Questions tagged [persons-of-the-trinity]
The persons, or "hypostases," of the Trinity – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
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What is the Biblical evidence that there are ONLY three persons in the "Trinity"?
(This is a followup to the various answers for the question What is the Biblical basis for the doctrine of the Trinity?)
The specific concept of 'trinity' isn't specifically spelled out in the Bible. ...
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When in the development of trinitarian doctrine was the word "persons" first applied to God?
In the Bible, the word "persons" is not used in reference to God, nor are the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit called "persons."
When, in early Christian writings and creeds, was the word "persons" (...
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What is the Biblical basis for the doctrine of the Trinity consisting of different persons?
In What is the Biblical basis for the doctrine of the Trinity? we have explored the biblical basis for the doctrine that the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God.
However, what ...
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Why is the Trinity a Trinity? [closed]
It's well established and accepted by most Christians that God is triune, consisting of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
However, while talking with a friend earlier about Wisdom (from Proverbs), I ...
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When talking about the Trinity, what does "persons" mean?
The triune God is defined as three persons equal in nature. What does "persons" mean in this statement? Can the word "persons" be replaced with "personalities" or "roles"?
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Does the divine name YHWH (יַהְוֶה) apply equally to all Persons of the Trinity? (Catholic/Nicene perspective)
According to the Catholic Church (and other Nicene Churches), does the divine name YHWH (יַהְוֶה) apply equally to all Persons of the Sacred Trinity?
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What is the biblical basis for the personhood of the Holy Spirit?
According to Trinitarian theology, the Holy Trinity consists of three persons (τρεῖς ὑποστάσεις), the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, who share the same essence/nature (ὁμοούσιος). What is the ...
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According to the Catholic Church, why is God called “Father” (and not, say, “Mother”)?
Throughout the Bible, Jesus specifically refers to God as Father, and us as his sons.
Why is it significant that God is a Father? Why did God choose the image of “Father,” as opposed to other ...
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How is the Trinity compatible with divine simplicity?
Divine simplicity is the doctrine that God has no parts/composition. It implies that God is equivalent to his attributes and his attributes are equivalent to each other. So God is love and God is ...
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Do Mormons actually believe in any sort of supreme being/ultimate reality/"Absolute"?
From what I've heard about the Mormon God, he doesn't actually seem to fit the description of "supreme being" and rather seems more like a polytheistic Greek or Hindu God.
The following may be ...
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If all persons of the Trinity have the same/a united will what does Jesus mean in John 6:38?
John 6:38
For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me
Surely this implies they have separate wills?
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Do any Christian denominations believe in a "duality" rather than a trinity?
I have heard that some non-trinitarian Christians reject the concept of the trinity and say that there is only one indivisible divinity. Are there any Christian denominations that believe in a "...
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What is the meaning of 'is' in the context of the Trinity?
The Philosopher Gottlob Frege distinguishes between four different meaning behind the word 'is':
1) 'is' as in identity; Saul is Paul.
2) 'is' as in predicate; Paul is Christian.
3) 'is' as in ...
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Were Jews in Jesus' day binitarian?
Is it true that Jews during Jesus' lifetime were binitarian, that is believing that God was one being in two persons similar to how Christians have historically believed and taught that God is ...
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When Christians say "the Lord" in everyday speech, do they mean Jesus or the Father?
It's very common to hear Christians say "Lord" or "the Lord" in different contexts: everyday conversations, prayer, testimonies, sermons, etc. Some example sentences that come to ...
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How does the view of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints about Jesus Christ differ from Protestant Trinitarian Christology?
The Protestant Trinitarian view of Jesus Christ is that he is the only-begotten Son of God – begotten, not made. He is of one substance with the Father by whom all things were made. He is the Word ...
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Are Father, Son, and Holy Spirit explicitly identified as "persons" in any writings directly associated with the Nicene Creed?
Neither version of the Nicene Creed (325 or 381) contains the word "person," in the singular or in the plural.
