Trinity in Scripture

Sculptural group from the Holy Trinity Column in Olomouc, Czech Republic, 18th
century

Neither of the words "Trinity" nor "Triunity" appear in the Old Testament or New
Testament. Various passages from both have been cited as supporting this doctrine, while
other passages are cited as opposing it.

[edit] Summarizing the role of Scripture

The Old Testament depicts God as the father of Israel and refers to (possibly
metaphorical) divine figures such as Word, Spirit, and Wisdom. Some biblical scholars
have said that "it would go beyond the intention and spirit of the Old Testament to
correlate these notions with later Trinitarian doctrine."[9] According to the Catholic
Encyclopedia, a few of the Fathers "found what would seem to be the sounder view" that
"no distinct intimation of the doctrine was given under the Old Covenant." [10][11] "Some of
these, however, claimed that a knowledge of the mystery was granted to the Prophets and
saints of the Old Dispensation.[12] The matter seems to be correctly summed up by
Epiphanius, when he says: "The One Godhead is above all declared by Moses, and the
twofold personality (of Father and Son) is strenuously asserted by the Prophets. The
Trinity is made known by the Gospel".[13][11]

The New Testament does not use the word "Τριάς" (Trinity) nor explicitly teach it.[14]
Jesus and his followers didn't intend to contradict the Jewish Shema Yisrael: "Hear, O
Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord" (Deuteronomy 6:4)."[15]Encyclopedia of Religion,
for example, argues that "God the Father is source of all that is (Pantokrator) and also the
father of Jesus Christ. Early liturgical and creedal formulas speak of God as "Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ"; praise is to be rendered to God through Christ (see opening
greeting in Paul and deutero-Paul). There are other binitarian texts (e.g., Romans 4:24;
Romans 8:11; 2 Corinthians 4:14; Colossians 2:12; 1 Timothy 2:5–6; 1 Timothy 6:13; 2
Timothy 4:1), and a few triadic texts (the strongest are 2 Corinthians 13:14 and Matthew
28:19)."[9]

According to Encyclopedia Britannica, while Trinity does not explicitly appear in the
New Testament, its basis is established by the New Testament: The coming of Jesus
Christ and the presumed presence and power of God among them had implications for the
early Christians. "The Holy Spirit, whose coming was connected with the celebration of
the Pentecost. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were associated in such New Testament
passages as the Great Commission: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew
28:19); and in the apostolic benediction: "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love
of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all" (2 Corinthians 13:14)."[15]
The Great Commission reflects the baptismal practice at Matthew's time (or later if this
line is interpolated, according to The Oxford Companion of the Bible). Aside from this
verse, although "Matthew records a special connection between God the Father and Jesus
the Son (e.g., Matthew 11:27), but he falls short of claiming that Jesus is equal with God
(cf. 24:36)."[16]

According to The Oxford Companion of the Bible, 2 Corinthians 13:14 is the earliest
evidence for a tripartite formula. The Oxford Companion of the Bible states that it is
possible that this three-part formula was later added to the text as it was copied. However,
there is support for the authenticity of the passage since its phrasing "is much closer to
Paul's understandings of God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit than to a more fully developed
concept of the Trinity. Jesus, referred to not as Son but as Lord and Christ, is mentioned
first and is connected with the central Pauline theme of grace. God is referred to as a
source of love, not as father, and the Spirit promotes sharing within community."[16]

The Gospel of John does suggest the equality and unity of Father and Son. ("I and the
Father are one" John 10:30). This Gospel starts with "the affirmation that in the beginning
Jesus as Word "was with God and ...was God" (John 1:1) and ends with Thomas's
confession of faith to Jesus, "My Lord and my God!" (John 20:28)."[16] There is no
significant tendency among modern scholars to deny that either of these two verses
identifies Jesus with God.[17]

Furthermore, the last Gospel elaborates on the role of Holy Spirit being sent as an
advocate for believers.[16] The immediate context of these verses was providing
"assurance of the presence and power of God both in the ministry of Jesus and the
ongoing life of the community." Beyond this immediate context, these verses caused
questions of relation between Father, Son and the Holy Spirit, their distinction and yet
unity. These questions have been hotly debated over the following centuries, although
mainstream Christianity has generally resolved the issue through the writing of creeds.[16]

Summarizing the role of Scripture in the formation of Trinitarian belief, Gregory

Nazianzen argues in his Orations that the revelation was intentionally gradual:
 The Old Testament proclaimed the Father openly, and the Son more obscurely.
The New manifested the Son, and suggested the deity of the Spirit. Now the Spirit
himself dwells among us, and supplies us with a clearer demonstration of himself.
For it was not safe, when the Godhead of the Father was not yet acknowledged,
plainly to proclaim the Son; nor when that of the Son was not yet received to
burden us further.[18]

Scriptural texts cited as implying support

To support Trinitarianism, Bible exegetes cite references to the Trinity, to Jesus as God,
and both to God alone and to Jesus as the Savior.

