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"description": "The following excerpt is taken from St. Augustine’s On the Holy Trinity, Book 4. In it, the blessed saint reasons that the Father’s sending of the Son into the world is a sign and reflection of the Father’s having eternally begotten/generated the Son. Augustine takes this economic procession, e.g., the Father’s sending forth the Son to be born of a woman, as indicative of their eternal relationship. It is because the Father eternally begets and the Son is eternally begotten that the One is sende",
"path": "/augustine-filioque-economic-processions/",
"publishedAt": "2026-05-17T16:32:22.000Z",
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"On the Holy Trinity",
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"Filioque, Petrine & Roman Primacy",
"Origen: Monarchia & the Filioque",
"St. Cyril on the Filioque",
"St. Gregory of Nyssa on the Filioque",
"Gregory Nazianzen on the Monarchia",
"Epiphanius of Cyprus on the Filioque"
],
"textContent": "The following excerpt is taken from St. Augustine’s On the Holy Trinity, Book 4. In it, the blessed saint reasons that the Father’s sending of the Son into the world is a sign and reflection of the Father’s having eternally begotten/generated the Son. Augustine takes this economic procession, e.g., the Father’s sending forth the Son to be born of a woman, as indicative of their eternal relationship. It is because the Father eternally begets and the Son is eternally begotten that the One is sender and the Other is sent.\n\nThe blessed theologian then uses this same reasoning to argue for the filioque, i.e., the fact that the Holy Spirit is sent by the Son from the Father into the world is indicative is that the Father is the Source without source, and that the Spirit proceeds from the Father through the Son. Augustin reasons from this fact that this is why the Holy Spirit is said to be the Spirit of both the Father and the Son.\n\nWith the foregoing in view, I now proceed to the quotations. All emphasis will be mine.\n\nChapter 19.— In What Manner the Son Was Sent and Proclaimed Beforehand. How in the Sending of His Birth in the Flesh He Was Made Less Without Detriment to His Equality with the Father.\n\n25. Behold, then, why the Son of God was sent; nay, rather behold what it is for the Son of God to be sent. Whatever things they were which were wrought in time, with a view to produce faith, whereby we might be cleansed so as to contemplate truth, in things that have a beginning, **which have been put forth from** eternity**, and are referred back to** eternity: these were either testimonies of this mission, or they were the mission itself of the Son of God. But some of these testimonies announced Him beforehand as to come, some testified that He had come already. **For that He was made a creature by whom the whole creation was made** , must needs find a witness in the whole creation. For except one were preached by the sending of many [witnesses] one would not be bound to, the sending away of many. And unless there were such testimonies as should seem to be great to those who are lowly, it would not be believed, that He being great should make men great, who as lowly was sent to the lowly. For the heaven and the earth and all things in them are incomparably greater works of the Son of God, **since all things were made by Him** , than the signs and the portents which broke forth in testimony of Him. But yet men, in order that, being lowly, they might believe these great things to have been wrought by Him, trembled at those lowly things, as if they had been great.\n\n26. _When, therefore, the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, made of a_ woman_, made under the Law;_ to such a degree lowly, that He was _made;_ in this way therefore sent, in that He was made. If, therefore, the greater sends the less, **we too, acknowledge Him to have been made less; and in so far less, in so far as made; and in so far made, in so far as sent**. For _He sent forth His Son made of a_ woman_._ And yet, because **all things were made by Him** , not only before He was made and sent, **but before all things were at all, we confess the same to be equal to the sender** , whom we call less, as having been sent. **In what way, then, could He be seen by the fathers, when certain angelical visions were shown to them, before that fullness of time at which it was fitting He should be sent** , and so before He was sent, at a time when not yet sent **He was seen as He is equal with the Father**? For how does He say to Philip, by whom He was certainly seen as by all the rest, and even by those by whom He was crucified in the flesh, _Have I been so long time with you, and yet have you not_ known_me, Philip? He that has seen me, has seen the Father also_ ; unless because He was both seen and yet not seen? He was seen, as He had been made in being sent; **He was not seen, as by Him all things were made**. Or how does He say this too, _He that has my commandments and keeps them, he it is that loves me; and he that loves me shall be loved of my Father, and I will_ love_him, and will manifest myself to him_ , at a time when He was manifest before the eyes of men; unless because He was offering that flesh, which the Word was made in the fullness of time, to be accepted by our faith; **but was keeping back the Word itself, by whom all things were made, to be contemplated in** eternity**by the mind when cleansed by** faith**?