In His perfection and elegance, God approached the world gently. First, by the language of nature, then by the voice of the intellect, and finally by Divine Revelation. Nonetheless, Revelation itself was also given in stages, starting with the creation of the material order, continuing with the law and prophets, finalizing with the coming of Christ and the foundation of His Church.
The language of God is perfect, prophetic, clear, and clean. Yet, for the imperfect, the perfect seems obscure, confusing, and cruel. Hence, the imperfection of the human intellect, wounded by the Fall, should have been a perfect impediment for God to communicate Himself to the world. Yet, in His love letter to mankind, God revealed many elevated concepts, the crown of which is the Mystery of the Holy Trinity.
Studying the Holy Trinity
Before examining the Trinitarian concept, it is important to understand that the mind by itself is utterly incapable of fully understanding it. However, aided by the grace of God, it is possible to grasp a pale shadow of its essence, that by itself, eclipses all other concepts in existence in terms of complexity, elegance, and majesty.
St. John Chrysostom, in his homilies, spoke about the limits of language and on the impossibility to adequately label the fiber of the Triune Mystery. Further, concerning the study of the Holy Trinity, St. Augustine writes that “Nowhere is error more harmful, the quest more toilsome, the finding more fruitful” (De Trin. I, 3). Yet, the tapestry of their faith had its origin in the Eternal Mind of God, where those in junction with His will can experience the incomprehensible, in a limitless and eternal Divine Present.
The concept of the Holy Trinity is of a supernatural precept, incomprehensible for the intellect in its totality, because it is higher than reason, but not contrary to it.
What is the Holy Trinity
In order to speak about what the Holy Trinity is, we must first see what it is not.
The Most Holy Trinity is not a set of three gods; otherwise, it would be a contradiction to the essence of perfection, because a god cannot be a god if it is not omnipotent and one. This is why in polytheism the gods are limited to their own domain, and thus lie, cheat, and murder for the sake of power. In other words, they are everything except divine, because they are limited.
The Holy Trinity is One God, in Three consubstantial Persons, indivisible and perfectly equal. Despite the complexity of the concept, God left signs in His creation that can illustrate this complex truth.
In order to see, a human eye needs the medium of light. However, the eye by itself is unable to glance directly at that which originates it, namely, the sun. Instead, God in His majesty orchestrated a wonder of consolation. If the sun, source of all light, stands behind an individual in a rainy day, it will cast its rays to the droplets of water to be filtered, and reflect a rainbow to the eye of the beholder. In a similar manner, the concept of the Trinity, too bright for the eye of the human soul, can be seen in a rainbow of signs suitable to its powers.
The First Person of the Holy Trinity
The first person of the Holy Trinity is God the Father, also known as the Godhead.
God the Father is unbegotten, eternal, and unchanging. He is the fountain of being and the initiator of creation. He is the speaker and articulator of essence and existence. His Intelligence and Will are the force of all potential and the sense of all actuality.
Further, the Godhead is the architect of salvation and the initiator of redemption. Goodness exists in creatures because God, who is infinitely good, freely created them and communicates His goodness to them.
The Second Person of the Holy Trinity
The Second Person is the Son. He is consubstantial with, and begotten by the Father, because He is His Word, as well as the fiber of His Promise.
The Son is a Verse from the Father, glory of His glory, and perfection of His perfection. He is unchanging in the unchangingness of the Father, and omnipotent in His omnipotence.
As the Father is the architect of salvation and initiator of redemption; the Son is salvation and redemption itself, who was made flesh and released us from sin and death by coming into the world and dying on the cross as a payment for our ransom from the devil.
Moreover, the Son is the mediator between God and mankind, because after the incarnation the Son was made both God and man.
The Third Person of the Holy Trinity
The Third Person is the Holy Spirit, who eternally proceeds from the Father and the Son, with whom He is consubstantial, coeternal, co-omnipotent, and unchanging.
The Holy Spirit is the giver of life, the consoler, and the lifter of souls. To those who seek Him, He is also the giver of wisdom, understanding, council, fortitude, piety, and fear of the Lord.
The Holy Spirit Christifies, purifies, and transforms the children of God.
The Trinitarian Love
As mentioned before, assimilating the concept of the Holy Trinity is daunting and can be overwhelming. Notwithstanding, God is Love, and through love the Divine shows its Blessed Self.
In an attempt to explain the Holy Trinity, St. Augustine tells us that in order for love to be, it has to be threefold, namely, it needs a lover, a loved one, and love. Following this philosophical formula, we see that God the Father is the Lover, Our Blessed Lord is the Loved One, and the Holy Spirit is the Love that connects the three Persons in single Godhood.
The Divine Love for Man
The Book of Genesis tells us that God made man in His own image, and if we contemplate the Holy Trinity, we can see that in a way, we are all trine beings, composed of a soul footprint of the Father, a body representing the Son, and the words that proceed from the body and the mind being the signature of the Holy Spirit. Not in vain St. Paul tells us that the body is a temple (1 Cor. 6:19-20).
In the next article, we will explore how after the Fall of Man, the Holy Trinity went in search of His children, in the most beautiful story the world has ever known.
Editor’s Note: This article is part of a CE original series on the Beauty of the Holy Trinity.
Photo by The New York Public Library on Unsplash