[edit] References to the Trinity

A few verses directly reference the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit:

• Matthew 3:16–17: "As soon as Jesus Christ was baptized, he went up out of the
water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God
descending like a dove and landing on him. 17And a voice from heaven said, 'This
is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.' " (also Mark 1:10–11; Luke
3:22; John 1:32)
• Matthew 28:19: "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them
in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (see Trinitarian
formula).
• 2 Corinthians 13:14: "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and
the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you."
• 1 John 5:7–8: "For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word,
and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness
in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one."
(This is the controversial Comma Johanneum, which did not appear in Greek texts
before the sixteenth century.)
• Luke 1:35: "The angel answered and said to her, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon
you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the
holy Child shall be called the Son of God.' "
• Hebrews 9:14: "How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the
eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from
acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!"

[edit] Jesus as God

Many verses in John, the epistles, and Revelation imply support for the doctrine that
Jesus Christ is God and the closely related concept of the Trinity. The Gospel of John in
particular supports Jesus' divinity. This is a partial list of supporting Bible verses:

• John 1:1 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God." together with John 1:14 "The Word became flesh and made his
 dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who
came from the Father, full of grace and truth." and John 1:18 "No one has ever
seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him
known."[19]The Bible says "God the One and Only" in NIV.
• John 5:21 "For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the
Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it."
• John 8:23–24: "But he continued,'You are from below; I am from above. You are
of this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins; if
you do not believe that I am [the one I claim to be], you will indeed die in your
sins.'"
• John 8:58 "I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I
am!"[20]
• John 10:30: "I and the Father are one."
• John 10:38: "But if I do it, even though you do not believe me, believe the
miracles, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the
Father."
• John 12:41: "Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus' glory and spoke about him."—
As the context shows, this implied the Tetragrammaton in Isaiah 6:10 refers to
Jesus.
• John 20:28: "Thomas said to him, 'My Lord and my God!'"
• Philippians 2:5–8: "Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who,
being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be
grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being
made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled
himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!"
• Colossians 1:15: "He [Jesus] is the image of the invisible God"
• Colossians 1:16: "For by him [Jesus] all things were created: things in heaven and
on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities;
all things were created by him and for him."
• Colossians 1:17: "He [Jesus] is before all things, and in him all things hold
together."
• Colossians 2:9: "For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form"
• Titus 2:13: "while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our
great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ."
• 1 Timothy 3:16: "And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God
was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the
Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory."
• Hebrews 1:8: "But about the Son he [God] says, "Your throne, O God, will last for
ever and ever, and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom."
• 1 John 5:20: "We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us
understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is
true—even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life."
• Revelation 1:17–18: "When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he
placed his right hand on me and said: "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the
Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever!
And I hold the keys of death and Hades." This is seen as significant when viewed
 with Isaiah 44:6: "This is what the LORD says—Israel's King and Redeemer, the
LORD Almighty: I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God."

The Bible also refers to Jesus as a man, which is in line with the Trinitarian concept that
Jesus was fully human as well as fully divine which is expressed through the theological
concept of kenosis.

[edit] God alone is the Savior and the Savior is Jesus

The Old Testament identifies the LORD as the only savior, and the New Testament
identifies Jesus Christ as God and Savior. These verses are consistent with Trinitarianism,
as well as various nontrinitarian beliefs (binitarianism, modalism, the Latter-Day Saints'
Godhead, Arianism, etc.)

• Isaiah 43:11: "'I, even I, am the LORD, and apart from me there is no savior.'"
• Titus 2:10: "and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted,
so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive."
• Titus 3:4: "But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared," in
regard with:
• Luke 2:11: "'Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is
Christ the Lord.'"
• Titus 2:13: "while we wait for the blessed hope-the glorious appearing of our
great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,"
• John 4:42: "They said to the woman, "We no longer believe just because of what
you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man [Jesus]
really is the Savior of the world.'"
• Titus 3:6: "whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our
Savior,"

[edit] History
Pope Clement I prays to the Trinity, in a typical post-Renaissance depiction by
Gianbattista Tiepolo.

[edit] The Origin of the Formula

Main article: Trinity of the Church Fathers

The basis for the doctrine of the Trinity is found in New Testament passages that
associate the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.[21] Two such passages[21] are Matthew's Great
Commission: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name
of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28:19) and St Paul's: "The
grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit
be with you all" (2 Corinthians 13:14).

