what is the doctrine of the holy trinity

If the doctrine of the Trinity is not true, it would seem to be blasphemy to speak so freely of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in one and the same breath. On it everything else depends and from it everything else derives. Jesus was created by God and, as the firstborn of all creatures, he is unique. The doctrine of the Trinity, simply stated, is as follows: The Bible teaches that there is one eternal God who is the Creator and Sustainer of the universe. But it also raises many difficult questions. While this again portrays the idea of how one substance can also be three and is useful for that purpose, it is also expressing Modalism (one God with three modes of acting in the world), so it falls short in depicting God. This analogy can be used to show how one can also be three. For example, Colossians 2:9 says of Christ, “in him all the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form.” We should not think of God as a “pie” cut into three pieces, each piece representing a Person. Since God is one in a different way than he is three, the Trinity is not a contradiction. But he avoids contradiction with this statement because he means that in one sense it was the best of times, but in another sense it was the worst of times. As an example, God the Father is often referred to as the Creator, God the Son is called Wisdom, and the Holy Spirit is called Love. We hold there is one true God who alone we worship. While Jesus and the Father are both God, they are different Persons. The doctrine of the Trinity is foundational to the Christian faith. The late theologian Herman Bavinck has stated something very helpful at this point: “The persons are modes of existence within the being; accordingly, the Persons differ among themselves as the one mode of existence differs from the other, and — using a common illustration — as the open palm differs from a closed fist” (Bavinck, The Doctrine of God [Banner of Truth Trust, 1991], page 303). These truths should inspire us to never stop studying and growing in our understanding of all God has revealed. The word “trinity” is a term used to denote the Christian doctrine that God exists as a unity of three distinct persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I have also seen the analogy of musical chords. They are different Persons, not three different ways of looking at God. However, this analogy falls far short when used as a description of the Trinity. In the Catechism of the Catholic Church we are taught that the central mystery of the faith, the fundamental and essential teaching of Christianity, is the doctrine of the Trinity (234). is a practical doctrine. But the doctrine of the Trinity is a statement about God’s interior life, requiring statements relation-wise, internal to the divine being, describing the Father and the Son and the Spirit as they stand toward each other. I mentioned the analogy of a woman who had three different roles earlier: she is a wife, mother and teacher. These analogies may be helpful to make certain comparisons but, if we use them, it is important to recognize these all fall far short of being accurate explanations for God. This is the revelation that our Almighty Creator is one God in three Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This is beyond our full comprehension, but we should not let this be an obstacle to meditating on this mystery. In regards to the Trinity, we use the term “Person” differently than we generally use it in everyday life. "With GOD, ALL things are possible." This is a mystery inaccessible to our finite human reason alone, but God has lovingly unveiled this truth about his inner life to us. The fact that the Holy Spirit is a Person, not an impersonal force (like gravity), is also shown by the fact that he speaks (Hebrews 3:7), reasons (Acts 15:28), thinks and understands (1 Corinthians 2:10–11), wills (1 Corinthians 12:11), feels (Ephesians 4:30), and gives personal fellowship (2 Corinthians 13:14). How is God three? On the other hand, we must say that the Persons are real, that they are not just different ways of looking at the one being of God . Having seen that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are distinct Persons, that they are each fully God, and that there is nonetheless only one God, we must conclude that all three Persons are the same God. The Trinity Examined In this section of the message I want to examine some of the common questions about the Trinity. Here are a few heresies whose beliefs were rejected in the early Church: Gnosticism (existed during the first few centuries of Christianity): This was a religious movement whose beliefs varied widely among the different sects but there were some common errors. . Much con- come the sine qa non. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are each fully God. This is beyond our full comprehension, but we should not let this be an obstacle to meditating on this mystery. God’s essence is his being. I mentioned the analogy of a woman who had three different roles earlier: she is a wife, mother and teacher. Person. This can be seen in a number of ways. We baptize into the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. And with our human nature, we have an intellect but our human mind is finite (limited) so, unlike God, we cannot know all things. Theologian R.C. The doctrine or concept of the Trinity is central to most Christian denominations and … 13:14, Heb. It is very challenging and often overwhelming to try to contemplate what has been revealed about God. We exist to worship God. Each of the divine persons fully possesses the divine nature and these attributes. The Bible instructs believers to examine themselves, but does it tell us to what extent or how often we should question our salvation? And water can have different forms: solid, liquid or gas. They are equal in power, love, mercy, justice, holiness, knowledge, and all other qualities. Although early Christian theologians speculated in many wayson the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, no one clearly and fully assertedthe doctrine of the Trinity as explained at the top of the main entryuntil around the end of the so-called Arian Controversy. , “Love of God is immeasurably more important than knowledge of God; but if a man loves God knowing a little about Him, he should love God more for knowing more about him: for every new thing known about God is a new reason for loving him” (p. 29). (If you feel this way, you are not alone!) He is one Being in three Persons (centers of consciousness), not merely three roles. But what does this mean? Trinity Doctrine - No Illustration Is Completely Accurate With respect