It makes life worth living. Here are three ways understanding the Trinity will change your life. He does not give us something that makes us blessed, but he blesses us by giving us himself.
As you ponder this more, you will come to realize that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit love you. They call you to enjoy their presence. Packer in Knowing God explains that prayer is a time to take what we know about God before God, to lead us to worship. The way we pray has practical significance: "How can we turn our knowledge about God into knowledge of God? The rule for doing this is simple but demanding. It is that we turn each truth that we learn about God into matter for meditation before God, leading to prayer and praise to God" Jesus paid for your sins.
Jesus proves that God loves you. Jesus suffered what you deserve so that you could become an adopted child of God Gal. Theologians say that each of the persons of the Trinity "interpenetrates" the others, so that the distinctions between the persons are preserved and the substance of God is not divided into three. The theologian Leonardo Boff described perichoresis as "the intimate and perfect inhabitation of one Person in the other," meaning that the three persons of the Trinity live in and relate to each other perfectly.
Many modern writers prefer to use the word indwelling to express the idea of perichoresis. They say there is a mutual indwelling of the persons of the Trinity. All facets of divine activity are reflected in all three persons of the Trinity.
They are dynamically intermingled. They may not be separated. The traditional statement of the doctrine of the Trinity is this: There are three persons within the Godhead; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. These three persons have equal status and are equally divine. But the word person in this definition doesn't mean person in any sense that modern people understand it - it's an ancient technical philosophical term, which originally meant the mask worn by actors playing parts in an ancient Greek play.
The Greek word was hypostases the singular term is hypostasis. The ancient writers said that there were three distinct hypostases in one ousia ousia is the word now translated as substance - see below.
There's a hint here of a very important concept in the idea of the Trinity. Actors playing a part in a play do so in relationship to other members of the cast, and a key element of the doctrine of the Trinity is that the three persons of the Trinity are in relationship with one another.
But "person" to modern people means, at the very least, a separate centre of consciousness, and more usually, an individual human being. That is not what it means in the definition of the Trinity. The idea that the three persons of the Trinity are separate individuals is the heresy of tritheism. Unfortunately, modern theological translations of the word "persons" into phrases such as "distinct manners of subsisting" don't make things much clearer and that particular phrase, as it happens, sounds very like the heresy of modalism.
This word is used to describe the coming forth of one of the persons of the Trinity from another or from both the others. The use of this word in statements of the Trinity is a reminder that there is movement and dynamic energy in the Christian concept of God. It comes from the Greek word ousia , which means "beingness", but it has a more restricted meaning in this context than it had had to the ancient Greek philosophers who coined the word.
A substance is a thing which fully exists; a presence in the universe - so for example, a dog is a substance. Although in the case of God this is not a substance made of matter. The key concept of substance is that of unity - it's not separate from the three persons of the Trinity, it's what makes them one.
Search term:. Read more. This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets CSS enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets CSS if you are able to do so. This page has been archived and is no longer updated. Find out more about page archiving. The Trinity Last updated Bible and why Christians believe in the Trinity The Bible and why Christians believe in the Trinity Christianity adopted this complicated idea of God because it was the only way they could make sense of One God in the context of the events and teaching of the Bible.
Keith Ward, Religion and Creation, Matthew Making use of the Trinity Is the Trinity a useful idea? Karen Kilby.
Gerald S. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, World without end. Amen Trinitarian doxology. Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to thee; Holy, holy, holy! Merciful and mighty, God in three Persons, blessed Trinity! I bind unto myself today the strong name of the Trinity, by invocation of the same, the Three in One, and One in Three. Shine, Jesus, shine, fill this land with the Father's glory; blaze, Spirit, blaze, set our hearts on fire. Patrick Henry Reardon. How are we to live and relate to others so as to be most Godlike?
