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!)

Thoughts after the School Shooting in Finland

Yesterday Finland rose to the Headlines globally, and unfortunately in a tragic way. I won't repeat the story and I don't try to speculate the reasons...
Violence is never acceptable, yet I may have a point of view which some people might find offensive, and I'm sorry for that but it has to be stated too: If it is true what was said, that the shooter was harshly bullied at school, then - in a strange way - I can sympathize with him.
For me the last three years at primary school - at the ages of 14-16 - were just living hell, every single day! I was quiet and that was enough to make me a target. I can affirm that no punches hurt like words - they make deep wounds which take time to heal, perhaps the rest of your life! The Student Counsellor treated me as a problem. Teachers just laughed at the bullies and their ongoing joking in the class-room. They didn't see or didn't want to see what was going on. So, you could say they were partly responsible.
Somehow I managed to survive through those three years but immadiately after that I got very depressed and wanted to kill myself. However, I was not left alone and I got help. Since that one fall and winter I have never been depressed again and suicide would be totally out of the question. For same reason my younger brother later stopped going to school for good and completed his degrees from home!

Much has changed in my life - not least the fact that I found that "one special person" by my side. My self-esteem was crushed for so many years and I was convinced that I'm ugly and nobody could love me. Making friends and trusting people is not easy even today.
Over twenty years have passed. Last year there was a class re-union. I didn't go. I e-mailed to my old buddy that I would only come with a bomb. That was a bad joke of course. I never recollect those days. Never! If sometimes a memory comes to mind, I feel anger and I've even had killing fantasies at that moment. The only way I was able to protect myself back then, was to withdraw to my own inner world. I didn't allow myself to show that I was hurt. I cried alone at home and in turn treated my younger brother badly - thing I regret the most in my past! I didn't want to admit to any adults that I was bullied so much, because I felt it was my weakness! And another defence mechanism I created was to start to think that I was in fact intellectually above those who bullied me!

What comes to the extreme world view of the shooter, like idealising Hitler and Stalin... Well, on my behalf I can say I have learnt to understand the conclusions upon which Anton LaVey based his satanic philosophy, according to which there is no Supreme Power above man; man is just the highest animal; Satan is a symbol of his bestial side; The weak shall perish and only the strong survive, and so on. I'm not saying I believe any of that - no way! And neither this is to suggest that an average satanist is not a decent citizen just as much as any atheist!
However, when such a tragedy occurs, there is another perspective to be considered seriously: The sphere of invisible forces that effect our material world and some of which we can call demonic. Person who is able to do an evil act like that, is not quite himself - his I amness is ousted and he's "possessed". It is indisputable fact that there is a connection between similar acts in America and elsewhere, only it's not on material level but spiritual. One could imagin it's like a supernatural virus infection. I think those who lack the spiritual concepts of world and man in their thinking, are more vulnerable: For instance, young people who can't find any meaning of life.
We need to put on a full armor of God as St. Paul says in his epistle, because the dragon was hurled to the earth with his angels (Rev.12).

I'm happy in my present day life and my attitude towards the future is positive. Only my past is shadowed by the dark cloud. Even though I sincerely believe I have needed also all those painful experiences to become the one I am today; An easier life could have made me a shallow person - a kind I wouldn't like. As a christian, "love your enemies" and "forgive those who have tresspassed against us", mean the world to me, and God knows I have tried! But being a christian does not make you less human.

What I am trying to say is, obviously that person was a very disturbed young man and there is absolutely nothing to justify what he did... And at the same time I can possibly comprehend what kind of circumstances led him to the dead end. It could have been me in the 80's. It might be anyone who's been bullied hard enough, long enough, til something irreplaceable finally breaks in one's soul and the hell is breaking loose - the same hell one has been living in... When the vessel is broken it can no longer hold the contents.
How about a little bit of Compassion to the school life - to the lifes of each one of us - in stead of competition, criticism, comparison..?

Nowadays News reach the whole world in no time at all - bad news even faster, and it seems as if the bad news were the only good news. Is this constant flow of images from wars and disasters - not to mention the violent movies and games we call entertainment - made us to get used to it all, so that if something is to catch our attention and make us care at all it has to be huge? Minor personal tragedies happen everyday, everywhere, they just don't make it to the news and even if they did, they don't touch us; we have seen too much already. And the world didn't stop this time either.
Modern world is becoming increasingly artificial, effective, and faster. I know what I am talking about. I only need to look back to my childhood in the 70's.
In my early years we didn't even have a television, and when we got it, it was black and white and there were only two channels in Finland at the time. I didn't have much toys but I practised my imagination a lot. And my mother taught me to love books. One memory I cherish is when we had relatives visiting and ex tempore we made up a play of The Sleeping Beauty; Both adults and children alike were participating joyfully and we had so much fun!
Now there are TV-channels more than enough, children's cartoons are full of "Crash! Boom! Bang!"-action, and if nothing is on TV there is always DVD. They have plenty of ready-played plastic junk as toys. Almost everyone in Finland has a mobile phone (even I think my friend who doesn't want one, is just being difficult!). There is internet and console games. Don't tell me it doesn't effect children! This is why I very much support steinerpedagogy - my heart tells me it's right!

I just learnt that Finland is ranked third among the most-armed nations: I have never seen a real gun in my life!

Tonight I will pray for the victims and I will also pray for the killer - a kind of victim too. And he will have to face the results of his action in the Afterlife and that's not going to be easy! He has created his own hell - that's the only hell there is, a state of mind. His victims instead will be embraced by the angels and passed loved ones, in their tender and loving care!
Those of us who believe in reincarnation and karma, know that the consequences of his action won't end in the spiritual world - the bitter fruits of his deed come back to himself and he will reap what he sowed here on earth. It will come as a lesson to learn, an opportunity to grow, tough love as Lord will use his rod and staff as stated in Psalm 23.

His parents were threatened after the incidence and they needed police protection; For heaven's sake - did they not lose their child, too?! As if they didn't have a right to grieve in peace. Like it woudn't be enough that they must be accusing themselves and feeling shame. Local people were quoted saying that Jokela is such a small place where everyone knows each other - as if it was a good thing: I grew up in a place like that and it was distressing. People were nosy and gossiping and they thought they knew you! Lord have mercy, if you are somehow different - or feel different.

I don't believe that violent death is God's plan for anyone, it is always premature and meaningless; but that's exactly why it will be balanced for the victims of such a death in the future and their cups will overflow with gracious happiness, and they may be born again rather soon (usually we would talk about hundreds of years in earth time, between death and new birth). I know this won't comfort their families. I can only say: may God bless them.

For a few days afterwards I was feeling distressed; Am I a bad person, because all I could think of were my own painful experiences? Then, in The Act of Consecration of Man, I felt just immensely relieved: Christ Jesus took my burden away. And after that I met a friend of mine, with whom I was able to talk about the issue; He had similar experiences and feelings, so he understood me, unlike my partner (whose love is my primary source of comfort anyway, right after the love of my Lord).