Augustine Uses The Terminology Of `` Relations `` And Work Through The Trinitarian Thinking Of One Substance

Augustine continues his discussion of what makes a man. The question lies in the discussion between man being of the body only, of the soul only, or both. He talks about this to determine where man’s chief good resides, and from where it is discovered. “Man’s chief good is not the chief good of the body only, but the chief good of the soul” (Augustine 264-267). Augustine states that a person’s chief good is found in the soul and that the soul gives life to the body. The soul provides bodily pleasure, pain, strength, beauty, swiftness, etc. Without the soul, there would be no

Edwards uses words like “wrath” and “omnipotent” to display the power that God posses, and chooses negative connotation words to describe the relationship between God and man (para. 15, 46). Making the comparison of the relationship between God and humans like a spider web or thread, the author wants the audience to know that it can be broken at any time, and that the “pit is prepared” down in hell for sinners (para. 17). Edward chooses diction that leaves humans hopeless, and at the mercy of God. He wants the audience to know that God is always in control, using words like “if God should permit” and “the mere pleasure of God” (para. 13, 7). Additionally, Edwards uses diction to portray God as merciless and immoral, saying that has God is “without pity” and “will have no compassion upon you” (para. 41). This leaves the audience despaired, and they feel as if they have no choice but to reestablish their relationship with God, or certainly face an “everlasting destruction” at any time God pleases to (para.

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

He mentions that “Sometimes an earthly prince meets with a great deal of difficulty to subdue a rebel… it is not so with God… they are easily broken in pieces”(1). The earthly prince represents Edwards and the rebel symbolizes his desire to transgress. He suggests that since he has been able to overcome the hardest obstacle- human desire- he is just like God. When he positions himself on the same level as God, he establishes his command and authority over the audience. Edwards energizes them too by exclaiming “What would not those poor damned hopeless souls give for one day’s opportunity such as you now enjoy!”(12). Edwards draws his audience’s attention how fortunate they were to have someone as caring as him to keep them away from condemnation to eternal suffering. He compels them to appreciate what he is offering; what he wants from them in return is conversion to Christianity or renewing their relationship with God. With these modes of persuasion, Edwards is also able to convey his fervor with different forms of parallelism to bring ideas to

The stance that Edwards takes while using this literary device is that he believes that god is

In Edwards’ “Personal Narrative” a more laid back approach is being used to describe his relationship with God. Edwards’ narrative is much different from his powerful sermons like “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”. We see throughout the narrative that Edwards’ had fallen astray from the ideals of christianity. He says, “But in process of time, my convictions and affections wore off; and I entirely lost all those affections and delights, and left off secret prayer, at least as to any constant performance of it; and returned like a dog to his vomit, and went on in ways of sin” (p. 335). In this, I find Edwards to be very truthful, however, I feel that he would not admit to just how many times he had fallen astray.

The word “trinity” is used to describe the relationship of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Though all three are used in scripture there is no description of the “trinity.” Throughout this paper the concept of the “trinity” will be examined. First, the paper will have a summary of relevant sections from three sources: the New Catholic Encyclopedia, the older Catholic Encyclopedia, and a peer-reviewed theological article from a contemporary journal. Two concise analyses will follow the summary. In the first analysis there will be a comparison between the older and newer Catholic encyclopedias to see how over time theological reflection has changed. In the second analysis there will be a comparison between the New Catholic Encyclopedia and a contemporary theological article to show the differences between the two theological perspectives.

Edwards has a bit of an over dramatic personality by restating the same things over again but rewording what he has said so that people will understand the concept of what he is meaning. He tends to stretch the truth from bible stories and uses descriptive and dramatic words to draw a picture for his listeners/readers, and to give them something to be fearful of. In one of Edward’ most popular sermons he read; “You have offended him infinitely more than ever a stubborn rebel did his prince; and yet it is nothing but his hand that hold you from falling into the fire every movement,” (p.125). This demonstrates the pictures and the fear Edwards is pointing out to his audience. In contrast, Anne Bradstreet is very straight to the point and expressed emotion towards what she is writing without being over dramatic. Bradstreet wants her readers to understand with love and kindness that God is good and that following his believes is the right path. In the poem “ To my Dear and Loving Husband” Bradstreet writes, “My love is such that rivers cannot quench,/ Nor ought but love from thee give recompense” (line 7-9) In Bradstreet's’ poem, she shows kindness and love and true trust in God’s goodness, however Edwards does not manage to do the same in his sermons. Edwards’ preaches about a God who is waiting to send you to the fires of hell, so you’d better choose to follows God’s

He encourages us to understand what we believe and to shape our testimony. I found his statements reflective again of the Apostles’ Creed. Whatever our final decision may be, Edwards challenged us to a concept of understanding our faith and identifying who God is. More specifically in this chapter and in the following chapters he states, “I believe in God … the Son of God became also a man and lived among men (28 fundamentals) The Holy Spirit is God

describing the three interpretive statements Migliore offers to us in an attempt to explain the triune God in depth.

The essential trinity focuses on the relationship of the Son and Holy Spirit within God Himself. Augustine of Hippo taught the basis of essential trinity using his analysis of love: to love, there must be a lover, a beloved and their sharing a mutual love. On this basis of his psychological analogy, Augustine argues for a threefold understanding of the Godhead, in terms of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit (McGrath, pg 195). Augustine states that just as there are three entities of the mind, there can be three persons of God.

Both authors used their work to teach lessons in a way that would best communicate to the reader with relation to their own life experiences and careers. Both authors wrote their work as a way of acknowledging their own mortality. In other words, Aristotle spent a significant part of his life as a teacher of philosophy, and an earlier part of his learning and Augustine spent most of his later life teaching the Christian ideals. Both writers wished to teach people after they reached the end of their life and were to continue to the next one. In addition, they took the opportunity to communicate to those, during their times and after, who they were not able to speak to directly.

Augustine of Hippo is writing at the turn of the 4th and 5th centuries. The two primary texts which we will consider in this essay are both classic expositions of Augustinian theology and philosophy, however the style of writing found in each is rather different. Confessions addresses God directly in the second person, while De Trinitate appeals more to the reader. These are both written by the bishop of Hippo after the ecumenical councils of Nicea (325CE) and Constantinople (381CE) where the Trinitarian doctrine of God was firmly established as well as the divinity of Jesus Christ, hence his teachings on the Trinity aim to explain and

In the Christian faith triune God is very significant. “Christian” is Trinitarian, describing Jesus as the one whom the Father anoints (christos) with the Spirit so that the Spirit may anoint our own lives (16). Christians confess Jesus as the risen Lord of the universe, but is proclaimed to be inseparable from the one who sent him, the one Jesus knew intimately as “Abba,” or “dear Father.” The ultimate paradox of Christianity is Jesus. Having Jesus at its very center disclosed as the source, the meaning, and the definitive answer to all of human longings causes this ultimate paradox. Fatula goes on to discuss, that although Jesus is the triune God, many of the people would not identify this God as the living God we actually experience in our own daily lives.

The first fundamental claims of the Catholic intellectual tradition tackles and answers this question of what is our relationship with God. It mentions that all human beings exist in a relation to a triune God which is also known as the Trinity. This Trinity is known as one God in three