The Holy Trinity: Part I

OBJECTIVE

To understand the concepts of God as Trinity.

To stress the one God and progress to the understanding of the uniqueness of God and unity amongst the Trinity, that God is one in Three Persons.

INTRODUCTION

We hear the term Triune God or Trinity, and hear the names of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Are they the same thing? Different? Are they one or separate?

NOTE TO SERVANTS: This lesson is broken up into two units/parts. The goal of part 1 is to stress the one God and progress to the understanding of the uniqueness of God and unity amongst the Trinity, that God is one. The servant should review and have a good understanding of the terminology layed out in the Holy Trinity Reference document attached below.

At the end of Part 2, there are examples of Trinity analogies. A good exercise would be to see if the class can understand both the pros and cons of each analogy and potentially, even which heresy they can be linked to, if applicable. It is up to the servant to determine if both parts can be given as one lesson or split into two lessons.

HOLY SCRIPTURE

Jesus answered him, "The first of all the commandments is: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. (Mark 12:29)

For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one. (1 John 5:7)

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made." (Jn 1:1)

In the beginning God made heaven and earth. The earth was invisible and unfinished; and darkness was over the deep. The Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the water. Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. (Genesis 1: 1-3)

CONTENT (KEY POINTS)

Outline:

  • What we mean by "God"
  • One God in the Old Testament and New Testament
  • The One God and the Three Persons in the Old Testament
  • Old Testament foreshadowing of the Holy Trinity
  • The Revelation of God as Trinity
  • Early Heresies of the Trinity
  • Terminology
  • Patristic Explanations of the Holy Trinity
  • The One God and the Three Persons in the New Testament
  • The Two Hands of God
  • God reveals Himself through Himself
  • Examples

What do we mean when we say God?

Whenever we say "God" we mean one of three things:

  • "God" refers to a supreme being in a general sense, but for us Christians, this means the Holy Trinity
  • "God" can also be used specifically to mean God the Father, the first Person of the Trinity
  • We may also use "God" to refer to the Only-Begotten Son and the Holy Spirit "..In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" John 1:1. This can be paraphrased as follows, "in the beginning was the Son, and the Son was with the Father and the Son was divine.

Some Old Testament References of One God:

  • The first of the Ten Commandments: Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is One Lord: Deuteronomy 6:4
  • Look unto me, and be saved, all you ends of the earth For I am God, and there is no other. Isaiah 45:22

Some New Testament References of One God:

  • Jesus answered him, "The first of all the commandments is: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Mark 12:29
  • For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one. 1 John 5:7

To believe in one God is equally important to the belief in God. To believe in one God means to believe in God's uniqueness, rather than singularity. "There shall be no different gods before my face". Deuteronomy 5:7

Our Lord Jesus Christ reveals to us that He is "the Lord" and we also call God the Holy Spirit Lord such as in the Creed we say "the Lord, the Giver of Life"

In calling God the Son as Lord and God the Holy Spirit also as Lord does not contradict the belief in one God.

The three Persons of the Holy Trinity, as we will further discuss, share one and the same essence and nature. While other religions believe in "God" in some form, they do not understand or believe in the Trinitarian God. This dogma is unique to Apostolic Christians.

The One God and the Three Persons in the Old Testament

The Holy Trinity was revealed in the Baptism of Our Lord in the Jordan River, that is why the Church celebrates the baptism of Christ and calls it the Feast of Theophany, or the revelation of God. This means, the revelation of the Holy Trinity, where the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are revealed to humanity. We clearly see God the Father speaking, God the Son in the water and God the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove. Until this point, the Holy Trinity was presented more obscurely in the Old Testament.

The Old Testament then is a preparatory stage for the divine revelation of God, the Holy Trinity, in the New Testament.

Why couldn't God just tell us about Himself in the Old Testament? Because as we see throughout the Old Testament, the Jews frequently fell into the sin of idolatry. To prevent this, God builds up the knowledge of the Jews slowly lest they should also misunderstand the Holy Trinity and fall into polytheism. God did however provide hints and signs of the Holy Trinity throughout scripture.

Some Signs of the Holy Trinity in the Old Testament:

Genesis 1: 1-3 - In the beginning God made heaven and earth. The earth was invisible and unfinished; and darkness was over the deep. The Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the water. Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light.

