Thesis 2

TRIUNE GOD

Scope: (1) The existence of God; (2) the interrelationship of the Trinity of Persons in the Unity of God; (3) the
Trinity as the Model of Human activity; (4) the Trinitarian controversies.

I. THE EXISTENCE OF GOD

Man always asks the questions of his origin and the meaning of his life. These questions bring him to the
conviction that there exists a God who created him and all things in the world. It is so because ‘the desire for
God is written in the human heart, because man is created by God and for God; and God never ceases to draw
man to himself’ (CCC, no. 27).

Created in God's image and called to know and love him, the person seeks God discovers certain ways of
coming to know him. These are also called proofs for the existence of God, not in the sense of proofs in the
natural sciences, but rather in the sense of ‘converging and convincing arguments, which allows us to attain
certainty about the truth. The proofs of God's existence can predispose one to faith and help one to see that faith
is not supposed to reason. From the theological point of view, these ways of approaching God from creation
have a twofold point of departure: the physical world, and the human person (CCC, no. 31).

The world – starting from movement, becoming, contingency, and the world's order and beauty, one can come
to acknowledge of God as the origin and the end of the universe.

The human person – with his openness to truth and beauty, his sense of moral goodness, his freedom and the
voice of his conscience, with his longings for the infinite and for happiness, man questions himself about God's
existence. In all this, he discerns signs of his spiritual soul, which, the seed of eternity we bear in ourselves,
irreducible to the merely material, can have its origin only in God (CCC, no. 33).

The world and man attest that they contain within themselves neither their first principle nor their final end, but
rather that they participate in Being itself, which alone is without origin or end. Thus, in different ways, man
can come to know that there exists a reality which is the first cause and final end of all things, a reality, that
everyone calls ‘God,’ which the Christian faith, confesses that ‘God is unique; there is only one God: He is one
in nature, substance and essence’ (CCC, no. 200).

To Israel, his chosen people, God revealed himself as the only One. He revealed himself to his people Israel by
making his name known to them. A name expresses a person's essence and identity and the meaning of this
person's life. To disclose one's name is to make oneself known to others. By revealing his name, God shows
Israel that He is the fullness of Being and of every perfection, without origin and without end. All creatures
receive all that they are and have from him; but he alone is his very being, and he is of himself everything that
he is. God, he who is, is truth and love.

For Christians, their faith in God rests on the Trinity: they are baptized ‘in the name of the Father and of the Son
and of the Holy Spirit’ (Mt 28:19). The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of Christian
faith and life. It is the mystery of God in Himself. It is therefore the source of all the other mysteries of faith
(CCC # 234). Since this is a mystery in God innermost being, it is inaccessible to reason alone or even to
Israel's faith (CCC # 237). It is the mystery that is hidden in God, which can never be known unless they are
revealed by God’ (Dei Filius 4; CCC # 237).

The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is a datum that we got from Jesus Christ. It became accessible to us
through the incarnation of God's Son and the sending of the Holy Spirit. Jesus is the fullness of revelation. He is
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God's perfect self-expression in history. Everything that God wanted to communicate about Himself in history,
He is Jesus. It was Jesus who revealed to us who God is: God is Trinity – One God, Three Persons. He revealed
this through his words and actions.

Biblical Foundations

In the OT, this doctrine is not yet clear but there are passages that are indicative. These are the following:

 Genesis 1:26; 3:22 – God speaks in plural form (‘Let us create….’)

 Gen 16:7-13; Exod 3:2-14 – the concept ‘Angel of the Lord’ (indicates two persons who are God: one
who sends and one who is sent).
 Is 9:6 – distinctions between God and Son of God – Messianic prophecy).
 Prov. 8:23-31; Wis 7:22 – speaks of Divine Wisdom personified
 1 Sam 10:6 – Spirit of God as identified with the ‘power proceeding from God’
 Num 6:23 – the Threefold priestly blessing

In the NT, there is no doctrinal presentation of the Trinity yet. What we have is the presence of three persons
presented in their role in the divine saving plan for man.

