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2. Though we understand the historical circumstances that led to the addition
of the Filioque, the Anglican Churches generally interpret this addition in the
sense of the temporal mission of the Holy Spirit who is sent from the Father,
through the Son and by the Son, to the world.
3. We accept that the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed, based on the Scrip-
2
tures, is intended to imply the eternal procession of the Holy Spirit. There-
fore, the Oriental Orthodox Churches consider the addition of Filioque as an
error since it breaks the order within the Trinity and puts into question the
Father’s role as source, cause, and principle of both the Son and the Spirit. The
Anglican Tradition, however, sees the Filioque clause as ‘an interpolation, irregu-
3
larly put in the text of the Creed and devoid of any canonical authorization’.
This led to the Moscow Agreed Statement 1976 of the Anglican–Orthodox Theo-
logical Dialogue and subsequent statements referring to the inappropriateness
of its insertion in the Creed. Following the Moscow Agreed Statement of 1976,
Anglicans agree that ‘The Filioque clause should not be included in this Creed.’ 4

4. We distinguish between the two levels: Theologia (θεολογία), which refers to
the essence (οὐσία) of God and the intra-trinitarian relationships, and Econo-
mia (οικονομία), which refers to the activities (ἐνέργεια) of God and his rela-
tion to the world. Consequently, we distinguish the eternal procession of the
Holy Spirit from the Father alone, and the sending of the Holy Spirit on the
day of Pentecost, from the Father, through the Son.

2 John 15.26.
3 H. M. Waddams (ed.), Anglo-Russian Theological Conference, Moscow, July 1956 (London: Faith Press,
1958), 93. Lambeth Conference 1978 Resolution 35.3 ‘requests that all member Churches of the
Anglican Communion should consider omitting the Filioque from the Nicene Creed, and that the
Anglican-Orthodox Joint Doctrinal Commission through the Anglican Consultative Council
should assist them in presenting the theological issues to their appropriate synodical bodies and
should be responsible for any necessary consultation with other Churches of the Western
tradition’.
4 Anglican–Orthodox Dialogue: The Moscow Agreed Statement (London: SPCK, 1977), 87–8.

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