Trinity Flashcards
(13 cards)
Biblical basis quotes
Proverbs 9.11 Old Testament “wisdom has built her house: she has hewn out its seven pillars”
Mathew 28:19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit”
2 Corinthians 13:14 “The grace of the lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the holy spirit be with you all”
similies
Examples of three into one
H20 can be solid (father), liquid (son) and gas (holy spirit)
St Patrick uses a three leaf clover
St Augustine argued the trinity is like the sun with the orb (father), rays (son) and warmth (holy spirit)
Arian controversy
Homoousios (samr nature) vs homoiousios (similar nature) controversy
Are there two Gods?
This was resolved at the first council of Constantinople in 381 which concluded that Christ has the same nature as the father. And therefore God is one substance (ousia) in three persons (hypostaseis)
filoque controversy
Between Eastern and Western Church
Filioque (Latin for “and the Son”) was added by the Western Church to the Nicene Creed, changing the line about the Holy Spirit to say that He “proceeds from the Father and the Son.”
The Eastern Church maintained the original version: the Holy Spirit “proceeds from the Father,” as stated in the original creed from the Council of Constantinople (381 AD).
3 heresies
Modalism sees the trinity as one person who appears to us in three different forms or modes
Subordinationism claims that the son and the holy spirit are subordinate to the father in nature and being
Tritheism denies that there is one God and instead claims there are three Gods
Different Understandings of the trinity
The immanent 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.
The economy trinity
Is concerned with humanity’s experience with God; in human lives, in creation, in salvation
Karl Rahner
20th century German theologian who argued the economic trinity was the immanent trinity. The history of grace in humanity was intentional from God because it revealed his true nature
In Ranhers model of the trinity in father is “God as such” by contrast the son and spirit are distinct “modes of subsisting”
Son= self communication as knowledge
Spirit= self communication as love
Strengths of Rahner
Avoids modalism, if Jesus is God is the holy spirit they are all co eternal
View is consistent with a God of grace who loves his creationd and is accessible through the economic trinity
God’s mystery is confirmed because the only way we can know him is through the economic trinity (revelation) not through our own reasoning- strengthening Gods omnipotence because we can only know God through himself
Karl Barth
Changed traditional trinitarian formula of “one God in three persons” to “one God in three modes of being”
Because the word person changed over time since the Early Church Fathers used the word to include “personalities”
For Barth self revelation is the root of the trinity. God moves out of God’s hiddenness (vieiling) in two movements. The son (salvation) and the spirit (word of God).
Barths analogy
Consider two individuals walking outside Jerusalem in 30 A.D. They criminal being executed”. The second man says “ There is the son of God dieing for me”
This is an analogy for divine revelation. It illustrates the mystery of how God reveals Himself in Jesus Christ, and yet that revelation is hidden in plain sight.
The event of Jesus’ crucifixion is not just about the Son—it is an act involving the whole Trinity:
The Father sends the Son.
The Son obeys and suffers.
The Spirit opens human eyes to see what’s really happening.
Weaknesses of Rahner
Moltmann suggests Rahners view of trinity works in a modalism direction beacause of the modes of subsisting which is famous heresy.
Rahner claimed in the new testament Father is often synonymous with God which led to accusations of modal monarchism
If the father is God as such and the Spirit and son are merely ways of subsisting this could lead to accusations of subordinationism
Strengths of Barth
Barths view that God reveals himself “through himself” and that it is himseld that is revealed is strong in Christian terms because it is based on scripture
Barth’s view is strong as it gives “explanatory confirmation” of revelation i.e. Jesus
Avoids tritheism by referring to three modes rather than three persons (personalities)
Weaknesses of Barth
Moltmann criticises Barth for modalism
Also changing the traditional phrase one God in three persons may cause schism in an already divided and declining Christian population
Barth’s language is very Christocentric which may be difficult for non-Christians to accept damaging attemps at inter-faith dialogue
