24
votes
Accepted
What is the Biblical basis for the doctrine of the Trinity consisting of different persons?
General references to there being separate personages in the Godhead.
Luke 3:21-22 (Matthew 3:13-17 similar story/wording)
21 Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also ...
- 8,745
21
votes
Accepted
What is the biblical basis for the personhood of the Holy Spirit?
Here are four common defenses of this doctrine:
The masculine pronoun in Greek is applied to the Holy Spirit even when not required by Greek grammar
The Holy Spirit is shown to be in a coordinating ...
- 42.3k
19
votes
Do Mormons actually believe in any sort of supreme being/ultimate reality/"Absolute"?
Short answer is that the Mormon God, Heavenly Father, is as supreme as it's going to get.
On your misconceptions on the Mormon belief about God:
Not creating matter - you are correct in your ...
- 8,745
18
votes
Accepted
Is 1 Corinthians 15:27 problematic for trinitarians?
The Queen of England is greater than me in that she is my Queen and I am her loyal subject.. but we are equal in that we are both human.
My father is greater than me in that he is my father, but we ...
- 6,671
15
votes
Accepted
According to the Catholic Church, why is God called “Father” (and not, say, “Mother”)?
The short answer is that, from the Catholic Church’s perspective, God did not merely choose to reveal Himself as Father. Rather, He is Father by nature, in two respects: through the eternal generation ...
- 13.2k
14
votes
Does the divine name YHWH (יַהְוֶה) apply equally to all Persons of the Trinity? (Catholic/Nicene perspective)
For the Catholic Church and other Nicene churches (the Eastern Orthodox, the Oriental Orthodox, the Armenian Orthodox, the Assyrians; as well as the majority of Protestants), the divine name YHWH (...
- 13.2k
14
votes
Did God the Son become flesh?
"God the Son" as the 2nd person of the Trinity
The construct "God the Son" is the name for the 2nd person of the Trinity, referring to Jesus. The concept of Trinity itself grew in the early church ...
- 22.2k
13
votes
Is 1 Corinthians 15:27 problematic for trinitarians?
No problem for Trinitarians at all.
The context of 1 Corinthians 15:27 is actually a big problem for Unitarians.
1 Corinthians 15:27-28
[27]For he hath put all things under his feet. But when ...
- 6,433
11
votes
Do any Christian denominations believe in a "duality" rather than a trinity?
Historically, there was a group of persons who claimed to be Christians, but denied the divinity of the Holy Spirit. They were derided by orthodox Christians as Pneumatomachoi (literally, “those who ...
- 13.2k
11
votes
Accepted
Why were ousia and hypostasis synonymous in the Nicene Creed?
This response has been extracted from a longer article of mine on the subject (linked at the end) , hence the discontinuous numbering of its sections.
1. Ousía in Greek philosophical discourse
...
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10
votes
Why do Trinitarians call the Father, the Father?
I think the simple answer is... because that's the terminology that Christ and the NT authors used.
I could list verses for days; seriously, just look for "Father" in the NT (especially the ...
- 6,744
10
votes
According to Trinitarians who believe Philippians 2:6 says Jesus is God, why did Paul add the word 'form' ('morphe')?
ος εν μορφη θεου υπαρχων ουχ αρπαγμον ηγησατο το ειναι ισα θεω
Philippians 2:6 [TR - undisputed]
... who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God ... [KJV]
... who, ...
- 23.7k
9
votes
What is the Biblical basis for the doctrine of the Trinity consisting of different persons?
A huge number of scriptures could be brought to bear as evidence for distinctions between the three persons of the godhead. I'll limit myself to following Louis Berkhof's treatment, which calls ...
- 42.3k
9
votes
Accepted
Is my view of the Trinity accurate, and what is exactly the role of the Holy Spirit
The Trinity declares that there is only the One Being of God. A Divine Being is not to be confused with a human being. Also, God is Spirit. Before Jesus came to earth to born as a human, he existed ...
