The Triune God
What does it mean to say the one God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit? How is God best understood? How can the Church communicate this today?
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Essay Question What does it mean to say the one God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit? How is God’s being best understood? How can the Church communicate this today?
Introduction
In this essay, I am investigating the Trinity, God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and how God understood. I will also consider how this can be communicated in the church today.
Essay
1. What is means to say the one God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit?
My understanding is that in the Triune relationship, God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In other words, God is three persons
The authors argue that this is a conceptual tool to gain an understanding of the “drama of salvation that takes place in Jesus.” (Holmes et al, 2014, p80). The author cites Karl Barth and T.F. Torrance to develop their argument in saying that Barth, for example, recognised the danger of (p81)
Holmes et al (2014) cite Torrance to say that he saw the trinity as Footnote 3: This tells me that there is only one God, seen as Father, Son and Holy Spirit and that this is the only way to see and know God.
Rahner (1970) also sees the relationship of the trinity as a threefold one and that God communicates with us through (p34-35)
Kilby (2000) says that for many years theologians have been writing about the trinity who talk about its neglect. The author says that the Trinity is at the forefront of Christianity and has not been given sufficient attention and has become obscure and complex as a theological tool. The author says that this is a piece of celestial mathematics which is impossible to understand and with litter relevance to the life of the ordinary christen. (p432). The author cites Karl Rahner to say he made comments about the modern Christian being almost mere “monotheists’” That is “Paying lip service to the Trinity but in practice ignoring
Krostenberger and Swain (2008) from the patristic period until today, John's Gospel has served as a major source of the church's knowledge, doctrine and worship of the triune God. Among all New Testament documents the Fourth Gospel provides not only the most raw material for the doctrine of the Trinity, but also the most highly developed patterns of reflection on this material—particularly patterns that seek to account in some way for the distinct personhood and divinity of Father, Son and Spirit without compromising the unity of God. While there have been recent, fine studies on aspects of John's doctrine of God, it is surprising that none summarises and synthesises what John has to say about God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In order to fill this
The medieval theologian Julian of Norwich was a mystic, writer, anchoress and spiritual director for her time. She is gaining in popularity for our time as she provides a spiritual template for contemplative prayer and practice in her compilation of writings found in Revelations of Divine Love. The insightful meditations provide the backdrop and basis for her Trinitarian theology’s embrace of God’s Motherhood found in the Trinity. Her representative approach of the all-encompassing unconditional love of a mother who nurtures, depicts Christ as our Mother ascending to the placement of Second hood within the Trinity while giving voice to the duality of God.
...nity. The Holy Spirit allows human beings to become closer to God, and the relationship between the Father and the Son. After writing about both the Trinity and Salvation, I have learned that they are immensely interconnected. The Trinity allows human beings to find Salvation. All in all, the Trinity is not three separate parts, but one part with three different essences.
In the Bible, there is much said about the triune unit and how it functions. God the Father chooses who will be saved... the Son redeems them... and the Holy Spirit seals them (NIV, Ephesians 1: 4-13). Also, though there are three people, there is only one God who works through the three. This concept was followed loosely in Young’s book, with “Papa” being the creator of ideas, Jesus as the friend-type being and Sarayu being more interested in Mack’s innermost feelings.
The Bible never makes of the specific reference of the trinity, the Bible does talk about the divine existence of each of the three members of the Trinity, God (The Father), The Son (Jesus Christ), and the Spirit (The Holy Spirit). It is still a complex idea for me to understand fully but scripture does indeed tell of the work and existence of the trinity.
In the fifth discourse, the Son of God is described to further reflect himself about his unique and intimate eternal activity. First the author describes the production of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is said to be the bond between the divine persons. And the Son of God wanted his own person to be the producer. This would be the bond between the human and the divine being. The author describes the Holy Spirit as being a person that proceeds from the Holy Trinity. It is the bond that creates a sense of unity among the divine Persons and that they are perfectly united in the “unity of the Holy Spirit” yet they still are able to maintain their distinct natures (pg 134). The author also mentions two mysteries. The first mystery is described as having a divine person whom we adore, uniting two persons. And the second mystery is described as having a divine person whom we adore by uniting the two natures, one which is divine and the other being human. “He contemplates, adores and imitates the unity of the Holy Spirit, who is the third Person in the order of the Holy Trinity and who, by his nature, is the eternal bond between the two Persons from whom he proceeds.” (pg 135). All together the Son of God is our personal love and sacred unity. He is uniquely expressed and distinctly represented by “the states and qualities of this divine mystery, which is in a perfect relationship with what is ineffable in eternity, as well as being a living portrait of God” (135).
