Notes in the Course:
TRINITY: THE FATHER, SON AND HOLY SPIRIT
Lecture No. 1
Reading Materials:
Time Magazine,
Bruno Forte. www.clerus.org. Video conference on the Trinity.
Avery Dulles. “The Splendor of Faith: The Trinitarian Teachings of JP II.”
John Courtney Murray, “The Problem of God.” [Dignitatis Humanae].
Trilogy of John Paul II: Redemptor hominis
Dives in misericordia
Dominum et vivificantem
DOCTRINAL OPPOSITION TO THE TRINITY
1. Within Christianity
2. other religions – Islam
3. contemporary thinking about God
I. Within Christianity
A. Christian Misconceptions
1. Unitarian Pentecostals
- one good example is the born-again Christians
- do not agree with the biblical revelation of the triune God
- for them, they are focused on JC; thus they are Christians (JC = Father, Son and HS).
- Ergo, they are Christians but not Trinitarian. It is because the Trinity cannot be found in the Bible.
- Trinity is not a biblical term because it is coined by Tertullian.
- However, trinity has a reality, a sense in the bible.
2. Mormons –
- initially they were considered Christians
- 2001: they were discovered not to be really Christians
- started by Joseph Smith
- insufficiency of academic scrutiny regarding their theology
- their baptism is not Trinitarian though in words only
- dubium: CDF (huge divergence between baptism and Trinity)
- 4 Requirements for Valid Baptism
a) form (formula)
b) matter (basic sign/symbol – immersion)
- “being commissioned by JC, I baptize you in the name of the Father, Son and HS…”
- no true invocation of the Trinity because they don’t believe in 3 persons in one God but rather in 3 gods who formed one divinity (lesser impact if not joined together, and so they were joined)
- they use two books: Bible and Book of Mormons
- the HS is the Son of the heavenly parents
- thus, there is a false understanding of Christian Teaching
- not a heresy (i.e. half-truth) but totally erroneous (totally different religious experience)
c) intention of the minister: baptized according to their teaching which is erroneous
d) disposition of the recipient: it presupposes that he has to believe the catechism given by the Mormons to him
- What are the Churches with valid baptism?
a)
b) Philippine Episcopal Church (PEC)
c) The United
d) IEMELIF
e) United
f) Convention of Philippine
g) Presbyterian Church
h) Seventh Day Adventists
3. Iglesia ni Kristo (INC)
- opposes the biblical revelation of the Trinity
- JC is a holy man (HB); believe in the Absolute Oneness of God – Father
- He is the Word but not pre-existence [neo-Arians]
- The HS is not a person but only a POWER sent by the Father (no identity)
- The Son can be worshipped but because it is told by the Father
4. Apostolic Catholic Church
- cross between Orthodox and Catholic
- 1st
- centers on the Holy Spirit
- not even a sect but a CULT (not focus on a person)
- Banal na Ingkong
II. Other Religions – Islam
1. one Creator, omnipotent God
2. basically, we understand the underlying faith on God
3. Yahweh [Judaism] = Allah [Islam] = Abba [Christianity] (same God but doctrines vary)
4. Judaism and Christianity discovered in history the one God – eternal, creator, omnipotent; in Islam it is in creation – God the Creator.
5. Monotheism for Islam
- not only signify the unity of God; it is the absolute oneness of God which formally does away with the notion of persons
- opposite of monotheism [God as associates]
- a radical monotheistic faith (Judaism and Islam: one God)
- no theology of incarnation (attacks on any worship)
- it is unduly to study the mysteries (propensity of Christianity to try to understand God)
- dispense any reflection on God and only reflect on creation. Thus, there are no Moslem theologians.
- For them, authentic primitive Christianity is Unitarian. Christian faith corrupted the faith in one God. [Mohammed: “kwentong kutsero”]
- They believe that we become Arians (Jesus as only a prophet, but the greater prophet is Mohammed because he came later and so he perfected the works of Jesus Christ).
- It was
- They look at us, Christians, as inadequate in our faith.
Lecture No. 2
Judaism – materialistic
Christianity – spiritual
Islam – balance
“We are the last and so we are the most perfect and are absorbed.”
- impossibility of the trinity in God
- GENERAL METHOD: impossible for Allah to have a Son whether it be Jesus or someone else / use Jesus, the Son of God only metaphorically and not literally
Reasons why???
1. a living material separates from itself a part of its matter in order to produce another (semen). But in God that is not possible. God has no physical material body and so how it will happen.
2. To Allah alone belongs honor and worship and lordship and dominion. There could be no equal to God. JC is not = to the Father (in essence, son = Father)
3. graduality of actions in God: in God there’s no graduality; everything has been there in reality. God is complete in itself, no process in Him.
PARTICULAR METHOD
- proves why Mary’s son can’t be god
- it starts from JC
- in the Koran. Mary was mentioned more times than Jesus
- JC was born in a desert under a palm tree (hungry – inuga puno)
- The son of Mary could only be a HB because he was the son of a HB (no concept of Incarnation – Fatherhood of God)
- Presupposed: there was a tradition that points to Joseph as the human father
- Miracles though supernatural and rare but are not impossible (there are other people who also worked miracles)
- It was JC who discovered how to make these things possible
- Eating is the most normal way for human (points to the fact that Jesus is no different from other people) Ex. hunger and thirst [a sign of weakness, poverty, and need]
- And God can never be poor because He is self-sufficient. (Luke: Gospel of Mealtime)
- In the end, He could be destroyed (belief: JC ascended into heaven. Mohammed too in
- They did not kill, crucify but they thought He did (replace by God with somebody else. JC escaped death – the Lord will not allow his prophet to die)
- It is like Docetists (seemed to be crucified but in truth He escaped)
- Nailed on the cross yet He was not really dead
- HS: an angel (one of the angels worshipping Allah)
Contemporary Thinking about God
1. In Christianity, Trinity and God go together – F, S, and HS
- It remains a problem for the concept of God.
- We can’t simply propose the meaning of God
- We have different ideas of God so we can’t take equal terms in knowing God
2. 1 Corinthians 8:5-6
- God has shades of meaning in the contemporary world.
- 5 proofs end with: and this all we call God. (have to be adapted)
- question of relating the God of philosophy with the God of Christianity
- perfection: transcendence of time and freedom from suffering (Greeks)
a) the perfect is not confined to a period of time
b) free from suffering (associated with God: Adonis and Venus)
3. Jews (Hebrews)
- associated God with historical events
- Father: wandering Aramean
4. Christianity
- went further than that by identifying God with a “slice of history” namely the person of JC (Jesus of Nazareth: God becomes temporal).
