Questions tagged [trinity]

The doctrine of the three-personhood of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; who, though existing in three distinct persons and work towards different arenas, are the same God, of the same mind, and the same purpose.

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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?
-4 votes
1 answer
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What is the response of Trinitarians to these ten assertions? [closed]

It makes someone other than God also have the title of "God". (Exodus 20:3) There cannot be a capital-G God beneath the capital-G God—only a lowercase god. The capital-G God is the highest ...
0 votes
4 answers
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Will all glorified children of God take on the title/name of YHWH in the age to come?

God is 1. I think we can all agree with Jesus' most important commandment... the Shema. I've been told here by the most prudent of Trinitarians, that YHWH is not a being or a person, but instead 3 ...
3 votes
2 answers
102 views

Is the Trinity in the Blessed Sacrament (the Blessed Host)

In the Catholic Church, we believe that Jesus Christ is present -- body, blood, soul and divinity -- in the Holy Eucharist (Blessed Sacrament/Blessed Host). I would like to know if it is only the ...
5 votes
1 answer
77 views

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 ...
0 votes
1 answer
103 views

Do Seventh Day Adventists believe in three Centers of Consciousness in God?

I want to ask my Seventh-Day Adventist friends about their view of the Trinity. I was listening this morning to one of your preachers. He said that EGW never refers to the Trinity but is adamant there ...
0 votes
1 answer
52 views

Reference request: Trying to locate the reference of a quote by Pope Athanasius of Alexandria about the Trinity

I read this quote for Saint Athanasius of Alexandria in an Arabic book, but I am trying to locate the source (reference) of that quote (in which work for Athanasius), or something of the similar ...
-3 votes
1 answer
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Why are the Nicene and Dedication Creeds so different?

The Nicene and Dedication Councils were attended by more or less the same people and were only 16 years apart (325 vs 341) but resulted in opposing creeds. The Nicene Creed is pro-Sabellian but the ...
1 vote
2 answers
177 views

Why was homoousios not mentioned for 20 years after Nicaea?

In the “centuries-old account of the Council of Nicaea: … The whole power of the mysterious dogma is at once established by the one word homoousios … with one pronouncement the Church identified a ...
4 votes
4 answers
536 views

How do those who hold Trinitarian doctrine existed from the earliest days of the church explain the lack of debate about it in the New Testament?

Jeff Deuble in Christ Before Creeds says (p. 33-34) The significant controversies about the Messiah that were strongly contested in the New Testament were: his death by crucifixion, his resurrection, ...
4 votes
4 answers
489 views

Is the Greek word Protoktistos used anywhere in the Bible?

Arguing against the teaching that Jesus is a created being, some point out that calling him the firstborn of all creation (Colossians 1:15) does not mean the first created. The trinitarian will often ...
3 votes
3 answers
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Did Justin Martyr believe Jesus was a "second God"?

In Justin Martyr's Dialogue with Trypho Chapter 56: Justin: I shall attempt to persuade you, since you have understood the Scriptures, [of the truth] of what I say, that there is, and that there is ...
3 votes
3 answers
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How can the Father, Son, and Spirit all be omnipotent?

I apologize if this question has been asked before. I haven’t been able to find something that deals specifically with what I need the answer to. To start, I do believe in the Trinity and I believe a ...
1 vote
5 answers
183 views

How can Proverbs 8:22-36 be about Jesus?

Proverbs 8:22-23 (LXX) says The Lord made me the beginning of his ways for his works. He established me before time in the beginning, before he made the earth How can that be Jesus if Jesus was not ...
0 votes
1 answer
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The holy spirit since Jesus ascended? [closed]

The below two (of numerous) passages are understood by most to be the Holy Spirit coming to guide us after Jesus ascends. John 16:7 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I ...
4 votes
2 answers
289 views

In what way has belief in the Trinity decreased? [closed]

I have heard that over half of Protestants do not believe in an earlier theological conception of the Trinity. I have heard that this is especially true of Evangelicals, and that they consider the ...
4 votes
3 answers
582 views

How was the idea of homoousion developed, and when was this term used prior to the Nicean Council?

