(Audio version; Music: "Praise The Father, Praise The Son" by: Chris Tomlin and "This I Believe (The Creed)" by: Hillsong)
Introduction
The doctrine of the Trinity
is one of my favorite doctrines. However, for many years, I was afraid to fully
embrace the doctrine because I didn't understand it. Perhaps you feel the same
way. Of course, this is also one of the favorite doctrines that unbelievers
love to attack because it is so difficult to understand and even more difficult
to explain and defend. I'm hoping this series will equip you with a few tools
to encourage you to embrace this beautiful revelation of God and be able to
share that gift with others. There are many individuals who claim to be
Christians along with various cults who proclaim the name of Jesus Christ yet
reject the doctrine of the Trinity. Don’t be deceived! Rejection of the Trinity
is a rejection of orthodox Christianity. Confessing Christians must accept the
doctrine of the Trinity even if they don't fully understand it or don’t feel
confident explaining it. There are many Christian doctrines that have multiple
positions that are open for debate and disagreement. The doctrine of the
Trinity is not one of those doctrines. Christians accept it, non-Christians do
not. Stand your ground and keep digging for the truth...I'll bring a shovel to
help!
The Problem
I will grant you
that this doctrine is one of, if not, the most perplexing theological concepts
advanced by any major theological system of beliefs. Although adherence to a
certain set of beliefs is essential to the Christian’s inclusion within the
Church, adherence is never a requisite that precludes questioning or the quest
for understanding. Developing and understanding the doctrine of the Trinity is
no different. However, reaching a complete and concrete “understanding” of the
Trinity is precisely the problem. Specifically at issue and the primary focus
of this lesson series is the apparent
contradiction between the clear
teaching that God is one while at the same time experiencing God’s revelation
of Himself as three distinct persons—God the Father, God the Son, and God the
Holy Spirit. However, the apparent contradiction with God’s “three-in-oneness”
is just that—an apparent contradiction.
A true contradiction would state that God is one and not one at the same time
or three and not three at the same time. This, however, is not the case.
Instead, the difficulty with the Trinity, in addition to being mysterious, is
largely rooted in the limitation of language and a misunderstanding of
previously accepted terminology. Although we are still constrained by the
limitations of language, a closer look at some of the terminology used to
describe and define the Trinity might alleviate some of the confusion usually
associated with this very crucial doctrine. First, however, it might be helpful
to briefly review the events that necessitated the development of the doctrine
and how the doctrine reached its current understanding.
Jesus and Jewish Monotheism
It is hard to
argue that the Jewish faith is anything but fiercely monotheistic. This is
imminently clear from the Old Testament biblical teaching known as the Shema: “Hear,
O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.” (Deut. 6:4) Although we will take
a closer look later at how the Old Testament intimated at the plurality of God,
for the time being we will consider the crucial event that has created the
tension between monotheism and the Trinity. The central figure that
precipitated the need to develop this doctrine is Jesus. It is accepted within
orthodox Christianity that Jesus is not only fully human but is simultaneously
fully God. It is not the purpose of this writing to defend the deity of Christ
specifically but to make that assumption generally in order to develop a
clearer understanding and defense of the Trinity. It is with this assumption
that the tension with monotheism begins. During the first four centuries of the
Church, various attempts were made to try and explain how God is Father, Son
and Spirit without falling into the polytheistic trap of claiming three gods.
As a consequence, a number of hypotheses were advanced.
Modalistic
Formulations
In order to maintain that God is only one person, the
modalist makes the claim that God is one person that has revealed Himself to us
in three different forms. “In the Old Testament God appeared as ‘Father.’
Throughout the Gospels, this same divine person appeared as ‘the Son’ as seen
in the human life and ministry of Jesus. After Pentecost, this same person then
revealed Himself as the ‘Spirit’ active in the church.”[1]
Although at first glance this appears to be a nice, neat package that explains
God’s revelation of Himself to us in three different ways, it fails to take
into consideration the eternal relationship between Father, Son and Spirit
alluded to by Jesus when He said, “And now, Father, glorify me in your presence
with the glory I had with you before the world began (Jn 17:5).” Furthermore,
the hypotheses falls flat at Jesus’ baptism when the Father speaks, the Son is
baptized and the Spirit descends upon Him. In short, this event in the life of
Jesus necessarily demonstrates that God cannot be one person manifest in three
different ways at the same time.
Arianism
Receiving its name from Arius, a bishop of Alexandria,
Arians taught that there was some time when Jesus and the Spirit did not exist.
Instead, Arius insisted that both were created by God. Although he was willing
to concede to a certain level of deity for both the Son and the Spirit, neither
was equal to the Father. Arius depended heavily on biblical texts identifying
Jesus as “only begotten” and “first-born over all creation” while at the same
time neglecting the biblical text that demonstrate that there was never a time
when Jesus did not exist (Jn 17:5). Ultimately, the church council convened in
A.D. 325 at Nicea to address the issue of Jesus’ divinity once and for all and
developed a formal church position that was used to formulate the doctrine of
the Trinity at the Council of Constantinople in A.D. 381.
Orthodox Formulation
Basil and Gregory of Nazianzus and Gregory of Nyssa, also
known as “the Cappadocians,” may have been the most influential in the
development of Trinitarian theology during the fourth century. They made the
crucial distinction between “essence” (ousia)
and “persons” (hypostaseis). “By ousia they meant one invisible, divine
nature, and by hypostaseis they meant
mode of being or personal center with independent existence and unique
characteristics.”[2]
God’s essence or ousia is undivided.
In other words, all three persons are equally God. The differences in the
persons or hypostaseis are functional
or relational as opposed to essential. Consequently, the Father is the source
of creation through the Son as the agent of creation through the power of the
Spirit who consummates creation.
Joe, thanks for this. It took me some time to get to the realization that the Holy Spirit is indeed an individual entity and not some vague presence, sort of like a ghostly mist. This was helpful to reinforce in my mind the personality of the Holy Spirit.
ReplyDeleteCris Lovett
Thank you for your honest comment. I am glad I was able to help provide you with some understanding about the personal nature of the Holy Spirit as a unique member of the Trinity. Wrapping our minds around the Trinity is a difficult task in our limited human capacity. I think God is honored that you are willing to struggle to know and understand Him better. The Holy Spirit was given to us as a gift. But it's not much of a gift if we are unwilling to go through some effort to unwrap it.
DeleteBlessings to you Cris!