Trinity

2007 ◽  
pp. 45-104
Author(s):  
Daniel J. Lasker
Keyword(s):  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Divine Attributes ◽  
Divine Nature ◽  
Christian Doctrine ◽  
Triune God ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
The Trinity ◽  
Father And Son

This chapter discusses Jewish philosophical arguments against the Christian doctrine of Trinity. Though not all Christians with whom the Jews were familiar agreed on all the detail of the Trinitarian doctrine, most followed the formulation of the Quicumque (Athanasian) Creed. A number of concepts are presented in this formulation of faith. First, there is only one God, who is one substance or divine nature. Second, this one God has three Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Third, the Father was not begotten, the Son was generated from the Father, and the Spirit proceeded from the Father and Son. Fourth, all three Persons are coequal and coeternal. The Jewish polemicists disagreed with the division of God into three Persons and with the assumption that the three Persons were apparently causally connected. The Jews rejected this Christian concept of a triune God as being incompatible with the principles of God's unity, which even the Christians claimed they maintained. The chapter then details the four major categories of Jewish philosophical arguments against the Trinity: (1) Trinity implies matter; (2) the divine attributes are not Persons; (3) generation disproves unity; (4) syllogistic logic refutes the Trinity. It also considers (5) images of the Trinity.

Could there Be More than One Almighty?

1993 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 465-495 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. W. Bartel
Keyword(s):  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Christian Doctrine ◽  
Literal Sense ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
Doctrine Of The Trinity ◽  
The Trinity

If proof is required that yesterday's scandal can become today's fashion, we need look no further than recent discussions of the Christian doctrine of the Trinity. Just a generation ago, Trinitarians typically insisted that the members of the Godhead are not distinct persons in any literal sense. But during the past few years, more and more philosophically sophisticated Christians have unblushingly maintained that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are not just different persons, but different individuals – that the Trinity consists of three divine beings.

Christology—a Jewish view

1971 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 184-200
Author(s):  
Steven Katz
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Holy Spirit ◽  
The Other ◽  
Christian Doctrine ◽  
The World ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
Doctrine Of The Trinity ◽  
The Trinity

In this paper I would like to discuss what the Old Testament has to say about the Christian doctrine of the Trinity. I take it as agreed that this task is both important and necessary for a real understanding of the New Testament, which by itself, is neither complete, meaningful nor self-authenticating. I do not make any claims to completeness on this crucial topic, but wish only to suggest what I feel are some important points for consideration. I want to discuss the three persons of the Trinity separately, beginning with the Father, then proceeding to the Holy Spirit and then to the Son. My remarks about the Father will be brief. I only wish to make the point that the Old Testament as well as the new Testament is fully aware of God's Fatherhood and alive to the reality that God loves mankind. It is clear that Israel has a special place as indicated by such passages as Exod. 4.22 where God addresses Israel saying: ‘Israel is my first born son.’ Yet at the same time it is basic to an understanding of Old Testament thought that God is the Father of the other nations of the world, though they are not the ‘first born’. This is a cardinal position of Old Testament theology and is based on the belief, given expression in Genesis, that all belongs to and was created by God.

C. S. Lewis, Augustine, and the Rhythm of the Trinity

2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-22
Author(s):  
Charles Stanley Ross
Keyword(s):  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Direct Reading ◽  
Lewis Bases ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
Third Person ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Third Person ◽  
The Trinity ◽  
Father And Son

Although C. S. Lewis was reticent about holding himself up as an expert in theology, in Mere Christianity he explains the relationship between the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit in a characteristically metaphorical and lucid way. Lewis bases his theology on a direct reading of a passage in Augustine’s De civitate Dei to which he added the explanatory metaphor of the ‘dance’—an image scholars have begun to notice in his fiction—to bring alive to his readers the ‘spirit’ of love between the Father and Son that, as Augustine said, became the third person of the Trinity

scholarly journals Konsep Kesatuan Yesus dan Allah Bapa Dalam Injil Yohanes 17:22 Untuk Menghadapi Doktrin Subordinansi Tritunggal Saksi Yehuwa

