The Holy Trinity Explained

Transcription

1 The Holy Trinity Explained The Old Testament was very firm about the fact that there was only one God, but once the Christian Church was formed, it had to work out where Jesus and the Holy Spirit fitted in If Jesus was God, and the Holy Spirit was God, and God the Father was God, did that mean that there were three gods' Or if there was only one God, how was it that there seemed to be three separate persons' This little conundrum caused all sorts of problems, and a whole batch of heresies. Some did not think that Jesus was really God, while others denied his humanity. Some thought that all three persons of the Trinity were just different roles played by the same person, whilst others thought there were just three gods. The Church rejected all these positions, and put forward its own: The Trinity is one. There are not three gods, but one God in three persons. These divine persons do not divide out the one divinity among themselves, but each of them is God whole and entire. The divine persons are really different from one another. Father, Son and Holy Spirit are not simply names for different roles played by the same person. The three persons of the Trinity have different origins: It is the Father who generates, The Son who is begotten, And the Holy Spirit who proceeds. The divine persons are related to one another. Even though they are separate persons, this does not deny their real unity. They still share one nature or substance. What is The Relationship Between The Father, The Son And The Holy Spirit? Jesus reveals his Father as the one who sends. "When the appointed time came, God sent his Son." (Gal. 4: 4) This revelation reflects the truth that "the Person of the Father is not made by anyone, nor created, nor begotten." (Athanasian Creed) Traditionally, the work of creation is appropriated to the Father. Jesus reveals himself as the Son who is sent: "I have come here from God... not that I came because I chose, no, I was sent, and by him." (John 8: 42) This mission reflects the truth that "the Person of the Son is from the Father alone, not made, not created, but begotten." (Athanasian Creed) The Son alone became man. The Holy Trinity Explained Page 1 of 5

2 Jesus reveals the Holy Spirit as one who proceeds from the Father and the Son: "When the Advocate comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who issues from the Father, he will be my witness." This mission reflects the truth that "the Holy Spirit is the uncreated Person who proceeds from the Father and the Son as their eternal love." (Credo of the People of God) The Holy Spirit completes the work of creation and salvation: "God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts: the Spirit that cries, 'Abba, Father'." (Gal. 4: 6) Are The Three Persons of The Holy Trinity One God? The three Persons of the Holy Trinity are one "in substance... co-eternal and co-equal with one another." At critical moments of Jesus' life the unity of the three Persons is revealed. When Jesus was baptised: "Heaven opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily shape, like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, 'You are my Son, the Beloved'." (Luke 3: 22) The mystery of the Trinity is beyond our understanding. Over the centuries the Church has upheld true doctrine against errors which denied either that the three Persons are really distinct or exaggerated that distinction. in 1968, Pope Paul reaffirmed: "In the three divine Persons the life and beatitude of God is realised and fulfilled with overwhelming plenitude in the supreme excellence and glory which is proper to him who is the uncreated Being, in such wise that 'unity in the Trinity and Trinity in the unity must be humbly acknowledged'." (Credo of the People of God) The Trinity is a community of Persons, eternally bound together in perfect understanding and love. As adopted children of the Father, co-heirs with Christ, filled with the Spirit of the Son, the Christian is caught up in the divine life of the Perfect Community. The Church And The Trinity The life of God the life of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit is at the heart of the Church's life and teaching. Jesus confirmed our belief that God is not unmoved or unconcerned by mankind and that he loves us deeply. Jesus Christ told us that he was wholly one with the Father and that he sends his Holy Spirit to unite us with God. We refer to the doctrine of the Holy Trinity as a "mystery". The "mystery" of the Trinity is not primarily to do with how the one God exists in three persons. The "mystery" of the Trinity is primarily about relationships the perfect relationship between the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. This is difficult to understand because we're not very good at relationships. We're better at using our intellect and, over the centuries, our fund of knowledge has increased dramatically. At the same time, however, our ability to enter into happy relationships The Holy Trinity Explained Page 2 of 5

