Trinity

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The Christian doctrine of the Trinity teaches the unity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as three persons in one Godhead.^[1] The doctrine states that God is the Triune God, existing as three persons, or in the Greek hypostases,^[2] but one being.^[3] Each of the persons is understood as having the one identical essence or nature, not merely similar natures. Since the beginning of the third century^[4] the doctrine of the Trinity has been stated as "the one God exists in three Persons and one substance, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit."^[5] Trinitarianism, belief in the Trinity, is a mark of Oriental and Eastern Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism and all the mainstream traditions arising from the Protestant Reformation, such as Anglicanism, Methodism, Lutheranism and Presbyterianism. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church describes the Trinity as "the central dogma of Christian theology".^[5]

This doctrine is in contrast to Nontrinitarian positions which include Binitarianism (one deity/two persons), Unitarianism (one deity/one person), the Oneness belief held by certain Pentecostal groups, Modalism, and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' view of the Godhead as three separate beings who are one in purpose rather than essence.

The New Testament does not have a formal doctrine of the Trinity and nowhere discusses the Trinity as such. However, Theologian Frank Stagg emphasizes that the New Testament does repeatedly speak of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—in such a way as to "compel a trinitarian understanding of God."^[6] The doctrine developed from the biblical language used in New Testament passages such as the baptismal formula in Matthew 28:19 and took substantially its present form by the end of the 4th century as a result of controversies in which some theologians, when speaking of God, used terms such as "person", "nature", "essence", "substance", terms that had never been used by the Apostolic Fathers, in a way that the Church authorities considered to be erroneous.^[5][7][8][9]

Some deny that the doctrine that developed in the fourth century was based on Christian ideas, and hold instead that it was a deviation from Early Christian teaching on the nature of God^[10] or even that it was borrowed from a pre-Christian conception of a divine trinity held by Plato.^[11]

Etymology

The "Shield of the Trinity" or "Scutum Fidei" diagram of traditional Western Christian symbolism.

The English word Trinity is derived from Latin Trinitas, meaning "the number three, a triad".^[12] This abstract noun is formed from the adjective trinus (three each, threefold, triple),^[13] as the word unitas is the abstract noun formed from unus (one).

The corresponding word in Greek is ?????, meaning "a set of three" or "the number three".^[14]

The first recorded use of this Greek word in Christian theology (though not about the Divine Trinity) was by Theophilus of Antioch in about 170. He wrote:^[15][16]

"In like manner also the three days which were before the luminaries, are types of the Trinity [???????], of God, and His Word, and His wisdom. And the fourth is the type of man, who needs light, that so there may be God, the Word, wisdom, man."^[17]

Tertullian, a Latin theologian who wrote in the early third century, is credited with using the words "Trinity",^[18] "person" and "substance"^[19] to explain that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are "one in essence – not one in Person".^[20]

About a century later, in 325, the First Council of Nicaea established the doctrine of the Trinity as orthodoxy and adopted the Nicene Creed, which described Christ as "God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance (homoousios) with the Father".

References used from Scripture

Sculptural group from the Holy Trinity Column in Olomouc, Czech Republic, 18th century

The New Testament does not use the word "?????" (Trinity) nor explicitly teach it, but provides the material upon which the doctrine of the Trinity is based.^[21] It required reflection by the earliest Christians on the coming of Jesus and of what they believed to be the presence and power of God among them, which they called the Holy Spirit; and it associated the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in such passages as the Great Commission: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit"^{[Matt. 28:19]} and Paul the Apostle's blessing: "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all,"^{[2 Cor. 13:14]} while at the same time not contradicting the Jewish Shema Yisrael: "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord."^{[Deuteronomy 6:4][1]} Apart from the passages that speak of Father Son and Holy Spirit, there are many passages that refer to God and Jesus without also referring to the Spirit.^[22]

According to Christian tradition the Trinity was introduced by the Gospels and Jesus Christ himself^[23] "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you."^{[Matt. 28:19-20]} Jesus thus mentions the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in a phrase that may suggest that there is one name that encompasses all three.

