Reference: Trinity
Easton
a word not found in Scripture, but used to express the doctrine of the unity of God as subsisting in three distinct Persons. This word is derived from the Gr. trias, first used by Theophilus (A.D. 168-183), or from the Lat. trinitas, first used by Tertullian (A.D. 220), to express this doctrine. The propositions involved in the doctrine are these: 1. That God is one, and that there is but one God (De 6:4; 1Ki 8:60; Isa 44:6; Mr 12:29,32; Joh 10:30). 2. That the Father is a distinct divine Person (hypostasis, subsistentia, persona, suppositum intellectuale), distinct from the Son and the Holy Spirit. 3. That Jesus Christ was truly God, and yet was a Person distinct from the Father and the Holy Spirit. 4. That the Holy Spirit is also a distinct divine Person.
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Hastings
TRINITY
1. The doctrine approached.
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and when Jesus was baptized, he came out of the water: and immediately the heavens seem'd to be parted asunder before him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: at the same time a voice was heard from heaven, saying, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
At the same time Jesus, continuing his discourses, said, "I thank thee, O father, Lord of heaven and earth, for having revealed unto babes what thou hast hid from the wise and prudent.
go and instruct all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father, and of the son, and of the holy ghost:
In the beginning was the Logos, and the Logos was with God, and the Logos was God.
In the beginning was the Logos, and the Logos was with God, and the Logos was God. the same was in the beginning with God. read more. all things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made. the Life was produc'd in him, and the Life was the Light of men. and the Light shineth in darkness, but the darkness did not receive it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. he came as a witness, to represent what he knew of the light, that by his means all might be convinc'd. he was not that Light, but was sent to testify of that light. HE was the true Light who came into the world, to enlighten every man. he was in the world, even the world that had been made by him, but the world knew him not. he came unto his own, and his own received him not. but to as many as received him, and believed on him, he granted the privilege of being the sons of God. a birth which they had not from circumcision, nor from the constitution of the body, nor the institution of man, but from God. The Logos became incarnate, and had his tabernacle among us, being full of grace and truth; and we contemplated his glory, such glory as the Monogenes derived from the father. it was of him that John bare witness, when he made this declaration, "this was he of whom I said, he that cometh after me, was before me; for he did indeed exist before me." and of his Plenitude have we all received, even abundant grace. the law indeed was delivered by Moses, but grace and truth was the dispensation of Jesus Christ. no man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten son, who is intimate with the father, hath made him known.
no man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten son, who is intimate with the father, hath made him known.
Jesus answer'd her, woman, leave that affair to me, is not that my concern?
for God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him, should not perish, but have eternal life.
where a great number of infirm, blind, lame, and paralytic people lay waiting for the moving of the water: (for a messenger went down at certain times into the pool, and agitated the water: the first then that stepped in after this commotion of the water, was cured of whatever disease he had.)
and immediately the man was healed, and took up his bed, and went his way: but that day being the sabbath,
he that sent me, is with me: the father hath not left me alone, for I always do what is agreeable to him.
There was another schism therefore among the Jews, occasion'd by this discourse.
while they were at supper, (the devil having now put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him) Jesus,
and I will pray the father, and he shall give you another advocate, to abide with you for ever; even the spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees nor knows him: but ye shall know him, for he shall dwell with you, and shall be in you.
but the advocate, the holy spirit, whom the father will send for my sake, he will explain every thing to you, and make you remember, all that I have told you.
but when the advocate is come, whom I will send to you from the father, even the spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the father, he shall testify of me.
but when the advocate is come, whom I will send to you from the father, even the spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the father, he shall testify of me.
are your minds so overwhelm'd with sorrow at what I told you? nevertheless, I tell you the truth; it is expedient for you that I go away: for if I do not go away, the advocate will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him to you.
