The Trinity is arguably the most important piece of theology that we talk about in the church. The doctrine of the Trinity is the starting place for all other theology. The doctrine of the Trinity is inherently biblical, was developed through many years of reflection and theological debate, and is relevant insofar as it is our salvation.
The doctrine of the Trinity is biblically based. The correct and only non-heretical way to speak about God is to say that God is “the sovereign Lord of all creation who has done a new and gracious work in Jesus Christ and who continues to be active in the world through the power of the Spirit.” This truth is revealed throughout the bible. We know through the creation story of Genesis, the Old Testament, and the first chapter of the gospel according to John that God is the the God of all [human]kind (Jer 32:27). Throughout the Old Testament, we hear that the God of Abraham is one God, the almighty and all-powerful God (Deut 6:4). As Christians, we profess our faith in the God of Abraham, a singular God.
However, the language of God becomes confused with the New Testament writers. Paul is first to help us truly understand that there is “a new meaning of the word ‘God.’” With the revelation of Jesus Christ and the presence of the Spirit, we now understand the proper name of God to be “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” We hear in much of the New Testament that Jesus and God are one (John 1, 10:30; Phil 2:5-8; Col 1:15-17). Scripture also reveals that the Spirit is Lord (2 Cor 3:17). Although there is talk about the “two-ness” (Father and Jesus) and even “three-ness” (Father, Jesus, and Spirit) of God in the New Testament, it remains that “there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist” (1 Cor 8:6). It is through this and other biblical evidence that God is revealed as the Triune (three-in-one) God. The doctrine of exactly how God is able to be three-in-one has been disputed for many centuries in order to come to a profession of faith that is slightly more understandable and non-heretical.
However, the language of God becomes confused with the New Testament writers. Paul is first to help us truly understand that there is “a new meaning of the word ‘God.’” With the revelation of Jesus Christ and the presence of the Spirit, we now understand the proper name of God to be “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” We hear in much of the New Testament that Jesus and God are one (John 1, 10:30; Phil 2:5-8; Col 1:15-17). Scripture also reveals that the Spirit is Lord (2 Cor 3:17). Although there is talk about the “two-ness” (Father and Jesus) and even “three-ness” (Father, Jesus, and Spirit) of God in the New Testament, it remains that “there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist” (1 Cor 8:6). It is through this and other biblical evidence that God is revealed as the Triune (three-in-one) God. The doctrine of exactly how God is able to be three-in-one has been disputed for many centuries in order to come to a profession of faith that is slightly more understandable and non-heretical.
It did not take much time after the writing of the New Testament for early theologians to recognize the complicated traits and relationship of God. Tertullian was the first to use the language of “substance” and “person,” arguing that the Father, Jesus, and Spirit (the persons) are distinct from one another in terms of their relationship to one another but are of the same substance. Tertullian also taught that Son is subordinate to the Father, a teaching later rejected by the church.
Arius’ teaching emphasized monotheism and wanted to protect God’s “one-ness” by teaching subordinationism: Jesus is a demigod or an angel. Arius rejected the idea that Jesus was present as the Word when God created the universe (John 1).
The work of Athanasius is where we see the most distinct beginnings of the Nicene Creed, which we profess today. Athanasius taught that Christ was “eternally begotten” and not created, being of one substance with the Father. Unlike his predecessors, Athanasius argued that Father and Son are homoousias, or of one substance, and not of a “like” substance as other theologians thought. The Council of Nicaea adopted Athanasius’ teachings, but still needed to solve the issue of the Spirit.
Following the Council of Nicaea, the Cappadocians developed the doctrine of the divinity of the Spirit and taught that God is “one being, three persons.” The Council of Constantinople affirmed and elaborated on the teachings of the Cappadocians and the result was the Nicene Creed. We profess a version of the Nicene creed in many churches every Sunday without much thought.
Knowing that it took hundreds of years to come to a decision about the nature of the Triune God, we must recognize that something is “at stake in affirming that God is triune, that God is communicated to us in Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit.” In essence, we acknowledge that we worship a Triune God, but what does this mean for our faith? It means a great deal about our faith. What we “claim about God impacts the way we think about our relationship to divine life and to each other.”
