Introduction
The traditional doxology, "Glory be to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be," beautifully expresses God in the Trinity. Time is seamless and boundless, transitioning from the past, present, and future without ceasing. Human beings may only live in the present, but even to say this is at once a past statement. We may plan the future, but no one knows it with certainty. God alone exists in the past, present, and future, which the Hebrew name Yahweh (H3068) implies. This timeless and most holy name originates in the phrase, "I AM WHO I AM" (Hebrew: Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh; H1961, H834), which was God's response to Moses when he asked for his name (Exod. 3:14). The Hebrew name Yeshua (H3442, "Joshua")—rendered in Greek as Iēsous (G2424) and in Latin as Jesus—means "Yahweh saves" or "Yahweh is salvation." Therefore, when the eternal only-begotten Son of God (Greek: monogenēs Huios tou Theou; G3439, G5207; G3588; G2316; see John 1:1-18; 3:16, 18; 1 John 4:9) took on human flesh and blood as Jesus of Nazareth, he kept his divine name to let the world know that he was coming to save it.
The English word "trinity" derives from the Latin trinitas (lit. "triad," from Latin trinus, "threefold"). Tertullian of Carthage (c. 155–c. 220) was the first theologian to use this term when defining the relationship between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in his tract called Against Praxeas. Trinity means "three in one," a unity of three consubstantial beings. This definition comes from the early church councils at Nicaea in 325, Constantinople in 381, and Chalcedon in 451. The elders and pastors at these meetings wanted to resolve their centuries-old theological debates over reconciling the necessary worship of one God with the divinity and humanity of Jesus. Nicaea and Constantinople described the hypostatic union of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Later, Chalcedon defined Christ's divine and human natures (see "Confessions of Faith").
Messianic Jewish Views of the Trinity
For Jews, any discussion of God's attributes begins and ends with the Shema (H8085, "hear" or "listen"), a monotheistic confession of faith written by Moses. It reads, "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one" (Deut. 6:4; Hebrew: Shema Yisrael, Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai echad). Jesus recited the Shema when a scribe asked him to explain the greatest commandment (see Mark 12:28-30). Eloheinu, meaning "our God," is a conjugated form of Elohim (H430, "God" or "gods"). This word is uniplural, referring to the underlying reality of a singular yet multidimensional God. For example, when Moses wrote, "Then God said, 'Let us make humankind in our image, in our likeness'" (Gen. 1:26), he used Elohim. Likewise, the adjective echad (H259, "one" or "first") also implies a complex singularity. If he wanted to define God as an absolute oneness, Moses would have chosen yachid (H3173, "only"). This reading of the Genesis text is not just a convenient defense of trinitarian doctrine. When ancient Jewish scholars rendered the Torah into a formal translation called the Septuagint (LXX) for Greek-speaking Jews, they felt embarrassed by the plural pronouns in Genesis 1:26. They initially changed the verse to say "let me" instead of "let us" to give it a more monotheistic polish than the original Hebrew wording. However, scribes later adjusted the LXX verse to a more literal translation.
Paul of Tarsus, always the Torah-observant Jew, alluded to the Shema when he wrote, "[Yet] for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live" (1 Cor. 8:6). He even referred to the Shema about the Trinity when he said, "There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all" (Eph. 4:4-6). These lessons from Paul are the very essence of "the LORD our God, the LORD is one," combined with Jesus' claim, "I and the Father are one" (John 10:30). The Judean religious leaders knew what they heard: Jesus was claiming to be one with God in the very meaning of the Shema. They attempted to stone him for this perceived blasphemy (v. 31).
Biblical scholars who endorse the Documentary Hypothesis see two different authors when they read Torah passages that favor either Elohim or Yahweh (see "Moses' Authorship & Editors"). They named these hypothetical writers "Elohist" and "Yahwist," casting doubt on whether Moses composed the Pentateuch. However, Jewish readers have long realized that Moses used Elohim when alluding to God's transcendence over creation while choosing Yahweh to emphasize his immanence. This was the reason Jesus came to us as "Yahweh saves," even applying the divine name to himself: "Very truly I tell you, before Abraham was born, I Am!" (John 8:58). The author of Hebrews testified about Christ's immanence: "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin" (4:15).
