Journal: Journal of Dispensational Theology
Volume: JODT 14:41 (Apr 2010)
Article: The Doctrine Of Double Procession In Eastern And Western Theologies
Author: Ron J. Bigalke, Jr.

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The Doctrine Of Double Procession In Eastern And Western Theologies

Ron J. Bigalke

* Ron J. Bigalke, Ph.D., Georgia state director, Capitol Commission; author and lecturer, Eternal Ministries; missionary, Biblical Ministries Worldwide; and, professor of Bible and theology, Tyndale Theological Seminary

Eastern Orthodoxy, Protestantism, and Roman Catholicism share certain theological commitments with regard to Trinitarian doctrine. Prior to the biblical division between Protestantism and Roman Catholicism, the Eastern church already divided from Western Christianity in the eleventh century. The purpose of this article is to explain the historical and theological issues with regard to the doctrine of double procession, which culminated in the East-West Schism of 1054. The achievement of this purpose will provide a better understanding of the biblical doctrine of the Trinity, specifically in relation to the Father as the source of the eternal begetting of the Son and the eternal procession of the Holy Spirit.

The doctrine of double procession is the teaching that the Holy Spirit proceeds from both the Father and the Son.1 The teaching is an explanation of the internal Trinitarian relationships of origination in an attempt to explain what differs with regard to the “members” (persons) of the Trinity.2 The origination relations explain how one member of the Trinity

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gives origin to another, and is therefore distinct, not in substance from one another but in subsistence. The relations explain why there are indeed three members of the Trinity as opposed to merely one, yet truly affirming there are not three gods but that God is one (Deut 6:4; Isa 46:9).

If each member of the Trinity is eternal and equal in substance, then how could they be distinct in subsistence? The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are the same in substance; however, the relations between them are not equal. The Father is different from the Son because he is not begotten from the Son. The Son is different from the Father because he is begotten of the Father, and the Son is different from the Holy Spirit because He is the only begotten son of the Father. The Holy Spirit is not the son of the Father; therefore, the Son has a relationship to the Father that the Holy Spirit does not. Neither the Father nor the Son proceeds from the Holy Spirit. It is evident that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are different not in quality but relation. The distinction between the members of the...