The long season of Trinity begins with Trinity Sunday and as we live through this second half of the Christian year, whether we recognise it or not we daily confess the Name of God, the Trinity (Trinitas), and clearly distinguish ourselves not only from pantheists but also from monotheists, even from Jews and Muslims.
In the New Testament the word "God" virtually always refers to "the Father", that is "the Father of the only-begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ". Likewise in Christian liturgy the addressing of "almighty God" virtually always means the addressing of the Father, who is approached in the name of Jesus Christ, the Mediator.
Thus "the Father" is a name that is inextricably part of the Christian Faith, Revelation and Vocabulary, and with it there is everlastingly associated "the Son" and "the Holy Ghost/Spirit". In this threefold Name Baptisms are performed and Blessings are given.
In Christian Tradition, from as early as the second century, the unique name of the Deity worshipped, adored and served by the Christian Church has been TRINITAS, the Trinity (and thus "the Holy Trinity" and "the Blessed, Holy and Undivided Trinity"). The choice of this word was made necessary as the Church confessed that the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost are God, one God, one LORD.
The Trinity is not a description of Deity but is the unique Christian Name for Deity, for the one Deity & Godhead. Hereby the identity of Deity/God for Christians is immediately seen to be different from, even if related to, the identity of God for Jews and Muslims.
Jews, Muslims and Christians reject polytheism and are committed to monotheism. But for Christians the belief in One God is belief in one Deity, Divinity and Godhead, which is wholly possessed by Three Persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. Thus Christians worship a Trinity in Unity and a Unity in Trinity: they adore the One Deity and Godhead as they also adore the Persons of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, in each of whom this one, only Godhead is fully possessed and manifested.
The confession of Jesus of Nazareth as the Christ and as the Son of God incarnate is the divine key that opens up the possibility of identifying the Godhead as Triune, as the Trinity. For the Trinity is known through the personhood, teaching and divine activity of the Lord Jesus Christ.
To confess Jesus as Lord and to state that he is of one substance (essence or being) with the Father is to make the first step in confessing the Trinity.
To confess the Trinity is to begin to be Trinitarian in mindset and in worship! It is to worship, serve and obey the Father through the Son and with the Holy Spirit and also it is to receive mercy, grace, gifts, knowledge and understanding from the Father through the Son and by the Holy Spirit.
The Rev'd Dr. Peter Toon M.A., D.Phil. (Oxon.)
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