A trinitarian God – what does it mean to be following a triune God?
This has been something that has been sitting with me these last few months. As I have learnt more about the various debates throughout Church history, the first five ecumenical councils that were so often centred around this question, it has really struck me the significance, wonder and craziness of a three in one God. Singing the Apostles Creed in Church the other day –
“We believe in the God the Father, we believe in his only only son, we believe in the holy spirit, our God is three in one”
It has made me think how much I haven’t understood this three-in-one God very much. It has also made me reflect on my own church experiences and how much collective worship is trinitarian in nature or whether various strands of the Church have identified and prioritised one member of the Trinity at the expense of the others. And yet I do keep coming back to the fact that without Christ becoming incarnate, no word becomes flesh and dwells among us.
In my meaning of the sacraments class, this has particularly came out for me as we have been delving into the depths of meaning of baptism and eucharist. It has been interesting to see how the trinity is represented in these two sacraments of the Church. I’ve come away with no great conclusions, just a more fuller understanding of this faith I hold to and the trinitarian nature of these two core practices within our Church life together.
Breather 
Ah Maria the three in one concept is so hard to explain to Annabelle. She asks some deep questions about faith – simple questions actually but very insightful. Is there one or is there three? Or is it three parts to the whole and therefore getting into fractions which is hard for a 7 year old to get their head around as it is. And when I try to say there is one God but three – I come away thinking this God head concept doesn’t make sense. Medusa springs to mind. Was this the same for the Greeks hearing the gospel as this would have been their cultural context at the time? As you’ve noted some churches over time have emphasised one of the God head over the other. How did the disciples in the early church convey the concept?
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Yes it is a difficult thing to understand! Those are some big questions that I don’t know all the answers for but in terms of some of the cultural context, the Greco-Roman world was used to religions with multiple Gods. What was so radically different about Judaism was its claim to a monotheistic creator God, and this creator and created world is good, creation is not divine but part of the created order and the vocation of humans is to partner which this good God, in bringing about goodness in the world. Most Gods in the Ancient Near East (time period of Old Testament) were distant beings, creation was considered divine, and humans beings were considered to be created to meet the needs of the Gods. When Jesus came along, the early Christians continued to affirm a monotheistic creator God but saw Jesus as the fulfilment of the Hebrew Scriptures. The Greek Gods were very similar to religions of the Ancient Near East. Greek philosophy was also very much a part of the Greco-Roman world and you get a variety of different understandings of God or Gods from different philosophies, Platonism, Stoicism, Epicureanism. What I think was probably different for the Greeks in the early Church in terms of understanding of God was the monotheism of one creator God which the early Christians affirmed and was so different from the polytheistic Gods and philosophies of the time.
In terms of how the disciples in the early church convey the trinity concept, well it is a major debate in Biblical scholarship. It wasn’t until around 181 AD that it first is used by a Bishop of Antioch in writings. Later ecumenical councils of the 4th and 5th centuries are centred around whether Jesus is divine or human or both and how to understand this trinity. But scholars would argue that despite the term not being mentioned in Scripture the trinity is very much apparent. In reading Paul’s epistles and in the Gospels, you see their understanding that Christ is God – for example, John 1:1 “The Word became flesh” – which goes back to the Genesis and before the beginning of creation, Jesus is the Word who has been there from the beginning of time. And the Spirit is Christ’s presence with us after the ascension. I think one of key texts here is Matthew 28:19 where the disciples are commissioned to go and baptise new believers in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Now that God’s Kingdom has broken into earth through Jesus’ death and resurrection, ascension and the Spirit’s coming, we understand the three parts to God’s oneness.
Not sure if this is helpful, your questions are good ones, and I am still trying to figure it all out myself:)
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