What Christians Believe
The Articles of Faith

Trinity

You'll notice that the Apostles' Creed is divided into three main parts, each of which begins with the statement "I believe." The first section speaks of belief in God the Father. The second section is about belief in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. And the third section summarizes belief in the Holy Spirit, and lists his active ministries.

Now, we should point out that not all ancient versions of the creed include the words "I believe" before the articles concerning Jesus Christ. In their place, many simply use the word "and," which in this context carries the same force as the words "I believe." In all cases, however, the division of the creed, according to the persons of God, has been universally recognized by the church. This formula is Trinitarian. That is, it is based on the belief that there is only one God, and that this God exists in three persons, namely the persons of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

This is the same formula we find in passages like Matthew 28:19, where Jesus gave his disciples this commission:

Go 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).

Here, just as in the Apostles' Creed, the mention of these three names together and on equal terms implies that while the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are all distinct persons, they are only one God.

Now, admittedly, the Apostles' Creed does not specifically mention the word "Trinity," or spell out its details. But remember that the creed was intended to be a summary of beliefs, not a comprehensive statement of faith. And when it was used in the church's liturgy, everyone in the church knew that to mention these three persons of God in this way was to imply the concept of the Trinity.

Now, not every Christian understands the full meaning of the word Trinity, so we should pause to explain it. The Trinity is commonly stated this way:

God has three persons, but only one essence.

By the term person, we mean a distinct, self-aware personality. And by the term essence, we are referring to God's fundamental nature or the substance of which he consists.

Of course, the concept of the Trinity is very difficult for human beings to grasp. God's existence and nature are so far beyond the realm of our experience that it is difficult for us to conceive of him. Even so, the Trinity is one of the most important distinctive beliefs of Christianity. But how did such a complex doctrine become such an important cornerstone in Christian theology?

Well, the Trinity is something you come to when you read the Bible in a holistic way. You come and you see that the Father is clearly God and the Son is clearly God and the Spirit is clearly God in their distinct persons. And so there's a need to synthesize the teaching of Scripture with something like the doctrine of the Trinity. [Dr. K. Erik Thoennes]

So the doctrine of the Trinity becomes a cornerstone of Christian theology, I take it primarily because it's a biblical doctrine. Now we need to be careful how we understand that because the word t-r-i-n-i-t-y is not in Scripture, but the concept is. So the sum total biblical teaching, what the Scriptures tell us about who God is — that's he's one, that the Father is God, that the Son is God, and that the Spirit is God — when put together in their total, whole Bible package, derives or warrants the conclusion that God is a trinity of persons. [Dr. Robert G. Lister]

So, when we say that God consists of one essence, we are defending the biblical truth that there is only one God. And we are trying to explain how three separate persons can all be that one God. We use the term essence to refer to that thing that each of these three persons shares entirely in common with the others, to the stuff or being that belongs as much to the Father as it does to the Son, and as it does to the Holy Spirit.

And when we say that God exists in three persons, we are defending the biblical truth that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are distinct from one another. They are separate individuals who converse with one another, interact with one another, engage in relationships with one another.

In many ways, the concept of the Trinity is a great mystery. But it is also an accurate summary of the Bible's many teachings on the nature of our extraordinary God.

The idea of the Trinity is critical to Christian theology for many reasons. For example, it defends our belief that Jesus is God, and that Jesus is not simply the Father in disguise. It also explains why we affirm monotheism, worshiping only one God, even though we worship and pray to three persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Beyond this, it helps us to give proper honor to all God's persons. And it comforts us with the knowledge that the presence and help of any of God's persons is the presence and help of God himself. In fact, belief in the Trinity is so foundational to so many other Christian ideas that it is hard to imagine historic Christianity without it.

Having looked at the doctrine of God in the Apostles' Creed in terms of the Trinity, we are ready to consider the statements it makes about the different persons of God in distinction from each other.