Yesterday, I attended a “Theology of the Body” class with workbook: Into the Heart: A Journey Through the Theology of the Body, by Christopher West, 2009. We might say that this analogy emphasizes the oneness of God at the expense of God’s three-ness. 6 Cf. 2. Only in being-for the other is he Father; in his own being-in-himself he is simply God. They are three identifiable Persons, each fully God in a manner that is distinct yet related to the others (see U.S. Catholic Catechism for Adults, 52). Contents1 Scripture1.1 I. (p. 66). Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 248. Furthermore, the human child begins to exist after his or her parents exist, whereas the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are coeternal (meaning that each Person of the Trinity never began to exist and will never stop existing: God always exists, without beginning or end). . This picture of the Spirit as the mutual love between the Father and Son goes back to Augustine who wrote: “And the Holy Spirit, according to the Holy Scriptures, is neither of the Father alone, nor of the Son alone, but of both; and so intimates to us a mutual love, wherewith the Father and the Son … However, the Father, Son, and Spirit are not three parts of God. of the Holy Ghost. In these talks, he repeatedly and forcefully conveyed the cocept of the Holy Trinity in this way (my paraphrase): "The Father eternally begets and fathers the Son. That is where we developed the use of the terms person and nature to make distinctions about God. . God created us out of love, and we are created for love. See more of Father,Son And Holy Spirit The Catholic Faith on Facebook. The living, eternal bond of love between the Father and Son is the Person of the Holy Spirit (Compendium, 48). Log In. See more of Father,Son And Holy Spirit The Catholic Faith on Facebook. Augustine, Enarationes in Psalmos68; De Trinitate VII, 1, 2.). The reason for this is that Catholics believe that God is not merely Unity (as all monotheists believe), but also Trinity. Scripture describes God as love. Is He supervisor to Jesus? Create New Account. (Introduction to Christianity, pp. or. PROCESSION OF THE HOLY GHOST That the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father has always been admitted by all Christians; the truth is expressly stated in John, xv, 26. The Holy Spirit’s relation to humankind is in the embodiment of deep, personal love between God and man. Further, “the Father loves not only the Son, but also Himself and us, by the Holy Ghost.” The love of the Father for the Son is in the Father, and the love of the Son for the Father is in the Son, and the love of the Spirit for the Father and Son is in the Spirit. In God we see the Father—the “being one” and first principal of life in the Godhead—the Son—the “knowing one”—the Word who proceeds from the Father—and the Holy Spirit—the “willing one”—the bond of love between the Father and Son who proceeds as love from the Father and Son. We are created out of relationship for relationship. A pregnant mother contains another person within her, which is similar to how the Divine Persons cannot be separated from each other. This love between the … The Son eternally returns that love back to the Father. That is often how the Spirit is described. But what does this mean? The Apostles' Creed does not explicitly affirm the divinity of the Son and the Holy Spirit, but in the view of many who use it, this doctrine is implicit in it. The story goes that St. Patrick used the shamrock to teach the Irish about the Trinity. 15, 26, 47: PL 42, 1095). The Holy Spirit is sometimes defined as the love between the Father and the Son, and when a husband and wife express their marital love, sometimes a new human person results. We might say that this analogy emphasizes the three-ness of God at the expense of God’s oneness. Jesus was the Messiah promised by the God of Israel, and that God was one God. (p. 66). I know that is how the Spirit is described in many explainations, but I don’t know if this would make a difference on a Jehovah Witness. 32, a. To take this analogy too far would be to think that God exists in three modes and can express being God in three ways. The Father is especially seen and revealed in the creation of the world, the Son is especially seen and revealed in the redemption of the world after it fell from innocence, and the Holy Spirit is now clearly seen and revealed as the one active in our lives and in the Church sanctifying (making holy) all who follow Jesus and all who seek the will of the Father. They are distinct in persons but united in one essence, which is divinity. Yet Jesus was clear when he talked about the Holy Spirit that the Holy Spirit was someone other than himself or the Father. Father,Son And Holy Spirit The Catholic … The Spirit’s Unique Relationship With the Father and the Son . The Holy Spirit is God2.2 II. The Holy Spirit is the breath of life that sustains man. The word we use to describe this in the Nicene Creed is consubstantial. a doctrine, on which the Teaching Authority of the Church has not yet finally pronounced, but whose truth is guaranteed by its intrinsic connection with the doctrine of revelation (theological conclusions). He classifies it as a sententia certa belief, which means (pp. Regarding the difference between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the theologian John Wesley said, “Bring