Doctrine of God

There are three Persons(1) in the Godhead, namely God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, co-equal(2), consubstantial(3), and co-eternal(4) , a dynamic interpenetrating community(5), indivisible yet distinct; for there is only one God not three gods. In love, the inimitable(6) Triune God has graciously revealed Himself to humanity(7).

Within the Holy Trinity(8) there is order in relationship without inequality of being: all are worthy of praise and embody the fullness of deity(9) . The Father is not the Son: as the Origin, He neither proceeds from the Son nor is He begotten(10). Out of nothing He created all things seen and unseen to the praise of His glory(11).

The Son is not the Father: He is eternally begotten of the Father. Through Him all things were made and without Him nothing was made(12). He is the exact imprint of the Father, radiating the glory of God and upholding all things by the word of His power(13). In perfect obedience He willfully became man(14). Being born of a virgin, He suffered, died, and was buried. By the power of God he was raised up to life(15). Having overcome death, He sits at the right hand of the Father where He constantly lives to intercede for all the saints(16). He will return again and none will escape His judgment(17).

The Holy Spirit is neither the Father nor the Son: He eternally proceeds from the Father and the Son. He delights in the Father and the Son, making them known to man(18), and is the power of God in the life of the faithful(19). To the unregenerate He mercifully convicts of sin, righteousness, and judgment(20). He is to be worshiped and glorified with the Father and the Son(21).

Therefore, each Person of the Godhead is fully God and equal in all things yet the Lord our God, the Lord is One(22): all-powerful(23), immutable(24), and all knowing(25) from everlasting to everlasting(26). It is this great mystery(27), which is the Trinity, that the catholic orthodox faith professes(28).


ENDNOTES

1. Boethius defines person as “an individual substance of a rational nature”. But this definition poses challenges when applying personhood to God. Torrance is very helpful when comprehending God as person. “Personhood is to be understood (insofar as we can understand it) in terms of the way God is three. He is an eternal communion of three hypostases in undivided union. He creates human persons…He is beyond personality, for he is, as it were, superpersonal. We must look to Jesus Christ, for he is God the Son, who has united with human nature. The person of the incarnate Son includes and encompasses humanity.” See R. Letham, The Holy Trinity: In Scripture, History, Theology, and Worship (P&R Publishing, 2001) pg 462.
2. Mat 28:19
3. Meaning that the persons of the Godhead are not to be separated from the one divine essence (ousia). Refuting the Arian claims, the Son is not a created being. He comes from the being of the Father who is without beginning. See Athanasian Creed, Line 22 (http://www.ccel.org/creeds/athanasian.creed.html)
4. Romans 16:26, Revelation 1:17, Hebrews 9:14.
5. Perichoresis. From an original meaning of "encircling" or "encompassing," the term perichoresis has come to refer in theology to the mutual interpenetration and indwelling of the Father and the Son. The doctrine is based on John's teaching that the Father is in the Son and the Son, in the Father. See John 10:38; 14:10, 11; 17:21, 23. For further consideration, perichoresis may be thought of as an interpenetrating dance of harmonious and complete love within the ontological and economic community of the Godhead (authors definition).
6. Deut 3:24, 2 Sam 7:22, Ps 86:8.
7. Heb 1:1-2, Mat 1:20., John 1:14.
8. The word Trinity is not found in the Bible but has historically been used to explain the eternal relationship between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. More than 60 Biblical Triadic passages support the orthodox term Trinity. See Mat 3:16-17; 28:19, 2 Cor 3:14, Eph 4:4-6, Titus 3:4-6 as examples.
9. There is order within the persons of the Godhead, not subordination as all share equally in the divine attributes of God: Eternality of the Father, Rom 16:26; the Son, Rev 1:17; the Spirit, Heb 9:14. As creator of all things- the Father, Psalm 100:3; the Son, Col 1:16; the Spirit, Isa 40:13. Each as strengthening believers- the Father, Psalm 138:3; the Son, Phil 4:13; the Spirit, Eph 3:16.
10. Rom 1:20.
11. Gen 1:1, 1 Cor 8:6, Col 1:16.
12. John 1:3.
13. Hebrews 1:3.
14. Phil 2:5-8.
15. Acts 2:22-24.
16. Heb 7:25.
17. Acts 10:42.
18. John 15:26, Gal 4:6.
19. 1 Cor 316, Rom 8:4, Gal 5:16.
20. John 16:7-11.
21. Acts 5:34, John 14:16, 2 Cor 13:14.
22. Deut 6:4. The Hebraic word Ehad, found in Deut 6:4. Literally means ”one”, “to be united”, often a composite one-ness. Although this may not be a decisive scripture to make a case for explicit Trinitarianism in the Old Testament, it does strengthen God’s disclosure as diversity in unity and unity in diversity.
23. Jer. 32:17, Matt. 19:26.
24. Mal. 3:6, James 1:17
25. Ps. 139:2-4, Pro. 15:3
26. Additional attributes: God is invisible (John 4:24). God is love (I John 4:8, 16, John 3:16), omnipresent (Ps. 139:7-12), self-existent (John 5:26), Holy (Lev. 20:26, Isa. 6:1-4), eternal (Ps. 90:2), sovereign (Eph. 1:11), good (Rom. 2:4), just (I John 1:9, Jer. 12:1), righteous (Ezra 9:15, Ps. 4:1), and personal (Gen. 3, Ex. 3:14).
27. Rom 11:33-36. Regarding the mystery of God, St. Augustine is quoted to have said, that “we are speaking of God, what marvel if thou do not comprehend? For if thou comprehend, He is not God.”
28. See Creeds of Nicea, 325 A.D.; of Constantinople, 351 A.D.; of Chalcedon, 451 A.D.; and the Athanasian Creed, 500 A.D. See also the Belgic Confession, 1561 A.D., Article 8 and 9; the Heidelberg Catechism, 1563 A.D., Q. 24 and Q. 25; the Second Helvetic Confession, 1566 A.D., Article III, 3, 4, 5. Writings of the early church fathers also defend the Trinity: Clement A.D. 96; Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch A.D. 90; Justin Martyr, A.D. 155; Theophilus, A.D. 168; Athenagoras, A.D. 177; Irenaeus, A.D. 180; Tertullian, A.D. 197; and Gregory