THE DIVINE TRINITY

By Venerable. Dr. I. U. Ibeme http://www.scribd.com/ifeogo ; http://thechapelofgrace.wordpress.com

PriscAquila Christian Resource Centre http://priscaquila.6te.net

CONTENTS
THE TRINITY: ANSWER TO ALL MYSTERIES SCRIPTURAL BASIS OF THE TRINITY HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE TRINITY DOCTRINE Ecumenical Councils on the Trinity Heretical Teachings before Nicaea Heretical Teachings from Nicaea onwards SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY OF THE TRINITY

INTRODUCTION: The doctrine of the Trinity of the Godhead is the Churchs best understanding of the One True God, Who is revealed in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as both Absolute (One Divine Essence) and Related (Three Divine Persons or Three Divine Anthropomorphisms). Trinity is NOT tritheism (three gods). The doctrine of the Trinity of the One Godhead is too great for the human mind and linguistic symbolisms, yet it is the most important truth for the salvation of humanity. When writing about the Trinity in The Doctrine of the Trinity (New York: Abington Press, 1958), Professor Cyril. C. Richardson put his dilemma and bewilderment this way: No doctrine is so important and so implicitly difficult in Christianity To non-Christians (and some Christians), the Trinity is a problem and an enigma; however, the Trinity becomes the solution and answer to many perplexing problems of nature, being, spirituality and reality, if it is received humbly and willingly by faith as divinely revealed Gospel mystery. Even for us humans, without having spirit, soul and body, we lose our identity and personality, become deficient humanity and deserve to be beasts or vegetables or worse. When we accept that humans are spirit, soul and body, many perplexing issues about human experience begin to make sense. Christ spoke stupendously about His oneness and glory with the Father from eternity (John 10:30, 38; 17:5)! When talking about Christs divinity in the Scriptures, the Apostles described Him as possessing ALL THE FULLNESS of the GODHEAD (Colossians 2:9). The Scriptures also spoke about the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, calling these Three both GOD and LORD. Joh 10:30. I and the Father are one. Joh 10:38. ... so that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him. Joh 17:5. And now, O Father, glorify Me alongside Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was. Col 2:9. For in Him[Christ] dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily;

