Equal in Essence; Different in Function (pt.2)

BACKGROUND ON THE TRINITY

Theological Background

The Trinity may be defined as “God eternally exists as three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and each person is fully God, and there is one God.”[1] The Trinity is also said to be a theological term used to define God “as an individual unity expressed in the threefold nature of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.”[2] The term “Trinity” attempts to explain the attributes of God as He is three separate persons but at the same time one eternal being. Although the actual word “Trinity” is never found in the Bible, the idea is represented by the word which is taught in many places in Scripture.[3] The first time that the idea of a Triune relationship appears in the Bible is in Genesis 1:26-27: “Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to our likeness’…so God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female he created them.” (NKJV).

The casual Bible reader may refer to a publication such as a Bible handbook to try to understand the previous verse. In this case he will find that Halley’s explains that the image of God that is being discussed is either (1) some spiritual, mental, and/or psychological quality in humans, (2) emphasizes the ruling over creation by humans, (3) or that there is a “relational” quality of the Triune Godhead that shows that humans have “the ability to enter into a relationship with God and with other humans.”[4] While these three explanations are not necessarily wrong in describing the phrase of “image of God” they fall short in explaining the full meaning of the phrase as it relates to the Triune nature of God and His relationship with man.

History of the Doctrine

It has been said that from its very inception, Christianity has been involved in theological controversies.[1] The doctrine of the Trinity is no stranger to these controversies. In fact, several of the controversies in the early church have centered on the relationship between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The first few hundred years after Christ’s ascension were generally filled with persecution, dissipation, and martyrdom of Christian believers. Therefore, the study of theology had not quite blossomed into what it would later become. However, upon Emperor Constantine’s Edict of Milan in 313 AD, the church suddenly was not only tolerated, it was deemed the official religion of the empire. Soon after reaching this status, controversy arose concerning the doctrine of the Trinity.

The controversy began when the bishop of Alexandria, Alexander, clashed with Arius, one of the most popular and prestigious presbyters of the city, over several issues, most notably over the issue of Christ’s humanity and deity in the Trinity.[2] Arius claimed that the Word (Jesus Christ) was not God, but rather the first born of all creation.[3] He further claimed that before anything was made, the Word had been created by God whereas Alexander argued that the Word was divine, and therefore could not be created, but rather was coeternal with the Father.[4]

The controversy led to the calling of the Council of Nicea in 325. Behind the promotion of Eusebius and Athanasius, Arius’ heresy was condemned and the Nicene Creed was constructed. The creed illustrates the idea of the unity of the Trinity.

“We believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of all things visible and invisible; and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the only-begotten of his Father, of the substance of the Father, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father. By whom all things were made, both which be in heaven and in earth.”[5]

The Nicene Creed insisted that Christ was of the same substance as the Father and the dispute came down to the use of two Greek words: homoousios (of the same nature) and homoiousios (of a similar nature).[6] The former phrase was agreed upon so that there would be no doubt as to the deity of Christ. Therefore, we see the emphasis on the unity of the Trinity as all persons of the Godhead are equal.

After this creed was established future church fathers wrote on the Trinity.

Augustine wrote that the purpose of the church writings that he was familiar with “has been to teach that according to the scriptures Father and Son and Holy Spirit in the inseparable equality of one substance present a divine unity…although indeed the Father has begotten the Son, and therefore he who is the Father is not the Son.”[7] The emphasis is again made that all three are equal; however it also begins to become clear that all three persons have different roles. Augustine further argues:

“It was not however this same three that was born of the virgin Mary, crucified and buried under Pontius Pilate, rose again on the third day and ascended into heaven, but the Son alone. Nor was it the same three that came down upon Jesus in the from of a dove at his baptism, or came down on the day of Pentecost after the Lord’s ascension, with a roaring sound from heaven as though a violent gust were rushing down, and in divided tongues as of fire, by the Holy Spirit alone. Nor was it this same three that spoke from heaven, ‘You are my Son,’ either at his baptism by John, or on the mountain when the three disciples were with him…but it was the Father’s voice alone addressing the Son; although just as the Father and Son and Holy Spirit are inseparable, so do they work inseparably.”[8]

Therefore, it is evident that not only are the three persons of the Trinity co-equal in their divine being, they are also equally different in their roles and relationship with each other. Furthermore Dionysius on his defense of the Trinity writes, “But we must believe in God the Father all sovereign, and in Jesus Christ his Son, and in the Holy Spirit, and hold that the Word is united to the God of the universe.”[9] All of this is evidence that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the three persons of the Trinity, are co-equal and co-eternal, but are also different in their attributes as related to their roles.

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[1] Justo L. Gonzalez, The Story of Christianity vol.1 (San Francisco: Harper Collins, 1984), 158.

[2] Ibid., 161.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Ibid.

[5] H. Percival, ed., The Seven Ecumenical Councils in the Library of Nicene and Post Nicene Fathers, vol. XIV (New York: Charles Scribners, 1990), 3. The rest of the creed further explains the role of Jesus and the Holy Spirit but is beyond the scope of this paper.

[6] Grudem, Systematic Theology, 244.

[7] John E. Rotelle, ed., Edmund Hill., tr., The Trinity (Brooklyn: New City Press, 1991), 69.

[8] Ibid., 69-70.

[9] Henry Bettenson and Chris Maunder, Documents of the Christian Church, (Oxford: University Press, 1999), 35.

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[1] Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2000), 226.

[2] Trent C. Butler, ed., Holman Concise Bible Dictionary (Nashville: Broadman and Holman, 2001), 611-612.

[3] Ibid.

[4] M. van der Maas, ed., Halley’s Bible Handbook (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2000), 89.