The Scriptural Teaching of the TrinityThere is but one God -
| Deut. 6:4 | Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is One. | | Deut. 32:39 | Now see that I, even I, am He, and there is no God besides Me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; nor is there any who can deliver from My hand. | | 1 Tim. 2:5 | For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus. | | 1 Cor. 8:4 | There is no other God but one. |
There is plurality within this one God - As Found in the Old Testament | | | elohim | Found over 2,500 times in the Old Testament | | Gen. 1:26 | Let Us make man in our image | | Gen. 3:22 | Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil | | Gen. 11:7 | Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language | | Isa. 48:16 | And now the Lord God and His Spirit have sent Me | | Isa. 61:1 | The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me | | Isa. 63:9-10 | In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old. But they rebelled, and vexed his holy Spirit: therefore he was turned to be their enemy, [and] he fought against them. |
Creation and Providence Ascribed to the Father, Word, and Spirit in the Old Testament | Father | | | Gen. 1:1 | In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. | | Job 34:12-15 | Yea, surely God will not do wickedly, neither will the Almighty judgment. Who hath given him a charge over the earth? or who hath disposed the whole world? If he set his heart upon man, [if] he gather unto himself his spirit and his breath; All flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again unto dust. | | Word | | | Gen. 1:3 | And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. | | Psalm 33:6, 9 | By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. . . . For he spake, and it was [done]; he commanded, and it stood fast | | Spirit | | | Gen. 1:2 | And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness [was] upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. | | Psalm 104:30 | Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth. |
As Found in the New Testament | Luke 1:35 | And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. | | Matt. 3:16-17 | And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. | | 1 Cor. 12:4-6 | The same Spirit . . . the same Lord . . . the same God | | 2 Cor. 13:14 | The grace of the Lord Jesus, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all | | 1 Pet. 1:2 | Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ | | Matt. 28:19 | Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost |
Creation and Providence Ascribed to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in the New Testament | Father | | | Matt. 7:11 | If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? | | Acts 17:28 | For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. | | Son | | | John 1:3 | All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. | | Col. 1:15-17 | Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether [they be] thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. | | Holy Spirit | | | Matt. 1:18; 4:1 | Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. . . . Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. | | Rm. 1:4 | And declared [to be] the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead |
Two major heresies in the history of the Church - Modalism - teaches that God is one in essence and one in person. There are three ways of referring to this one person, father, son, spirit. Subordinationism - teaches there is but one God, the Father. The son and spirit are lesser deities if they are divine at all. The orthodox teaching of the Trinity -
God is one in essence and three in persons. There is a subordination of administrative order in the Trinity, not a subordination in their essence. There is perfect harmony in the working of the Trinity. The Apostles Creed - I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker
of heaven and earth. And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord;
who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born
of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius
Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he
descended into hell; the third day he rose
again from the dead; he ascended into
heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God
the Father Almighty; from thence he shall
come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy catholic
Church; the communion of saints; the
forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the
body; and the life everlasting. AMEN. The Nicene Creed We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius
Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the
Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the
living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the
giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
With the Father and the Son he is worshiped
and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic
Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the
forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen. The Athanasian Creed Whoever wishes to be saved must, above all, keep the Catholic faith.
For unless a person keeps this faith whole and entire he will undoubtedly be lost forever.
This is what the catholic faith teaches: we worship one God in the Trinity and the Trinity in unity.
We distinguish among the persons, but we do not divide the substance.
For the Father is a distinct person; the Son is a distinct person; and the Holy Spirit is a distinct
person.
Still the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit have one divinity, equal glory, and coeternal majesty.
What the Father is, the Son is, and the Holy Spirit is.
The Father is uncreated, the Son is uncreated, and the Holy Spirit is uncreated.
The Father is boundless, the Son is boundless, and the Holy Spirit is boundless.
The Father is eternal, the Son is eternal, and the Holy Spirit is eternal.
Nevertheless, there are not three eternal beings, but one eternal being.
Thus there are not three uncreated beings, nor three boundless beings, but one uncreated being and
one boundless being.
Likewise, the Father is omnipotent, the Son is omnipotent, and the Holy Spirit is omnipotent.
Yet there are not three omnipotent beings, but one omnipotent being.
Thus the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God.
But there are not three gods, but one God.
The Father is Lord, the Son is Lord, and the Holy Spirit is Lord.
There as not three lords, but one Lord.
For according to Christian truth, we must profess that each of the persons individually is God; and
according to Christian religion we are forbidden to say that there are three gods or lords.
The Father is not made by anyone, nor created by anyone, nor generated by anyone.
The Son is not made nor created, but he is generated by the Father alone.
The Holy Spirit is not made nor created nor generated, but proceeds from the Father and the Son.
There is, then, one Father, not three Fathers; one Son, but not three sons; one Holy Spirit, not three
holy spirits.
In this Trinity, there is nothing greater, nothing less than anything else.
But the entire three persons are coeternal and coequal with one another.
So that, as we have said, we worship complete unity in the Trinity and the Trinity in unity.
This, then, is what he who wishes to be saved must believe about the Trinity.
It is also necessary for eternal salvation that he believes steadfastly in the incarnation of our Lord
Jesus Christ.
The true faith is: we believe and profess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is both God and
man.
As God He was begotten of the substance of the Father before time; as man He was born in time of
the substance of His Mother.
He is perfect God; and He is perfect man, with a rational soul and human flesh.
He is equal to the Father in His divinity, but He is inferior to the Father in His humanity.
Although He is God and man, He is not two, but one Christ.
And He is one, not because His divinity was changed into flesh, but because His humanity was
assumed to God.
He is one, not at all because of a mingling of substances, but because He is one person.
As a rational soul and flesh are one man: so God and man are one Christ.
He died for our salvation, descended to hell, arose from the dead on the third day.
Ascended into heaven, sits at the right hand of God the Father almighty, and from there He shall
come to judge the living and the dead.
At His coming, all men are to arise with their own bodies; and they are to give an account of their
lives.
Those who have done good deeds will go into eternal life; those who have done evil will go into
everlasting fire.
This is the Catholic faith. Everyone must believe it, firmly and steadfastly; otherwise He cannot be
saved. Amen. |