...ipture it is specifically shown that God has a one-ness, that though it is not directly stated, it is implied that there is a Trinity, and it is also specifically stated that Christ was fully human (his humanity) and fully God (his deity) at the same time.
"EXPLORING THEOLOGY 1 & 2." EXPLORING THEOLOGY 1 2. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 May 2014.
In order to become a Christian, one must accept the presence of God as our savior and provider of eternal life. Christians must acknowledge God’s divine nature as the mere entity of human redemption. According to Diffey (2014), the acknowledgement of God’s existence provides wisdom and fear which enforces Christians to love and obey God through the existence of three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit simply means God is spiritually present in our life. Because God spoke and created the world he is considered the “Father” of
“The practice of baptism in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit in the second century propelled the development of the trinitarian theology” (LaDue 48). According to Collins, the trinity can be defined by three statements “1. There is only one true God. 2. This one true God exists as three distinct persons. 3. Each person is fully divine” (Collins 29-31). The three people that make up the trinity are the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. First there is the Father. There are many Bible passages where God is referred to as the Father, this can be concluded because He alone created all things and His first human creation, Adam, was called the son of God. Jesus is God’s son and he was sent by his father, the Father, to offer humanity salvation from their sins. The “God of the Israelites reveals himself as a distinct, unique, superior deity who is always there. God’s being there is what defines him” (LaDue 14). The Israelites sometimes see the God Yahweh as an imitation of the trinity in the old testament, but they do not have distinct leveled personalities. Although God is distinct and unique, the idea that He is superior can be a false assumption as all the persons of the trinity have equal power and divinity. Another person of the trinity is the Holy Spirit. Yes, the Holy Spirit is a person. This is a common misconception of the
In Christianity one of their primary beliefs is the idea of a Triune God, which means the belief of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit as one entity not three separate beings. This would result in God being indivisible and could not be divided into three different parts for an ...
In John 10:30 Jesus says; “I and the Father are One.” By this, He meant that He and God were the same. For example, God and the Son of God both created everything (1 Corinthians 8:6) (Morgan, 211–212). The Holy Spirit is also God too, as one can read in 1 John 5:7–8: “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.” This Holy Divinity is called the Trinity- a group of three, as One. “In the name of the Trinity the living God is revealed” (Robinson, 187) This Trinity is God, the Father, God, the Son, and God, the Holy Spirit. “The Triune God is an all-sufficient God, all-sufficient for Himself and all-sufficient for His people” (Robinson,
The doctrine of the Trinity, as seen in the Christian bible, is primary to the Christian faith. The word “Trinity” does not actually appear in the bible; it is a theological label meant to summarize certain teachings of certain passages of scripture, and is crucial to properly understand what God is like, how He relates to us, and how we relate to Him. It may also raise many difficult questions including what does it mean that God is a Trinity? While it is difficult for us to fully understand everything about the trinity, it is quite possible to answer questions like this one and come to a solid grasp of what it means for God to be three in one.
"The Rosicrucian Cosmo Conception", reads, "...The seven spirits before the throne...collectively, they are God and make us the triune godhead...the Father is the highest initiate among the humanity of the Saturn..." (MacGregor, 2000). Truly, the Rosicrucian trinity is not the Christian Trinity. In the pages of the Bible, the One, True, Eternal God has revealed Himself in three ways, as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Even though we may not consider the doctrine of the Trinity to be the most controversial topic today, this is not because that doctrine is no longer important, on the contrary, it is no longer controversial, and has been established. Although we ought to still consider past doctrines, we don’t need to “reinvent the wheel” of truth. The truths important to us now, are built on the foundation of past truths already hammered out in previous creeds of the church that agree with Scripture. Thus often the doctrine of the church is shaped by the culture in which it is in because the devil, through the world, or erring members is trying to taint the pure gospel. Trying to add (Old Testament Laws) or subtract from the sovereign grace of God. Therefore, many times when there has been a shift in emphasis in the church’s gospel it is either because the world was successful in shifting the focus of the gospel away from Jesus, or the church had to hammer out the truth from God’s word in a new
Those who were followers of Christ began to raise the question about the person and work of Christ. Understanding this epoch of time opens the door for believers to comprehend the religious system and our roles as modern Christians in today’s society. When we as Christians can see how our historical roots connect to our personal beliefs. We strengthen our theological foundation and we develop into a persuasive witness in own