TRINITY

 Church Father Origen , in his work De Principiis, writes that in Christianity there are statements of Faith that must be believed in order to attain Salvation, and then there are such that can be debated upon. He starts his study of the necessary statements with trinitarian persons. Several Creeds of the Early Church tell us about development of the doctrine of the Trinity.

 Is there Trinity in the Old Testament? St. Augustine interpreted Genesis 1 so that Christ and the Holy Spirit participated in Creation through the Word of God and the Spirit of God. Also before the Fall man was Imago Trinitatis, who loved the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his mind.

 In Genesis 18, Abraham and Sarah had three visitors near the great trees of Mamre. First it is said, "The Lord appeared", and then Abraham... "saw three men standing nearby". Sometimes he seems to talk to one person, and then three persons. This schene is depicted in a famous icon of the Trinity by Andrei Rublev, around 1410. Three men have been portrayed as the most important Archangels, Gabriel, Raphael, and Michael. 

Robert A. Powell explains how the three Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, each represent one quality of the Trinity: Abraham, perspective of the Father, impulse of founding; Isaac, perspective of the Son, impulse of sacrifice; Jacob, perspective of the Holy Spirit, impulse of fulfilling the purpose through the sacrifice. The Old Testament is the Testament of the Father, the New Testament is the Testament of the Son, and the Book of Revelation is the Testament of the Holy Spirit.

When Jesus was baptised in river Jordan, a voice came from heaven calling him His Son, and a Spirit descended on him like a dove. The Great Commission in Matthew 28, "go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" has not been proven to be later addition in original text. In 2 Cor.13:14 St. Paul says, "May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all." And in Gal.4:6 he says, "Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, 'Abba, Father.'" In the Gospel according to John, a doctrine of the Trinity is present more perfected than in any other book of the New Testament.

Surprisingly perhaps, Trinity is present even in the Lord's Prayer. "Our Father" is evident without explanation, but the next phrase, "hallowed be your name", refers to Jesus Christ, for "God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name." (Phil.2:9) The third phrase, "your kingdom come", refers to the Holy Spirit, for "the kingdom of God is within you" (Luke 17:21) and "your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you..." (1 Cor.6:19) In fact, in  some old manuscripts this part reads, "your Holy Spirit come"! So we are not calling just our heavenly Father, but also Christ Jesus to be with us and the blessings of the Holy Spirit. Again in the doxology ("For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours now and for ever"), which is later addition but perfectly in place, we see three as one: the Kingdom, material aspect of the manifestation; the Power, one life force using material appearances and working through them; and the Glory, perfect result of this union. 
In the teachings of the late Holy Order of MANS, the law of prayer is shown in a graphical form like this:

                      

                                                                                                  

                                             FATHER                    SON

                                                         HOLY SPIRIT

 

"When you contacted the Father, you were at the uppermost point of this triangle, marked "Father." When you asked for what you wanted, you moved your consciousness from the "Father" point of the triangle to the "Son" point of the triangle. When you received that for which you asked, this is shown in the motion from the "Son" through the "Holy Spirit"--the third point of the triangle."

Theophilus of Antioch, the 6th Bishop of the Church of Antioch after the apostles, according to Eusebius, seems to be the first thinker, who formed the classical concept of the Threefold God - Fatherhood, Intelligence (Logos), and Wisdom. God as the Father in eternity gives birth to His Logos or His Son, and the Holy Spirit as Wisdom is the integrative link between the two. Tertullian in turn was the first one to use a term "Trinity" - tres personae in una substantia - Three persons in one divine being. In culture of Antiquity, idea of unity of the Three was commonly known model of thought.

A concept of the Trinity is not restricted to Christianity. An average Westerner thinks about whole pantheon of gods and goddesses in relation with Hindu religion, but beyond these there exists Brahman, the One and the Only One, the Soul of the World, from which every manifestation emanates. It is the Absolute Oneness of the opposites, that no man can comprehend, and it can be described only by saying, "it is not this and it is not that". Meister Eckhart, a Christian Mystic, also believed in the One and Undiveded Essence of Godhead behind the Trinity, which he often characterized by German word, Grunt, meaning earth, soil, ground. It also corresponds to the ideas of Philo of Alexandria, Jewish philosopher and contemporary of Jesus, who had a great influence on early Church Fathers.

In Hindu philosophy, the Highest Being can be seen in different aspects, as Trimurti. Brahma (without n) is a creative aspect, like the Father, a cosmic mind. Vishnu is preserving aspect, like the Son, a cosmic Lord. Shiva is a destroyer of the bad things for renewal of the universe, like the Holy Spirit, a trancendent Godhead.

