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The ecclesiology of Vatican II gives the impression that pneumatology is applied after the structure of the Church has been established through Christology. Compare chapter III above.

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The connection between what we here call the "historical" approach and this type of pneumatology can be illustrated by the problem of the "Filioque". Interestingly, East and West recognize the dependence of the Holy Spirit on the Son at the level of historical mission. Differences arise only when the metahistorical or iconological approach to the divine mystery becomes predominant. This problem can be traced back to the fourth century: St. Basil in his work "On the Holy Spirit" replaces the formula of the Alexandrian theologians "from the Father through the Son to the Spirit" by the formula "Father with the Son and with the Spirit" precisely because his argument is taken from the sphere of worship and not from historical revelation. It is worth looking at the problem of the Filioque from the point of view of the fate of the iconological approach to God – and to reality in general – in Western thought.

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Acts 2:17.

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For a more detailed discussion of this, see my "Pneumatological Aspect of the Church" in the International Catholic Journal, 2, 1973, pp. 133-147.

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