3

According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, proceed means:

Full Definition of proceed; intransitive verb

1: to come forth from a source : issue

2 a: to continue after a pause or interruption b: to go on in an orderly regulated way

3 a: to begin and carry on an action, process, or movement b: to be in the process of being accomplished; the work is proceeding well

4: to move along a course

Spiration means:

b (1): the act by or manner in which the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father or from the Father and the Son (2): the relation subsisting by virtue of this procession

Procession means:

a: continuous forward movement: progression b: emanation; the Holy Spirit's procession from the Father

The Nicene Creed says God proceeds (verb) from God and God.

The noun spiration is the act of this proceeding.

Sort of like how the noun "hearing" is "the act of perceiving sounds" to describe the verb "hear".

The noun procession means "continuous motion forward".

So procession is the act of proceeding.

What are the differences between spiration and procession so that we could understand them as two distinct acts?

Cannabijoy
  • 2,492
  • 16
  • 45
  • It's the same difference as between "to be loved" and "to love." – Geremia Oct 14 '16 at 20:58
  • @Geremia So it means "the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and Son" and "the Father and Son proceed the Holy Spirit"? – Cannabijoy Oct 14 '16 at 23:10
  • No, that's different. Procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father and Son is a different relation than what the Holy Spirit has to the Father and the Son. Think about human relationships: My relationship to my father is clearly not my father's relationship to me. – Geremia Oct 14 '16 at 23:21
  • @Geremia What I mean is, couldn't Aquinas just as easily said "The answer to what it means for the Holy Spirit to proceed from the Father and Son is this: just as the Son is begotten of the Father, and the Father begets the Son; likewise the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and Son, and the Father and Son proceed the Holy Spirit."? Is that all this really means? – Cannabijoy Oct 15 '16 at 01:03
  • Yes, provided it's understood that the two processions are distinct. – Geremia Oct 16 '16 at 05:14
  • For more info, these books are good: basic intro: The Trinity by Trinity expert Fr. Emery, O.P.; more advanced treatments: Fr. Emery's The Trinitarian Theology of St. Thomas Aquinas, Fr. Pohle's The Divine Trinity, and Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P.'s The Trinity and God the Creator. – Geremia Oct 16 '16 at 05:18
  • The Holy Trinity is the greatest mystery of the faith that God had to reveal to us (since it cannot be known by philosophical arguments). The manifestation of the Trinitarian life of God is the reason Christ took on human nature. Check out those books for a systematic treatment of the Trinity (what Persons are, what procession means, what the relations in the Trinity are, how they relate to the Persons and God's essence, etc.). – Geremia Oct 16 '16 at 05:22
  • Since God is one, all these terms can easily be confused in the minds of those beginning to understand the Trinity, but St. Thomas et al. make distinctions that really elucidate the differences and relations between what the terms signify, so a systematic study is indispensable. St. Thomas and his commentators even present the various terms in the proper order conducive to understanding in the learner (processions, relations, then Persons, etc.). – Geremia Oct 16 '16 at 05:29

0 Answers0