Are there any extant writings that came out of, or are closely associated with, either ...
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Is 1 Corinthians 15:27 problematic for trinitarians?
Bible hub has several translations of 1 Corinthians 15:27.
NKJV reads
For “He has put all things under His feet.” But when He says “all things are put under Him,” it is evident that He who put all ...
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Which persons of the Trinity are attached to which noun in John 1:18?
No one has ever seen God[1]; the only God[2], who[3] is at the Father's[4] side, he[5] has made him[6] known. (John 1:18 ESV)
I have always had trouble understanding what this verse is actually ...
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How do Trinitarian Christians respond to these differences between Jesus Christ and God
How do people who believe in the theology of The Holy Trinity respond to these clear differences between God and Jesus Christ?
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The Father
Jesus Christ
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God is not put to the test (Deut 6:16)
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Why were ousia and hypostasis synonymous in the Nicene Creed?
Why were ousia and hypostasis synonymous in the Nicene Creed?
In the original 325 A.D. Nicene Creed, an anathema is included which has ousia and hypostasis as synonymous. In this case, the Trinity is ...
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Does God the Son have Faith?
While answering another question, a comment perplexed me and I cannot quite understand it.
"It was not Christ 'fulfilling the law' that saved, but him bearing the punishment for sin we all ...
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How does the Jehovah’s Witness view of who Jesus Christ is differ from Protestant Trinitarian Christology?
The Protestant Trinitarian view of Jesus Christ is that he is the only-begotten Son of God – begotten, not made. He is of one substance with the Father by whom all things were made. He is the Word ...
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How do Trinitarians explain the Athanasian Creed saying that the "one God" is the Trinity rather than the Father as in the Nicene Creed?
In Scripture and the early Creeds, "one God" is used primarily to refer to God the Father:
1 Cor 8:6 (NIV): yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for ...
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What does "proceeds" mean to Eastern Orthodox?
The Eastern Orthodox Nicene Creed says:
I believe in one God, Father Almighty, Creator of
heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-...
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Do the Taylor Brethren use the term 'Trinity' in a specialised way?
In 1890, the Brethren movement split into two, one section led by F E Raven (the cause of the split) who was then succeeded by James Taylor Senior, who also held at least some of Raven's views.
Raven ...
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What is the biblical basis for praying to the Holy Spirit?
There is a question about praying to Jesus already, but I noticed there is no question about praying to the Holy Spirit. What is the biblical basis for praying to the third person of the trinity?
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In Catholic theology is Yehovah the Father or all three persons?
When reading the Hebrew scriptures and one encounters a reference to Yehovah, does that map in the NT to the Father? Or to the Father, Son and Holy Ghost? For example, in this passage can we be ...
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Can you help me solve this theological puzzle over John 1:14?
John 1:14 is generally used to say that "God" became "flesh" based on the understanding that "the Word" addressed in John 1:1 refers to God. However, several other texts ...
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According to Trinitarians, when the term Yahweh ('LORD') is used in the OT, who exactly is being referred to?
According to Unitarian Christians, the identity of Yahweh is straightforward. Yahweh = the Father = God. Therefore, linguistic usage in the OT is fairly straightforward. Whenever Yahweh ('LORD') is ...
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Divine Relations of the Trinity
I have been studying the Trinity recently, and most of my studies have been from St. Thomas Aquinas, in his Summa Theologiae, and he would agree that the persons are the divine Essence. One thing ...
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How do non-trinitarians respond to the argument that God is love necessitates the eternity of the Son? [duplicate]
A common argument for the Trinity (or at least the eternity of The Son) is that God is love,
For if there be a being without beginning, existing before all things, was He loving when there was ...
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Is there a Christian denomination that only considers the Son and the Father to be persons of God? [duplicate]
Is there a Christian denomination that holds only the Son and the Father as persons of God? (Only two persons) -- as opposed to Trinitarianism and Unitarianism. Has it been upheld by anyone in ...
