O CREDO DE ATANÁSIO

 

O Credo de Atanásio

ORIGEM 

O Credo de Atanásio, subscrito pelos três principais ramos da Igreja Cristã, é geralmente atribuído a Atanásio, Bispo de Alexandria (século IV), mas estudiosos do assunto conferem a ele data posterior (século V). Sua forma final teria sido alcançada apenas no século VIII. O texto grego mais antigo deste credo provém de um sermão de Cesário, no início do século VI. 

O credo de Atanásio, com quarenta artigos, é um tanto longo para um credo, mas é considerado “um majestoso e único monumento da fé imutável de toda a igreja quanto aos grandes mistérios da divindade, da Trindade de pessoas em um só Deus e da dualidade de naturezas de um único Cristo.” 

TEXTO 

1. Todo aquele que quiser ser salvo, é necessário acima de tudo, que sustente a fé universal. 2. A qual, a menos que cada um preserve perfeita e inviolável, certamente perecerá para sempre. 3. Mas a fé universal é esta, que adoremos um único Deus em Trindade, e a Trindade em unidade. 4. Não confundindo as pessoas, nem dividindo a substância. 5. Porque a pessoa do Pai é uma, a do Filho é outra, e a do Espírito Santo outra. 6. Mas no Pai, no Filho e no Espírito Santo há uma mesma divindade, igual em glória e co-eterna majestade. 7. O que o Pai é, o mesmo é o Filho, e o Espírito Santo. 8. O Pai é não criado, o Filho é não criado, o Espírito Santo é não criado. 9. O Pai é ilimitado, o Filho é ilimitado, o Espírito Santo é ilimitado. 10. O Pai é eterno, o Filho é eterno, o Espírito Santo é eterno. 11. Contudo, não há três eternos, mas um eterno. 12. Portanto não há três (seres) não criados, nem três ilimitados, mas um não criado e um ilimitado. 13. Do mesmo modo, o Pai é onipotente, o Filho é onipotente, o Espírito Santo é onipotente. 14. Contudo, não há três onipotentes, mas um só onipotente. 15. Assim, o Pai é Deus, o Filho é Deus, o Espírito Santo é Deus. 16. Contudo, não há três Deuses, mas um só Deus. 17. Portanto o Pai é Senhor, o Filho é Senhor, e o Espírito Santo é Senhor. 18. Contudo, não há três Senhores, mas um só Senhor. 19. Porque, assim como compelidos pela verdade cristã a confessar cada pessoa separadamente como Deus e Senhor; assim também somos proibidos pela religião universal de dizer que há três Deuses ou Senhores. 20. O Pai não foi feito de ninguém, nem criado, nem gerado. 21. O Filho procede do Pai somente, nem feito, nem criado, mas gerado. 22. O Espírito Santo procede do Pai e do Filho, não feito, nem criado, nem gerado, mas procedente. 23. Portanto, há um só Pai, não três Pais, um Filho, não três Filhos, um Espírito Santo, não três Espíritos Santos. 24. E nessa Trindade nenhum é primeiro ou último, nenhum é maior ou menor. 25. Mas todas as três pessoas co-eternas são co-iguais entre si; de modo que em tudo o que foi dito acima, tanto a unidade em trindade, como a trindade em unidade deve ser cultuada. 26. Logo, todo aquele que quiser ser salvo deve pensar desse modo com relação à Trindade. 27. Mas também é necessário para a salvação eterna, que se creia fielmente na encarnação do nosso Senhor Jesus Cristo. 28. É, portanto, fé verdadeira, que creiamos e confessemos que nosso Senhor e Salvador Jesus Cristo é tanto Deus como homem. 29. Ele é Deus eternamente gerado da substância do Pai; homem nascido no tempo da substância da sua mãe. 30. Perfeito Deus, perfeito homem, subsistindo de uma alma racional e carne humana. 31. Igual ao Pai com relação à sua divindade, menor do que o Pai com relação à sua humanidade. 32. O qual, embora seja Deus e homem, não é dois mas um só Cristo. 33. Mas um, não pela conversão da sua divindade em carne, mas por sua divindade haver assumido sua humanidade. 34. Um, não, de modo algum, pela confusão de substância, mas pela unidade de pessoa. 35. Pois assim como uma alma racional e carne constituem um só homem, assim Deus e homem constituem um só Cristo. 36. O qual sofreu por nossa salvação, desceu ao Hades, ressuscitou dos mortos ao terceiro dia. 37. Ascendeu ao céu, sentou à direita de Deus Pai onipotente, de onde virá para julgar os vivos e os mortos. 38. Em cuja vinda, todo homem ressuscitará com seus corpos, e prestarão conta de sua obras. 39. E aqueles que houverem feito o bem irão para a vida eterna; aqueles que houverem feito o mal, para o fogo eterno. 40. Esta é a fé Universal, a qual a não ser que um homem creia firmemente nela, não pode ser salvo. 