The Old Testament refers to God's Word, his Spirit, and Wisdom. These have been interpreted as foreshadows of the doctrine of the Trinity, as have been also narratives such as the appearance of the three men to Abraham.^{[Gen. 18][5]} Some Church Fathers believed that a knowledge of the mystery was granted to the Prophets and saints of the Old Dispensation, and that they identified the divine messenger of Genesis 16:7, 21:17, 31:11, Exodus 3:2 and Wisdom of the sapiential books with the Son, and "the spirit of the Lord" with the Holy Spirit.^[24]

However, it is generally agreed that it would go beyond the intention and spirit of the Old Testament to correlate these notions directly with later Trinitarian doctrine.^[24][25]

The Gospel of John^[John 1] opens by declaring, as usually translated: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made." The rest of John Chapter 1 makes it clear that "the Word" refers to Jesus Christ. Thus John introduces a seemingly impossible contradiction, that Jesus both "was with God" and "was God" at the same time, and that was true from the beginning of creation. John also portrays Jesus Christ as the creator of the Universe, such that "without him nothing was made that has been made."^[John 1:3]

The Apostle John is identified as the "one whom Jesus loved" thus perhaps being the closest Apostle to Jesus. Jesus also instructed John to adopt Jesus' mother Mary as John's own in Mary's old age^{[John 19:26]} such that John would have had the entire knowledge of Jesus' family when writing his Gospel. Some scholars question this, however, as the gospel of John is believed to have been written circa AD 85-90.

Jesus frequently referred to the "Father" as God as distinct from himself, but also discussed "The Holy Spirit" as a being distinct from either God the Father or Jesus himself.

These things I have spoken to you while abiding with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.

– John 14:25-26

In this passage, Jesus portrays the Father sending the Holy Spirit – that is the Father and the Holy Spirit are two distinctly different persons, and portrays both the Father and the Holy Spirit as distinct from Jesus himself. Thus even apart from whether Jesus was God, Jesus declares that the Father and the Holy Spirit are two different persons, both of them divine. In the same way, the Old Testament frequently refers to "the Spirit of God" as something slightly different from God himself.

The fourth Gospel also elaborates on the role of Holy Spirit, sent as an advocate for believers.^[26] The immediate context of these verses was providing "assurance of the presence and power of God both in the ministry of Jesus and the ongoing life of the community"; but, beyond this immediate context, these verses raised questions of relationship between Father, Son and the Holy Spirit, especially as concerns their distinction and their unity. These questions were hotly debated over the ensuing centuries, and mainstream Christianity resolved the issues by drawing up creeds.^[26]

However, some scholars dispute the authenticity of the Trinity and argue that the doctrine is the result of "later theological interpretations of Christ's nature and function" (Harris 427-28) argued in debate and treatises.^[27][28] The concept was expressed in early writings from the beginning of the second century forward. Some believe the concept was introduced in the Old Testament book of Isaiah written around 700 years before Jesus, copies of which were preserved from 300 years before Jesus in the Dead Sea Scrolls. Isaiah 9 prophesies "6 For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon his shoulder. And his name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Thus a son who will be born at a particular point in history (to a virgin or young woman^[Isa. 7:14] is also "Mighty God, Everlasting Father". This is the Christian teaching that God exists simultaneously as the Eternal God and also as a Son (Jesus) born to a virgin. Isaiah refers to the Son as "Mighty God, Everlasting Father".

Various passages from both the Christian and Hebrew scriptures have been cited as supporting this doctrine, while other passages are cited as opposing it.

Scriptural texts cited as implying support

The diverse references to God, Jesus, and the Spirit found in the New Testament were later systematized into the idea of a Trinity – one God subsisting in three persons and one substance – in order to combat heretical tendencies of how the three are related and to defend the church against charges of worshiping two or three gods.^[26] The doctrine itself was not explicitly stated in the New Testament and no New Testament writer expounds on the relationship among the three in the detail that later writers do. Thus, while Matthew records a special connection between God the Father and Jesus the Son,^{[Matt. 11:27]} he falls short of claiming that Jesus is equal with God^{[Matt. 24:36][26]} although John is more explicit and writes that Jesus Christ told the Jews: "I and the Father are one".^{[John 10:30]}

The most influential New Testament text was the reference to the three Persons in the baptismal formula in Matthew 28:19. Other passages also were seen as having Trinitarian overtones, such as the Pauline benediction of 2 Cor. 13:14.^[5]

The Gospel of John starts with the affirmation that in the beginning Jesus as Word "was with God and ...was God",^[John 1:1] and ends with Thomas's confession of faith to Jesus, "My Lord and my God!"^{[John 20:28][26]} There is no significant tendency among modern scholars to deny that these two verses identify Jesus with God.^[29] The same Gospel also suggests that Jesus' use of the term "Son of God" inferred essential equality and unity of Father and Son—"…making himself equal to the Father"^{[John 5:18] [19:7]} and saying "I and the Father are one."^[10:30] But John also suggests a hierarchy when Jesus is quoted as saying, "The Father is greater than I,"^[14:28] a statement appealed to by Marcionism, Valentinianism, Arianism and others who denied the Trinity.

