The doctrine of the Trinity is the study of who God is, what God is like, how God works, and how God is to be approached (Erickson). God as Trinity was established by the dogma of the ancient Church and defends the central faith of the Bible and the Church (Grenz). The Christian doctrine of the Trinity states that there is One God who is three divine persons; the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
I will describe how the early Christian church came to its understanding of God as Three-in-One.
Although the Bible does not clearly teach the Trinitarian view of God, it (Erickson) does provide an understanding of God as Three-in-One. In the Old Testament, God refers to Himself in the plural (e.g., Gen 1:26, 3:22, 11:7; Isa 6:8) which could suggest
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It is this relationship that relates to humans, allowing us to see that God is self-sufficient in Himself. However, God decided to create a world for us to live in, showing us the unconditional love of God (Astley). This action is known as the divine economy when we encounter the true loving nature of God (Rae).
Rahner stated that God reveals Himself in history, referred by the economic Trinity, as He really is in eternal life, referred by the immanent Trinity (Harris). Human minds cannot fully understand the eternal nature of God, but the doctrine of the Trinity affirms that the God who was revealed in the economy, through the incarnation of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, is the same God who is eternal (Rae). Therefore, the God who is revealed in three manifestations is the God we all know of and there is not another Being that exists
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It is important to address prayer to each member of the Trinity, in accordance with the purpose of the prayer and the role of each Trinitarian person. Each Trinitarian person is fully divine so we need to address each member of the Trinity in prayer and worship. We need to address prayers of worship to the Father (e.g. Luke 11:2; Matthew 6:9) so that we can praise and thank Him for sending His Son. We need to address certain prayers of worship to the Son because of His wiliness to come and give His life for us (e.g. Phil 2: 9-10). Although there is no biblical reference to prayer being addressed to the Holy Spirit, we can also address certain prayers to the Holy Spirit, although it is also appropriate to ask the Father to make the Holy Spirit present in our lives. The Holy Spirit empowers believers to pray and when we pray in the Spirit, we are being guided by the Spirit (Acts 11:12; Acts 13:2). Therefore, we need to praise the Holy Spirit for guiding believers and convicting
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
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
Each member of the Trinity has a primary function. The Father is the creator, who originates the plan of salvation. The Son is the Redeemer, who provides the remedy for human sin. Lastly, the Spirit, who is the Sanctifier applies this salvation, growing new spiritual life.
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.
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 liberal side of the immigration debate supports legal immigration, increasing the number of legal immigrants permitted to enter the U.S. each year, and blanket amnesty for current illegal immigrants. Liberals believe that regardless of how they came to the U.S., illegal immigrants deserve things like U.S. government financial aid for college tuition and visas for spouse/children to come to the U.S. They believe that families shouldn’t be separated and that many illegal immigrants do the jobs that the average American does not want to do (Primeaux). The liberals are also strongly against laws such as Arizona’s SB 1070 and believe that such laws only encourage racial profiling and are unconstitutional.
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 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
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).
According to the Dynamic Business Law eBook; the four elements to a contract are Agreement, Consideration, Capacity and legality. The first element of Agreement would be deemed to exist if an offer is made and accepted creating a mutual agreement between the parties. An offer establishes criteria set by the “offeror”, usually referred as terms and conditions to another party, the “offeree” this is the first step in creating a contract. The second element of Consideration would be deemed to exist if “something” is negotiated by the promisor from the promise in return for signing or agreeing to the terms of the contract. The third element of Capacity would be deemed to exist if the parties are in sound mind and body, and over the age of consent. The fourth element of legality would be deemed to exist if they have a legal object, meaning the parties purpose of entering into a contract should be legal and follow the state and/or federal laws. (Kubasek, 2015, p. 305)
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
Christians believe the image of God to be three Gods merged into one. The Trinity’s components are the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit and they are all equal. Each form of God has the same attributes of all-powerful, all-knowing, always present,
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.
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.