3 hasn't improved at all. The first experience of man and woman was a sense of loneliness and isolation. Such loneliness continues to cut across wealth or power or status. It may be obvious but it is a truth worth repeating, nonetheless, that God did not involve himself with mankind because he was lonely and bored. The Son, Jesus, didn't come among us for a 'chat' as we might go to our neighbour for a cup of coffee. For the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit enjoy a perfect relationship. They do not suffer loneliness. Their happiness and the love between them is perfect and complete. And we say that the relationship between them is a great mystery, not because it is a truth about which we can know nothing but because it is a truth about which we can never know everything. Our relationship with God can never be complete in this life because we're not very good at relationships. And so the mystery of the Trinity is beyond us. There are certain truths about the Trinity that we can learn, however. A good relationship is always based on loving on giving. And each person of the Trinity has been given to us in a particular way. We recognise the Father in particular as the origin of creation and of the re-creation. "God loved the world so much," Jesus tells us, "that he gave his only Son." And the Son, Jesus, is the Person of the Trinity who united himself with human flesh in order to reveal God's love. The penalty he paid was a painful death because the world wasn't interested. He gave himself to us in flesh and blood; as he continues to give himself, under the form of bread and wine, in the Eucharist. And the Holy Spirit, finally, is the third Person of the Trinity who comes into the world every day to draw mankind into the love of God. He is the love of God who draws us to the Father and to one another. Jesus called him the "Comforter". The Holy Spirit is usually regarded as the expression of the mutual love between Father and Son: similarly he is the bond of love between the Father and mankind. When he comes to us he enables us to cry out, "Abba, Father", which is the cry of the child entering into a perfect relationship with the heavenly Father. To understand these relationships within the Trinity and to enter into their mystery is more than the work of a lifetime; it is the work of eternity. For we are not talking about a mathematical formula or a scientific analysis in which, at the end of our search for a solution or answer, we can experience the joy of crying out: "I've solved it", or "I've discovered it". We are talking about relationships. And in a relationship there is always room for growth. As our relationship with God does grow we begin to overcome our loneliness. We begin to enter into a communion far more profound than a purely human community. We enter into the life of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The Holy Trinity Explained Page 3 of 5

4 The Church Is One. This means that we are united in the life of God. Jesus spoke of himself as a vine: "I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me, with me in him, bears fruit in plenty; for cut off from me you can do nothing." The Spirit of God who unites us is like the sap in the vine: normally we can't see it yet it gives life. And the proof that we are alive is that we bear fruit which refreshes and nourishes the world in which we live. The Church Is Holy. Jesus, the Son of God, shared his life with us wholly. And he promised that he would continue to do so. "If anyone loves me," he says, "he will keep my word and my Father will love him, and we shall come to him and make our home with him." Jesus is "at home" with us. Our lives can, and so often do, bring others to God. The Church Is Catholic This means that the church embraces all peoples in every age. The final command of Jesus was to "go and make disciples of all nations and baptise them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." The Church, then, is not an exclusive club for those we happen to regard as suitable. It is for everyone. The Church Is Apostolic It is God who calls us together as a Church. But we remain human beings. The Church is formed by God as an organization built upon human beings and, in particular, on the apostles and their successors, the bishops. "You are Peter," Jesus said to his chief apostle, "and on this rock I will build my Church." The Bishop of Rome remains the successor of St Peter. Like Peter, they are not always a solid rock yet it is so often in human weakness that the power of God becomes most evident. The Church Is People Jesus certainly had to deal with a great deal of weakness from his own closest followers. One of the apostles, Philip, said to Jesus on the night before he died, "Lord, let us see the Father and then we shall be satisfied". It was with some exasperation that Jesus replied: "To have seen me is to have seen the Father." A few years later St Paul said the same thing using different words. He described Jesus as "the image of the unseen God" (Col 1:15) and "the revelation of a mystery kept secret for endless ages". (Rom. 16:25.) These words, "secret" and "mystery" have very similar meanings and they give us the word "sacrament". (The word "sacrament" comes from the Latin word "sacramentum" which, in turn comes from the Greek word for "mystery".) Both Jesus and Paul were emphasising the same truth: if we want to see what God is like then look at Jesus himself and hear what he says and see what he does. And today, now that Jesus has returned to his Father, if we want to see what Jesus is like we are The Holy Trinity Explained Page 4 of 5

5 to look at his Church and hear what the Church says and see what it does. Sometimes we refer to Jesus as the "sacrament" of God; and we refer to the Church as the "sacrament of Jesus Christ". "From the side of Christ," the Church tells us, "came forth the wondrous sacrament of the whole Church." It is impossible to overemphasise the closeness between Jesus Christ and the Church. The very first act of Jesus after his resurrection was to breathe on the apostles in the small room where they had gathered together for comfort and give them his Holy Spirit. But Jesus looked beyond that room till the end of time and prayed to his Father that all people would come together and forgive each other so that, "they may all be one". "Father," he prayed, "May they be one in us, as you are in me and I am in you, so that the world may believe it was you who sent me." The Church, then, is the people who come together as one people to share in the goodness of God and to celebrate it. Each time we assemble we gather in the warmth of God's love. The little room in which Jesus first appeared has been enlarged to take in the whole world and every age. And so the Church describes herself as "a people brought into unity from the unity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit". (Vatican II) The Holy Trinity Explained Page 5 of 5