136. The Name and Procession of the Holy Spirit

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

The Problem of Naming the Holy Spirit #

• The name “Holy Spirit” appears not to be private to the third person since the Father and Son are also spirits and holy
• Yet the Church tradition consistently calls the third person “the Holy Spirit”
• This reveals a fundamental problem: how can a common name signify a particular divine person?

The Doctrine of Accommodated Names #

• Because the Holy Spirit proceeds by way of love (not understanding), this procession lacks its own natural name
• Just as the relations of this procession are unnamed, so too the person going forward this way has no proper name of its own
• Names are therefore accommodated from common usage to signify what is not inherently named
• Example: “Spirit” is borrowed from bodily breath to signify immaterial realities; “Holy” indicates ordering toward God

Two Reasons for the Name “Holy Spirit” #

From Commonness (ex ipso communicato):

• The Holy Spirit is called by a common name because it is the bond or union between Father and Son
• Just as Augustine says, because the Holy Spirit is common to both Father and Son, it is properly called by names common to all three
• This reflects that the Holy Spirit proceeds from them as their mutual love

From Proper Meaning:

• Spirit/Breath (from bodily analogy): signifies impulse and motion; just as breath moves and impels, so love moves the will of the lover toward the beloved
• Holy: properly signifies things ordered to God; the Holy Spirit, proceeding by way of love through which God is loved, is suitably named the “holy breath”
• This meaning distinguishes the Holy Spirit’s procession from the Son’s: love inclines toward the beloved rather than proceeding as a likeness of the beloved

The Distinction Between Image and Holy Spirit #

The Son as Image:

• Proceeds as the Word (verbum), which is essentially a likeness of what is understood
• The definition of thought is that it be a likeness of the species from which it proceeds
• Therefore the Son is called the image of the Father

The Holy Spirit Not as Image:

• Proceeds by way of love, which does not proceed as a likeness but as an inclination
• When I love someone, my love is not an image of that person but an inclination toward them
• Yet the Holy Spirit is fully like the Father and Son because divine love is identical with divine being
• The distinction lies in the mode of proceeding, not in degree of likeness

The Common Character of “Spirit” #

Insofar as taken in virtue of two meanings:

• Spirit as immateriality: common to the whole Trinity because it signifies the immaterial divine substance
• The bodily spirit (air) is invisible and has little matter; by analogy, all immaterial and invisible substances are called spirits
• This is why the name is common to all three persons

Key Arguments #

The Logical Problem #

1. All names common to the three persons cannot be private to one person
2. “Holy Spirit” appears to be common to all three (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all spirit and holy)
3. Yet Church tradition makes it private to the third person
4. Resolution: The name is not private in strict propriety but is accommodated/appropriated to signify the third person through theological reasoning

The Scriptural Problem #

1. Objection: Scripture uses “spirit of God” or “Spirit of the Lord” to refer to the Father (e.g., “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me”)
2. Scripture uses it to refer to the Son (e.g., “in the Spirit of God I cast out demons”)
3. Scripture says of the Holy Spirit: “I will pour forth my Spirit upon all flesh”
4. Resolution: These are not equivocations but demonstrate that the name is common, which is precisely why it is accommodated to the third person as the bond between Father and Son

The Relational Problem #

1. The names of divine persons are said toward something (ad aliquid) as Boethius says—they are relative
2. “Father” and “Son” are clearly relational
3. But “Holy Spirit” is not said toward something in the same way
4. Yet it must still signify a divine person
5. Resolution: The name “Spirit” (meaning breath/impulse) implies a relational character when properly understood—it is the breath/impulse of Father and Son

Important Definitions #

Accommodation (accommodatio) #

• The application of a common name or word to a particular reality for theological purposes
• Justified when the common meaning, properly understood, reveals something fitting about the reality signified
• Example: “Spirit” is accommodated to the Holy Spirit because breath signifies impulse/motion, which reflects how love moves the will

Procession (processio) #

• The emanation of one thing from another as a principle
• In God, procession is eternal and immaterial
• The Holy Spirit’s procession differs from the Son’s: the Son proceeds as Word (understanding), the Holy Spirit proceeds as Love (inclination)

Spiratio (aspiration/breathing) #

• The notional act by which Father and Son produce the Holy Spirit
• Named from bodily breathing by accommodation
• Related to the name “Holy Spirit” but distinct—the notional act is not the same as the relation or the person

