The Mystery of the Trinity
Submitted by Jules on August 20 2001 17:10:37
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An excellent quote for those beginning to explore the mystery of the doctrine of the Trinity. I like it because it shows how the doctrine is related to Christian experience, rather than just being an abstract statement. “According to Christian faith the mystery of the Godhead is revealed as a Trinity. But what is this Trinity? It has been put into conceptual terms in the formula ‘three persons in one nature or essence’. But ‘persons’, ‘nature’ and ‘essence’ are simply terms of Greek philosophy which have been used to make this mystery intelligible to the rational mind. The mystery itself derives from the experience of Jesus. “Jesus experienced himself in relation to God as a son to his father, but his sonship was not merely temporal but eternal. He knew himself as coming from the Father not only in time but in eternity. He knew himself as eternally one with the Father, as dwelling in the Father and the Father in him. Again, he knew himself as communicating in the Spirit, which comes from God and is communicated to the world, and this also not only in time but in eternity. “To understand the mystery of the Trinity it is necessary to participate in the experience of Jesus. It is necessary to receive the Spirit of God, to share in the divine life and so to become the son of God, to be one with Jesus as he is one with the Father. This is the mystery of Christianity, this participation in the inner life of the Godhead, a mystery which cannot be expressed in words, but which is indicated by analogy by the words ‘Father’, ‘Son’ and ‘Spirit’.” (Bede Griffiths, Return to the Centre, ch.15) With Christian love, Jules |
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