Chapter 4: What We Believe About the Holy Trinity
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1. STUDY GUIDE
Focus Areas for Reading
As you read this chapter, pay special attention to:
Essential Concepts:
- The Trinity as mystery - both revealing and concealing God
- How the Trinity makes God accessible while preserving His transcendence
- The Trinity in Scripture (Matthew 28:19, 2 Cor 13:14, Genesis 1:26)
- The distinction between "mystery" (divine secret revealed) vs. "sheer mystery" (unknowable)
- The meaning of "Persons" in the Godhead
- God's fullness expressed through Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
- The work of salvation as Trinitarian: begins with Father, realized by Son, completed by Spirit
Critical Questions to Consider:
- Why is it good that God remains partly beyond our understanding?
- How does the Trinity reveal God's accessibility to humanity?
- What does it mean that mystery is "not a wall but an ocean"?
- Why can't we speak adequately about God without mentioning Christ and the Holy Spirit?
- How does the Trinity protect us from incomplete views of God?
- What is the relationship between the three Persons of the Trinity in the work of salvation?
Key Passages:
- Matthew 28:19 - Baptism in the name (singular) of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
- 2 Corinthians 13:14 - The grace of Christ, love of God, fellowship of Holy Spirit
- Genesis 1:26 - "Let us make man in our image" (plural/singular tension)
- John 3:16 - God's love expressed through giving His Son
- Acts 1:8 - Receiving power when the Holy Spirit comes
- 1 Peter 1:1-2 - All three Persons working together in salvation
- Romans 11:33-36 - The depth and mystery of God's wisdom
2. SUMMARY
Overview of Chapter Content
Chapter 4 explores the central Orthodox doctrine of the Holy Trinity - God as three distinct Persons (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) yet one divine substance. Coniaris emphasizes that the Trinity is both a mystery that reveals God to us and reminds us that God remains forever beyond complete human comprehension. The chapter demonstrates how the Trinity is anchored in Scripture, expresses the fullness of God's being, and makes God knowable and accessible to humanity.
Main Themes
The Trinity in Scripture
The doctrine of the Trinity flows directly from the New Testament experience of God and is firmly anchored in Scripture, not philosophical speculation.
The Great Commission (Matthew 28:19): Jesus commands baptism "in the name [singular] of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." Three Persons are mentioned specifically, yet unity is stated through the singular "name" not "names." This is the gateway to Christianity - no one can be Christian without believing in the Trinity.
Baptism of Jesus: The Trinity appeared together at Jesus's baptism in the Jordan - the Holy Spirit descended as a dove, the Father's voice declared "This is my beloved Son," and Jesus stood in the water. All three Persons present simultaneously.
Apostolic testimony: St. Paul speaks of "the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit" (2 Cor 13:14). St. Peter mentions the Trinity in his first letter, describing believers as "chosen and destined by God the Father and sanctified by the Spirit for obedience to Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 1:1-2).
Old Testament hints: Genesis 1:26 uses both plural ("Let us make man in our image and likeness") and singular ("And God made man in his image"). The Hebrew word "Elohim" is plural yet takes a singular verb. Three Persons, yet one God.
A Mystery
The Trinity is a mystery - we cannot fully understand how God can be three distinct Persons yet one God. This mystery both reveals God and conceals Him.
Definition of mystery: Eugene Joly provides an excellent definition: "A mystery is not a wall against which you run your head, but an ocean into which you plunge. A mystery is not night; it is the sun, so brilliant that we cannot gaze at it, but so luminous that everything is illuminated by it."
The Trinity reveals the fullness of God to us, yet simultaneously hides Him from us by reminding us we shall never fully comprehend God with our finite intelligence.
The proper humility: Those who refuse to believe in a God they cannot understand forget that a God fully explained would cease to be God. God is so great He will forever remain beyond our comprehension. St. Paul writes, "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out" (Romans 11:33).
Mystery in everyday life: Dorothy Sayers asks why we complain that the Trinity is obscure and mystical yet readily accept the physicist's formula involving the square root of minus 1 (which is paradoxical and incalculable). We accept paradoxical formulas in science but balk at mystery in theology. If we are bewildered by ordinary natural mysteries (electricity, how a seed produces specific plants), how can we expect to understand God completely?