nevertheless, I tell you the truth; it is expedient for you that I go away: for if I do not go away, the advocate will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him to you. and when he is come, he will convince the world of sin, of justice, of judgment: read more. of sin, because they believ'd not on me; of justice, because I shall be with my father, and ye shall see me no more expos'd: of judgment, because the prince of this world is condemn'd. I have yet many things to tell you, but ye cannot bear them now; but when he, the spirit of truth shall come, he will inform you of all those truths: for he will not speak from himself; but the information he shall receive will he communicate: and acquaint you with what is to come.
but when he, the spirit of truth shall come, he will inform you of all those truths: for he will not speak from himself; but the information he shall receive will he communicate: and acquaint you with what is to come. he shall glorify me: for he will commuincate to you, the information, which I shall give him.
he shall glorify me: for he will commuincate to you, the information, which I shall give him. all that the father has is mine: that is the reason of my saying, "he shall communicate to you the information that I shall give him."
Jesus having said this, lift up his eyes to heaven, and said, "father, the hour is come; glorify thy son, that thy son also may glorify thee.
for I have given to them the instructions which you gave me; and they have received them; and have sincerely believ'd that I came from thee, and are persuaded that thou didst send me.
as thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.
I in them, and thou in me, that they may have a perfect union, and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
the other disciples therefore said to him, we have seen the Lord. but he said to them, except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.
Thomas answered, and said to him, my Lord and my God!
then Peter said, silver and gold have I none; but such as I have I give thee: in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, rise up and walk.
the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and renounced in opposition to Pilate, who was determined to let him go.
but killed the prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses. it is the faith which we have in him, that has procured strength to this man whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by him, hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.
it is to you that God first of all sent his son Jesus, having raised him up to bless you, provided you all renounce your iniquities.
this is the stone which was rejected by you builders, but is become the chief of the angle. salvation is not to be had by any other: for there is no other name under heaven given to men whereby we can be saved.
for it was truly against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, that Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, united themselves in this city,
upon which Peter said, Ananias, how could satan inspire thine heart to lye to the holy ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? was not the estate your own estate? and was not the price for which it was sold, all in your own hands? how came such a design as this in your heart? thou hast not lyed unto men, but unto God.
I therefore declare to you at this present time, that I am not responsible for the ruin of any:
who are the offspring of the patriarchs, and of whom as to the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.
that ye may unanimously with one voice glorify God, even the father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
in the mean time, I conjure you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the love of the spirit, that you join with me in earnest prayers to God for me;
both Jews and Gentiles, he is the Christ, the power of God, and the wisdom of God.
my discourse, and my preaching did not consist in the persuasive reasonings of human wisdom, but in demonstrating the spiritual meaning of the scriptures: that your faith might not be owing to human wisdom, but to the divine influence. read more. However, what we preach is wisdom, to those who are thoroughly instructed: yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who will soon come to nothing.
As to the eating therefore of what is offered in sacrifice to idols, we know that the heathen deities have no real existence, and that there is but one God.
who by his spirit has likewise made you a part of this divine mansion.
one God and father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in all.
who tho' he was the image of God, did not affect to appear with divine majesty, but divested himself thereof,
for in him all divine plenitude does substantially reside. and ye are filled by him, who is the chief of all principality and power: read more. by whom also ye have obtain'd the true spiritual circumcision, not effected by men, when you were by a christian circumcision divested of all your carnal affections,
Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy to the church of the Thessalonians, who believe in God the father, and in our Lord Jesus Christ. grace and peace be with you from God our father, and from Jesus Christ our Lord.
but to the son he saith, "God is thy throne for ever and ever; the sceptre of thy kingdom is a sceptre of equity.
you believe there is but one God, very well: the demons believe as much, and tremble."
to sanctify them by his spirit, that by their obedience they might be sprinkled with the blood of Jesus Christ. may the divine savour make you continually prosper.