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The Divine TRINITY (first recorded in Latin by Tertullian AD 200) or TRIAD (first recorded in Greek by Theophilus of Antioch AD 180) is a descriptive term used by the ancient Church (apparently before these records). TRINITY denotes the Churchs best systematic understanding of that UNITED and FULL RELATION within the BEING of the one DIVINITY or GODHEAD, as is most agreeable with the great and profound Truth revealed in the Apostolic Scriptures. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are the Three Divine Manifestations (PERSONS or SUBSISTENCES) which the Apostolic Scriptures call both God and Lord. PERSON or SUBSISTENCE is used to represents what the Three Divine Manifestations have in distinction. SUBSTANCE or ESSENCE is used to represents what the Three Divine Manifestations (PERSONS or SUBSISTENCES) share in unity. The TRINITY of the One GODHEAD means: The Three PERSONS (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) of One SUBSTANCE of the One GODHEAD; or The One GODHEAD of One SUBSTANCE manifest in Three PERSONS (Father, Son and Holy Spirit). Without grasping the revealed truth of the Trinity, one would not make sound sense of: the Biblical Scripture, the Salvation of humankind from consequences and condemnation of sin, the Divinity of the Godhead, our personal relationship with God and the source and purpose of nature and existence. The doctrine of the Trinity should be understood, taught and proclaimed as the ultimate truth about the One True God, which is revealed through Christ and the Gospel . It needs not and should not be proved by natural philosophical reasoning, because the Trinity is a biblical insight into what human wisdom and reason cannot philosophize THE SUPERNATURAL ESSENCE OF THE DIVINE NATURE. In The Westminster Dictionary of Christian Theology (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1969, 1983), Alan Richardson, onetime Dean of York puts it thus: There is no problem at all of reconciling the divinity of Christ and the Spirit with Jewish monotheism. The doctrine of the Trinity makes the absolute fullness and the related personhood of the Godhead known (Col 1:19, 2:9; John 1:14, 16). Without being a trinity, God could not be our Saviour or Redeemer and would be deficient deity: lacking fullness, personality and selfexistence. The inevitability of the triune-ness of the Godhead for our salvation and faith in the Triune God is seen in Christs teachings: No one comes to the Father except by Me (John 14:6; Matt 11:27) and No one comes to me except the Father draws him (John 6:44, 65) and
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 No one can enter Gods Kingdom except one is born again of the Spirit of God (John 3:5) and No one can be saved from divine condemnation except one believes in the Son of God sent by God the Father (John 3:14-18). The Apostles also insisted that No one can belong to Christ except one has the Spirit of Christ (Rom 8:9) and There is no salvation in any other name except the Name of Jesus (Act 4:12; Mark 16:16; John 3:36) to which all the Prophets agree (Act 10:42-43). BACK TO TOP THE TRINITY: ANSWER TO ALL MYSTERIES Only in the context of the Triune God could eternal salvation by redemption be possible. Otherwise we end up with insufficient religious conjectures like illumination, karma, restitution, cyclic sacrifices, or cyclic reincarnations, equilibration, annihilation, or the despair of agnostic atheism. The God that is not Triune is non-relating and impersonal, aloof and lonely, dependent and not self-existent, not self-revelatory nor redemptive. A non-triune deity does not deserve any worship nor moral/spiritual religion, since it cannot offer salvation from sin and death. Only the Triune self-relating God could be God of peace and harmony, God of life and goodness, God of love and mercy, and God of power and justice. In the doctrine of the Trinity is revealed the explanation of all things and the meaning for all things created and uncreated; past, present and future; moral, material and mental; visible and invisible, from creation till eschaton. Trinity is the revealed proof of the existence of the Redemptive God at work in His purposeful creation. Only in the glorious Trinity is humanity offered eternal salvation according to Gods predestination and purpose in Christ (before time), through propitiation by Christ (in time), and through regeneration by the Holy Spirit (at faith); unto election for glory by the Father, redemption by the Son and sanctification by the Holy Spirit (2Thes 2:13-14; 1Pet 1:2). The revelation of the mystery of the Trinity is final divine answer to the menacing human questions of being, existence and destiny. BACK TO TOP SCRIPTURAL BASIS OF THE TRINITY. (I) THE DIVERSITY AND PLURALITY IN THE UNITY OF THE GODHEAD AS FOUND IN THE OLD TESTAMENT For both Christians and Jews, God is absolute unity The Lord our (Israelites) God is one God (The Shema Deut 6:4), For us (Christians) there is only one God (1Cor 8:6), And there is no other God but one (1Cor 8:4). However the Jews affirm the unity (in intra-related plurality) of God without further affirmation of the Trinity (THREE PERSONAL MANIFESTATIONS