**\n\nChapter 20.— The Sender and the Sent Equal. Why the Son is Said to Be Sent by the Father. Of the Mission of the Holy Spirit. How and by Whom He Was Sent. **The Father the Beginning of the Whole Godhead**.\n\n27. But if the Son is said to be sent by the Father on this account, that the one is the Father, and the other the Son, **this does not in any manner hinder us from believing the Son to be equal, and consubstantial, and co-eternal with the** Father, and yet to have been sent as Son by the Father. Not because the one is greater, the other less; **but because the one is Father, the other Son;__the one begetter, the other begotten__ ; the one, He from whom He is who is sent; the other, He who is from Him who sends. __For the Son is from the__** Father_**_, not the Father from the Son_**_. And according to this manner we can now understand that the Son is not only said to have been sent because _the_ Word_was_ made flesh_,_ **but therefore sent that the Word might be made flesh** , and that He might perform through His bodily presence those things which were written; that is, that not only is He understood to have been sent as man, which the Word was made **but the Word, too, was sent that it might be made man** ; because He was not sent in respect to any inequality of power, or substance, or anything that in Him was not equal to the Father; **but in respect to this,__that the Son is from the__** Father**__, not the Father from the So__ n; for the Son is the Word of the **Father**, which is also called His wisdom**. What wonder, therefore, if He is sent, not because He is unequal with the Father, **__but because He is a pure emanation (manatio) issuing from the__** glory**__of the__** Almighty God**__?__ For there, that which issues, and that from which it issues, is of one and the same substance. For it does not issue as water issues from an aperture of earth or of stone, but as light issues from light. _For the words,_For she is the brightness of the everlasting light_ , what else are they than, she is light of everlasting light? For what is the brightness of light, except light itself? And so co-eternal, with the light, from which the light is_**. But it is preferable to say, _the brightness of light,_ rather than the light of light; lest that which issues should be thought to be darker than that from which it issues. For when one hears of the brightness of light as being light itself, **it is more easy to** believe**that the former shines by means of the latter, than that the latter shines less**. But because there was no need of warning men **not to think that light to be less, which begot the other** (for no heretic ever dared say this, neither is it to be believed that any one will dare to do so), **Scripture meets that other thought, whereby that light which issues might seem darker than that from which it issues; and it has removed this surmise by saying,_It is the brightness of that light_ , namely, _of_** eternal**_light, and so shows it to be equal. For if it were less, then it would be its darkness, not its brightness; but if it were greater, then it could not issue from it, for it could not surpass that from which it is educed. Therefore, because it issues from it, it is not greater than it is; and because it is not its darkness, but its brightness, it is not less than it is: therefore it is equal_**. Nor ought this to trouble us, that it is called a pure emanation issuing from the glory of the Almighty God, as if itself were not omnipotent, but an emanation from the Omnipotent; for soon after it is said of it, _And being but one, she can do all things_. ** _But who is_** omnipotent**_, unless He who can do all things?