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The Early Christian Doctrine Of The Trinity

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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 …show more content…

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 …show more content…

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

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