Fonte:  http://www.monergismo.com/textos/credos/credoatanasio.htm

A Trindade divina planejou a redenção

    O maravilhoso plano de redenção não foi algo improvisado para o povo de Deus escolhido em Cristo "antes da fundação do mundo" (Ef 1:4; Ap 1 7:8) e entregue ao Filho pelo Pai tanto para pertencer a seu reino (Mt 25:34) quanto para participar de sua glória (Jo 17:2, 6, 9, 11,12, 24). A morte sacrificial do Filho não foi um acidente, mas sim um compromisso (At 2:23; 4:27, 28); pois ele "foi morto desde a fundação do mundo" (Ap 13:8).

    Nas deliberações eternas, a Divindade decidiu criar um mundo que incluiria seres humanos feitos à imagem de Deus. Não só o Pai (Gn 1:1; 2 Rs 19:15; At 4:24), mas também o Filho (Jo 1:1-3, 10; Ci 1:16; Hb 1:2) e o Espírito Santo (Gn 1:2; SI 104:30) participaram da criação. Deus não criou o mundo porque precisava de alguma coisa, mas sim para que pudesse compartilhar seu amor com suas criaturas que, diferentes dos anjos, são feitas à imagem de Deus e podem corresponder a seu amor livremente.

    A Divindade determinou que o Filho viria à Terra e morreria pelos pecados do mundo, e Jesus veio para fazer a vontade do Pai (Jo 10:17, 18; Hb 10:7). As palavras de Jesus vinham do Pai (Jo 14:24), e suas obras eram comissionadas pelo Pai (Jo 5:17-21, 36; At 2:22) e investidas do poder do Espírito (At 10:38). O Filho glorifica o Pai (Jo 14:13; 1 7:1, 4), e o Espírito glorifica o Filho (Jo 16:14). As Pessoas da Trindade trabalham em conjunto para realizar a vontade de Deus.

    De acordo com Efésios 1:3-14, o plano da salvação é trinitário: somos escolhidos pelo Pai (vv. 3-6), redimidos pelo Filho (vv. 7-12) e selados com o Espírito (vv. 13, 14) - tudo isso para o louvor da glória de Deus (vv. 6, 12, 14). O Pai concedeu autoridade ao Filho para dar vida eterna àqueles que ele entregou ao Filho (Jo 17:1-3). Tudo isso foi planejado antes mesmo que o mundo existisse!

    E importante observar que as três Pessoas da Divindade têm um papel na salvação dos pecadores perdidos. 

Fonte: Comentário Bíblico Expositivo Wiersbe

A CONFISSÃO DE FÉ DE WESTMINSTER - CAPÍTULO 2: DE DEUS E DA SANTÍSSIMA TRINDADE

1. Há um só Deus vivo e verdadeiro, o qual é infinito em seu ser e em perfeição. Ele é um Espírito puríssimo, invisível, sem corpo, sem membros, não sujeito a paixões; é imutável, imenso, eterno, incompreensível, onipotente, onisciente, santíssimo, completamente livre e absoluto, e tudo faz segundo o conselho da sua própria vontade, que é reta e imutável, e para a sua própria glória. É cheio de amor, gracioso, misericordioso, longânimo, muito bondoso e verdadeiro galardoador dos que o buscam, e, contudo, justíssimo e terrível em seus juízos, pois odeia todo o pecado; de modo algum terá por inocente o culpado.

