In the Gospel we read that Jesus reveals something about God that we could never have discovered on our own. We see that God is One, and yet at the same time Three. In our prayers we say that God is “one in essence” or “one in substance,” meaning in the depths of His being. God is one in activity and power, perfectly united in what He wills and does. But God is also three in person, and so we pray in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. The Father is not the Son, nor is the Son the Holy Spirit. This is why the Fathers of the Church described God as the Holy Trinity: three Persons in one God. There is surely no being like this in our earthly experience, but God is beyond the ways of our world.
Is the Trinity in the Bible?
The word “Trinity” is not found in the Bible, but was used later to describe what is in the Bible. Jesus said that, “The Father and I are one” (John 10:30). His rivals, the Jewish leaders, understood what He was saying: “…you, though only a human being, are making yourself God” (John 10:33).
Jesus also spoke about the Holy Spirit: the One He called our Advocate. “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, he will testify on my behalf” (John 15:26). Here the three – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – are clearly distinct, but somehow one. It is this mystery the Fathers tried to describe by using the term Holy Trinity.
All the historic Churches (those which have existed from the earliest years of Christianity, like the Latins, the Greek Orthodox, or the Copts) and most Protestants as well believe in the Trinity as taught in the Gospel and proclaimed in the Nicene Creed. Some groups of more recent origin do not. The Unitarians (who originated in the 16th century) and some groups that began in the 19th century (Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons and some branches of the Church of God) consider themselves Christians, but do not believe in the Trinity.
Praying in the name of the Trinity
In our tradition, practically every prayer begins or ends with a mention of the Trinity. One of Jesus’ last instructions to His followers was, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…” (Matthew 28:19). By praising the three Persons of the Trinity together in our prayers, we try to do as Jesus did on that occasion.
In our tradition whenever the Trinity is mentioned in prayer we make the sign of the cross. This is a kind of “wordless prayer.” By making this sign we are confessing that we believe in God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit and joining our hearts to the prayer being said.
The way we make the sign of the cross is also a wordless act of faith. We hold the thumb and first two fingers of our right hand together to represent the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. (The other two fingers are held together in the palm of our hand to stand for Jesus’ humanity and divinity.) We trace a line from our forehead to our chest as we mention the Father. We touch our right shoulder when we mention the Son (who, as we say in the Creed, “is enthroned at the right hand of the Father”) and we touch our left shoulder when we mention the Holy Spirit. These actions made in faith are a wordless way to uphold the Church’s belief in God as Jesus revealed Him: the Holy Trinity.
The
Church celebrates the feast of Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan (the Theophany,
January 6) as the first great manifestation of the Trinity in the Gospel.
The story is found in Matthew 3:13-17 and in the Gospels of Mark and Luke as well. It is also summarized in the hymn we sing over and over again on this feast: “At Your baptism in the Jordan, O Lord, the worship of the Trinity was revealed for the Father’s voice bore witness to You by calling You His beloved Son and the Spirit in the form of a dove confirmed the truth of these words. O Christ God, who have appeared to us and enlightened the world, glory to You!”
Instead the Eastern Churches often use the image of three angels to represent the Trinity who cannot be described in physical ways. This image comes from the meeting of Abraham with three angels described in the book of Genesis: “The Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day.
He looked up and saw three men standing near him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent entrance to meet them, and bowed down to the ground. He said, ‘My lord, if I find favor with you, do not pass by your servant. Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree’” (Genesis 18:1-4). Abraham and his wife Sarah served them a meal and it is this scene our Church uses as an image of the Trinity: one Lord in three persons. To show that they belong to the heavenly world, they are depicted as winged angels.
Christians believe that, while God is so far beyond us that we cannot begin to describe Him, He is also close to us in Christ. He invites us to a relationship with Himself: to share in His divine life. In the icon of the Trinity this is suggested by the fourth or “empty seat” at the table. It is for us: for those who accept to live in communion with God. The divine “community” which is Father, Son and Holy Spirit forms an open circle, inviting us to join this community of life and love.
In the Church we share the life of the Trinity most especially when we take our place before the Holy Table and share the Eucharist at the Divine Liturgy. We reflect the life of the Trinity when we love one another unconditionally as God loves us. We will experience the life of the Trinity to the best of our ability only in the life of the age to come.
The Father is my hope;
the Son is my refuge;
the Holy Spirit is my protection.
All Holy Trinity, glory to you!
(Prayer of St Joannikios the Great)
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