| What are the arguments rejecting the necessity of the trinity? | some say that the Trinity is an intellectual abstraction which prevents the simple following of the way of Jesus. |
| What do all major branches of Christian churches believe in | The doctrine of the trinity |
| What is the doctrine of the trinity? | That we have one God existing in three persons. |
| Why is the trinity a fundamental doctrine? | States what Christians believe God is and what he's like, emphasises that God is very different from human beings and is a central element of Christian identity |
| What is the Trinitarian formula? | ‘in the name of the Father,Son and Holy Spirit.’ |
| How was this belief developed? | this is expressed in the liturgy by prayers and blessings made using the Trinitarian formula |
| Where do we see biblical proof for the trinity? | the plural for ‘God’ is used in Genesis 1:26 and the plural term ‘Elohim’ is used for God in Genesis 1:1. |
| What are the three interlocking beliefs considered orthodox
by Christians? | There is one God, The Father the Son and the Holy Spirit are each fully God and each person of the Trinity is not the same. |
| What does the monotheism of Christianity include? | The monotheism of Christians, then, includes a mystery
that oneness also includes ‘three-ness’ |
| What is a fundamental belief about the trinity? | Each person of the Trinity is co-equal and co-eternal |
| An example of the differences within the trinity? | Jesus, for example, is both fully God and fully human; a
member of the Trinity whilst also incarnate as the human
Jesus. |
| what does filioque mean? | It is a term that refers to the Son, Jesus Christ, as an additional origin point of the Holy Spirit. |
| What creeds mention the trinity? | The nicene creed and the chalcedonian creed |
| What does the nicene creed say? | "We believe in one God, the Father, we believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life." |
| What was agreed by the church to be amended? | it was agreed by the Church to amend the
Nicene creed with a detail about the Holy Spirit |
| What was the amendment made to the Nicene creed? | The holy spirit ‘proceeds from the Father’. |
| However, what became popular in some churches? | to refer to the Spirit ‘proceeding from the Father and the Son’ |
| What did people in the East believe about this? | they believed this threatened the role of the Father as the sole source of divinity in the Trinity and weakened the distinction between the Son and the Spirit. |
| What does it say in the Chalcedonian Creed? | "Acknowledge one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, at once complete in Godhead and complete in manhood" |
| What case did Augustine make? | Augustine made the case that God is a relationship in
which the Spirit acts as the bond of love between the
Father and the Son. |
| What did Augustine use to back his point up? | John 20:22: Jesus ‘breathes’ the Holy Spirit onto the disciples. |
| Key quotes for this topic? | (Deuteronomy 6:4), (John 20:28) (S. Bullivant) |
| (S. Bullivant) | ‘...the doctrine of the Trinity stems directly from the early Christians’ experiences of God.’ |
| (Deuteronomy 6:4) | ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one.’ |
| (John 20:28) | ‘Thomas answered him [Jesus], “My Lord and my God!” |
| What do western churches commonly include in their recitation of the nicene creed? | "and the son" |
| What does the western church emphasise? | the divinity of the son and the unity of the trinity by having the holy spirit proceed from both the father and the son |
| What does the eastern church emphasise? | the monarchy of the father which results in the unity of the three persons of the trinity - since both the so and holy spirit come from the father there is one source for everything. the unity of the three can be represented just through the father |
| When did the doctrinal understanding and the wording of the nicene creed become linked? | When the insertion of the wording was used by Pope Benedict VIII |
