The doctrine of the Trinity is often accused of conflicting with Christian monotheism. The article below engages that charge directly, exploring how historic Trinitarian belief can affirm one God without contradiction. I’m sharing this piece (PDF below) as a companion to my reflections here on Trinitarian grammar, for those who want to go deeper.
The grammar of the Trinity includes—the Father is the uncreated first person of the Trinity who has life from himself. The Son is the second person of the Trinity and is eternally generated from the Father, who took human flesh in the form of a man (the Incarnation) to offer wisdom to creation and serve as a sacrifice for the sin of believers. The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity, eternally sent by the Father and Son in charity to point creation to the wisdom of God sourced in Jesus Christ.
God is One: God is simple meaning he is without parts. This refers to his essence, being, and/or nature. God is one pure (purely actualized) essence. If you think of humans, we are made up of parts. Think of anything else in creation and you will find it is made up of parts. God is one simple essence.
God is Three Persons: The Bible reveals God in three different “persons.” Other ways to understand person in a biblical sense are “fashion,” “style,” or “manner.” The one pure essence that is God is revealed in Scripture in the three persons—Father, Son, Spirit. Persons are established by “relationship of origin” (conciliar trinitarian theology), and some of the grammar used to describe them are ineffability, filiation, spiration. God the Father is uncreated (ineffability), God the Son is eternally generated from the Father (filiation), God the Spirit eternally proceeds from the Father and the Son (spiration).
The Bible: The Bible is the only resource for understanding God as Trinity. It is through reading Scripture that we know God as Father, Son, and Spirit. Our God reveals his triune nature in the Gospel.
We meet all of God—Father, Son, Spirit—in the Gospel. Another way of saying this is, “All of God (Father, Son, Spirit) comes to us in the Incarnation of Jesus Christ.” –Fred Sanders
How to read the Bible for the Trinity (–Scott Swain)
- Listen: God is one (Deut. 6:4). Very important—not “one of” anything—“One.” There is a difference, some would say, the difference.
- Listen: God talks to God (Ps. 110)—those distinct speech agents (prosopa) do not divide the one God.
- Listen: Prophets and apostles talk of God incarnate in two ways (Rom. 1:1-6)—as God’s Son and “according to the flesh.” Prophets talk about him in his to-become-incarnate presence in the OT. Apostles proclaim him in his incarnate presence in the NT But both speak in two ways.
- Repeat steps 1-3. And I am not kidding about the listening part. You’ve got to be willing to have your mental furniture rearranged to read this book about this subject.
- Enjoy!
The triune God disciples his children in the Church.
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