Expert: Fr. Timothy Johnson - 8/7/2011

Question
QUESTION: Hello Father,

First, I have a very specific question about the word "begotten" in relation to the Christ, the Son. I've found it applied to Christ both in the Scriptures and also in the Nicene and Athanasian creeds. What exactly does this mean? How is Christ begotten of the Father. As far as I know "begotten" typically means something along the lines of having given birth to, so does begotten carry a special definition in the context of the trinity?
The Creed also says the Holy Spirit "proceeds from the Father and the Son." What exactly does this mean? and can this be found in the Scriptures?

Thanks,

Kyle

ANSWER: Hi, Kyle,

The following writing of Pope John Paul II answers your questions:

In the last catechesis we concentrated our attention on the Holy Spirit, reflecting on the words of the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed according to the form in use in the Latin liturgy: "I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son he is worshipped and glorified. He has spoken through the prophets."

The Holy Spirit is "sent" by the Father and Son, as he also "proceeds" from them. For this reason he is called "the Spirit of the Father" (e.g., Mt. 10:20; 1 Cor 2:11; also Jn 15:26), but also "the Spirit of the Son" (Gal 4:6), or "the Spirit of Jesus" (Acts 16:7), since it is Jesus himself that sends him (cf. Jn 15:26). Therefore the Latin Church professes that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son (qui a Patre Filioque procedit) while the Orthodox Churches profess from the Father through the Son. He proceeds "by way of will," "in the manner of love" (per modum amoris). This is a sententia certa, that is, a theological doctrine commonly accepted in the Church's teaching and therefore sure and binding.

This conviction is confirmed by the etymology of the name "Holy Spirit," to which I alluded in the previous catechesis—Spirit, spiritus, pneuma, ruah. Starting from this etymology "the procession" of the Spirit from the Father and the Son is described as "spiration"—spiramen—a breath of Love.

This spiration is not generation. Only the Word, the Son, "proceeds" from the Father by eternal generation. God, who eternally knows himself and everything in himself, begets the Word. In this eternal begetting, which takes place by way of intellect (per modum intelligibilis actionis), God, in the absolute unity of his nature, that is, of his divinity, is Father and Son. "He is," and not "he becomes," "he is" so eternally. "He is" from the beginning and without beginning. Under this aspect the word "procession" must be understood correctly. There is no connotation proper to a temporal "becoming." The same is true of the "procession" of the Holy Spirit.

1.  The Spirit is the source of every gift from God
Therefore, by means of generation, in the absolute unity of the divinity, God is eternally Father and Son. The Father who begets loves the Son who is begotten. The Son loves the Father with a love which is identical with that of the Father. In the unity of the divinity, love is on one side paternal and on the other, filial. At the same time the Father and the Son are not only united by that mutual love as two Persons infinitely perfect. But their mutual gratification, their reciprocal love, proceeds in them and from them as a person. The Father and the Son "spirate" the Spirit of Love consubstantial with them. In this way God, in the absolute unity of the divinity, is from all eternity Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

The Quicumque Creed proclaims: "The Holy Spirit is not made, nor created, nor begotten, but he proceeds from the Father and the Son." The "procession" is per modum amoris, as already said. Because of this the Fathers of the Church call the Holy Spirit "Love, Charity, Spiritual Love, Bond of Love, Kiss of Love." All these expressions testify to the way in which the Holy Spirit "proceeds" from the Father and the Son.

It can be said that God in his innermost life is "love" which is personalized in the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of the Father and the Son. The Spirit is also called Gift.

The Spirit who is Love, is the source of every gift having its origin in God in regard to creatures—the gift of existence by means of creation, the gift of grace through the economy of salvation.

We understand better the words of the Acts of the Apostles in the light of this theology of the trinitarian Gift: "You will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:38). With these words Christ takes his final leave of his dear ones when going to the Father. We also understand the words of the Apostle in this light: "God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us" (Rom 5:5).

Let us conclude our reflection by invoking with the liturgy, Veni, Sancte Spiritus. "Come, O Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and enkindle within them the fire of your love."


Fr. Timothy Johnson

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks very much Father. That was truly helpful, but I have a follow up question about part of Pope John Paul II text. In the fifth paragraph it says:
"Therefore, by means of generation, in the absolute unity of the divinity, God is eternally Father and Son. The Father who begets loves the Son who is begotten. The Son loves the Father with a love which is identical with that of the Father. In the unity of the divinity, love is on one side paternal and on the other, filial. At the same time the Father and the Son are not only united by that mutual love as two Persons infinitely perfect. But their mutual gratification, their reciprocal love, proceeds in them and from them as a person. The Father and the Son "spirate" the Spirit of Love consubstantial with them. In this way God, in the absolute unity of the divinity, is from all eternity Father, Son and Holy Spirit."
I may be mistaken (and probably am) but it sounds like the Father causally precedes the Son and Spirit. If the Father "generates" the Son and the love of the Father and Son together gives rise to the Spirit then does the Father cause the other two persons of the Trinity? If this is the case how can the Son and Spirit be part of the same God that the Father is a part of? Maybe there is a special denotation of the word "generate" in this passage that I do not understand?
Im very sorry to bother you again with this question but I am having trouble wrapping my head around this doctrine.

Thanks again,

Kyle

Answer
Hi, again...

Of course this ineffable Mystery of the Godhead is something that none of us will be able to wrap our mind around entirely, since God is infinite.  This is not a matter of quantity, but a quality of another being and mode of being entirely from limited, created human beings.
Pope John-Paul actually answers most of your question in the first sentence of the paragraph you quote, where he states: "... God is eternally Father and Son"; and in the last sentence where he states: "God... is from all eternity Father, Son, and Holy Spirit."  To be eternal, as God is, is to have no beginning or end.  The word "generation" is used in a special way in theological discourse of this kind... The Father does not causally precede the Son and Holy Spirit.  Being eternal, God is outside of time and space.

Pope Benedict states:
And, of all three persons, we must admit that there was no time when he was not: There was no time when the Father was not the Father of the Son, and there was no time when the Son was not. Moreover, neither was there a time when the Holy Spirit was not the Spirit of the Father and of the Son. Rather, from all eternity the three persons are one.

I found an excellent blogspot that goes in depth into the sort of question you ask.  It is at:
http://newtheologicalmovement.blogspot.com/2011/06/necessity-and-freedom-in-trin

I will place a copy paste of one of the answers in a post, and take the liberty to put some of the Latin phrasing into English:

...there is no time when the Son did not exist, there is no time when the Father existed before the Son ... we say: "The Son proceeds from the Father, but the Father does not precede the Son."

In fact, the point of saying that the Son proceeds "by nature" rather than "by will or choice" is a defense of this doctrine -- when I say that the Son proceeds by necessity, I am emphasizing that it is not as though the Father one day "decided" to generate the Son; rather, the Father is the Father as generating the Son (hence, the very nature of the Trinity is that the Father generates the Son).

[so there is no "before" or "after" in the Trinity, though there is an order of the divine persons]

Another quote from the same site states:
The important distinction here is to realize that the union of humanity and divinity in Christ is not a union in his divine essence (which would necessitate a change in God, and a change in the Father and Spirit), but rather is a union in his person -- for the human nature us united to the divine nature through the hypostatic union; it is a union in the person of the Word.

Fr. Timothy Johnson