SPECIAL TOPIC: THE TRINITY

Notice the activity of all three Persons of the Trinity in unified contexts.  The term "trinity," first coined by Tertullian (A.D. 160-220), is not a biblical word, but the concept is pervasive.

  1. In the NT
    1. the Gospels
      1. Matt. 3:16-17; 28:19 (and parallels)
      2. John 14:16,26; 15:26; 16:7-10
    2. Acts ‒ Acts 2:32-33, 38-39
    3. Paul
      1. Rom. 1:4-5; 5:1,5; 8:1-4,8-10
      2. 1 Cor. 2:8-10; 12:4-6
      3. 2 Cor. 1:21-22; 13:14
      4. Gal. 4:4-6
      5. Eph. 1:3-14,17; 2:18; 3:14-17; 4:4-6
      6. 1 Thess. 1:2-5
      7. 2 Thess. 2:13
      8. Titus 3:4-6
    4. Peter ‒ 1 Pet. 1:2
    5. John ‒ 1 John 3:23-24; 4:13-14; 5:6-8
    6. Jude ‒ vv. 20-21

  2. A plurality in God is hinted at in the OT.
    1. Use of PLURALS for God
      1. Name Elohim is PLURAL (see SPECIAL TOPIC: NAMES FOR DEITY, C.), but when used of God always has a SINGULAR VERB
      2. "Us" in Genesis 1:26-27 (see full notes online); 3:22; 11:7; Isa. 6:8
      3. "One" in the Shema (BDB 1033) of Deut. 6:4 can be PLURAL (as it is in Gen. 2:24; Ezek. 37:17; SPECIAL TOPIC: SHEMA)
    2. "The Angel of the Lord" (see SPECIAL TOPIC: The Angel of the Lord) was a visible representative of Deity
      1. Genesis 16:7-13; 22:11-15; 31:11,13; 48:15-16
      2. Exodus 3:2,4; 13:21; 14:19
      3. Judges 2:1; 6:22-23; 13:3-22
      4. Zechariah 3:1-2
    3. God and His Spirit are separate, Gen. 1:1-2; Ps. 104:30; Isa. 63:9-11; Ezek. 37:13-14
    4. God (YHWH) and Messiah (Adon) are separate, Ps. 45:6-7; 110:1; Zech. 2:8-11; 10:9-12
    5. The Messiah and the Spirit are separate, Zech. 12:10
    6. All three are mentioned in one context in Isa. 48:16 and 61:1

  3. The Deity of Jesus (see (see SPECIAL TOPIC: THE DEITY OF CHRIST FROM THE OT, and the NT verses: John 1:1-2; 5:18; 8:58; 10:30; 14:9; 17:11; 20:28; Rom. 9:5; Phil. 2:6; Titus 2:13; Heb. 1:8; 2 Pet. 1:1) and the personality of the Spirit (see SPECIAL TOPIC: PERSONHOOD OF THE SPIRIT) caused problems for the strict, monotheistic (see SPECIAL TOPIC: MONOTHEISM) early Jewish believers.
    1. Tertullian ‒ subordinated the Son to the Father
    2. Origen ‒ subordinated the divine essence of the Son and the Spirit
    3. Arius ‒ denied Deity to the Son and Spirit
    4. Monarchianism ‒ believed in a successive chronological manifestation of the one God in the persons of Father, then Son, and then Spirit

  4. The Trinity is a historically developed formulation informed by the biblical material.
    1. the full Deity of Jesus, equal to the Father, was affirmed in A.D. 325 by the Council of Nicea (cf. John 1:1; Phil. 2:6; Titus 2:13)
    2. the full personality and Deity of the Spirit equal to the Father and Son was affirmed in A.D. 381 by the Council of Constantinople
    3. the doctrine of the Trinity is fully expressed in Augustine's work De Trinitate. There is truly mystery here. But the NT affirms one eternal divine essence (monotheism) with three eternal personal manifestations (Father, Son, and Spirit).

For more information on the developed doctrinal understanding of the Trinity or Tri-Unity of God, see

  1. Millard J. Erickson, Christian Theology, 2nd ed., chapter 16, "God's Three-in-Oneness: The Trinity," pp. 340-367.
  2. Hard Sayings of the Bible, John 1:1; "One God or Three?", pp. 490-492

 

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