- God has identified Himself with the suffering and cross of JC (God and suffering are not contradictories.)
- Where is God? There He is on the cross suffering with you and for you (in union with temporality and perishability – God)
2 Kinds of Antinomies that Go Against the Traditional Thinking about God
1. Theism – classical philosophical idea of God
- God as the “fullness” of being
- The Pure Act in God – there’s no potency in Him
- Neither becoming nor potency and so there is no change in God (potency to act)
- STA’s God’s relation to the world is 3 Types:
a) Rational – relationship that exists in the mind (Ex. pangarap)
b) Real – relationship that is present in both members or parties
c) Mixed – relationship is only real for one party (understood in God’s creative activity)
- The world may change but God will not because He is perfect.
- Although the world changes in His relationship with God, God does not.
- Everything flows from God in the world and no reciprocity (world can’t affect God)
- The world needs God but God does not need the world and not increase by the world
- Religious implication: DEISM (unaffected by man’s suffering: Pantokrator)
- But, Neo-thomism revise the idea of God in classical philosophy speaking of God having real relationship with the world.
Lecture No. 3
God of Scriptures vs. God of the Philosophers
a) Neo-Thomists
- real relationship by entering a deep personal relationship
- relationship characterized by MUTUALITY (not one-way relationship)
b) Process Philosophy
- Whitehead: change the category of being to becoming (a dynamic becoming)
- Ultimate metaphysical: creativity and God are not ultimate
- God undergoes this; he is a factor within metaphysical relation
- A God who is temporal, passible, able to increase in perfection
- He surrenders the classical notion of transcendence
- He is transcendent (eternal and other) and immanent (connected to the world)
- Classical: God as remote/Process: God wanted to enter in a real relationship with humanity. [revelation]
2. Antinomy of God in Modern Philosophy
- objects are objects for the subject (Rene Descartes)
- Medieval: theocentric/Modern: anthropocentric
- Cogito ergo sum (certainty on the self): “I think”
- God as a functional God (surfaced in order to save us from their dilemma)
- If God is really God, He will not deceive. Thus the notion of God is already relative.
- God = functional/relativized/relativism/atheism
- God is unthinkable because I don’t think of Him.
- It is human subjectivity what is important
- God becomes a threat to humanity
- Separates ourselves from this idea
3. Antinomy of Atheism
a) Atheism in the name of freedom
- Classical: God is over against man. He imposes norms, standards which restrict human freedom. And so, a desire for human autonomy.
- God as oppressive. God is rejected ergo so that man may be free, because he is his own god; he creates his own norms on the basis of his freedom.
- The ultimate enemy of freedom is God (Pantokrator).
- Religion is the opium of the people; false hopes
- Freedom as absolute autonomy: to do what one wants to do.
- 2 Types for the Aspiration of Freedom (Wlater Kasper: The God of JC)
i. evolutionary aspiration for freedom
- HB is seen as a child who has come in age and has no need of religionm.
- Anthropology replaces theology
ii. revolutionary aspiration for freedom
- God as enemy of human liberty: slavery, oppression, dictatorship.
- freedom as act of transcendence – anticipates total freedom
- search for freedom has always a religious root (innate longing for freedom) because God has given us freedom.
- Freedom itself is based on theology
iii. (addition) Thenomous Freedom
- realizing that the freedom of man is in no way contradictory to the existence of God
- existence of God promotes human freedom
b) Protest Atheism
- protesting vs. evil and suffering
- this is difficult from ideological problem
- the question is existential and historical (touches the lives of people)
- Moltmann: he protests because he loves – finds the link between suffering and love. And so, one becomes an atheist.
Forte
- suffering is an expression of love
- the answer to atheism is trinity
- prefiguration of Pentecost: New Testament [THE CROSS]
Movie: “Jesus in the
Documentary, Discovery Channel
Read Chapter 1 and 2.1 of the Book: “The Trinity as History: Saga of the Christian God”
by Bruno Forte
Read the article: “Show Atheist the Trinity”
by Michael Paul Gallagher
Lecture No. 4
I. The Economy of the Trinity
- The Trinity and the Scandal of Faith
(1) Trinity
- word not known in Scripture/primitive (even
- Greek Trias (triad)
a) applied to God of Christians towards the end of 2nd century
b) Clement of
(2) Tertullian employed Trinitas.
- trias/trinitas does not indicate the unity of God
- using it analogically understanding of gods of the Greeks
- not unity but COLLECTIVE meaning of the Trinity – F, S, and HS (3 persons in one God)
- try to answer the question how one God be three – ecause of 3 persons (F, S, and HS)
- not about unity but about THREENESS of God
- MONARCHIA (absolute, omnipotent, dominion of God): UNICITY – unity & uniqueness
(3) STA explains the meaning of Trinity (S. Theo. I, q. 31, a. 1): “The name Trinity in God signifies the determinate number of persons. And so, the plurality of persons in God requires that we should use the word Trinity, because what is indeterminately signified by plurality, is signified by Trinity in a determinate manner.”
(4) The word Trinity ______ to convey a content of faith, but a problem is dragged along.
- how the one and true God could be the same God proclaimed as the Father of JC: confessed God together with Him and the HS.
- In case of social issues they are together, but in moral issues they are divided.
(5) From the beginning, what was perceived as novelty, nevertheless was not the question of Trinity of God but:
- the event of the cross and resurrection
- here is the breakage with Judaism, the challenge to Hellenism
- folly to Greeks; scandal to Jews
(6) What happened so that the attention concentrated in the Paschal Mystery was moved later to the Trinity.
- a legitimate transformation?
- Or purely ecclesiastical construction? – invention of the priests or Fathers of the Church
(7) More unsettling now
- considering that in our time, the WOG itself seems not to evoke anything for a growing number of people
- Atheism: don’t believe in Trinity because not believe in God
- Trinity adds more labor to a boggling situation about God
(8) What can an abstract tern “trinity” ever suggests?
- Western Modern Culture: Kantian philosophy
- noumenon (ideal – pure ideas: can’t withstand the concreteness) vs. phenomenon (positivistic)
(9) Questions multiply
a) ______ a refusal
b) doctrine least accidental on life?
- the central mystery of our faith is also the least accidental, influential and important in our life
- Protestants: no speculation; only believe and expound
(10) Before the sad urgency of the questions, it is opportune to reenter into the origins to check the first stages of Christian adventure, not for nostalgic return, but to accomplish a verification: the normative force of the origins can avoid the drifts of the present and unlock a future hope.
