The Mosaic of Christian Belief: Twenty Centuries of Unity & Diversity

by Roger E. Olson

For example, I regard the basic contours of the doctrine of the Trinity—the eternal substantial equality of three distinct persons revealed as Father, Son and Holy Spirit—as part of the Christian consensual tradition, while I do not regard the medieval conclusions drawn about the precise relations of the three persons in the eternal triune life as part of that Great Tradition. The Eastern churches rejected the idea that the Holy Spirit proceeds eternally from the Father and the Son (filioque) while the Western (Catholic and most Protestant) churches adopted that idea as part of the Nicene faith in the Trinity. Neither view is necessary for the Great Tradition and both are judged to be speculative.