Trinity
From CreationWiki, the encyclopedia of creation science
The word trinity itself is from the Latin trinitas, meaning "threeness." It is used to describe a fundamental Christian belief based on the biblical theological doctrine that one God is manifested to the world as a Father, a Son and a Holy Spirit.
Contents |
Biblical Trinitarianism
The Bible teaches that God is indeed one God but that there are three distinct nature's or manifestations of God to the world which are Jesus Christ being the Son of another manifestation of God the Father. The Holy Spirit is as well a manifestation which is to be accepted into a persons life upon faith in Christ's life, death and resurrection. Neither the word trinity nor any equivalent occurs in the Bible, however this Christian doctrine is logically derived from many statements spread throughout scripture.
Even the first chapter of Genesis as well as other places [1] [2] [3] God is seen as having multiple parts:
Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. Genesis 1:26 (NASB)
The word for God being used in 1:26 in the original Hebrew is Elohim (אֱלֹהִ֑ים) and when that is used with the plural noun "Us" it refers specifically to more than two. Various other places also note, about two dozen times in the Old Testament alone, that there is only one God and in fact in Isaiah 44:8 it states specifically that God does not know any other gods. [4]
It can be posited then that the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit are not seperate god's as some believe because the underlying implication presented is that each is a part of one God. This is of course a consistent view held by authors of the Bible throughout. It is through the triune nature of God that we understand His will for us as He displays attributes which we can connect to and understand through human reason and logic.
Purposes and characteristics
The word used most often when describing the triune nature of God is hypostasis, which means the substance or essential nature of something, [5] and could designate more than one. God's hypostasis according to His written word clearly imply three distinct natures of one God. However each may be unique with specific purposes they all three are equal in that they constitute one God or Godhead and compliment eachother.
It is important to note that Jesus Christ or the Son hypostasis is subordinate to the hypostais of God the Father [6] and the Holy Spirit is subordinate to both. [7]
The Father
The Father is the ultimate source or cause of:
- The creation of the universe and different kinds of life. [8] [9] [10] [11]
- Divine revelation. The Father divinely revealed not only the Law to the prophets of the Old Testament but His love for the world through His Son. [12] [13]
- Salvation through His Son Jesus Christ. [14]
The Son
The Son is an agent of God the Father who's purpose is the following:
- Creation and maintenance of the universe. [15]
- Divine revelation from the Father to the world. [16]
- Salvation. Through faith in Jesus Christ's life, death and resurrection man can be saved. [17] [18]
The Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is the revelation to mankind or manifestation of the spirit of God by which the Father accomplishes the following:
- Creation and maintainment of the universe. [19] [20] [21]
- Divine revelation as well as a source of discernment. [22] [23] [24]
- Salvation through acceptance of the Holy Spirit into your life. [25] [26] [27]
- The Holy Spirit is also the source of Jesus' works. [28] [29]
Historical Challenges
There have been many challenges over the past two millenia upon various beliefs that Christianity holds. The challenges in history presented will be the earliest known after Christ's death and ressurection, roughly 290 years after. These represent challenges towards the divinity of each specific hypostasis within the Godhead.
Divinity of the Father challenged
Divinity of the Son challenged
A heresy arose in the fourth century around 318 AD in which Arius, the first to argue such a case, stated that the Son (Jesus Christ) is not in fact fully human and fully God but was a created being. He was formed out of nothing by the Father before the universe was made. Arius was a popular preacher calling Libya home but was strongly opposed by his bishop Alexander from Alexandria. Underlying Arius' thinking was the assumption that if Christ were to be fully human and fully God, it required two distinct gods.
Under Constantine the Great's rule, the Council of Nicaea (Nicaea I) is convened and 318 bishops are in attendance and become one voice condeming the Arian heresy. The result is the Nicene Creed which many churches follow to this very day.
Divinity of the Holy Spirit challenged
Related References
- Trinity in the Bible Got Questions?
- Is the Trinity biblical? by Christian Research Institute
- First Ecumenical Council by Catholic Encyclopedia
- Second Ecumenical Council Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
- Arianism by Catholic Encyclopedia
- Nicene Creed Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry
- Arianism by Early Church
 Browse |
See Also
Categories: Theology | Christianity | Bible | Religion
