Welcome to answers from an apostolic faith.
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, One God. Amen.
Today, my beloved, we continue our series on the Holy Trinity. We ask the question: What are the Biblical proofs for the Holy Trinity? Now, for those of you who have been listening to some of the videos we've recorded, the very first video, we discussed what the doctrine of the Holy Trinity is. And if you have not yet done so, I would suggest that you watch that video prior to this one. It will set the foundation for the discussion that we will have in this very specific video.
Now in the first video, we discussed what the Orthodox Christian faith teaches about the Holy Trinity: one God, which is three persons or hypostases, in one essence. But where did we get all of this information? As a matter of fact, the word Trinity does not appear anywhere in all of Scripture. So, what Scriptural evidence and Biblical passages does the Church use to explain how it formulated its doctrine on the Holy Trinity? Well, let's go ahead and see what some of those passages are.
Now, let's be very clear, my beloved. Although the Bible may not explicitly use certain terminologies and words or address specific themes, it does not mean that the implicit doctrines found within Scripture have nothing to say on certain subjects. While the Bible may well be silent in addressing specific subjects or using specific terms, when we combine what is explicitly taught within Scripture along with the wealth of knowledge that we received from holy tradition, the Church can formulate all of the necessary teachings that we have that are revealed to us by the Holy Spirit.
For instance, as we stated, the term Trinity does not appear in the Bible. But the Bible does very clearly and several times over refer to God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Let's take a look at only a few of these many cases. Let's read Genesis, chapter 1, verses 1 to 3.
'' 1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. 3 [And] then God said, ''Let there be light''; and there was light.'' (Genesis 1:1-3)
Now, in this first example, at the very opening words of Holy Scripture, we suddenly see the appearance of God almighty, the Father, the unbegotten, who is the source of everything. And then we also see His Spirit that hovers over the waters. And finally, we hear the Word of
God 1 , spoken by Him and through His Word, He creates all of the universe. This is the same Word that John spoke of in the opening passages of his Gospel when he says:
'' 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 [And] all things were made through Him, and [through] Him nothing was made that was made.'' (John 1:1-3)
So, there you have it! In the very first verse of Scripture, we see Father, Son and Spirit, the co-essential Holy Trinity. Later on in that very same chapter, Genesis, chapter 1, God does something interesting when He is about to create humanity. And Scripture says the following... Genesis 1, verse 26:
'' 26 [And] then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness...'' (Genesis 1:26)
Here we are introduced to something interesting. Although the author of the book of Genesis has always spoken about God in the singular form, he suddenly quotes God saying that He is an Us: Let Us create man in Our image, according to Our likeness. We now see a different side to God: that He is one and yet He is diverse. He is unity and yet He is community. Yet another Scriptural reference on how we understand the Trinity. And then we fast forward to the teachings of Christ Himself after the resurrection where He is commissioning the disciples to spread the Gospel everywhere and He says the following... Matthew 29, verse 19:
'' 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and (...) the Son and (...) the Holy Spirit.'' (Matthew 28:19)
His insistence that they be baptized in the name of all three, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, is a clear demonstration as to how you cannot come to know the One God unless you know Him as three persons. And this was very clearly understood by St. Paul in the very early years after the Ascension of Christ where St. Paul then begins to adopt a formula the Church uses until today to bless the people in the name of the Trinity. St. Paul teaches us the following and he says in 2 Corinthians, chapter 13, verse 14:
'' 14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.'' (2 Corinthians 13:14)
You see, my beloved, this is exactly what we use today, which we slightly modified and we commonly speak through the bishop or the priest at the end of service when we say what?
1 The Word of God, in this context, refers to the Son of God.
The love of God the Father, the grace of His only-begotten Son, our Lord God and Saviour Jesus Christ, and the gift and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all! Amen.
Another well-known Scriptural passage in support of the doctrine of the Holy Trinity is that of the baptism of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Interestingly, this feast is appropriately called in the Church the Theophany, meaning the revelation of God or better yet the appearance of God. Why do we call this moment Theophany? Well, let’s read the passage together. We read from Matthew, chapter 3:
'' 16 [And] when He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. 17 And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, ''This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.'' '' (Matthew 3:16-17)
My beloved, it seems to be very clear. Take a look at the icon on the screen. Notice how even the icons of the Church attempt to show us the revelation of God the Trinity. We see that God is revealed, because in this passage, we have the Father present through the voice that was heard depicted on the icon as that beam, that ray coming down from heaven upon the head of Christ.
We also clearly see the Son incarnate, Our Lord Jesus Christ, standing in the waters of the Jordan. And we also see the Holy Spirit, which is present in the form of the dove, descending upon our Lord. And so, here again, we have the Holy Trinity present in all glory: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. This Scriptural passage was understood as such a clear sign of the Trinity that St. Augustine says the following about it:
''Here then we have the Trinity presented in a clear way: the Father in the voice, the Son in the man, [and] the Holy Spirit in the dove. This only needs to be barely mentioned, for it is so obvious for anyone to see. Here the recognition of the Trinity is conveyed to us so plainly that it hardly leaves any room for doubt or hesitation.'' (St. Augustine of Hippo, Sermon 2.1)
What we have here, my beloved, is absolutely beautiful. Therefore, if anyone tries to tell you that the Trinity is not Scriptural, tell them to look again and to look closely, and they will see God as He would have himself revealed to us in Scripture.
Remember: Know your faith, live your faith, and teach your faith. And to God be the glory now and forever and unto the ages of all ages. Amen.