Trinity Sunday falls on the first Sunday after Pentecost, and with good reason. At Pentecost Jesus is proclaimed as both Messiah and Lord, and it is the day God the Father sends the Holy Spirit.
Trinity Sunday is an important day to remember. Modern day Christians need to fully acknowledge and appreciate the Trinitarian nature of God, especially in today’s culture where New Age and Islamic beliefs are prevalent. It is imperative for the Christian community to have knowledge of the Three in One God—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit.
Over the years, you may have heard various analogies used to explain the Trinity:
The Trinity is like the three different states of water: liquid, ice, and vapor
The Trinity is like a three-leaf clover
The Trinity is like the different parts of an egg: shell, egg white, and yolk
What many people don’t realize is that most of these analogies (if not all) are akin to the ancient heresies that the early church had dismissed centuries ago.
But if none of these analogies are appropriate to describe God, then what is? Enter the Athanasian Creed.
The Athanasian Creed was not written by Athanasius, an early Christian who combatted heresies about the Trinity. Although its precise origins are unknown, it has long been recognized as a standard of Christian orthodoxy. It is by far the longest and most comprehensive of the ancient creeds, and it can be pretty overwhelming at first glance.
Although it may be long, the substance of the Athanasian Creed can be summed up in one main idea: “The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God. BUT the Father is NOT the Son, the Son is NOT the Spirit, and the Spirit is NOT the Father.” Every line of the Creed’s first half spells this principle out in great detail.
The creeds give us the language to speak about God accurately, and in doing so, they allow us to know him more intimately.
An important note: the Athanasian Creed does not try to explain the Trinity (like so many of our analogies do). It simply aims to describe the Trinity by giving us the proper vocabulary to use. It merely tells us what we can or cannot say when talking about God. Try picturing the shield of the Trinity (image above) as a platform that you are walking on: Anything outside of it is out of bounds, and if you step off, you will fall into the dangerous pit of heresy.
The early church was not trying to be novel. They weren’t trying to be more creative than Scripture. They described what they recognized in Scripture as truth, and were content to leave it at that. We would be wise to follow in their footsteps. So the next time you or someone else wants to give an analogy for the Trinity, consider using the language that the church has used for centuries.
The following is the text of the Athanasian Creed:
Whoever desires to be saved should above all hold to the catholic faith. Anyone who does not keep it whole and unbroken will doubtless perish eternally.
Now this is the catholic* faith:
That we worship one God in Trinity and the Trinity in unity,
neither blending their persons
nor dividing their essence.
For the Person of the Father is a distinct person,
the Person of the Son is another,
and that of the Holy Spirit still another.
But the divinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is one,
their glory equal, their majesty co-eternal.
What quality the Father has, the Son has, and the Holy Spirit has.
The Father is uncreated, the Son is uncreated, the Holy Spirit is uncreated.
The Father is immeasurable, the Son is immeasurable, the Holy Spirit is immeasurable.
The Father is eternal, the Son is eternal, the Holy Spirit is eternal.
And yet there are not three eternal beings; there is but one eternal being.
So too there are not three uncreated or immeasurable beings;
there is but one uncreated and immeasurable being.
Similarly, the Father is almighty, the Son is almighty, the Holy Spirit is almighty.
Yet there are not three almighty beings; there is but one almighty being.
Thus the Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Spirit is God.
Yet there are not three gods; there is but one God.|
Thus the Father is Lord, the Son is Lord, the Holy Spirit is Lord.
Yet there are not three lords; there is but one Lord.
Just as Christian truth compels us to confess each Person individually as both 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 from anyone.
the Son was neither made nor created;
he was begotten from the Father alone.
The Holy Spirit was neither made nor created nor begotten; he proceeds from the Father and the Son.
Accordingly there is one Father, not three fathers;
there is one Son, not three sons;
there is one Holy Spirit, not three holy spirits.
Nothing in this Trinity is before or after,
nothing is greater or smaller;
in their entirety the three persons
are co-eternal and coequal with each other.
So in everything, as was said earlier,
we must worship their Trinity in their unity
and their unity in their Trinity.
Anyone then who desires to be saved
should think thus about the Trinity.
it is necessary for eternal salvation
that one also believe in the incarnation
of our Lord Jesus Christ faithfully.
Now this is the true faith:
That we believe and confess
that our Lord Jesus Christ, God’s Son,
is both God and human, equally.
He is God from the essence of the Father,
begotten before time;
and he is human from the essence of his mother,
born in time;
completely God, completely human,
with a rational soul and human flesh;
equal to the Father as regards divinity,
less than the Father as regards humanity.
Although he is God and human,
yet Christ is not two, but one.
He is one, however,
not by his divinity being turned into flesh,
but by God’s taking humanity to himself.
He is one,
certainly not by the blending of his essence,
but by the unity of his Person.
For just as one human is both rational soul and flesh,
so too the one Christ is both God and human.
He suffered for our salvation;
he descended to hell;
he arose from the dead;
he ascended to heaven;
he is seated at the Father’s right hand;
from there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
At his coming all people will arise bodily
and give an accounting of their own deeds.
Those who have done good will enter eternal life,
and those who have done evil will enter eternal fire.
This is the catholic faith:
one cannot be saved without believing it firmly and faithfully.
* “Catholic” here means “universal,” not “Roman Catholic”