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OR THREE ANTHROPOMORPHIC SUBSISTENCES) in this unity, as the Christians do. This is because in the Old Testament, there is only enough evidence to show the related plurality or diversity in the unity of the Godhead. The three-ness of this personal relation was not very apparent as it is in the New Testament. 1. There are passages that refer to God with plural name Elohim though God is clearly said to be one. 2. There are also passages where God himself is quoted as referring to himself as Us (Gen 1:26; 3:22; 11:7; Isa 6:8). 3. There are passages where God is referred to as thrice holy (Isa 6:3) and as thrice benedictory (Num 6:24-26). 4. There are passages that attribute personal deity to the Wisdom and Word of God (Prov 8; Ps 33:6-9). 5. There are passages that show God, His Word and His Spirit working together as Divine unity (Gen 1:2-3; Isa 63:8-10). 6. There are also passages that speak of the Messiah as God (Ps 2; Isa 9:6). 7. There are Theophany passages that refer to the Angel of the Lord manifestations as God yet distinct (Gen 18; Exd 3:2-6; Judges 13:2-22). Therefore the monotheistic Jewish religion of the O.T. points, though vaguely, to the Trinity. For it shows personal diversity and plurality in the Godhead which point to no other Divine Persons than Yahweh, His coming Messiah (i.e. the Son, the Word and the Wisdom of Yahweh) and the Spirit of Yahweh. However the Jews still find it difficult to accept the Trinity up till today. All the same, the Jews believe that God has personal characteristics (Anthropomorphism) and should be related to and walked with as a Person, not merely recognised as a cosmic super-force. (II) THE TRINITY IN THE UNITY OF THE GODHEAD AS FOUND IN THE NEW TESTAMENT Whereas the Trinity is implicit in the O.T., it is quite explicit in the N.T. With the revelation of the Tri-personal nature of God, the NT adds a new dimension to the doctrine of God. Hitherto the study of God would have at its best been limited to: 1. The existence or reality and the being of God (either as a non-personal FORCE or a purposeful, spiritual and PERSONAL Being). 2. The perfect Nature of God as evident in (a) Perfect names; (b) Perfect attributes which are: i) Natural (i.e. Oneness, Personhood, Infinity, Eternity, Immutability, Sovereignty, Omnipresence, Omniscience and Omnipotence.) and ii) Moral (i.e. Goodness, Holiness and Righteousness) 2. The work of God in Creation and Preservation i.e. PROVIDENCE. However with the revealed truth of the Trinity, a lot of dimensions have now been made known to humanity about the nature and the work of God (such as the plurality of anthropomorphic PERSONS in the ONE Divine Essence and His Redemptive work of grace). Also a whole new vista of relating with God has been opened (such as our personal walk with God, Personal indwelling and purposeful leading by God through the Holy Spirit). Today therefore, we do not only talk about worshipping of the real-living, perfect and powerful God but also about walking with the redeeming, purposeful, Tri-Personal God who is the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This is
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the unique offer to humanity by Christianity . The offer of this ultimate revelation also makes the ultimate demand on each human, to relate with God and love God with all our spirit, soul, mind, strength, heart, body, and substance (Deut 10:12-13; Mark 12:29-30). This new offer by Christianity about the essential nature of God as Three-Persons-in-one God and how the three Persons-in-God are significant in reaching humanity for our salvation is evident from the following passages of the NT Scriptures: 1. At the annunciation, Lk 1:35; 2. At Christs baptism, Matt 3:13-17; 3. In Christs teachings, e.g. John 10:30; 14:6-7; 14:26, 15:26; 4. In the Baptismal