me a worm that can comprehend a man, and then I will show you a man that can comprehend the triune God!”The study of God is the highest subject any human can ever even attempt to comprehend. Your email address will not be published. This is from an exchange on the Coming Home Network forum, where I was staff moderator from 2007-2010. that the Holy Ghost proceeds from both is seen by this that He is known as the love or sanctity of both. or. See more of Father,Son And Holy Spirit The Catholic Faith on Facebook. Log In. They are not substances, personalities in the modern sense, but the relatedness whose pure actuality . Holy Spirit, Procession, & the Father’s & Son’s Love. Also, send me the Catholic Newsletter and special offers. Provence, bet. Yes, I want the Patheos Catholic Newsletter as well, Identity Politics vs. Transactional Politics. God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit is both the Lover and Beloved and the Love between them. Augustine sees the particularity of the Holy Spirit expressed precisely in this dilemma. I love Jesus and Mary. The Love between the Father and the Son is so intense that it is a Person. We even use the familial terms Father and Son to describe two Persons of the Trinity. Jesus also promised to send the Holy Spirit to be with his disciples after he was no longer with them in his physical body (John 14:26). Thus the Holy Spirit proceeds from an act of willing in God — the mutual love between the Father and the Son, and so the Nicene Creed professes that he “proceeds from the Father and the Son”. At times the Trinity may seem like a dull doctrine, but Jesus showed us this truth about who God is to reveal God’s inner life to us. This great love of the Son of God and the Son … Father,Son And Holy Spirit The Catholic … As a Trinity, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit love one another completely and entirely. Were in the scriptures did the Apostles or Jesus speak of the doctrine of the trinity.The trinity was developed many years later,by the church fathers.The Church fathers were not there when the Holy Spirit was poured out at Pentecost.Jesus is the saving name of God.There is no other name under heaven given among men wereby we must be saved but,Jesus.The trinity puts Jesus in second place,one of the biggest lys of the,Devil. What Do Catholics Believe about the Bible? Jesus’ life was the greatest revelation to us of God’s inner life. The family is a great analogy for the Trinity. The Holy Spirit is sometimes defined as the love between the Father and the Son, and when a husband and wife express their marital love, sometimes a new human person results. At Mass, the priest’s prayers frequently mention the Father, the Son, and the Spirit as well. The Holy Spirit is the third member of the divine Godhead (Trinity) and is the essence of divine love between the Father and the Son. We do indeed find the teaching in the Catechism of the Catholic Church: 264 “The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father as the first principle and, by the eternal gift of this to the Son, from the communion of both the Father and the Son” (St. Augustine, De Trin. Create New Account. Required fields are marked *. SAINT THOMAS SAYS THAT “THE NEW LAW IS THE HOLY SPIRIT … Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness. Another analogy for the Trinity is that God is three in one, just as H2O can exist as a solid, a liquid, and a gas. Since their distinction is in person and not, in essence, they are all equal in power, authority, and nature – because they are all united in one essence of Godhead. But later theology was to distinguish clearly between these two loves. 266 "Now this is the Catholic faith: We worship one God in the Trinity and the Trinity in unity, without either confusing the persons or dividing the substance; for the person of the Father is one, the Son's is another, the Holy Spirit's another; but the Godhead of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is one, their glory equal, their majesty coeternal" (Athanasian Creed: DS 75; ND 16). A “substance” or “nature” is what something is. 2 Timothy 1:7 for God did not give us a spirit of timidity but a spirit of power and love and self-control. However, the Father, Son, and Spirit are not just modes of being. The Holy Spirit is a Person2 Tradition2.1 I. The Father, from all eternity, is making a gift of himself to the Son. Get updates from Biblical Evidence for Catholicism delivered straight to your inbox. The Bible tells us, “God is love” (1 John 4:8). After Jesus’ death and resurrection and his ascension into heaven, early Christians understood that the Holy Spirit was also God. Holy Spirit, Giver of all good gifts, grant me Your seen gifts and let Your twelve fruits ripen in me. But the Greeks, after Photius, deny that He proceeds from the Son. Yet Jesus also prayed to the Father and spoke to and about the Father as a separate Person. The result of this was that the Church developed a more sophisticated language to talk about God. The belief under consideration was developed by St. Augustine in his work, The Trinity: Book XV. Media/News Company. St Augustine once enshrined this idea in the following formula: “He is not called Father with reference to himself but only in relation to the Son; seen by himself he is simply God.” Here the decisive point comes beautifully to light. 