Morish
A word only used to convey the thought of a plurality of Persons in the Godhead. This was revealed at the baptism of the Lord Jesus. The Holy Spirit descended 'like a dove' and abode upon Him; and God the Father declared "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." That the Father is a distinct Person and is God is plainly stated, as in Joh 20:17. Many passages prove that the Lord Jesus is God: one will suffice: ". . . . in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life." 1Jo 5:20. That the Holy Spirit is a Person and is God the following passages clearly prove: Ge 1:2; Mt 4:1; Joh 16:13; Ac 10:19; 13:2,4; 20:28; Ro 15:30; 1Co 2:10. The three Persons are also named in the formula instituted by Christ in baptism. Mt 28:19. Yet there is but one God. 1Ti 2:5. Satan will have an imitation of the Trinity in the Roman beast, the false prophet, and himself. Re 13:4,11; 20:10.
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Then was Jesus led up by the Spirit into the wilderness, to be tempted by the devil:
go and instruct all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father, and of the son, and of the holy ghost:
but when he, the spirit of truth shall come, he will inform you of all those truths: for he will not speak from himself; but the information he shall receive will he communicate: and acquaint you with what is to come.
that is to say, master! Jesus said to her, touch me not: for I am not yet ascended to my father: but go to my brethren, and say to them, "I ascend unto my father and your father, even my God and your God."
As Peter was still pondering upon the vision, the spirit said to him, there are people below, who enquire for you.
as they were ministring to the Lord, and fasting, the holy spirit said to them, separate me Barnabas and Saul, for the work to which I have destin'd them.
being thus appointed missionarys by the holy spirit, they went to Seleucia, where they embark'd for Cyprus.
be therefore upon your guard to secure your selves, and the whole flock over which the holy spirit has made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he has purchased with his own blood.
in the mean time, I conjure you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the love of the spirit, that you join with me in earnest prayers to God for me;
and ye are filled by him, who is the chief of all principality and power:
for there is but one God, and but one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
We know that the son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding to know him that is true: and we are with him that is true, by his son Jesus Christ. "he is the true God, who is the author of eternal life."
They worshipped the dragon which had given his power to the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, "who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?"
Then I beheld another beast coming out of the earth, it had two horns like a lamb, but it spake like a dragon.
the devil that seduced them, shall be cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
Watsons
TRINITY. That nearly all the Pagan nations of antiquity, says Bishop Tomline, in their various theological systems, acknowledged a kind of Trinity, has been fully evinced by those learned men who have made the Heathen mythology the subject of their elaborate inquiries. The almost universal prevalence of this doctrine in the Gentile kingdoms must be considered as a strong argument in favour of its truth. The doctrine itself bears such striking internal marks of a divine original, and is so very unlikely to have been the invention of mere human reason that there is no way of accounting for the general adoption of so singular a belief, but by supposing that it was revealed by God to the early patriarchs, and that it was transmitted by them to their posterity. In its progress, indeed, to remote countries, and to distant generations, this belief became depraved and corrupted in the highest degree; and he alone who brought "life and immortality to light," could restore it to its original simplicity and purity. The discovery of the existence of this doctrine in the early ages, among the nations whose records have been the best preserved, has been of great service to the cause of Christianity, and completely refutes the assertion of infidels and skeptics, that the sublime and mysterious doctrine of the Trinity owes its origin to the philosophers of Greece. "If we extend," says Mr. Maurice, "our eye through the remote region of antiquity, we shall find this very doctrine, which the primitive Christians are said to have borrowed from the Platonic school, universally and immemorially flourishing in all those countries where history and tradition have united to fix those virtuous ancestors of the human race, who, for their distinguished attainments in piety, were admitted to a familiar intercourse with Jehovah and the angels, the divine heralds of his commands." The same learned author justly considers the first two verses of the Old Testament as containing very strong, if not decisive, evidence in support of the truth of this doctrine: Elohim, a noun substantive of the plural number, by which the Creator is expressed, appears as evidently to point toward a plurality of persons in the divine nature, as the verb in the singular, with which it is joined, does to the unity of that nature: "In the beginning God created;" with strict attention to grammatical propriety, the passage should be rendered, "In the beginning Gods created," but our belief in the unity of God forbids us thus to translate the word Elohim. Since, therefore, Elohim is plural, and no plural can consist of less than two in number, and since creation can alone be the work of Deity, we are to understand by this term so particularly used in this place, God the Father, and the eternal Logos, or Word of God; that Logos whom St. John, supplying us with an excellent comment upon this passage, says, was in the beginning with God, and who also was God. As the Father and the Son are expressly pointed out in the first verse of this chapter, so is the Third Person in the blessed Trinity not less decisively revealed to us in Ge 1:2: "And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters:" "brooded upon" the water, incubavit, as a hen broods over her eggs. Thus we see the Spirit exerted upon this occasion an active effectual energy, by that energy agitating the vast abyss, and infusing into it a powerful vital principle.