II. Faith od the New Testament
- Christological Nucleus
1. followers of JC continued to form part of the Jewish religious community
2. nevertheless, publicly presented a message – JESUS OF
- implications of Jesus a SINE QUA NON for salvation
- intended to renew and not to break away with Judaism
- continuation on Page 12
EXCURSUS 1: THE MESSIAH (In the Shadow of the Temple, pp. 301 -317)
I. Opposition to Jesus being Messiah
- Jesus could not be Messiah because he failed to bring the Messianic kingdom.
- the basic Jewish criterion: bring the messianic age?
- the Messianic age is the recovery of independence and power; an era of peace and prosperity; justice and brotherly love among men; faithfulness to God and to law; personal righteousness and piety
- _______ obstacles must be overcome if we are to believe in the messianic mission of Jesus
- Common Jewish picture of early Christian messiahnism – “spiritualize” the messianic age.
- Christians agreed that the Bible referred to a messianic age that could be seen, felt and experienced.
- Mt. 11:2-6
- something concrete: “see-hear”, not to something “spiritual” and invisible
- Jews: Messianic kingdom is something concrete and not spiritualized
- NT answers to objection is surpassingly _______.
Different Kinds of Messiah were expected
-
- “Testament of 12 Patriarchs”: 2 anointed ones, one of
- Rabbinic Sources: Messiah of David and Messiah of Ephraim (victorious and dying in battles) based on Gen. 4a (blessing of Jacob) and Deuteronomy 33 ( Song of Moses)
- What about Jesus with regard to this rather complex of pictures?
- according to the descent Messiah of David (royal)
II. The Messianic Tasks
- the Messiah’s works rather on his person or his being
- in short, functional rather than ontological
- priest: Hebrews
- renewing in some well-known NT texts
- this rises the interesting question in NT, when does Jews begin his messianic work, strictly speaking.
3 Basic Answers
1. Jesus will begin his messianic work at his return, his second coming.
Summary: 2 comings of Jesus; the first is not strictly messianic if the messianic task refers primarily to restoration of outward peace and justice (Acts
- coming of the fulfillment of kingdom
- Justin Martyr (to Trypho): second coming
- 1st coming: lowly, meek, dying for sins of men
2. Jesus began his messianic work at his resurrection and ascension to God’s right hand.
Summary: Jesus executes his messianic task, “making his enemies his footstool during his reign at God’s right hand from his 1st to his 2nd coming – as the risen, exalted and enthroned one. [
- He is God’s Son because rose from the dead and exalted for the death.
- JC as risen and glorified.
3. Jesus began his messianic work when he was baptized by John.
- 1 and 2 are functional
- 3 is ontological
- the Messiah had to be anointed by Elijah
- Justin the Martyr said that it happened during that time
- Baptism as the anointing (coming down of the HS) [danger: teknon – adapted son only]
- Functional: anointed for a specific purpose (to start his public ministry)
- It was the inauguration of the messianic task. His mission includes suffering and death.
- Question: “How and when was Jesus anointed as Messiah?”
- Christians are Christians because they believe in the Lord.
- There’s no single moment lest it is progressive – KOG is instituted.
EXCURSUS 2: SON-CHRISTOLOGY (The God of JC, Walter Kasper, pp. 165 ff.)
1. The indirect Christology of Jesus = various ways
a. The Preaching of Jesus
- Christian faith started on JC crucified
- “Son of Man” (attributed by Jesus in the Scriptures)
- all biblical titles are post-biblical (after ascension: reflections on the life and encounter with Jesus)
- the center of preaching is not the person of Jesus Himself is the Kingdom of the Father [Mk.
- the message of Jesus is not only the CONTENT (novelty of it) but Jesus linked His very self with the Kingdom (not what is the K, but who is the K?)
- He is the Kingdom or the plan of God personified [Mk.
- Not explicitly called Christological titles but IMPLICT and INDIRECT Christology (spoke about the K: a hint of who Jesus is)
- In His gestures, Jesus was introducing himself directly.
- How did Jesus teach? At first glance, an ordinary rabbit but a closer examination – astonishing fact about Jesus, His teachings [Mk.
- He taught with authority; He was His won authority (not like the scribes)
- Jesus interpreted OT but went beyond that (Mt.
- Ex. “Thus says the Lord” vs. Now, I… (himself as referrant)
b. Ministry and Conduct of Jesus
- Jesus enjoyed table fellowship with sinners and tax collectors
- Table fellowship points to eschatological meals (the fellowship that will have to those far away – banquet of salvation)
- Sinners who repeated: anticipatory banquet of salvation
- Parable of the Prodigal Son: expressing the parable of the Father’s forgiving heart [Gospel within the Gospels: Lk. 15 – “lost parables”]
- Jesus was standing in the place of God. God’s love and mercy have become real here and now
- Parable: it makes one thinks (presents reality in another way/it upsets and gives moral lesson)
- John 14:9 – “To see me is to see the Father.”
c. Choice of Disciples
- Jesus was a rabbi.
- Reminiscent of rabbis choosing their disciples
- But, he was more demanding (not only journeying or being homeless with him but to embrace all the dangers in him)
- Mk. 10:28; Mk. 8:34
- He demanded a radical and whole-hearted commitment which can only be given to God.
d. The
- Jesus never included himself in the Our Father
- Thus, he enjoyed a different level of relationship with the Father
- My Father was an exclusive – a unique relationship between JC and Abba (communicable and exclusive relationship – a relationship he cannot transfer: sonship)
- My Father – Our Father
- although all of us are children of God; He is God’s Son in a special and unique way
- the Son through whom all of us become sons and daughters of the Father
- Jesus showed indirectly that He was the Son of God. Why?
- not want to feed people with wrong expectations (material alone)
- it is for them to discover, i.e. waiting for the proper moment to understand (stone to death – blasphemy)
2. The Christian thesis – it is not mere fulfillment of the law but faith in Jesus as Messiah and Lord: the person of Jesus is not a stumbling stone.
- allegiance to the person of JC
- salvation ______________________ obtain as Messiah and Lord
- salvation comes from Christ and not the law of Moses
- Jesus is a sign of contradictions (either goodbye to law or JC)
3. From the beginning the content of Christian faith expressed in a CREED.
- NT: 2 Technical Terms
a. credere – refers to the work of salvation
b. confessare – (cf. 1 Jn. 4:16:5 and Rom. 10:7)
- God has raised up JC from the dead.