According to the Nicean Creed, Jesus Christ is said to be: Light of Light, true God of true God, begotten and not made; of the very same being (ὁμοούσιον) of the Father, by Whom all things came into ...
6 votes
3 answers
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What does the Nicene Creed mean when it says that the Father and the Son are of the same substance?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicene_Creed says: And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten of the Father [the only-begotten; that is, of the essence of the Father, God of God,] ...
-1 votes
2 answers
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Was Tertullian a Sabellian? [closed]

Recently, I stated in an article that Tertullian was a Sabellian. One person objected and quoted a passage that states that Tertullian was “one of the chief critics of Sabellianism.” Consequently, I ...
1 vote
4 answers
493 views

Why was homoousios used in the Nicene Creed?

The word homoousios is not in the Bible. It also was not a standard part of the Christian confession immediately before Nicaea. Rowan Williams described it as “the radical words of Nicaea” (RW, 236) ...
5 votes
7 answers
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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 ...
7 votes
7 answers
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If Jesus is God then how could he die?

According to trinitarian theology, Jesus is both 100% man and 100% God. It is said that Jesus, being 100% God, died. Therefore, God died. I know that 1/3 of God did not die, because that would be ...
-2 votes
2 answers
185 views

Was Athanasius a Sabellian?

For an overview of Sabellian theology, see - The Sabellians of the Fourth Century. The main characteristic is that God is only one hypostasis (Reality or Person). Jesus Christ, therefore, is not one ...
3 votes
2 answers
140 views

If these passages from 1 Corinthians don't teach the eternal submission of Jesus to the Father, then how should I understand them?

I have done an extensive amount of research and study on texts such as 1 Corinthians 15:28 and 1 Corinthians 11:3, which seem to communicate a submission of the son to the Father after His incarnation....
2 votes
1 answer
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Did the Cappadocians teach one or two substances?

"One substance" means that Father and Son are one single substance. That is known as numerical sameness. But if homoousios in the Nicene Creed is translated as "same substance," it ...
0 votes
1 answer
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What are some common trinitarian interpretations of Isaiah 7:14-16

I was doing my morning prayer in the Liturgy of the Hours and this passage appeared: “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call ...
28 votes
6 answers
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Does the Trinity share one mind or are there three separate minds? [closed]

Curious what Christian theologians or the Bible may have said about this. It seems like Jesus speaks in terms of his father's will as if it is not quite his own, which suggests separate minded-ness. ...
0 votes
0 answers
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How many minds exist within the Holy Trinity? [duplicate]

Normally I would hear the answer is one mind, but I was wondering; If beliefs are part of your mind, and since Jesus (the second person) would believe "I am the Son of God" and the Father ...
6 votes
3 answers
464 views

Why is there not a Liturgical Feast in honour of the Father within the Catholic Church?

Why is there not a Liturgical Feast in honour of the Father within the Catholic Church? The Catholic Church is trinitarian in thought and belief. Yet She has no liturgical celebration in honour of the ...
4 votes
7 answers
500 views

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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1 answer
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So Jesus said the Spirit is God however the Holy Spirit is said to create God so how can the Holy Spirit be God if God was created by the Holy Spirit

I am just confused about the Holy Trinity, Jesus said that the Spirit is God, however how can the Holy Spirit be God if it is also said that the Holy Spirit created God? Wouldn’t that mean that there ...
2 votes
1 answer
35 views

How does the concept of "Echad" in Deut 6:4 relate to Divine Simplicity?

Lately I've read some discussions that says the word "echad" ("one" in English) in the Shema refers to a unity more than an absolute singularity. (Here's one example of those ...
0 votes
2 answers
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(For denominations who accept icons) Who is "Jesus Christ of the old days" icon?

I'm Eastern Orthodox, but this question can be answered by catholics and any denomination that accepts icons. I went today to my local church and I saw a painting on a wall that I never noticed. It ...
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0 answers
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What kind of trinitarian was Thomas F. Torrance?

