A. Edward Siecienski

Rethinking the Filioque with the Greek Fathers

Theology

“For centuries, theologians on both sides of the Filioque debate have used the patristic corpus as a weapon, each firmly believing that the fathers supported their position and each armed with dozens of prooftexts to prove it. In this remarkable book Father Maspero ‘flips the script’ and instead seeks to understand the Fathers’ trinitarian writings in context, especially in light of their battle against the Pneumatomachians. With objectivity, clarity, and great skill, the author guides the reader through the patristic corpus, East and West, demonstrating that there is something akin to a consensus partum on the active but not causal role played by the Son in the Spirit’s procession. In this way, Father Maspero shows a way out of the stale dialectic between procession ‘from the Father alone’ and procession ‘from the Son,’ between essentialism and personalism, and offers real hope that in looking back a new way forward may be found.”