In Jewish teaching, rabbis stress that God reveals himself in patterns found in both scripture and nature. That said, Messianic Jews see the Trinity throughout the many combinations of three in the Hebrew Bible, itself divided into three parts: Torah (H8451, "Law"), Nevi'im (H5030, "Prophets"), and Ketuvim (H3789, "Writings"). Jesus identified them when he said, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the Law from Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms must be fulfilled" (Luke 24:44). Today, Jews call it the TaNaKh (תנך), an acronym based on this tradition. These threefold patterns include the trio of Miriam, Moses, and Aaron as Israel's legal mediation before God during the exodus (see Num. 12:4; Mic. 6:4). Moreover, the entire nation of Israel was a triune society of priests, Levites, and Israelites (see 1 Chron. 9:2; 1 Esd. 9:37 CEB) who were all descendants of the three patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (see Exod. 3:15). This tripartition of a priest, a Levite, and an Israelite is a cultural background that we Christian Gentiles miss in Jesus' parable of the good Samaritan when he shockingly interpolated a despicable foreigner in the place of a Jewish citizen (see Luke 10:31-33). Finally, scripture tells us we are a threefold union of body, soul, and spirit (see Job 7:11; 1 Thess. 5:23; Heb. 4:12).
Greco-Roman Views of the Trinity
Leading up to the councils of Nicaea and Chalcedon, the patristic theologians of the Roman Empire not only appealed to scripture in their debates and philosophy. They were predominately Gentiles, more familiar with Aristotelian and Platonic ideas than Jewish ones from the Torah. In their defense, the New Testament writers used many Greek words with precedence in philosophy. For example, the author of Hebrews chose the noun hupostasis (G5287, lit. "underlying" reality or substance) when writing, "Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see" (11:1). Likewise, the early church leaders applied hupostasis to define the "hypostatic union" of three underlying "persons" whom each share the exact essential nature—think DNA. They viewed the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit as three distinct hypostases of one substance that relate socially and economically in a "communication of properties" (Latin: Communicatio idiomatum). Within the person of Christ Jesus, both divine and human natures exist without separation or distinction; however, both are fully present and wholly genuine. Parenthetically, we must take care even when using orthodox vocabulary, as both the Latin persona ("person") and Greek prosōpon (G4383, "face" or "appearance") originally referred to ancient Greco-Roman theater masks. The patristics compared God to a stage actor who always keeps his essential personality while functioning in three roles. However, he does not role-play as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit but exists consubstantially in them.
At first glance, these Greek and Roman formulas based on metaphysics—abstract ideas beyond the natural world—seem to have little to do with first-century faith. All early Christians believed the "what:" Jesus is the only-begotten Son of God, both divine and human." Even the historical records from secular writers in the Roman Empire bore witness to this (see "Historicity of Jesus"). Starting in the second and third centuries, church leaders realized they had little consensus on the "how. Various falsehoods arose that denied Jesus' timeless divinity: 1) Adoptionism: the Father merely adopted the Son as his heir sometime before creation or during his earthly ministry; 2) Monarchianism: both the Son and the Holy Spirit are ambassadors of the Father in a hierarchy and royal procession, and; 3) Subordinationism: the Son and the Holy Spirit submit to the Father in perfect will and obedience. Each of these concepts suggests that the Father created the Son instead of recognizing him as eternally uncreated in the exact image of God.
The Council of Nicaea was necessary for the early church to sort out whether Jesus is "of one being" (Greek: hōmoouisios; G3676, G3776) or "of similar being" (Greek: hōmoiousios; G3664) with the Father. Yes, the patristic theologians debated a matter of one single iōta (G2503), the Greek letter I. However, the very definition of Christ's identity—christology—was at stake. This definition is still a make-it-or-break-it salvation issue for all Christians, regardless of their time or place. The Latin derivative consubstantial means "with the same substance." At Nicaea, the elders and pastors listened to two opposing theologians from Alexandria, a city renowned for its vast library and influential thinkers. The first, Alexander (c. 328), upheld that Jesus is the eternally uncreated Son of God who lives in one essence with the Father. Arius (c. 250–336) believed, "There was a time when the Son was not." The council affirmed that Christ shares one essence with the Father, setting an example for all Christians to acknowledge him as the nature of God in human form from everlasting. In the first century, the author of Hebrews testified, "The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word" (1:3). Athanasius (c. 293–373), the successor to Alexander as the bishop of Alexandria, became the champion of high christology in the aftermath of Nicaea. The apostle Thomas had no doubts about Jesus' relationship with the Father when he called him "my Lord and my God" (John 20:28).
Scientific Views of the Trinity
At its triple point, H2O coexists as liquid water, solid ice, and vapor. Many churchgoers use this analogy to explain the Trinity. However, this example is "heresy" (Greek: hairesis; G139, "personal choice to have an opinion that causes division") because it allows for the separation of each divine person. Simon Peter warned that "no prophecy of scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation of things" (2 Pet. 1:20). While it is possible for H2O to exist in three states at once, the scientific ability to divide them exemplifies a type of modalism. This reality means H2O has three modes, whereas God does not exist in modes. All three hypostases of the divine nature coexist simultaneously without division yet keep their functional distinctions. Therefore, H2O is not an absolute trinity, a relationship of three underlying dimensions that can neither exist nor function without each other. Do not despair because absolute trinities do happen in the natural world.
