Trinity Part 1

I called this blog "Trinity Part 1" because I fully expect and intend on revisiting this quite complex subject.

The Holy Trinity is a theology of great significance within the Christian religion. The mystery of the Trinity can be quite difficult to understand and many Christians have a different understanding of the Trinity. This article is a meager attempt at bringing some meaning to my understanding of the Trinity, cultured in and outside of class, and attempting to not be heretical to the Roman Catholic Church nor to Lutherans, Episcopalians, etc…

The Holy Trinity: The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is truly one of the great mysteries within the Christian community. The understanding of the relationship between the three persons of the Trinity is confusing to people and has been studied and written about for over 2000 years. My understanding of the Trinity comes from the bottom up, from not knowing the meaning to coming to a fuller, yet forever insufficient understanding, of the Trinity. I say a forever insufficient understanding for the simple reason that I may read, believe and comprehend the tenets of the Trinity, but I, as a human, cannot fully understand this Mystery. This Mystery, as it is understood by the Roman Catholic Church, Lutheran, and many others is such: The Trinity is three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but still one God. As it says in the Nicene Creed, God from God, and the Holy Spirit is begotten from the Father and Son, not created, but begotten. Yet, these three natures are one. Are they three persons? Yes, and no. Is it three Gods? NO! It is one God, but with three natures all with one will. Confusing? Yes, and I hope I have gotten this part correct!

As I have struggled with my understanding I have tried to look at several issues surrounding the Trinity. God is the first person of the Trinity. There is not much to misunderstand about Him. He is God, from the beginning, now and forever will be. God created everything and continually creates everything according to his will. He is forever unchanging, it is humans who change in order to better understand the incomprehensible being of God. God is the Trinity as much as Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

There are many issues that I can look at in trying to understand the Trinity. For instance, Mary, mother of Jesus or mother of God? Both perhaps, as she was the human mother of Jesus, but since Jesus is part of the Holy Trinity, who is God, then understandably, from simple deduction, the term Mother of God fits her quite easily and nicely.

The Lutheran Augsburg Confession speaks of the Trinity and states in Article I,
"Our Churches, with common consent, do teach that the decree of the Council of Nicaea concerning the Unity of the Divine Essence and concerning the Three Persons, is true and to be believed without any doubting; 2] that is to say, there is one Divine Essence which is called and which is God: eternal, without body, without parts, of infinite power, wisdom, and goodness, the Maker and Preserver of all things, visible and invisible; and 3] yet there are three Persons, of the same essence and power, who also are coeternal, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. And the term "person" 4] they use as the Fathers have used it, to signify, not a part or quality in another, but that which subsists of itself."

The confession continues in Article III by stating about Jesus Christ,
“Also they teach that the Word, that is, the Son of God, did assume the human nature in 2] the womb of the blessed Virgin Mary, so that there are two natures, the divine and the human, inseparably enjoined in one Person, one Christ, true God and true man, who was born of the Virgin Mary, truly suffered, was crucified, dead, and 3] buried, that He might reconcile the Father unto us, and be a sacrifice, not only for original guilt, but also for all actual sins of men.”

As a Lutheran myself, with enormous respect for the Roman Catholic Church, I believe these two sections adequately describe the Holy Trinity, but does not help in the understanding of the Trinity.

Many Christians believe certain tenets of Christianity blindly, without question, but I want to understand why, while also believing. As the Augsburg Confession states the belief, which I recite and believe, I am forced to look further for a better understanding. Saint Augustine wrote an entire book trying to explain the mystery of the Trinity. At the end of his work, The Trinity, Saint Augustine wrote a prayer that stated,
“O Lord our God, we believe in you, Father and Son and Holy Spirit. Truth would not have said, Go and baptize the nations in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19), unless you were a triad. Nor would you have commanded us to be baptized, Lord God, in the name of any who is not Lord God. Nor would it have been said with divine authority, Hear O Israel, the Lord your God is one God (Dt 6:4), unless while being a triad you were still one Lord God. And if you, God and Father, were yourself also the Son your Word Jesus Christ, were yourself also your gift the Holy Spirit, we would not read in the documents of truth God sent his Son (Gal 4:4), nor would you, only-begotten one, have said of the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name (Jn14:26) and whom I will send you from the Father (Jn 15:26)”
This I thought is a beautiful expression of the Trinity, and Augustine’s own personal struggle to understand the mystery of the Holy Trinity.

The last couple of paragraphs were recitals of Luther’s confession and Saint Augustine’s understanding of the Trinity. This helps in my understanding of the Trinity, but I have not spoken much about scriptural basis for the Trinity. The Bible is riddled with references to the Trinity, but there are two sections I want to take a quick look at.

The first verse is John 3:31-35. It states,
“He who comes from above is above all others; he who is of the earth is earthly himself and speaks in an earthly way. He who comes from heaven bears witness to the things he has seen and heard, but his testimony is not accepted by anybody; though anyone who does accept his testimony is attesting that God is true, since he who God has sent speaks God’s own words, for God gives him the Spirit without reserve. The Father loves the Son and has entrusted everything to his hands.”
This scripture, as my meager understanding allows, is a perfect example of the Trinity being spoken of in scripture. This passage has all three persons of the Trinity. It seems quite complex, yet simple.

A second scriptural passage is also from John 4:21-24 Jesus said,
“Believe me, woman, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know; for salvation comes from the Jews. But the hour is coming –indeed is already here—when true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth: that is the kind of worshipper the Father seeks. God is spirit, and those who worship must worship in spirit and truth.”

Jesus spoke the truth, and is the Word of God. As this is a short article, I cannot go into the Old Testament and quote from it the Trinitarian passages, but there are many which has helped me to understand the Trinity.

I shall try to draw this article to a close, feeling that I have not adequately explained my journey in understanding the Trinity. I will try however to explain it again. The Trinity is the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. All three natures of the Trinity are working as one God, not three separate persons, but one person with three natures. God is God, Jesus is God with a human nature and the Holy Spirit works through the Father and Son in creation. Jesus has both Divine and human nature as only God can forgive human sins, but it was Jesus’ human nature that died on the cross for humanity as God cannot die as seen in Jesus’ resurrection. There is but one God, forever unchanging, and Jesus’ human body was born of the Virgin Mary, but he is also eternal.

As Saint Augustine did, let me end with my own prayer:
Father, please forgive my ignorance as I attempt to understand all of your mysteries and give me patience with myself as I work towards that understanding. I pray for your eternal guidance, your redemptive Son, and work through the Holy Spirit. Amen.