St. Augustine's illustration: While walking along the seashore pondering the Trinity, Augustine saw a little girl filling a hole in the sand with water. When asked what she was doing, she replied, "I'm emptying the sea into this little hole I've dug." Augustine smiled, realizing he was trying to do exactly what she was doing - crowding the infinite God into his finite mind.
The water is not the whole ocean: The Trinity helps reveal God to us. The water in the sand hole is part of the ocean, yet not the whole of it. Similarly, our knowledge of God is partial, not complete. There is infinitely more beyond what we can grasp.
Analogies
Throughout history, many analogies have been used to help understand how God can be three Persons yet one God. None are perfect, but each casts some light on the mystery.
Soul analogy: A soul has three capacities (will, understanding, memory) yet is one soul.
Water analogy: Water has three forms (ice, liquid, vapor) yet its chemical composition doesn't change - it remains H₂O.
Sun analogy: The sun is composed of heat, gas, and mass, yet is one sun.
Word analogy: The Father has a thought, His thought is expressed and pronounced by the Word (Jesus), and the Spirit is the breath which bears the words and conveys the Word - "the tongue of fire." The work of salvation begins with the Father who "so loved the world," is realized by the Son through His death and resurrection, and is completed by the Spirit at Pentecost.
Immanuel Kant's observation: There are limitations to our finite minds - we can contemplate but not engulf things that are infinite. When we come into God's presence, we do not understand; rather, we bow in awe and cover our eyes, for His brilliance is blinding.
The Real Meaning of Mystery
Mystery is not enough. We cannot live on mere mystery. The word "mystery" in the New Testament never means sheer unknowability - it means a divine secret which God has been pleased to reveal to us, something so mysterious we could never discover it ourselves if God had not taken the initiative and given us the clue through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.
What the Trinity tells us: The meaning of the Holy Trinity addresses two critical aspects of God's nature.
How Accessible God Is
First, the Trinity tells us not only how mysterious God is but also how accessible He is.
God becomes one of us: In Christ, God becomes our Brother, sharing our sorrows, weaknesses, temptations, suffering, and death. The ancient pagan gods dwelt high on Mt. Olympus, distant and removed. But Jesus comes to stand beside us as Immanuel - "God with us." How near, how approachable, how available, how inescapable God is - every day, everywhere, with ordinary people in this ordinary world.
The God who came at Pentecost: At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came to abide within each of us, filling us with the Presence and Power of God. God above us, God beside us, God within us - this is what the Trinity tells us.
Without the Trinity, God would be unknowable: Without the Trinity, God would be unknowable as well as inaccessible. The early Fathers used the term "Persons" in the Godhead not in exactly the same way we use it when speaking of people. Augustine wrote, "They are certainly three, but if we ask 'three what?', human speech is overcome by its great poverty. Then we say, 'three persons'; not to express the reality, but to save ourselves from silence" (De Trinitate VII, 8).
The word "Person" helps us relate: They used "Person" because personality was the highest they knew, and God could not be less than that. He had to be more-one! Jesus often expressed this with His words: "how much more". "If you who are evil know how to give good things to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him."
The word "Person" helps us understand that each Person of the Trinity is Someone to Whom we can speak, of Whom we can make a request, Whom we can love, and with Whom we can have a personal relationship. The Trinity is like the brilliant sun - impossible to gaze into directly, yet illuminating our knowledge of God as One Who is approachable and accessible in Christ and through the Holy Spirit.
God in His Fullness
The doctrine of the Trinity preserves God in His fullness.
"God" is too vague: To the Christian, the word "God" by itself is too vague. The Trinity amplifies and describes God more fully. To us, "God" means the Father Who loves us, the Son who saves us, the Holy Spirit Who abides within us. God the Creator, God the Redeemer, God the Inspirer. Anything less would not be the God of the New Testament.
The fullness of God: In the words of St. Paul, the fullness of God consists of "the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the communion of the Holy Spirit" (2 Cor 13:14). The only way we Christians can express everything we mean by that overwhelming Word "God" is to say "Father, Son and Holy Spirit." We cannot adequately speak about God without speaking of Christ and the Holy Spirit in the same breath. The doctrine of the Trinity preserves God in His fullness.
Bishop Theophan the Recluse's statement: "We are saved by the good will of the Father through the merits of the Son by the grace of the Holy Spirit."
We need the whole Trinity:
- Who does not need the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ? "You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty, you might become rich" (2 Cor 8:9).
