Where does the word "Trinity" come from?
It comes from the Latin word trinitas, which means "three" or "triad." The Greek equivalent is triados.
When was it first used?
The first surviving use of the term (there may
have been earlier uses that are now lost) was
around A.D. 170 by Theophilus of Antioch, who
wrote:
In like manner also the three days which were
before the luminaries, are types of the Trinity
[Τριάδος], of God, and His Word, and His wisdom.
And the fourth is the type of man, who needs
light, that so there may be God, the Word,
wisdom, man [ To Autolycus 2:15].
What is the Trinity?
The Church expresses her trinitarian faith by
professing a belief in the oneness of God in whom
there are three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit.
The three divine Persons are only one God
because each of them equally possesses the
fullness of the one and indivisible divine nature.
They are really distinct from each other by
reason of the relations which place them in
correspondence to each other.
The Father generates the Son; the Son is
generated by the Father; the Holy Spirit proceeds
from the Father and the Son [CCCC 48].
Is the Trinity the central mystery of the Christian Faith?
Yes. The central mystery of Christian faith and life is
the mystery of the Most Blessed Trinity.
Christians are baptized in the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit [CCCC 44].
How can the Trinity be proved?
The Trinity can only be proved through the divine
revelation that Jesus brought us. It cannot be
proved by natural reason or from the Old
Testament alone. The Compendium of the
Catechism of the Catholic Church states:
God has left some traces of his trinitarian being in
creation and in the Old Testament but his inmost
being as the Holy Trinity is a mystery which is
inaccessible to reason alone or even to Israel’s
faith before the Incarnation of the Son of God and
the sending of the Holy Spirit.
This mystery was revealed by Jesus Christ and it
is the source of all the other mysteries [CCCC 45].
Although the vocabulary used to express the
doctrine of the Trinity took time to develop, we
can demonstrate the different aspects of the
doctrine from Scripture.
Scriptures
The fact that there is only one God was already
made clear in the Old Testament. For example,
the book of Isaiah proclaims:
“You are my witnesses,” says the Lord, “and my
servant whom I have chosen, that you may know
and believe me and understand that I am He.
Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be
any after me [Is. 43:10].
Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his
Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: “I am the first and I
am the last; besides me there is no god" [Is. 44:6].
The Father is God
The Father is proclaimed as God numerous times
in the New Testament. For example, St. Paul
declares: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all
comfort [2 Co. 1:3].
There is . . . one God and Father of us all, who is
above all and through all and in all [Eph. 4:4-6].
The Son is God
This is proclaimed in a variety of places in the
New Testament, including at the beginning of the
Gospel of John:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,
full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory,
glory as of the only Son from the Father [Jn. 1:1, 14].
And later:
Then [Jesus] said to Thomas, “Put your finger
here, and see my hands; and put out your hand,
and place it in my side; do not be faithless, but
believing.”
Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my
God!” [Jn. 20:27-28].
Holy Spirit is God
In the book of Acts, the Holy Spirit is portrayed as
a divine Person who speaks and who can be lied
to: While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting,
the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas
and Saul for the work to which I have called
them” [Acts 13:2].
But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled
your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep
back part of the proceeds of the land? . . . You
have not lied to men but to God” [Acts 5:3-4].
The Son is generated by the Father and the Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son
The fact that the Son is generated by the Father is
indicated by the names of these Persons. Sons are
generated by fathers. The Second Person of the
Trinity would not be a Son if he were not
generated by the First Person as his Father.
The fact that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the
Father and the Son is reflected in another
statement of Jesus:
But when the Counselor comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear
witness to me [John 15:26].. God send His Son (Jesus Christ) to the world,(God in form of man) and Jesus handed the work over to the spirit(God in spirit)
This depicts the Holy Spirit proceeding from the
Father and the Son ("whom I shall send"). Here
the outward operations of the Persons of the
Trinity reflect their mutual relations with each
other. It may also be said that the Holy Spirit
proceeds from the Father through the Son.
THE TRINITY BIBLE SCRIPTURES
Matthew 28:19 - Go ye therefore, and teach all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
1 Corinthians 8:6 - But to us [there is but] one
God, the Father, of whom [are] all things, and we
in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom [are]
all things, and we by him.
John 1:1 - In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Genesis 1:26 - And God said, Let us make man in
our image, after our likeness: and let them have
dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the
fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all
the earth, and over every creeping thing that
creepeth upon the earth.
John 1:14 - And the Word was made flesh, and
dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the
glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of
grace and truth.
1 John 5:7-8 - For there are three that bear record
in heaven, the Father, the Word(Jesus), and the Holy
Ghost: and these three are one.
Deuteronomy 6:4 - Hear, O Israel: The LORD our
God [is] one LORD:
Philippians 2:5-8 - 5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
7 rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
John 14:26 - But the Comforter, [which is] the
Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my
name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all
things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have
said unto you.
John 1:1-51 - In the beginning was the Word, and
the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Matthew 3:17 - And lo a voice from heaven,
saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased.
