Trinity Doctrine, Research Paper Example

Introduction

Arguably, at the core of the Christian faith is the so-called Trinity doctrine. It is a doctrine that has gone through years of difficult evolution before crystallizing into a central dogma of Anglo-Saxon protestant Christianity[1]. Despite this resemblance of theological convergence on the question of the dogma of the Holy Spirit with special emphasis on its place in the Godhead, considerable disagreements still abound on the subject. Prominent amongst these opponents within contemporary christiandom are the Jehovah’s Witness and Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormon) sects.

Central to the trinity doctrine of which the Holy Spirit is part of is the teaching that God is ultimately one and living. Yet embodied in this oneness is the attribute of his constituent nature that is expressed in three self-sustaining personalities namely: the father, the son and the Holy Spirit. Come to think of the fact that everything about the Christian faith revolves around this one fact, certainly evokes considerable amount of interest—an interest that inspires this particular current study of the Holy Spirit as constituent embodiment of the personality of the Triune God (Leon, 1965). In this line therefore, this write up will present a concise discourse of the Holy Spirit within the paradigm of the Trinity from beginning with the historical exposition that will usher in the main discourse of this essay.

For good reasons, this essay chooses to begin the historical account of the Trinity gospel from the New Testament[2]. Clearly, the written accounts of the apostles of Jesus Christ and that of Saint Paul do provide authoritative insights into the Holy Spirit; its work in the early Christian church also leans deeper credence to what is already known. It should also be stated from this early point that there is no direct mention of God the father, as a constituent member of the Trinity in the New Testament (See the following scriptures for insights into the disperse mention of the Holy Spirit: Mark 12: 29; Romans 3: 29-30; John 1:1-3).

Looking through the above referenced scriptural mentions of semblance of the Trinity, though explicit mention of the Holy Spirit is featured prominently, a number of observations can be easily made. Much of the New Testament mention of the Holy Spirit presents an overt extension of the foundation of monotheism found in Judaism. Thus, paving the way for the eventual conscription of the Trinity doctrine in the post-Apostolic Christian church era; meanwhile, it did not fail to ignite questions about the possibility of three distinct persons be encapsulated into one deity and still be perfectly united? Both the Roman Catholic Church and the Protestant movements have offered scores of justifications to resolve what seems to be a theological grey spot in Christian dogma.

Further Discussion of the Holy Spirit

The book of Acts in the New Testament serves as the most immediate reference point when it comes to any discussion about the Holy Spirit owing to the fact that the book chronicles the real events of the ministry of the Holy Spirit on earth. It shows how the Holy Spirit was manifested and commissioned with all authority. This point should however be taking cautiously bearing in mind that throughout the Old Testament the Holy Spirit has being mentioned sparingly. Take for instance the statement “Spirit of God” mentioned in the creation story reported in the book of Genesis when God spoke and the Spirit acted. A clear understanding of this concept will help a great deal in ironing out the doctrinal misunderstandings on the subject of the Holy Spirit.

There are two important aspects to be considered as far as the Holy Spirit is concerned. The first aspect to be discussed is the office/ work of the Holy Spirit to be followed by a discussion of the nature of the Holy Spirit. Within this scope, questions like who is the Holy Spirit?; What are His personality and attributes?; Is He infinite? Etc will be addressed. Naturally, answers to these questions will provide further insight into the Trinity doctrine, which is one of the foundation pillars of the Christian faith.

Suffice to begin by citing two main illustrations of the active component of the Holy Spirit. Spanning from the infamous creation story where the first mention of the Spirit of God is made into when Moses was commissioned to lead the nation of Israel from bondage in Egypt into the promised land of abundance; the work of the Old Testament prophets reveals an unending mention of the active engagement of the Spirit of God (Genesis 1:1-2; Exodus 3:3-8). Into the New Testament dispensation, Jesus Christ did promise the coming of the Spirit of God again (John 16:7).

Taking an account of the new testament is recorded that the Holy Spirit is mentioned well about 300 times with much emphasis on His prominence and relation to the believer, the numerous gifts and fruits that He offers to the faithful (Galatians 5: 22). In other words the work of the spirit is as important as the redemptive work of Jesus Christ making it vital for us to know more about the spirit of God as the Bible teaches.

Personality of the Holy Spirit

The thrust of this sectioned is built on the need to analyze and put in proper context the continuous use of personal pronouns in referring to the Holy Spirit either covertly or overtly throughout the New Testament and in some isolated cases the Old Testament as well. Evangelical Christians are more inclined to regularly use the word “thou” as an expression of reverence to the Holy Spirit. Still within this group, the Holy Spirit when spoken of in reference terms is assigned the pronoun “Him” or “He.”

It is recalled that at some point in the history of the early Christian church, their mundane service at point resulted in a communication with the Holy Spirit when He was reported to have said, “ now separate to me Barnabas and Soul for the work to which I have called them ” (Acts 13:2). In the same vein Jesus in promising his disciples about the coming of the Holy Spirit did say “but when the helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the father, the spirit of truth who proceeds from the father He will testify of me” (John 15:26).

What is undeniable in the last couple of scriptural references provided above is that, the Holy Spirit is inherently a personality that displays such qualities. Jesus was also quoted as saying in John 16:13-14 that “when He the Spirit of truth has come He will guide you into all truth: for He will not speak of his own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak: and He will tell you things to come, He will glorify me, for He will take of what is mine and declare it to you.” Further alludes to the personified attribute of the Holy Spirit of God.

Today the Christian faith stands in relation to the Holy Spirit as a person who is also the object of the faith being professed. The Holy Spirit is a symbol of the affirmation of the faith in God through water baptism in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit (Horton, 2002). Hence the association of the Holy Spirit to the other members of the Godhead brings the picture that the third member is also a person. Christians not only profess to believe in the Holy Spirit, but they are also the recipients of his gifts. He is to them an object of prayer. For instance Christians pray requesting the Holy Spirit to come and make an indwelling amongst them in the same way that Jesus Christ is invited to come into their lives. It is this process that constitutes the cradle of Christian dogma, which espouses, repentance unto salvation as a by-product of God’s grace. Christians have always regarded him as a person looking unto him for instruction, comfort, and direction, consequently the deep sense of dependence shows that He indeed the bearer of a personality.

I like the way Benny Hinn sums it up in his book entitled Good Morning Holy Spirit (page 29), on the unique, divine person of the Holy Spirit when he states the difference between the Holy Spirit being a power or a person couldn’t be more profound:

• If the Holy Spirit is a power, we’ll want to get hold of it. If the Holy Spirit is a Divine person, we’ll want Him to get hold of us.
• If the Holy Spirit is a power, we will want it to accomplish our will and whim. If the Holy Spirit is a divine person we’ll want to surrender more to Him in owe and wonder.
• If the Holy Spirit is a power, we’ll be proud we have it and feel superior to those who do not. If the Holy Spirit is a Divine person, we’ll be humbled that His great love the very Third Person in the trinity has chosen to dwell within us.

The Nature and office of the Holy Spirit

It is not farfetched to state that the Holy Spirit is the executive of Godhead. As indicated earlier in this essay, whatever God does He does it through the Spirit who is all knowing and none can lie to Him. Take the example of Ananias and Saphira, pioneering member of the early Christian church who were accused of lying to the Spirit of God. They lost their lives as a result of acting against the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:3).

In the book of Psalms 104:30 the Bible says “you send fourth your Spirit and they are created, and you renew the face of the earth.” This text provides an explanation for the active engagement of the Holy Spirit in Gods handy works of creating nature. Furthermore Job 33:4 also explicitly declares that “your Spirit has made me.” Giving ample testimony to the account in the book of Genesis 2:7 where it is stated that, “the Lord God formed out of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living being.” Making an analogical inferential analysis then there is a reason to believe that there is a Spirit in man, and the breath of the Almighty gives him understanding. This scripture clearly tells us that the Spirit of God is the source of intellectual life since He gives understanding to the human being.

Further supporting evidence is found in Ezekiel 31:2-5 when God wanted the Tabernacle built He called Bezalel  whom He put His Spirit in him and the scripture thus says “Then the Lord spoke to Moses saying ‘see I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri  the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah , and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom in understanding in knowledge and in all manner of workmanship to design artistic works to work in gold .in silver in bronze, in cutting jewels for setting ,in curving wood, and to work in all manner of workmanship….”  No doubt the ability of Bezalel to carry out the task in the Tabernacle had a divine source on account of the presence of the Holy Spirit of God who is all knowing.

Conclusion

Right from the outset, the primary task of this essay has being to define the Holy Spirit within the context of the peculiar place it occupies in the Trinity. It is very important to do so, because of the fact that much of contemporary Christian theology is built on the knowledge of the Trinity as central part of the Christian faith. Progressively, it became as the essay progressed that everything about the Holy Spirit traces its source to the Old and New Testaments of the Bible. The greatest manifestation of the active place of the Holy Spirit as it applies to the Christian faith of our day and age is attributed to the developments that characterized the a marked transition from Judaism into Christianity based on the conviction that Jesus Christ of Nazareth is God’s son and the promised Messiah. Much of Christian faith today is about the Holy Spirit’s active engagement in our world because of the belief in His eternal attributes.

Reference

Morris, Leon. 1965. The Apostolic Preaching of the Cross. Grand Rapdis, MI: WB Eerdmans.

Horton, Michael S. 2006. God of Promise Introducing Covenant Theology. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker.

Kline, Meredith. 2006.  Kingdom Prologue Genesis Foundations for a Covenantal Worldview. Eugene, OR:  Wipf & Stock p 145

Morris, Leon. 1965. The Apostolic Preaching of the Cross. Grand Rapdis, MI: WB Eerdmans.

Murray, John. 1955. Redemption Accomplished and Applied (Grand Rapids, MI: WB Eerdmans) p 117 & 124

Murray, John. 1955. Redemption Accomplished and Applied (Grand Rapids, MI: WB Eerdmans) p 92

TULIP stands for Total depravity, Unconditional election, Limited atonement, Irresistible grace, and Perseverance of the saints

Horton, Michael S. 2002. A Better Way: Rediscovering the Drama of Christ-Centered Worship (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker) p 122

Benny, Hinn. 1997. Good Morning Holy Spirit. Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson Inc.

Scriptural References from the NKJV Bible.

[1] The use of the term Anglo-Saxon Protestant is often loosely condensed to refer to the social strata of the white American descendants of Northern European ancestry whose confession is mainly of the Anglican, Episcopal and Presbyterian denominations. The usage of the term Anglo-Saxon Protestant Christianity gained popularity with the advent of writer Digby Baltzell’s book published in 1964 under the title The Protestant Establishment: Aristocracy & Caste in America.

[2] It should be noted that prior to the advent of the New Testament, there is weak evidence to connect the Trinity dogma to the Old Testament Judaism. That however does not dispel the notion that the Spirit of the Lord was never mentioned categorically in the accounts of the Old Testament.