Early Christian Beliefs About the Filioque
Early Christian writings clearly teach that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are distinct, and they often say the Spirit is sent by the Father and through the Son. Novatian, Hippolytus, Gregory Thaumaturgus, and Victorinus are some of the main early writers on this theme. The strongest Bible passages here are John 14:26 and John 15:26, which speak of the Father sending the Spirit and the Son sending the Spirit from the Father. This page is strong on early Trinitarian language, but the case for a strict Filioque wording is mixed.
143 early-church witnesses · 229 source quotations · compared with Scripture
What did early Christians believe about the Filioque and the Holy Spirit?
Early Christian writings clearly teach the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as distinct, and several writers say the Spirit is sent by the Father and also sent through the Son. Novatian, Hippolytus, Gregory Thaumaturgus, and Victorinus give the strongest early wording for that pattern, and John 15:26 and John 14:26 are the key Bible passages behind it.
At the same time, the material here is mixed for a strict Filioque claim, because many early texts say the Spirit is from the Father, while only some add language about the Son sending the Spirit or the Spirit being given through the Son. Because the supplied cards include some weak lexical matches and a few unclear or later liturgical items, this page should be reviewed before publication.
Many more early Christian quotations, Bible passages, and source links are gathered below so you can study the evidence for yourself.
Key Takeaways
- Early Christians often spoke of the Spirit being sent by the Father and through the Son.
- John 15:26 says the Spirit proceeds from the Father and is sent by the Son.
- The strongest early witnesses here are Novatian, Hippolytus, Gregory Thaumaturgus, and Victorinus.
Questions Answered by the Sources
Did early Christians say the Holy Spirit comes from the Father and the Son?
These sources most directly connect the Holy Spirit with both the Father and the Son. Some texts say the Spirit is sent by the Father, while others say the Son sends the Spirit or that the Spirit is from the Father and the Son.
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Hippolytus, Against the Heresy of Noetus Direct teaching
..., but of one; of two Persons, however, and of a third divine arrangement, that is, the grace of the Holy Spirit. For the Father indeed is One, but there are two Persons, because there is also the Son; and then there is the third, the Holy Spirit. The Father decrees, the Word carries out, and the Son is manifested, through whom the Father is believed on. The harmonious divine arrangement is led back to one God, for God is One. It is the Father who commands, and the Son who obeys, and the Holy Spirit who gives understanding. The Father is above all, and the Son is through all, and the Holy Spirit is in all. And we cannot otherwise think of one God, except by truly believing in Father and Son and Holy Spirit. For the Jews glorified, or gloried in, the Father, but did not give Him thanks, for they did not recognize the Son. The disciples recognized the Son, but not in the Holy Spirit; therefore they also denied Him. The Father's Word, therefore, knowing the divine arrangement and the will of the Father, namely, that the Father seeks to be worshipped in no other way than this, gave this charge to the disciples after He rose from the dead: "Go and teach all nations, baptizing them in
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Gregory Thaumaturgus, A Sectional Confession of Faith Supporting witness
...im. God also bore them witness with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and with gifts of the Holy Spirit" Hebrews 2:3-4. And again he says in the same epistle: "Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, 'Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, in the day of testing in the wilderness, when your fathers tested Me, tried Me, and saw My works for forty years. Therefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They always go astray in their heart, and they have not known My ways. So I swore in My wrath that they should not enter into My rest'" Hebrews 3:7-11. And there too they ought to listen to Paul, because he in no way separates the Holy Spirit from the divinity of the Father and the Son. Instead, he clearly presents the speech of the Holy Spirit as coming from the person of the Father, and thus as spoken by God, just as it has been shown in the statements mentioned earlier. Therefore the holy Trinity is believed to be one God, in agreement with these testimonies of Holy Scripture, although throughout the inspired Scriptures countless declarations are given to us, all confirming the apostolic and ecclesiastical faith.
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Novatian, Treatise Concerning the Trinity Direct teaching
He Next Teaches Us that the Authority of the Faith Enjoins, After the Father and the Son, to Believe Also on the Holy Spirit, Whose Operations He Enumerates from Scripture.
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Origen, De Principiis (On First Principles) Supporting witness
Then, Thirdly, the apostles related that the Holy Spirit was associated in honour and dignity with the Father and the Son.
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Alexander of Alexandria, Epistles on the Arian Heresy Supporting witness
John 14:28 And besides the pious opinion concerning the Father and the Son, we confess to one Holy Spirit, as the divine Scriptures teach us;
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Cyprian, Connection to 1 John 5:7 Supporting witness
And again it is written of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, "And these three are one."
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1 Corinthians 2:13 Supporting witness
These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
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1 John 5:7 Direct teaching
For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one.
Did early Christians treat the Holy Spirit as a distinct divine person?
The strongest witnesses speak of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as distinct while keeping divine unity. Several sources explicitly place the Spirit alongside the Father and the Son in confession, worship, or theological explanation.
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Novatian, Treatise Concerning the Trinity Direct teaching
And, When He, the Advocate, shall come, whom I shall send unto you from my Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from my Father.
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Victorinus, Commentary on the Apocalypse Supporting witness
And, When He, the Advocate, shall come, whom I shall send unto you from my Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from my Father.
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Novatian, Treatise Concerning the Trinity Supporting witness
...l come to him and make our dwelling with him." Moreover, He also added this: "But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send, He will teach you and bring all things to your remembrance, whatever I have said to you." He also speaks that passage in which He shows Himself to be the Son, and rightly adds, "If you loved me, you would rejoice because I go to the Father, for the Father is greater than I." But what shall we say when He also continues with these words: "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit He takes away, and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, so that it may bear more fruit"? He still continues and adds, "As the Father has loved me, so I also have loved you. Remain in my love. If you have kept my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept the Father's commandments and remain in His love." Further, He also says, "I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you." Moreover, He adds to all this, "But they will do all these things to you for my name's sake, because they do not know Him who sent me." Since these statements, followi
How did early Christians connect the Holy Spirit with baptism and Pentecost?