In this first example, at the very opening words of Holy Scripture, we suddenly see the appearance of God almighty, the Father, the unbegotten, who is the source of everything. Next we see the Spirit of God (aka God the Holy Spirit) who hovers over the waters, and finally we Hear the Word of God, spoken by Him. Through His Word (gr. Logos) He creates all the universe. This is the same Word that St. John spoke of in the opening passages of His Gospel when he says

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made." Jn 1:1

We can see in the very first 3 verses of scripture, we see God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- the Co-Essential Holy Trinity Before we discuss these terms, let's see some more examples.

Later on in that same first chapter of Genesis God does something interesting when He is about to create humanity and scripture says:

Genesis 1: 26 "Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness"

Here we see God saying that He is an "US". "Let Us create man in Our image, according to Our likeness" When we look at the totality of scriptures and wisdom of the Church Fathers, we see God is one, and yet He is diverse. He is unity, and yet community

This is echoed again in Genesis 3:22

Then the Lord God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil..."

and also Genesis 11:7

Come, let Us go down there and confuse their language, so they may not understand one another's speech."

We also see in Isaiah the hymn of the Seraphim as heard by Isaiah:

And one cried to another, and said, "Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory. Isaiah 6:3.

Sts. Ambrose, Jerome, and Cyril of Alexandria pointed out that the praise of the Trisagion, "Holy, Holy, Holy" points to the Three Persons of the Holy Trinity.

"... They say it not once, lest you should believe that there is but one; not twice, lest you should exclude the Spirit; they say not holies in the plural, lest you should imagine that there is plurality, but they repeat three times and say the same word, that even in a hymn you may understand the distinction of persons in the Trinity and the oneness of the Godhead, and while they say this they proclaim God." St. Ambrose of Milan, On the Holy Spirit 3.16.110

"... And they say "Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts," that the mystery of the Trinity in one divine nature might be displayed." St. Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah 3.4.2--3.

"... They say 'holy' three times and then conclude with 'Lord of hosts'. This demonstrates that the Holy Trinity exists in one divine essence. All hold and confess that the Father exists, along with the Son and the Spirit. Nothing divides those who are named nor separates them into different natures. Just the opposite is true. We recognize one Godhead in three Persons." - St. Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on Isaiah 1.4

The references of the Holy Trinity were obscured to Jewish readers of the Old Testament, even to the writers of the Holy scriptures. God is building up spiritually and opening their eyes little by little lest they fall into idolatry and misunderstand the image of God, once again. That is why St. Augustine believed that the New Testament lies hidden in the Old, and the Old Testament is unveiled in the New Testament

APPLICATION (Action)

During all our prayers and praise, we should have an understanding Who we are speaking to; Who our prayer is directed to. Just like when speaking to any person, I am able to go to a much deeper level and conversation the more I know about them.

DISCUSSION/ACTIVITY

During the next liturgy, midnight praise, Agpeya prayer or other Church service, try and identify which Person of the Trinity the prayer is being directed to.

SERVANT RESOURCES

  • Attachment - The Holy Trinity Terminology (see below)
  • Trinity 101, Papandreas
  • Dogma of the Holy Trinity: Dogmatic Theology by Mourice Tawadros
  • Theology by Metropolitan Bishoy
  • What are the Biblical proofs for the Holy Trinity?, Fr. Anthony Mourad
  • An Introduction to the Orthodox Conception of the Holy Trinity, Fr. Kyrillos Ibrahim
  • HOW CAN THREE BE ONE?, Fr. Tadros Malaty
  • St. Athanasius, Against the Arians, Discourse 4.14.
  • St. Athanasius, On the Incarnation
  • St. Cyril of Alexandria, On John.
  • St. Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on John (14:16-17; 15:1).
  • St. Severus of Antioch, Homily 109 (PO 25:239), See Aloys Grillmeier, Christ in Christian Tradition, v. 2, p. 2, The Church of Constantinople in the Sixth Century (Louisville, KY: John Knox, 1995), p. 146.
  • St. Gregory the Theologian, Second Theological Oration, 10, 17
  • St. Gregory the Theologian, Third Theological Oration, 2
  • St. Gregory the Theologian, Fourth Theological Oration, 20.

LESSON ATTACHMENTS

The Holy Trinity Terminology - Dogmatics.pdf