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How can trinitarians profess co-equality when Jesus said the Father was greater?
Trinitarians typically believe that the persons of the Trinity are coequal. How do they explain Jesus' statement that his Father was greater?
Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come ...
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Why do Trinitarians call the Father, the Father?
Trinitarians believe that God exists as three distinct but equal persons (yes, I'm simplifying), known as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
They also believe that Mary was impregnated by the Holy ...
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Do the reformed theology adherents believe that a believer should not "converse with" or "pray to" or worship the Holy Spirit?
I was in a Reformed house church and heard them making a statement of faith after the meeting. In that, they wrote that only the Father and the Son are to be worshipped and prayed to. They believed ...
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From a trinitarian perspective, how do you biblically reconcile Jesus dying and Jesus being God?
I've heard non-trinitarians say, "The Bible says God can't die, therefore Jesus isn't God.
First of all, does the Bible even say that God can't die (I assume it does, or at least it implies it). ...
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What is the official Catholic view of a feminine element within the Trinity?
A recent question on Christianity Stack (about monotheism and the Trinity) suggested that since Christians present the Trinity as a “family” it must contain a feminine element. This came as news to ...
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In what way is the Son of God "one with the Father"?
What is the Trinitarian stance on the meaning of John 10:30?
I and the Father are one.
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Why was the revelation that God has the Only Begotten Son not given in the Old Testament?
Of course, we have many indications to that truth in the Old Testament, but it was only with the coming of Jesus Christ that it was spoken to humans in plain language that God has the Only-begotten ...
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In Trinitarian theology who created the world? [closed]
Did the father create the world by himself by fiat ("Let there be and there was...")?
Or,
Did the father order the son to create the world and the son did the work (where "Let there be..." was a ...
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What is the Anglican and Episcopalian basis for viewing the Trinity as a family that should contain a feminine element?
A recent question on Christianity Stack (about monotheism and the Trinity) suggested that since Christians present the Trinity as a “family” it must contain a feminine element. This came as news to ...
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Which Ante-Nicene Church Fathers believed that Jesus is the "eternal Son" of the Father?
Economic trinitarianism, in the pre-Nicene sense of the phrase, says that God is a monad who becomes tripartite for the purposes of creation and redemption. Forms of this view were held by Justin ...
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Does the New Testament state that Jesus Christ is the 'image' and the 'likeness' of God?
I am seeking answers from Protestant Trinitarians in regard to the statement in Genesis 1:27 that humanity was made in the image and the likeness of God ; and whether this actually refers to the ...
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According to Roman Catholicism, what does "proceeds' mean in the Nicene Creed?
The Nicene Creed says:
We believe in one God,the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
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Absolute Divine Simplicity (ADS) and the Trinity
Though apparent, the framework of the Triune Godhead appears logically incoherent in juxtaposition to the Absolute Divine Simplicity model. Looking through the works of Thomas Aquinas, who is the most ...
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What does the Chalcedonian Creed mean by person?
The creed says:
the distinction of natures being by no means taken away by the union,
but rather the property of each nature being preserved, and concurring
in one Person and one Subsistence, not ...
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What is the earliest clear and unambiguous post-NT affirmation of the Holy Spirit's personhood in Christianity?
I have two very related questions:
What is the earliest recorded post-NT instance of a clear and unambiguous affirmation that the Holy Spirit is a Person, distinct from the Father and the Son, in the ...
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Why does the Trinitarian Formula start with "In the NAME…" and not "In the NAMES…"?
Today the Universal Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Holy Trinity. In the Trinitarian Formula, we invoke the NAME (singular) of the Three Persons of the Trinity. In English we say: "In the ...
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According to Trinitarians, how could Jesus (God the Son) be GIVEN life in Himself (John 5:26), if he shares the same essence of being than the Father?
A similar question has been asked here, but no details have been asked other than how Trinitarians interpret this verse. The top answer of the linked question talks about the Son being "eternally ...
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