Readings from Church History on the Doctrine of the Trinity
Part I: Foundations, Heresies, and Patristic Testimonies
Introduction
The doctrine of the Trinity, far from being an arbitrary church rule, emerges as the deep essence of the Christian encounter with God. As Alister McGrath notes, it is "the inevitable result of wrestling with the richness and complexity of the Christian experience of God." This study explores key expressions of Trinitarian theology throughout history, drawing from early church fathers, medieval thinkers, the Reformation, and modern sources, along with official creeds and doctrinal statements. Through these voices, we see a consistent witness to the one God existing forever in three equal persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. As Gregory of Nazianzus beautifully states, “I cannot think on the one without quickly being encircled by the splendor of the three; nor can I see the three without being immediately drawn back to the one.” Echoing Barth's words, “Trinity is the Christian name for God,” this summary highlights the endless mystery of the divine triune nature.
Trinitarian Heresies and Deviations
The formulation of orthodox Trinitarianism necessitated the repudiation of sundry heterodoxies that distorted the biblical revelation of God's self-disclosure. These errors, confronted in the early church councils, underscore the delicate balance between divine unity and personal distinction.
· Modalism (including Sabellianism, Noetianism, Patripassianism, and Monarchianism) suggests that the three persons are just modes or successive revelations of the Godhead, denying their eternal, coexisting existence. Supporters believed that God appears as Father in creation, Son in redemption, and Spirit in sanctification, sequentially, not all at once. Patripassianism, a more extreme form, argued that the Father Himself suffered on the cross in the person of the Son.
· Tritheism, on the other hand, breaks apart the divine unity by viewing the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as three separate gods connected only by a shared substance, thus increasing the number of gods and violating monotheism. This misunderstanding often comes from taking the concept of “persons” (hypostases) too literally, without considering the underlying ousia.
· Arianism placed the Son as the foremost creature of the Father, though still an agent of creation, which challenged His consubstantial divinity. This debate, crucial to fourth-century Christology, ended with the Nicene declaration of homoousios.
· Docetism corrupted the idea of the incarnation by claiming Christ's humanity was an illusion; He seemed human but remained entirely divine, with some variations suggesting that His divinity withdrew at the crucifixion to avoid suffering.
· Ebionitism, which emphasizes Jesus' endowment with exceptional charisms, diminished Him to a solely human prophet, deprived of eternal divinity.
· Macedonianism (or Pneumatomachianism) diminished the Holy Spirit to a created being, subordinate to the Father and Son.
· Adoptionism describes Jesus as entirely human at birth, with divine sonship conferred either at His baptism or resurrection.
· Partialism fractured the Godhead into individual parts, with each person embodying only a portion of divinity, coming together to form wholeness only in their union.
· Binitarianism recognized duality in the Godhead (Father and Son) but downplayed the Spirit's personal uniqueness.
These deviations, adjudicated in ecumenical councils, fortified the church's Trinitarian grammar.
Key Terminological Contours
Trinitarian discourse pivoted on precise lexical distinctions, forged amid conciliar deliberations:
· Hypostasis: denoting “person,” “substance,” or “subsistence,” safeguards personal distinctions without implying division.
· Ousia: signifying “essence,” “being,” or “substance,” it underscores the singular divine nature.
· Essence: The Latin substantia renders the Greek ousia, encapsulating the indivisible divine reality.
· Perichoresis: evoking the mutual indwelling and dynamic interpenetration of the persons, wherein each fully inhabits the others.
· Homoousios: affirming consubstantiality, “of one and the same substance or being.”
· Filioque: The Latin clause “and from the Son,” denoting the Spirit's procession from both Father and Son.
· Procession: From Greek ekporeuomai (John 15:26) and Latin processio, delineating the Spirit's eternal emanation.
· Begotten: Describing the Son's eternal origin from the Father, without any temporal beginning.
These terms, honed through controversy, delimit the analogical boundaries of human discourse concerning the ineffable God.
Eastern Patristic Witnesses
Athanasius of Alexandria (ca. 325–370 CE), staunchest defender of Nicaea, articulates a robust ontology of triunity in his Statement of Faith:
“We believe in one Unbegotten God, Father Almighty, maker of all things both visible and invisible that hath His being from Himself. And in one Only-begotten Word, Wisdom, Son, begotten of the Father without beginning and eternally... very God of very God... Almighty of Almighty... wholly from the Whole, being like the Father... But He was begotten ineffably and incomprehensibly... We believe, likewise, also in the Holy Spirit that searcheth all things, even the deep things of God... and we anathematise doctrines contrary to this.”
Athanasius repudiates Sabellianism's conflation and tritheism's plurality, likening the Father's deity to water flowing undivided from the well to the river, eternally imparting subsistence to the Son without diminution.