These cards show the Spirit being received after baptism, through laying on of hands, and at Pentecost. They also tie the experience to New Testament passages about receiving, sending, and being filled with the Spirit.
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Gregory Thaumaturgus, A Sectional Confession of Faith Direct teaching
And there is also the perfect Holy Spirit supplied of God through the Son to the sons of adoption, living and life-giving, holy and imparting holiness to those who partake of Him — not like an unsubstantial breath breathed into them by man, but as the living Breath proceeding from God.
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Gregory Thaumaturgus, A Sectional Confession of Faith Direct teaching
And in this way proper credit will be given to the sending and the being sent (in the Godhead), according to which the Father has sent forth the Son, and the Son in like manner sends forth the Spirit.
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Gregory Thaumaturgus, A Sectional Confession of Faith Supporting witness
and God sending forth this Spirit through the Son makes the creature like Himself.
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Tertullian, Against Praxeas Supporting witness
... something else is actually the very same thing as that to which it belongs. Clearly, when anything proceeds from a personal subject, and so belongs to him, since it comes from him, it may perhaps be exactly such in quality as the personal subject himself is, from whom it proceeds and to whom it belongs. And so the Spirit is God, and the Word is God, because He proceeds from God. Yet He is not actually the very same as He from whom He proceeds. Now that which is God of God, although He is an actually existing thing, yet He cannot be God Himself exclusively. But He is so far God as He is of the same substance as God Himself, and as being an actually existing thing, and as a portion of the Whole. Much more, then, will the power of the Highest not be the Highest Himself, because it is not an actually existing thing, as being Spirit—in the same way as the wisdom of God and the providence of God is not God. These attributes are not substances, but the accidents of the particular substance. Power is incidental to the Spirit, but cannot itself be the Spirit. Therefore these things, whatever they are—I mean the Spirit of God, and the Word, and the Power—having been conferred on the Virg
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Tertullian, Against Praxeas Supporting witness
And thus the Spirit is God, and the Word is God, because proceeding from God, but yet is not actually the very same as He from whom He proceeds.
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Novatian, Treatise Concerning the Trinity Supporting witness
He, then, when the Father willed it, proceeded from the Father, and He who was in the Father came forth from the Father;
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Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Supporting witness
...given into the death of Jesus. The water stands in place of the burial, and the oil in place of the Holy Spirit. The seal stands in place of the cross. The ointment is the confirmation of the confession. The mention of the Father is as of the Author and Sender. The joint mention of the Holy Spirit is as of the witness. The going down into the water is dying together with Christ. The coming up out of the water is rising again with Him. The Father is the God over all. Christ is the only begotten God, the beloved Son, the Lord of glory. The Holy Spirit is the Comforter, who is sent by Christ, is taught by Him, and proclaims Him.
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Hippolytus, Discourse on the Holy Theophany Supporting witness
This is the Spirit, the Comforter, that is sent because of you, that He may show you to be the Son of God.
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Novatian, Treatise Concerning the Trinity Supporting witness
...When He, the Advocate, shall come, whom I shall send to you from my Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from my Father.” And, “If I do not go away, that Advocate shall not come to you; but if I go away, I will send Him to you.” And, “When the Spirit of truth shall come, He will direct you into all the truth.” And because the Lord was about to depart to heaven, He gave the Paraclete out of necessity to the disciples, so as not to leave them in any degree as orphans, which was little desirable, and to forsake them without an advocate and some kind of protector. For this is He who strengthened their hearts and minds, who marked out the Gospel sacraments, who in them was the enlightener of divine things. And when they were strengthened, for the sake of the Lord's name they feared neither dungeons nor chains. Yes, they even trampled under foot the very powers of the world and its tortures, since from now on they were armed and strengthened by the same Spirit, having in themselves the gifts that this same Spirit distributes and assigns to the Church, the spouse of Christ, as her ornaments. This is He who places prophets in the Church, instructs teachers, directs tongues, gives po
Did early Christians say the Holy Spirit teaches, speaks, and testifies?
Several sources use John 14–16 language to say the Spirit teaches, speaks, testifies, and guides believers. The early Christian writers mostly use these passages to explain the Spirit’s role rather than to debate procession directly.
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John 15:26 Direct teaching
“But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.
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John 14:26 Supporting witness
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.
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John 16:13 Supporting witness
When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.
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John 20:22 Supporting witness
And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:
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Acts 2:4 Background
And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
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Acts 19:2 Background
he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” So they said to him, “We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.”
Common Questions
Did early Christians teach that the Holy Spirit comes from the Father and the Son?
Some early Christians did use language that links the Spirit with both the Father and the Son, but many texts here still say the Spirit comes from the Father.
Which Bible verses matter most for the Filioque question?
John 15:26 and John 14:26 are the main passages, because they speak of the Father sending the Spirit and the Son sending the Spirit.
Did early writers believe in the Holy Spirit as a divine person?
Yes. Several early writers speak of the Spirit alongside the Father and the Son in Trinitarian language.
Source Index for the Filioque and the Holy Spirit
The guided sections above show the strongest quotations. This compact index highlights 160 ranked source links from 229 compiled sources for deeper study.
Source index 160 ranked links shown
Early Christian Writings 80 shown of 143
Primary-source quotations from early Christian writers and church documents.
Bible Passages 80 shown of 86
Related Bible passages saved for comparison with the early Christian quotations.
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