Doctrine of Trinity
12/22/2013
Doctrine of Trinity
‘The doctrine of Trinity is one of the most important doctrines of the Christian faith’. And also it is ‘one of the most baffling areas of Christian theology’.(McGrath, Theology the Basics, p.102) ‘We may define the doctrine of Trinity that God eternally exists as three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and each person is fully God, and there is one God’.(Grudem, Systematic Theology, p. 226)
According to McGrath’s book, ‘the foundations of the doctrine are to be found in the pattern of divine activity to which the New Testament bears witness. The Father is revealed in Christ through the Spirit. There is the closest of connections between the Father, Son, and Spirit in the New Testament writings. (Matthew 28:19, 2 Corinthians 13:14) And there are three of the Basic elements of the Christian vision of God. 1) God Created the world, establishing it with order and form. 2) God redeemed the world in Jesus Christ. 3) God is present in the world here and now, guiding and encouraging believers.(Theology the Basics, p.103-104)
Especially, McGrath noted that, ‘the importance of the recognition of the divinity of the Holy Spirit to the development of the doctrine of the Trinity.’(Spirit as wind, breath, charism.) Athanasius, in his Letter to Serapion, declared that the baptismal formula clearly pointed to the Spirit sharing the same divinity as the Father and the Son. And the final statement of the doctrine of the Holy Spirit formulated by a Council meeting at Constantinople in 381; the Spirit not as “God”, but as “the Lord and giver of life, who proceeds from the Father, and is worshipped and glorified with the Father and Son.” The Spirit has the same dignity and rank as the Father and Son.
In the view of Erickson’s book, there are three evidences: ‘evidence for the unity of God-that God is one; and, finally, indications or at least intimations of the three-in-oneness. The ancient Hebrews was a rigorously monotheistic faith, and the rejection of polytheism runs throughout the Old Testament. God repeatedly demonstrates his superiority to the other claimants to deity. It could, of course, be maintained that this does not conclusively prove that the Old Testament requires monotheism. God is clearly one God. Also, in the New Testament, Paul underscores the uniqueness of God. And bible said that three persons are God. 1) The deity of the first, the Father, is scarcely in dispute. 2) A key reference to the deity of Christ Jesus is found in Philippians 2. In verse 5-11 Paul has taken what was in all likelihood a hymn of the early church and used it as the basis of an appeal to his readers to practice humility. These verses showed that Jesus is equal with God. Another significant passage is Hebrews 1, it imply the full deity of the Son. And the third is Jesus’ own self-consciousness. (Matt. 26:63-65) 3) There also are biblical references that identify the Holy Spirit as God. (Acts 5:3-4, 1 Corinthians 12:4-11, 3:16-17)
There’s one problem, God’s oneness and threeness-seem contradictory. In several places in Scripture the three persons are linked together in unity and apparent equality.(The baptismal formula-Matt. 28:19-20, the Pauline benediction in 2 Cor. 13:14) In both, there are linkages of the three persons which are not quite as direct and explicit. Paul saw a very close relationship among the three persons. The Trinity was a very significant part of Paul’s conception of the gospel and the Christian life. Also Gospel stresses the closeness and unity between the Father and the Son.(John 10:30) (Erickson, p.348-357) Each person is fully God. All three persons are distinct, the abundant testimony of Scripture is that each person is fully God as well.(Grudem, Systematic Theology, p. 233)
There was a development of doctrine of Trinity. Justine and Tatian stressed the unity of essence between the Word and the Father and used the imagery of the impassibility of separating light from its source, the sun. Father are distinct, they are not divisible or separable. In Tertullian’s view, there are three manifestation’s of the one God. The Father, Son, and Spirit are one identical substance’ this substance has been extended into three manifestations, but not divided. The orthodox doctrine of the Trinity was enunciated in a series of debates and councils that were in large part prompted by the controversies sparked by such movements as monarchianism and Arianism. The Council of Constantinople formulated a definitive statement in which the church made explicit the beliefs previously held implicitly.(elaborated and refined by the Cappadocian theologians) The separate existence of the three persons rather than on the one indivisible Godhead. The one Godhead exists simultaneously in three modes of being or hypostases. The Godhead exists “undivided in divided persons. The orthodox formula protects the doctrine of the Trinity against the danger of modalism and tritheism. (Erickson)
And there are essential elements of a doctrine of the Trinity. 1) The unity of God is basic. 2) The deity of each of the three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, must be affirmed. Each is qualitatively the same. The Son is divine in the same way and to the same extent as is the Father, and this is true of the Holy Spirit as well. 3) The threeness and the oneness of God are not in the same respect. 4) The Trinity is eternal. 5) The function of one member of the Trinity may for a time be subordinate to one or both of the other members, but that does not mean he is in any way inferior in essence. 6) The Trinity is incomprehensible. We cannot fully understand the mystery of the Trinity. (Erickson)
Finally Augustine’s major contribution to the understanding of the Trinity is his analogies drawn from the realm of human personality.(Love: the lover, the object loved, and the love unites them,) We will examine two analogies drawn from the realm of human relationships. 1) from the realm of individual human psychology. 2) from the sphere of interpersonal human relations.
