Trinity is the term used to explain the existence of the three natures of God in form of one. They include God the head, Jesus the begotten son and Spirit of God. The belief gets different responses from various doctrines and faiths. The term explains how the three exist in different ways but under the same personality. To most Christians the trinity is a mystery as they try to figure out the nature of three Gods in one. Jesus when he was on this earth emphasized on the trinity "out to the whole world and make people my followers, baptizing them in the name of the God the Father and of Jesus and of Spirit of God."Mathew.28.29. The Catholic Church as a doctrine in particular also has its stand in this mystery. The church in relation to the term trinity believes that there is unity in the three Gods but they exist distinctly from each other. This means there are no three Gods but on God in different forms. The term begotten is used to describe God the son that is Jesus the term means like producing an offspring or making another breed of the original. Thus Jesus adopts the office by being begotten by the God the father. Spirit of God is the third nature of God in the trinity. He precedes the trinity by a way of spirit rather than generation
There is always a misconception from most people about the trinity and they perceive it differently. They have misinterpreted the trinity to consist of three gods. This would display Christianity as polytheism the belief in many gods.
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).
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
Trinity: The Trinity was a key feature of Christianity. The Trinity symbolized the three persons of God, the father, the son, and the Holy
This God however does take on three forms known as The Trinity. The Christian doctrine states that God exists as God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
Both Roman Catholics and the Eastern Orthodox Church comprehended God to exist in three structures, known as the Trinity. God is three in one, the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit.
The traditional Christian belief that God is a Trinity can be summarized briefly: God is three persons in one divine nature. These three persons are traditionally named Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But, it seems like different religions have their different views of disagreeing with God being trinity. I can see why there is a disagreement because God is labeled to be three people, when people believe that God is one person. I personally believe that everybody can have their own way of defining God through their perception or they can follow what he reveals to us. Despite these challenges, it is possible to defend the doctrine of the trinity as a reasonable belief.
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,
The Trinity consists of God, the Father, Jesus, the Son of God and the Holy Spirit. The Christian faith recognizes there is one God and He is one with His Son, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. The purpose of this essay is to describe the interrelationship of the three persons of the Trinity. This will include the concepts of the economic trinity, the essential trinity and the social 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
Judaism as well as its offshoot and formation into the Christian religion both place great emphasis on the notion of their monotheistic God as revealed in the early scriptures. To them God has revealed Himself as the one Lord of all. Evident in the first Commandment that was
We believe that there is one, and only one, living and true God. He is an infinite, intelligent Spirit, the Maker and Supreme Ruler of heaven and earth, glorious in holiness, and worthy of all possible worship, trust, and love. In the unity of the Godhead there are three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, equal in every divine perfection, and executing distinct but complimentary offices in the great work of redemption.
God as Trinity, is a fact that all orthodox Christians can attest to with absolute certainty, however if we were to ask those same people “what does that mean for us, how does that affect the way we live our lives”? I suspect, most would not have an answer. For the majority of orthodox Christians, the Trinity is an abstract theological concept, that is best left for theologians to philosophise over, and has no place in the life of the average Christian. Karl Rahner, an Austrian philosopher and theologian, commenting on the “current neglect of the Trinity in the West” says:
It is important to begin by stating that there are many different doctrinal views of the Trinity. However I believe that the doctrine of Trinity defines one God who is eternally existent as three distinct Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. “These definitions express three crucial truths: (1) The Father, Son, 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 Trinity is a representation of the holy or godly figures in Christianity; “The Father”, Jesus “The Son”, and the Holy Spirit. (Christian Beliefs PowerPoint). Specifically, it states that “The Father”, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are all God (Bart Ehrman on the Origins of the Trinity). Bart states in his YouTube video, Bart Ehrman on the Origins of the Trinity, that “God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are all equal in power because they are all embodiments of God himself” but, he reiterates that, “there is still only one God.” This conundrum basically equates to a theorem stating that 1=1 and at the same time, 1=3. After coming to that conclusion, Bart Ehrman offers a ground for solace, stating “The Trinity is a mystery, a person cannot understand it, that is why it is a mystery.” (Bart Ehrman on the Origins of the Trinity)