Doctrine of the Trinity - Revision history

PeterWilson at 17:15, 9 July 2021

2021-07-09T17:15:52Z

DavidWalker at 10:15, 29 October 2015

2015-10-29T10:15:00Z

DavidWalker: New page: The Christian Gospels speak of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit (or God the Holy Ghost, to use the language of the Authorised Version of the Bible and t...

2010-07-05T08:26:58Z

New page: The Christian Gospels speak of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit (or God the Holy Ghost, to use the language of the Authorised Version of the Bible and t...

New page

The [[Christian]] [[Gospel]]s speak of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit (or God the Holy Ghost, to use the language of the [[Authorised Version]] of the [[Bible]] and the [[Book of Common Prayer]]). For example, Jesus promises his followers that his Father will send them the Holy Spirit, 'the Comforter, who will teach them all things' (''John'' 14, 26); in the garden of Gethsemane, he prays to his Father that he might be spared the ordeal of crucifixion (''Matthew'' 26, 39; ''Mark'' 14, 35-36; ''Luke'' 22, 42); questioned by the Jewish high priest Caiaphas, he acknowledges that he is the Son of God (''Matthew'' 26, 63-64; ''Mark'' 14, 61-62; ''Luke'' 22, 70); and when after the crucifixion he appears to his followers, he instructs them to baptise converts 'in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit' (''Matthew'' 28, 19).

[[Christian]]s recognise the distinctness of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, as the [[Gospel]] narrative requires, but nonetheless believe that there is one God; and so the first [[Christian]] theologians, who had the task of formulating a systematic account of [[Christian]] belief, needed to clarify the relationship between God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, and to do so in a way which explains how despite their distinctness they are a single God. The generally accepted account, which became the orthodox doctrine and is usually referred to as the '''doctrine of the Trinity''', is that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are three 'persons' but one 'substance'. (As the [[Athanasian Creed]] puts it, 'we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity, neither confounding the persons, nor dividing the substance'.) However, this statement of the doctrine can, as it stands, easily mislead. Neither the word 'person' nor the word 'substance' have their usual meanings in English, both being translations of Greek philosophical terms: 'person' translates â€˜Ï…Ï€ÏŒÏƒÏ„Î±ÏƒÎ¹Ï‚ (''hupostasis''), which in this context means 'actual existence' or 'reality', and 'substance' translates â€™Î¿Ï…ÏƒÎ¯Î± (''ousia''), which in this context means 'nature' or 'essence'. It would therefore be better, but still not very illuminating, to say that according to the '''doctrine of the Trinity''' God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are three 'realities' which have the same nature or essence. However, whatever the precise import of the doctrine, it is clear that those who formulated it intended to emphasise that the three 'persons' of the Trinity have always existed together, the existence of the one being inseparable from the existence of the others, and that they have equal status. As the Athanasian creed puts it, 'the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, is all one: the Glory equal, the Majesty co-eternal. Such as the Father is, such is the Son:and such is the Holy Ghost'.

Many of the earliest [[Christian]] doctrines to be regarded as [[heresy|heresies]] were condemned because they conflicted in one way or another with the '''doctrine of the Trinity'''. See [[Arianism]] and [[Monothelitism]].

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 The [[Christian]] [[Gospel]]s speak of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit (or God the Holy Ghost, to use the language of the [[Authorised Version]] of the [[Bible]] and the [[Book of Common Prayer]]). For example, Jesus promises his followers that his Father will send them the Holy Spirit, 'the Comforter, who will teach them all things' (''John'' 14, 26); in the garden of Gethsemane, he prays to his Father that he might be spared the ordeal of crucifixion (''Matthew'' 26, 39; ''Mark'' 14, 35-36; ''Luke'' 22, 42); questioned by the Jewish high priest Caiaphas, he acknowledges that he is the Son of God (''Matthew'' 26, 63-64; ''Mark'' 14, 61-62; ''Luke'' 22, 70); and when after the crucifixion he appears to his followers, he instructs them to baptise converts 'in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit' (''Matthew'' 28, 19).
-[[Christian]]s recognise the distinctness of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, as the [[Gospel]] narrative requires, but nonetheless believe that there is one God; and so the first [[Christian]] theologians, who had the task of formulating a systematic account of [[Christian]] belief, needed to clarify the relationship between God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, and to do so in a way which explains how despite their distinctness they are a single God. The generally accepted account, which became the orthodox doctrine and is usually referred to as the '''doctrine of the Trinity''', is that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are three 'persons' but one 'substance'. (As the [[Athanasian Creed]] puts it, 'we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity, neither confounding the persons, nor dividing the substance'.) However, this statement of the doctrine can, as it stands, easily mislead. Neither the word 'person' nor the word 'substance' have their usual meanings in English, both being translations of Greek philosophical terms: 'person' translates â€˜Ï…Ï€ÏŒÏƒÏ„Î±ÏƒÎ¹Ï‚ (''hupostasis''), which in this context means 'actual existence' or 'reality', and 'substance' translates â€™Î¿Ï…ÏƒÎ¯Î± (''ousia''), which in this context means 'nature' or 'essence'. It would therefore be better, but still not very illuminating, to say that according to the '''doctrine of the Trinity''' God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are three 'realities' which have the same nature or essence. However, whatever the precise import of the doctrine, it is clear that those who formulated it intended to emphasise that the three 'persons' of the Trinity have always existed together, the existence of the one being inseparable from the existence of the others, and that they have equal status. As the Athanasian creed puts it, 'the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, is all one: the Glory equal, the Majesty co-eternal. Such as the Father is, such is the Son:and such is the Holy Ghost'.
+[[Christian]]s recognise the distinctness of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, as the [[Gospel]] narrative requires, but nonetheless believe that there is one God; and so the first [[Christian]] theologians, who had the task of formulating a systematic account of [[Christian]] belief, needed to clarify the relationship between God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, and to do so in a way which explains how despite their distinctness they are a single God. The generally accepted account, which became the orthodox doctrine and is usually referred to as the '''doctrine of the Trinity''', is that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are three 'persons' but one 'substance'. (As the [[Athanasian Creed]] puts it, 'we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity, neither confounding the persons, nor dividing the substance'.) However, this statement of the doctrine can, as it stands, easily mislead. Neither the word 'person' nor the word 'substance' have their usual meanings in English, both being translations of Greek philosophical terms: 'person' translates ὑπόστασις (''hupostasis''), which in this context means 'actual existence' or 'reality', and 'substance' translates οὐσία (''ousia''), which in this context means 'nature' or 'essence'. It would therefore be better, but still not very illuminating, to say that according to the '''doctrine of the Trinity''' God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are three 'realities' which have the same nature or essence. However, whatever the precise import of the doctrine, it is clear that those who formulated it intended to emphasise that the three 'persons' of the Trinity have always existed together, the existence of the one being inseparable from the existence of the others, and that they have equal status. As the Athanasian creed puts it, 'the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, is all one: the Glory equal, the Majesty co-eternal. Such as the Father is, such is the Son:and such is the Holy Ghost'.
 Many of the earliest [[Christian]] doctrines to be regarded as [[heresy|heresies]] were condemned because they conflicted in one way or another with the '''doctrine of the Trinity'''. See [[Arianism]] and [[Monothelitism]].