Question:
Why is it that so many Christians do not understand how the Trinity is open for human relations? Is it due to the fact that the church lacks the correct ways to properly teach and to understand the Trinity? Or is it reasons still unknown to the general and elite populations?
So if we, as the church, are “the signs and servants of the kingdom to come,” how do we begin to fulfill this calling, or what do do we need to relearn to properly accomplish all that God has called the church to do?
How do we, as the church, learn to teach the Trinity in its full meaning? More so, how do we teach the Trinity as that God is all of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and not just Father, or Son, or Holy Spirit? In doing so will this be the step required
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Empirical (85): provable or verifiable by experience or experiment.
The author uses empirical to say that priori philosophy does not follow the way of early church fathers who sought after historical proof to understand the Trinity, but does so in a different way. 3. Resurgence (86): rising or tending to rise again; reviving; renascent.
The word resurgence is used in the text to let the reader know that the topic of the Trinity has risen so many times and that even Karl Barth, felt the need to raise it up again to bring to the Trinity, its original meaning, but done so in a different way. 4. Eschatological (87): the branch of theology dealing with last, or final, matters, as death, the Judgement, the future state, etc.
The author uses the term eschatological in to talk about our wait for “End Times.” The text comes from a quote by Hoffmeyer and his talk about the two factors involved with the gathering and sending of the church. 5. Coercion (92): the use of force or intimidation to obtain
The major issue is How Christians read the OT and the references to the triune God’s self-revelation in Jesus Christ, how these scripture of Israel relates to the church, and can the NT support the orthodox teaching of Jesus (p. 732). Many issues on typologies and allegories arise today as they did in the pass. A typology in Christian theology that is seen often in OT and NT is “Day of the Lord” (Joel 2:31 & Acts 2:20) yet this single event has multiple manifestations. Another typology is the Servant Song typology found in Isaiah. Isaiah identifies himself as the servant in Isaiah 50:9, but in Isaiah 53 we see the servant is identified as Jesus. Isaiah identifies Israel as the servant in Isaiah 49:3. This use of servant seems to reflect the book of Isaiah itself, with some of his writing being prophetic and some being historic. Another typology is the Babylon of the OT (Isaiah 13:19, 14:4; 21:9; 48:14; Ezekiel 12:13, 21:19; Jeremiah 27:17, 38:23, 50:1,13,23 51:1,8,41,… ), which was a real place, but the Babylon of the NT (1 Peter 5:13 & Rev. 14:8 17:5) is generally seen as prophetic. With the presence of typologies in the scripture the study of scripture must be done in such a fashion that care is done to identify these typologies an allegories. We must have open eyes when reading scripture to see these connections between OT and
...nity. The Holy Spirit allows human beings to become closer to God, and the relationship between the Father and the Son. After writing about both the Trinity and Salvation, I have learned that they are immensely interconnected. The Trinity allows human beings to find Salvation. All in all, the Trinity is not three separate parts, but one part with three different essences.
Christ for the third time refuses. Since Christ refused the power presented to him, the church must now attempt at unifying the christian religion. A goal of mankind is to unite the civilizations into a “universal state” (pg. 31). A universal state brings along security in replacement of free will which humans are more than willing to give up especially if the one who unites them is the one that also provides for them. Humanity has suffered because we have had no unity among all civilizations until the church came around. Since christ has died and did not assume the role of a universal leader the church must assume this power for the sole purpose of benefiting man. Along with assuming this role, the church must also correct errors that Christ has caused. The church now has finally been able to convince mankind to submit their freedom in return for happiness, security, and a sense of unity. The last anguish of man is “the craving for universal unity” (pg 31). Now that the church has provided this to mankind we should not mess with or upset the
The Bible never makes of the specific reference of the trinity, the Bible does talk about the divine existence of each of the three members of the Trinity, God (The Father), The Son (Jesus Christ), and the Spirit (The Holy Spirit). It is still a complex idea for me to understand fully but scripture does indeed tell of the work and existence of the trinity.
While studying the Kingdom of God from the perspectives of Derek Morphew in Breakthrough and Charles H. Kraft in Christianity with Power, it has opened my mind up to completely new and interesting discoveries when considering the power that has already been given to God’s children while here on earth. It is utterly mind blowing realizing that many Christians, including myself, have not tapped into their full potential of unleashing the expectations of the risen Savior. Christians have come to believe that they are helpless and powerless against any of Satan’s attacks; however, that belief is not the reality that Christ intended when He laid down His life on the cross. When Jesus came to live on earth and walk among His people, He came not only with a goal to unleash His Kingdom, but He also came with the supernatural ability to unleash His Kingdom and thereby impressing upon His children the victorious ability to daily live in supernatural abundance. He came for so that those who believe in Him would be set free and no longer held bondage. Kraft stated in Christianity with Power, “But Jesus acted as if healings and other uses of spiritual power to overcome natural, human, or spiritual conditions ought to be the normal occurrences” (Kraft, 1989, p. 102). Derek Morphew stated it this way in Breakthrough, “the mysterious nature of the kingdom consists of the fact that it is always here, almost here, delayed and future” (Morphew, 1991, p. 66).