Hindu tradition also knows philosophical concept called "saccidananda"; Late Upanishads suggest that Brahman can be defined by three concepts - "sat", existence; "cit", concsiousness or intelligence; "ananda", bliss. Keshub Chandra Sen (1838-1884) was probably the first one to unite this idea with the Christian Trinity: the Father is Sat, the very existence, the infinite God. The Son is emanated from the Father, and He is the Logos penetrating the whole Creation, Cit. In His Son God descends to the bottom of humanity. The Holy Spirit raises humanity to heaven. The Holy Spirit is Ananda, the Comforter of the New Testament. (Here I owe thanks to Jyri Komulainen and his book Guru Jeesus; Tutkielma hindulaisuudesta ja kristinuskosta - "Guru Jesus; Study of Hinduism and Christianity", published in Finland 2006 )

Vengal Chakkarai (1880-1958), an Indian theologian, saw the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of Christ or even "Jesus himself". Jesus Christ is incarnation of God, and the Holy Spirit is incarnation of Jesus Christ in human experience. For Chakkarai, Pentecost is the third phase of incarnation after the birth and resurrection of Jesus.  Instead of Jesus of history, Chakkarai places in the centre a "Spiritual Christ", present as a spirit. The Holy Spirit works silently as "inner dweller", and makes Christ present in the heart of the faithful.

Jung Young Lee, Korean theologian living in the United States, sees the oriental concept of Yin and Yang to help to represent the Trinity better than western theology. The Holy Spirit is the spirit of change, it is Yin, receptive. The Change (Creater, Father) is Yin or Spirit in relation to the Word (Son) or the centre of the creative force and process, which is Yang. Spirit is Yin, receptive to God's manifesting and saving activity, and the Creater-God is Yang in relation to Spirit, Yin. On the other hand, Spirit-Yin is the Word-Yang, and vice versa, because they both are participants in Change or Creater. All the time there is movement from unity to plurality, from one to three, and vice versa. Splitting of the unity and unifying of the splitted.
The word Tao (Way) is used in Chinese translation of the Gospel according to John, "in the beginning there was Tao", and thus it also echoes the words "I am the way, and the truth, and the life". Tao existed before the universe, as immutable first principle, forefather of all that exists, through which everything came forth, or as Laozi said, "Tao gave birth to one, one has given birth to two, two to three, and three to all the creatures."
The word Qi, referring to life force in Chinese philosophy, meaning the Breath of Life, has been used as translation for the Holy Spirit by Chinese theologian, Chang Ch’un-shen. 


Sadhu Sundar Singh, Indian convert to Christianity, had many visions, and once he was caught up to the third heaven, like Paul, and he was looking around and asked "Where is God?" He was answered that God was as much visible as on earth, since God is infinite, but Christ was there and Christ is God, image of the invisible God in heaven and on earth. And sadhu tells us how he saw like waves of light and peace streaming from Christ through the saints and angels, as if a warm water refreshing trees, and he understood that it was the Holy Spirit. 


St. Patrick used a shamrock to explain the Trinity, three equal sized leaves sticked together. We can think about water, which maintains its chemical identity whether it is in a form of liquid, or ice, or steam. When Christ unites the divine and human natures in unity of his person, he shows the distance between the Father and the Son, and how it is defeated through individual person, the Holy Spirit. Jesus is constantly living in relation to the Father, through the Spirit. Father is the principle, Jesus is an instrument of the Father, and the Spirit is the motive force of the Father. In the Act of Consecration of Man - the Mass of The Christian Community, my denomination - we repeatedly hear: "The Father God be in us, the Son God create in us, the Spirit God enlighten us." And also: "Let it be through You, who carry and organize life of the world, as You receive it from the Father and heal by the Holy Spirit in all following aeons." (These are my translations, not the official ones!)

The Mystery of His Transforming Presence

Here are some thoughts from the book When God Says No; The Mystery of Suffering and the Dynamics of Prayer (Lantern Books 2001) by Daniel Lanahan, O.F.M.

Will our prayer change God?

Once upon a time a child was talking to God. "What is a million dollars like to you?" the child asked God. God answered: "A million dollars is like a penny to me." The child then asked: "What is a million years like to you?" "A million years is like a second to me," God replied. Finally, the child boldly begged: "Could I have one of your pennies?" "Yes," God quickly responded, "but could you wait a second?"