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Yanjumseby Yeverson Manafe ◽  
Yenny Anita Pattinama
Keyword(s):  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Critical Evaluation ◽  
Jehovah’S Witnesses ◽  
Jehovah's Witnesses ◽  
Great Debate ◽  
Triune God ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
Doctrine Of The Trinity ◽  
The One ◽  
The Trinity

Doktrin Trinitas atau doktrin Allah Tritunggal adalah pengajaran tentang Allah yang menyatakan diri-Nya dalam tiga pribadi, yaitu Allah Bapa, Allah Anak (Yesus Kristus), dan Allah Roh Kudus yang ketiganya adalah esa. Di satu sisi, doktrin tersebut merupakan doktrin yang sangat penting dan unik dalam kekristenan. Dikatakan penting karena doktrin ini berbicara tentang Allah Tritunggal yang menjadi pusat pujian, penyembahan dan pelayanan orang percaya. Dikatakan unik karena doktrin tersebut tidak terdapat dalam agama manapun di dunia ini. Namun, di sisi lain, doktrin tersebut merupakan doktrin yang sulit dipahami dan diterima oleh akal manusia bahkan menjadi bahan perdebatan yang hebat di berbagai tempat, masa dan kalangan manusia. Dengan studi eksegetis Yohanes 17: 22 sebagai dasar evaluasi kritis terhadap doktrin subordinasi Tritunggal dalam theologia Saksi Yehuwa, maka dapat diketahui bahwa doktrin subordinasi Tritunggal dalam theologia Saksi Yehuwa adalah doktrin yang menyimpang dari kebenaran Alkitab.   The doctrine of the Trinity or the doctrine of the Triune God is the teaching of God revealing Himself in three persons, namely God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ), and God the Holy Spirit of which all three are one. On the one hand, the doctrine is a doctrine that is very important and unique in Christianity. It is said to be important because this doctrine speaks of the triune God who is the center of the worship, worship and service of believers. Said to be unique because the doctrine does not exist in any religion in this world. However, on the other hand, the doctrine is a doctrine that is difficult to understand and accepted by human reason and even becomes a matter of great debate in various places, times and circles of humans. With the exegetical study of John 17: 22 as the basis for a critical evaluation of the doctrine of the subordination of the Trinity in the theology of Jehovah's Witnesses, it can be seen that the doctrine of the subordination of the Trinity in the theology of Jehovah's Witnesses is a doctrine that deviates from Bible truth.

scholarly journals The centrality of the trinity. Exploring the significance for christians, catechists and deacons

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-15
Author(s):  
Daniel Goodey
Keyword(s):  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Christian Faith ◽  
Holy Trinity ◽  
The Core ◽  
The People ◽  
Triune God ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
The Temple ◽  
The Trinity

‘The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of Christian faith and life ... the source of all the other mysteries of faith, the light that enlightens them.’ This passage from the teaching of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) (234) on the profession of faith identifies the core principles and underlying recognition of Catholics regarding belief in a triune God – one God existent in three Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In addressing the people of Ephesus, St. Ignatius of Antioch (also known as Theophorus) said, faithful Christians were ‘being stones of the temple of the Father, prepared for the building of God the Father, and drawn up on high by the instrument of Jesus Christ, which is the cross, making use of the Holy Spirit as a rope, while your faith was the means by which you ascended, and your love the way which led up to God.’ (Ignatius of Antioch, 2014, loc. 4027.) St. Ignatius goes on to say, ‘the Holy Spirit does not speak His own things, but those of Christ, and that not from himself, but from the Lord’. The point St. Ignatius was making is that the three Persons of the triune God are integrally connected, and it is through the grace of the three-in-One that salvation is gained. Hence, the Trinity is the core of the Christian faith, but from the very beginning the faithful relied on metaphor to explain and help others understand how Three could be One

scholarly journals Grundtvig teologiske udvikling til omkring affattelsen af »De levendes land«