_** It is sent, therefore, **_by Him from whom it issues_** ; for so she is sought after by him who loved and desired her. _Send her_ , he says, _out of Your_ holy_heavens, and from the throne of Your_ glory_, that, being present, she may labor with me_ ; that is, may teach me to labor [heartily] in order that I may not labor [irksomely]. For her labors are virtues. But she is sent in one way that she may be with man; **she has been sent in another way that she herself may be man**. For, _entering into_ holy__ souls_, she makes them friends of_ God_and_ prophets_;_ so she also fills the holy angels, and works all things fitting for such ministries by them. **But when the fullness of time had come, she was sent, not to fill** angels**, nor to be an** angel**,_except in so far as she announced the counsel of the_** Father**, which was her own also; nor, again, to be with men or in men,_for this too took place before, both in the fathers and in the_** prophets**; but that the Word itself should be made flesh, that is, should be made man**. In which future mystery, when revealed, was to be the salvation of those wise and holy men also, who, before He was born of the Virgin, were born of women; and in which, when done and made known, is the salvation of all who believe, and hope, and love. For this is _the great_ mystery_of godliness, which was manifest in the flesh, justified in the_ Spirit_, seen of_ angels_, preached unto the_ Gentiles_,_ believed_on in the world, received up into_ glory.\n\n28. Therefore the Word of God is sent by Him, **of whom He is the Word; He is sent by Him,_from whom He was begotten (_genitum_); He sends who begot, That is sent which is begotten_**. And He is then sent to each one, when He is apprehended and perceived by each, in so far as He can be apprehended and perceived, in proportion to the comprehension of the rational soul, either advancing towards God, or already perfect in God. The Son, therefore, is not properly said to have been sent in that He is begotten of the Father; but either in that the Word made flesh appeared to the world, whence He says, _I came forth from the_ Father_, and have come into the world_ ; or in that from time to time, He is perceived by the mind of each, according to the saying, _Send her, that, being present with me, she may labor with me_. ** _What then is born (_natum_) from _**eternity**_is_** eternal**_,_for it is the brightness of the everlasting light__** ; but what is sent from time to time, is that which is apprehended by each. But when the Son of God was made manifest in the flesh, He was sent into this world in the fullness of time, made of a woman. _For after that, in the wisdom of_ God_, the world by wisdom_ knew_not God_ (since _the light shines in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not_), it _pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that_ believe_,_ and that the Word should be made flesh, and dwell among us. But when from time to time He comes forth and is perceived by the mind of each, He is said indeed to be sent, but not into this world; for He does not appear sensibly, that is, He does not present Himself to the corporeal senses. For we ourselves, too, are not in this world, in respect to our grasping with the mind as far as we can that which is eternal; and the spirits of all the righteous are not in this world, even of those who are still living in the flesh, in so far as they have discernment in things divine. **_But the Father is not said to be sent_** , when from time to time He is apprehended by any one, _**_for He has no one of whom to be, or from whom to proceed_**_ ; since Wisdom says, _I came out of the mouth of the Most High_ , and it is said of the Holy Spirit, _He proceeds from the_ Father, ** _but the Father is from no one_**.\n\n29. **_As, therefore, the Father begot, the Son is begotten; so the Father sent, the Son was sent_. But in like manner as He who begot and He who was begotten, so both He who sent and He who was sent, are one, since the Father and the **Son**are one. So also the** Holy Spirit**is one with them, since these three are one. For as to be born, in respect to the** Son**, means to be from the Father; so to be sent,_in respect to the_** Son**_, means to be_** known**_to be from the Father_. _And as to be the gift of_** God**_in respect to the_** Holy Spirit**_, means to proceed from the Father; so to be sent, is to be_** known**_to proceed from the Father._Neither can we say that the__** Holy Spirit**__does not also proceed from the__** Son**__, for the same Spirit is not without reason said to be the Spirit both of the Father and of the Son. Nor do I see what else He intended to signify, when He breathed on the face of the__** disciples**__, and said, Receive the__** Holy Ghost**__. For that bodily breathing, proceeding from the body with the feeling of bodily touching, was not the substance of the__** Holy Spirit**__, but a declaration by a fitting sign, that the__** Holy Spirit**__proceeds not only from the__** Father**__, but also from the Son__**. For the veriest of madmen would not say, that it was one Spirit which He gave when He breathed on them, and another which He sent after His ascension. **For