The trinity is perhaps one of the more complicated, and possibly confusing, doctrines found in Scripture concerning Deity (the Godhead). It is a doctrine that is fully embraced by some who claim to be Christians, while others deny it whole heartedly. Islam, which claims to worship Yahweh (they do not), vehemently denies the idea of the trinity; they claim that to believe such is to embrace polytheism (the belief in multiple gods). With much confusion in the religious world regarding this matter, it is important to look to the Bible, which is the source of truth (John 17:17), to find what the truth is regarding the trinity.
For Christians it is impossible to comprehend all of God’s mysteries, all of God’s plans, all of God’s desires, abilities, mercies, and blessings. It’s impossible to comprehend all of God. This is the price they pay for serving a divine God of infinitive complexity. Even when he spells it out for them, as he did with creating the bible, the human mind is incapable of understanding how God works. Since people are simple minded and selfish beings, debates over what God is trying to tell them in scripture can be formed, and can get to the point where these debates spilt the Christian churches. The question of whether or not the gifts of the holy spirit still has an active role in the modern day churches is one that has been greatly argued among the believers. Although many ideas have been presented on the matter, three major viewpoints have been formed; Cessationism, Continuationism, and an open but cautious view. Whether or not the gifts of the spirit are still part of the Christian chu...
“The practice of baptism in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit in the second century propelled the development of the trinitarian theology” (LaDue 48). According to Collins, the trinity can be defined by three statements “1. There is only one true God. 2. This one true God exists as three distinct persons. 3. Each person is fully divine” (Collins 29-31). The three people that make up the trinity are the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. First there is the Father. There are many Bible passages where God is referred to as the Father, this can be concluded because He alone created all things and His first human creation, Adam, was called the son of God. Jesus is God’s son and he was sent by his father, the Father, to offer humanity salvation from their sins. The “God of the Israelites reveals himself as a distinct, unique, superior deity who is always there. God’s being there is what defines him” (LaDue 14). The Israelites sometimes see the God Yahweh as an imitation of the trinity in the old testament, but they do not have distinct leveled personalities. Although God is distinct and unique, the idea that He is superior can be a false assumption as all the persons of the trinity have equal power and divinity. Another person of the trinity is the Holy Spirit. Yes, the Holy Spirit is a person. This is a common misconception of the
In John 10:30 Jesus says; “I and the Father are One.” By this, He meant that He and God were the same. For example, God and the Son of God both created everything (1 Corinthians 8:6) (Morgan, 211–212). The Holy Spirit is also God too, as one can read in 1 John 5:7–8: “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.” This Holy Divinity is called the Trinity- a group of three, as One. “In the name of the Trinity the living God is revealed” (Robinson, 187) This Trinity is God, the Father, God, the Son, and God, the Holy Spirit. “The Triune God is an all-sufficient God, all-sufficient for Himself and all-sufficient for His people” (Robinson,
In the Old Testament, revelation is seen through God’s spoken promise to Abraham in Genesis 18:1-33. In the New Testament, revelation is expressed through Jesus, at his baptism, God the Father’s voice is heard “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). Christians believe that God has chosen to reveal himself to us through the Holy Spirit, Bible, the Church’s teachings, the sacraments, creation and other people. God places revelation into two categories, messages of Wisdom and messages of Knowledge. This is important to Christians because through Jesus’s revelation, they are empowered to do the works of Christ making the world more meaningful and productive as “servants of God”.
The doctrine of the Trinity, as seen in the Christian bible, is primary to the Christian faith. The word “Trinity” does not actually appear in the bible; it is a theological label meant to summarize certain teachings of certain passages of scripture, and is crucial to properly understand what God is like, how He relates to us, and how we relate to Him. It may also raise many difficult questions including what does it mean that God is a Trinity? While it is difficult for us to fully understand everything about the trinity, it is quite possible to answer questions like this one and come to a solid grasp of what it means for God to be three in one.
Those who were followers of Christ began to raise the question about the person and work of Christ. Understanding this epoch of time opens the door for believers to comprehend the religious system and our roles as modern Christians in today’s society. When we as Christians can see how our historical roots connect to our personal beliefs. We strengthen our theological foundation and we develop into a persuasive witness in own
The Trinity allows Christians to understand the Christian faith in a more complex way than they may have before. It is described as the ‘substance’ that holds the whole Christians faith together and as the ‘foundation of the faith’ which provides Christians with a deeper understanding of. This deeper
The Trinity is made up of God the Father, God the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This concept is what many Catholics believe in, but other worldwide religions believe in other beliefs. Out of all the three Divine Persons, “Jesus is the most qualified to bring the renewal of creation because it was through him that creation came into being” (Pohle February 7th). We as humans will have to face the consequences for actions that we have done in the past, present and future. Jesus has come into the world as a human to show his dignity and save us from sin; he was the world and of all creation. As we come to read more about Jesus we get to know Jesus more, we learn about what he did, how he did it and why he had to do these saving actions.
The ideal of unity seems to be of great importance in the religious world, but rarely is it ever achieved among professed Christians. However, it is vitally important to comprehend unity in its Biblical light. Jesus prayed in John 17:21, “That they all may be one, as thou, Father art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.” By definition, unity is the state of being one. In order to have a unified church every member must be one one with the Father and the Son. Subsequently, to achieve such an oneness, each member must be perfectly holy, because God is holy. Unfortunately, this is where a clear contrast is made between the saints and mere religious professors.