Home > Philosophy and Religion > Christianity > Christianity: General

Topic:Trinity

Visit our new topic page about Trinity

Trinity

The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition | Date: 2008

Trinity [Lat.,=threefoldness], fundamental doctrine in Christianity, by which God is considered as existing in three persons. While the doctrine is not explicitly taught in the New Testament, early Christian communities testified to a perception that Jesus was God in the flesh; the idea of the Trinity has been inferred from the Gospel of St. John. The developed doctrine of the Trinity purports that God exists in three coequal and coeternal elements—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit (see creed 1 ). It sees these "persons" as constituted by their mutual relations, yet does not mean that God in his essence is Father, or a male deity. Jesus spoke of a relation of mutual giving and love with the Father, which believers could also enjoy through the Spirit. The Trinity is commemorated liturgically in the Western Church on Trinity Sunday . For systems denying the Trinity, see Unitarianism .

Bibliography: See studies by L. Hodgson (1960) and A. W. Wainwright (1962); G. L. Prestige, God in Patristic Thought (repr. 1964); J. N. D. Kelly, Early Christian Doctrines (1977); E. Jüngel, God as the Mystery of the World (1983).

Author not available, TRINITY., The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition 2008

Related newspaper, magazine, and journal articles from HighBeam Research

	The Spirit of Early Christian Thought: Seeking the Face of God.(Book Review) Theological Studies; 6/1/2004; Mueller, Joseph G.; 798 words ; THE SPIRIT OF EARLY CHRISTIAN THOUGHT: SEEKING THE FACE OF GOD. By Robert Louis Wilken. New Haven: Yale University, 2003. Pp. xxii + 368. $29.95. Wilken, a foremost scholar of the early Church, presents to the general public a thoroughly persuasive case for a clear thesis. He asserts that the Read more
	The Faith of Jesus Christ in Early Christian Traditions Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society; 9/1/1998; Hurtado, L W; 828 words ; The Faith of Jesus Christ in Early Christian Traditions. By Ian G. Wallis. SNTSMS 84. Cambridge: Cambridge University, 1995, 288 pp., $59.95. The author's context for this study is explicitly theological: the frequent tendency to think that granting Jesus a real and full divinity must entail Read more
	The Spirit of Early Christian Thought: Seeking the Face of God Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society; 9/1/2006; Morrison, John Douglas; 1366 words ; The Spirit of Early Christian Thought: seeking the Face of God. By Robert Louis Wilken. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2004, 368 pp., $19.00. Robert Louis Wilken, William R. Kenan Professor of the History of Christianity at the University of Virginia, has long been one of the Read more
	From Messiah to Preexistent Son: Jesus' Self-Consciousness and Early Christian Exegesis of Messianic Psalms Trinity Journal; 4/1/2006; Grindheim, Sigurd; 948 words ; Aquila H. I. Lee. From Messiah to Preexistent Son: Jesus' Self-Consciousness and Early Christian Exegesis of Messianic Psalms. WUNT 11/192. Tubingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2005. XII+375 pp. $69.00. In this ambitious book, a revised dissertation supervised by I. Howard Marshall, Aquila Lee argues that the Read more
	Book reviews -- Who Are the People of God? Early Christian Models of Community by Howard Clark Kee The Catholic Biblical Quarterly; 1/1/1996; Harrington, Daniel J; 577 words ; HOWARD CLARK KEE, Who Are the People of God? Early Christian Models of Community (New Haven/London: Yale University Press, 1995). Pp. viii + 280. $32.50. Although this volume's title might suggest a biblical-theological study, it is in fact a literary-historical-sociological examination of the Read more
	The secrets of 12 spiritual masters: authors trace themes of Christian mystical tradition.(EARLY CHRISTIAN MYSTICS: THE DIVINE VISION OF THE SPIRITUAL MASTERS)(Book Review) National Catholic Reporter; 10/8/2004; Rolfson, Helen; 939 words ; EARLY CHRISTIAN MYSTICS: THE DIVINE VISION OF THE SPIRITUAL MASTERS By Bernard McGinn and Patricia Ferris McGinn The Crossroad Publishing Company, 255 pages, $18.95 A number of years ago, a correspondent inquired with some astonishment how anyone could possibly find it interesting to read early Read more
	The Graeco-Roman Context of Early Christian Literature Journal of Biblical Literature; 10/1/1999; Maclean, Jennifer K Berenson; 1063 words ; The Graeco-Roman Context of Early Christian Literature, by Roman Garrison. JSNTSup 137. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1997. Pp. 123. 24.50/$35.00. Garrison's book focuses on the relationship of early Christian literature to GrecoRoman philosophy, poetry, and cultural practices. After an Read more
	Who Are the People of God? Early Christian Models of Community Interpretation; 1/1/1998; Messick-Watkins, Rob; 264 words ; Who Are the People of God? Early Christian Models of Community, by Howard Clark Kee. Yale University Press, New Haven, 1995. 280 pp. $16.00 (paper). ISBN 0-300-07063-2. KEE IDENTIFIES FIVE MODELS that played an especially important role in shaping the earliest Christian communities: the community Read more
	The First Theologians: A Study in Early Christian Prophecy The Catholic Biblical Quarterly; 10/1/1996; McGinn, Sheila Elizabeth; 710 words ; THOMAS W. GILLESPIE, The First Theologians: A Study in Early Christian Prophecy (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1994). Pp. xiv + 286. Paper $24.99. In this revision and expansion of his doctoral dissertation, Thomas Gillespie asks what the early Christian prophets were doing when they were prophesying. Read more
	The New Testament and Other Early Christian writings: A reader Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society; 3/1/2000; Oxford, Jim Jr; 353 words ; The New Testament and Other Early Christian Writings: A Reader. By Bart D. Ehrman. New York: Oxford University, 1998, iv + 412 pp., $23.50 paper. Ehrman has collected into one volume all the extant writings generated by Christians during the first century of Christianity, approximately 30-130 cs. Read more

See all related premium articles

Related entries from encyclopedias, dictionaries, and thesauruses

	trinity The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology trinity ( T- ) being of God in three Persons XIII; ( t- ) set of three. — (O)F. trinité ... So trinitarian XVI. The earliest uses are † (1) holding unorthodox opinious about the Trinity, (2) belonging to the order of the Holy Trinity XVII; since XVIII the sense ‘relating to the ... Read more
	Trinity World Encyclopedia Trinity Central doctrine of Christianity, according to which God is three persons ... exists as ‘three in one and one in three’. The nature of the Trinity is held to be a mystery that cannot be fully comprehended. The doctrine of the Trinity was stated in early Christian creeds to counter ... Read more
	Holy Trinity Britannica Concise Encyclopedia ... one God in three persons. The word Trinity does not appear in the Bible. It is ... of the church. The doctrine of the Trinity developed in the early centuries of ... the Council of Nicaea in 325. Holy Trinity Holy Trinity Holy Trinity Read more
	Trinity Sunday The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition first Sunday after Pentecost , observed as a feast of the Trinity. It was an innovation in medieval England and spread through the Western Church in the 14th cent. The Sundays until Advent are counted from either Pentecost or Trinity. Read more
	Trinity College Britannica Concise Encyclopedia ... several departments, including economics, English, and history. Trinity participates in a cooperative exchange program with 12 New England colleges and universities. Trinity College Trinity College Trinity College Read more