formula of the Great Commission, Matt 28:19; 5. In the Pentecostal sermon, Acts 2:32-33; 6. In the Apostolic Benediction, 2Cor 13:14; 7. In the Apostolic teachings: (a) On the Spiritual Gifts, e.g. 1Cor 12:4-6; (b) On the mystery of Election e.g. Eph 1:3-14; 2Thes 2:13-14; 1Pet 1:2; (c) On the Atonement, e.g. Heb 9:14; (d) On the work of Redemption, e.g. Eph 2:18; (e) On the mystery of Adoption, e.g. Gal 4:4-7; (f) On the Unity of the Church, e.g. Eph 4:4-6; (g) On worship access Eph 2:18, and worship singing Eph 5:18-20; (h) On the mystery of the Apostolic ministry e.g. Eph 3:2-5. And so on and so forth. Also the NT contains other verses that refer to Christ as God and to be worshipped in faith: John 1:1-2; 14; John 1:18; John 5:23; John 14:1; John 20:28; Rom 9:5; Tit 2:13; Heb 1:8; 2Pet 1:1; 1John 5:20. These all declare the divinity of Christ. Again the personhood of the divine Spirit, the Holy Spirit of God, is very clear from the NT as in the following: 1. He is referred to in the personal pronoun e.g. John 14:26; 15:26. 2. He has will 1Cor 12:7. 3. He has intellect 1Cor 2:11. 4. He has affection, Eph 4:30; Rom 15:30. 5. He indwells, 1Cor 3:16. 6. He intercedes, Rom 8:26. 7. He speaks Act 28:25. 8. He leads Rom 8:14. 9. He guides, John 16:13. The Holy Spirit is therefore a personal Spirit not an impersonal force or power. The apparent understanding of Gods supremacy and authorship in creation amongst the Apostles (John 1:1-4; Rom 11:36; Eph 1:10; Col 1:15-20; 2:8-10; Heb 1:2; 2:10; 1Cor 8:6; also see Gen 1:1-3; Job 26:13; Psa 33:6) is that: God the Father is the Source Cause of all creation, since all are OF Him;
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 God the Son is the Head Cause of all creation, since all are FOR/BY/IN Him; God the Holy Spirit is the Means Cause of all creation, since all are THROUGH Him. With these staggering revelations in the NT, the only conclusion is that God is one, but He subsists in three Persons of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit . This is a great mystery. The fullness of the Godhead is the three Persons of the Godhead (Not three separate or substitute individualities as such, but three intra-relating and co-existing Persons or anthropomorphic Subsistences of the one true God). BACK TO TOP HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE TRINITY DOCTRINE. (I) COUNCILS AND FORMULATIONS ON THE TRINITY Over the years men have sought to see if the NT or even the OT has further revelations about these Persons in the Godhead. Others have dismissed the whole revelation as too much to be true. But the NT Church has stood up to defend the Christian revelation for the past 2000 yrs against any unbiblical falsification or discredit. Seven Ecumenical Councils, which were ever held by the Church universal, were mainly to formulate the orthodox biblical truth on the Trinity. Outside the council many theologians sought to answer some questions that have arisen from this new revelation. Some got things mixed up while others got things straightened out. Sometimes it was with the nature of the Persons of the Trinity; sometimes it was with the relation among the Persons within the Trinity. It was Tertullian of Carthage who first used the term Trinity (ca. 200AD) to describe the THREENESS of ONE God as he discovered it in the NT. Other terms used in the time of Tertullian, were Holy Triad or the Triad in the Godhead: first used by Bishop Theophilus of Antioch (ca. 180AD). This Triad or Trinity was referring to anthropomorphisms of the Godhead called the subsistences or emanations or existences (Greek=hypostasis), or the persons (Greek=prosopon), or the performance characters or responsible agents or relational identities (Latin=persona) of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. As a result of this flux of teachings the Ecumenical Church Councils were called and the creedal formulations which are universally accepted as most apostolic were written. The following are the Ecumenical Councils which were concerned with these controversies. BACK TO TOP It is important to note that the first two historic Ecumenical Councils (Nicaea 325 AD and Constantinople 381 AD) set out to find out all that God's Word reveals that the God we worship really is. Their conclusion was that Our God as revealed in the Bible is the TRI-UNITY of One God Who subsists in the Three Persons of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Their conclusions are called the Doctrine of the Trinity. 1. The Council of Nicaea (325 AD) TRINITARIAN