to the Trinity Doctrine, none of the popular illustrations are completely accurate descriptions. Further, we should allow the fact that God is triune to deepen our worship. However, Jesus was not equal to God the Father in this heresy. . He is one in essence. To be even more precise, essence is what you are. ), Arianism (AD 300): According to them, there was one God (the Father) who is eternal. The doctrine of the holy trinity holds that God is one God, but three coeternal consubstantial persons or hypostases. ). These are all qualities of personhood. Each Person is fully God. The doctrine of the Trinity is difficult and beyond our full comprehension, but it is a beautiful and intimate truth about the infinite God. . As the Catholic author Frank Sheed wrote in his book Theology and Sanity, “Love of God is immeasurably more important than knowledge of God; but if a man loves God knowing a little about Him, he should love God more for knowing more about him: for every new thing known about God is a new reason for loving him” (p. 29). Rather, each person of the Trinity has all of the attributes of God, and no one Person has any attributes that are not possessed by the others. Each of the persons is distinct from the other yet identical in essence. How is God one? God has one divine nature and there are three divine persons in the one Godhead: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. This is called the principle of appropriation. Are these just three different ways of looking at God, or simply ways of referring to three different roles that God plays? Sometimes the Spirit is treated more like a “force” than a Person. Somehow God’s being is so much greater than ours that within his one undivided being there can be an unfolding into interpersonal relationships, so that there can be three distinct persons. If we can understand more precisely what is meant by essence and person, how these two terms differ, and how they relate, we will then have a more complete understanding of the Trinity. (See 3.2 belowand section 3.1of thesupplementary document on unitarianism.) How do they relate? The relationship between essence and Person, then, is as follows. This explains how God can be both one and three.” The problem with this is that it reflects a heresy called modalism. As we continue to try to understand more about God, sometimes we use things familiar to us as analogies. In this context, a "nature" is what one is, whereas a "person" is who one is. Christianity holds that there is one God, but three persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are not parts of God, each of them is God. We do not confess three Gods, but one God in three persons, the "consubstantial Trinity". If we use the analogy of a woman who is a wife, a mother and a teacher to help us understand God, this is Modalism: God is one person but he puts on different masks as he accomplishes different tasks in the world. (One-ness Pentecostals such as the United Pentecostal Church today have a similar view. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are distinct Persons. How do we understand this teaching that God is one yet three? Another common analogy used for God is the shamrock: one flower with three leaves. ), (AD 300): According to them, there was one God (the Father) who is eternal. Sproul cites as an example Dickens’s famous line, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” Obviously this is a contradiction if Dickens means that it was the best of times in the same way that it was the worst of times. The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (Latin: Trinitas, lit. Two, each person is fully God. Adoptionism (around AD 200): This group held there was one God who was one divine person. This doctrine is known as the “Trinity.” The doctrine has been a difficult one to understand, and was a topic of great dispute in the Early Church. We do not hold that God the Father existed before God the Son. Unfortunately, there are many illustrations which are not simply imperfect, but in error. Instead, there have always been and always will be three distinct persons in the Godhead. The Bible speaks of the Father as God (Philippians 1:2), Jesus as God (Titus 2:13), and the Holy Spirit as God (Acts 5:3–4). As theologian and apologist Norman Geisler has explained it, while essence is what you are, person is who you are. Unlike dogs, by our nature, we have the ability to reflect on why we experience suffering. The into consideration the doc- doctrine of the Trinity has be- trine of the Trinity. The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God—but there is only one God. . The mystery of the Holy Trinity is the most fundamental of our faith. https://www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com/the-trinity-a-bible-study But when we study what God has revealed about his nature, it should not surprise us that there is much we cannot fathom and there are truths about God beyond our reason and experiences. Most theists are either monotheistic, or polytheistic – that is to say they believe in one God or multiple gods. We see the doctrine of the Holy Trinity is clearly implied in the story of Jesus' baptism, where Father, Son, & Holy Spirit are all manifest before men, physically separate from each other. Other divine attributes include being infinite, being everywhere (omnipresent), being Love itself, being Truth itself and being perfect in goodness, justice and mercy. For one, they held that all matter is evil while spiritual things are good. And we say the same about God the Father and God the Son. The Christian doctrine of the Trinity holds that God is one God, but three coeternal persons the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ), and the Holy Spirit as “one God in three Divine Persons”. The parallelism of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit is not unique to Matthew’s Gospel, but appears elsewhere in the New Testament (e.g., 2 Cor. Christianity - Christianity - The Holy Trinity: The central Christian affirmations about God are condensed and focused in the classic doctrine of the Trinity, which has its ultimate foundation in the special religious experience of the Christians in the first communities. But there are not three persons; there is only one. The doctrine of the Trinity means that there is one God who eternally exists as three distinct Persons — the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. What distinguishes them is their relationship with each other. The Trinity doctrine is actually at the heart of Christian theology. We’re on a mission to change that. (Biblical Unitarians today have a similar view. If each Person of the Trinity is distinct and yet fully God, then should