The Father Revealed By the Son

Many religions invoke God as ‘Father.’ In Israel, God is called ‘Father’ inasmuch as he is Creator of the world
(Gen 1:26ff). Even more, God is Father because of the covenant and the gift of the law to Israel (Exod 4:22).
God is also called the Father of the king of Israel. Most especially he is the Father of the poor, of the orphaned
and the widowed, who are under his loving protection (2 Sam 7:14; Ps 68:6). The title ‘Father’ indicates two
things: first, that God is the origin of everything and transcendent authority; second, that He is at the same time
goodness and loving care for all his children (CCC # 239).

Jesus revealed that God is Father in an unheard-of sense: he is Father not only in being Creator; he is eternally
Father in relation to his only Son (Jesus Christ) … because he is the only begotten son of the Father.

Jesus Christ, as the Revealer ‘par excellence’ slowly unraveled the mystery of the Father. The loving bond
between the Father and the Son (Jn 17:21) paved the way for the advent of the Holy Spirit the Paraclete to
solidify our belief in the intimate and intricate unity of the Divine Trinity (Jn 15:26). Just like any logical
procedure, Jesus took steps to unfold this wondrous reality of his message – to reveal the Father and to complete
the bond of love for the Holy Spirit to make manifest.

‘No one has ever seen God, the only Son, every at the Father's side, who has revealed him’ (Jn 1:18). This is the
very core of Jesus` message – to reveals and communicate to Father which at the same time reveals himself as
the Father's Son and communicate also the Holy Spirit, the divine love. At no time in his earthly pilgrimage was
Jesus outside the Father, and everything he says and does is in the name of the Father.

 Jn 10:25,30 – ‘the works I do in the Father's name gives witness to my favor. The father and I are one’
 Jn 14: 10-11 – ‘Show us the Father. Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?
The words that I say to you I do not speak in my authority; but the Father who dwells in me does his
works.’
 Eph 3:14ff – speaks of God's fatherhood
 Mt 5:48; 6:8-9/Lk 11:13/Jn 20:17 – Jesus distinguished between ‘my Father and your father….’
 Mt 6:7-13 – Jesus` unique claim and attitude towards God. He addresses God as ‘Abba.’ The address of
Jesus to God as ‘Abba’ is an unparalleled and unheard way of revealing the Father. The ineffable name
of God, who has been held in total reverence since the OT times has been introduced in a loving and
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 human manner. Hence, the prayer of “Our Father’ radicalizes our concept of the Father as loving and
approachable. It disarms us from previous stereotypes of the punitive and jealous God as told by the
prophets of old.

Jesus revealed God as Father by revealing Himself as the Son of the Father. His ways of relating was always
Filial. From his life and actuations the evangelists conclude that he was indeed the Son of God:

 Mt 16:16-17 – Peter's confession: ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God … revealed to you by
my Father.’
 Jn 3:16; 5:22; 10:36 – Jesus calls himself ‘the Only Son of God.’
 Mk 15:39 – centurion's exclamation: “truly he is the Son of God.’
 Mt 11:27; Jn 10:30 – Proof of his Sonship: no one knows the Son except the Father and no one knows
the Father except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.’
 Mt 3:17/Mk 1:11 – Father's testimony at Baptism
 Mt 17:5 and parallel passages – Father's testimony at Transfiguration
 Lk 23:46 – The scene of the crucifixion at Calvary
 Jn 1:1ff – Confession of Jesus to be the Word by evangelist: Jesus as a person different from God the
Father and Jesus as a Divine Person.
 Gal 1:15-16 – Paul's testimony after conversion: ‘… pleased to reveal his on to me…’
 2 Cor 4:4 – Christ as reflection of God's glory and similitude of essence with the Father.

So, how does Jesus portray or describe His Father? Here are some fitting descriptions based on his teachings:

 A Father who considers all people his children (Mt 6:26)

 A Father's good news which is unlimited (Mt 7:9-11)
 A Father who can wait for the conversion of his wayward son (Lk 15:11-32)
 A Father who loves and protects the little ones (Mt 18:14)

Following this Apostolic Tradition the Church confessed (CCC# 242):

 Nicaea I (325) – the Son is ‘consubstantial’ with the Father. The term used here was ‘homoousios’
(Grk), ‘consubstantialis (Latin) – ‘one of being’
 Constantinople II (381) – kept the expression in its formulation of the Nicene Creed and confessed ‘the
only-begotten-son of God… consubstantial with the Father.’