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This first council was summoned by Emperor Constantine. It discussed the Arian controversy and declared that the Son is HOMO-OUSIOS (same substance) with the Father and drafted the Nicene Creed. Athanasius of Alexandria played a prominent role here. 2. The Council of Constantinople (381 AD) TRINITARIAN Political intrigue by the Arians against, and genuine reflections on the Nicene Position had become on the increase. So the Church universal came together again to review their position. At the end they confirmed the Nicene Creed and anathematised Arianism. The next two historic Ecumenical Councils (Ephesus 431 AD and Chalcedon 451 AD) met to find out all that God's Word reveals that the Christ our Lord really is. Their conclusion was that Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ has two full natures of Divinity and Humanity both preserved but united in one Divine Person of the Son. Their conclusions are called the Doctrine of the Two Natures. 3. The Council of Ephesus (431 AD) CHRISTOLOGICAL This rejected the Nestorian doctrine of separation of the Natures of Christ and accepted the Alexandrian biblical doctrine of the union of the two Natures even in the virgins womb without losing His divine power and functions at any time. Christ EMPTIED Himself of (not lost) His equality with God. There was no fact of diminution of His Divinity but an act of humility despite His Full Divinity. EMPTYING is HUMILITY not or INCAPACITY. 4. The Council of Chalcedon (451 AD) CHRISTOLOGICAL Confirmed the formulation at Ephesus and formulated a more comprehensive presentation of the doctrine of the two Natures in the one Person of the Son. The Two Natures were UNITED but fully preserved (not MIXED) in the One Person of the Son. The other three ecumenical councils at Constantinople in 553 and 680, at Nicaea in 787 did not add much to the Christological issues and are usually not regarded as authoritative by the reformation Churches because they became more academic and rather less scriptural in their deliberations. BACK TO TOP (II) HERETICAL TEACHINGS REJECTED BY THE COUNCILS