The universe is an absolute trinity of space, time, and matter. Furthermore, each one of these components is triune: 1) The algebraic formula for the three-dimensional space known as volume is length x width x height; 2) Time encompasses past, present, and future; and 3) Atoms—the building blocks for all matter—involve protons, neutrons, and electrons. God formed the vast cosmos as an absolute trinity of three constituent absolute trinities. He also created three heavens in this universe, each featuring diverse characteristics with firm boundaries (see Gen. 1:6; Ps. 19:1, 150:1; 2 Cor. 12:2).
How do such complex metaphysics and cosmology relate to the Trinity? Some biblical scholars cannot fathom how a simple Galilean craftsman and rabbi they call the "historical Jesus" reconcile with the cosmic "Christ of faith." They apply the latter term to the more pious-sounding material in the New Testament. However, John son of Zebedee described Jesus as the divine Logos (G3056, "Word" or "logical definition of absolute universal truth;" see John 1:1; Gen. 1), a title rich with theological and philosophical overtones from Genesis and Greek philosophy. Gregory Hays (b. 1970), an associate professor of classics at the University of Virginia, observes:
Of the doctrines central to the Stoic worldview, perhaps the most important is the unwavering conviction that the world is organized in a rational and coherent way. More specifically, it is controlled and directed by an all-pervading force that the Stoics designated by the term logos. The term (from which English "logic" and the suffix "-logy" derive) has a semantic range so broad as to be almost untranslatable. At a basic level, it designates rational, connected thought—whether envisioned as a characteristic (rationality, the ability to reason) or as the product of that characteristic (an intelligible utterance or a connected discourse). Logos operates both in individuals and in the universe as a whole. In individuals, it is the faculty of reason. On a cosmic level, it is the rational principle that governs the organization of the universe. In this sense, it is synonymous with "nature," "Providence," or "God." (When the author of John's gospel tells us that "the Word"—Logos—was with God and is to be identified with God, he is borrowing Stoic terminology.) All events are determined by the logos, and follow in an unbreakable chain of cause and effect (in Aurelius, Meditations, p. XX).
The evangelists and apostles who wrote about Jesus viewed his divinity and humanity as dynamic tension. Quantum cosmologists today realize how the entire universe appears to be especially suited for human life, the anthropic principle. Suppose we combine the ancient theological and philosophical meanings of Logos with the modern scientific view of the anthropic principle. In that case, Logos gives us this profound truth: The "historical Jesus Christ of faith" is God's absolute truth and the reason we exist. Both John and Paul understood this when they each wrote:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all humankind (John 1:1-4).
The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him (Col. 1:15-16).
Conclusion
In conclusion, the doctrine of the Trinity has been a source of profound contemplation and spirited debate in church history. It stands as a testament to the richness and depth of Christian theology, inviting believers to explore the mysteries of God's nature in all its complexity and beauty. At its core, the Trinity speaks to the inherent relationality within the Godhead. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit exist in perfect unity, yet each person possesses distinct attributes and roles within the divine mystery. This relationship of mutual love and cooperation reflects the triune God's essence, inviting us into communion with him. The biblical foundations of the Trinity can be found throughout the Old and New Testaments, from the Shema in Deuteronomy proclaiming the oneness of God to Jesus' baptism in the Jordan River, where the voice of the Father affirms the Son. At the same time, the Spirit descends like a dove (see Matt. 3:13-17; Mark 1:9-11; Luke 3:21-22). These sacred moments reveal glimpses of the triune nature of God, inviting us to ponder the depths of divine mystery.
Furthermore, the doctrine of the Trinity has profound implications for our understanding of salvation and redemption. In the incarnation of Jesus Christ, we see God's profound love manifested in human form, bridging the gap between divinity and humanity. Through the work of the Holy Spirit, we are empowered to participate in the ongoing work of God's kingdom, bearing witness to the transformative power of God's grace. As believers, we are called to embrace the mystery of the Trinity with humility and reverence, recognizing that our finite minds can never fully comprehend the infinite depths of God's being. Yet, in our contemplation of the Trinity, we are invited into a deeper relationship with God—one marked by awe, wonder, and profound gratitude for the boundless love that sustains us. In the end, the doctrine of the Trinity serves as a reminder of the richness and beauty of the Christian faith, inviting us to journey ever deeper into the heart of God. As we ponder the mystery of the Trinity, we may be drawn closer to the one who created us, redeemed us, and continues to sustain us with his eternal love.
Prayer
Blessed are you, LORD our God, King of the universe; with your co-eternal Son and Holy Spirit, is one God, one Lord, in the Trinity of persons and the unity of substance. For that which we believe of your glory, Father, we believe the same of your Son and the Holy Spirit, without any difference or inequality. Amen.
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