2. Deus tem, em si mesmo, e de si mesmo, toda a vida, glória, bondade, e bem-aventurança. Ele é todo-suficiente em si e para si, pois não precisa das criaturas que trouxe à existência; não deriva delas glória alguma, mas somente manifesta a sua glória nelas, por elas, para elas e sobre elas. Ele é a única origem de todo ser; dele, por ele e para ele são todas as coisas e sobre elas tem ele soberano domínio para fazer com elas, para elas e sobre elas tudo quanto quiser. Todas as coisas estão patentes e manifestas diante dele; o seu saber é infinito, infalível e independente da criatura, de sorte que para ele nada é contingente ou incerto. Ele é santíssimo em todos os seus conselhos, em todas as suas obras e em todos os seus preceitos. Da parte dos anjos e dos homens e de qualquer outra criatura lhe são devidos todo culto, todo serviço e toda obediência, que ele houve por bem exigir deles.

3. Na unidade da Divindade há três pessoas de uma mesma substância, poder e eternidade: Deus o Pai, Deus o Filho e Deus o Espírito Santo. O Pai não é de ninguém: não é gerado, nem procedente; o Filho é eternamente gerado do Pai; o Espírito Santo é eternamente procedente do Pai e do Filho.

بسم الثالوث القدوس - Arabe - Em Nome da Santissima Trindade

Em Nome da Santissima Trindade

بسم الثالوث القدوس
ما هو الثالوث ؟؟؟الجواب: (بشكل مبسط)تنادى المسيحية بإله واحد مثلث الأقانيم، بينما ترفض الديانات الأخرى هذا المفهوم وتعتبره كفراً. وسبب الرفض لمبدأ التثليث هو سوء فهم للمعنى الحقيقى من ورائه. ويبدوا أن الفهم الخاطئ لمبدأ التثليث يُبنى على بدعة مسيحية كانت منتشرة فى شبه الجزيرة العربية. هذه البدعة كانت تنادى بتثليث يتكون من الله الآب والله الأم (العذراء مريم) والله الإبن (يسوع). والحقيقة أن المسيحيين يؤمنون بإله واحد قد أعلن نفسه للإنسان في ثلاث أقانيم: الآب والابن والروح القدس. وقد أعلن يسوع هذا المبدأ عندما أمر تلاميذه قائلاً: "اذهبوا وتلمذوا جميع الأمم وعمدوهم باسم الآب والإبن والروح القدس" متى 19:28و20 الآب إن الديانات الأخرى تجد صعوبة بالغة في الإيمان بأبوة الله المحبة. هذه العلاقة الشخصية مع الله غريبة ومُدانة. ولكن من ناحية أخرى فإن مبدأ أن الله هو أبانا السماوي يعتبر صميم الإيمان المسيحي. لقد علم يسوع تلاميذه الصلاة قائلاً: " أبانا الذى فى السموات ليتقدس اسمك.." متى 9:6 إن العلاقة بين يسوع الابن والله الأب قد ظهرت على الصليب. هناك نرى يسوع يخاطب الآب: "يا أبتاه اغفر لهم لأنهم لا يعلمون ماذا يفعلون" لوقا 34:23 "يا أبتاه فى يديك أستودع روحى". لوقا 46:23 والعهد الجديد ملئ بالشواهد التي تشير إلى الله على إنه أب جميع المؤمنين. "أنظروا أية محبة أعطانا الآب حتى ندعى أولاد له..أيها الأحباء الآن نحن أولاد الله.." 1يوحنا 1:3و2 الإبن لا تستطيع هذه الديانات أن يقبل دور يسوع كإبن لله، ولا أن تقبل ألوهية السيد المسيح. لأن مفهوم الإله لديها يقوم على الاعتقاد بإله يملك القوة على كل شيء بما في ذلك السلطان على محو الخطية متى شاء. هذا مخالف تماماً عن إله المسيحية الذي هو عادل ورحيم والذي لابد أن يعمل من خلال مخطط الخلاص الذي يوفى الله عدله ورحمته. هذا المخطط لا يمكن أن يتم إلا عن طريق ذبيحة المسيح الكفارية على الصليب نيابة عنا ليدفع عنا عقوبة تعدياتنا. "لأنه هكذا أحب الله العالم حتى بذل إبنه الوحيد لكى لايهلك كل من يؤمن به بل تكون له الحياة الأبدية". يوحنا 16:3 الروح القدس تنظر الديانات الأخرى إلى الروح القدس على أنه روح مخلوقة مثل الملائكة. ولأنهم لا يعترفون بالروح القدس فإنهم لا يرفضون قبول ربوبية يسوع. "وليس أحد يقدر أن يقول يسوع رب إلا بالروح القدس". 