(A) BEFORE NICAEA:Before the council of Nicaea (325 AD), many heretical teachings had been decisively dealt with by the Church without any council; these included: 1. Docetism (AD 80). This taught that Christ seemed (Gk = doceo) to be human, because they believed that true divinity can never come in contact with the evil of matter
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and humanity, in line with Greek philosophy. This was condemned by the Church as unscriptural. 2. Ebionism (AD 100). This was an offshoot of Jewish Messianic Christianity. To them Christ was an ordinary man but was divinely appointed: similar to the way Moses was appointed. This was rejected by the Church Fathers and Teachers as unscriptural. After all, Christ personally said to the learned Jews that He is the Saviour of the world Who came from heaven and is both Son of Man and Son of God (John 3:13-18). 3. Montanism (AD 150). This claims that the special gifts of the Holy Spirit for its followers including ecstasies, prophecies and revelations are equal in authority with that of the Apostles. The Church reacted to Montanism by fixing the Canonical Scriptures as the rule of faith and discouraging the use of Spiritual gifts which claimed extraordinary authority outside or above the Scriptures. 4. Marcionism (AD 150). This claimed that the Creator God of the OT is not the same as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Their Christ was not born with created body but appeared suddenly from Heaven. To them the OT God was same with the Greek Demiurge who created evil matter and is harshly righteous while the Father of Christ, the Redeemer God is merciful. Macionism was condemned by the Church Doctors and Fathers as non-apostolic and against Scripture. 5. Gnosticism (AD 100-200). This was a syncretistic religion of Greek philosophy and Middle-eastern superstition, mingled with Christian ideas. To them Christ was neither God nor man. He only seemed to be human. He did not come in the flesh, He did not die nor resurrect. Only those born with natural ability to know the God-of-lights could be saved from the shackles of the Creator-God called Demiurge! This was rejected entirely by the Church as Anti-Christian (1John 2:21-23; 4:1-6). Gnosticism is resurging today as New Thought philosophy or New Age movement today, and is being syncretised with Christianity through the Motivational Speaking movement. NOTE: Gnosticism (from the Greek GNOSIS=knowledge) claimed to possess special knowledge (gnosis) secretly received from Christ and some other pleromatic Angels and spirits, which was taught to its initiates. It was a syncretistic philosophical mystery religion (Gal 1:6-9; Col 2:8-10; 1Tim 6:20-21), that re-expressed in the language of GREEK Platonist philosophy a combination of the PERSIAN philosophy of genealogies and hierarchies of pleromatic divinities mixed with SYRO-EGYPTIAN dualism of equality of the forces of GOOD/spirit and EVIL/matter. To the Gnostics, the body is Demiurges evil-instrument of bondage, therefore bodily acts and indulgences, whether sinful or moral have no spiritual consequence. What matters is the spiritual knowledge in the heart. 6. Sabellianism or Modalistic Monarchianism (AD 200). These, in order to avoid teaching what appeared to present God as more than one, they taught that the Son was another mode of existence of the Father, so is the Spirit. The Father was the mode of God in the OT, the Son was the form of God in the time of Christ and the Spirit was the mode
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that God revealed himself after the ascension. The Church condemned the doctrine because it means that it was the Father who was crucified as the Son (Patripassionism). Again it means that the Son is not seated at the right hand of the Father. Modalism is also called economic or dispensational Trinitarianism that God changes into a different form for every dispensation! 7. Adoptionism or Dynamic Monarchianism (AD 200) . This is another unscriptural attempt to avoid preaching Faith in what appeared to be more than one God (though in the One God there is more than one Person and in the One God there is pluralism). It taught that the Holy Spirit was the same as the Christ. This Christ (i.e. Holy Spirit) came upon a man called Jesus of Nazareth at his baptism, hence making him the Saviour. So Jesus was an ordinary man, but because of his righteousness, God adopted him as His Son by giving him the Christ (i.e. Holy Spirit). This was rejected totally by the Church because it implies that Jesus was saved and adopted like every Christian is. BACK TO TOP (B) FROM NICAEA ONWARDS: While reaffirming their stand against all the above heretical doctrines of God, the Church was faced with another major heretical movement, which was lead by an Egyptian Presbyter called Arius (256-336 AD) who lived in Asia Minor. His teaching called Arianism was what led to the summoning of the council of Nicaea (325 AD) by Emperor Constantine. This was the first Ecumenical Church council. It sat for two months May 20-July 25, AD 325. 1. Arianism: Arius, under the influence of Adoptionism and Greek philosophy of God and creation, taught that God could not create the material world (since matter is evil and has no link with true divinity as the Greeks taught). Arius also taught that the Christ was created by God in eternity, so that Christ would create other creations including the Holy Spirit. To Arius there was a time Christ was not; therefore he is not co-eternal with the Father and not the same-substance (homo-ousios) with the Father. At best he could only be of like-substance (homoi-ousios) with the Father. Again the Son had a divine soul and a human body so that he is neither fully man nor fully God but somewhere in-between (i.e. demi-god?). During the two-month-long council, a few like Eusebius of Nicomedia supported Arius while the rest like Alexander of Alexandria (whose secretary was Deacon Athanasius) and Eusebius of Caesarea who was the most learned man of his time supported Athanasius who eventually championed the orthodox biblical truth against Arius philosophical view. Athanasius led the drafting of the Nicene Creed, which presented Christ as homo-ousios (not homoi-ousios) with the Father as the Scripture plainly teaches. The Sonship of Christ implies same-substance John 1:1-4; 5:8; 10:30; 14:9, 11; equal-form Php 2:6; exact-image Heb 1:3; and fullness Col 1:19; 2:9; with/of God the Father, NOT A DIMINUTION of the Godhead. Arius and his followers began political intrigue and confusion in order to reinstate their heresy. Later a group called Macedonians led by one Macedonius pushed a modified
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form of Arianism (semi-Arianism), backed with their political connections. As a result another council was summoned at Constantinople (381 AD). At Constantinople, the Arians and Macedonians failed to prove their doctrine because they lacked apostolic and scriptural authority. Athanasius was vindicated and the Nicene Creed was confirmed by the Church while the Arians were excommunicated and anathematised. 2. Apollinarianism: This was a mid-way stand between Athanasius and Arius. He disagreed with Arius in every way but held that the Logos became the soul of Christ. So that Christ has no human soul but divine soul and human flesh. This was rejected together with Arianism because it denies that God truly took up flesh and became man that was in every way like us except in sin (John 1:14; Heb 4:15). 3. Nestorianism: (400 AD). Nestorius of Constantinople taught that the two natures of Christ (divine and human) were separate. This implies that the Logos was not incarnate in Christ but in fellowship with the man Jesus (as the case with OT saints) or morally indwelling the man Jesus (as the case with NT saints). To Nestorius then, the Person of the Son was not a hypostatic unity, and the divine was not bodily present with Jesus in the womb of the Virgin Mary and the blood of Jesus is not Gods blood (But see Act 20:28; Col 2:9). So that Mary could not be said to be the God-bearer ( Theotokos) but at the most, Christ-bearer (Christo-tokos). This was discussed at Ephesus (431 AD) and Chalcedon (451 AD) and condemned. There the Church affirmed that Mary was Godbearer i.e. Theotokos (not Mother-of-God i.e. Theometros, as some say), since the divine and the human natures of Christ have never been separated or divided, or changed into semi-divine state nor confused. Mary conceived only Christs humanity but carried both the humanity and the Divinity of Christ in her womb (i.e. Theotokos). Nestorianism was the main Trinity teaching among the Arab Church till Islam came. 4. Eutycheans and Monophysites: These attempted to present a Christ, which is a third sort of being (demigod) with a composite nature in which the two natures were fused in one Nature rather than united but preserved in one Person. Hence their Christ is neither true God nor true man and so could NOT be a mediator between God and man. But the Scripture imply that Christ is full God and full man, meeting full divine demands and having true frail human flesh yet without sin (John 1:12; John 5:25-27; 1Tim 3:16; Heb 4:15). Monophysitism was rejected at Chalcedon together with Nestorianism. At the Councils, Christ was affirmed to be perfect Man and perfect God, same substance with the Father in Godhead and same substance with us in manhood. These two full natures of Christ are preserved and concurred in the one Person or one Hypostasis (i.e. Subsistence) of the Son. In Php 2:5-8, the Divinity in Christ did NOT lose divine attributes and powers nor the divine glory and dignity (so called Kenosis) else it ceases to be a matter of His humility but about His insufficiency. Christs emptying of Himself does not mean deficiency but humility to take up human nature into hypostatic union with His Divine Nature for the redemption humanity.

