Eternal Generation And Eternal Procession In Classical Trinitarianism

In this article I will defend an important aspect of classical trinitarianism.

Classical Trinitarianism is the view of the trinity that was held by the council of Nicaea. Classical Trinitarians believe that the Son is eternally begotten from the Father. Eternal Generation or procession do not make the Son and the Holy Spirit less God, in fact they are fully God. This is what eternal generation means:

“The eternal generation of the Son is commonly defined to be an eternal personal act of the Father, wherein by necessity of nature, not by choice of will, he generates the person (not the essence) of the Son, by communicating to him the whole indivisible substance of the Godhead, without division, alienation, or change, so that the Son is the express image of His Father’s person, and eternally continues, not from the Father, but in the Father, and the Father in the Son.”

While generation is through intellect, procession is through the will. 

Does The Bible Teach That Procession And Generation Exist?

John 3:16: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son

John 5:26, “For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself.”

John 6:57, As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.

Hebrews 1:3:  He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

Colossians 1:15: He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

John 15:26: But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father

2 Corinthians 4:4: so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

Does The Spirit Proceed From The Father Only?

The Spirit does not proceed from the Father only, there are biblical texts which seem to imply that the Spirit also proceeds from the Son.

Rom. 8:9, “However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.”

Galatians 4:6, “Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”

Philippians 1:19, “for I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayers and the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.”

1 Peter 1:11, “seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow.”

Revelation 21:1 seems to be a representation of the trinity. Revelation 22:1 talks about a river of the water of life "flowing from the throne of God and the Lamb", now this text describes a literal river, yet the river is meant to represent the Holy Spirit (as water is commonly used to symbolise the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5)), Who "flows" from the Father and the Son.

How Do We Know That The Son is Eternally Generated by Means of Intellect And The Holy Spirit By Means of The Will?

The scriptures identify Christ as "logos" which means "word" or "thought" in Greek thinking, Christ is also called the "image of the invisible God" and the "wisdom of God". This communication of essence to the Son is an act of intellect. Christ the wisdom, knowledge, truth and image of God. As a result of God knowing Himself and thinking of Himself - that thought lacking nothing - He produces an image of Himself which is perfectly like Him in every respect except Fatherhood (Col. 1:15, 19). Christ cannot be the Father for the reason being that He does not beget or generate anyone.

The Holy Spirit on the other hand is identified with love in the scriptures, when He left Saul, the scriptures said in 2 Samuel 7:15: "but my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you."

Compare this to 1 Samuel 16:14:

Now the Spirit of the LORD had departed from Saul

The are also New Testament references, the bible always speaks of the love of God being poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit:

Romans 5:5

<5> and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

Romans 15:30

<30> I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf,

The Holy Spirit is also symbolised with the dove (Luke 3:22), which is a symbol of love in a Jewish context (Song of Solomon 5:2).

If we apply the same logic as previously to the Son, we can explain this special connection to love, as the Holy Ghost being the love of the Father and Son, the Holy Spirit eternally proceeds from the Father and the Son by their mutual love.