1.1 : The Trinity

Question 1

What does CCC 253 say about The Trinity?

Answer 1

“The Trinity is One. We do not confess three Gods, but one God in three persons”

Question 2

What is the Nicene Creed, and what beliefs does it mention?

Answer 2

The Nicene Creed is a statement of Catholic beliefs. Beliefs found in the Creed include:
* There is one God
* The Son is **consubstantial **with the Father
* Jesus Christ will come again in glory
* The Spirit has spoken through the prophets
* The four marks of the church - one, holy, catholic, apostolic church

Question 3

Why is God’s oneness an important characteristic of the Trinity?

Answer 3

• Both testaments show that there is only one God.
• God’s unity is the greatest commandment by Jesus, and so Catholics must follow the teachings of God’s son.
• God’s unity is taught by the magisterium, and seen in the creeds, and so Christians believe they must follow the teachings of the church.
• God is omnipotent (all-powerful). God can only be all powerful if he is a unity.

Question 4

Why is God the Father an important part of the Trinity?

Answer 4

• Father-child like relationship with God, like a human father.
• God will provide daily bread to save those from evil, because he is our Father.
• The Bible shows that Jesus called God, his father, and so teaches Catholics to love God as theit father.
• God is the origin.

Question 5

Why is God the Son an important part of the Trinity?

Answer 5

• Jesus is God incarnate.
• Jesus if fully human and divine, united in a person of God’s son.
• Worshipping Jesus is not idoltary, though it may seem it.
• Jesus was conceived by thr Holy Spirit.
• Jesus can only bring salvation from sin, and God’s sacrifice saved us from sin.
• God the Son institutes the Mass

Question 6

Why is God the Holy Spirit an important part of the Trinity?

Answer 6

• The Holy Spirit is how God communicates with humans, and is God’s presence on earth.
• The Spirit inspired the Bible and the prophets.
• The Spirit assists the Church in making sure all are welcome.
• The Spirit makes the sacraments put believers in communion with Christ.
• The Spirit enables lives of charity, joy, peace etc., and produces its fruits.

Question 7

How is the Trinity reflected in Catholic worship today?

Answer 7

• Worshippers reaffirm their faith, every Sunday, at Mass, by praying the Nicene Creed.
• The priest greets the congregation by making the sign of the cross, at the beginning of Mass, and Catholics respond by making the sign of the cross.
• The priest closes the Mass with a blessing of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
• All sacraments are performed in the name of the Trinity.
• Catholics cross themselves with holy water, as they enter the church.

Question 8

How is belief in the Trinity reflected in the lives of Catholics today?

Answer 8

• Praying to the Father, through the Son, in the power and presence of the Holy Spirit gives Catholics the spiritual sense of God ‘beyond us, with us, in us.’
• The Trinity gives Catholics the sense that God is active and present in the world as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
• The Trinity teaches Catholics that they must work together to bring God’s love into the world, just as the persons of the Holy Trinity do.

Question 9

(a) Outline three beliefs about the Trinity. (3)

(a) style

Answer 9

Model Answer:
One belief about the Trinity is that the Trinity is one, so catholics confess one God in three persons. Another belief about the Trinity is the it consists of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. One other belief about the Trinity is that the Holy Spirit is God’s prescene on earth today.

(a) style