Jesus` Revelation of the Holy Spirit

Jesus is the bearer of the Spirit. The Spirit's presence in the life of Jesus is very significant. How? Jesus
understood himself as the prophet of the Kingdom. Just life the OT`s understanding of prophets, they are
ministers of God's word through the power of the Spirit (Ruach). But there is more in Jesus being a prophet.
Part of his prophetic ministry is the ministry of healing (exorcism).

 Lk 4:1; 18-19 – Jesus as one who is filled and anointed by the Spirit.
 Mt 3:16-17/Lk 3:22 – at his baptism, Jesus as revealing the Father and possessing the Spirit.

In his ministry of healing, he attributed the action of the Spirit through Him:

 Lk 11:20 – ‘finger of God’

 Mt 12:28 – ‘Spirit of God’

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Jesus spoke directly also about the Holy Spirit before his Passover, Jesus announced the sending of ‘another
Paraclete’ (Advocate), the Holy Spirit. The Spirit will now be with and in the disciples, to teach them and guide
them into all the truth (Jn 14:17,26; 16:13).

The Apostolic Faith concerning the Spirit was confessed by (CCC # 245):

 Constantinople II (381) – ‘We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of life, who proceeds from
the Father.’
 Council of Toledo IX (675) – The Spirit of both the Father and the Son
 Nicene Creed – ‘with the Father and the Son, he is worshipped and glorified.’

However, there are passages in the NT which refer to the Trinity. The most explicit triadic texts are the
following:

 Mt 28:19 – baptismal formula

 Mt 3:117 – the account of Jesus` baptism
 Lk 1:35 – Annunciation: Most High, Son of God, power of the Holy Spirit
 1 Pt 1:1 – Trinitarian formula of blessing at the beginning
 2 Cor 13:14 – Trinitarian formula as conclusion
 1 Jn 5:6-8 – The mention of three witness; indicates unity of essence in God.

The purpose of searching the Scripture for testimony to God's triune mystery is not to find passages that contain
‘three’ names, but to discover those that testify to the saving works of God who redeems through Christ by the
power of the Spirit.

Revelation of the Trinity in the Significant Events of the Life of Jesus

There are important instances in the life of Jesus that revealed the role of the Father and the Spirit in his life.
These are: his being prophet of the Kingdom, his passion and death, and his resurrection.

Jesus was conscious of himself as the prophet of the Kingdom of God. This was his mission in life. Unlike the
other prophets, however, he teaches with authority and convictions. Where did he derive this authority? The
source of his authority was from his special consciousness and understanding of himself as the Son of the
Father. In Mk 14:36, in the garden of Gethsemani, he called God as ‘Abba’ – Father. Through this self-
understanding as the Son of the Father, he reveals the Father through his words and actions.

The passion and death of Jesus is also a Trinitarian event. The cross is an event involving the surrender of the
Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. The term used here by the theologians was the ‘Paradidonai’ (mutual giving up)
of the persons in the Trinity. Gal 2:20 speak of the surrender of the Son (he gave himself) as a manifestation for
his love for us and his dedication to the Father. Rom 8:32 and Jn 3:16 refer to the surrender of the Father of his
Son (gave his Son). While Jn 19:30, Eph 9:14 and Heb 9:14 mention the sacrificial offering of the Spirit. Hence,
the Trinitarian figure is offered on the cross in:

 The unity of the Son who hands himself over

 Of the Father who hands him over
 Of the Spirit who is handed over by the Son and received by the Father

This mutual giving up (Paradidonai) of the persons of the Trinity is rooted in the Immanent Trinity. The passion
and death is a revelation of what is happening in the Immanent Trinity from eternity. The Father has completely
and entirely given himself to the Son (paradidonai); the Son is an eternal ‘Yes’ to the Father (surrender of
obedience); and the Holy Spirit as the bridge of mutual relationship of the Father and the Son.
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Moreover, the resurrection of Jesus Christ is considered also as a Trinitarian event. It is seen as the initiative of
the Father (Acts 2:24 – ‘God raised him up’). It is the history of the Son (Mk 16:6 – ‘Christ is risen’) as the
Son's highest obedience that he let himself be raised by the Father/ lastly, the resurrection is the history of the
Holy Spirit (1 Pet 3:18; Rom 1:4; Acts 2:32 – ‘It is in the power of the Spirit that Christ has been raised.’)

