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Dear New Catholic,
Actually, it's not Arian at all. it's motivation (at least partially) was to combat a resurgent Arianism.
The Council of Constantinople, in treating the Holy Spirit, added,
"And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of Life, who proceeds from the Father, who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets.",
which is based in part on John 15:26. The original Creed simply said,
"We believe in the Holy Spirit".
Later on, at the (local) Council of Toledo (589 A.D.), to combat Arianism and shore up the divinity of Christ, the phrase "and the Son" (the infamous "Filioque" clause, Latin for "and the Son") was added to the creed, causing no end of trouble with the Greek church.
The idea is that:
- the Father, who is unbegotten, is the source of the Godhead, the monarch.
- The Son is begotten of the Father by generation.
- the Spirit flows from the Father, through the Son by what is termed "spiration".
- All members of the Trinity are co-equal.
Some theologians say that the Spirit is the love of the Father and the Son toward each other.
Eric |