Image (imago) #

• A likeness proceeding from another according to the species
• Requires: (1) likeness in form, (2) origin from another, (3) expression of what is imaged
• Proper to the Son because the Son proceeds as the Word, which is essentially a likeness
• Not proper to the Holy Spirit because love does not proceed as a likeness

Examples & Illustrations #

The Thought Example #

• A perfect thought of a square: “an equilateral, right-angled quadrilateral”
• This thought proceeds from the mind as a likeness of the square
• The thought is the square in this sense—we can predicate “square” of the thought
• Application: The Son proceeds as the Word, a perfect likeness of the Father

The Love and Wine Example #

• When I see a beautiful girl, an image of her proceeds from her as a likeness of her
• But if I love this girl, does my love proceed as an image/likeness of her? No.
• My love proceeds as an inclination toward her, not as her likeness
• Similarly: understanding wine produces an image/likeness of wine; but loving wine produces an inclination toward wine, not a likeness
• Application: The Holy Spirit proceeds as divine love, not as divine likeness

The Eye and Painting Example #

• Shakespeare: “My eye has played the painter”
• The painter makes a likeness of what is painted
• Application: This illustrates how the Son, proceeding as the Word, is properly called image—just as a painter’s work is a likeness

The Breath and Wind Example #

• Bodily spirit (air/breath) is invisible and has little matter
• We call all immaterial and invisible substances “spirits” by analogy
• Wind and breath both signify impulse and motion
• Application: “Spirit” in “Holy Spirit” is accommodated from this bodily meaning; it signifies both immateriality and the moving/impelling character of love

The Custom Example #

• Shakespeare: “Use can almost change the stamp of nature, but not quite”
• Custom and use establish meanings that are not naturally inherent in words
• Example: A parent giving a toy truck instead of a doll to a girl may create new habits, yet nature itself is not fully changed
• Application: “Holy Spirit” is established by ecclesiastical custom/use, not by natural meaning, but this is appropriate and fitting

Questions Addressed #

Is “Holy Spirit” a Private Name of a Divine Person? #

Objections:

• It is common to all three persons (all are spirit, all are holy)
• It is not a relative name like “Father” and “Son”
• Scripture applies “spirit of God” to the Father and Son as well
• Therefore it should not be private to one person

Resolution:

• The name is not private in strict propriety but is accommodated to the third person
• This accommodation is justified by two reasons: (1) the Holy Spirit is the bond/union of Father and Son, so a common name fits; (2) the proper meaning of “spirit” (breath/impulse) and “holy” (ordered to God) fittingly characterizes the Holy Spirit’s procession as love
• The name’s commonness does not prevent its appropriation to signify one person, just as man can be called “image of the whole Trinity” and not three images

Why Does the Holy Spirit Not Have Its Own Name? #

• Because the Holy Spirit proceeds by way of love, and love has no proper name in the way understanding/knowledge has the name “Word”
• All relations taken according to this procession are unnamed
• Therefore the name of the person proceeding this way also lacks its own proper name
• Names are accommodated from custom to signify what is not naturally named

How Does the Common Name Still Signify a Particular Person? #

• By appropriation: The name is common but assigned to the third person through theological reasoning
• The assignment reflects something true about that person—the Holy Spirit is the bond between Father and Son, and “spirit” (understood as impulse/breath) fittingly characterizes love’s mode of procession
• This parallels how “Father” and “Son” are private names: they too are accommodated relations from human experience

Notable Quotes #

“The one goes forward thus to the first.” — Thomas Aquinas (noted by Berquist as a characteristic phrase Thomas uses to structure objections)

“For as Augustine says in the 15th book on Trinity, because the Holy Spirit is common to both, therefore he is properly called [by common names].” — Thomas, drawing on Augustine

“It is proper to love to move and impel the will of the one loving towards the love.” — Thomas Aquinas, explaining why “spirit” (which signifies impulse and motion) fittingly names the Holy Spirit

“Use can almost change the stamp of nature, but not quite.” — William Shakespeare, cited by Berquist on how custom establishes meanings

“If no one asks me what time is, I know what it is. If someone asks me what time is, I don’t know.” — Augustine, cited by Berquist on the difficulty of understanding the Trinity

“If you think you’ve understood everything, it means you’ve understood nothing. If you’ve understood something, you’ve realized you’ve understood nothing.” — Berquist, paraphrasing Augustine’s humility regarding Trinitarian understanding