1 كورنثوس 3:12 وينتج عن رفض روح الرب "الروح القدس" رفض الايمان المسيحي لأن الكتاب يقول: "الروح نفسه أيضاً يشهد لأرواحنا أننا أولاد الله، وإن كنا أولاداً فإننا ورثة أيضاً ورثة الله ووارثون مع المسيح. إن كنا نتألم معه لكى نتمجد أيضاً معه". رومية 16:8و17 الثالوث لا يقوم على عبادة ثلاثة أله بل إله واحد مثلث الأقانيم وكلمة أقنوم تعني "شخص" أو "كيان" وبالتالي فالايمان المسيحي يؤكد أن الله واحد لا ينفصل وأنه أظهر ذاته القدوس للبشر كآب (عند الخلق)، وكابن (عند التجسد والفداء)، وروح قدس (عند الصعود)ولتقريب المعنى سنستخدم تشبيه الإنسان فالإنسان يتكون من جسد وروح ونفس وهو واحد وليس ثلاث وعند اختبار النجاح أو الفرح أو الحب يشعر بأنه كيان واحد وبأنه يفوق قوانين الجاذبية الأرضية فيقول "أشعر بأني أطير من الفرحة" كتعبير عن أن "الفرحة" جعلته يفوق ما هو بشري.... كذلك الثالوث في المسيحية فبما أن الله هو الفرح الكامل والحب اللامتناهي فهو "الواحد" الكامل وليس "الوحيد" فكون الله محبة يعني بذات الفعل أنه ليس "وحيد" وإلا لطرح السؤال نفسه قبل خلقة الإنسان والكون هل كان الله محبة؟ ومن كان يحب؟
اعداد الاب / يوأنس لحظى جيد ....

THE TRINITY (A TRINDADE DIVINA) 2ªPARTE - INGLES

B. Scriptural Proof of the Doctrine.

  No such doctrine as that of the Trinity can be adequately proved by any citation of Scriptural passages. Its constituent elements are brought into view, some in one place, and some in another.

 

  The unity of the Divine Being; the true and equal divinity of the Father, Son, and Spirit; their distinct personality; the relation in which they stand one to the other, and to the Church and the world, are not presented in a doctrinal formula in the Word of God, but the several constituent elements of the doctrine are asserted, or assumed, over and over, from the beginning to the end of the Bible. It is, therefore, by proving these elements separately, that the whole doctrine can be most satisfactorily

established. All that is here necessary is, a reference to the general teachings of Scripture on the subject, and to some few passages in which everything essential to the doctrine is included.

The Progressive Character of Divine Revelation.

  1. The progressive character of divine revelation is recognized in relation to all the great doctrines of the Bible. One of the strongest arguments for the divine origin of the Scriptures is the organic relation of its several parts. They comprise more than sixty books written by different men in different ages, and yet they form one whole; not by mere external historical relations, nor in virtue of the general identity of the subjects of which they treat. but by their internal organic development.