1995 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 217-274
Author(s):  
Elisabeth Albinus Glenthøj
Keyword(s):  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Kingdom Of God ◽  
Union With Christ ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Love Of God ◽  
The Church ◽  
The Trinity ◽  
Father And Son

The Development of Grundtvig ’s Theology until about the Time of the Composition of .The Land of the Living. About the Eschatological Tension in the Understanding of the Kingdom of GodBy Elisabeth Albinus GlenthøjIn order to characterize briefly Grundtvig’s ideas about the Kingdom of God, the following statements are crucial: The Kingdom of God will break through visibly at the Second Coming of Christ. Until then the Kingdom is present to Faith and Hope through the Holy Spirit.The tension between the eschatological, visible Kingdom of God and the presence of the Kingdom now is a common theme in Grundtvig’s hymns. This study seeks to trace the development of Grundtvig’s theology towards his fully developed view of the Kingdom of God. The subject of the study is the great hymn, .The Land of the Living., from 1824, which contains beginnings of Grundtvig’s more elaborated view. The basic texts of the study are sermons by Grundtvig from 1821 to 1824, the period in which the eschatological tension emerges.Sections I to II.A. bring a chronological outline of the development of Grundtvig’s theology during the period until and including the year 1824. Section II.B. examines »The Land of the Living«  in the light of this outline. Throughout the study the emphasis is on the emergence of the eschatological tension.From his parents Grundtvig inherits a belief in a Kingdom of God hereafter, but as Grundtvig experiences the presence of the Lord through the Holy Spirit - in his own life and in the Church - the theology develops towards an understanding of the Kingdom of God as already present to Faith and Hope through the Holy Spirit. The future visible Kingdom illuminates the life of the Church already. Thus the eschatological tension emerges.The continuity between the future and the present Kingdom of God is found in the union with Christ through the Holy Spirit. This union is granted in Baptism and is nourished first and foremost through the Eucharist, and, next, through prayer and words of praise. Grundtvig’s experience of Pentecost underlies »The Land of the Living«: The Holy Spirit builds up the heart of man to become a temple for the Father and Son (stanza 12). Stanzas 7 to 11 elaborate the content of this unity with the Trinity. From here originates the life of the Church in the love of God and of one’s neighbour, a life which, through the Holy Spirit, takes man closer to the likeness to Christ; the goal is reached in Eternity. Wherever the love of God prevails, the Kingdom of God is present (stanza 13); that is where men are »co-operating witnesses to the divine struggle of the Spirit against the flesh«, against everything »which seeks to ... wipe out His image, destroy His temple within us« (Eighth Sunday after Trinity, 1824).

Novatian's De Trinitate, 29: Evidence of the Charismatic?

1977 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 313-318
Author(s):  
Ronald Kydd
Keyword(s):  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Third Century ◽  
De Trinitate ◽  
Course Of Action ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
Equal Space ◽  
The Church ◽  
The Trinity ◽  
Father And Son

This paper focuses attention upon the twenty-ninth chapter 1 of De Trinitate, a third-century theological treatise. Its author, Novatian, was a prominent member of the Roman College of Presbyters. However, his position did not engender feelings of loyalty sufficient to prevent his taking a surprising course of action when Cornelius became the Bishop of Rome in A.D. 251: he had himself consecrated to the same position. This step was a major factor in his being excommunicated in the same year. Subsequently, his personal status among the orthodox declined sharply, and very soon thereafter the records fall silent about him. However, in spite of this he continues to have a place among the theologians of the Church—a place which has been won for him almost single-handedly by De Trinitate. The book appeared in the A.D. 240s, being in fact the first major theological work to be written in Latin in Rome. Novatian produced it while still an eminent, well-respected member of the Roman church. As the title suggests, De Trinitate is about the Trinity, but Novatian by no means devotes equal space to all three members. His discussion of the Holy Spirit seems rather truncated when compared to the treatment afforded to the Father and Son, with virtually everything which is said about the Spirit appearing in chapter 29. Yet it is this chapter which will occupy our attention in this paper, because it appears to contain material which may provide hints about the religious experience of the Roman church in the mid-third century.