II. THE INTERRELATIONSHIP OF THE TRINITY OF PERSONS IN THE UNITY OF GOD

One Substance /essence/esse – One God, the Trinity is One: The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are God
wholly. Each divine person is the divine nature.

Two Processions – procession designates the origin of the one person from another; (1) one of the Son by
begetting – The Father begets the Son from all eternity and through the Son originates the Holy Spirit; and (2)
one of the Holy Spirit by breathing out. The Latin Church believe in the Filioque, that is, the Holy Spirit
proceeds from the Father and the Son. The Orthodox Church on the other hand, posits that the Spirit proceeds
from the Father alone (CCC, no. 248).

Two modes of Trinitarian life: The Fathers of the Church distinguish between the Immanent and Economic
Trinity. (1) Immanent Trinity refers to the inner life of the Trinity (the relationship between the three persons) –
The Trinity understand in itself, the internal relationship between Three Persons, the eternal mystery of
Trinitarian procession; Perichoresis / Circumincession – cohabitation, co-existence, interpenetration of the
divine persons by one another. (2) Economic Trinity refers to the Trinity in relation to History (Trinity revealed
in the work of the salvation) – the presence of the Trinity within the history of salvation; oikonomia – a series of
phases of a divine plan being progressively revealed and realized.

The initial reflection of the Church was centered on the Immanent Trinity. The reflection was started by the
Eastern Fathers, especially, St. Athanasius and the Cappadocian Fathers – Sts. Basil the Great, Gregory of
Nyssa and Gregory of Nazianazen.

In order to articulate the dogma of the Trinity, the Church had to develop its own terminology with the help of
the certain notions of philosophical origin (CCC # 251). The Church uses the terms:

 Substance (essence, nature) – to designate the Divine Being in its unity

 Person/Hypostasis – to designate the Father – Son – Holy Spirit in the real distinction among them
 Relation – to designate that distinction lies in their relationship of each to the others.

During the first centuries, the Church sought to clarify its Trinitarian faith, both to deepen its own
understanding of the faith and to defend it against the errors that were deforming it. This clarification was the
work of the early councils, aided by the theological work of the Church Fathers and sustained by the Christian
people's sense of faith (CCC # 250).

Dogma of the Holy Trinity: (1) The Trinity is one: we don’t confess three Gods, but one God in three persons,
the ‘consubstantial Trinity.’ The Divine persons don’t share the one divinity among themselves but each of
them is God whole and entire. (2) The divine persons are really distinct from one another. God is one but not
solitary. ‘Father,’ ‘Son,’ ‘Holy Spirit’ are not simply names designating modalities of the divine being, for they
are really distinct from one another. They are distinct from one another in their relations of origin: it is the
Father who generates, the Son who is begotten, and the Holy Spirit who proceeds. The divine Unity is Triune;
(3) the divine persons are relative to one another. Because it doesn’t divide the divine unity, the real distinction
of the persons from one another resides solely in the relationships which relate them to one another. The divine
persons are inseparable in what they are, in what they do. But within the single divine operation each shows
forth what is proper to him in the Trinity, especially in the divine missions of the Son's incarnation and the gift
of the Holy Spirit.
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Fourth Relationships – Fatherhood, Sonship, Breathing out (active Spiration), Being breathed out (passive
spiration) – the Persons are distinguished from one another by their characteristic properties which is in the
Trinity are Fatherhood, Sonship, and passive spiration. These properties (and distinction) are illustrated
appropriations: power is to the Father, wisdom is to the Son, love is to the Holy Spirit. All these concepts lead
to one basic concept – perichoresis. Each person is in himself complete and yet are always in others, each are in
the other two, thus all are in all.

III. THE TRINITY AS THE MODEL OF ALL HUMAN ACTIVITY

The same mission of the Son and the Holy Spirit are continued in the mission of the Church. The Trinity is the
origin, foundation and the source of mission of the Church (CCC # 760).

God created the world for the sake of communion with his divine life, a communion brought about by the
‘convocation’ or men in Christ, and this convocation is the Church. The gathering together of the People of God
began at the moment when sin destroyed the communion of men with God, and that of men among themselves
(CCC # 761).