- Who does not need the love of God? "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that whoever believes in him might not perish but have life everlasting" (John 3:16).
- Who does not need the communion of the Holy Spirit? "You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you" (Acts 1:8).
Yours can be the grace of Christ, yours the love of God, yours the communion of the Holy Spirit. This is the meaning of the Trinity which sums up the whole Gospel, presenting us with the fullness of God's presence, power, and love.
God above, beside, and inside: God above me, God beside me, God inside me. The French author Francois Mauriac said once that no one who is created by the Father, redeemed by the Son, and indwelt by the Holy Spirit can ever count himself unimportant. This is why the Church never tires of singing in gratitude: "Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen."
St. Irenaeus's image: St. Irenaeus pictures the Trinity as God the Father stretching His two arms out to us in love - one arm is Jesus and the other arm is the Holy Spirit. Surely such love demands a response!
Prayer
My hope is the Father,
My refuge is the Son,
My protection is the Holy Spirit,
Blessed Trinity,
Glory to Thee.
–An Orthodox Prayer
Summary
The chapter concludes with six key summary points:
God is one: There are not multiple gods to be satisfied. Though He is one in substance, God has been experienced in the history of God's people as the Father Who created us, the Son Who saves us, the Holy Spirit Who empowers us. He is three Persons yet one God, one substance.
The Trinity as mystery: Although the doctrine of the Trinity reveals God to us (God above us, God beside us, God within us), it also serves to hide God from us by reminding us that we shall never understand God completely with our finite intelligence. No one can understand how God can be three Persons yet one God. It is a mystery.
Anchored in Scripture: The doctrine of the Trinity is anchored in Scripture (Matt. 28:19, 2 Cor. 13:14).
The Trinity expresses salvation: The Trinity expresses the essence of our Orthodox Christian faith: the work of salvation begins with the Father who "loved the world," is realized by the Son through His death and resurrection, and is completed by the Holy Spirit on Pentecost.
The Trinity makes God knowable: The Trinity makes God knowable as Father, Son and Holy Spirit and accessible as One Who comes to us through Jesus ("God with us") and the Holy Spirit (Pentecost).
The fullness of God: The word "God" is amplified and described more fully through the Trinity. The fullness of God is "the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the communion of the Holy Spirit" (2 Cor. 13:14).
3. VISUAL OUTLINE
THE HOLY TRINITY
|
┌─────────────────┼─────────────────┐
| | |
GOD THE GOD THE GOD THE
FATHER SON HOLY SPIRIT
| | |
CREATOR REDEEMER SANCTIFIER
(Above) (Beside) (Within)
| | |
Who LOVED Who SAVED us Who EMPOWERS
the world (grace of us (communion/
Christ) fellowship)
| | |
└─────────────────┴─────────────────┘
|
ONE GOD, ONE SUBSTANCE
Three Persons, One Being
THE WORK OF SALVATION (Trinitarian Process):
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
BEGINS → REALIZED → COMPLETED
with Father by Son by Holy Spirit
"so loved Death & Pentecost
the world" Resurrection
MYSTERY OF THE TRINITY:
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
┌─────────────────────────────────────┐
│ "Not a wall, but an ocean" │
│ "Not night, but brilliant sun" │
│ │
│ REVEALS God to us: │
│ • Makes God accessible │
│ • Shows us God's love │
│ • Brings God near in Christ │
│ │
│ CONCEALS God from us: │
│ • Reminds us God is beyond │
│ full comprehension │
│ • Preserves divine transcendence │
│ • Calls for humility & awe │
└─────────────────────────────────────┘
SCRIPTURAL FOUNDATION:
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
• Matthew 28:19 - "in the NAME" (singular)
of Father, Son, Holy Spirit
• Baptism of Jesus - all three present
• 2 Cor 13:14 - Trinitarian blessing
• Genesis 1:26 - "Let US make man"
• 1 Peter 1:1-2 - All three at work
ST. IRENAEUS'S IMAGE:
Father stretching TWO ARMS to us in love:
One arm = Jesus
Other arm = Holy Spirit
4. REFLECTION QUESTIONS
Personal Understanding
Mystery and Faith: Before reading this chapter, how did you understand the Trinity? Has your understanding changed? In what ways?
Mystery as Ocean: Coniaris uses the image of mystery as "an ocean into which you plunge" rather than "a wall against which you run your head." How does this imagery change your approach to things you don't fully understand about God?
