The Trinity in the New Testament
In Doctrines, our beloved professor has been slowly walking us through the first three or four centuries of Christianity, primarily tracking with how the Church Fathers talked about the Trinity. It would be lovely if we could just stick with the Scriptures, but it did not take long for misunderstandings of the truth (that is the nicest way I can think to put it) to spring up that could still bend the specific words of Scripture to allow for a very unhealthy view of the Trinity.
Wow...I am struggling with getting to this one small point I have, because it seems that almost any way I ease into this discussion, I feel the gravitational pull of so many weighty issues tugging on me. But worry not: I will use my thrusters to make the necessary adjustments to stay on course toward our mission...Trinity in the New Testament.
One day in class, Dr. Boosalis, our professor, asked us what trinitarian references we could think of in the New Testament. You have 2 Corinthians 13:14, "the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all", but while mentioning all three persons of the Trinity, there is nothing to suggest the unity of the three persons. Then, there is Ephesians 4:4-6, "there is one body and one Spirit...one Lord...one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all", but again there is no unity mentioned. This one, I would think, would be particularly prone to subjugating the Son and the Spirit, instead of recognizing that they share in the same "god-ness". There are others, but they, similarly, do not clearly state the unity of the Godhead.
That is not because the Apostles did not believe it; they just had not yet been challenged by the false teachings of later years. However, there is one passage that stands alone among all the Scriptures, Matthew 28:19, "baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit". This has one little key point that I had never noticed till it was mentioned in class. This verse suggests unity in the Trinity with the word, "name", in the singular. It is not "names", and it is not "in the name of the Father, and in the name of the Son, and in the name of the Holy Spirit." There is one name, one God, who also can be distinctly mentioned in three persons.
Yes, it is in the Scriptures, but history shows us that the Church needed much more than those simple words, beautiful though they may be, to defend against the pernicious heresies which almost prevailed against the Church and the right understanding of how salvation can be attained. Glory to God.
Wow...I am struggling with getting to this one small point I have, because it seems that almost any way I ease into this discussion, I feel the gravitational pull of so many weighty issues tugging on me. But worry not: I will use my thrusters to make the necessary adjustments to stay on course toward our mission...Trinity in the New Testament.
One day in class, Dr. Boosalis, our professor, asked us what trinitarian references we could think of in the New Testament. You have 2 Corinthians 13:14, "the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all", but while mentioning all three persons of the Trinity, there is nothing to suggest the unity of the three persons. Then, there is Ephesians 4:4-6, "there is one body and one Spirit...one Lord...one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all", but again there is no unity mentioned. This one, I would think, would be particularly prone to subjugating the Son and the Spirit, instead of recognizing that they share in the same "god-ness". There are others, but they, similarly, do not clearly state the unity of the Godhead.
That is not because the Apostles did not believe it; they just had not yet been challenged by the false teachings of later years. However, there is one passage that stands alone among all the Scriptures, Matthew 28:19, "baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit". This has one little key point that I had never noticed till it was mentioned in class. This verse suggests unity in the Trinity with the word, "name", in the singular. It is not "names", and it is not "in the name of the Father, and in the name of the Son, and in the name of the Holy Spirit." There is one name, one God, who also can be distinctly mentioned in three persons.
Yes, it is in the Scriptures, but history shows us that the Church needed much more than those simple words, beautiful though they may be, to defend against the pernicious heresies which almost prevailed against the Church and the right understanding of how salvation can be attained. Glory to God.
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