Theological Term of the Week

Defining a term used in defining the Trinity

person
Used in regards to the Trinity: center of consciousness or expression; personality;  “a distinct subject which regards himself as ‘I’ and others as ‘You’”¹; a “who”²—but not a separate, independent individual.

• From the Bible:

  To those who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood…. (1 Peter 1:102 ESV)

• From the Belgic Confession, Article 8, The Trinity:

  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.

  
  From Francis R. Beattie, The Presbyterian Standards, Chapter IV:
  

  1. The Godhead subsists in three persons. The names of these three persons are the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. These three are properly called persons, because in the Scriptures the qualities of personality, such as individuality, intelligence, and free agency, are ascribed alike to these three. In other words, self-consciousness and self-determination, the elements of personality, are applied in the Scriptures equally to the three persons of the Godhead. The Father stands first in the order of being and operation. Hence, he is of none, neither begotten nor proceeding. Uniformly he is spoken of as first in order. The Son always stands second in order, and is eternally begotten of the Father. He is, and ever has been, the only-begotten and well-beloved Son of the Father. The Holy Ghost, or Spirit, always stands third in order, and is represented as eternally proceeding from the Father and the Son, for he is called alike the Spirit of God, and the Spirit of Christ. On account of this order of subsistence and operation, they are called the first, the second, and the third persons of the Godhead. But this does not denote that there is any inferiority of essence, or any limitation of attributes, in any of the three persons. It is only meant that there are eternal and abiding relations subsisting between the three persons, in the indivisible essence of the Godhead.

  2. The second point relates to the peculiar property pertaining to each person.  …These personal properties are to be carefully distinguished from the divine attributes already described. The attributes qualify either the essence, or the modes of the activity of the essence. The personal properties are possessed by the three persons, and modify them separately. The attributes pertain equally to all the persons, while the properties pertain only to each of the several persons in order. This distinction must always be kept carefully in mind.

Learn more:

1. James White: Loving the Trinity
   
2. Christian Research Institute: Is the Trinity Biblical?
3. John Calvin: Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 1, Chapter 13, Section 2 and Section 6
4. John Piper: How Do You Understand the Trinity? (mp3)
   
5. James White: The Biblical Truth of the Trinity (mp3)

¹ What Is the Doctrine of the Trinity? by Desiring God Staff.
² Loving the Trinity by James White.

Do you have a a theological term you’d like to see featured here as a Theological Term of the Week? If you email it to me, I’ll seriously consider using it, giving you credit for the suggestion, and linking back to your blog when I do.

Clicking on the Theological Term graphic at the top of this post will take you to a list of all the previous theological terms in alphabetical order.

Theological Term of the Week

 

Let’s do a few terms related to the Trinity.

 

Trinity

The doctrine that the one God exists eternally as three distinct persons—the Father, Son and Holy Spirit—and each person is fully God.

• From the Bible:

  And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:16-17 ESV)

• From the Athanasian Creed:
  

  We worship one God in trinity and the Trinity in unity, neither confusing the persons nor dividing the divine being. For the Father is one person, the Son is another, and the Spirit is still another. But the deity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is one, equal in glory, coeternal in majesty. What the Father is, the Son is, and so is the Holy Spirit. Uncreated is the Father; uncreated is the Son; uncreated is the Spirit. The Father is infinite; the Son is infinite; the Holy Spirit is infinite. Eternal is the Father; eternal is the Son; eternal is the Spirit: And yet there are not three eternal beings, but one who is eternal; as there are not three uncreated and unlimited beings, but one who is uncreated and unlimited. Almighty is the Father; almighty is the Son; almighty is the Spirit: And yet there are not three almighty beings, but one who is almighty. Thus the Father is God; the Son is God; the Holy Spirit is God: And yet there are not three gods, but one God. Thus the Father is Lord; the Son is Lord; the Holy Spirit is Lord: And yet there are not three lords, but one Lord.
  
  As Christian truth compels us to acknowledge each distinct person as God and Lord, so catholic religion forbids us to say that there are three gods or lords. The Father was neither made nor created nor begotten; the Son was neither made nor created, but was alone begotten of the Father; the Spirit was neither made nor created, but is proceeding from the Father and the Son. Thus there is one Father, not three fathers; one Son, not three sons; one Holy Spirit, not three spirits. And in this Trinity, no one is before or after, greater or less than the other; but all three persons are in themselves, coeternal and coequal; and so we must worship the Trinity in unity and the one God in three persons. Whoever wants to be saved should think thus about the Trinity.

• From J.I. Packer in Concise Theology: 

  The practical importance of the doctrine of the Trinity is that it requires us to pay equal attention, and give equal honor, to all three persons in the unity of their gracious ministry to us. That ministry is the subject matter of the gospel, which, as Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus shows, cannot be stated without bringing in their distinct roles in God’s plan of grace (John 3:1-15; note especially vv. 3, 5-8, 13-15, and John’s expository comments, which NIV renders as part of the conversation itself, vv. 16-21). All non-Trinitarian formulations of the Christian message are by biblical standards inadequate and indeed fundamentally false, and will naturally tend to pull Christian lives out of shape.

Learn more:

1. James White: A Brief Definition of the Trinity
2. GotQuestions.org: What does the Bible teach about the Trinity?
3. Tim Challies: The Essential Trinity
4. J. I. Packer: Trinity
5. Desiring God staff: What is the doctrine of the Trinity?
6. R. Scott Clark: The Splendor of the Three-In-One God: The Necessity and Mystery of the Trinity
7. Tim Challies: Visual Theology - The Trinity (infographic)
8. Wayne Grudem: The Doctrine of the Trinity: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4 (mp3s)
9. J. I. Packer: The Trinity - Part 1, The Trinity - Part 2 (mp3s)
10. James White: The Trinity Defended 1, The Trinity Defended 2 (mp3s)

Related terms:

• economic Trinity
• ontological Trinity
• hypostatic union
• person
• being

Related posts here:

• Quiz on the Biblical and Historical Doctrine of the Trinity
• Answers to Quiz on the Trinity

Do you have a a theological term you’d like to see featured here as a Theological Term of the Week? If you email it to me, I’ll seriously consider using it, giving you credit for the suggestion and linking back to your blog when I do.

Clicking on the Theological Term graphic at the top of this post will take you to a list of all the previous theological terms in alphabetical order.

Theological Term of the Week

 

One more “im” word.

 

immersion

Baptism done by putting a person under water and then bringing them up again.

• From the Bible:

  Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:3-4 ESV)

• From the 1963 Baptist Faith and Message, Section VII:

  Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believers faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Saviour, the believers death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus. It is a testimony to his faith in the final resurrection of the dead.

Learn more:

1. John Piper: What is Baptism, and How Important Is It?
   
2. Charles Spurgeon: Baptism—A Burial
   

Do you have a a theological term you’d like to see featured here as a Theological Term of the Week? If you email it to me, I’ll seriously consider using it, giving you credit for the suggestion and linking back to your blog when I do.