God's Accessibility: How does the Trinity make God more accessible to you personally? Which Person of the Trinity do you relate to most naturally - Father, Son, or Holy Spirit? Why?
Daily Experience: Can you identify moments in your daily life where you experience God as Father (Creator/Provider), Son (Savior/Brother), or Holy Spirit (Guide/Power)?
Theological Reflection
Three Persons, One God: What analogy from the chapter (water, soul, sun, word) helps you most in understanding the Trinity? Why? Can you think of other analogies?
Mystery in Scripture: Read Matthew 28:19 slowly. Why do you think Jesus used the singular "name" rather than "names"? What does this tell you about the nature of God?
Fullness of God: Why is the word "God" alone considered "too vague" according to Orthodox theology? How does naming Father, Son, and Holy Spirit preserve God's fullness?
Biblical Evidence: The chapter shows glimpses of the Trinity in the Old Testament (Genesis 1:26, "Elohim"). Why do you think God progressively revealed the Trinity over time rather than making it fully clear from the beginning?
Living the Trinity
Prayer Life: The Orthodox prayer says: "My hope is the Father, My refuge is the Son, My protection is the Holy Spirit." How might praying to each Person of the Trinity differently enrich your prayer life?
Humility Before Mystery: Dorothy Sayers points out we accept mysterious scientific formulas but resist theological mystery. Why do you think that is? How can accepting mystery make you more humble?
Baptismal Connection: Every Christian is baptized "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." How does understanding the Trinity deepen your understanding of your own baptism?
St. Augustine's Beach: Imagine St. Augustine watching the little girl trying to empty the sea into a hole in the sand. What does this story reveal about our attempts to fully understand God? How should this affect how we approach theology?
Application to Conversion Journey
Preparing for Chrismation: How does understanding the Trinity help prepare you for chrismation into the Orthodox Church? What does it mean to be received into a Trinitarian faith?
Salvation as Trinitarian: The chapter explains salvation as beginning with the Father, realized by the Son, and completed by the Spirit. How does this Trinitarian view of salvation differ from what you may have learned before?
Practical Holiness: Bishop Theophan says we are "saved by the good will of the Father through the merits of the Son by the grace of the Holy Spirit." How does this comprehensive view of salvation affect how you pursue holiness?
Two Arms of God: St. Irenaeus pictures the Father stretching out two arms to us - Jesus and the Holy Spirit. How do these "two arms" work together in your spiritual life right now? Do you tend to focus on one more than the other?
Going Deeper
The Imago Dei: Genesis 1:26 says "Let us make man in our image." If we are made in the image of a Trinitarian God, what might that say about human nature and our need for community?
Grace, Love, Communion: St. Paul's blessing mentions "the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the communion of the Holy Spirit." Why do you think each Person is associated with these particular qualities? How do you experience each?
Transcendence and Immanence: The Trinity holds together God's transcendence (beyond us) and immanence (near us). How is this both/and approach different from viewing God as either completely distant or completely familiar?
Doxology and Worship: The chapter ends with "Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen." Why is Trinitarian worship essential to Orthodox faith? How does it shape the way you pray?
5. KEY DEFINITIONS
Trinity - The central Christian doctrine that God exists as three distinct Persons (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) in one divine substance or essence. Not three gods (tritheism) nor one Person in three modes (modalism), but three Persons eternally existing in perfect unity.
Mystery (theological) - Not sheer unknowability or a wall against which we run our head, but rather a divine secret that God has pleased to reveal to us while remaining beyond full human comprehension. Like an ocean into which we plunge, or the sun - so brilliant we cannot gaze directly at it, yet so luminous that everything is illuminated by it. In the NT, mystery means something hidden that God has now revealed in Christ.
Person (hypostasis) - When speaking of the Trinity, "Person" refers to distinct personal subsistences within the one Godhead. The early Church Fathers used this term not to limit God to our human level, but because personality was the highest reality they knew, and God could not be less than that - only infinitely more. Each Person can be addressed, loved, and relates to us personally.
Substance (ousia) - The divine essence or being that is shared equally and fully by Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The three Persons are distinct but not divided; they share one divine nature, will, and power.
