Apologetics for the Masses #383 - The Orthodox Controversy...Filioque

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Topic

The Filioque Clause - What separates Catholics and Orthodox?

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General Comments

Hey folks,

This upcoming week's edition of Balaam's Ride will be on Sola Scriptura. If you're interested, you'll be able to find it posted on the "Religion" page of HTV10 in Houma - www.htv10.tv - sometime on Monday after its initial airing Monday afternoon. This week's program was on the Eucharist and the Bible and Confession and the Bible.

Introduction

This week I am going to discuss the major theological difference between Catholic and Orthodox - the Filioque Clause of the Creed. The part of the Creed that says the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father AND the Son. The Orthodox only admit to the Holy Spirit proceeding from the Father. Orthodox and Catholic theologians, in meetings that occurred several years back, came to the conclusion that we are, essentially, saying the same thing. Well, that's fine for the theologians to say, but their agreement on the finer theological points of the dispute, simply hasn't trickled down to the rank and file within Orthodoxy.

So, I am going to give the scriptural support for Catholic teaching that the Holy Spirit proceeds from both the Father and the Son, as opposed to proceeding from only the Father. And, essentially, I'm going to list some of the Scripture verses that are pertinent to the argument and just give minimal commentary. I hope you enjoy...

Challenge/Response/Strategy

Does the Holy Spirit proceed from both the Father AND the Son? What does the Bible say?

Matt 3:11, "...He who is coming after me is mightier than I...He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire." Jesus baptizes with the Holy Spirit.

John 20:22, "And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, 'Receive the Holy Spirit.'" The Holy Spirit seems to "proceed" here from Jesus. It is His very breath. The word in Hebrew for breath is "ruah". That's also the same word for "spirit".

John 16:7, "...it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Counselor [the Holy Spirit] will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you." Jesus sends the Holy Spirit.

John 14:26, "But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, Whom the Father will send in My name..." The Father sends the Holy Spirit.

John 15:26, "But when the Counselor comes, Whom I shall send to you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, Who proceeds from the Father..." Again, Jesus sends the Spirit...the Spirit proceeds from the Father.

Gal 4:6, "And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts..." The Spirit is the Spirit of the Son.

Matt 10:20, "For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you." The Spirit is the Spirit of the Father.

Rom 8:9-11, 14, "But you are not in the flesh, you are in the Spirit, if the Spirit of God really dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Him..." The Spirit, is the Spirit of God [the Father] and the Spirit of Christ [the Son].

Acts 2:17, "And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh..." The Father pours out the Holy Spirit.

Acts 2:32-33, "This Jesus...Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured out this which you see and hear." Jesus pours out the Holy Spirit.

Luke 11:13, "...how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!" The Father gives the Holy Spirit to those who ask.

John 4:10-14, "If you knew the gift of God, and Who it is that is saying to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked Him and He would have given you living water...but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst..." Jesus gives the Holy Spirit [the living water] to those who ask.

John 7:38-39, "He who believes in Me, as the scripture has said, 'Out of His heart shall flow rivers of living water.' Now this He said about the Spirit, which those who believed in Him were to receive..." The Holy Spirit is a river of living water.

Rev 22:1, "Then He showed me the river of the water of life...flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb..." The real kicker: The Spirit flows from both the throne of God and of the Lamb - the Father and the Son.

The interchangeability of Father and Son in regard to giving the Spirit, sending the Spirit, pouring out the Spirit, the Spirit of God, the Spirit of the Son, proceeding from the Father, being the breath of Jesus, and so on, is very strong scriptural evidence that the Spirit proceeds from both the Father and the Son, not from the Father alone. And Revelation 22:1, is about as strong a statement you can have from Scripture as testimony to that effect.

Closing Comments

I hope this was enlightening and useful to you. I hope and pray all of you, and your families, are staying safe. And please pray, or keep praying, for God's will to be done with this election mess. May He not abandon our country over the sin of abortion...

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