The following comes from:
Joseph P.
Farrell, “Introduction,” in Saint Photios, The Mystagogy of the Holy Spirit (trans.
Joseph P. Farrell; Brookline, Mass.: Holy Cross Orthodox Press, 1987), 33-34,
emphasis in hold added
Before
considering the related historical antecedents of the filioque, it will
be helpful to summarize the structural dynamics of the filioque in
outline form:
1.
The Essence.
A. The divine essence is assumed to be simple.
B. If the divine essence is simple, then several things follow:
1. The essence is equivalent to the attributes both severally and individually.
2. The essence is equivalent to the persons, both severally and individually.
C. Like the Neoplatonic One, the simplicity of the divine essence transcends
the multiplicity of the divine pluralities (attributes and persons) as unity
transcends multiplicity. Several things follow.
2.
The Attributes.
A. The attributes have the same logical status vis-à-vis the essence and
therefore,
B. As regards each other.
C. The attributes are all “wholly indistinguishable.”
3.
The Persons.
At the lowest level of discourse, the persons are subordinated to the attributes
because the Spirit’s procession from the Father has been given to the Son,
since the Father and the Son share common attributes (life, holiness, spiritually).
1. And within this level of discourse dealing with the persons, an effective
subordination of the Holy Spirit to the Son and Father occurs, the Father having
no distinctions, the Son having that of being caused, and the Holy Spirit
having two distinctions, being caused by two different classes of causes.
B. The Holy Spirit, because He proceeds from the Father and the Son, becomes
the new focus of unity in the Trinity.
1. The name “Holy Spirit” thus defines the divine essence and
2. Is thus capable of signifying the entire Trinity.
The significance
of the structure outlined above will be entirely lost unless juxtaposed with
parallel structures to be found in the ancient Christological heresies
associated with Arianism, for it is the interposition of a category between the
essence and persons, i.e., the attributes which bears some significant
structural similarity to the systems of Arios and Eunomios.