Basil the Great (ca. 330–379 CE), in his Epistle to Amphilochius, harmonizes unity and distinction:
“The Godhead is common; the fatherhood particular... Hence it results that there is a satisfactory preservation of the unity by the confession of the one Godhead, while in the distinction of the individual properties regarded in each there is the confession of the peculiar properties of the Persons.”
Gregory of Nazianzus (ca. 329–390 CE) employs luminous exegesis in Oration 31:
“He was the true light that enlightens every man coming into the world' (Jn. 1:9)—yes, the Father... yes, the Son... yes, the Comforter... But a single reality was. There are three predicates—light and light and light. But the light is one, God is one." In Oration 29, he critiques polytheism and modalism: "Monotheism, with its single governing principle, is what we value—not monotheism defined as the sovereignty of a single person... but the single rule produced by equality of nature, harmony of will, identity of action... though there is numerical distinction, there is no division in the substance.”
Western Patristic Witnesses
Tertullian (ca. 160–220 CE), progenitor of Latin Trinitarianism, counters modalism in Against Praxeas:
“We... believe that there is one only God, but under the following dispensation... that this one only God has also a Son, His Word, who proceeded from Himself... Him we believe to have been sent by the Father into the Virgin... both Man and God... who sent also... the Holy Ghost, the Paraclete... three, however, not in condition, but in degree; not in substance, but in form; not in power, but in aspect; yet of one substance, and of one condition, and of one power.”
Augustine of Hippo (354–430 CE), in On Christian Doctrine, extols the Trinity as the supreme object of enjoyment:
“The true objects of enjoyment... are the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, who are at the same time the Trinity, one Being, supreme above all... each of these by Himself is God, and at the same time they are all one God; and each of them by Himself is a complete substance, and yet they are all one substance... In the Father is unity, in the Son equality, in the Holy Spirit the harmony of unity and equality; and these three attributes are all one because of the Father, all equal because of the Son, and all harmonious because of the Holy Spirit.”
These patristic loci fundamenta establish the Trinitarian axioms: one essence in three persons, eternally coequal and consubstantial.
Part II: Medieval, Reformation, and Modern Articulations; Creeds and Confessions; Prayers and Conclusion
Medieval Scholastic Refinement
Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274 CE), in the Summa Theologiae (I, q. 31), elucidates the terminological precision of “Trinity”:
“The name 'Trinity' in God signifies the determinate number of persons... the plurality of persons in God requires that we should use the word trinity; because what is indeterminately signified by plurality, is signified by trinity in a determinate manner.” Addressing objections, Aquinas affirms the term's propriety, denoting not mere relations but the numerated persons in essential unity: “In the divine Trinity... not only is there unity of order, but also with this there is unity of essence.”
In q. 28, a. 2, he navigates Arian and Sabellian pitfalls:
“To avoid the error of Arius we must shun the use of the terms diversity and difference in God... we may, however, use the term 'distinction' on account of the relative opposition... But lest the simplicity... be taken away, the terms 'separation' and 'division'... are to be avoided.” On personal nomenclature, “the Son is other than the Father, because He is another suppositum of the divine nature.” Regarding exclusive predications (q. 28, a. 4), Aquinas parses syncategorematic senses: “Thee the only true God... [refers] to the whole Trinity... or, if understood of the person of the Father, the other persons are not excluded by reason of the unity of essence.”
Reformation and Post-Reformation Witnesses
John Calvin (1509–1564 CE), in the Institutes (I.13.6), grounds personal subsistence in scriptural hypostases:
“When the Apostle calls the Son of God 'the express image of his person' (Heb. 1:3), he undoubtedly does assign to the Father some subsistence in which he differs from the Son... there is a proper subsistence (hypostasis) of the Father, which shines refulgent in the Son... there are three persons (hypostases) in God.” The baptismal formula (Mt. 28:19) manifests “the three persons, in whom alone God is known, subsist in the Divine essence.” Calvin delights in Gregory's dialectic (I.13.17): “I cannot think on the one without quickly being encircled by the splendor of the three; nor can I discern the three without being straightway carried back to the one,” cautioning against “a trinity of persons that keeps our thoughts distracted and does not at once lead them back to that unity... a distinction, not a division.”
John Owen (1616–1683 CE) affirms scriptural plenitude:
“There is nothing more fully expressed in the Scripture than this sacred truth, that there is one God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; which are divine, distinct, intelligent, voluntary omnipotent principles of operation.”