  All that is in a full-grown tree was potentially in the seed. All that we find unfolded in the fullness of the gospel lies in a rudimental form in the earliest books of the Bible. What at first is only obscurely intimated is gradually unfolded in subsequent parts of the sacred volume, until the truth is revealed in its fulness. This is true of the doctrines of redemption; of the person and work of the Messiah, the promised seed of the woman; of the nature and office of the Holy Spirit; and of a future state beyond the grave. And this is specially true of the doctrine of the Trinity. Even in the

book of Genesis there are intimations of the doctrine which receive their true interpretation in later revelations. That the names of God are in the plural form; that the personal pronouns are often in the first person plural (“Let us make man in our image”); that the form of benediction is threefold, and other facts of like nature, may be explained in different ways. But when it becomes plain, from the progress of the revelation, that there are three persons in the Godhead, then such forms of

expression can hardly fail to be recognized as having their foundation in that great truth.

  2. Much more important, however, is the fact, that not only in Genesis, but also in all the early books of Scripture, we find a distinction made between Jehovah and the angel of Jehovah, who himself is God, to whom all divine titles are given, and divine worship is rendered. As the revelation is unfolded, such distinction becomes more and more manifest. This messenger of God it called the word, the wisdom, the Son of God. His personality and divinity are clearly revealed. He is of old, even from everlasting, the Mighty God, the Adonai, the Lord of David, Jehovah our

Righteousness, who was to be born of a virgin, and bear the sins of many.

  3. In like manner, even in the first chapter of Genesis, the Spirit of God is represented as the source of all intelligence, order, and life in the created universe; and in the following books of the Old Testament He is represented as inspiring the prophets, giving wisdom, strength, and goodness to statesmen and warriors, and to the people of God. This Spirit is not an agency, but an agent, who teaches and selects; who can be sinned against and grieved; and who, in the New Testament, is

unmistakably revealed as a distinct person. When John the Baptist appeared, we find him speaking of the Holy Spirit as of a person with whom his countrymen were familiar, as an object of divine worship and the giver of saving blessings. Our divine Lord also takes this truth for granted, and promised to send the Spirit, as a Paraclete, to take his place; to instruct, comfort, and strengthen them, whom they were to receive and obey. Thus, without any violent transition, the earliest

revelations of this mystery were gradually unfolded, until the Triune God, Father, Son, and Spirit, appears in the New Testament as the universally recognized God of all believers.

The Formula of Baptism.

  4. In the formulas of Baptism and of the Apostolic Benediction, provision was made to keep this doctrine constantly before the minds of the people, as a cardinal article of the Christian faith. Every Christian is baptized in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. The personality, the divinity, and consequently the equality of these three subjects, are here taken for granted. The association of the Son and Spirit with the Father, the identity of relation, so far as dependence and

obedience are concerned, which we sustain to the Father, Son, and Spirit respectively; the confession and profession involved in the ordinances; all forbid any other interpretation of this formula than that which it has always received in the Church. If the expression, “In the name of the Father,” implies the personality of the Father, the same implication is involved when it is used in reference to the Son and Spirit. If we acknowledge our subjection and allegiance to the one, we acknowledge

the same subjection and allegiance to the other divine persons here named.

The Apostolic Benediction.

  In the apostolic benediction a prayer is addressed to Christ for his grace, to the Father for his love, and to the Spirit for his fellowship. The personality and divinity of each are therefore solemnly recognized every time that this benediction is pronounced and received.

  5. In the record of our Lord’s baptism, the Father addresses the Son, and the Spirit descends in the form of a dove. In the discourse of Christ, recorded in the 14th, 15th, and 16th chapters of John’s Gospel, our Lord speaks to and of the Father, and promises to send the Spirit to teach, guide, and comfort his disciples. In that discourse the personality and divinity of the Father, Son, and Spirit are recognized with equal clearness. In 1 Cor. xii. 4-6, the Apostle speaks of diversity of gifts, but

the same Spirit; of diversity of administration, but the same Lord; and of diversities of operations, but the same God.

