From whom does the Holy Spirit proceed, the Father alone or the Father and the Son?
What the sources show
Tertullianc. 213 · Basil of Caesareac. 375Through the Son
Early writers in both East and West often say the Spirit is from the Father through the Son: Tertullian about 213, Basil about 375. 12
Cyril of Alexandriac. 425 · John of Damascusc. 740
Cyril of Alexandria says "from both", which he explains as "from the Father through the Son". John of Damascus, about 740, refuses to say "from the Son" while calling the Spirit "the Spirit of the Son". 34
Council of Florence (Catholic)1439 · Westminster Confession (Reformed)1646 · Encyclical of the Eastern Patriarchs (Orthodox)1848
The Latin West added "and the Son" (filioque) to the creed, first in Spain in 589 and at Rome in 1014. Florence (1439) defined it for Catholics; Protestants kept it. The Orthodox reject it as making two sources. 567
ApostolicBefore NicaeaNicaea and afterMiddle AgesReformation to today
Scroll through the centuries, or tap a dot. JK move between witnesses.
Before Nicaea
150–325
213c. AD
Through the Son
Tertullian c. 155–c. 220 ADAgainst Praxeas 4.1
Let this be said of the third rank too: for I think the Spirit comes from nowhere else than from the Father through the Son.
The earliest statement on the Spirit's origin. "Through the Son" became the common Greek phrasing.
Full English of this work is being translated
hoc mihi et in tertium gradum dictum sit, quia spiritum non aliunde (de)puto quam a patre per filium.Emil Kroymann Tertullian Quinti Septimi Florentis Tertulliani opera F. Tempsky G. Freytag Vienna Leipzig 1900 3 Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum 47 Internet Archive (OGL CSEL TEI, urn:cts:latinLit:stoa0275.stoa007) · English: translated for this page from the Latin
Nicaea to Chalcedon
325–451
375c. AD
Through the Son
Basil of Caesarea c. 330–379 ADOn the Holy Spirit 18.47
So the way of knowing God goes from one Spirit through the one Son to the one Father. And in reverse, natural goodness, holiness by nature and royal dignity reach from the Father through the Only-begotten to the Spirit. In this way the persons are confessed and the true doctrine of the one source is not lost.
Basil speaks of how God is known and gives gifts. Whether this describes the Spirit's eternal origin is part of the later debate.
Full English of this work is being translated · Source text
Cyril of Alexandria c. 376–444 ADOn Adoration in Spirit and Truth 1
...since the Spirit is God the Father's, and indeed the Son's too: the Spirit that pours forth substantially from both, that is, from the Father through the Son.
Cyril says "from both" and explains it as "from the Father through the Son". Latins later cited him for the filioque, Greeks for "through".
Full English of this work is being translated
εἴπερ ἐστὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ Πατρὸς, καὶ μὴν καὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ, τὸ οὐσιωδῶς ἐξ ἀμφοῖν, ἤγουν ἐκ Πατρὸς δι' Υἱοῦ προχεόμενον Πνεῦμα.Migne PG 68 (Aubert reprint) · English: translated for this page from the Greek
Late antiquity and Byzantium
451–1054
740c. AD
From the Father
John of Damascus c. 645/675–749 ADExact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith 1.8
We say that the Holy Spirit is from the Father and call him the Spirit of the Father. We do not say the Spirit is from the Son, but we name him the Spirit of the Son ("if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ", Romans 8:9), and we confess that he was made manifest and given to us through the Son.
The standard Greek position before the schism: from the Father, manifested through the Son.
Full English of this work is being translated · Source text
Τὸ δὲ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον καὶ ἐκ τοῦ πατρὸς λέγομεν καὶ πνεῦμα πατρὸς ὀνομάζομεν, ἐκ τοῦ υἱοῦ δὲ τὸ πνεῦμα οὐ λέγομεν, πνεῦμα δὲ υἱοῦ ὀνομάζομεν («εἴ τις γὰρ πνεῦμα Χριστοῦ οὐκ ἔχει», φησὶν ὁ θεῖος ἀπόστολος) καὶ δι' υἱοῦ πεφανερῶσθαι καὶ μεταδεδόσθαι ἡμῖν ὁμολογοῦμενMigne PG 94, Khazarzar text · English: translated for this page from the Greek
Middle Ages
1054–1500
1439AD
And the Son
Council of Florence (Catholic)Laetentur Caeli Decree of union with the Greeks
the holy Spirit is eternally from the Father and the Son, and has his essence and his subsistent being from the Father together with the Son, and proceeds from both eternally as from one principle and a single spiration.
A short-lived union of Greeks and Latins. It also declared that "through the Son" and "from the Son" mean the same. The Greek churches later rejected the union.
These writers also matter for this question. Their texts will join the timeline above once they are translated.
420
Augustine of Hippo, On the Trinity 15.26.47
The Spirit proceeds from the Father "principally", and also from the Son. The Western basis for the filioque.
589
Third Council of Toledo, Creed and canons
The first creed with "and the Son".
886
Photius of Constantinople, Mystagogy of the Holy Spirit
The great Greek case against the filioque.
650
Maximus the Confessor, Letter to Marinus
Explains that Latins meant "through the Son", not a second cause.
How this page was made
Every early quote was read in its Greek or Latin and translated for this page by Claude (Opus 5.5) on 13 October 2026. Each line names the printed edition it was read from. A quote marked indirect does not state the answer outright; read its note. A writer's silence is never counted as an answer.