In honor of Trinity Sunday, let's explore this divine mystery. The Trinity is a difficult teaching because we desire precise answers instead of contemplation.
I notice that as a Protestant, I tend to pray to the Father, and often invoke the Son, leaving the Spirit as the third wheel, even though it's supposed to be present amongus. Working on the ways we relate to each Person could be important to our faith lives, but less discussed in the contemporary church are the ways the Persons relate to each other.
How do you understand the Trinity? Which common metaphors hold, and which are filthy heresies? Or is it all too much for our puny human minds to bear?
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The Thomist answer borrows and expands upon Saint Augustine, who says:
The key to this formulation is that god is one essence & one substance but a plurality of persons of that substance. When theology speaks of a 'person', it is often a literal translation from persΕna (Lat., 'mask; character' as in a play)βthe person is the face we display. Compare also the English loanword 'persona': one has multiple social roles (personae) he presents to the world, despite still having the same body, mind, and soul underneath.
Saint Thomas Aquinas explains how mistakes in understanding this interplay of Unity and Trinity lead us into heresy (S.T. I, Q. 31, Art. 2 co.):
In today's era, I'd argue we often err toward Arianism, so I'll spare the length of excerpting St. Thomas' discussion of the Non-Trinitarianist heresy of Sabellius.
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Thank you!
I'll have to read up on this.
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There was a time when God existed but Jesus did not, ergo the Father and Son are entirely separate entities.
So glad my Goth gf explained that to me.
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You've partially recreated a 3rd century heresy (arianism or perhaps adoptionism). Repent, heretic.
Jesus and God the Father and The Holy Spirit have always existed and have always coexisted will always exist. They are all coeternal and consubstantial.
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John 1 teaches that the Son existed from the beginning, although it's hard to wrap your head around a father and son who are equally old.
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Trinity was super hot in the first movie but fell off in the sequels
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I never found her that hot, but that made her seem more attainable (at least assuming you were also a leather wearing badass who could dodge bullets).
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I got a boner when she whispers in neo's ear
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Jesus and God and the Holy Spirit are all each other, it's not supposed to make sense to our puny mortal minds.
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