James 1:13 - Let no man say when he is tempted,
I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted
with evil, neither tempteth he any man:
2 Corinthians 13:14 - The grace of the Lord Jesus
Christ, and the love of God, and the communion
of the Holy Ghost, [be] with you all. Amen. ([The
second [epistle] to the Corinthians was written
from Philippi, [a city] of Macedonia, by Titus and
Lucas.])
Acts 5:3-4 - But Peter said, Ananias, why hath
Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost,
and to keep back [part] of the price of the land?
John 15:26 - But when the Comforter is come,
whom I will send unto you from the Father,
[even] the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from
the Father, he shall testify of me:
John 10:30-36 - I and [my] Father are one.
John 10:30 - I and [my] Father are one.
John 3:16 - For God so loved the world, that he
gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have
everlasting life.
John 1:3 - All things were made by him; and
without him was not any thing made that was
made.
Luke 1:35 - And the angel answered and said
unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee,
and the power of the Highest shall overshadow
thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be
born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
Matthew 3:16-17 - And Jesus, when he was
baptized, went up straightway out of the water:
and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and
he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove,
and lighting upon him: 17 And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased."
Psalms 2:7 - I will declare the decree: the LORD
hath said unto me, Thou [art] my Son; this day
have I begotten thee.
Genesis 11:7 - Go to, let us go down, and there
confound their language, that they may not
understand one another's speech.
Genesis 3:22 - And the LORD God said, Behold,
the man is become as one of us, to know good and
evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take
also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:
Genesis 1:1 - In the beginning God created the
heaven and the earth.
Hebrews 1:8 - But unto the Son [he saith], Thy
throne, O God, [is] for ever and ever: a sceptre of
righteousness [is] the sceptre of thy kingdom.
1 Timothy 2:5 - For [there is] one God, and one
mediator between God and men, the man Christ
Jesus;
Colossians 2:9 - For in him dwelleth all the
fulness of the Godhead bodily.
Colossians 1:27 - To whom God would make
known what [is] the riches of the glory of this
mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in
you, the hope of glory:
Colossians 1:16-17 - For by him were all things
created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth,
visible and invisible, whether [they be] thrones,
or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all
things were created by him, and for him: He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
Colossians 1:15-17 - Who is the image of the
invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
Ephesians 4:4-6 - [There is] one body, and one
Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your
calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
Galatians 3:20 - Now a mediator is not [a
mediator] of one, but God is one.
John 14:28 - Ye have heard how I said unto you, I
go away, and come [again] unto you. If ye loved
me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the
Father: for my Father is greater than I.
John 14:16-17 - And I will pray the Father, and he
shall give you another Comforter, that he may
abide with you for ever;
1 Peter 1:1-2 - Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to
the strangers scattered throughout Pontus,
Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2 who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood:
Grace and peace be yours in abundance.
Hebrews 9:14 - How much more shall the blood
of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered
himself without spot to God, purge your
conscience from dead works to serve the living
God?
Titus 3:5 - Not by works of righteousness which
we have done, but according to his mercy he
saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and
renewing of the Holy Ghost;
Galatians 4:6 - And because ye are sons, God
hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your
hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
1 Corinthians 15:28 - And when all things shall
be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also
himself be subject unto him that put all things
under him, that God may be all in all.
Acts 28:25-27 - And when they agreed not among
themselves, they departed, after that Paul had
spoken one word, Well spake the Holy Ghost by
Esaias the prophet unto our fathers, (Read
More...)
Acts 13:2 - As they ministered to the Lord, and
fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me
Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have
called them.
Acts 13:1 - Now there were in the church that was
at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as
Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and
Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been
brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.
Acts 5:4 - Whiles it remained, was it not thine
own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine
own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in
thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto
God.
Acts 5:3 - But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan
filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to
keep back [part] of the price of the land?
Acts 3:15 - And killed the Prince of life, whom God
hath raised from the dead; whereof we are
witnesses.
Acts 2:1-47 - And when the day of Pentecost was
fully come, they were all with one accord in one
place.
John 17:1-26 - These words spake Jesus, and
lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the
hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also
may glorify thee:
John 16:12-15 - I have yet many things to say
unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.
John 16:7 - Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is
expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not
away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but
if I depart, I will send him unto you.
John 14:16 - And I will pray the Father, and he
shall give you another Comforter, that he may
abide with you for ever;
John 8:17 - It is also written in your law, that the
testimony of two men is true.
Matthew 4:7 - Jesus said unto him, It is written
again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
Matthew 3:16 - And Jesus, when he was baptized,
went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the
heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the
Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting
upon him:
Daniel 7:13 - I saw in the night visions, and,
behold, [one] like the Son of man came with the
clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of
days, and they brought him near before him.Job 33:4 - The Spirit of God hath made me, and
the breath of the Almighty hath given me life.
Genesis 1:1-31 - In the beginning God created the
heaven and the earth.
1 John 5:7 - For there are three that bear record
in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy
Ghost: and these three are one.
John 20:28 - And Thomas answered and said unto
him, My Lord and my God.
John 8:58 - Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I
say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.
John 1:18 - No man hath seen God at any time;
the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of
the Father, he hath declared [him].