 

  It is not to be forgotten, however, that the faith of the Church in the doctrine of the Trinity, does not rest exclusively or principally on such arguments as those mentioned above. The great foundation of that faith is what is taught everywhere in the Bible of the unity of the Divine Being; of the personality and divinity of the Father, Son, and Spirit; and of their mutual relations.

§ 3. The Transition Period.

  A. The Necessity for a more Definite Statement of the Doctrine.

  The Biblical form of the doctrine of the Trinity, as given above, includes everything that is essential to the integrity of the doctrine, and all that is embraced in the faith of ordinary Christians. It is not all, however, that is included in the creeds of the Church. It is characteristic of the Scriptures, that the truths therein presented are exhibited in the form in which they address themselves to our religious consciousness. To this feature of the Word of God, its adaptation to general use is to be attributed. A truth often lies in the mind of the Church as an object of faith, long before it is wrought cut in its doctrinal form; that is, before it is analyzed, its contents clearly ascertained, and its elements stated in due relation to each other. When a doctrine so complex as that of the Trinity is presented as an object of faith, the mind is forced to reflect upon it, to endeavour to ascertain what it includes,

and how its several parts are to be stated, so as to avoid confusion or contradiction. Besides this internal necessity for a definite statement of the doctrine, such statement was forced upon the Church from without. Even among those who honestly intended to receive what the Scriptures taught upon the subject, it was inevitable that there should arise diversity in the mode of statement, and confusion and contradiction in the use of terms. As the Church is one, not externally merely,

but really and inwardly, this diversity and confusion are as much an evil, a pain, and an embarrassment, troubling its inward peace, as the like inconsistency and confusion would be in an individual mind. There was, therefore, an inward and outward necessity, in the Church itself, for a clear, comprehensive, and consistent statement of the various elements of this complex doctrine of Christian faith.

  B. Conflict with Error.

  Besides this necessity for such a statement of the doctrine as would satisfy the minds of those who received it, there was a further necessity of guarding the truth from the evil influence of false or erroneous exhibitions of it. The conviction was deeply settled in the minds of all Christians that Christ is a divine person. The glory which He displayed, the authority which He assumed, the power which He exhibited, the benefits which He conferred, necessitated the recognition of Him as the true God. No less strong, however, was the conviction that there is only one God. The difficulty was, to reconcile these two fundamental articles of the Christian faith. The mode of solving this difficulty, by rejecting one of these articles to save the other, was repudiated by common consent.

  There were those who denied the divinity of Christ, and endeavoured to satisfy the minds of believers by representing Him as the best of men; as filled with the Spirit of God; as the Son of God, because miraculously begotten; or as animated and controlled by the power of God: but, nevertheless, merely a man. This view of the person of Christ was so universally rejected in the early Church, as hardly to occasion controversy. The errors with which the advocates of the doctrine of the Trinity had to contend were of a higher order. It was of course unavoidable that both parties, the advocates and the opponents of the doctrine, availed themselves of the current philosophies of the age. Consciously or unconsciously, all men are more or less controlled in their modes of thinking on divine subjects by the metaphysical opinions which prevail around them, and in which they have been educated.

We accordingly find that Gnosticism and Platonism coloured the views of both the advocates and the opponents of the doctrine of the Trinity during the Ante-Nicene period.

Systematic Theology - Volume I Charles Hodge

Pesquisa: Pastor Charles Maciel Vieira

THE TRINITY (A TRINDADE DIVINA) 1ªPARTE - INGLES

The Trinity

§ 1. Preliminary Remarks.

  THE doctrine of the Trinity is peculiar to the religion of the Bible. The Triad of the ancient world is only a philosophical statement of the pantheistic theory which underlies all the religion of antiquity.

