All then that the Son and the Spirit have is from
the Father, even their very being Greg. Naz.,
Orat. 25.: and
unless the Father is, neither the Son nor the Spirit is. And
unless the Father possesses a certain attribute, neither the Son nor
the Spirit possesses it: and through the Father See Athan.,
Contra Arian., Orat. 3; Greg. Naz., Orat. 35. So
Augustine (Contr. Max. iii. 14, De Trin. xv.).
Epiphanius (Anchor.), and Gregory of Nyssa (Epist. ad
Ablab.) teach that the Spirit proceeds, and is not
begotten, because He is both of the Father and the Son, while
the Son is only of the Father., that is, because of the Father’s
existence Reading, διὰ τὸ
εἶναι τὸν
Πατέρα: a variant is,
διὰ τὸ
εἶναι αὐτὸν
Πατέρα, as also in
Cyrilli, De Trinitate., the Son and the
Spirit exist Greg. Naz.,
Orat. 23., and through the
Father, that is, because of the Father having the qualities, the Son
and the Spirit have all their qualities, those of being unbegotten, and
of birth and of procession being excepted Ibid., Orat.,
25.. For in these
hypostatic
or personal properties alone do the three holy
subsistences ὑπόστασεις; hypostases. differ from each
other, being indivisibly divided not by essence but by the
distinguishing mark of their proper and peculiar
subsistence.