we conclude that there is more than one God? They also believed Jesus Christ was not God. As we understand more and more what the Bible reveals to us about the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, the more practical this doctrine becomes. What does essence mean? At times in Scripture and in Church teaching we may see that certain actions are assigned to one of the Divine Persons. Carrying this concept over to the Trinity, it is not a contradiction for God to be both three and one because he is not three and one in the same way. They believed the human soul is in bondage and the goal of life was for the spirit to escape the material prison of the body. Jesus was created by God and, as the firstborn of all creatures, he is unique. Our fellowship with God should be enhanced by consciously knowing that we are relating to a tri-personal God! The fact that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are distinct Persons means, in other words, that the Father is not the Son, the Son is not the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is not the Father. This is not intended to suggest exclusivity in these actions but rather it is something done for our sake — for catechetical purposes to emphasize that in God there are three persons who are distinct. ), Modalism (also called Sabellianism, around AD 200): They held that there was one God and only one divine person. No, isolated from the flower it is not a shamrock. (253–254). He is the only God that exists. (around AD 200): This group held there was one God who was one divine person. There is only one God. The Father is not one-third of the being of God; he is all of the being of God. ), , around AD 200): They held that there was one God and only one divine person. The dog does not deliberate on the actions it could take but acts on instinct. Is the Trinity a contradiction? Most people in the world have no experience of lasting joy in their lives. The doctrine of the Trinity is encapsulated in Matthew 28:19, where Jesus instructs the apostles: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”. (Biblical Unitarians today have a similar view. The doctrine of the Trinity means that there is one God who eternally exists as three distinct Persons — the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. . But all three Divine Persons can be called “Creator,” “Wisdom” and “Love.” The only action of God that is truly unique is that it is only God the Son who became man. This is the revelation that our Almighty Creator is one God in three Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Thus, they relate to each other personally — the Father regards himself as “I” while he regards the Son and Holy Spirit as “you.” Likewise, the Son regards himself as “I,” but the Father and the Holy Spirit as “you.”. The Trinity is first of all important because God is important. While there are some illustrations which are helpful, we should recognize that no illustration is perfect. And three, there is one God. Nevertheless, it is a central tenet of Christianity, and what separates Christianity from other monotheisms. God is not one person who took three consecutive roles. These personal distinctions are modes of existence within the divine being, but are not divisions of the divine being. The reason why neither the word “trinity” nor the doctrine are in the Bible is that God is not a trinity. If there is one passage which most clearly brings all of this together, it is Matthew 28:19: “Make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” First, notice that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are distinguished as distinct Persons. This is very important: God is one and three at the same time, but not in the same way. While the three members of the Trinity are distinct, this does not mean that any is inferior to the other. And God has revealed that the reason he created us is because he desires a relationship with us now and for all eternity. As an example, God the Father is often referred to as the Creator, God the Son is called Wisdom, and the Holy Spirit is called Love. So again, an imperfect analogy for the Triune God. In my own studies, I have found it beneficial to look at the heresies that have arisen over the centuries related to the mystery of the Trinity because, in knowing what the Church condemns as false, we can avoid the same errors in our own thinking. Nevertheless, for Christians such as us, we make a unique claim – we boldly … Obviously we cannot, for Scripture is clear that there is only one God: “There is no other God besides me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none besides me. N. Nathan P Member. The E note lacks the sound the D note has. They also taught that the God of the Old Testament was evil since he is shown creating matter and there was a different God of the New Testament who is the God of Love. They are all eternal. This analogy ignores the personal distinctions within God and mitigates them to mere roles. This analogy can be used to show how one can also be three. Hence the Churchs constant concern to safeguard the revealed truth that God is One in nature and Three in Persons. As I said earlier, it means the same thing as being. In other words, you have contradicted yourself if you affirm and deny the same statement. The three Persons are distinct, yet only constitute one name. He lacks nothing that the others possess except the relationships with the other persons. This one person manifested himself to the world in three different modes. The divine essence is not something that is divided between the three persons, but is fully in all three persons without being divided into “parts.”. One sect of Gnosticism was a group called the Docetists who held that Jesus Christ only appeared to take on human flesh because the good God would never have been associated with matter. This is a mystery inaccessible to our finite human reason alone, but God has lovingly unveiled this truth about his inner life to us. G. Gary Mac Well-known member. They also taught that the God of the Old Testament was evil since he is shown creating matter and there was a different God of the New Testament who is the God of Love. Because of this, each person is rightly described as being fully God. . If God is three Persons, does this mean that each Person is “one third” of God? This is called the. In the baptism of Jesus, we see the Father speaking from heaven and the Spirit descending from heaven in the form of a dove as Jesus comes out of the water (Mark 1:10–11). But there are not three persons; there is only one. In nature and three in the world have no experience of lasting joy their... 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