2B The Trinity Flashcards
What three things does the doctrine assert?
1) F,S,HS = three distinct persons
2) Each person = fully God; coexistent, coeternal, coequal
3) Only one God; not split into three parts
Who coined the word ‘Trinity’?
Tertullian, 3rd C. (word never appears in Bible)
When/how was the doctrine formalised?
- Nicene Creed, 325 CE
* Son was “of one substance” w/ Father
What were the three contemporary heresies that Tertullian saw?
- Adoptionism
- Sabellianism
- Arianism
What is Adoptionism?
Jesus = ordinary man; only became SoG after baptism
What is Sabellianism?
Jesus = divine, but not human
What is Arianism?
Jesus = highest of all created beings but not of same substance as God
What is the OT biblical foundation for the Trinity?
- God the father is referred to in the plural
* Genesis 1:26-7 - “Let us make humankind in our image”
What is the NT biblical foundation for the Trinity?
- Jesus is referred to as God
* John 20:28 - “My Lord and my God”
When is the HS referred to as God?
• Epistle to the Romans, 8:11 - tells readers of the Spirit of God
Give a quote for Christianity as monotheistic.
1 Corinthians 8:4 - “There is no God but one.”
Why has the church never been able to adequately explain the doctrine?
- It is logically impossible
- Regards it as a mystery
- No human words can express the reality of God
When was the Council of Nicea?
325 CE
What was stated at the Council of Nicea?
Christians believe “in the Holy Spirit”
When was the Council of Constantinople?
381 CE
What was stated at the Council of Constantinople?
- Modified the Nicean Creed
- Christians believe “in the Holy Spirit, who proceeds from the Father”
- This undermines the consubstantial nature of HS, yet all present churches agreed to the new wording.
When was the Council of Toledo?
589 CE
What was the order of the three councils?
1) Nicea
2) Constantinople
3) Toledo
What was stated at the Council of Toledo?
- Christians believe “in the Holy Spirit, who proceeds from the Father and the Son.”
- “and the Son” = ‘filioque’ in Latin
Why did the addition of ‘filioque’ cause controversy?
- It implies that the HS = subservient/inferior to the Father and Son, which should not be the case if the doctrine is to be upheld
- It was added without agreement from the 5 patriarchs of the Church
Whose thinking does the addition of filioque seem to reflect?
- Augustine of Hippo
- Hilary of Poitiers
- Cyril of Alexandria
- They all wrote about the HS proceeding “from the Father and the Son”
Where was filioque accepted/rejected?
- Accepted: Latin-speaking West
* Rejected: Greek-speaking East
How did Pope Benedict VIII cause the Great Schism of 1054?
- In 1014, he used ‘filioque’ for the first time in a Mass in Rome
- Made the change to the Nicene Creed w/o agreement of an Ecumenical Council
- Divided the Eastern/Western Churches to this day
What is the view of the West regarding filioque?
The Eastern rejection denied the consubstantiality of the Father and Son ∴ is a form of crypto-Arianism
What is the view of the East regarding filioque?
The interpolation of filioque indicated that the West was teaching a substantially different faith
Give a quote from Siecienski about the filioque controversy.
It has “destroyed the purity of the faith”
What is the Immanent Trinity?
- Signifies what G is
* Three persons, one G
What is the Economic Trinity?
- Signifies what G does
* Father - creates; Son - redeems; HS - sanctifies
What is Augustine’s view of the Trinity?
- Humans can know the Trinity from their own exp. ∵ there are traces of the Trinity in the human soul
- E.g. Triad of self-knowledge: memory, understanding, will
- He does not differentiate between the immanent and economic trinity
What did Schleiermacher try to do?
- Reconcile Enlightenment theology w/ traditional C.tian beliefs
- He dismissed the Trinity in his 1821 book ‘The Christian Faith’
Who responded to Schleiermacher, and what did he argue?
- Karl Barth
- Tried to underline the central importance of the Trinity in C.tian theo.
- “The doctrine of the Trinity us what basically distinguishes the C.tian doctrine of G as C.tian”
Give more information on Karl Barth’s theory.
• The basis of the Trinity is how G has revealed himself to humans:
1) Son = objective “unveiling” of what G is
2) Spirit = subjective “imparting”
• Objective unveiling of G in J ≠ enough ∴ must also be a subjective recognition imparted by HS, which Barth illustrates by imagining two men witnessing J’s crucifixion:
a) “There is a common criminal being executed”; has not recognised the unveiling of G in J
b) “There is the Son of God dying for me”; HS has imparted the recognition of G in J
Why does Barth endorse the use of filioque?
- Humans = incapable of responding to the objective revelation of G in J, unless a recognition of that revelation is imparted to them by both the HS, which proceeds from the hidden F and the revealed S
- Agrees w/ Aug. that the Imm. Trinity = reflected in the Eco. Trinity
Barth: explain the first criticism and response.
- Criticism (from the Eastern Orthodox Church): merging of Imm. + Eco., and endorsement of filioque = heresy
- Response: The Western Church has accepted this for centuries
- Not a strong response ∵ the issue still remains
Barth: explain the second criticism and response.
- Criticism (from Western theo.s inc, Moltmann): Barth’s use of ‘seinseweise’ (mode of being), instead of ‘person’ to refer to members of the Godhead = Modalism
- Response: Barth used ‘seinsweise’ to avoid confusing ‘person’ with ‘personality’, as to say that G has three personalities = Tritheism
- Not a strong response ∵ still Modalism
Barth: explain the third criticism and response.
- Criticism: Does not distinguish btwn F, S, HS.
- Response: Distinguishes F from S by use of Greek, ‘Logos asarkos’ (‘the Word w/o flesh’) for S, i.e., G the Son as he lived in the Godhead before incarnation, distinct from the F
Barth: explain the fourth criticism and response.
- Criticism: Sees F, S, HS in one eternal repetition, they exist one after the other, which destroys the eternal unity of G
- Response: Barth insists that “He is the one God in each repetition” and highlights the unchanging nature of the eternal Trinity. G = “unimpaired unity” + “unimpaired distinction” as Revealer (F), Revelation (S), and Revealedness (HS)
