had adopted the phrase into the creed:
“who proceeds from the Father and the Son”
The Filioque Controversy
This addition led to one of the most significant theological disputes in church history between the Eastern (largely Greek speaking) and Western (largely Latin speaking) churches.
The Eastern church objected for two main reasons:
1. Theological Concern
Eastern theologians argued that the Father is the single source within the Trinity.
They believed:
- The Son is begotten of the Father
- The Spirit proceeds from the Father
Adding “and the Son,” they argued, blurred these distinctions.
2. Authority Concern
The East also objected that the Western church added to the creed unilaterally, without an ecumenical council.
For the Eastern church, this wasn’t just a doctrinal issue—it was also a question of church authority and unity. Tensions were already growing over the Western church’s claims about the primacy of the Bishop of Rome (the “Pope”) as the head of all Christians — a claim the Eastern church did not accept. From their perspective, the unilateral addition of the Filioque to the creed felt like another example of the West asserting authority in a way they believed was illegitimate and unwarranted.
The Great Schism: The East-West Split
Although it wasn’t the only factor, the disagreement over the Filioque clause contributed to the growing divide between Eastern and Western Christianity, culminating in the Great Schism of 1054.
To this day, the Eastern Orthodox Church rejects the Filioque clause and maintains “The Spirit proceeds from the Father,” whereas the Roman Catholic Church and most Protestant churches affirm “The Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son.”
Is the Filioque Clause Biblical?
On the one hand, Eastern Christians point out that John 15:26 explicitly says the Spirit proceeds from the Father. On the other hand, Western Christians highlight the fact that the Spirit is deeply connected to the Son (John 16:7; Galatians 4:6), the Spirit is sent by the Son and bears witness to Him, and the unity of the Father and the Son is biblical and must be preserved.
Many theologians today suggest a both/and approach:
- The Spirit proceeds from the Father
- The Spirit proceeds through the Son in a way that reflects their unity
This preserves both the Father’s role as source and the Son’s participation and unity with the Father.
Conclusion
So, why do Christians say that the Holy Spirit “proceeds from the Father (and the Son)”?
It’s because Jesus explicitly stated that the Spirit proceeds from the Father (John 15:26), and because the New Testament shows the Spirit is also sent by and connected to the Son
Even though Christians have disagreed on how to best phrase it, both sides are trying to be faithful to Scripture and to preserve the mystery and beauty of the Trinity.
Theology for the People 