Arius’ teaching emphasized monotheism and wanted to protect God’s “one-ness” by teaching subordinationism: Jesus is a demigod or an angel. Arius rejected the idea that Jesus was present as the Word when God created the universe (John 1).
The work of Athanasius is where we see the most distinct beginnings of the Nicene Creed, which we profess today. Athanasius taught that Christ was “eternally begotten” and not created, being of one substance with the Father. Unlike his predecessors, Athanasius argued that Father and Son are homoousias, or of one substance, and not of a “like” substance as other theologians thought. The Council of Nicaea adopted Athanasius’ teachings, but still needed to solve the issue of the Spirit.
Following the Council of Nicaea, the Cappadocians developed the doctrine of the divinity of the Spirit and taught that God is “one being, three persons.” The Council of Constantinople affirmed and elaborated on the teachings of the Cappadocians and the result was the Nicene Creed. We profess a version of the Nicene creed in many churches every Sunday without much thought.
Knowing that it took hundreds of years to come to a decision about the nature of the Triune God, we must recognize that something is “at stake in affirming that God is triune, that God is communicated to us in Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit.” In essence, we acknowledge that we worship a Triune God, but what does this mean for our faith? It means a great deal about our faith. What we “claim about God impacts the way we think about our relationship to divine life and to each other.”
It is only through belief in the Triune God that we have hope in salvation. It is through the monotheistic God of the Old Testament that Judaism claims salvation. We, too, share in that salvation because of God’s work in Christ Jesus and the continuing work of God through the power of the Spirit. God made the promise to Abraham in Genesis 12 and 17 that God would bless all the nations of the earth through the offspring of Abraham. We are told in Romans 11 that Gentiles, thus we, are grafted into this promise through Jesus Christ. We know that in Christ Jesus there is no longer a distinction between the people to whom salvation belongs (Gal 3:28). If God and Jesus are not one being, then this grafting of Gentiles into the promise makes no logical sense. It is only “through our Lord Jesus Christ” that we are to “obtain salvation” (1 Thess 5:9).
Moreover, it is the overflowing love that joins and unites the Trinity into one being that brings salvation to the world. God, in God’s very nature as the Triune God, is communal and relational. God is the perfect example of communion and mutual indwelling that is found nowhere in creation. Each person of the Trinity is completely of the same substance and completely distinct from each other person.
God created humanity and all of creation to be in communion with all the rest of creation and with God. Because of the Fall, creation is no longer in complete communion with God. It is God’s inherent desire, as a relational God, to be in communion with creation and thus demonstrated God’s self-giving love in the person of Christ Jesus on the cross. Our salvation is the very essence of God’s triune and relational nature. We find that in the Trinity there is “difference without division, self-giving without self-loss, and eternal life in ceaseless harmony and peace.”
God created humanity and all of creation to be in communion with all the rest of creation and with God. Because of the Fall, creation is no longer in complete communion with God. It is God’s inherent desire, as a relational God, to be in communion with creation and thus demonstrated God’s self-giving love in the person of Christ Jesus on the cross. Our salvation is the very essence of God’s triune and relational nature. We find that in the Trinity there is “difference without division, self-giving without self-loss, and eternal life in ceaseless harmony and peace.”
Our only hope is in the Lord of all creation, the God that promised to Abraham blessing for the entire world. It is through God’s fulfillment of God’s promise in Jesus Christ and the continuing work of God through the power of the Holy Spirit that we are able to witness the incredibly self-giving love that defines the Triune God. It is only through our belief in this Triune God that any other doctrine or theology is grounded.
Sources:
Daniel L. Migliore, Faith Seeking Understanding (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publihsing Co., 2004), 66.
N. T. Wright, What Saint Paul Really Said (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publihsing Co., 1997), 67.
Dr. Daniel Bell, “Doctrine of God: The Trinity” lecture, Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary of Lenoir-Rhyne University, September 22, 2014.
Kathleen A. Cahalan, Introducing the Practice of Ministry (Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 2010), 156.
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