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Charlie Traffas
Charlie Traffas has been involved in marketing, media, publishing and insurance for more than 40 years. In addition to being a fully-licensed life, health, property and casualty agent, he is also President and Owner of Chart Marketing, Inc. (CMI). CMI operates and markets several different products and services that help B2B and B2C businesses throughout the country create customers...profitably. You may contact Charlie by phone at (316) 721-9200, by e-mail at ctraffas@chartmarketing.com, or you may visit at www.chartmarketing.com.
Religion
1969-12-31 18:00:00
About the Trinity...
Question: My questions deal with the Trinity. Jesus would say certain things that seemingly paved the way for the concept of the Trinity and the fact that Jesus, God the Father and the Holy Spirit were equally divine and one God, but He never actually said the Trinity existed. Why not? Was anyone cognizant of the concept of the Trinity in the time of Jesus? Did the apostles believe Jesus to be a separate person from God the Father? What role did they think the Holy Spirit played?
Answer: Through the Christian centuries many volumes have been written by learned and saintly men and women in their effort to answer the questions you have asked. And yet, the Holy Trinity remains the most profound mystery of the Christian faith. It is the first and fundamental article of belief: there exists only one God, and that in this one God here are three distinct persons, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. This fact was revealed to us by the Second Person of the Trinity, who became man as Jesus Christ and who taught us this mystery. Your questions are worthy but cannot be fully explained. All we can do is attempt to explain the inexplicable, to help us understand something about the inner life of God, Who made us and to Whom we are to return at death. But, when all has been said, it remains a mystery, which we cannot understand. It requires great faith to accept what seems to be a paradox or a riddle or even a contradiction. Jews and Moslems do not believe in the Trinity. Jews assume that it is opposed to their belief in one God, while the Moslems follow their prophet Mohamet in misunderstanding the Trinity as three gods. At least, Jews and Christians and Moslems agree in the statement that THERE IS ONLY ONE GOD. But we quickly part ways in attempting to penetrate the inner life of this one God. Jesus is God’s ultimate revelation to mankind, and he taught us the fact of the Trinity without explanation. Jesus did not come into this world to explain God; he came to help us know and experience the reality of God. The Church is responsible for finding ways to help us understand this experience. The Bible doesn’t use that word “Trinity,” which was not invented until around the 4th century, although the idea of one God in Three Persons was taught by Jesus to His Apostles. Indeed, in his final words on earth, in the great commission (Matt 28:19), Jesus expresses this truth: “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Jesus spoke to his Father in prayer, and He spoke often about his Father. He also promised to send the Spirit, who is the Source of the Church’s Tradition. In his discourse after the Last Supper, Jesus said: “I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. When he comes, however, being the Spirit of Truth, He will guide you to all truth. . . and will announce to you the things to come. . . He will have received from me what he will announce to you.” God Himself began the process of tradition, the handing-on of revealed truth, in his relationship to Jesus: “All that the Father has belongs to me.” Thus the Apostles, who heard from Jesus these words, must have understood that Jesus and his Father and the Holy Spirit are separate persons. But during Jesus’ lifetime on earth, this concept was not precisely clear. The idea of God as One is clearly expressed in both the Old and New Testaments. But that God is One in Three Persons is not so clear in the Old Testament. The Apostles knew from Jesus about the Holy Spirit, but it remained a vague concept in their minds until Pentecost. Having received the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-12), they went forth from Jerusalem to teach the whole world, and they baptized many who heard them: “In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God in three distinct Persons.” They remembered Jesus’ promise and discourse in the Garden of Gethsemane (John 16:7, 13): “When I go I shall send the Paraclete to you. . . . When he comes, being the Spirit of Truth, he will guide you to all truth. . . He will announce to you the things to come. In doing this he will give glory to me, because he will have received from me what he will announce to you.” Gradually, the Church came to understand the role of the Holy Spirit as her Teacher and Infallible Guide, the Inspirer of fresh initiatives in the Church, and the Preserver of authentic Faith and Tradition. The Holy Spirit is also the Author and Inspirer of Goodness and Greatness and Beauty in human persons. Gradually the Spirit revealed himself as the Love between the Father and the Son, as well as the One who invites chosen souls to draw closer to the Father and the Son, in sharing their holiness, which is the very Life of God.
 
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