On the Articles: Article V

The Fourth Sunday in Lent

GRANT, we beseech thee, Almighty God, that we, who for our evil deeds do worthily deserve to be punished, by the comfort of thy grace may mercifully be relieved; through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

Lent

ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, who hatest nothing that thou hast made, and dost forgive the sins of all them that are penitent: Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we worthily lamenting our sins, and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of thee, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

V. Of the Holy Ghost
The Holy Ghost, proceeding from the Father and the Son, is of one substance, majesty, and glory, with the Father and the Son, very and eternal God.

Given the subject matter of Article IV, Of the Resurrection of Christ, the discussion of that Article will be deferred a few weeks and this week will proceed with Article V.

Article V is perhaps one of the more controversial of the Articles, if only because of its inclusion of the filioque (Latin for and from the Son) clause added by the Roman Catholic Church to the Nicene Creed. Its inclusion here is a historic artefact and reminder of the influence that the Roman Catholic Church had on the development of doctrines within the English Church from the 7th through 15th centuries.

The filioque itself originates in the 6th century in Spain, generally thought to be an attempt to combat Arianism, however it was originally rejected by Rome which said no one held the authority to add to the Catholic Creeds. The Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne adapted it for use throughout the Holy Roman Empire, however, and by the early 11th century it had become accepted by Rome, contributing to the eventual disunity of the Great Schism between East and West in 1054.

As an historic artefact, it is a reminder that our Anglican heritage is thoroughly Western in thought, and influenced primarily by Western thinkers, most of whom are associated today with the Roman Catholic Church, though it should be noted the protoscholastic St Anselm of Canterbury was also an 11th century defender of this doctrine, which can be traced to the teachings of St Augustine of Hippo.

Its inclusion in the filioque does present one minor and interesting point in that one of the arguments against it is that of authority: the filioque has never been received in the East, meaning the West, or more accurately one part of the West, had no authority on its own to altar the Nicene Creed on its own. In this case, however, its inclusion in the subordinate Thirty-nine Articles of religion does not present a problem of authority, leaving it solely to the theological debate over the validity of double-procession.

That debate is in and of itself one which could take several books to work through, and is a more worthy subject for a doctoral dissertation than a brief blog post. Instead, the emphasis in discussing this Article will be on the second interesting historic point about this Article, namely that it did not always exist.

Throughout the history of the Church of England, there were a number of versions of the Articles of Religion published, sometimes with more and sometimes with fewer than 39 articles. This particular article was not included in the 1553 version of the Articles, but was added in the revision of 1563. It is not a part of the Augsburg Confessions either, from which the first three Articles of Religion borrow significantly. Why was it viewed as essential to include?

There is no other Article devoted to the third person of the Trinity, despite there having been articles devoted specifically to the Father and to the Son. By including an article for the Holy Spirit, it matches the more trinitarian format of the Creeds from which the patterns of modification seen in the first three Articles of Religion had their basis.

Beyond that, it is simply recognizing the importance of the Holy Spirit in enabling the Christian life. It is through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit by which we proceed in our faith, and are able  in any way to live the life Christ commanded of us. The Article itself does not provide a complicated statement on the role and work of the Holy Spirit, but a simple statement highlights that simple truth. The Holy Spirit is a person of the Trinity and the means by which we are made alive in God.

This statement is also extremely Catholic, with respect to the acknowledged importance of the work of the Holy Spirit in the Early Church. The Apostolic Age bears witness to the importance of the Holy Spirit, and countless works of the Fathers refer to the role, power and witness of the Holy Spirit in the lives of Christians. It reminds us of the rootedness of the Anglican tradition in the faith of the early Church.

The Articles so far speak very little of something distinctive of Anglicanism, but rather broadly speak to a reiteration of credal, Catholic and Christian beliefs. With modern renewal of charismatic movements among all Christian traditions and denominations, affirmation that the Holy Spirit is an integral and continuing person of the Trinity and the person through whom our Christian lives are lived out becomes all the more relevant to modern Anglicans.