Accessible - The quality of God being approachable, knowable, and near to humanity. Through the Incarnation of Christ and the gift of the Holy Spirit, the transcendent God makes Himself accessible - not distant like pagan gods on Mt. Olympus, but "God with us" (Immanuel) and "God in us" (Holy Spirit indwelling).
Transcendent - The quality of God being above, beyond, and infinitely greater than His creation. God's transcendence means He cannot be fully grasped or comprehended by finite human minds. The mystery of the Trinity preserves this transcendence while also revealing God's love.
Immanent - God's quality of being present within creation and actively involved in the world. In Christ, God becomes immanent by taking on human flesh. Through the Holy Spirit, God dwells within believers. The Trinity reveals God as both transcendent (above us) and immanent (beside and within us).
Economy (oikonomia) - The divine plan and work of salvation. Often refers to how the three Persons of the Trinity cooperate in the salvation of humanity: the Father initiates out of love, the Son accomplishes through incarnation and resurrection, the Holy Spirit completes by applying salvation and dwelling in believers.
Theosis - The Orthodox understanding of salvation as becoming like God, participating in the divine life. Sometimes called "deification." Not becoming God in essence, but being transformed by God's grace to share in His energies and nature. Connected to the Trinity through "putting on Christ" and receiving the Holy Spirit.
Perichoresis (mutual indwelling) - The theological term describing how the three Persons of the Trinity interpenetrate and dwell in one another while remaining distinct. This mutual coinherence ensures the unity of the Trinity.
Doxology - An expression of glory and praise to God. Trinitarian doxologies (such as "Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit") are central to Orthodox worship and prayer, expressing the fullness of God.
Analogies of the Trinity - Human attempts to illustrate how God can be three yet one. Examples include: water in three forms (ice, liquid, vapor); a soul with three capacities (will, understanding, memory); the sun composed of heat, light, and mass. While helpful, all analogies are imperfect and incomplete.
Baptismal Formula - The words Jesus commanded for baptism: "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Matt 28:19). Note the singular "name" with three Persons - the gateway to Christianity and the foundation of Trinitarian faith.
Elohim - The Hebrew word for God used in Genesis 1. Grammatically plural in form but takes singular verbs, suggesting the mystery of God's oneness and plurality even in the Old Testament.
Immanuel - Hebrew name meaning "God with us" (Matthew 1:23). Refers to Jesus Christ and expresses the radical accessibility of God in the Incarnation - God entering human life completely.
Pentecost - The day the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles (Acts 2), completing the revelation of the Trinity and empowering the Church. Represents the "third stage" of God's revelation after the Father's work in creation and the Son's work in redemption.
Grace, Love, Communion - The three aspects of God's fullness associated with the Trinity in 2 Corinthians 13:14: the grace of Christ (His saving work), the love of God the Father (His initiating will), and the communion/fellowship of the Holy Spirit (His indwelling presence and power).
Justification - Being declared righteous before God through Christ's sacrificial death. Part of the Orthodox understanding of salvation, but not separated from sanctification as in some Western traditions.
Sanctification - The ongoing process of being made holy through the work of the Holy Spirit. In Orthodox theology, this is closely tied to theosis - the progressive transformation into the likeness of Christ.
Glorification - The final stage of salvation when believers are fully transformed and united with Christ in His glory at the Second Coming. The culmination of theosis.
STUDY SUGGESTIONS
Before Reading
- Pray the Trinitarian doxology: "Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen"
- Read Matthew 28:16-20 (The Great Commission)
- Read 2 Corinthians 13:11-14 (Paul's Trinitarian benediction)
While Reading
- Mark passages that challenge your previous understanding of the Trinity
- Note which analogies help you most
- Pay attention to how the Trinity makes God both mysterious and accessible
After Reading
- Meditate on the Orthodox prayer: "My hope is the Father, My refuge is the Son, My protection is the Holy Spirit"
- Consider: How does each Person of the Trinity work in your life?
- Practice Trinitarian awareness in your daily prayers
For Discussion
- Share which aspect of the Trinity (mystery, accessibility, fullness) resonated most with you
- Discuss how the Trinitarian view of salvation differs from other understandings
- Explore together: Why is it significant that Jesus used singular "name" in Matthew 28:19?
For Deeper Study
- Read the Nicene Creed slowly, noting references to all three Persons
- Study the icon of the Trinity (Rublev's Trinity) and its theological meaning
- Research how the Trinity is expressed in Orthodox liturgy and prayers