9-10): [A] teaching pertaining to the Faith; theologically certain . However, this analogy also has its limits. “God is love” (1 John 3: 23). Recent Post by Page. There really is only one God, yet with three distinct Persons (the Father is not the Son and the Son is not the Father, etc.). This can be helpful in seeing that three things can also be one united thing. . Here are additional biblical passages that associate the Holy Spirit with love: Romans 15:30 (RSV) I appeal to you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf. It is identical with the act of giving. 2 Corinthians 6:6 by purity, knowledge, forbearance, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love. This is part two of a two part series on the Trinity. He pours our His life and love on the Son. Does anyone know the source of this quotation? For love is of the Divine Nature and the Three Persons are consubstantial. A husband and wife, no matter how closely united, are still two separate beings. Relationship is not something extra added to the person, as it is with us; it only exists at all as relatedness. Your email address will not be published. Orthodox View: Holy Spirit from the Father Through the Son. Love is truly the essence of God’s inner life. . 1450-75 (anonymous). If you were to ask each Person in the Trinity, “Who are you?” each person would answer something differently: “I am the Father;” “I am the Son;” “I am the Holy Spirit.” If you were to ask each Person, “Who are you?” you would get the same answer from each Person: “I am God.” Not, “I am a God,” as a human would say, “I am a human.” Rather, each divine Person, while not identical to the other divine Persons, is one in being with the other two divine Persons and is fully God. From their childhood, Catholics learn to pray the sign of the cross: “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”. A search for the citation on the internet revealed its source as Christopher West. . However, this analogy also has its limits. It is, therefore, to be inferred that the Holy Ghost “proceeds” by an act of love (per modum amoris). does not impair unity of the highest being but fills it out. I need a good detail explanation with Bible refers. It did not occur to him to conceive of it in any other way. . “Father” is purely a concept of relationship. Does identifying the Holy Spirit as the love that exists between the Father and the Son diminish the Spirit’s divine personhood and distinction from the Father and the Son, despite the fact that the quotation insists otherwise? . Log In. When we meditate on the Trinity, we learn the ways of Love. Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world. He claimed for Himself things that belonged only to God, like the power to forgive sins. the First Person (the Father) does not beget the Son in the sense of the act of begetting coming on top of the finished Person; it is the act of begetting, of giving oneself, of streaming forth. Reflecting on this, the Church definitively teaches that the Father eternally generates the Son and that the Son is eternally generated by the Father. Who is Jehovah? Original Nicene Creed of 325 In what sense, then, can we say that the Holy Spirit is the Love between the Father and the Son? We thus begin to live and love, as Father Leen points out, by the very life of God! When we defend the doctrine of the Trinity, we defend Love. The living, eternal bond of love between the Father and Son is the Person of the Holy Spirit (Compendium, 48). If you were to describe the Spirit’s relationship with the Father and Son in a single word it would be “procession.” While the Father is uncreated and the Son is eternally begotten of the Father, the Holy Spirit eternally proceeds from the Father and the Son. Then came the Son from Him and so God became a Father..the love between the Father and the Son is the Holy Spirit of their union as Father and Son. If so, why the trinity ie equal persons in one God? Even if one could show from Scripture that the Holy Spirit is the divine love, that He is also the mutual love of the Father and the Son would still remain to be shown. The family is united in love, and the three Persons of the Trinity live in a relationship of love with one another. Nothing compares with it; nothing can replace it in our hearts and in our minds. This, too, can be helpful in understanding that there is something about God that is one and something about God that is threefold. Obviously, a human family of three persons contains three separate human natures, not one. Because the Trinity goes beyond our earthly experiences, analogies may be helpful in understanding it. The bond of love uniting God the Father and God the Son is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is God1.2 II. When he is named by that which is the divinity of God, by what the Father and Son have in common, then his essence is just that, the communio of Father and Son. Catholics typically say the Nicene Creed at every Sunday Mass even over 1600 years later because the Trinity is so essential to the Christian faith. . 5 "The two relationships of the Son to the Father and of the Holy Spirit to the Father oblige us to place two relationships in the Father, one referring to the Son and the other to the Holy Spirit" (St Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Ia, q. Son, and God the Son, teach me Goodwill love is eternal. 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