In 325, the Council of Nicaea adopted a term for the relationship between the Son and the
Father that from then on was seen as the hallmark of orthodoxy; it declared that the Son
is "of the same substance" (ὁμοούσιος) as the Father. This was further developed into the
formula "three persons, one substance." The answer to the question "What is God?"
indicates the one-ness of the divine nature, while the answer to the question "Who is
God?" indicates the three-ness of "Father, Son and Holy Spirit."[22]

The Council of Nicaea was reluctant to adopt language not found in Scripture, and
ultimately did so only after Arius showed how all strictly biblical language could also be
interpreted to support his belief that there was a time when the Son did not exist. In
adopting non-biblical language, the council's intent was to preserve what they thought the
Church had always believed: that the Son is fully God, coeternal with God the Father and
God the Holy Spirit.
The Confession of the Council of Nicaea said little about the Holy Spirit.[21] The doctrine
of the divinity and personality of the Holy Spirit was developed by Athanasius (c 293 -
373) in the last decades of his life.[23] He both defended and refined the Nicene
formula.[21] By the end of the 4th century, under the leadership of Basil of Caesarea,
Gregory of Nyssa, and Gregory of Nazianzus (the Cappadocian Fathers), the doctrine had
reached substantially its current form.[21]

[edit] Comma Johanneum

Main article: Comma Johanneum

One explicit trinitarian passage often quoted from the King James translation of the Bible
is the result of an interpolation of a later date. The passage now known as the Comma
Johanneum or 1 John 5:7 from the King James Version;

"For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost:
and these three are one."

may have begun as a marginal note quoting a homily of Cyprian (d. 258) that was
inadvertently taken into the main body of the text by a copyist.[24] The Comma found its
way into several later copies, and was eventually back-translated into Greek and included
in the third edition of the Textus Receptus which formed the basis of the King James
Version. Erasmus, the compiler of the Textus Receptus, noticed that the passage was not
found in any of the Greek manuscripts at his disposal and refused to include it until
presented with an example containing it, which he rightly suspected was concocted after
the fact.[25] Isaac Newton, generally considered Arian rather than Trinitarian,[26] noted that
many ancient authorities failed to quote the Comma when it would have provided
substantial support for their arguments, suggesting it was a later addition.[27] Modern
textual criticism has since concurred with his findings; many modern translations now
either omit the passage, or make it clear that it is not found in the early manuscripts.

[edit] Formulation of the Doctrine

The most significant developments in articulating the doctrine of the Trinity took place in
the 4th century, with a group of men known as the Theologians.[28] Although the earliest
Church Fathers had affirmed the teachings of the Apostles, their focus was on their
pastoral duties to the Church under the persecution of the Roman Empire.[28] Thus the
early Fathers were largely unable to compose doctrinal treatises and theological
expositions. With the relaxing of the persecution of the church during the rise of
Constantine, the stage was set for ecumenical dialogue.[28]

Trinitarians believe that the resultant councils and creeds did not discover or create
doctrine, but rather, responding to serious heresies such as Arianism, articulated in the
creeds the truths that the orthodox church had believed since the time of the apostles.[28]
Depiction of Trinity from Saint Denis Basilica in Paris.

The Trinitarian view has been affirmed as an article of faith by the Nicene (325/381) and
Athanasian creeds (circa 500), which attempted to standardize belief in the face of
disagreements on the subject. These creeds were formulated and ratified by the Church of
the third and fourth centuries in reaction to heterodox theologies concerning the Trinity
and/or Christ. The Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed, revised in 381 by the second of
these councils, is professed by the Eastern Orthodox Church and, with one addition
(Filioque clause), the Roman Catholic Church, and has been retained in some form in the
Anglican Communion and most Protestant denominations.

The Nicene Creed, which is a classic formulation of the doctrine of the Trinity, uses
"homoousios" (Greek: of the same essence) of the relation of the Son's relationship with
the Father. This word differs from that used by non-Trinitarians of the time,
"homoiousios" (Greek: of similar essence), by a single Greek letter, "one iota," a fact
proverbially used to speak of deep divisions, especially in theology, expressed by
seemingly small verbal differences.

One of the (probably three) Church councils that in 264–266 condemned Paul of
Samosata for his Adoptionist theology also condemned the term "homoousios" in the
sense he used it. Fourth-century Christians who objected to the Nicene trinity made
copious use of this condemnation by a reputable council.[29]
Moreover, the meanings of "ousia" and "hypostasis" overlapped at the time, so that the
latter term for some meant essence and for others person. Athanasius of Alexandria (293–
373) helped to clarify the terms.[30]

Because Christianity converts cultures from within, the doctrinal formulas as they have
developed bear the marks of the ages through which the church has passed. The rhetorical
tools of Greek philosophy, especially of Neoplatonism, are evident in the language
adopted to explain the church's rejection of Arianism and Adoptionism on one hand
(teaching that Christ is inferior to the Father, or even that he was merely human), and
Docetism and Sabellianism on the other hand (teaching that Christ was identical to God
the Father, or an illusion). Augustine of Hippo has been noted at the forefront of these
formulations; and he contributed much to the speculative development of the doctrine of
the Trinity as it is known today, in the West; the Cappadocian Fathers (Basil the Great,
Gregory of Nyssa, and Gregory Nazianzus) are more prominent in the East. The imprint
of Augustinianism is found, for example, in the western Athanasian Creed, which,
although it bears the name and reproduces the views of the fourth century opponent of
Arianism, was probably written much later.