the** Spirit of God**is one, the Spirit of the Father and of the** Son**, the** Holy Spirit**, who works all in all**. But that He was given twice was certainly a significant economy, which we will discuss in its place, as far as the Lord may grant. That then which the Lord says — _Whom I will send unto you from the_ Father, — **_shows the Spirit to be both of the Father and of the Son_** ; because, also, when He had said, _Whom the Father will send_ , He added also, _in my name_. Yet He did not say, _Whom the Father will send from me_ , as He said, _Whom I will send unto you from the_ Father,— **_showing, namely,_that the Father is the beginning (principium) of the whole divinity_ , or if it is better so expressed, deity. He, therefore, who proceeds from the Father and from the _**Son**_, is referred back to Him from whom the Son was born (_natus_)_**. And that which the evangelist says, _For the_ Holy Ghost_was not yet given, because that_ Jesus_was not yet_ glorified; how is this to be understood, unless because the special giving or sending of the Holy Spirit after the glorification of Christ was to be such as it had never been before? For it was not previously none at all, but it had not been such as this. **For if the** Holy Spirit**was not given before, wherewith were the** prophets**who spoke filled?** Whereas the Scripture plainly says, and shows in many places, **that they spoke by the** Holy Spirit. Whereas, also, it is said of John the Baptist, _And he shall be filled with the_ Holy Ghost_, even from his mother's womb_. And his father Zacharias is found to have been filled with the Holy Ghost, so as to say such things of him. **And Mary, too, was filled with the** Holy Ghost**, so as to foretell such things of the Lord, whom she was bearing in her womb**. And Simeon and Anna were filled with the Holy Spirit, so as to acknowledge the greatness of the little child Christ. How, then, was _the Spirit not yet given, since Jesus was not yet_ glorified_,_ unless because that giving, or granting, or mission of the Holy Spirit was to have a certain speciality of its own in its very advent, such as never was before? For we read nowhere that men spoke in tongues which they did not know, through the Holy Spirit coming upon them; as happened then, when it was needful that His coming should be made plain by visible signs, in order to show that the whole world, and all nations constituted with different tongues, should believe in Christ through the gift of the Holy Spirit, to fulfill that which is sung in the Psalm, _There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard; their sound is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world_.\n\n30. **Therefore man was united, and in some sense commingled, with the** Word of God**, so as to be One Person** , when the fullness of time had come, and the Son of God, made of a woman, was sent into this world, **that He might be also the** Son of man**for the sake of the sons of men**. And this person angelic nature could prefigure beforehand, so as to pre-announce, but could not appropriate, so as to be that person itself.\n\nChapter 21.— Of the Sensible Showing of the Holy Spirit, and of the Coeternity of the Trinity. What Has Been Said, and What Remains to Be Said.\n\nBut with respect to the sensible showing of the Holy Spirit, whether by the shape of a dove, or by fiery tongues, when the subjected and subservient creature by temporal motions and forms **manifested His substance co-eternal with the Father and the** Son**, and alike with them unchangeable, while it was not united so as to be one person with Him, as the flesh was which the Word was made** ; I do not dare to say that nothing of the kind was done aforetime. **_But I would boldly say, that the_** Father**_, Son, and_** Holy Spirit**_, of one and the same substance, God the Creator, the Omnipotent Trinity, work indivisibly_** ; but that this cannot be indivisibly manifested by the creature, which is far inferior, and least of all by the bodily creature**: just as the** Father**, Son, and** Holy Spirit**cannot be named by our words** , which certainly are bodily sounds, except in their own proper intervals of time, divided by a distinct separation, which intervals the proper syllables of each word occupy. **Since in their proper substance wherein they are, the three are one, the** Father**, and the** Son**, and the** Holy Spirit, the very same, by no temporal motion, above the whole creature, without any interval of time and place, **and at once one and the same from** eternity**to** eternity**, as it were** eternity**itself, which is not without** truth**and charity.