It was the Son `s task to accomplish the Father's plan of salvation in the fullness of time. Its accomplishment
was the reason for his bring sent. The Lord Jesus inaugurated his Church by preaching the Good News. The
Church is the Reign of Christ already present in mystery (CCC # 763). The Church is born primarily of Christ's
total self-giving for our salvation, anticipated in the institution of the Eucharist and fulfilled on the cross. ‘The
origin and growth of the Church are symbolized by the blood and water which flowed from the open side of the
crucified Jesus’ (SC # 5).

When the work which the Father gave the Son to do on earth was accomplished, the Holy Spirit was sent on the
day of Pentecost in order that he might continually sanctify the Church. So that the Church can fulfill her
mission, the Holy Spirit bestows upon her varied hierachic and charismatic gifts, and in this way directs her.
Henceforthward, the Church receives the mission of proclaiming and establishing among all peoples the
Kingdom of Christ and of God, and she is on earth the seed and beginning of that kingdom (CCC 3 767-768).

The liturgy is primarily the work of the Trinity. In the liturgy of the Church, God the Father is blessed and
adored as the source of all the blessings of creation and salvation with which he has blessed us in his Son, in
order to give us the Spirit of filial adoption.

In the liturgy, the salvific work of the Trinity in history is prolonged. The Father is worshiped forever, through
the only one mediator, Jesus Christ, in the power of the Holy Spirit. The Paschal mystery (a Trinitarian event) is
made present.

In the celebration of the Sacraments, the Trinitarian work of salvation is celebrated in every sacrament. For
example, in baptism, we are called to share in the life of the Trinity through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

IV. THE TRINITARIAN CONTROVERSIES

In the first and second centuries: it was the period of preparation and strengthening the church: (1) The church
was Jewish; (2) Confronting with Roman-Greco culture/philosophy, which in one way or another helped to
develop the understanding and formulating the faith. In the first century, Christian faith is translated into
Hellenic language; in the second century, Christian proclaimed “Jesus is Lord”, this posed the question about
Jesus` divinity.

Controversies - there was school, which held that Jesus was a man with tremendous knowledge, but still a
human being. He is not God.
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Marcionism: God of the OT is a cruel God; he is a tyrant, in contrary with the God of the NT, Jesus Christ, who
is love and mercy. There was no trinity, only one God, one person. There are not two gods either, but only one
God who had changed the heart. Defense: liturgy became the vehicle for defense and preserve faith: (1)
Maintaining the faith that God is Trinity: One God – Three persons; (2) Not so much stress on doctrines, but
practices.

The third and the fourth centuries: Question asked in the first an second centuries was stronger: was Jesus
God? If he is God, it means there are two Gods? At first, only the priest answered this question on their own
idea, but later on the people also involved in it.

Controversies – Monarchianism emphasized the ‘oneness of God’ so much so that they rejected the distinction
of the three persons.: (1) Fotimus of Smyrna: Jesus was merely man who received divine favour/power. He is an
adopted son of God  the heresy of Adoptionism – Christ is not divine; he is adopted only in Baptism. (2)
Modalism/Sabellianism: one God relates to us in different faces. There are three disguises: One God – three
functions: Father (OT – Israel) – Son (NT) and Spirit (Time of the church) = One God who wears masks or with
different roles played in the salvation history; (3) Patripassianism – Christ just existed symbolically, not really;
it is the Father who suffered, not Christ.

Subordinationism (Christ and Holy Spirit are second class or not divine) - Trinity as an order of levels. They
rejected the equality and unity of the three persons: there are three persons with various ranks: one superior
God, who is in different quality with the other two and true God; and two subordinates. It is heresy since it said
that there is a relative absolute distinction in God. (a) Arianism – Christ is not divine = the eternal word of God
was at the same point created by the Father. He is not equal in divinity with the Father. There was the time the
Son did not exist. They proposed this because they wanted to defend the unity of God. So the Son is utterly a
creature, the first of all creatures, who created the rest of creation. In this point of view, Arian cannot accept two
things: God became man and real Christian view of salvation = Christ became truly human in order to save
humanity. Implication: Jesus did not redeem humanity; he only showed perfect example how to earn salvation;
(b) Semi-Arianism – Christ is similar or like the Father; (c) Macedonianism – The Holy Spirit is not divine.