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What happened is that the Son humbled Himself in the incarnation and birth, was humiliated willingly in His passion and death, and was exalted in His resurrection and ascension. This is what self-emptying (giving up of reputation) in Philippians 2:5-9 mean. True Christological doctrine that would agree with the Scriptures must present the Christ who is the Son of God and the Son of Man, the Mediator between God and man and a Saviour of man from the wrath of the righteous God, reconciling man to God. If He was less than God, He could not reveal God nor reconcile anyone to God. If He was less than man or was superman or demigod, He could not identify with humanity either on the cross or at the right hand of the Father. In fact if the full divinity was lost, what would become of the universe during Christs life and death? If the divinity was enclosed as the soul in a semibabe or semi-man, what portion has full humans in such a Christ? BACK TO TOP SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY OF THE TRINITY. THE SCRIPTURAL DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY The scriptural doctrine of the Trinity was championed by many Church Doctors (Scholarly Teachers) and Fathers of the 4th Century. These were Athanasius of Alexandria, the Cappadocia Fathers, and Augustine of Hippo. The Cappadocia Fathers (Basil of Caesarea 329-375, Gregory of Nazianzus 330-390, and Gregory of Nyssa 330-395) under the leadership of Basil sought to show how the three Persons are united in one God. Athanasius had set to show how the one God subsists in the three Persons. Augustine set to penetrate into the Mystery of one God in three Persons and three Persons in one God and the relations within the Divine Essence. For the Cappadocians: The Father is the cause and fount of Deity not begotten; The Son is caused by generation not creation; The Spirit is caused by procession not creation. For Athanasius and Augustine the Spirit also proceeded from the Son (Luke 24:49; John 14:26; 15:26; Acts 2:33), not only from the Father. The Cappadocians could only condone a procession of the Spirit from the Father through the Son (John 14:26). Augustine basing his teaching on the truth that God is Love (1John 4:8, 16): likened the Father as the Lover, the Son as the Beloved and the Spirit as the Love shared. Love usually proceeds from the lover as well as the beloved. While the Eastern Church remained under the influence of the Cappadocians who wrote in Greek, the Western Church was under the influence of Athanasius and Augustine who wrote in Latin. Hence in 589 at Toledo, the Western Church added the FILIOQUE (i.e. AND THE SON) to the procession clause of the Nicene Creed. This has remained the main reason (apart from political disputes about the authority of the papacy and the Greek and Latin language differences) for the division between Eastern and Western Churches in 1054. Attempts made in 1439 and 1453 to arrive at a compromise (such as replacing AND THE SON with THROUGH/BY THE SON) and bring the East and West together failed. This division has remained till today.