__But, in my words, the__** Father**__, Son, and__** Holy Spirit**__are separated, and cannot be named at once, and occupy their own proper places separately invisible letters__**. And as, when I name my memory, and intellect, and will, each name refers to each severally, but yet each is uttered by all three; for there is no one of these three names that is not uttered by both my memory and my intellect and my will together [by the soul as a whole]; **so the Trinity together wrought both the voice of the** Father**, and the flesh of the** Son**, and the dove of the** Holy Spirit**, while each of these things is referred severally to each person**. And by this similitude it is in some degree discernible, **that the Trinity, which is inseparable in itself, is manifested separably by the appearance of the visible creature; and that the operation of the Trinity is also inseparable in each severally of those things which are said to pertain properly to the manifesting of either the** Father**, or the** Son**, or the** Holy Spirit.\n\n31. If then I am asked, in what manner either words or sensible forms and appearances were wrought before the incarnation of the Word of God, which should prefigure it as about to come, I reply that God wrought those things by the angels; and this I have also shown sufficiently, as I think, by testimonies of the Holy Scriptures. **And if I am asked how the** incarnation**itself was brought to pass, I reply that the** Word of God**itself was made flesh, that is, was made man, yet not turned and changed into that which was made; but so made, that there should be there not only the** Word of God**and the flesh of** man**, but also the rational** soul**of** man**, and that this whole should both be called God on account of** God**, and man on account of man._And if this is understood with difficulty, the mind must be purged by_** faith**_, by more and more abstaining from_** sins**_, and by doing good works, and by_** praying**_with the groaning of_** holy**_desires; that by profiting through the divine help, it may both understand and_** love. And if I am asked, how, after the incarnation of the Word, either a voice of the Father was produced, or a corporeal appearance by which the Holy Spirit was manifested: **I do not** doubt**indeed that this was done through the creature** ; but whether only corporeal and sensible, or whether by the employment also of the spirit rational or intellectual (for this is the term by which some choose to call what the Greeks name νοερόν), not certainly so as to form one person (**for who could possibly say that whatever creature it was by which the voice of the Father sounded, is in such sense** God**the Father; or whatever creature it was by which the** Holy Spirit**was manifested in the form of a dove, or in fiery tongues, is in such sense the** Holy Spirit**, as the** Son of God**is that man who was made of a** virgin**?**), but only to the ministry of bringing about such intimations as God judged needful; or whether anything else is to be understood: **is difficult to discover, and not expedient rashly to affirm. Yet I see not how those things could have been brought to pass without the rational or intellectual creature**. But it is not yet the proper place to explain, as the Lord may give me strength, why I so think; **for the arguments of** heretics**must first be discussed and refuted,_which they do not produce from the divine books, but from their own reasons_ , and by which, as they think, they forcibly compel us so to understand the testimonies of the **Scriptures**which treat of the** Father**, and the** Son**, and the** Holy Spirit**, as they themselves will**.\n\n32. But now, as I think, it has been sufficiently shown, **that the Son is not therefore less because He is sent by the** Father**, nor the** Holy Spirit**less because both the Father sent Him and the Son**. For these things are perceived to be laid down in the Scriptures, **either on account of the visible creature; or rather on account of commending to our thoughts __the emanation [within the Godhead__]**; but not on account of inequality, or imparity, or unlikeness of substance; **since, even if** God**the Father had willed to appear visibly through the subject creature,** ** _yet it would be most absurd to say that He was sent either by the_** Son**_, whom He begot, or by the_** Holy Spirit**_, who proceeds from Him_**. Let this, therefore, be the limit of the present book. Henceforth in the rest we shall see, the Lord helping, of what sort are those crafty arguments of the heretics, and in what manner they may be confuted.\n\n**Further Reading**\n\nFilioque, Petrine & Roman Primacy\n\nOrigen: Monarchia & the Filioque\n\nSt. Cyril on the Filioque\n\nSt. Gregory of Nyssa on the Filioque\n\nGregory Nazianzen on the Monarchia\n\nEpiphanius of Cyprus on the Filioque",
"title": "Augustine, Filioque & Economic Processions",
"updatedAt": "2026-05-17T16:32:23.712Z"
}