The famous Council of Nice, A. D. 325, while so accurately defining the doctrine of the Godhead of the Son, left the testi- mony concerning the Holy Ghost in the vague form in which it stood in the ancient creed, " in the Holy Ghost/' But the heresy of Macedonius, who denied the divinity of the Holy Ghost, having sprung up in the mean time, the Council of Constantinople, A. D. 381, completed the testimony of the Nicene Creed thus, " I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord, the Author of Life, who proceedeth from the Father."
There subsequently arose a controversy upon the question, whether the Scriptures do or do not represent the Holy Spirit as sustaining precisely the same relation to the Son that he does to the Father. This the Latins generally affirmed, and at the third ecclesiastical assembly at Toledo, A. D. 589, they added the word filioque (and the Son) to the Latin version of the Constantinopol- itan Creed, making the clause read " Credimus in Spiritum Sanc- tum qui a Patre Filioque procedit." The Greek church violently opposed this, and to this day reject it. For a short time they were satisfied with the compromise, " The Spirit proceeding from
ETERNAL PROCESSION OF THE SPIRIT. 157
the Father through the Son/' which was finally rejected by both parties. The Constantinopolitan Creed, as amended at the Coun- cil of Toledo, is the one now adopted by the Catholic Church, and recognized by all Protestants, currently bearing the title of "Nicene Creed."
80. Hoiv may it be proved that, as far as revealed, the Spirit sustains precisely the same relation to the Son which he does to the Father ?
The epithet " Spirit" is the characteristic personal designation of the third person. "Whatever is revealed of his eternal and necessary personal relation to either the Father or the Son is in- dicated by this word. Yet he is called the Spirit of the Son, as well as the Spirit of the Father. He possesses the same identical essence of the Son as of the Father. The Son sends and operates through the Spirit as the Father does. Wherever their Spirit is there both Father and Son are revealed, and there they exercise their power. — John xiv., 16, 26; xv., 26; xvi., 7. With the sin- gle exception of the phrase, " which proceecleth from the Father/' (John xv., 26,) the Scriptures apply precisely the same predicates to the relation of the Spirit to the Son that they do to his rela- tion to the Father.
81. What office does the Spirit discharge in the economy of redemption ?
In the economy of redemption, as universally in all the actings of the Godhead upon the creature, God the Son is the revealed God, God as known, and God the Spirit is that divine person who exerts his energy immediately upon and in the creature. For a more detailed answer see Chapter XXI., on " The Media- torial Office of Christ," question 9.
(III.) The personal properties peculiar to each of the
THREE PERSONS OF THE GODHEAD, AND THEIR ORDER OF OPER- ATION AD EXTRA.
82. What is the theological meaning of the word property as applied to the doctrine of the Trinity ?
The attributes of God are the perfections of the divine essence,
158 THE HOLY TRINITY.
and therefore common to each of the three persons, who are " the same in substance," and therefore " equal in power and glory." These have been discussed under Chapter VII. The properties of each divine person, on the other hand, are those peculiar modes of personal subsistence whereby each divine person is constituted as such, and that peculiar order of operation whereby each per- son is distinguished from the others.
As far as these are revealed to us the personal properties of the Father are as follows : He is begotten by none, and proceeds from none ; he is the Father of the Son, having begotten him from eternity ; the Spirit proceeds from him and is his Spirit. Thus he is the first in order and in operation, sending and operat- ing through the Son and Spirit.
The personal properties of the Son are as follows : He is the Son, from eternity the only begotten of the Father. The Spirit is the Spirit of the Son even as he is the Spirit of the Father ; he is sent by the Father, whom he reveals : he, even as the Fa- ther, sends and operates through the Spirit.
The personal properties of the Spirit are as follows : He is the Spirit of the Father and the Son, from eternity proceeding from them ; he is sent by the Father and the Son, they operating through him ; he operates immediately upon the creature.
83. What hind of subordination did the early writers at- tribute to the second and third person in relation to the first ?