Catholic teaching on holy trinity

Catholic teaching on holy trinity

The word trinity comes from the Latin word Trinitas which means Three or Triad. In the Catholic Church, God is described as Trinity, that is, there’s three persons in one God.

What do we mean when we say God is Trinity?

God being a Trinity means the unity of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit as three persons in one Godhead. The three divine Persons are only one God because each of them equally possesses the fullness of the one and indivisible divine nature.

Substance is what something is, Person is who someone is. God as trinity means three distinct persons with one divine substance. Identical twins no matter how closely united, are still two separate beings. But in God the three persons are thesame being but distinct from each other . If you are to ask each person in God who are you, each will answer “I am God” and each will also answer differently” I am the father”; “I’m the son “;” I am the Holy Spirit. ”

Holy trinity diagram

When reciting the Creed, the best word used to describe the Trinity is Consubstantial, when we say that the Son is consubstantial with the Father, it is also true that the Spirit is consubstantial with the Father and the Son.

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God revealed himself in three Persons

  • God the father : The creator and sustainer of all things.
  • God the son : The incarnate of God as Jesus Christ ,who lived among men, died, resurrected and ascended back to heaven.
  • God the Holy Spirit : The power of God, who draws people towards God. An intercessor and helper.

Scriptural proof of one God

In Isaiah 43:10 God told the Israelites “People of Israel, you are my witnesses; I chose you to be my servant, so that you would know me and believe in me and understand that I am the only God. Besides me there is no other god; there never was and never will be”.

Also Isaiah 44:6 says The LORD, who rules and protects Israel, the LORD Almighty, has this to say: “I am the first, the last, the only God; there is no other god but me.

The scripture shows that there’s only one God, which shows both the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are not three separate Gods, but are one God; that is the Trinity.

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Biblical proof that the three Persons are (one) God

Statue of holy trinity

1. GOD THE FATHER : The father is proven to be God in 2Corinthians 1:3“Let us give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the merciful Father, the God from whom all help comes! “

Ephesians4:6 “there is one God and Father of all people, who is Lord of all, works through all, and is in all.”

2. GOD THE SON : Jesus was proclaimed as God in John1:1,14 “In the beginning the Word already existed; the Word was with God, and the Word was God.The Word became a human being and, full of grace and truth, lived among us. We saw his glory, the glory which he received as the Father’s only Son.”

3. GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT : The Holy Spirit was proven to be God in Act 4:3-4 “Peter said to him, “Ananias, why did you let Satan take control of you and make you lie to the Holy Spirit by keeping part of the money you received for the property?.Before you sold the property, it belonged to you; and after you sold it, the money was yours. Why, then, did you decide to do such a thing? You have not lied to people you have lied to God!”

Biblical proof that the three Persons is distinct from each other

When God wanted to create man in Genesis 1:26 he said ” Let us create man in our own image ” this scripture shows, that the Trinity were present during the creation and they are distinct from each other.

During the Baptism of Jesus, “a voice came from the heavens, saying, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased’” (Mt 3:17). Then, “after Jesus was baptized, the heavens were opened” (Mt 3:16). Finally, the Holy Spirit descends upon Jesus: “and he saw the Spirit of God descending [upon him in bodily form] like a dove” (Mt 3:16). Evidently, the “three” are not one person, but three distinct persons! The Father is someone other than the Son and the Holy Spirit. The Son is someone other than the Father and the Holy Spirit. Similarly, the Holy Spirit is someone distinguishable from the Father and the Son. At the same time, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are united by one and the same nature and enjoy the distinction of being One God.

In Matthew 11:25-26 Jesus said “Father, Lord of heaven and earth! I thank you because you have shown to the unlearned what you have hidden from the wise and learned.Yes, Father, this was how you were pleased to have it happen.” Jesus adding Father in his statement shows that God the father is distinct from the Son else it will be senseless for him to add the word Father in his sentence.

In conclusion the holy trinity is the central mystery of Christian faith , the human mind can never fully understand the mystery behind the Trinity. It’s expected to be so because God is a supreme being , higher power living in higher dimension. If we could understand God fully, then he’s no more qualified to be God. We can simply put that God dwells in 3-dimensional world and our mind only understand and comprehend things in 1-dimensional world.

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