Thomas Watson (1620–1686 CE), in his Body of Divinity, expounds Westminster's Q. 6:
“Three persons, yet but one God... distinguished, but not divided; three substances, but one essence. This is a divine riddle where one makes three, and three make one... In the body of the sun, there are the substance... the beams, and the heat... so in the blessed Trinity.”
Contemporary Theologians
Geerhardus Vos (1862–1949 CE) synthesizes:
“In this one God are three modes of existence, which we refer to by the word 'person'... distinguished from each other insofar as they assume objective relations toward each other... There is, therefore, subordination as to personal manner of existence and manner of working, but no subordination regarding possession of the one divine substance.”
St. John of Kronstadt (1829–1909 CE) analogizes revelation:
“As the word of the man reveals what is in his mind... so... the Word of God reveals to us the Father... And, through the Word, the Holy Spirit... eternally proceeds from the Father and is revealed to men.”
Louis Berkhof (1873–1949 CE) insists:
“The divine essence is not divided among the three persons, but is wholly with all its perfection in each one.”
Karl Barth (1886–1968 CE) declares:
“The doctrine of the Trinity is what basically distinguishes the Christian doctrine of God as Christian... 'Person' as used... bears no direct relation to personality... we are speaking not of three divine I’s, but thrice of the one divine I.” God’s unity transcends singularity: “In Himself His unity is neither singularity nor isolation... with the doctrine of the Trinity, we step onto the soil of Christian monotheism.”
Kallistos Ware elucidates perichoretic union:
“God is not simply a single person confined within his own being, but a Trinity of three persons... each of whom 'dwells' in the other two, by virtue of a perpetual movement of love. God is not only a unity but a union.”
Thomas F. Torrance (1913–2007 CE) avers:
“The doctrine of the Trinity is the central dogma of Christian theology, the fundamental grammar of our knowledge of God.”
Canonical Creeds
The Athanasian Creed (Quicunque Vult) magisterially balances unity and trinity:
“We worship one God in trinity and the trinity in unity, neither blending their persons nor dividing their essence... the divinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is one, their glory equal, their majesty coeternal... Yet there are not three gods; there is but one God... So in everything... we must worship their trinity in their unity and their unity in their trinity.”
It appends Chalcedonian Christology for soteriological integrity.
The Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed (381 CE) professes:
“We believe in one God, the Father Almighty... We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ... of one Being with the Father... We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father [and the Son].”
The Chalcedonian Definition (451 CE) safeguards dyophysitism:
“We confess... this one and only Christ-Son, Lord, only-begotten in two natures; ... without confusing the two natures, without transmuting one nature into the other, without dividing them into two separate categories... The union does not nullify the distinctiveness of each nature.”
Harmony of Reformed Confessions and Catechisms
Reformed standards exhibit catholic continuity:
· Westminster Confession (2.3): “In the unity of the Godhead there be three persons, of one substance, power, and eternity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost.”
· Westminster Larger Catechism (Q. 8–11): Affirms one God in three persons, “the same in substance, equal in power and glory.”
· Westminster Shorter Catechism (Q. 5–6): “There are three persons in the Godhead; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; and these three are one God.”
· Belgic Confession (Art. 8–9): “We believe in one only God, who is one single essence, in which are three persons... equal in eternity. There is neither first nor last.”
Trinitarian Prayers: Western and Eastern
· Western piety, per John Stott: “Heavenly Father, I worship you... Lord Jesus, I worship you... Holy Spirit, I worship you... Glory to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit... Holy, blessed and glorious Trinity... have mercy upon me.”
· Eastern Trisagion: “Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us... All-holy Trinity, have mercy on us... Our Father, who art in the heavens... For Thine is the kingdom... of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”
Conclusion
This historical conspectus reveals the Trinity's perduring vitality, bridging East and West. As Robert Letham notes of Calvin: “His focus on the three persons rather than the one essence is more like the Eastern approach than the Western... The three persons imply a distinction, not a division.” Yet human finitude limits comprehension, as C. S. Lewis says: “If Christianity were something we were making up... we would make it easier... We are dealing with fact.” Echoing Tersteegen, “A God understood... is no God,” and Berkhof's finitum non capax infinitum, we confess with reverent agnosticism. The Triune God, ineffable yet revelatory, summons doxological awe.
Notes
[Notes follow the original numbering, adapted for scholarly format: e.g., 1. Athanasius, *Four Discourses Against the Arians*, trans. J. H. Newman (NPNF 4; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1955), 83–85. Subsequent notes analogously revised for precision.]
The above article was Groked under the direction of Jack Kettler and perfected using Grammarly AI.
“For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:4-5)
Mr. Kettler, an author who has published works in Chalcedon Report and Contra Mundum, is an active RPCNA member in Westminster, CO, with 19 books defending the Reformed Faith available on Amazon.