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A summary of the orthodox biblical doctrine of the Trinity is found in the Nicene Creed (see below), the Athanasian Creed (Quiqunque vult) and the Apostles Creed as well as the Chalcedonian formula on the union of the Two Natures in Christ. The main tenets of the doctrine are outlined below: 1. 2. There is only one God of one indivisible substance or essence ( ousia) of the Godhead (1Cor 8:4). Within this one and the same Divine Substance or Essence of the Godhead, there are three Subsistences (hypostasis) or three Persons (prosopon); these are the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Through these three anthropomorphic Subsistences, God has revealed Himself in a personal way, such that we can personally relate with Him. The majestic ousia of Elohim is too great to be grasped in a single hypostasis or Person. The three Persons or Subsistences are not three Gods but one God co-equal in glory (John 17:5) and in power (Rom 15:19; Matt 28:19) and in majesty, co-eternal (Heb 9:14; Rev 1:8) and uncreated; therefore they are to be believed, worshiped and obeyed together as one and same God and Lord, not as three Gods. The three Persons in the Godhead, work together in fulfilling Gods gracious mission to mankind such as creation (Gen 1:1-3), election (Eph 1:3-14) and redemption (Heb 9:14); nevertheless each of these Personal Subsistences become prominent for particular purpose: (a) God the Father is particularly revealed in creation. He made man "in His own image (not physical image but personal, moral and spiritual image Eph 4:24; Col 3:10), to rule as Gods stewards and vicegerents in this beautiful and harmonious world; He preserves the creation by His providence and controls it by His governance; (b) God the Son is particularly known for redemption; He was born human to identify with mankind, died to bring about humanitys forgiveness, and resurrected to bring new life to humanity as many as believe in Him; (c) God the Holy Spirit is revealed specially in sanctification; He came to convict humanity of sin, serve for the baptism of all believers into Christs Body (1Cor 12:13; Eph 1:13), to bring about the new birth, and strengthen and fill the believer with His divine grace (gifts and fruit) unto perfection. The Son and the Spirit are subordinate to the Father only in relation (John 14:28) but not in essence (John 10:30): (a) The Father is the Fount of Deity, neither begotten nor proceeding; (b) The Son is begotten from the Father in eternity but not proceeding; (c) The Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son in eternity (John 14:26; 15:26; Acts 2:33), but not begotten. The Son is fully God and fully human (Php 2:6-8), of one substance ( homo-ousios) with the Father as regards his Godhead and of same substance with humanity as regards his manhood, like us in all aspects apart from sin (Heb 4:15); so in the one by I. U. Ibeme 12

3.

4.

2.

3.

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Person of the Son, there are two distinct and full natures (perfect Godhead and perfect Manhood) preserved but united in the one Person of the Son. 4. The Divine nature of the Son was begotten of the Father before all worlds, while His human nature was born of the Virgin Mary in the world (John 1:1, 14).

This is the Christian doctrine and creed of One God in three Persons and three Persons in one God, the mystery unveiled by the Christian Faith to the human race. THE NICENE CREED
We believe in one God, the Father, the almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father. Through him all things were made. For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven; by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate of the Virgin Mary and was made man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son he is worshipped and glorified. He has spoken through the prophets. We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. (Amen).

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By The Ven Dr. I. U. Ibeme Copyright PriscAquila Publishing, Maiduguri, Nigeria. Click Here For PriscAquila Christian Resource Centre http://priscaquila.6te.net

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