Social implications The Trinity as a power structure The relationships within God as a Trinity discredit any hierarchical power structure in which those lower down are dominated and oppressed by those above them. This idea can be developed in Church life: in the hierarchical model power and authority in the church flow in one direction from God, through senior and junior clergy, down to the lay people in the Trinitarian model there is a church of mutual self-giving and equality that emulates the community of the Trinity.
In this the members communicate with each other in a spirit of love that accepts responsibility for the well-being of each individual and that of the whole community. In this way the Church, and each church and community become a unity in which diversity flourishes and in which differences are seen as valuable and essential elements in the substance of these institutions. The Trinity and Liberation Theology The liberation theologians thought it was essential to start thinking about the Trinity by focusing on its three-ness first, then its oneness.
Essential and Economic Trinity Essential and Economic Trinity Some of the problems of the Trinity arise from confusion between the internal life and nature of the Trinity itself and the external life or "self-revelation" of God. There are two ways of looking at God in Trinitarian terms: The Essential also called Immanent or Ontological Trinity looks at the essence or substance of God; at what God is actually like in himself as he stands outside the created universe.
It's how God appears to God. Warning: This is an unusual use of the word immanent , which Christians often use to refer to God's actions in the world. The Economic Trinity is concerned with humanity's experience of God; in human lives, in creation, in salvation; and derives the nature of God from that experience.
This is how God appears to humanity. Some theologians point out that only the Son and the Spirit are directly met in the Economic Trinity. Is his face something he merely displays, or does his face unambiguously disclose his heart? Victor Shepherd. Thanks, Sherry! Sure do appreciate you stopping by to leave an encouraging word today! Dawn and I both are blessed by your comments! Melanie, I love that you and Dawn have been digging in deep and reminding us to ground our faith in truth.
Thank you, Marva! We are having to put our brains on full power for these posts! Sure do appreciate you and your encouraging words today! I love your posts Melanie! Thank you for your blog, it encourages my heart more than you know! Thank you, Lynn! You bless me with your affirming words today!
Sure do appreciate you and your encouragement, sweet friend! Blessings, Melanie. I have always believed in the Trinity also as far back as I can remember. My description of the Trinity as it was explained to me by my dad is that as a man is a father, a son and a brother also like a man; a woman is a mother, a daughter, and a sister.
This made a lot of sense to me as a young child and it was how I explained it to my children and grandchildren. Yes I believe that there is only one God—He came down in the form of a baby to save all of us where He gave the ultimate sacrifice for all mankind.
After the death on the cross the Holy Spirit then indwell all believing mankind. Hey Shirley, What a great explanation of the Trinity! I really like your description. Thanks for sharing it with me. I appreciate you stopping by today. And, I hope you will visit again. I have believed in the trinity for as long as I can remember Melanie! This post is SO full of wisdom and truth. Thank you Melanie! I appreciate you so much Thank you, Shannon, for stopping by to leave a good word today.
I love thinking about these things. I love reading your systematic theology posts, Melanie. Your reasoning is easy to follow, making these truths easy to remember.
Thank you, Clair! I so appreciate your kind words and your visit today. These are two of my top goals every single time I write — make things easy to understand and encourage everyone to think! After all, God is God, and we are not.
Thank you, Martha! Your words are very kind and affirming today. This is such a great post and series! Thanks so much for explaining it so simply. What a great reminder this morning! Thank you for diving into the depths of our faith! Thank you, Alison! Sure do appreciate your encouragement and your kind words!
I pray that this teaching will encourage others as it sure encouraged me! I appreciate your thorough and thoughtful approach to this deep topic. You bless me, Melanie! Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. I accept the Privacy Policy. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed. News Ticker.
Share the Hope! Why is the Trinity So Important to Christians? About helloredds gmail. Blessed wife of Randy for over 25 years, mom to two great college students, blogger, women's ministry coach, speaker and author who is amazed by God's grace-. Website Facebook Twitter. For example… Saying Jesus is God completely destroys the gospel message! Will you post my previous reply? Or like all the others are you going to cop-out? Hey Jim, I really do appreciate your perspective.
You are welcome to stop by anytime.
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