trinity and the incarnation (key beliefs) Flashcards
Catholic beliefs about the trinity
Catholics believe in one single God, who made himself known to the world (revelation) as three separate persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus) and God the Holy Spirit. The Trinity is a mystery which means that Catholics can never fully understand this idea. This belief is found clearly in the Nicene Creed. The importance of the trinity is shown through prayer as Catholics make the sign of the cross which is trinitarian. The Bible does not mention the Trinity directly, but the concept is shown in stories such as Jesus’ baptism and in John’s Gospel. St Augustine helped describe the Trinity using the analogy of love (Lover, Loved and Love itself)
Jewish beliefs about the trinity
Jews do not accept any belief in the Trinity, as they do not accept Jesus as the Son of God. There are different qualities of God such as ‘lawgiver’, ‘judge’ and ‘creator’ but these are only characteristics of the one God. These attributes of God are not separate persons, but are just the different ways in
which human beings experience God. Orthodox Jews may argue that the belief in the Trinity challenges the first commandment “You shall have no gods before me”. A belief in the Trinity would break the covenant that God made with Abraham and Moses.
Catholic beliefs about the incarnation.
God became a human being through the person of Jesus. It is called ‘the incarnation’ because God became human ‘in the flesh’ in the person of Jesus. When Catholics call Jesus the ‘Son of God’, they mean that he is God who has become a human being; that he is the ‘incarnate Son’. Catholics also believe that Jesus is ‘fully God and fully human’. Catholics believe that Jesus is one person, with two natures: one
human nature, and one divine (which means ‘godly’). The Gospel of John highlights that God became human and lived in the world. St Paul wrote the
Kenosis hymn. Kenosis means ‘empty’ and shows that God gave up his power to become human in Jesus.
Jewish beliefs about the incarnation.
Jewish people do not accept that Jesus was God, as this challenges their basic belief that God is one. This belief is stated in the Shema, which is a very important prayer for Jews. It is also stated in the Ten Commandments which were given to Moses on Mt Sinai: “You shall have no other gods before
me”. The Jewish patriarch, Abraham taught the early Jews that they were to believe in one God only as part of the covenant (promise/agreement) made with God. Orthodox Jews also reject beliefs in the Incarnation due to their beliefs about the Messiah. Jews reject the belief that Jesus is the Messiah because they believe that the Messiah will be a human descendant of King David.