- Centers the person of Jesus glorified (move from the dead)
- Was used in the cult, worship and proclamation
4. Ancient central nucleus of the credo – a Christological article – JESUS AS THE CHRIST, SON OF GOD
- Rom. 10:9, cf. 1 Cor. 6, King10, 1 Thes.
- Nucleus little by little grew
- Fr. Raymond Brown, on the gospels. Concentric order in Gospel tradition
- Then: Jesus is Lord; original Gospel – belief in resurrection (infancy was a latest discovery)
5. This confession of faith possesses a soteriological character being For us
- Thes.
- passion, burial, apparitions, (1 Cor. 15:4-5)
- 1 Pet. 3:18-19 (descent of Jesus to the dead)
- Von Batlthasar: descent to the death (Trinity)
- 1 Peter 3:22
- there is such a thing as development of doctrine or dogma (meaning remains but there is expounded to explain)
- the Bible’s content grows; this always has practical importance
- to believe in Jesus is good for you because Jesus rose from the dead for us – for our justification and salvation
- JC is the man for us
· Christian faith started in a proclamation of faith in JC.
· That JC has entered the consciousness of early Christians through the idea of Messiah
· Jesus – the condition sine qua non of salvation without which there’s no salvation and not only the Messiah
· From Jesus the Christ to Jesus Christ [his death and resurrection]
· Profession of faith in Jesus has a strong soteriological character (Jesus for us: something to do with our redemption)
6. This confession of faith possesses a soteriological character being for us.
7. Probably the oldest testimony of Christological – parting salutation of Paul in 1 Cor. 16:22 – Maranatha
- Come Lord
- The Lord comes
- A precious semantic relic, confesses Jesus crucified as the glorified Lord (Rev. 22:20; Didache 10:6)
- When Paul writing not used Greek but used original Hebrew translation (a precious relic)
- Because it confesses Jesus crucified…and awaits the return of the Lord
8. The faith of the initiates articulated in a series of events centered on the resurrection.
- primitive faith includes only Christological affirmation: Why?
- faith in God, not needed explicitly
- Only in a second moment, formulas were elaborated with 2 articles (2 Cor. 8:6; 1 Tim.
- when formulated credo only mentioned Jesus and never mention God the Father
- early Christian faith = Christological nucleus only
- basic seed of Christianity was only a Christological affirmation
- later, Christ and the Father (God of JC and the
- for Early Christian, faith in Jesus did not alter their faith in God (unless it is question no clarification presupposing everything is understood)
- not a necessity to explain: if necessary so began to explain the connection of the Father and the Son
9. Jesus did not intend to present a different idea of the God of
- yet recovered the ancient faith in a very personal style (Mk.
- Jesus supporting the idea of the OT and did not change the notion of God of Israelites
- The Lord our God is JC – the Lord alone
- Unheard intensity leads it and makes it more personal (recovered the idea)
- So Yahweh became the Father of JC (Mk. 14:36 – Abba: term of endearment for one’s natural Father)
- Mysterium tremendum et sanctum (Same God of JC) = PATERNAL YOU – He is Son.
10. Everything ergo starts with Jesus of
- with Jesus, we find ourselves before a singular fact: he is in confirmed, in profound continuity with the biblical religion and on account of this, neither provokes a surpassing
- same God, but Jesus is placed in a unique and inseparable bond with Him
11. by analogy with the ancient Church we find ourselves before a singular fact: she does not wish to modify the definition of God, but living the presence of Jesus as Glorified Lord and confessing this faith, inserts Jesus in the unique divinity of God.
- Jesus is the revelation of God.
- Jesus is the Event.
- Jesus __________ the eschatological event in which God gives the meaning of history.
- “believe that it is in their hearts but articulate it little by little”
- Jesus continuity of the Father
- Fulfillment of the OT in JC
12. As a consequence, Jesus belongs to the same being of God.
- by now, the divinity of God cannot be thought of without Him
- monotheism forms part of the steadfast conviction that in the NT, is often called as obvious and improachable (Rom. 3:29ff/16:27/Gal. 3:20/Eph. 4:11/Tim. 2:5/Jn. 17:31/Jude 25)
- you can’t think of God without Jesus and vice-versa
- not 2 gods but still believe in MONOTHEISM (radical: not 3 gods but strictly only one and no persons)
- Jesus is inserted without contradiction to the idea of God
13. now, a new obligation of fidelity and of service – the God of
- but because they belong to Christ automatically they belong to God
- their faith in God is confirmed in JC (the Father of JC is now the Lord, Protector of the Church)
- does not eliminate God’s place, God is always “the God of our Lord JC” (Eph.
- rejects the temptation to make himself equal to God (here on earth: not claim)
- the Christian faith stands or falls with the confession of the UNICITY of Jesus in relation to God and to the story of salvation and ergo with the entry of Jesus in the definition of the divinity of God – Christ is “of God”, “is God”, but because “God is Father”.
- John
- UNICITY: oneness and uniqueness [relationship to the Father]
- “To see Jesus is to see the Father.”
- All salvation comes from Christ and through the Church. [light shining in the darkness]
- Unicity and salvific unity of Jesus and the Church: from Christology flows Ecclesiology
- Faith in Jesus is faith in the Father
B. The Triadic Understanding of the Christ-Event
1) The process of the foundation of the Credo of the NT, starting with a Christological nucleus and then included the distinct mention of God, alter arrived at a Triadic formula – together with the F, S, and the HS is conferred.
EXCURSUS 3: SPIRIT – CHRISTOLOGY
Introduction
1. To discover the presence and action o the HS foremost in the life and ministry of Jesus Himself.
2. Tendency: To summarize that the Lord ceased to have a need for the Spirit after Incarnation.
3. But Scripture attests that Jesus was a mean “fully energized” by the Spirit at all moments of His life.
- needed the Spirit in an intimate closeness
- spirit’s influence ran from the Incarnation to the completion of the Paschal Mystery
I. The HS in the Incarnation
- identity that Jesus is the Son of God
- manifests and reveals that Jesus is the only Son of the Father
- shows the eternal dialogue between Jesus and the Father
- shows how humanity can participate in the sonship of Jesus
- HS: action is to anoint Jesus; the Son of Mary anointed by the HS
- “to be anointed” is to be:
a. empowered: to receive the fullness of the Spirit
b. to become mediator of the Spirit
c. to e sent full of the Spirit
- Fathers: Jesus was the door of God since the beginning of His life. He was the natural son of God.
