F is for filioque

10:08 AM CDT on Saturday, August 9, 2008

Tyra Damm

The Nicene Creed, first written in 325, declares essential tenets of Christianity, including belief in the Trinity (God in three persons – the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit). Filioque, which means "and from the Son," is a controversial addition to the creed.

Part of the original creed read, "And we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, who proceedeth from the Father." By 589, the Latin reading of the creed had been changed to "who proceedeth from the Father and the Son." Inserting the word filioque added to growing tension between the Eastern and Western churches. Each had its own interpretation of the source of God's deity; the Eastern church believed that the Father alone was the source of divinity.

The filioque eventually played a significant role in the schism between the two churches that led to the 1054 split, which created the Orthodox Church, separate from the Roman Catholic Church.

Tyra Damm

SOURCES: Journal of Ecumenical Studies; Dictionary of Beliefs and Religions; the Perennial Dictionary of World Religions

SOURCE: