Hi Joe —
When reading from John 14, seems the spirit comes from the Father. John 14: from the NASB.
I prefer the Douai-Rheims version, but let me highlight a couple of points:
John 14:16
"And I will ask the Father: and he shall give you
another Paraclete, that he may abide with you for ever"
my emphasis ... the 'other' paraclete assumes Jesus is also a paraclete — something affirmed in 1 John.
'Helper' or 'Comforter' is a very loose translation of the Greek
parakletos — and although the term has definite judicial overtones, the origin is in the verb 'to call to one's side', the contemplation of which, in light of this discussion, can be most fruitful.
John 15:26
"But when the Paraclete cometh,
whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth,
who proceedeth from the Father, he shall give testimony of me."
This is a key text in the understanding of the Trinity, and the relation of the Three Persons — that both Son and Holy Spirit are proceed from the Father.
The three synoptic gospels treat primarily of the life of Jesus. John wrote his gospel some time later, and would have known of the message of the synopics, if he had not actually copies of them — they were the teaching of the Church. This gospel is the fruit of a mature and inspired reflection upon the Incarnate Son, and so the pneumatology is a lot more pronounced. The Discourse at the Last Supper encompasses John's eschatalogical vision.
Only in a Trinitarian doctrine can the contradictions of Jesus' words be reconciled to reason, and not subject to some indeterminate mode of pseudo-spirituality, "I and the Father are one" (10:30) whilst "the Father is greater than I" (14:28) ...
... and again, if sins against the Father are forgiven (witness the Salvation History of the Jews) ... and sins against the Son are forgiven ... then why are sins against the Holy Spirit not forgiven — is the Holy Spirit superior to the Father, or more intransigent ... and how can that which is sent by God be more unforgiving than the God who sent it?
Thomas
Aside:
John 15:26 is one of the sources that the Western Church cited in its clarification of the Creed, by insertion of the filioque clause, a source of great anguish between East and West. The East holds the Spirit proceeds from the Father alone; the West holds that the Spirit proceeds from the Father, and also from the Son. The clause was put in to clarify a local dispute in Gaul, and whilst
theologically it is correct,
politically it was seen as somewhat insensitive towards the East, who saw themselves as the bastion of orthodoxy ... but then it would have required the convocation of another Council to agree the amendment, which seemed a great deal of effort for something which was a local question ... in reality, what might be as plain as day in Greek needs clarification in the Latin, and what in Latin might be as clear as a bell can become quite convoluted when translated into the Greek.
its good