Defense – the apologists: (1) Western (Tertulian and Hipolitus): they used the word trinity for the first time
(Tertulian); they used the images in order to explain trinity (Apple Tree, root, branches….); (2) Eastern (Origen,
Clement of Alexander): They discussed on the generation of the Son by the Father: begotten, not made, under
the influence of love; one God in three persons.

Response (Council of Nicaea 325) – Athanasius: The son is equal with the Father. There was un-scriptural word
was introduced, “homoousious”, the Son has the same substance, same essence with the Father. This word has
its root as “Homoousia” = person or being. The contributions of Athanasius were pointing out that Arian were
leading to polytheism, so he insisted on one, absolute God, who in time took human flesh through Jesus Christ.
His implication for salvation: if the Son is not divine how can he save humanity? Only creator can re-create,
only God can make us Godlike. Cappadocians: Basil: defined hypostasis (person) – Jesus Christ is person, the
same substance with the Father; it is a perfect con-substantiality. There is the hierarchy in relations.

Tritheism – Three gods

Quaternity – three gods plus one godhead.

Post-Reformation Protestantism – influenced by Rationalism: according to this, the three persons in God are
only three personifications of the divine attributes, e.g., divine power is personified by the Father, divine
wisdom by the Son, and divine goodness by the Holy Spirit.

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THE RESPONSE OF THE CHURCH TO HERESY

The definition of the Son's consubstantiality with the Father (homoousios) at the Council of Nicaea (325) and
the Divinity of the Holy Spirit at the First Council of Constantinople (381) has secured the faith against the
Trinitarian heresies of the Church.

In the West, during the 5th century, St. Augustine made use of analogies to explain the relationships of the three
persons in the Trinity. He made use of Psychological Theory or analogy. He started with the idea that man is the
image of God. Hence, to study man is to understand God.

There were four models that he used:

1. Sensible knowledge 3. Human love

Father – object Father – subject loving
Son – image Son – object loved
Spirit – attention Spirit – act of loving
2. Memory or remembering 4. Moral activity
Father – Memory Father – Memory
Son – Internal vision Son – Intellect
Spirit – Will Spirit – will

In the 6th and 9th centuries, there was a Filioque controversy. This was due to the diversity of approaches
between the East and the West. The East started their reflection from the Trinity to unity; the West from unity to
Trinity.

 East – Stresses the internal hierarchy of the Trinity and Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father ‘through’
the Son.
 West – Stresses the nature of the Trinity and the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father ‘and’ the Son.

To solve this crisis, there were two councils that tackled this problem. The Councils of Lyons (1274) and
Florence (1439) accepted both positions for they are complementary. The Son has its own operativeness but
nevertheless is also received.

The Middle Ages is the apex of reflection on the Immanent Trinity:

 St. Bonaventure – explained two processions in God: (1) In terms of Nature – Filiations (1 st procession)
and in terms of Will – Spiration (2nd procession).
 St. Thomas Aquinas – apex of theological effort. The Son originated only from the Father and with the
Father gives origin to the Spirit. The Spirit originates from both the Father and the Son and does not give
origin to anyone. Hence, the Father is pure principle, the Son is principled principle and the Holy Spirit
is pure principles.

In the modern age (16th to 21st centuries), the reflection on the Trinity shifted back to the Economic Trinity, i.e.,
in terms of the work of the Trinity in the history of salvation. This was a reaction to very high theology of St.
Thomas which made this mystery detached from the life of the Church and of every individual Christian. Today
the reflections on the Trinity affirm the basic truth: people are saved by God (Father), through Jesus Christ
(Son) by the power of the Holy Spirit. In other words, salvation is the initiative of the Father (Creator),
accomplished by the Son (Savior) and manifested as interior to us by the Holy Spirit (Sanctifier).

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THEOLOGICAL REFLECTION

The starting point of our reflection of the doctrine of the Trinity is the life of the Immanent Trinity itself,
specifically with the concept of “Procession”. That which is based on the history of salvation must be the
concept which in the traditional presentation of the Trinity comes only at the end: the concept of mission or
sending. The Scriptures tell us of the Son being sent by the Father (Gal 4:4; Jn 3:17; 5:23; 6:57; 17:18) and of
the Spirit being sent by the Father (Gal 4:6; Jn 14:16,26) and the Son (Lk 24:49, Jn 15:26; 16:17). While the
mission of the Son in the incarnation takes visible form, the mission of the Spirit in his indwelling in the hearts
of those who have been justified is invisible but does not utterly elude experience.