  With the Hindus, simple, undeveloped, primal being, without consciousness or attributes, is called Brahm. This being, as unfolding itself in the actual world, is Vishnu; as returning into the abyss of unconscious being, it is Shiva. In Buddhism we find essentially the same ideas, in a more dualistic form.  Buddhism makes more of a distinction between God, as the spiritual principle of all things, and nature. The soul of man is a part, or an existence-form, of this spiritual essence, whose destiny is, that it may be freed from nature and lost in the infinite unknown. In Platonism, also, we find a notional Trinity. Simple being (τὸ ὀν) has its λόγος, the complex of its ideas, the reality in all that is phenomenal and changing. In all these systems, whether ancient or modern, there is a Thesis, Antithesis, and Synthesis; the Infinite becomes finite, and the finite returns to the Infinite. It is obvious, therefore, that these trinitarian formulas have no analogy with the Scriptural doctrine of the Trinity, and serve neither to explain nor to confirm it.

  The design of all the revelations contained in the Word of God is the salvation of men. Truth is in order to holiness. God does not make known his being and attributes to teach men science, but to bring them to the saving knowledge of Himself. The doctrines of the Bible are, therefore, intimately connected with religion, or the life of God in the soul. They determine the religious experience of believers, and are presupposed in that experience. This is specially true of the doctrine of the Trinity.

  It is a great mistake to regard that doctrine as a mere speculative or abstract truth, concerning the constitution of the Godhead, with which we have no practical concern, or which we are required to believe simply because it is revealed. On the contrary, it underlies the whole plan of salvation, and determines the character of the religion (in the subjective sense of that word) of all true Christians. It is the unconscious, or unformed faith, even of those of God’s people who are unable to understand the term by which it is expressed.

 

  They all believe in God, the Creator and Preserver against whom they have sinned, whose justice they know they cannot satisfy, and whose image

they cannot restore to their apostate nature. They therefore, as of necessity, believe in a divine Redeemer and a divine Sanctifier. They have, as it were, the factors of the doctrine of the Trinity in their own religious convictions. No mere speculative doctrine, especially no doctrine so mysterious and so out of analogy with all other objects of human knowledge, as that of the Trinity, could ever

have held the abiding control over the faith of the Church, which this doctrine has maintained. It is not, therefore, by any arbitrary decision, nor from any bigoted adherence to hereditary beliefs, that the Church has always refused to recognize as Christians those who reject this doctrine. This judgment is only the expression of the deep conviction that Antitrinitarians must adopt a radically

and practically different system of religion from that on which the Church builds her hopes. It is not too much to say with Meyer,473 that “the Trinity is the point in which all Christian ideas and interests unite; at once the beginning and the end of all insight into Christianity.”

  This great article of the Christian faith may be regarded under three different aspects: (1.) The Biblical form of the doctrine. (2.) The ecclesiastical form, or the mode in which the statements of the Bible have been explained in the symbols of the Church and the writings of theologians. (3.) Its philosophical form, or the attempts which have been made to illustrate, or to prove, the doctrine on philosophical principles. It is only the doctrine as presented in the Bible, which binds the faith and conscience of the people of God.

§ 2. Biblical Form of the Doctrine.

A. What that Form is.

  The form in which this doctrine lies in the Bible, and in which it enters into the faith of the Church universal, includes substantially the following particulars.

  1. There is one only living and true God, or divine Being. The religion of the Bible stands opposed not only to Atheism, but to all forms of polytheism. The Scriptures everywhere assert that Jehovah alone is God. (Deut. vi. 4.) “The Lord our God is one Lord.” “I am the first, and I am the last; and besides me there is no God.” (Is. xliv. 6.) “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well.”

 

  (James ii. 19.) The Decalogue, which is the foundation of the moral and religious code of Christianity, as well as of Judaism, has as its first and greatest commandment., “Thou shalt have no other God before me.” No doctrine, therefore, can possibly be true which contradicts this primary truth of

natural as well as of revealed religion.