If I understand correctly (and I might be wrong). When it comes to the doctrine of the Trinity, as opposed to the Cappadocian Fathers (or at lest against Basil), Torrance believed that not just God ...
1 vote
3 answers
248 views

Significance of one divine essence/nature

All human beings share a common nature/essence, yet are not one "being", but the 3 persons of the Trinity share a common essence/nature and are one being. I have 3 questions here: What ...
2 votes
1 answer
78 views

How does the soul fit in with the existence

My question(s) relates to how the soul fits in with the existence "equation" and I have 2 main questions: Is the human soul part of your person or your essence, if essence then do humans ...
1 vote
0 answers
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Which theologian advised Theodosius?

This question is based on chapter 23 of the 1988 book by R.P.C. Hanson - The Search for the Christian Doctrine of God: The Arian Controversy, 318-381. "RH" in the quotes below refers to this ...
1 vote
0 answers
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What does it mean that the Spirit proceeds from the Father?

The Bible describes the Son as "the only begotten from the Father" (John 1:14). A child is begotten only once. Therefore, I understand "begotten" as a human analogy for how the ...
1 vote
0 answers
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Does Jn 3:8 have a larger interpretation with reference to Gifts of Holy Spirit?

In Jn 3:8, we see Jesus equating those born of the Holy Spirit to the wind which blows where it likes. No one knows where the wind comes from and where it goes to. Jesus was referring to the place of ...
2 votes
0 answers
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In what respect did Gregory Nazianzen think the pure Nicene faith was adulterated at Constantinople in 381?

In contrast to the previous pro-Homoian emperor Valens, “it was soon clear that Theodosius would pursue a pro-Nicene line.” (LA, 251) In February 380 - only one year after he was declared Augustus and ...
8 votes
7 answers
314 views

Why does the Book of Revelation allocate such a subordinate role to the Holy Spirit?

Revelation’s visions often put the Son with the Father, but the Holy Spirit is generally absent. For example: Receiving the Book of Revelation “God” gave the visions of Revelation to “Jesus Christ” ...
6 votes
10 answers
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How it is possible to be one God in three persons (Jesus, Holy Ghost, and God the Father)?

1)”Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Deuteronomy 6:4 2)And the Word( Jesus) became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son[a] from the ...
3 votes
5 answers
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How do Trinitarians respond to the objection that God cannot be a man based on Hosea 11:9?

Hosea 11:9 (ESV): I will not execute my burning anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim; for I am God and not a man, the Holy One in your midst, and I will not come in wrath. Recently someone ...
4 votes
6 answers
563 views

From a non-Trinitarian perspective, how would you show that the Bible does not teach that the Son is equal with the Father?

See below for a more precise definition of the question. Two Views among Evangelicals Ted Peters says that if anything, contemporary mainline Protestant and Roman Catholic trinitarian thinking is “...
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3 answers
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Doesn't the Trinitarian reading of Genesis 1:26 violate hermeneutical principles? [closed]

Why do Trinitarians rarely mention the hermeneutical principles which have led them to this belief? What are the hermeneutical principles that support the Trinitarian view? For example Genesis 1:26 &...
45 votes
12 answers
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How can the Son not know what the Father knows?

Matthew 24:36 (NLT) Mark 13:32 (NLT) 36 “However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows.” Now ...
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5 answers
467 views

Trinitarian Ontology... What is it? Being vs person vs essence vs _______

I will try to ask this unique question again. How can we answer here without defining simple words used to define God? Premise From Wikipedia: Ontology addresses questions of how entities are ...
5 votes
2 answers
508 views

How do Catholics describe "eternal generation"?

It seems to me that "eternal generation" is an oxymoron: "a combination of contradictory or incongruous words (as cruel kindness); broadly : something (as a concept) that is made up of ...
3 votes
3 answers
679 views

Is the theory of Eternal Generation now redundant?

I note that many modern theologians no longer translate monogenēs as “only begotten” but as “unique” or as "one of a kind." Most modern English versions have adopted this new understanding ...
0 votes
2 answers
514 views

Catholic Sources Which Point to the Three Visitors to Abraham in Gen. 18 as The Holy Trinity?

Most of the commentary that I have read regarding the identities of the Three Visitors to Abraham in Genesis 18 have all agreed that God (without specifying which Person) was one of them. Many seem to ...

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