These controversies were for most purposes settled at the Ecumenical councils, whose
creeds affirm the doctrine of the Trinity.

According to the Athanasian Creed, each of these three divine Persons is said to be
eternal, each almighty, none greater or less than another, each God, and yet together being
but one God, So are we forbidden by the Catholic religion to say; There are three Gods
or three Lords.—Athanasian Creed, line 20.

Modalists attempted to resolve the mystery of the Trinity by holding that the Father, the
Son and the Holy Ghost are merely modes, or roles, of God Almighty. This anti-
Trinitarian view contends that the three "Persons" are not distinct Persons, but titles
which describe how humanity has interacted with or had experiences with God. In the
Role of The Father, God is the provider and creator of all. In the mode of The Son, man
experiences God in the flesh, as a human, fully man and fully God. God manifests
Himself as the Holy Spirit by his actions on Earth and within the lives of Christians. This
view is known as Sabellianism, and was rejected as heresy by the Ecumenical Councils
although it is still prevalent today among denominations known as "Oneness" and
"Apostolic" Pentecostal Christians, the largest of these sects being the United Pentecostal
Church. Trinitarianism insists that the Father, Son and Spirit simultaneously exist, each
fully the same God.

The doctrine developed into its present form precisely through this kind of confrontation
with alternatives; and the process of refinement continues in the same way. Even now,
ecumenical dialogue between Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Roman Catholic, the
Assyrian Church of the East, Anglican and Trinitarian Protestants, seeks an expression of
Trinitarian and Christological doctrine which will overcome the extremely subtle
differences that have largely contributed to dividing them into separate communities. The
doctrine of the Trinity is therefore symbolic, somewhat paradoxically, of both division
and unity.

[edit] The Trinity in art

The Trinity is most commonly seen in Christian art with the Spirit represented by a dove,
as specified in the Gospel accounts of the Baptism of Christ; it is nearly always shown
with wings outspread. However depictions using three human figures appear occasionally
in most periods of art.[31] The Father and the Son are usually differentiated by age, and
later by dress, but this too is not always the case. The usual depiction of the Father as an
oldish man may derive from the Biblical Ancient of Days, which is often cited in defence
of this sometimes contoversial representation. The Son is often represented by a symbol,
typically the Lamb or a cross or crucifix, so that the Father is the only human figure
shown at full size. In early medieval art, the Father may be represented by a hand
appearing from a cloud in a blessing gesture, for example in scenes of the Baptism of
Christ. Later the Throne of Mercy (or "Grace") subject, with the Father supporting either
a crucifix[32] or, later, a slumped crucified Son (this distinguished in German as the Not
Gottes)[33], whilst the Dove hovers above or in between them, became common in
Western art. This subject continued until the eighteenth century at least.

By the end of the fifteenth century, larger representations, other than the Throne of
Mercy, became effectively standardised, showing an older figure in plain robes for the
Father, Christ with his torso partly bare to display the wounds of his Passion, and the
dove above or around them. In earlier representations both Father, especially, and Son
often wear elaborate robes and crowns.

Direct representations of the Trinity are much rarer in Eastern Orthodox art of any period
-reservations about depicting the Father remain fairly strong, as they were in the West
until the high Middle Ages. The Second Council of Nicea in 787 confirmed that the
depiction of Christ was allowed because he became man; the situation regarding the
Father was less clear. The usual Orthodox representation of the Trinity was through the
"Old Testament Trinity" of the three angels visiting Abraham - said in the text to be "the
Lord"(Genesis:18.1-15). The subject long remained sensitive, and a Russian church
council in Moscow in 1667 finally forbade depictions of the Father as a man; a Russian
icon-t Only a few of the standard scenes in Christian art normally included a
representation of the Trinity. The accounts in the Gospels of the Baptism of Christ were
considered to show all three persons as present with a separate role. Sometimes the other
two persons are shown at the top of a Crucifixion. The Coronation of the Virgin, a
popular subject in the West, often included the whole Trinity. But many subjects, such as
Christ in Majesty or the Last Judgement, which might be thought to require depiction of
the deity in the most amplified form, only show Christ. There is a rare subject where the
persons of the Trinity make the decision to incarnate Christ, or God sending out the Son.
Even more rarely, the Angel of the Annunciation is shown being given the mission.[34]