Article 8 reads like this:
In keeping with this truth and Word of God we believe in one God, who is one single essence, in whom there are three persons, really, truly and eternally distinct according to their incommunicable properties--namely, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
The Father
is the cause,
origin and
source of all things,
visible as well as invisible.
The Son
is the Word,
the Wisdom,
and the image of the Father.
The Holy Spirit is the eternal power
and might,
proceeding from the Father and the Son.
Nevertheless, this distinction does not divide God into three, since Scripture teaches us that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit each has His own subsistence distinguished by characteristics--yet in such a way that these three persons are only one God.
It is evident then
that the Father is not the Son
and that the Son is not the Father,
and that likewise the Holy Spirit is neither the Father nor the Son.
Nevertheless,
these persons,
thus distinct,
are neither divided nor fused or mixed together.
For the Father did not take on flesh, nor did the Spirit, but only the Son.
The Father was never without His Son, nor without His Holy Spirit, since all these are equal from eternity, in one and the same essence.
There is neither a first nor a last, for all three are one
in truth and power,
in goodness and mercy.
The Word "Trinity" never shows up in the Bible. It is a technical term in theology referring to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit as a unified Godhead.
Here is a simple statement of the doctrine given to my by Dr. Douglas A. Felch through my Christian Doctrine I class in the Fall of 2008 at Kuyper College.
There is one God, who nevertheless exists in three persons; Father, Son and Holy Spirit , all of which share the same divine nature and are equal in power, glory and Godhead.Or we can take what Guido said in the first paragraph and simplify this a bit:
"...we believe in on God who is one single essence, in whom there are three persons..."However, before we dig too much into this definition and article, we should realize the long strand of history that has gone before us in examining closely this doctrine.
In the 2nd Century AD the Christian faith was challenged by Gnosticism. They thought that Jesus was never human, therefore they denied the incarnation of Jesus Christ.
In the same time period as Gnosticism was challenging Christianity, there arose another group who challenged Christianity called the Ebionites. The Ebionites were a Jewish Christian Sect who believed and taught that Jesus was only human and not divine.
These two teachings obviously opposed each other; therefore this created a launching point to many similar discussions and debates often relating to the same topics.
The Apologists were known as the first ones who had to give a defense of their faith therefore this was their task: to defend the Christian faith to others objections. They are often looked down upon, but I can't even imagine being in their place in history--as the first "theologians of the church--attempting to defend their faith at such a young and lack of mature faith due to how fresh it was. Their weakness was that they often appealed to the culture; therefore they would mix Christianity with the Roman idolatry which caused great confusion among many. They earnestly wanted to defend the doctrine of the Trinity, but in doing this they were not always successful on how to defend this doctrine or articulate it very clearly. This is roughly what they believed
Before the creation of the world, God was alone except for Reason or Logos within Hi. To create the world He needed an agent to create it. Therefore He begot another divine being, the Son or the "Logos". The Son is therefore a created being.They soon were proven that they got it wrong.
In the 3rd century a teacher in Rome named Sabellius began teaching what is known as "Modalistic Monarchianism". He taught and believed this:
He argued that there was one God, but they had three roles or three masks. The three persons merely were modes of divine action or manifestation, which God successively assumes, revealing Himself as Father in creation and in the giving of the law, as Son in the incarnation, and as Holy Spirit in regeneration and sanctification. Thus the three persons were reduced to one. If God were to manifest Himself as the Spirit, He could not at the same time manifest Himself as Jesus.Therefore, the problem with this view is that God cannot reveal Himself at the same time. The manifestation of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit cannot be as present at one time which the Bible teaches otherwise as the Trinity is proven to have showed up in various places. One of these places is at Jesus' baptism found in Matthew 3:13-17. If we were to believe this, it would be like saying this. The Trinity is like me; my dad is a truck driver, a husband and a son all at the same time. You see, this is incorrect thinking because my dad is a husband and a son while being a truck driver, but he isn't a truck driver when he is being a husband and/or son. The "hats" that we were throughout our life is not equivalent to what Guido is describing here, nor is it what we believe.
Also in the 3rd century was the heresy of Adoptionism or "Dynamic Monarchianism". This view held this:
Jesus was born not as the Son of God only the Son of Man. Jesus was only a human until either His baptism, His resurrection, or His ascension (there are debates of the actually time between those who believe this) when God 'adopted' Him. Therefore, when this happened, He then became the Son of God and the Son of Man.However can also be proven false because they don't take into account the pre-existent Jesus. The Bible speaks of Jesus existing (not in human form) before creation with God. He was at creation (Colossians 1:15-20). And a whole host of other verses which speak to Jesus' pre-existence can be noted as well. I will hopefully dig into this a bit deeper in the next article. [LINK]
These are the early centuries which not many people have known about. However, as we move through the 4th and beyond, there were many more councils and gatherings in discussion of the Trinity. The church has wrestled with objections time and time again due to this doctrine.
This doctrine has caused
great pain,
great divisions and
great strength to the church.
Therefore, to be on this side of history after much wrestling has gone into this doctrine; I consider it a privilege to believe what I have today and I am thankful for the work that men in the past have done time and time again to preserve this doctrine and the faith which I believe.
Okay, back to Article 8 now.
The three members of the Trinity are as follows: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
They are all equal, unified and distinct at the same time. There are three persons, yet one essence between them.
Guido divides them into separate persons and names some attributes they each have. This is because there are attributes that the Father has that the Son does not have. These attributes are on a personal level though, not in essence. For if they all had the same attributes then they would be the same in essence and in person.
However, just as Guido points out. "..this distinction does not divide God into three...each has His own subsistence...that these three persons are only one God."
They are all the same in equality from eternity, equal in power, strength and might and equal in affecting our salvation. For if you take one member of the Trinity away, then we cannot be saved.
This is going to wrap up this portion. My apologies if you are super confused. Guido lays it out very neat and nicely and I may have discombobulated you even more. I hope that isn't the case. However, if it is, head to the top of this blog post and read the article again, I believe that will be most helpful.
My hope and prayer is that it will become clearer as the next few posts will be in regards to the Trinity also.
Blessings.
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