- The intervention was not only physical but also spiritual: this is the 1st anointing
- Anointed at the beginning but be continually anointed throughout His life
- Thus, the HS molded Jesus in His divine sonship and so throughout His life can say, Abba!.
- This intimacy between F and S made possible because of the presence of the HS
II. The Spirit at the Baptism Episode: Outlining Jesus’
- this is to outline the mission of JC (Incarnation: identity)
- he grows in wisdom and K in favor of God and man
- also grew in the acceptance of the Spirit (Christology from Below)
- this “fullness” could grow at the moments of life – experiencing the Spirit of God in moments of His life again and again.
- Acts
- Starts of Jesus’ vocation
- The HS descended to Jesus (Jn.
- Lk.
- Lk.
- Lk.
- Mt. 12:27-32 – if refuse to believe in Jesus us a sin in the HS - not to claim that Jesus is the son of God and refuse to open your heart to Jesus
- Acts 10: Peter gave the summary of Jesus’ ministry which is spirit-filled and inspired ministry
- public life in miniature
- even in the wilderness, he was not abandoned by the Spirit able to control temptations
III. The HS in the Paschal Mystery
- the drama of the cross was the revelation of the Trinitarian love of God
- God the Father was suffering on the cross (Rom.
- the first to suffer because he was loosing His only Son
- it was really a lost
- God did not spare His only Son at
- Because of His love for humanity, He can’t stop
- The Son was suffering the lost of His very life – injustice being done to Him
- Gal.
- The Spirit who is God’s love in person unites the F and S in their separation (unity of the Father and the Son in their suffering)
- The Presence of the HS is obvious in passion, death and resurrection
- Citations
a) Heb.
b) Jn.
c) 1 Cor.
- “I will give you “life-giving water” (flowed from the side of Jesus given to us in baptism)
Dives in Misericordia
1. focus on mercy of God and eliminate the master-slave relationship
2. Love goes beyond justice; mercy goes beyond love – it forgives and restores!
3. restoration happens when God the Father gives mercy
4. merciful face of God: going beyond justice
5. justice and love combined is MERCY (it is not pity because mercy is “to lift up” to pity is “inferior”)
Redemptor Hominis
1. this merciful God assumes a human face
2. mystery of redemption: human and divine aspect
Dominum et Vivificantem
1. not only give charisms but a Person-gift
2. presence of Jesus is continued through the Spirit
· Christoloigcal nucleus of faith: everything started with Jesus and then direct mention of the Father, i.e. Jesus pointing the way to the Father
· The faith in Jesus leads us to appreciate the Father, will also yield to the profession of the 3rd person.
· The HS is the other paraclete to whom Jesus has promised.
· The 1st paraclete is Jesus – continue the mission
2) If we eliminate God, we take away also Jesus as His Son.
- if we eliminate Christ, we remove also God as His Father
- if we eliminate the HS, Christ is reduced to the _____ of a good yet unfortunate teacher, whose memory fades also with time.
- The One through whom Jesus is alive in our midts, the HS
- Through the HS, Jesus dwells personally with us through the HS
- The Spirit enables us to come in contact with Jesus because He is the Spirit of Jesus
- Thus, salvation continues in he world through the HS – rendered present here and now
- It is imperative that we believe in God and in JC
- The HS gives a testimony that Christ is not only an ordinary person.
- JC is the Son of God
- Through the HS, Jesus is alive in our midst
3) Through the HS, in fact, God lives in us [Cor.
- to be in Christ means to be in God
4) Generally, relateness in God decided above all according to a scheme of hierarchical and functional subordination.
- but with HS something analogical to this is seen through Jesus: the Spirit is in such unity with God that now the same divinity of God cannt be thought of without Him
- salvation is scanned from a triadic rhythm
- in the Trinity, it is not a hierarchical-functional subordination bent with the presence of the HS this is attuned because it is a SPIRIT OF LOVE.
- The Spirit is a spirit of love and communion
- Christ-event is not an isolated event but it brings us to the reality of the F, S, and HS.
5) BT, the succession is not always oriented towards this rhythm, not always wish to trace the historical structure of the salvific action of God. Sometimes COMPENETRATION (in Paul texts that reunite the three)
- the history of Christ and Spirit are indissolubly intertwined
- he comes, baptized, in the power, surrenders in cross through the eternal Spirit, rose throughout the Spirit, present now to all of us – SPIRIT
- NOW, things are reverse:
· Christ sent the Spirit upon the community
· He is present in the Spirit
· The spirit of God becomes the Spirit of Christ
· Christ sending the Spirit is now the sender of the Spirit
· We were introduced to the HS because we were introduced to Christ discovered the idea of the HS in the Christ-event. (life and ministry of Jesus)
· The history of Spirit springs from F and HS the mystery of Christ
· 3, 40, 50 days: the time of Christ is the time of Spirit – it is one-event!
· So, Easter faith and Pentecost especially belong together in a single and not differential in time
· In the history of salvation the front is the F, S and HS: not always a linear presentation but a COMPENETRATION (order is changed)
· Ex. Cor
6) Ergo, it can be understood why every single happening or event together with the story of Christ comes of being seen in the NT, in a Trinitarian scheme
- every event s already: Trinitarian’s event: “the scandal of the cross”
- accepted as anction of the Trinitarian God
- cross is the mercy of reconciliation between the Father and the So. We become through it sons and daughters in the Spirit of who dwells in us.
- With the Incarnation, it includes the passion, death and resurrection (compenetration of events)
- Resurrection as “cross over”
- In the life of Jesus, there is no division.
7) Salvific action of God in Christ finds final fulfillment in the resurrection
- only beginning from this event and from the consequent overflowing of the Spirit. God is in a total and definitive manner rereaded in the depth of His being that is, Trinitarian, also this depth becomes manifested to us in a manner completely new and fascinating in their abysmal unfathomability
8) Trinity: the fruit of the believing inmtelligence
- F, S, and HS not only defines the horizon of salvation history centered on Christ but in their unity are the one and total content of the faith
- Ergo, the Christian Kerygma is the TRINITARIAN GOD (center of the preaching of Jesus)
- F, S, and HS is God, not marginal, not accidental
9) No analogy between the revelation of the God of the NT trade known in the history of other religions
- the basis and origin remains the historical event absolutely singular of Christ
- it is not a myth nor a legend but a historical event – the Christ event
- Christianity grasped everything that Jesus presented in a historical event
10) By now, beginning from the irruption in history of this WORD of this even and of this mystery who is Christ, the divining of the God cannot be thought of other than as the divinity of the F, S and HS and this same divinity cannot appear than salvation for all of us.
