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Why Roman Catholic Church Added the Filioque

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Why Roman Catholic Church Added the Filioque Why Roman Catholic Church added the Filioque Father George Nicozisin gives this answer in his book The Orthodox Church, A well- Kept Secret, A Journey Through Church History: In the Creed issued by the First and Second Ecumenical Councils, it states: “I believe in the Holy Spirit the Lord, the Giver of Life, who proceeds from the Father who together with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified.” After “who proceeds from the Father,” the Latin phrase “Filio que” (and the Son) was added to the Latin Creed. This practice first started in the 7th century in Toledo, Spain. To combat this alteration of the Creed and to admonish those using the “Filioque,” Pope Leo II in 794 ordered the Creed to be written on two silver plaques in Greek and Latin in its original form, and placed them in the Church of St. Peter in Rome. In spite of this, the “Filioque” clause began to spread throughout the Western Christian Church. It was first detected in 806 when Greek monks heard Latin monks using it in the Divine Liturgy in Jerusalem. [This change] helped build and reinforce Papal Supremacy. The Petrine Promise [the promise to Peter] The Roman Catholic Church believes that Papal Supremacy is documented in the Bible. In Matthew 16:13-19, Christ asks: “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” [Commentary from the Orthodox Study Bible page 1299-1300: Peter/rock is a play on the word for “rock” in both Aramaic and Greek. This rock refers not to Peter per se, but to “the faith of his confession” (St John Chrysostom.) The true Rock is Christ Himself (1st Corinthians 10:4) and the Church is built on the faithful confession of Christ. The term church is mentioned only twice in all the gospels, here and in 18:17. This Church is the true Israel and the Body of Christ; her citizenship is heavenly. Keys of the kingdom refers to a special authority that will be given to both Peter and the other apostles after the Resurrection (see 18:18 and John 20:23). Peter was not a leader over the others, but among them. This truth was confirmed at the Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15) where the apostles and presbyters met as equals, and where Peter advised, but James presided. Binding and loosing is a reference primarily to the authority “to absolve sins” (St John Chrysostom; see John 20:23) but also includes all the teaching, sacramental, and administrative authority of the apostles. This authority was in turn transmitted to the bishops of the Church and continues in effect to this day.] The Popes of Rome considered this passage as Jesus’ personal call to Peter to succeed Him and be His representative on earth. The Orthodox Church does not take the same view…We believe that when Peter spoke, he represented all the disciples. And when Jesus answered him, he spoke not only to all the disciples, but to all the successive bishops of the Church throughout the centuries. The Petrine Promise with the Filioque Clause The Filioque clause is fully understood with the Petrine Promise. The First and Second Ecumenical Councils used certain words and phrases to describe how [people] could understand the doctrine of the Holy Trinity. One of the doctrinal statements was that the Holy Spirit is the “Giver of Life,” which works through the sacraments and the grace of the Church. After Jesus’ resurrection, He promised the disciples He would ask God the Father to send the Holy Spirit at the appointed time (Pentecost). The Filioque clause with the Petrine Promise would imply that if Jesus can send the Holy Spirit – and Jesus ostensibly asks Peter to be His Vicar, His successor and representative on earth – then Peter, too, can send the Holy Spirit. And if Peter is the First Bishop of Rome then, he too has both the power and the authority to send the Holy Spirit. If follows then, that each consecutive Bishop of Rome is also Christ’s Vicar and Representative on earth. Therefore the Pope of Rome has sole and sovereign authority and is above reproach in all matter. This false teaching solidified Papal authority to an unbelievable degree. The Photian Schism In the ninth century…ecclesiastical authority fell upon two eminently powerful churchmen: • Patriarch Photius of Constantinople • Pope Nicholas I of Rome It was a traditional practice for the five Patriarchal Bishops of Jerusalem, Antioch, Alexandria, Rome and Constantinople to exchange announcement greetings upon their election and enthronement. When Photius ascended the throne of Constantinople in 861, Nicholas refused to recognize him claiming that he had not been consulted…. Pope Nicholas refused to accept this decision even after sending his own representatives to investigate. Nicholas called a council in Rome in 863 and stripped Photius of his title and reinstated the previous Ignatius. Nicholas asserted Papal prerogatives and declared that through Him Christ Himself was speaking. This was the first official and public declaration of Papal Supremacy in Constantinople. Patriarch Photius ignored the intervention. Pages 58-61 Saint Photius: The Miracle and the Primacy of Truth By Pemptousia Partnership in Pemptousia Partnership Feb 06, 2017 Comment(s) Tags: Lives Of Saints, St. Photios The Great ⋅ ⋅ • Stylianos G. Papadopoulos The Miracle of Truth Saint Photius was the chosen vessel of God in his times. He was, in other words, the outstanding, genuine bearer of Tradition and for that reason was the most famous and therefore the most significant theologian of the period. His outlook and his theology were an expression of the being of the Church and the result of enlightenment by the Holy Spirit. This fact, which is not so common as we would like in the Church, has warmed the hearts of the faithful to Photius over all the centuries since, and has made him a symbol and beacon of the truth. It is proper, therefore that the Church has decided to celebrate his memory (6th February) in a special way, with particular emphasis. In this way, we have the opportunity to realize the dimensions of, the profound meaning of, the feast. Today we honor a holy man of the Church; we honor the saint, who differs from the great cloud of saints, witnesses and the blessed. The latter were sanctified through martyrdom, which the faithful of the time wondered at, through their exceptionally virtuous lives and through their ascetic struggle and visions of God. All of these became signs which underscored their sanctity which functioned and continues to function in the spirit of the faithful as model and momentum, as an example and proof of our truth. 1 In the new reality, that is in the Church, the martyrs and saints took the place of heroes and models. And this was because they embodied more than others the ethos of the Church and sacrificed their lives for it. Even more, the saints and martyrs often sealed and continue to seal their superiority to other people by performing miracles. At all times, in all places the Church has known and knows countless miracles, apart from the miracle of miracles, its Divine Eucharist, which is repeated thousands of times all over the earth. The miracles of the saints show how small and how great humankind is. So the miracle, as a blatant abrogation of natural and spiritual reality, was kneaded into the life of the Church and is stunning proof of the sanctity of its saints, which, for centuries now, it has honored daily. But behold how tonight and tomorrow we are honoring a saint who does not bring to our minds the Roman persecutions and martyrdom. We do not honor Saint Photius for his many miracles: we do not know if he healed the lame and the blind; if he consoled people in pain; if he appeared to the faithful after his demise to advise, support, or encourage them. And though this is all true, Photius is admirable and great. So the miracle is to be found elsewhere. It is in the truth he expressed in his theology, in his struggles for the Church. He does not have wonder-working icons, but he has wonder-working truth in his works. The faithful are not accustomed to seeking comfort from Saint Photius, but they have become accustomed and must be accustomed to seeking the truth. His miracle is his truth. This is his uniqueness, his greatness. The miracle of manifesting the truth is a mightier miracle than other ones and in particular it is difficult to contemplate, to understand. Those who are unprepared do not recognize it for what it is. Those who have not learned to care as much for the truth as they do for their bodies do not understand. And yet, the manifestation of the truth to people is God’s greatest intervention. With His uncreated energies, the Holy Spirit breaks through the barrier of human relativity, parts the veil of secularity and makes people capable of contemplating, of experiencing the truth more deeply and broadly and then of expressing this terrible and divine experience.
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