Our image of God

Once upon a time there was a little fish in a little pond upstream who kept hearing about the ocean, how marvelous the ocean was, how magnificently wide, incredibly deep, etc. So, the little fish one day set out in search of the ocean. It took the little fish many days and nights to travel down all the streams but, eventually, the fish entered a river and finally arrived at the ocean though the little fish didn't realize it. Going up to some really big fish, the little fish asked excitedly, "Could you help me reach the ocean?" One of the large ones answered, "This is the ocean, you are in it now." The little fish was puzzled and replied, "But this is only water."

A Resurrection Parable

Once upon a time, twins were conceived in the same womb. As time passed, they grew and began to have feelings and some idea of their surroundings. One said, "Lucky are we to have been conceived and to have this world." The other said, "Blessed is the Mother who gave us this life and each other." Arms grew and fingers, legs, and toes. The twins explored their world and found the cord which gave them life from the precious Mother's blood. So they sang: "How great is the Mother that she shares all that she has with us." And they were pleased and satisfied with their lot.
Months passed and they noticed changes. "We are changing. What can it mean?" "It means that birth is coming near." Fear crept over them. Birth meant that they had to leave all their world behind them.
"If it were up to me, I'd live here forever," said one. "We must be born," said the other. "See the scars? There were others here before us. Maybe there's life after birth."
"How can there be life after birth? Have you ever talked to anyone who's been born? Has anyone ever re-entered the womb after birth? This life is absurd if it all ends in birth. If it is so, then there really is no Mother."
"But of course there is a Mother. Who else gives us nourishment and this world?"
"We get our own nourishment and our world has always been here. If there is a Mother, where is she? Have you ever seen her or talked to her? We just invented her because it makes us feel good!"
And so one complained and despaired, but the other placed its trust in the hands of the Mother. Pretty soon the twins knew that birth was at hand. They were scared. They cried as they were born into the light. Then they opened their eyes and found themselves cradled in the warm love of the Mother. All too wonderful to believe.

Five Statements

These five statements have been affirmed with some modifications by Catholics and non-Catholics for ages. (Compare to Buddha's Four Noble Truths.)

1. Suffering is part of life whether its cause is human or natural.
2. God does not ordinarily intervene in creation to prevent suffering.
3. The purpose of prayer is not to change God, but to change us to accept, transform, and be transformed by the suffering.
4. God does not ordinarily deliver us from suffering but is present with power to enable us to bear the unbearable.
5. At the end of all philosophical and theological debate over the mystery of suffering, there is only one thing that remains - to be present to the sufferer with skills to assist and comfort, and with love and faith to journey with them to victory.

Through the mystery of the Incarnation and the Eucharist we see more clearly what Paul Claudel meant when he wrote: "Jesus did not come to explain away suffering or remove it. He came to fill it with his presence." Through his Incarnation, Jesus embraced our everyday existence and made it holy by filling it with his presence. Through the Eucharist, he continues to make our everyday life sacred by transforming it with his presence.

Quest for the Holy Grail

This is a brief summary of eucharistic writing "The Holy Grail" by Father Sergius Bulgakov, published in a book The Holy Grail & The Eucharist by Lindisfarne Books in 1997. It is full of the most profound spiritual wisdom that is giving ground for thought for all Christians. I highly recommend it!

Bulgakov begins his study by referring to the Gospel of St. John directing our attention to the feature that is absent in the other Evangelists, how Jesus' side was pierced with a spear and forthwith came there out blood and water. He points out how this story is given a special significance: "The man who saw it [the beloved disciple] has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe" (John 19:35 NIV).

Later on Bulgakov explains the nature of blood: "We know that the soul of animals, the power of life of the body, lies in blood." [...]
"Blood is wholly special substance; what is remarkable about it is that psychical and material, living and nonliving being, the animal soul and body, are united in it. The blood is intermediate between spirit and body, between spiritual and material being, as their living connection." [...]
"In the act of death... With the decomposition of the blood, the animal soul perishes, dies... Only the human spirit is immortal, and it is this spirit that animates the soul and, through the soul, the body."
Then Bulgakov suggests an astonishing fact: Christ's human substance was divided on the cross, the blood and water that had flowed remained in the world, they didn't belong to the resurrected body. Christ's blood expresses his humanity, while water is the protoelement of the cosmic matter out of which the world was created in Gen.1:2, 6. Christ has the Spirit (Logos), the soul (blood), and the body (water) as in 1 John 5:8 it is stated.

