Introduction Not against Reason But Still a Supernatural Mystery Must not make the mistake of attempting to explain away the Mystery Feinberg's explanation is not necessarily the best Faith and Reason A modern theologian and a medieval theologian: both use reason to support faith (in other words, they both show that the Faith is based upon reason). A brief survey of their assertions should suffice before reviewing the historical claims of the doctrine of the Trinity. Harvey J. Hames: "God must be internally and eternally active so that creation can occur without any change in God. According to Llull's theory, the Trinity is the internal, eternal activity in the Godhead. In other words, for creation to come about without implying change in the Godhead, the Dignities would need to have been active internally and eternally, and consequently, this activity can only exist without implying plurality if it is triune." ("It Takes Three…" p. 200) Echoes Aquinas by emphasizing the equality of the Persons or Dignities: "All the Dignities must be equal in essence and nature, otherwise they would be accidents and unable to exist in themselves, by themselves, and would therefore be imperfect. Hence, each Dignity is essentially identified with and includes all the other Dignities." (p. 202) Aquinas (supports Hames): Revelation cannot go against Reason. The Trinity is Revealed: Scripture and Tradition: The following sub-points may be mentioned here, but they can be explored
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
Throughout this semester I have learned many of the different christian doctrines. Many of them were challenged and also accepted in my weekend trip throughout Saint Louis. I think one of the most important topics that was discussed during my weekend was the consideration of the Trinity. In the Christian thought the word “trinity” is a term used to talk about the Christian doctrine that God exists as a unity of three distinct persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Three of the staple thoughts include; God is three person; each person is divine; there is only one God. In their relations to one another, they are stated to be on in all else, co-equal, co-eternal and consubstantial. With these three thoughts about the Trinity you also must remember that Christianity is a monotheistic religion.
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.
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
Irenaeus on the Trinity: "The Church, though dispersed throughout the whole world, even to the ends of the earth, has received from the apostles and their disciples this faith: . . . one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are in them; and in one Christ Jesus, the Son of God, who became incarnate for our salvation; and in the Holy Spirit, who proclaimed through the prophets the dispensations of God, and the advents, and the birth from a virgin, and the passion, and the resurrection from the dead, and the ascension into heaven in the flesh of the beloved Christ Jesus, our Lord, and His manifestation from heaven in the glory of the Father ‘to gather all things in
Therefore, it must be understood that ascribing to Christianity and believing in the Trinity does not constitute an illogicality, but support for the totality of God’s divine nature. John Feinberg shares, “The Son alone became incarnate, and he alone was baptized. The Father alone spoke words praising Jesus at Christ’s baptism, and the Holy Spirit alone descended as a dove at that event.” This describes the differences in each person of the Trinity, but at the same shows the uniqueness of their
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.
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.
The age of the robot warrior machine is looming, and it represents monumental changes in the future conduct of war. Increased precision and decreased risk make the automation of warriors both politically and militarily attractive. In the future, government and military leaders will have to address the numerous moral and ethical questions concerning when, where and how to utilize these lifeless soldiers. In the past, many leaders relied on the military theory from the Prussian theorist Carl Von Clausewitz’ book “On War” to answer similar questions. Even though his theories have formerly provided guidance, can the ideas written in the 1800’s, truly be useful when applied to such drastic changes in the future conduct of war.
The Trinity is the word that we use to describe the nature of God. God consists of three simultaneous, eternal persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. God being simultaneous or existing at the exact same time as three different entities is one of the key concepts of the Trinity. These three Persons not only exist as one in the present moment, but will continue to do so with no end. The way they relate to each other is eternal and also unchangeable. The Trinity has always been, and will always be. The Trinity has no beginning nor an end. All three Persons in the Trinity are the same in nature, as well as being completely divine with equal attributes.
A part of the Christian faith that has long been debated over, yet is a part of our solid foundation, is the belief in the Triune God. Christians believe that there is only one God, but God is also three individual and distinct beings. The Godhead is made up of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirt. It is important to note that although God is three different beings they are all consider one God because of the oneness of their nature. Although, the Bible never explicitly speaks about the Trinity, each of the members of the Godhead can be seen working together.
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
Mary Ann Fatula’s The Triune God of Christian Faith provides for the reader the inner life of God as well as insight into the human reality. Fatula’s writing draws the devotional discussion of the Trinity as the present-day effect of the Trinitarian faith is called to support attempts to articulate and live the Trinitarian mystery. The Trinity in a human’s life is the content of our definition of our human meaning and for an infinite gift: love. Each of us has a desire for achieving meaning, for love, and for wholeness. Fatula in her book develops the study of the divine ‘persons’ and states the importance of understanding what it is to be truly a ‘person’ of both human and divine potential.
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.