Divine Revelation and the Holy Spirit

2021 ◽  
pp. 138-153
Author(s):  
William J. Abraham
Keyword(s):  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Narrow Range ◽  
Prima Facie ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Divine Revelation ◽  
Holy Trinity ◽  
Triune God ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
The Trinity ◽  
Representative Material

Ponder an immediate dilemma. The propositional content of divine revelation generally includes reference to the Trinity, and thus includes reference to the Holy Spirit. To be specific, the Holy Spirit is understood to be a Person in the Trinity, that Person, in contrast to the Father and the Son, who proceeds eternally from the Father. This vision of the triune God is clearly grounded in part in divine revelation. So any appeal to the activity of the Holy Spirit as critical in claims about divine revelation will already assume the existence of the Holy Spirit; hence, the whole operation is prima facie hopelessly circular. We appeal to divine revelation to underwrite claims about the existence of the Spirit as one Person in the Holy Trinity; we then appeal to the Holy Spirit to articulate and underwrite our claims about divine revelation. How can this be? After resolving this dilemma, this chapter proceeds as follows: first, it develops and deploys a schema for thinking through the relation between revelation and the action of the Holy Spirit; secondly, it suggests that representative material on the work of the Holy Spirit systematically operates on a reductionist and narrow range of issues; finally, it offers a diagnosis of what has gone wrong and makes a handful of suggestions for future research.

‘“Fuisse in Forma Hominis” belongs to Christ Alone’: John Calvin's trinitarian hermeneutics in hisLectures on Ezekiel

2015 ◽  
Vol 68 (4) ◽  
pp. 421-436
Author(s):  
John T. Slotemaker
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Human Person ◽  
Complete Analysis ◽  
Divine Nature ◽  
Second Person ◽  
Son Of God ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
The Trinity

AbstractThe present article examines John Calvin's trinitarian and christological interpretation of Old Testament theophanies in hisPraelectioneson Ezekiel 1. The first section of the article treats Calvin's exegetical principles. It is noted that Calvin defends a strict set of rules for how to interpret Old Testament theophanies: in short, Calvin argues that if a passage presents the divine nature in the form of a human person, that given theophany must be interpreted as a representation of the second person of the Trinity, the Son of God (i.e. Jesus Christ). In defending this position, Calvin examines in great detail various rules for how to interpret Old Testament passages which indicate a plurality within the divine nature (i.e. the Trinity). He defends his exegetical approach to these texts with numerous passages from the New Testament.This examination of Calvin's exegesis is contextualised in two ways. First, it is noted that Calvin's exegesis of these passages is uncharacteristically more ‘strict’ in its trinitarian and christological reading than one finds in earlier thinkers such as Augustine and Jerome. For example, Augustine argued that Old Testament theophanies which present God in the form of a human being could be understood as the Father, the Son or the Holy Spirit. Augustine, in short, does not think one can definitively determine which member of the Trinity is ‘present’ in a theophany. Second, it is noted that this surprising development in Calvin's final work is the result of the rising threat of anti-trinitarianism in Transylvania. Thus, the article argues that the rise of Polish anti-trinitarianism not only contributed to Calvin's renewed interest in trinitarian and christological interpretations of the Old Testament, but it also pushed him to develop a more strict set of exegetical rules which govern how such passages are interpreted.Therefore, the article presents a reading of Calvin which strongly suggests that any complete analysis of Calvin's alleged ‘Judaising’ must develop a historically nuanced methodology. While it is often argued that Calvin hesitates from interpreting Old Testament passages in a strictly trinitarian or christological way, it must be acknowledged that towards the end of his career he radically began to alter his exegetical rules/method given the renewed threat of the anti-trinitarians.

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