A Study Of The Trinity

The first four chapters of Genesis indicate that God is the eternal Creator the universe; that God communicates with His creation and evaluates his own work, and that God is sovereign, exercising “supreme authority and absolute power over all things” (Lecture 2, para. 5). There is but one true God, who exists as a Triune Being and is three Persons in one essence; a Divine essence which exists wholly, invisibly, simultaneously and eternally, within three members of the one Godhead—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit (Lecture 2, para. 7). Harmoniously linked, “each divine figure of the Trinity exercises dominion over creation and is involved in the biblical narrative in its own unique, yet cooperative, way” (Johnson, p. 178). The unity of the Trinity not only illustrates the full divinity of God, the immeasurable power, benevolence, wisdom and omnipresence distinctly setting Him apart from His creation, but also shows that He is the source of all that is good, true, beautiful, loving, just, and

John also reveals Christ’s identity, “In the beginning the Word (logos) already existed. He was with God, and he was God…He created everything there is. Nothing exists that he didn’t make. Life itself was in him and this life gives light to everyone.” (John 1:1, 3-4)

I will like to crave your indulgence to the fact that "Nicene concept of Trinity" is never stated in the Bible, and it is that early Christians as well as the scriptures clearly points out the fact that Jesus was fully divine and pre-existent. For the fact that, none of the early Christian theologians fully asserted the doctrine of the Trinity, not even a speculation about the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. According to the father of the paganism description of Trinity "God can in no way be described." (Schindler 148).

Trinity: The Trinity was a key feature of Christianity. The Trinity symbolized the three persons of God, the father, the son, and the Holy

God the Son is revealed in the Christian Scriptures. God the Spirit is revealed in the Church. The Trinitarian doctrine states that there are three co-eternal, equal persons in God, which is the notion of unity within community. The Trinitarian doctrine was further developed and defined at the councils of Nicaea in 325 CE and Constantinople in 381 CE. God was always trinity, however gradually this reality became known through revelation. Jesus calls God and speaks of the spirit which indicates a plurality in God. The difficulty is reconciling the concept of monotheism with the notion of God existing as three persons. The divine essence is common to all three, however the three persons have attributes or properties which distinguished them eg Fatherhood, sonship and sanctifying power. Once essence means that the actions (creation, redemption, sanctification) are attributable to all. Mutual relations is the concept that the terms Father and Son are not titles but expressions of a relationship and thus all three persons are co-equal

Although the Christians worship only one God, they see him as three people. This includes God

Although the consubstantial nature of Jesus and God was confirmed at Nicaea, it wasn’t definitively defined because Arians responded with another heretical view: Jesus and God were homoiousious. The belief that God and Jesus were only similar in nature allowed for subordinationism to manifest, which was a heresy that asserted God the Father was superior to Jesus and the Holy Spirit (Williams, 2001, p.133). So this belief accepts the Trinity but has misinterpreted the orthodox declaration of the idea. Arius told of the unequal glories amongst each “distinct being” within the Trinity (Williams, 2001, p.102). This was scorned by Athanasius who knew of the homoousious relationship through scripture (Colossians 2:9), which is how God expresses

Trinity is one God. Each of the persons of the trinity, Father, Son, and Spirit “is God whole and entire”. I believe that the trinity of persons consists of one substance and one essence. Each of the persons is that supreme reality, the divine substance, essence or nature. Each of the three persons are distinct from one another, but known to be related to one another.

Migliore defines the Christian confession of God as triune as a “summary description of the witness of Scripture to God’s unfathomable love incarnate in Jesus Christ and experienced and celebrated in the community of faith” (Migliore 67). He is quick to explain that “the doctrine of the Trinity is not a revealed doctrine…[because it] did not descend miraculously from heaven, nor was it written by God on tablets of stone”’; rather it is “the product of the meditation and reflection of the church on the gospel message over many centuries” (67). That said, Migliore believes that a confession of the triune God has both a biblical and experiential basis. He states “if talk of the triune God is not to be wild speculation, it will always find its basis and its limit both in the biblical narrative of God that comes to the world through Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit and in the actual

This was the question that popped up in my head after reading the first chapter of The Orthodox Way, God as Mystery. More ironically, before they answered my question did they tell me that Jesus Christ is God and Holy Spirit is God as well. Usually multi-identities are not an issue for me or for anyone, but this time is a little, or a lot, different when it comes to God. In the chapter, God as Trinity, “The Christian God is not just a unit but a union, not just unity but a community… He is Trinity: three equal persons, each one dwelling in the other two by virtue of an unceasing movement of mutual love” said Ware (P. 27). Ono thing that needs to be confirmed first is that there is only One God, and God is the one essence embracing three persons. Secondly, in the case of Trinity a person is not just an individual, as opposed to that three human persons always “retain their own will and own energy no matter how closely they co-operate together” (P. 30). This indicates the property of “distinction but never separation” within the three persons; they are distinct as in differentiation and they are never separate because of the relationship formed by the shared one will and one energy. As a consequence, we surely have to turn to the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit if we want to know God holistically, especially the Oneness of God (Jones,

It is important to note the defined goals of the Trinity. One being that God sent His Son, Jesus did not send God. Jesus tells us in John 6, that He came to do the will of His Father. Jesus was not doing His own selfish will but everything He did was for His Father. Jesus and God sent the Holy Spirit according to Jesus’ words in John 14:26, “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you”. It is necessary to recognize the distinctions of the roles of the Trinity as if the roles were not distinctive there would be no Trinity.

The definition of the Trinity according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary is “the unity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as three persons in one Godhead according to Christian dogma.” The basis of the Trinity is that there is God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit. There are three separate parts, yet they make up one. While this is confusing to the naked ear, it actually makes logical sense on a deeper level. Scholars and philosophers struggled for years to give a valid explanation of the Trinity. It was not until Tertullian in the 2nd or 3rd century AD that a satisfactory explanation was given. Tertullian came up with the Trinitarian Doctrine, which basically

As a result, fellowship, prayer, Bible study, worship, and most importantly salvation in its purest form can be discerned and acted upon correctly. In addition, a further understanding can be thus gained regarding the person of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. Finally, heresies and heretical groups or beliefs can lead God’s followers astray from the truth and create an improper understanding, and thus relationship with God. Positions past and present have, and are, attempting to mislead Christians about the Trinity. A skewed view of the Trinity can result in a view of God as either divinely apart from creation or simply a better version of all the best attributes of humans. Some positions even take away from the Divinity of Jesus Christ. All of these views severely diminish who God is and alters a proper and true relationship and worship. It is a necessity that these errant views be exposed as a hindrance to God in order not to mislead God’s followers. Likewise a Biblically sound explanation of the Trinity is needed. As a result, a true and pure knowledge of the concept of the Trinity is crucially needed to understand God and be obedient to the Bible.

Apart from his distinction as human, there is evidence of oneness. The New Testament insists that there is only one true God in James 2:19 as it states, "You believe that there is only God. Good! Even the demons believe that -and shudder."

The role of the son or Jesus is the savior and teacher. The role of the Holy Spirit is the empowerer and evangelist. All these roles combined equal a mystical element that describes the Trinity or another name is Godhead. To understand the Trinity, God is the sun that shines while Jesus is the rays of the sun and the Holy Spirit is the warmth that is felt from the sun. All personalities are equal and combined together called the Trinity.