Summarizing the role of scripture in the formation of Trinitarian belief, Gregory Nazianzen argues in his Orations that the revelation was intentionally gradual:

The Old Testament proclaimed the Father openly, and the Son more obscurely. The New manifested the Son, and suggested the deity of the Spirit. Now the Spirit himself dwells among us, and supplies us with a clearer demonstration of himself. For it was not safe, when the Godhead of the Father was not yet acknowledged, plainly to proclaim the Son; nor when that of the Son was not yet received to burden us further.^[30]

References to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

A few verses directly reference the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit at the same time:

• "As soon as Jesus Christ was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and landing on him. And a voice from heaven said, 'This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.'"^{[Matt. 3:16–17] [Mark 1:10–11] [Luke 3:22] [John 1:32]}
• "The angel answered and said to her, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.'"^[Luke 1:35]
• "How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!"^[Heb. 9:14]
• "But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God." ^[Acts 7:55]
• This passage contains many complex formulations of the relationship between God, Christ, and Spirit, including "the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead,"^[Rom. 8:11] "all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God,"^[8:14-17] and "the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God."^[8:26-27]

Some even reference these as part of a single formula:

• "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit"^{[Matt. 28:19]} (see Trinitarian formula). It has been claimed that writings of Eusebius show the mention of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to have displaced a request by Jesus that his disciples baptize people in his name,^[31] but all manuscripts of the Gospel of Matthew contain, without any variation, the mention of the Trinity.)^[32]
• "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you."^{[2 Cor. 13:14]}

Comma Johanneum

In addition to these, 1 John 5:7 states, "For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one." However, this Comma Johanneum is not considered to be part of the genuine text.^[33] It is commonly found in Latin manuscripts, but is absent from the Greek manuscripts, except for a few late examples, where the passage appears to have been back-translated from the Latin. Erasmus, the compiler of the Textus Receptus, on which the King James Version was based, noticed that the passage was not found in any of the Greek manuscripts at his disposal and refused to include it until presented with an example containing it, which he rightly suspected was a gloss after the fact.^[34] Although the Latin Church Father, Saint Cyprian, is thought to have referred to the passage,^[35] it is now considered not to have been part of the original text, and is omitted from modern translations of the Bible, even from the revision of the Vulgate that is now the official Latin text of the Roman Catholic Church.^[36]

Jesus as God

In the New Testament, the Gospel of John has been seen as aimed at emphasizing Jesus' divinity, presenting Jesus as the Logos, pre-existent and divine, from its very first words, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God";^[John 1:1] and "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."^[1:14][37] Other passages of John's Gospel interpreted in this sense include "before Abraham was born, I am!",^[10:30] "I and the Father are one",^[8:58] "The Father is in me, and I in the Father",^[10:38] and "Thomas said to him, 'My Lord and my God!'"^{[20:28] [38]} John is also seen to identify Jesus as the Lord whom Isaiah saw,^{[Jn. 12:34-45] [Isa. 6:1-10]} while other texts^{[Heb. 1:1-12]} are also understood as referring to Jesus as God.^[39][40][41]

Expressions also in the Pauline epistles have been interpreted as attributing divinity to Jesus. They include Colossians 1:16 ("For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him") and 2:9 ("For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form"), and in Paul the Apostle's claim in Galatians 1:1 to have been "sent not from men nor by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father".^[42]

Another biblical demonstration of Jesus as God comes from English abolitionist and philanthropist Granville Sharp who noticed the following Greek idiom, which is now called Granville Sharp's rule:^[43] whenever two nouns that are personal, singular, and not proper names are connected in a TSKS pattern (The - Substantive - Kai - Substantive, where 'kai' is Greek for 'and') then both nouns refer to the same person. Obviously this idiom does not apply to proper names—the phrase "The Pope and Mr. Gorbachev" refers to two separate people.^[44] Passages like Titus 2:13 and 2 Peter 1:1 fit this pattern. Therefore, when Paul says:^{[Titus 2:13]} "The great God and savior, Jesus Christ" he is grammatically identifying Jesus Christ as the great God. It is not accurate to object that proper nouns are used in this phrase. Although God is capitalized in English in Greek grammar it is not a proper noun, and while 'Jesus Christ' here is a proper noun it is the word 'savior' that is in the TSKS construction.^[45] In his exhaustive review of over 1,000 years of Greek literature Christopher Wordsworth confirmed that early chur