The concept mission includes two aspects. The mission has fir its goal the presence of the Son or the Spirit in
the world and in history. This is a new, free and personal kind of presence. Secondly, mission presupposes and
has for its origin the eternal dependence of the Son on the Father and of the Holy Spirit on the Father and the
Son. The mission in time presupposes the eternal process and adds to it a new, historical mode of presence in
the created world. The mission can be regarded as a reproduction, a diffusion and even a prolongation of the
eternal procession.

In other words, the concept “mission” is rooted in the divine procession in the Holy Trinity. Mission is divine
procession in history.

THE TRINITARIAN LIFE OF GOD

The concept of mission leads to the concept of the intra-divine procession of the Son from the Father and of the
Spirit from the Father and the Son. For an accurate grasp of the concept of procession we must distinguish
between a procession to the outside, in which that which proceeds emerges from his origin and passes beyond it
and a procession in which that which proceeds remains within his origin. It is the first manner that creatures
come forth from God; it is in the second that the Son proceeds from the Father, and the Spirit from the Father
and the Son. For given the unity, simplicity and indivisibility of the divine being only an immanent procession
is possible. There is no spatial nor temporal succession in God but only an eternal, active reality of immense
power and life.

Tradition has given more precise expression to the two processions in God: the procession of the Son is
described as ‘Generation’, that of the Spirit is procession in stricter sense. In view of the original word ‘spirit’
traditional theology describes the procession of the Spirit as ‘breathing’ or ‘spiration’. We compare the internal
procession of the Son (generation) with the procession of the interior word in the act of knowledge and the
procession of the Spirit (spiration) with the being out of oneself in love. The Son is the Word and Wisdom of
the Father while the Spirit is the love of the Father and the Son and the bond of love between them.

The processions in God are in turn the basis of relations in God. Relation means reference to another. The
concept of relation has three elements: the subject, the term and a foundation. There is a relative opposition
between the subject and term of the relation. The two processions in God yield four such relations:

 Father to the Son: active generation of Fatherhood

 Son to the Father: passive generation of Sonship
 Father and Son to the Holy Spirit: active spiration
 Holy Spirit to the Father and Son: passive spiration

Three of these relations are really distinct from each other: fatherhood, sonship and passive spiration. Active
spiration is identified with fatherhood and sonship and belongs to the Father and Son in common; whereas
passive spiration is really distinct from fatherhood and sonship. This means that the two processions in God

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ground three really distinct relative oppositions. The distinctions in God affect not the one divine substance or
one divine being buet only the relations in God.

The three mutually opposed relations in God – fatherhood, sonship and passive spiration – are abstract
expression for the three divine persons. Person means the ultimate subject of all being and action. Nature for its
part is that by which the person is and acts. Person is irreducible to anything else and incommunicable to others.
Aquinas talks of ‘subsistence’ (that which is the subject that stands under the nature or substance) and not
substance of person. Such that if we speaks of three subsistences, we are saying that the numerically one divine
nature or substance is possessed by three subjects or that it exists in three relatively distinct modes of
subsistence.

In what does the ground of distinction in God consist? According to what has been said so far it consists of
relations. Divine persons are subsistent relations. The persons are distinguished from one another by their
characteristic properties. Such properties (that distinguishes the person) are: fatherhood, sonship and passive
spiration. The properties are to be distinguished from the appropriations (the attribution of properties or
activities which belong in common to all three persons because of their common nature but which are assigned
to a particular person because the show a certain kinship with the proper of that person). Power is to the Father,
wisdom for the Son and love for the Spirit. The appropriations are meant to illustrate the properties and
distinction of persons in God.

All Trinitarian concepts lead to a final basis concept: the being in one another, the mutual indwelling or mutual
penetration of the divine persons or the Trinitarian ‘perichoresis.’ This concept is based on Jn 10:30: “I and the
Father are one.’ In the Trinity there is no mixture not confusion. Each person is in himself, and yet three are
each wholly in others; each of them in the other two and the other two in each of them and thus all are in all.

The concept of ‘perichoresis’ is the basis of our affirmation that the life of the Trinity is basically a life of
communion. This unity in the Trinity provides a model for union between Christ and men, for communion
between God and man. This unity neither absorbs nor dissolves the person.

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