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Religion

2010-10-01 10:11:00

The mystery of the Holy Trinity

Answer: I reply: You are attempting to understand the most difficult article of the Christian faith. Several centuries of studies, writings, argumentation, even quarrels and wars among Christians, in order for the majority of the followers of Jesus to agree on the basic truths about the Persons in the Trinity and in the two natures in Jesus. We must recognize that these are sacred mysteries, which God has not fully revealed to mankind, and which no one (not even the most brilliant intellects) can fully understand and explain. These facts, the mysteries of the Trinity and of the Incarnation (God the Son assuming a human nature) are the basic and essential elements of our Christian faith. We know them by faith, taught by Jesus to his Apostles, and partially explained by seven ecumenical councils. Most of the statements in your question are theologically correct. But your statement “They are all the same” is not exact or adequate. Each Person of the Trinity has his own proper attributes. The equality is spelled out by Jesus in the great commission, spoken to the Apostles just before his Ascension: “Go and make disciples of all the nations. Baptize them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). In his discourse after the Last Supper, Jesus makes several references to the Trinity. [That word “Trinity” does not appear in the Bible, although the idea is clearly there]. In John 14:16 Jesus tells the Apostles: “I will ask the Father and he will give you another Paraclete – to be with you always, the Spirit of truth.” Here we understand Jesus is referring to himself as a Paraclete (Counselor, Advocate). A little earlier Jesus had remarked that “I am in the Father and the Father is in me. The words I speak are not spoken of myself; it is the Father who lives in me accomplishing his works” (John 14:10). This is an expression of the divine equality. Of the divine Persons working together. Yet, shortly afterward, in John 14:28, Jesus says the words you cited in your question: “The Father is greater than I.” You are correct that there Jesus is referring to his human nature. In John 16, Jesus again promises to send the Paraclete Spirit: “Being the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth. . . In doing this, he will give glory to me, because he will have received from me what he will announce to you. All that the Father has belongs to me. That is why I said that what he will announce to you he will have from me” (John 16: 13-15). The Trinity is witnessed at the Baptism of Jesus (cf Matt 3:16-17), when the Spirit of God descends like a dove and hovers over Jesus, while a voice from the heavens says “This is my beloved Son; my favor rests on him.” St. Mark (1:10-11) relates this incident thus: “On coming up out of the water Jesus saw the sky rent in two and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. Then a voice came from the heavens: “You are my beloved Son, on you my favor rests.” St. Luke (3:21-22) also relates this event in similar words. In the 3rd century, when the priest Arius of Alexandria publicly denied that Jesus is equal to the Father as God, this matter was paramount in discussions throughout the Roman Empire. In the year 325 the emperor Constantine I summoned all 318 bishops of the world to meet at his summer palace in Nicaea (now called Iznek in western Turkey) to decide whether it is truly a part of our Christian faith that Jesus is divine and equal to the Father as God. All the bishops at this First Ecumenical Council agreed that this is the faith received from the Apostles and passed down in their own families. Around 369-370, when the divinity of the Holy Spirit was being questioned, the bishops of the world met in the Second Ecumenical Council held at Constantinople, and there agreed that the faith, received from their forefathers and mothers, was that the Holy Spirit is equal to the Father and the Son: three separate Persons in one God. They recognized that this is not a contradiction, but a mystery which human reason cannot fathom. It is a fact to be accepted on faith. And this is expressed in the Apostles’ Creed, which was expanded somewhat in the Creed of Nicea-Constantinople: to explain the distinct qualities proper to each person in the Trinity. This Creed is sung or recited every Sunday in each Catholic and Orthodox Church, as well as in many churches stemming from the Reformation. Through the centuries great theologians, e.g. St. Hilary, St. Augustine, Photius of Constantinople, St. Thomas Aquinas, Karl Barth, and many others have struggled to better understand the Trinity. All of them conclude that it remains a mystery. One of the more beautiful summaries of God’s internal life is this ancient formula: “In the one God there are three Persons: One who loves him who is his Son from all eternity, and One who loves Him who is his Father, and One who is that very love itself.” Now that is a mystery of faith! Misunderstanding this faith, Mohamed and other non-Christians mis-interpreted the doctrine of the Trinity as worshiping three gods). But they are simply wrong. Our creed commences: “We believe in ONE God!