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Cleaned up & clarified a summary of terms historical used to discuss God.
The description of the ''filioque'' as a heresy was iterated most clearly and definitively by the great [[Church Fathers|Father]] and [[Pillars of Orthodoxy|Pillar]] of the Church, St. [[Photius the Great]], in his ''On the Mystagogy of the Holy Spirit''. He describes it as a heresy of [[Triadology]], striking at the very heart of what the Church believes about God.
==Preliminary Issues: A Summary of Historical Terms==
It should first be noted that much confusion over this topic historically may be due to philosophical and terminological gaps which had to be filled in order to accurately discuss God--and not misconstrue Him. Over time, within Orthodoxy, an ideological framework seems to have emerged. '''Below, different terms used throughout history''' (as people grappled for appropriate terminology) '''are listed under the concept to which they are related'''.
First, it is perhaps important to '''contextualize these concepts''' with a created-world example.
* When one discusses someone (say, John Doe), one might ask "what" John Doe is. The answer would be a human being (a creature with a mind/[[nous]], a body, and a life).
* If, however one asked "what" John Doe does, that would be a different question. The answer might be running, building, teaching, etc. Note that we may often say John Doe ''is'' a runner, builder, or teacher; but such is simply a method of speaking. These attributes (all acquired through time) have no relation to what John Doe actually ''is'' (i.e. a human being).
* Both of those questions, however, are different from "who" John Doe is. The answer to "who John Doe is," is what makes John Doe different from Jim Doe (or Jane Doe, etc.). This is a specific person who distinctly uses the characteristics he/she shares with others (ex. sharing the same humanity, but also perhaps the same activity, like running).
Those (albeit in a different order below) constitute the three main methods the Orthodox use to discuss God. The confusion/non-recognition of these concepts in Western (i.e. Roman Catholic and Protestant) theology is integral to the different theologies which developed "in the West" and which underly the ''filioque''.
==== Who God Is: ====
Father/Son/Holy Spirit
* person
* hypostasis - (''lit.'' “standing~under”); from the preferred Greek term designating the concept of person
* prosopon (pl. prosopa) - (lit. “face/mask”); an early, but less-preferred, Greek term. It is less-preferred because it lends itself to confusion with [[Sabellianism]].
==== What God Is: ====
refers to characteristics which are eternal and unchangeable (ex. divinity/trinity/immortality/life/love…). This is what "theology" studies.
* nature
* essence
* substance - (from the preferred Latin term)
* homoousion - (''lit.'' same + essence/being); from Greek ''ὁμοούσιος'' (ὁμός + οὐσία + -ῐος); transliterated: "homooúsios" (homó + ousía + ios [where ''-ios'' is an adjectival morpheme])
==== What God Does: ====
refers to characteristics which are temporal (occurring within time) and variable (ex. create/reveal/save…)
* activities
* energies
* attributes
* economy (from Greek οἰκονομία [oikonomia]; ''lit.'' household-activities/management) these are things that God does within time ()
== History ==