His Holiness Pope Shenouda III explains the issue of the Procession of the Holy Spirit and the doctrinal differences that arose from it between the churches. The lecture presents the historical background of the disagreement (the addition of the phrase “and the Son” to the Creed), and distinguishes between the concepts of eternal procession and temporal sending.

Main idea content
The main idea is that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father from eternity as an hypostatic relation within the Trinity, while the “sending of the Spirit” mentioned in the Gospels is a temporal event related to the work of the Spirit and His gifts given to people (as in Pentecost and Christ’s breathing on the disciples). Therefore, the sending verses are not to be used to prove that the Spirit is begotten or created or that His hypostatic source is the Son as well.

Historical point and divisions
It presents how the addition “and the Son” entered the doctrine of some churches and its effect on the split between the Eastern Orthodox and the Roman Catholic, noting that the apostolic tradition, the Holy Scripture, and the ecumenical canons confirm not to add anything to the Creed.

Biblical and theological arguments
The discussion answers the cited proofs such as John 15:26, 16:7 and 20:22 and shows that there is a confusion between the act of sending (temporal) and the act of procession (eternal). It also clarifies that phrases like “takes from me and will declare to you” express the mutual testimony and tasks between the hypostases, not the origin of a hypostasis.

Theological explanatory detail
Analogies are used (like fire producing light and heat) to explain how the Father is the source but from that it is not deduced that the Spirit is “begotten” or that the Spirit’s status is inferior to the Father or the Son. It also explains the distinction between shared divine attributes and the distinctive hypostatic properties of each person, warning against sliding into Sabellianism or Monarchian errors in interpretation.

Spiritual and ecclesial effects
The lecture affirms that the Spirit works in the holy mysteries and grants His gifts (sanctification, forgiveness, priesthood, healing…) and that the Spirit’s presence in the life of the church differs from the doctrinal debate about His eternal origin.

Spiritual conclusion
The spiritual gist is that the unity of God of the Trinity is preserved, and that hypostatic distinction (Father, Son, Spirit) is necessary to understand the mystery of salvation and the theological work, while keeping respect for the church tradition and Scripture in interpreting the texts.

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