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Saturday, February 13, 2010

How is the Trinity Defined?

(For the 'Definition of the Trinity' category, click here.) 

Below can be found the definition of the trinity as defined by numerous authoritative sources. However, it should first be noted that even the Trinitarian New Encyclopedia Britannica says:

"NEITHER THE WORD TRINITY, NOR THE EXPLICIT DOCTRINE AS SUCH, APPEARS IN THE NEW TESTAMENT, nor did Jesus and his followers intend to contradict the Shema in the Old Testament: 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord' -- Deut. 6:4" (Clear Challenges For The Trinity Doctrine)

Definition:

"trinity ...1. [cap.] Theol. The union of three persons or hypostases (the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost) in one Godhead, so that all the three are one God as to substance, but three persons or hypostases as to individuality. 2. Any synbol of the Trinity in art. 3. Any union of three in one; a triad; as the Hindu trinity, or Trimurti." - Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam Co., 1961
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"Trinity, the Most Holy

"The most sublime mystery of the Christian faith is this: 'God is absolutely one in nature and essence, and relatively three in Persons (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) who are really distinct from each other." - p. 584, The Catholic Encyclopedia, Thomas Nelson, Inc., Publishers, 1976.
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The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia:
"1. The Term 'Trinity':
"The term "Trinity" is not a Biblical term, and we are not using Biblical language when we define what is expressed by it as the doctrine that there is one only and true God, but in the unity of the Godhead there are three coeternal and coequal Persons, the same in substance but distinct in subsistence." - p. 3012, Vol. IV, Eerdmans, 1984.  And,  http://www.searchgodsword.org/enc/isb/view.cgi?number=T8915
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"Trinity.  The trinity of God is defined by the Church as the belief that in God are three persons who subsist in one nature." - p. 899, Dictionary of the Bible, Macmillan Publishing Co., 1965.
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"Trinity, a word not found in Scripture but used to express the doctrine of the unity of God as subsisting in three distinct persons." - p. 630, Today's Dictionary of the Bible, Bethany House Publishers, 1982.
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Easton's Bible Dictionary:
"Trinity
"a word not found in Scripture, but used to express the doctrine of the unity of God as subsisting in three distinct Persons."
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Encyclopedia Britannica Online:
"Holy Trinity
"In Christian doctrine, the unity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as one God in three persons."
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Encyclopedia Americana (1957):
Trinity Doctrine
The most accepted definition by orthodox Christians and which "fairly claims the merit of the fullest harmony and most comprehensive consistency with the various statements of Scripture" is "that there are in the Godhead three persons, one in substance, coeternal, equal in power, the Father, Son and Holy Ghost." - p. 69, Vol. 27.
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Encyclopedia International (1966):
"TRINITY, THE HOLY,  Christian doctrine that in the one substance of the Godhead there are three persons equal in status, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit." - p. 226, Vol. 18, Grolier.
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The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition,  2001-05:  
Trinity, doctrine in Christianity
  
[Lat.,=threefoldness], fundamental doctrine in Christianity, by which God is considered as existing in three persons.
 - http://www.bartleby.com/65/tr/Trinity.html
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Encarta Encyclopedia:
"Trinity (theology)
  "Trinity (theology), in Christian theology, doctrine that God exists as three persons"
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Encyclopedia.com:
"1.  Trinity TRINITY [Trinity] [Lat. threefoldness], fundamental doctrine in Christianity, by which God is considered as existing in three persons." - http://www.encyclopedia.com/SearchResults.aspx?Q=trinity
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Wikipedia:
Trinity
"Within Christianity, the doctrine of the Trinity states that God is a single "Being" who exists, simultaneously and eternally, as a communion of three persons (personae, prosopa): Father (the Source, the Eternal Majesty); the Son (the eternal Logos or Word, incarnate as Jesus of Nazareth); and the Holy Spirit. Traditionally, in both Eastern and Western Christianity, this doctrine has been stated as "One God in Three Persons," all three of whom, as distinct and co-eternal "persons" or "hypostases," share a single Divine essence, being, or nature.
 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity
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"The Trinity Doctrine is the One God revealed through three distinct Persons as the Father, the Son (Jesus), and the Holy Spirit." - http://www.afcministry.com/Trinity_Doctrine.htm
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"Trinity Doctrine - Foundation of the Christian Faith
"What is the Trinity Doctrine? In a nutshell, there is one God, eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son (Jesus Christ) and Holy Spirit. The three persons of the Godhead are coequal and co-eternal"
  - http://www.allaboutgod.com/trinity-doctrine.htm
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Athanasian Creed:
"And in this Trinity none is afore, or after other, none is greater or less than others; but the whole three persons are co- eternal together; and co-equal. So that in all things as is aforesaid: the Unity in Trinity, and the Trinity in Unity is to be worshipped.
"HE THEREFORE THAT WILL BE SAVED MUST THUS THINK OF THE TRINITY." - http://www.west.net/~antipas/books/trinity/trinity1.html
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"The Athanasian Creed follows, taken from Schaff's work:
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26. But the whole three Persons are co-eternal together, and co-equal.
27. So that in all things, as aforesaid, the Unity in Trinity, and the Trinity in Unity is to be worshiped.
28. He therefore that will be saved, must thus think of the Trinity."
 - http://ic.net/~erasmus/RAZ101.HTM
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"Elsewhere, Tertullian [early third century Christian] further clarified the early Church's belief that God is three-in-one, "In his Against Praxeas he set forth the first statement of the Trinity as ONE ESSENCE IN THREE PERSONS" (Moyer, p.396; Note: "person" means, "A self-conscious being capable of thought, will and interaction with others" - adapted from American, p.925 and Erickson, p.127). - http://www.dtl.org/trinity/article/post-apostolic/pt-2.htm
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CARM:
 "The Trinity is the teaching that there exists only one God in all the universe, none before and none after Him (Isaiah 44:6,8) and that God consists of three persons:  Father, Son, and Holy Spirit." - CARM
- http://www.carm.org/questions/god_trinity_triad.htm
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"4. What does this [trinity] doctrine teach?
"This doctrine teaches that God exists in three persons who share the same essence or being."
- http://answering-islam.org.uk/Authors/Arlandson/trinity_brief.htm
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Lutheran, Missouri Synod
"Chief Articles of Faith
"Article I: Of God.
"1] Our Churches, with common consent, do teach that the decree of the Council of Nicaea concerning the Unity of the Divine Essence and concerning the Three Persons, is true and to be believed without any doubting; 2] that is to say, there is one Divine Essence which is called and which is God: eternal, without body, without parts, of infinite power, wisdom, and goodness, the Maker and Preserver of all things, visible and invisible; and 3] yet there are three Persons, of the same essence and power, who also are coeternal, the Father the Son, and the Holy Ghost. And the term "person" 4] they use as the Fathers have used it, to signify, not a part or quality in another, but that which subsists of itself."
- http://www.lcms.org/graphics/assets/media/LCMS/TrigBOC.pdf
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The Oxford Desk Dictionary and Thesaurus:
"trinity /trinitee/ n. (pl. -ties) 1 state of being three.  2 group of three. 3 (Trinity or Holy Trinity) Theol. the three persons of the Christian Godhead (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit)." - Oxford University Press (Berkley Books), 1997.

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Compact Oxford English Dictionary:
"trinity
"• noun (pl. trinities) 1 (the Trinity or the Holy Trinity) the three persons of the Christian Godhead; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  2 a group of three people or things.
 " — ORIGIN Latin trinitas `triad', from trinus `threefold'." - http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/trinity?view=uk
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Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
"Trinity
"Main Entry: Trin·i·ty
"Function: noun
"Etymology: Middle English trinite, from Old French trinité, from Late Latin trinitat-, trinitas state of being threefold, from Latin trinus threefold
"1 : the unity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as three persons in one Godhead according to Christian dogma
"2 not capitalized : a group of three closely related persons or things" - http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=Trinity
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Cambridge Dictionaries Online:
trinity 
noun [C usually singular] LITERARY
a group of three things or people:
'British culture now appears to revolve around the unholy trinity of sport, shopping and sex.'
'Above all Amenabar worships the trinity of Hitchcock, Kubrick and Spielberg.'
the (Holy) Trinity noun [S] LITERARY
in Christianity, the existence of one God in three forms, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit
 - http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=84901&dict=CALD
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition.  2000.  
"trinity  
"SYLLABICATION: trin·i·ty
"NOUN: Inflected forms: pl. trin·i·ties
1. A group consisting of three closely related members. Also called triunity.
2. Trinity Theology In most Christian faiths, the union of three divine persons, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, in one God. Also called Trine."   - http://www.bartleby.com/61/22/T0362200.html
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Webster Dictionary, 1913:
"Trinity (Page: 1540)
"Trin"i*ty (?), n. [OE. trinitee, F. trinité, L. trinitas, fr. trini three each. See Trinal.]
"1. (Christian Theol.) The union of three persons (the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost) in one Godhead, so that all the three are one God as to substance, but three persons as to individuality.
"2. Any union of three in one; three units treated as one; a triad, as the Hindoo trinity, or Trimurti."
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Encarta Dictionary
"Trin·i·ty
"noun 

"Definitions:
 
"1. God in three forms: in Christianity, God seen in three ways as the Father, the Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit" - http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/dictionary/DictionaryResults.aspx?refid=1861721932
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Well-known Trinity defender, Robert M. Bowman, defines the Trinity:
"The simplest way to define the Trinity is to say that it is one God in three persons.  Thus the Athasian Creed speaks of the Trinity as both "one God" and "three Persons." - p. 11, Why You Should Believe in the Trinity, Baker Book House, 1993.
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Examining Trinity 'Proof Texts'

Trinity Indexes

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