- spirit brings us to JC; JC brings us to the Father
- in this consists the truth of the Gospel, that requires the unconditional devoter of faith, that acts like as sword that penetrate the innermost and as fire that tends to transform all things
- Faith: content of the faith
ONTOLOGY OF THE MYSTERY
A. From Event to Being
1. Naturally, there would be problems but this one is a unique novelty.
2. they can’t promise their belief because it belongs to the truth and power of salvation
3. difficult to believe in 1 and 3 [truth and power of salvation in JC]
4. fighting for their belief yielded an indirect historical relevant shift of attention from the economy to the ontology signified by event
5. Economy: only know His action (historical)
6. Ontology: derive His characters (theological reflections/speculations on God)
7. The creed revisions have Christological nucleus
8. In the creed, the story of JC remains but in counterpoint with other mysteries of His life
9. Ontology:
a. consubstantiality – like God
b. pre-existence (not directly taught by JC)
c. HS = eternal
10. In 200 years, the early church already were engaging themselves to a high theological reflection centered on the Paschal Mystery.
· from historical reflection (events) to vertical reflection (theologizing)
11. During the second century, the center of gravity was moved backwards.
12. the novelty goes further – treats of the ESSENCE OF GOD (from the events)
13. soteriological: Jesus was an event for us [this was united with the “in-Himself”]
14. God for us is placed side by side with the Jesus who is in Himself.
15. from Christological Scandal: passion, death and resuurection, to Trinitarian Scandal
16. concern for event is concern for essence
17. because of this shift these are also explicitated in dogmatic assertions (history of theological reflections)
18. here starts the formulation of doctrines and dogmas
19. thus, a movement from KERYGMA to DOGMA
a. growing awareness of the content of our faith
- given by Jesus are only seeds, need to historicize
b. defending the faith against heresies, persecutions, etc.
- the Church fighting for her life
- NT: see a tendency for a theological interpretation
20. It does not say that there is a radical break (only a TRANSFORMATION OF APPROACH) between economy and essence because already in the NT there’s already a theology but it yet has to be developed (attempted to answer JC in their own capabilities).
21. Dogmas/Doctrines: prolong the intention of the T by clarifying (deeper understanding of Christian faith).
22. Downside: the economy of the mystery was put into shadow of ontology
· God in himself diminished the surprise of the “God for us”
· encounter with God in theology (basis of theology is a person – the wonder & awe of the events lessened)
· the best theologians are the mystics (profession = way of life)
· intensify the “already” (ontology) and “not yet” (economy: God continue to reveal Himself.)
· God has not yet totally manifested Himself.
· Economy was not dissolved but weakened
· Not a radical capture: because a NEW RELATIONSHIP between the acting of God and the being of God (action and nature)
23. the Church continues in history: not a rapture or a break that differs in emphasis
24. Scripture is primarily HISTORY, while Theology is primarily being [but not exclusively]
25. God saves us in Christ and so He is Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Scriptures).
26. God is F, S, and HS and ergo saves us.
B. The Struggle for Orthodoxy
1. early faith in the Trinity was not really a doctrine but pastoral life (Mk. 28:19)
2. endorsing Trinity in the Eucharist
3. also in Catholic prayers
4. return to regula fides (rules of faith)
5. Irenaues – CREDO
6. TRENDS (non-trinitarian)
a. Judaic Monotheism
- only one God and that God was Yahweh
- He had a MONARCHIA unity in Himself
- emphasizes the primacy of the Father
b. Pagan Philosophies
- Prepared for Arianism (the way) and also subordinationism
c. Gnostics
- gave birth to Modalism and Sabellianism (the 3 persons are only 3 modes actually there’s only 1 person)
- also have Patripasionism – on the cross Father and Jesus are One, it was not Jesus who suffered but it was the Father
- also the heresy of Tritheism
-
- He had a MONARCHIA unity in Himself
7. under these polemic pressures the Church was forced to clarify proper doctrine and defend against heresies
8. theologians give only partial answers because even themselves try to grapple in order to express it
9. Origen, Tertullia, Clement of Alexandria: 325 (council of
· controversy – coexistence and cosubstantia [there was a time that the son was not…]
· solution: homoousious
- Jesus is equal to the Father
- immediacy that is equal
- personal and intimate dialogue between the Father and Son
· this signals slowly the entry of philosophy into the language of the church
THE MYSTERY OF THE LIVING GOD BY WAY OF THE CHURCH
(Gilles, Anthony. The People of the Creed)
1. Dei Verbum 4: Christian economy = new definitive covenant will not pass away (never)
· there’s no need for a new public revelation
· how to handle private revelations?
- only helps us deepen our faith in JC
- they may be used or not
- present in Scriptures and Traditions
· pilgrims (Church) continue to contemplate on the face of God until we meet God in heaven (bearing of Tradition and Scripture)
2. Different Centuries in church history
A. 1st and 2nd centuries
- merely preparations for the 3rd and 4th centuries
- theologically speaking there is nothing eventful
- of course, there are persecutions
- 3rd and 4th: give many difficulties and challenges
- apostolic Church: a Jewish Church
- so confronted with the Graeco-Roman world
- how to proclaim/prose Jesus to people who are pagans and philosophers
- 1st century: translating their faith into Hellenic language
- 2nd century: contend that Christ is Lord (divinity of Christ) – homoousios/consubtantial
- the 1st heresies were Christological and not primarily Trinitarian
a. Jesus was a man with a tremendous knowledge of God, but He was just one of us – man.
b. Marcionism – there are 2 gods (OT and NT): “The Old God is a vindictive God and NT God is a loving God in the face of Jesus.” [punshing vs. good and compassionate]
· change of personality of God
· this God has a change of heart
- defense: Trinity – Justin, Athenagoras and Irenaeus [practical level and not doctrinal]
a. Liturgy
· example. Baptisterium – it attracts converts and teaches the Trinity
· the best answer is liturgy – baptismal formula which is the 1st formula outside Scripture from which they give assent of faith - SYMBOLON
b. Creeds
· this is seemed to be appreciated
· symbolon – creed itself (content of it)
· basic necessity for salvation is willingness to accept the faith
· Types of Creed (Nicean creed: combination of all)
i. Trinitarian
ii. Christological
iii. Pneumatological
c. Martyrdom – willingness to die for the Father, Son and Holy Spirit
B. Third and Fourth Century
- question: Is Jesus truly God?
