Trinity

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Trinity

Throughout Christian history various schools of thought have wrestled with the difficulty of explaining how belief in Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (or Holy Ghost, in the wording of the King James version of the Bible) as three divine persons could be consistent with strict monotheism. The word "trinity," derived from the Greek trinus, which means simply "threefold" or "triad," is not found in the Bible. Many argue, however, that the idea can be inferred from scriptural passages, and in addition, Trinitarian references appear as early as the second century in creeds, doxologies, and confessions of faith. Theologians try to think through the issue, but most say that the concept is essentially a mystery—that is, something not discovered or cogently demonstrated by unaided human reason. Such an idea was revealed, and even though it is above reason in origin, it is not contrary to reason when people reflect on their beliefs.

Most Trinitarian discussions are Christological, centering on some aspect of the nature and work of Jesus Christ. As various thinkers tried to retain belief in the exclusively monotheistic God of Israel and yet exalt Christ as Messiah, they put forth various theories. When a majority of church officials endorsed a viewpoint, it was held to be "orthodox," but when they rejected others, those unacceptable alternatives were labeled as "heresy." Christological controversies were particularly noticeable in the early centuries of Christian development. In all their complex variation, discussions revolved around two basic questions: Was Jesus so divine as to be equal to God? If Jesus was fully God, had he ever been completely human, too?

Some thinkers in early Christianity felt that deifying Jesus would compromise the monotheistic strictures inherited from Judaism. Consequently they adopted various theories that held Jesus to be the Messiah but not one to endanger belief in only one deity. The most sophisticated version of this approach, early in the fourth century, was called Arianism. Such thinking acknowledged Jesus to be a supernatural savior whose nature was higher than even that of the angels. But he was not completely the same as God. Since only God was preexistent, they held that Jesus had been created, an entity superior to all other creatures but still a made thing who was secondary in origin and capacity. Arians revered Jesus in their hope for salvation, but they refused to invalidate God's exclusive place by equating Jesus' existence with it. Their opponents insisted that the two references were interchangeable and did not compromise monotheistic loyalty.

Debates yielded no resolution of these perspectives, and ideological strife sometimes spilled over into social unrest as well. Eventually the Roman emperor Constantine I tried to end factionalism by calling the church's bishops together at Nicea in 325 and urging them to determine a single theory for everyone. The resulting Nicene Creed rejected Arianism in favor of a more inclusive Trinitarian view. The preponderant opinion at Nicaea held Jesus to be not a creature but the only-begotten Son of God, light derived from light, true God in himself and the same as the true God from whom he came. Using a significant theological term, the council declared Jesus to be "of one being" with the Father, sharing the same essential nature while manifesting a separate personage in the created world. After 325, then, orthodox theologians accepted the formula of the Trinity, the Godhead as one substance that disclosed itself in three distinct forms. The Nicene Creed has never fully explained what the Trinity actually is, but it shows where alternative formulations are inadequate.

The Holy Spirit usually receives less attention than the Father and the Son in most Trinitarian thinking. But a controversy involving the third person of the Trinity came to a head in the eleventh century. The Nicene formula originally stated that the Holy Spirit (in some translations referred to as the "Holy Ghost") emanated from the Father; Greek or Eastern churches maintained that wording through all the centuries. But sometime during the eighth century, Latin or Western churches began to say that the Holy Spirit emanated from both the Father "and the Son." Arguments over that additional phrase, "Filioque," were symbolic of many other tensions that existed between Greek and Latin ecclesiastical authorities. These differences split the churches into Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox segments in 1054. Western churches still recite versions of the Nicene Creed, which says that the Holy Spirit "proceeds from the Father and the Son" in its Trinitarian formulation.

The vote at Nicea rejected Arianism but did not end it. There have been thinkers in every age who have perceived God as a single unit and have placed the Messiah figure in a subordinate, though still important, position. Such ideas found some backing in sixteenth-century Hungary and Poland. But modern emphases on the unity of God became strongest in England and America. Beginning with anti-Trinitarian writings in the seventeenth century, Unitarian convictions appealed to a growing number of English Christians. In 1774 those believers formed a separate denomination, relying on the leadership of such clergy as Joseph Priestley.

Priestley immigrated to the United States in 1794, but the roots of American Unitarianism lie elsewhere. Liberal thinkers in New England Congregationalism such as Jonathan Mayhew and Charles Chauncy had already begun developing a perspective that stressed moral goodness and improvement rather than human depravity and divine rescue. In the early nineteenth century William Ellery Channing furthered this more humane, optimistic viewpoint through his pulpit eloquence and social polish.

Ideas and emphases such as these resulted in the formation of the American Unitarian Association in 1825. Denominational adherents were inclined to pursue individual virtue and greater social justice, but their opponents insisted on saying that their chief feature was denial of the Trinity. While the label remains in force, Unitarians have rarely made much of anti-Trinitarian convictions. Most of them refer to Jesus as simply a moral exemplar, and this modest role calls for nothing more than a human figure. With concepts about salvation wherein Jesus is expected to give encouragement, not supernatural grace, the idea of a Trinity is more subordinated than openly denied. This denomination has continued to flourish in contemporary America.