The doctrine of the Trinity is a crucial ingredient of our faith. It appears that Tertullian was right in affirming that the doctrine of the Trinity must be divinely revealed, not humanly constructed. We do not hold the doctrine of the Trinity because it is self-evident or logically cogent. (Erickson)
In the twentieth century, Karl Barth was instrumental in elevating the doctrine of the Trinity to a significant place in theology. – The divine self-disclosure entails three moments: Revealer, Revelation, and Revealedness. These correspond to Father, Son, and Spirit. (Grenz, Theology for the community of God, p.83)
1. Many theologians prefer to speak of “Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer,” rather than the traditional “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” What is gained by this approach? And what difficulties does it raise?
- Gender issues : ‘Father, Son, and Holy Spirit seem to give priority to male imagery concerning God.(p.260)
- To urge Christianity to rediscover its own distinctive vision of God.(p.259)
2. Why did the twentieth century witness a renewal of interest in the doctrine of the Trinity?
‘The doctrine of Trinity is one of the most important doctrines of the Christian faith’. And also it is ‘one of the most baffling areas of Christian theology’.(McGrath, Theology the Basics, p.102) ‘We may define the doctrine of Trinity that God eternally exists as three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and each person is fully God, and there is one God’.(Grudem, Systematic Theology, p. 226)
According to McGrath’s book, ‘the foundations of the doctrine are to be found in the pattern of divine activity to which the New Testament bears witness. The Father is revealed in Christ through the Spirit. There is the closest of connections between the Father, Son, and Spirit in the New Testament writings. (Matthew 28:19, 2 Corinthians 13:14) And there are three of the Basic elements of the Christian vision of God. 1) God Created the world, establishing it with order and form. 2) God redeemed the world in Jesus Christ. 3) God is present in the world here and now, guiding and encouraging believers.(Theology the Basics, p.103-104)
Especially, McGrath noted that, ‘the importance of the recognition of the divinity of the Holy Spirit to the development of the doctrine of the Trinity.’(Spirit as wind, breath, charism.) Athanasius, in his Letter to Serapion, declared that the baptismal formula clearly pointed to the Spirit sharing the same divinity as the Father and the Son. And the final statement of the doctrine of the Holy Spirit formulated by a Council meeting at Constantinople in 381; the Spirit not as “God”, but as “the Lord and giver of life, who proceeds from the Father, and is worshipped and glorified with the Father and Son.” The Spirit has the same dignity and rank as the Father and Son.