- those who answered this question: priests – on their own capacities and not officially convey God’s experience to the people questioning
- What were some of the heresies?
a. Fotimus of
· Jesus was nothing more than a man who received divine power
· If ever He would be a Son – he is only an adopted son, and i.e. Adoptionism
b. Modalism
· it is a common mistake of our understanding of the Trinity
· one God and 3 functions of God in the different epochs of history
· Father: OT, Son: NT, and HS: XX
· Related to Sabellianism – changing masks
c. Subordinationism
· 3 persons with different masks – unequal
· superior God and 2 subordinates
· one God: greatest (great and greater)
· real God is the highest person
· basically from the absolute distinction of the Trinity (one person differs from others)
- Catechism of the Catholic Church’s REAL RELATIVE DISTINCTION
· focus on RELATIONSHIP: where one person is they are present
· there is an appropriation of relation where functions not separated from one another but only an illustration for easy understanding and not exclusively a prerogative of each in performing their own function
· thus they are one in operation
· it also focuses on the relations in origin where the Father is the origin of the Son while the HS is from the Father and the Son
· the backdrop is eternity which has no beginning and no end; it is not a temporal framework
· it manifests therefore not only the origin itself but also see the background
- How did the Church respond to this?
a. Apologists: explaining and defending the meaning of the Christian faith
b. Western – Tertullian and Hippolytus
· Tertullian already spoke of the Trinitas and invented the name tres trinitas
· Tertullian: there is one substance in God and use various images
· Ex. an apple tree (root, branc.trunk and fruit)
· Ex. spring of water – river – different channels
c. Eastern – Origen and
· appreciate the eternal generation of the Son by the Father under the influence of LOVE (motion and movement)
· Jesus as generated and not made
C. Sixth century – Arianism and Macedonian Crisis
ARIUS
- the eternal word was at some point created by the Father and so not equal with the Father
- there was a time when the Son did not exist
- noble intention: to preserve the absolute oneness and indivisibility of God (if God is One and so how come there are other persons)
- as God: simple, unchangeable, One, incommunicable and impassible
- Yes, the Son is a creature for him but He is the first of all creatures – the transcendent creature
- Iglesia ni Kristo: neo-Arianism
- factum sed primum: the rest of creation followed from the Word
- unknowingly transforming Christianity to Platonism (emanation)
- 2 Things He Cannot Accept (Implications)
a. that God became human
· what was common/carnal became part of the divinity
· a sign of God loving humanity
· could not fathom a God who loves creation by being part of it through Incarnation
b. can’t accept the Christian view of salvation
· salvation can come through a creature
· intersection between divinity and humanity
· salvation: interplay of creation and divinity
· dialogue of salvation initiated by the Father
- And so, Jesus was not God. But he can be imitated – not divine power but a MORAL POWER, a moral strength.
- So Jesus can’t saved us but only INSPIRE is with his good example and perfect example
- His works are not salvific and so He can’t redeemed us
- Arians came to
- Council of
o find scriptural passage/formula between the relationship of the Father and Son but they can’t find
o one solution is an unscriptural word which is HOMO OUSIOUS – the Son of the same substance with the Father (one in essence) [this is the crowning achievement of the council]
o and so, frame the Nicaean Creed
o as seen by Athanasius, Arians are wanting to return to POLYTHEISM, why?
a. “Jesus as lesser God.” (emanation)
Ø thus there is a whole galaxy of gods and intermediaries
Ø but for Athanasius, Jesus has the fullness of divinity
b. recognized the importance of Nicaean for the doctrine of salvation
Ø if Jesus is not divine as the Father and so he lacks the power to save humanity
Ø only the Creator can create – only God can make us godlike
o this Trinitarian controversy is expressed and addressed on the CROSS
MACEDONIAN CRISIS
- the most difficult topic is the Holy Spirit
- another problem: HS is not God; not another person but may be the power/spirit of the Son and the Father
- expouresis – inferior to both Father and Son (proceeding). This is an Arianism in another form.
- Pheumatochians (those who war against the HS)
- Reflections on friendship – Gregory of Nyssa and St. Basil [CAPPADOCIAN FATHERS]
a. St. Basil
· explained the two words: ousia (substance) and hypostasis (person)
· same ousia but differs in hypostasis, they share it but not in the sense of division
· contribution: redefined the two words
· ousia – is that which was general and indefinite (divinity itself)
· hypostasis – admits of distinction
· PROOFS
i. HS is divine because in Scriptures the name “Holy” is inseparable an title of the HS. (only God is Holy)
ii. The Spirit is Holy by nature = sanctifier
iii. The HS is divine because performed divine actions, and i.e. bestowing gifts on humanity (charisms) and give the highest of all gifts – GOD.
iv. Baptismal practice – ultimate proof (Glory to the F, with the Son and together with the Holy Spirit…)
b. Gregory Nazianzen
· he elaborated the ideas of St. Basil
· trinity as interrelationships, an intercommunion [a relationship with unity/real relationship between persons]: RELATIONAL SENSE
· there is one God but not solitary but a communion of persons
· John Paul II: The Trinity is family. God ergo is not a monad.
c. Gregory of Nyssa
· Problem: when we describe the trinity we use finite words but God is infinite
· All our definitions of the Trinity run short.
· Theology is subsumed in liturgy which is a vehicle for contemplation – Easterners.
· Ergo, for them (the 3 of them) LITURGY is the bedrock of our Trinitarian dogma and by consulting the faith of the people.
· The 3 understand
D. Council of
- supplement
- Why only now? Because it is only during this time that the question is being raised.
- Not a new creed but a revised creed
- Thus, we call it as a Nicaean-Constantinopolitan Creed
- POINTS to consider:
| COUNCIL OF | COUNCIL OF | BASIS |
| Son of God become incarnate… | Et incarnatus est de Spiritu Sancto ex Maria Virgine | Emphasizes the full humanity of Christ |
| will come to judge the living and the dead | add “in glory” and “his kingdom will have no end” | 2 Cor. 3:17; 2 Cor. 3:6 |
| We believe in the Holy Spirit | a. Lord and life-giver b. proceeds from the Father (Son) c. worshipped and glorified d. spoke to the prophets | Jn. 15:26 Athanasius – Father of Pneumatology 2 Peter 1:21 |
| | We believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church…acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins | comes from local congregations or communities |
· implications: human spirit – LOGOS takes over and undermined the humanity of Christ
· Jesus is Word made flesh: true God and true man even in heaven
· Filioque – Council of
· God for us – La Cugna
C. Augustinian Speculation
1. based trinity on theology itself (heavily reflections and speculations)
2. from salvation history (biblical theology) to speculative theology
3. before: Father. Son and HS = GOD
here: God = Father, Son and HS
4. “persons flowing through the unity of God”
5. they are not three persons as “triple” but rather TRINITY – a unity before the Trinity
6. the Trinity always acts as a single principle; each person is coherent in the other
7. perichoresis – mutual indwelling (each of the persons of the Trinity becomes present to one another – a total immediacy)
8. thus there is unity in God; inseparableness
9. there is also an appropriationi – attribute to each person the role that concerns him in the economy of salvation
· the roles proper to them in the work of salvation
· appropriating only highlights to that person his mission
· through appropriation we would see relations (e.g. Son is son because he relates to the Father)
· we can only appreciate the persons because of the relationship that happened to them
10. thus in God there’s always a relationship – He is a relational God (appreciate the meaning of the persons)
11. in God, they are always equal
12. reaction to heresy determines the method
13. here there is a less discussion in the hypostases (this is the loophole of this approach)
14. Augustine does not want to use the word “person”
15. Tertullian: analogy in creation; Augustine: analogy in man [psychological analogy of the Trinity]
a.
|
human spirit - memory b. knowledge of himself - intelligence
c. love of himself - will
16. thus from a single person you can have a grasp of the Trinity
17. De Trinitate – still based on salvation history and the Bible
18. this approach also preserves the Jewishness of faith – the mystery of God which admits that in the end Life in God is a mystery!
19. this approach too started the whole range of continuous reflection on the Trinity
D. The Oriental and Occidental Theology – QUESTION OF THE FILIOQUE
1. Misconceptions in Translation
a. Anselm: We believe in 3 persons and 1 substance but Greeks believe in 3 substances and 1 person [a mistake on the part of Anselm]
b. Jerome was also scandalized.
c. Open minds – not show preoccupation with this difference
2. they differ in formulae but there is equivalence in meaning
3. Filioque Controversy
a. linguistic
b. way we consider God (think about God)
4. The two theologies may be substantially different but they have COMPLEMENTARITY.
5. Contemplation – being in the presence of Goid
6. Protestants have not so much of theology because for them Trinity is strictly mystery. (except Jurgen Moltmann)
7. Main Point: the West just imposed and did not consult the East by passing what they agreed upon during the Council of Nicaea
8. Trinity and the Contemporary Time
a. Trinity and Ecology
b. Trinity and the Poor (Liberation Theology by Leonardo Boff)
c. Trinity and Feminism (rereading of the Trinity in the mind of feminists – God the Father-Mother, Son and Spirit)
d. Trinity and the Modern Person
9. Read the Book The Trinity as History pp. 118 – 130
E. The Trinity as Intra-Divine Life Dialogue
F. Economic and Immanent Trinity
1. Economic – revealed in salvation history
2. Immanent – analogies from created reality
|
| EASTERN CHURCH | | ||
| Greek/Orthodox | Latin/Catholics | ||
| Epitomized in the Cappadocian | Finds its zenith in Augustine | ||
| 3 hypostases + 1 ousia (substance) | 1 substance (God) + 3 persons – Tertullian - it was used in - the intention is good but there would be linguistic problems - in fact the meaning is the same - the word persona is used by Modalism & Sabellianism | ||
| Contemplate God: as one objective being in 3 objects of representation/meditating on what they pray (monastic spirituality) | 1 object with 3 subjects – “thinking mind in laws and system” | ||
| Approach: Admiring the mystery | Understanding the mystery | ||
| View of God: Objective optic (3 objects within the one object) | Subjective optic (pray to God From a subject to subject) | ||
| - encountered God in a vision or contemplation - filled with awe of God (admire) - while praying they are assimilated to God - theory of Deification | - mostly intercession - approach God in terms of communion - dialogue/unity with the other person | ||
| Representation: presents the 3 persons in a linear way [Father, Son and HS-set by the F through the Son] |
  Triangular (emphasizing their equality and oneness) | ||
| Prove immediately that the Son receives the Spirit from the Father – power to send the Spirit - secondary: whether the F and S sent the Spirit | Common spiration between the Father and the Son “the procession is spired” (breathes out) - secondary: whether the Son received the power; Father and Son then together breathe out the Spirit | ||
| | It follows psychological analogy (Augustine) - puts the Son first and the HS later - JC = divine intelligence (Logos) - Spirit = Love (will of God) - Son = knowledge of the Father – BIBLE - Focus on God is ONE except that there are relations - Unity of God = opposite relations - Generation – Son; Spiration – Spirit - Son and Spirit coming from the Father which has eternity as background |
|
We believe in one God
the Father, the Almighty
maker of heaven and earth
of all that is seen and unseen
We believe in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
Eternally begotten of the Father
God from God, Light from Light, True God from True God
Begotten not made, one in being with the Father
Through Him all things were made.
For us men and for our salvation, he descended from heaven
By the power of the Spirit he was born of the Virgin Mary, and became man
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate, suffered, died and was buried.
On the third day he rose again,
in the fulfillment of the Scriptures, he ascended into heaven and
is seated at the right hand of the Father
who will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead
and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord, the Giver of Life
who proceeds from the Father and the Son
With the Father and the Son,
He is worshipped and glorified.
He has spoken through the prophets.
We believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.
|
Credo in unum Deum
Paterm Omnipotentem
factorem caeli et terrae
visibilium omnium et invisibilium.
Et in unum Dominum Iesum Christum
Filium Dei Unigenitum
Et ex Patre natum, ante omnia saecula
Deum de Deo, Lumen de Lumine, Deum Deum verum de Deo Vero
Genitum non factum, consubstantialem Patri
Per quem omnia facta sunt
Qui propter nos homines et propter nostram salutem, descendit de caelis
Et Incarnatus est de Spiritu Sancto ex Maria Virgine, et homo factus est
Crucifixus etiam pro nobis sub Pontio Pilato, passus et sepultus est
Et resurrexit tertia die
secundam Scripturas
Et ascendit in caelum
sedet ad dexteram Patris
Qui iterum venturus est cum gloria iudicare vivos et mortuos
cujus regni non erit finis
Et in Spiritum Sanctum
Dominum et vivificantem
qui ex Patre Filioque procedit
Qui cum Patre et Filio simul adoratur et conglorificatur
qui locutus est per prophetas.
Et in unam, sanctam, catholicam, et apostolicam ecclesiam.
Confiteor unum baptisma in remissionem peccatorum.
Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum et vitam venturi saeculi.
AMEN.
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