- 29.8k
9
votes
From a trinitarian perspective, how do you biblically reconcile Jesus dying and Jesus being God?
The Doctrinal Position
Trinitarian position usually includes the doctrine of Jesus's having two natures in one person (Hypostatic Union). Armed with both the doctrine of Trinity and the Hypostatic ...
- 22.2k
9
votes
How can trinitarians profess co-equality when Jesus said the Father was greater?
One of the classic statements is to be found in the words of the Athanasian Creed (which I'm finding in the 1662 Anglican Prayer Book);
"Equal to the Father, as touching his Godhead:
And inferior ...
- 1,675
9
votes
Why does the Trinitarian Formula start with "In the NAME…" and not "In the NAMES…"?
Does it imply that there is but one name for all the Three Persons, and that Father, Son and Holy Spirit are not individual names?
Sort of; it's not that the individual persons don't have names, but ...
- 6,744
8
votes
Accepted
In what way is the Son of God "one with the Father"?
The Trinitarian position on this is pretty straight forward. Hard to wrap your mind around, maybe. A mystery, sure. But the same basic idea is held by most Trinitarians, especially Protestant and ...
- 37.3k
8
votes
What is the meaning of 'is' in the context of the Trinity?
Divine Relations are depicted in green:
(original image source)
The Father is God. The Son is God. The Holy Spirit is God.
Here, "is" means "has the same essence as." (cf. St. Thomas Aquinas's ...
- 38.6k
8
votes
Accepted
In Trinitarian theology who created the world?
In Trinitarian thought, God has one will and one action. Everything is accomplished by the Three Persons of the Trinity acting in unity. This applies to creation as well. The typical language is along ...
- 3,650
8
votes
Accepted
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.
JWs believe that there is no distinction between "begotten" and "made". Therefore, "...
- 104
8
votes
Accepted
What is the official Catholic view of a feminine element within the Trinity?
What is the Catholic view of the Trinity and does it contain a feminine element?
The Trinity is the term employed to signify the central doctrine of the Catholic religion, the truth that in the unity ...
- 68k
8
votes
Accepted
When Christians say "the Lord" in everyday speech, do they mean Jesus or the Father?
For most Christians "The Lord" or "Lord" will usually mean either God the Father or Jesus. Sometimes they may mean the Holy Spirit or just "God", meaning (for ...
- 31.5k
8
votes
According to Trinitarians, when the term Yahweh ('LORD') is used in the OT, who exactly is being referred to?
Yahweh is God, the Trinity.
That name means the I AM and thus indicates the Divine Essence and Existence (I am who am - Exodus 3:14, cf. John 8:58).
It is thus similar to "God" in that God ...
- 2,762
8
votes
According to Trinitarian theology, does God the Father have a God?
The question here is really pushing the English language to its limits. The word "have" can be used to refer to a huge number of relationships of various kinds. We talk about us as humans &...
- 31.5k
8
votes
Do any Trinitarian denominations teach from John 1 with, 'In the beginning was Jesus'?
I am going to go out on a limb here to answer without external reference (which I may add later) that the reason Trinitarian organizations who sponsored those Bible translations didn't use "Jesus&...
- 22.2k
8
votes
Is the theory of Eternal Generation now redundant?
A classical example of the confusion that has arisen with some modern English translations of monogenēs, is in John 1:18. Some translations state it is a position that is being described, (being at ...
- 27k
8
votes
Was Athanasius a Sabellian?
No, Athanasius was evidently not a Sabellian. This is demonstrably clear from his own words.
For neither do we hold a Son-Father, as do the Sabellians, calling Him of one but not of the
same essence, ...
- 23.7k
7
votes
Does the divine name YHWH (יַהְוֶה) apply equally to all Persons of the Trinity? (Catholic/Nicene perspective)
The divine name (tetragrammaton: JHVH) applies also to the incarnate God, Jesus Christ.
The prophets clearly state that the Messias is God. Isaias says: "God Himself will come and will save you&...
- 6,433
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