Now we come to the main point: Bulgakov describes how... "The blood and water that flowed into the world abide in the world. They sanctify this world as the pledge of its future transfiguration", says Bulgakov and continues: "And the whole world is the chalice of the Holy Grail. The Holy Grail is inaccessible to veneration; in its holiness it is hidden in the world from the world. However, it exists in the world as an invisible power, and it becomes visible, appears to pure hearts who are worthy of its appearance."

What about the Eucharist? In the light of the Grail legend it becomes obvious it is not only a repetition in remembrance of the Last Supper but it is deeply rooted in Golgotha - it is also a celebration of the resurrection! This dual-unity is expressed in the Grail legend as the Grail is said to be the chalice of the Last Supper that ended up in the hands of Joseph of Arimathea and into same vessel he collected the blood (and water) out of Jesus' side. I personally find this symbolism particularly beautiful and significant!
It also reminds of Jesus' own words: "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him" (John 6:53-56 NIV).
Anyway, Bulgakov mentions that as food eucharistic bread and wine are consumed, communion has accomplished its purpose, it ends. However, the Holy Grail (the blood and water out of Christ's side) "abides in the world as the mysterious holiness of the world, as the power of life, as the fire in which the world will be transfigured into a new heaven and new earth."

The meaning of Ascension is brilliantly revealed by Fr. Sergius Bulgakov. Did Christ leave the world orphaned and emptied, he asks; Is the Ascension abandonment? Does the world have a natural connection with Christ besides the Eucharist?
Bulgakov strongly emphasizes the fact that the story of the Ascension is told only by two of the Evangelists, Mark and Luke; in John there is only an indication of the departure in the farewell conversation and St. Matthew is silent about it: Instead Matthew ends with a Lord's promise, "I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen" (Mt.28:20). Bulgakov's conclusion is therefore that "the two testimonies are equivalent or, in any case, compatible: The Lord abides on the earth 'unto the end of the world,' while, at the same time, sitting at the right hand of the Father." Here a remark from James H. Hindes, a priest in The Christian Community, might prove to be helpful: Right is usually seen an active side opposite to passive left. Thus Christ Jesus has united with that side of the Father which actively reaches out to the world!
"Heaven is not a place situated somewhere in astronomical space", says Bulgakov, "Rather, it is the metaphysical state of the perfect glorification and deification of human substance, which thereby becomes inaccessible to human perception."
The Lord appeared to the Apostle Paul even after the Ascension; in fact, His departure from the world would correspond to His total de-incarnation! The Second Coming... "does not signify the arrival from one place to another, from 'heaven' to 'earth'. Rather, it signifies a change in human beings in the case of which the Lord will become accessible to our vision." Indeed, a Greek word parousia means the presence which is revealed!

There is a connection between the Ascension and the Pentecost. The Lord said: "It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, The Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you" (John 16:7 NIV). It might be worth to pay regard to the fact that in Exodus during the journey through the desert, the Lord - identified as I AM - went ahead of Israelites in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night, just like Jesus Christ was taken up into heavens and a "cloud hid him" from the sight of disciples, and at Pentecost there came the tongues of fire. This is the etheric life force. Christ is abiding in the etheric counterpart of the earth, and the Holy Spirit is also Christ in us: when we get in touch with His aura surrounding the earth, the fire of the Holy Spirit fulfills us.

But let's return to Bulgakov once more: "The whole world is the chalice of Christ's blood and water. The whole world partook of them in communion at the hour of Christ's death." [...] "The world has become Christ, for it is the holy chalice, the Holy Grail. The world has become indestructible and incorruptible, for in Christ's blood and water it has received the power of incorruption, which will be manifested in its transfiguration" (New Jerusalem is made of precious stone, that is, ennobled, spiritualised matter). And concerning human beings: "The fullnes of the Incarnation, includes its effectiveness in nature as well (as is witnessed by Christ's miracles and the answering movements of the natural world: the star of Bethlehem, the eclipse of the sun and darkness at the hour of crucifixion, the earthquake, and so on). And by no means can one allow that human nature as such remained deaf and indifferent to the fact of its adoption by the God-man"... "Human nature is healed by the Incarnation inwardly, organically, by a new creation of it, as it were, a creation that will be revealed in its power and glory beneath a 'new heaven' on a 'new earth.'"

It is remarkable how much in common Sergius Bulgakov's ideas have with those of Rudolf Steiner's. Bulgakov's Sophiology would require a whole new story.