In the view of Erickson’s book, there are three evidences: ‘evidence for the unity of God-that God is one; and, finally, indications or at least intimations of the three-in-oneness. The ancient Hebrews was a rigorously monotheistic faith, and the rejection of polytheism runs throughout the Old Testament. God repeatedly demonstrates his superiority to the other claimants to deity. It could, of course, be maintained that this does not conclusively prove that the Old Testament requires monotheism. God is clearly one God. Also, in the New Testament, Paul underscores the uniqueness of God. And bible said that three persons are God. 1) The deity of the first, the Father, is scarcely in dispute. 2) A key reference to the deity of Christ Jesus is found in Philippians 2. In verse 5-11 Paul has taken what was in all likelihood a hymn of the early church and used it as the basis of an appeal to his readers to practice humility. These verses showed that Jesus is equal with God. Another significant passage is Hebrews 1, it imply the full deity of the Son. And the third is Jesus’ own self-consciousness. (Matt. 26:63-65) 3) There also are biblical references that identify the Holy Spirit as God. (Acts 5:3-4, 1 Corinthians 12:4-11, 3:16-17)
There’s one problem, God’s oneness and threeness-seem contradictory. In several places in Scripture the three persons are linked together in unity and apparent equality.(The baptismal formula-Matt. 28:19-20, the Pauline benediction in 2 Cor. 13:14) In both, there are linkages of the three persons which are not quite as direct and explicit. Paul saw a very close relationship among the three persons. The Trinity was a very significant part of Paul’s conception of the gospel and the Christian life. Also Gospel stresses the closeness and unity between the Father and the Son.(John 10:30) (Erickson, p.348-357) Each person is fully God. All three persons are distinct, the abundant testimony of Scripture is that each person is fully God as well.(Grudem, Systematic Theology, p. 233)
There was a development of doctrine of Trinity. Justine and Tatian stressed the unity of essence between the Word and the Father and used the imagery of the impassibility of separating light from its source, the sun. Father are distinct, they are not divisible or separable. In Tertullian’s view, there are three manifestation’s of the one God. The Father, Son, and Spirit are one identical substance’ this substance has been extended into three manifestations, but not divided. The orthodox doctrine of the Trinity was enunciated in a series of debates and councils that were in large part prompted by the controversies sparked by such movements as monarchianism and Arianism. The Council of Constantinople formulated a definitive statement in which the church made explicit the beliefs previously held implicitly.(elaborated and refined by the Cappadocian theologians) The separate existence of the three persons rather than on the one indivisible Godhead. The one Godhead exists simultaneously in three modes of being or hypostases. The Godhead exists “undivided in divided persons. The orthodox formula protects the doctrine of the Trinity against the danger of modalism and tritheism. (Erickson)
And there are essential elements of a doctrine of the Trinity. 1) The unity of God is basic. 2) The deity of each of the three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, must be affirmed. Each is qualitatively the same. The Son is divine in the same way and to the same extent as is the Father, and this is true of the Holy Spirit as well. 3) The threeness and the oneness of God are not in the same respect. 4) The Trinity is eternal. 5) The function of one member of the Trinity may for a time be subordinate to one or both of the other members, but that does not mean he is in any way inferior in essence. 6) The Trinity is incomprehensible. We cannot fully understand the mystery of the Trinity. (Erickson)
Finally Augustine’s major contribution to the understanding of the Trinity is his analogies drawn from the realm of human personality.(Love: the lover, the object loved, and the love unites them,) We will examine two analogies drawn from the realm of human relationships. 1) from the realm of individual human psychology. 2) from the sphere of interpersonal human relations.
The doctrine of the Trinity is a crucial ingredient of our faith. It appears that Tertullian was right in affirming that the doctrine of the Trinity must be divinely revealed, not humanly constructed. We do not hold the doctrine of the Trinity because it is self-evident or logically cogent. (Erickson)
In the twentieth century, Karl Barth was instrumental in elevating the doctrine of the Trinity to a significant place in theology. – The divine self-disclosure entails three moments: Revealer, Revelation, and Revealedness. These correspond to Father, Son, and Spirit. (Grenz, Theology for the community of God, p.83)
1. Many theologians prefer to speak of “Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer,” rather than the traditional “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” What is gained by this approach? And what difficulties does it raise?
- Gender issues : ‘Father, Son, and Holy Spirit seem to give priority to male imagery concerning God.(p.260)
- To urge Christianity to rediscover its own distinctive vision of God.(p.259)
2. Why did the twentieth century witness a renewal of interest in the doctrine of the Trinity?
Labels:
