The Trinity
Notes
Transcript
In the OT
In the OT
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
“As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.” I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you.
For to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”? Or again, “I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son”?
And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all God’s angels worship him.”
Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness; you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions;
But of the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.
Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
“I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.
But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.
The New Testament, much more clearly than the Old Testament, presents the trinitarian nature of God. The Gospel of Matthew began with the announcement that Mary was pregnant with Jesus by the work of the Spirit (Matt 1:18-19). At Jesus’ baptism we see that the Savior is in the Jordan River, the Spirit descends as a dove, and the Father speaks from Heaven. In the Great Commission, Jesus commanded that his disciples should be baptized into the one nature or name of the Father and of the Son and of the Spirit. The three share the same essence. There is, therefore, no distinction between them. They share the same essence, “rank,” and will. The Bible also presents each of the divine persons working together for the salvation of God’s people. 1 Peter 1:2 records that the recipients of that letter were “elect..according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with his blood.”
The Christian religion has never posited the concept of two or three ingenerate beings or more than one god. Christianity has, from the Scriptures, taught that the Son is eternally generated from the Father and the Spirit is eternally generated from the Father and Son. “In using these terms we are of course speaking in a human and hence an imperfect language, a fact that makes us cautious. Yet we have the right to speak this language. For just as the Bible speaks analogically of God’s ear, eye, and mouth, so human generation is an analogy and image of the divine deed by which the Father gives the Son “to have life in himself.” But when we resort to this imagery, we must be careful to remove all associations with imperfection and sensuality from it.”
Sonship and Spiration are based on God’s generative nature. Bavinck said, “God’s fecundity is a beautiful theme, one that frequently recurs in the church fathers. God is no abstract, fixed, monadic, solitary substance, but a plenitude of life. It is his nature (οὐσια) to be generative (γεννητικη) and fruitful (καρπογονος).” Bavinck went on to say, “For if God cannot communicate himself, he is a darkened light, a dry spring, unable to exert himself outward to communicate himself to creatures.”
Recent Interpretive Moves
Recent Interpretive Moves
The doctrine of the Trinity fell on hard times with the shift to modernity. Schleiermacher did not address the Trinity properly until the end of his The Christian Faith. Schleiermacher’s doctrinal presentation has been controversially seen as either the culmination of his work or just an appendix necessarily added due to traditional considerations. With this shift modern theologians have deemphasized the Trinity and cast aside the traditional approach to Trinitarian theology. Fred Sanders said, “It is now a commonplace to note how poorly the doctrine of the Trinity fared when the world turned modern. The regime of rationalism and this-worldliness that took hold of intellectual culture sometime around the late seventeenth century was not kind to this central Christian doctrine.”
In the recent revival of Trinitarian interest the Trinity with either experiential subjectivism or a strict propositionalism. Typically, Trinitarian theology among modern theologians struggles to present the Trinity as fundamental to the inner life of God and as fundamental to understanding soteriology. Going forward, Christian theologians should focus again on knowing God through Christ in the Spirit. The Trinitarian life of God, then, is the life which Christians should seek in Scripture and enjoy in worship. When someone believes what the Spirit revealed in Scripture about the Son of God as he was sent from the Father, they are Trinitarian. As these trinitarian theologians begin to pursue God as Father, Son, and Spirit, then the God of Scripture can be more fully known and enjoyed.
The one God
The one God
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
Not a math equation…A statement of the simple essence shared between the three persons.
I am the Lord; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.
And the Lord will be king over all the earth. On that day the Lord will be one and his name one.
Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.”
yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.
So, there is one God and there are three persons in God.
The Three Persons of God
The Three Persons of God
The Father: The Unbegotten
The Father: The Unbegotten
God is necessarily the first cause. There can be nothing before God. Genesis 1 presents God as that being who created creation. John 1 echoes Genesis 1 but with an emphasis on God and the Word who was God. The Word was eternally or timelessly with the Father, yet this Word was God (Jn 1:1). The Father, then, stands as identical with the Word, but there is a distinction between the Father and the Word. The distinction is not qualitative, the only distinction which the Spirit gave is relational.
There is God and there is the Word which proceeds eternally from God as God. As shocking as it may seem, the word “Word” has meaning. The Spirit did not say that the Word proceeded from a or the Word. The Spirit said, the Word proceeded from God. This procession reveals what has been called “the eternal relations of origin.” This concept was further expounded upon in John 5:26 when the Spirit inspired John to record the Word’s words “ὥσπερ γὰρ ὁ πατὴρ ἔχει ζωὴν ἐν ἑαυτῷ, οὕτως καὶ τῷ υἱῷ ἔδωκεν ζωὴν ἔχειν ἐν ἑαυτῷ.” The Father’s aseity (self-existence and independence from any cause) was noted, but then Jesus said that he, the Son, received his aseity from the Father’s nature–”so he gave also the Son to have life in himself” (Jn 5:26).
This concept of procession was normative for classical theologians as they began to teach Trinitarian theology from Scripture. John of Damascus explained the importance of the Father’s generation of the Son and spiration of the Spirit. He said
But always He was with the Father and in Him, everlastingly and without beginning begotten of Him. For there never was a time when the Father was and the Son was not, but always the Father and always the Son, Who was begotten of Him, existed together. For He could not have received the name Father apart from the Son: for if He were without the Son, He could not be the Father: and if He thereafter had the Son, thereafter He became the Father, not having been the Father prior to this, and He was changed from that which was not the Father and became the Father. This is the worst form of blasphemy2. For we may not speak of God as destitute of natural generative power: and generative power means, the power of producing from one’s self, that is to say, from one’s own proper essence, that which is like in nature to one’s self.
Perhaps this concept of procession helps John’s readers to understand, “Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works” (Jn 14:10). Since the nature of God is generative–life giving, the Father must give life. The Father timelessly gives life to the Son and to the Spirit.
God is the fullness of life. With him there is no potential. Therefore, God must be generative by his very nature. Aquinas, in Questiones Disputates De Potentia Dei, explained God’s generative power (Question 2). First, Aquinas reasoned that “all power is either active or passive” and that “there can be no passive power in God: nor in him can a generative power be active, because then the Son would be the result of an action and would be made, which is against the faith.” The divine nature cannot be the product of some generation, but the Father generates by his very nature. Again, Aquinas explained that, “The power of God, being infinite, is not terminated either by its act or by its object. Now if in God there be a generative power, its act will be generation, and its effect will be a Son.” The generation of the Son does not imply the generation of an infinite number of sons because the generation was perfect or complete in the Son.
Aquinas tied God’s generative power to his being pure act. Aquinas reasoned that since “the divine nature is supreme and most pure act: wherefore it communicates itself as far as possible….so that as one to whom the human nature is communicated is a man, so one to whom the Godhead is communicated is not merely like God, but is truly God.” The Father then is said to timelessly or eternally “generate” the Son as a necessary aspect of his divine nature. This generative work is similar to when a person has a “conception” of himself and then would be able to communicate that conception. God, being pure act, infinite, and omniscient, knows himself perfectly and his conception of himself must also perfect. Since a perfect conception of God must be active and personal, the conception must be identical to God in nature but also distinct in person. So, the Father generates the Son as the personal communication of himself. Aquinas concluded that, “Now even as when our intellect understands itself there is in it a word proceeding and bearing a likeness to that from which it proceeds, so, too, in God there is a word bearing the likeness of him from whom it proceeds.” It is most appropriate then for the Son to be described as both Son and Word.
The Son: The Begotten
The Son: The Begotten
Begottenness is proven every time the Son is described as Son. John 5:26 says, “For just as the Father has life in Himself, so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself.” This verse shows us that the Father/Son relationship is not something that began in time. The Father/Son relationship describes divine ontology. The Father and Son are homoousios because the Son proceeds from the Father. The concept of begottenness or generation is proven by all Scriptures which describe Jesus as Son, the use of Logos to describe the Son in John’s writings. The description of the Son as radiance and glory of God in Hebrews 1 and Colossians 1.
Other Descriptions of Processions
Other Descriptions of Processions
He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
The Necessity of Timelessness in this Relationship
The Necessity of Timelessness in this Relationship
Eternal generation helps to guard against Christological heresies. Since the Son did not become the Son, the Son is timelessly true God. Eternal generation demands that the Son is not a creature and not less than the Father. The Son is “God over all, forever praised” (Rom 9:5). The Son is true God because he is timelessly generated from the Father’s nature. If the Son were created or emanated as an act of the Father’s will, the Son would be a creature as Arius claimed.
The Son is able to make the Father known to us by his divine essence. John 1:18 teaches that “no one has ever seen God, but the only begotten God who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.” The Son is able to make the Father known by his life because the Son shares the same essence with the Father.
The Scriptures confirm that Christ makes God known to us in the names that were used to describe him. Christ was described in Scripture with words like Word, Light, Son, Radiance, and Imprint. These words connote that the Father’s nature is fully shared with the Son and then manifested to his people. In John 1:1 Jesus was described as “the Word.” This is a famous description of the Son, but there is meaning in the name “Word.” A word is and communicates a message. The Word is and communicates God. Being a Word the Word “proceeds” timelessly from the Father. Another favorite description of Jesus is the Son. Before the incarnation, the Father sent his Son into the world. John said, “God gave his only begotten Son” (Jn 3:16). What does it mean that Jesus is the Son? It doesn’t mean that the Son was produced by the Father in a natural human way. Sonship does entail that the Son proceeds from the Father and is the same essence of the Father. The Son, then, is whatever the Father is. Similarly, Jesus was described as the “Radiance of God’s glory” (Heb 1:3). It is as if the Son is the radiating Light from the Fatherly Light. In fact John used this same concept when he described Jesus as the true Light and Light of the world (Jn 1:4-9). Ancient theologians would, therefore, frequently describe Jesus as “Light from Light.” Hebrews 1:3 also described Christ as the “exact imprint of his nature.” The Son is exactly like the Father. There is no distinguishing between them except the Father is the Father and the Son is the Son.
These descriptions of the eternal Son of God are important because they teach us about the Son and give us confidence that the Son has revealed the true nature of the Father. The Sonship of Christ moves us to understand the nature of the Trinity. There are not three gods, but there is the one divine nature which is shared from the Father to the Son and the Spirit. The Sonship of Christ guards against a hierarchical view of the Trinity–the Father and Son are of the same nature and therefore equal.
The deity of the Son was shown in several ways by the Scriptures.
The deity of the Son was shown in several ways by the Scriptures.
Jesus’ deity was shown by the way in which he is described (Is. 7:14; Dan 7:13-14; Jn 1:1). Jesus accepted worship as a divine person (Lk 24:52). Jesus’ deity was also proven by the miracles he performed (Jn 1:48-51, 20:30-31).
The Spirit: The Spirated
The Spirit: The Spirated
The Spirit is said to be spirited from the Father and Son because the Spirit proceeds from the Father and Son. The Spirit is not described as a Son, instead the Spirit is described as Spirit and the Spirit “proceeds” (ἐκπορευσις) from the Father and Son.
Just as the Son was presented as Son, the Spirit was presented as Spirit or that which proceeds from the Father and Son by spiration. John’s Gospel, again, prominently displayed this theology. First, note that John recorded Jesus’ promise of the Spirit in John 14:15-16 as the gift of an equal. The Spirit was “another Helper.” In John 14:26 Jesus said, “the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all the things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” The Spirit completes the work which the Father sent the Son to do.
Then in John 15:26 Jesus said, “when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me” (τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς ἀληθείας ὃ παρὰ τοῦ πατρὸς ἐκπορεύεται). Two things can be learned here: 1) the Son sent the Spirit from the Father and 2) the Spirit “proceeds from the Father.” The Spirit’s procession from the Father is a distinct claim from the Son’s sending of the Spirit from the Father. “Proceeds” is a present middle or passive verb in Greek. It seems then that it is necessary to note that the Spirit is sent by the Father and Son because the Spirit “is proceeding” from the Father and Son.
Spiration is derived from the way in which the Scriptures described the Spirit’s procession from the Father. Bavinck summarized the material this way: The relation that exists between the Holy Spirit and the Father and the Son is suggested by his name “the Holy Spirit” as well as by many verbal forms, such as “given,” “sent,” “poured out,” “breathed out,” “proceeded,” “descended.” Christian theology in turn described this relation in terms of projection, procession, outgoing, spiration, emission, outpouring. The preferred term was “spiration.” The basis for this is that Scripture calls the Holy Spirit רוּחַ (wind, spirit) and πνευμα, and repeatedly associates the Spirit with breath and wind (Ps. 33:6; Job 33:4; John 3:8; 20:22; Acts 2:2; etc.).
What is the difference between generation and spiration? Bavinck said, “theologians searched for some kind of distinction. What they found was (1) that the Son proceeds only from the Father, but the Holy Spirit from both the Father and the Son; or (2) that the Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son, as given by both, not as born from both.” The distinction between spiration and generation helps to illustrate the exegetical basis of these doctrines. If the concept of procession was contrived, then the language would not be differentiated. However, since Scripture describes both generation and spiration of the Son and Spirit respectively, the Scriptural basis of the doctrine is solidified. Furthermore, the limit of one Son and one Spirit demonstrates the fullness of the Trinity. There will not be multiple sons or multiple spirits. Instead, the generative nature of God is complete in the Father, Son, and Spirit.
The deity of the Spirit is seen when Peter used “Holy Spirit” and “God” interchangeably in Acts 5:3-4. The deity of the Spirit is also seen when the Spirit is said to share the same “name” (nature) as the Father and Son in the Great Commission (Matt 28:19-20). The Spirit’s deity is also demonstrated when the Spirit is placed alongside the Father and Son in divine works of creation (Gen 1) and salvation (1 Pet 1:1-2).
Trinitarian Heresies
Trinitarian Heresies
Divided Trinity?
Divided Trinity?
The doctrine of divine simplicity maintains the uncomposed nature of God. If there are three who are God, then how is God still uncomposed? The trinitarian God is uncomposed or simple because the Son and Spirit proceed from the Father. They are not distinct beings as such. The Father, Son, and Spirit are of the same being although they are distinct subsistences. The Son and Spirit are inseparable from the Father. The Son and Spirit are necessary to the life of God just as the Father is. The one essence then is shared between the three subsistences. God remains one in this way. God also is necessarily three because of his nature.
Modalism
Modalism
Modalism or oneness theology is the doctrine that teaches there is only one person in God. The Scriptures clearly affirm that there are three who are divine. The three are distinct though they share the same nature. The baptism of Jesus, for example, pictures the Father, Son, and Spirit present distinct from one another in different areas and actions.