  2. In the Bible all divine titles and attributes are ascribed equally to the Father, Son, and Spirit. The same divine worship is rendered to them. The one is as much the object of adoration, love, confidence, and devotion as the other. It is not more evident that the Father is God, than that the Son is God; nor is the deity of the Father and Son more clearly revealed than that of the Spirit.

  3. The terms Father, Son, and Spirit do not express different relations of God to his creatures. They are not analogous to the terms Creator, Preserver, and Benefactor, which do express such relations.

  The Scriptural facts are, (a.) The Father says I; the Son says I; the Spirit says I. (b.) The Father says Thou to the Son, and the Son says Thou to the Father; and in like manner the Father and the Son use the pronouns He and Him in reference to the Spirit. (c.) The Father loves the Son; the Son loves the Father; the Spirit testifies of the Son. The Father, Son, and Spirit are severally subject and object. They act and are acted upon, or are the objects of action. Nothing is added to these facts when it is said that the Father, Son, and Spirit are distinct persons; for a person is an intelligent subject who can say I, who can be addressed as Thou, and who can act and can be the object of action. The summation of the above facts is expressed in the proposition, The one divine.  Being subsists in three persons, Father, Son, and Spirit. This proposition adds nothing to the facts themselves; for the facts are, (1.) That there is one divine Being. (2.) The Father, Son, and Spirit are divine. (3.) The Father, Son, and Spirit are, in the sense just stated, distinct persons. (4.) Attributes being inseparable from substance, the Scriptures, in saying that the Father, Son, and Spirit possess the same attributes, say they are the same in substance; and, if the same in substance, they are equal in power and glory.

  4. Notwithstanding that the Father, Son, and Spirit are the same in substance, and equal in power and glory, it is no less true according to the Scriptures, (a.)  That the Father is first, the Son second, and the Spirit third. (b.) The Son is of the Father (ἐκ θεοῦ, the λόγος, εἰκὼν, ἀπαύγασμα, τοῦ θεοῦ); and the Spirit is of the Father and of the Son. (c.) The Father sends the Son, and the Father and Son send the Spirit. (d.) The Father operates through the Son, and the Father and Son operate through the Spirit. The converse of these statements is never found. The Son is never said to send the Father, nor to operate through Him nor is the Spirit ever said to send the Father, or the Son, or to operate through them. The facts contained in this paragraph are summed up in the proposition: In the Holy Trinity there is a subordination of the Persons as to the mode of subsistence and operation. This proposition again adds nothing to the facts themselves.

  5. According to the Scriptures, the Father created the world, the Son created the world, and the Spirit created the world. The Father preserves all things; the Son upholds all things; and the Spirit is the source of all life. These facts are expressed by saying that the persons of the Trinity concur in all acts ad extra. Nevertheless there are some acts which are predominantly referred to the Father, others to the Son, and others to the Spirit. The Father creates, elects, and calls; the Son redeems; and the Spirit sanctifies. And, on the other hand, there are certain acts, or conditions, predicated of one person of the Trinity, which are never predicated of either of the others. Thus, generation

belongs exclusively to the Father, filiation to the Son, and procession to he Spirit. This is the form in which the doctrine of the Trinity lies in the Bible. The above statement involves no philosophical element. It is simply an arrangement of the clearly revealed facts bearing on this subject. This is the form in which the doctrine has always entered into the faith of the Church, as a part of its

religious convictions and experience.

 

  To say that this doctrine is incomprehensible, is to say nothing more than must be admitted of any other great truth, whether of revelation or of science. To say that it is impossible that the one divine substance can subsist in three distinct persons, is certainly unreasonable, when, according to that form of philosophy which has been the most widely diffused, and the most persistent, everything

that exists is only one of the innumerable forms in which one and the same infinite substance subsists; and when, according to the Realists, who once controlled the thinking world, all men are the individualized forms of the numerically same substance called generic humanity.

Systematic Theology - Volume I Charles Hodge

Pesquisa: Pastor Charles Maciel Vieira