Published : 2020-11-10

The Doctrine of Procession and Reciprocity in a dialogue between S. Bulgakov, W. Pannenberg and G. Greshake

Abstract

In the difficult question of reconciling unity and plurality in God, the doctrine of procession has a fundamental role: by giving birth to the Son and the procession
of the Spirit, it is possible to think of three persons without losing sight of the unity of the being. In the Summa Theologie, in which a systematic lecture on processions reaches its final grasp, the birth of the Son and the procession of the Spirit take a causal role. St Thomas proposes a resultant understanding (a domino effect phenomenon) in which four relationships are derived from two processions, and three of them are subsistent: Father, Son, and Spirit. What is missing in this model is reciprocity. If the relations between the Divine Persons were completely mutual, we could not have only 4 relationships. Bulgakov, Pannenber and Greshake criticize the causal understanding of processions. In the light of their writings, it will be possible to outline a way of reinterpreting the doctrine of the birth of the Son and the origin of the Spirit in order to better understand this reciprocity present in Biblical data. Circling around the three centers of reflection – monarchy, causality and reciprocity – the Author takes the thought of the Orthodox theologian Bulgakov, Protestant Pannenberg and Catholic Greshake to suggest his own proposals on the procession of the Divine Persons and the reciprocity of their relations.



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Studia Bobolanum

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