Elohim seems to be the general appellation by which the Triune Godhead is collectively distinguished in Scripture; and in the concise history of the creation only, the expression, bara Elohim, "the Gods created," is used above thirty times. The combining this plural noun with a verb in the singular would not appear so remarkable, if Moses had uniformly adhered to that mode of expression; for then it would be evident that he adopted the mode used by the Gentiles in speaking of their false gods in the plural number, but by joining with it a singular verb or adjective, rectified a phrase that might appear to give a direct sanction to the error of polytheism. But, in reality, the reverse is the fact; for in De 32:15,17, and other places, he uses the singular number of this very noun to express the Deity, though not employed in the August work of creation: "He forsook God," Eloah; "they sacrificed to devils, not to God," Eloah. But farther, Moses himself uses this very word Elohim with verbs and adjectives in the plural. Of this usage Dr. Allix enumerates many other striking instances that might be brought from the Pentateuch; and other inspired writers use it in the same manner in various parts of the Old Testament, Job 35:10; Jos 24:19; Ps 109:1; Ec 12:3; 2Sa 7:23. It must appear, therefore, to every reader of reflection, exceedingly singular, that when Moses was endeavouring to establish a theological system, of which the unity of the Godhead was the leading principle, and in which it differed from all other systems, he should make use of terms directly implicative of a plurality in it; yet so deeply was the awful truth under consideration impressed upon the mind of the Hebrew legislator, that this is constantly done by him; and, indeed, as Allix has observed, there is scarcely any method of speaking from which a plurality in Deity may be inferred, that is not used either by himself in the Pentateuch, or by the other inspired writers in various parts of the Old Testament. A plural is joined with a verb singular, as in the passage cited before from Ge 1:1; a plural is joined with a verb plural, as in Ge 35:7, "And Jacob called the name of the place El- beth-el, because the Gods there appeared to him;" a plural is joined with an adjective plural, Jos 24:19, "You cannot serve the Lord; for he is the holy Gods." To these passages, if we add that remarkable one from Ecclesiastes, "Remember thy Creators in the days of thy youth," and the predominant use of the terms, Jehovah Elohim, or, the "Lord thy Gods," which occur a hundred times in the law, (the word Jehovah implying the unity of the essence, and Elohim a plurality in that unity,) we must allow that nothing can be more plainly marked than this doctrine in the ancient Scriptures.
Though the August name of Jehovah in a more peculiar manner belongs to God the Father, yet is that name, in various parts of Scripture, applied to each person in the holy Trinity. The Hebrews considered that name in so sacred a light, that they never pronounced it, and used the word Adonai instead of it. It was, indeed a name that ranked first among their profoundest cabbala; a mystery, sublime, ineffable, incommunicable. It was called tetragrammaton, or the name of four letters, and these letters are jod, he, vau, he, the proper pronunciation of which, from long disuse, is said to be no longer known to the Jews themselves. This awful name was first revealed by God to Moses from the centre of the burning bush; and Josephus, who, as well as Scripture, relates this circumstance, evinces his veneration for it, by calling it the name which his religion did not permit him to mention. From this word the Pagan title of Iao and Jove is, with the greatest probability, supposed to have been originally formed; and in the Golden Verses of Pythagoras, there is an oath still extant to this purpose, "By Him who has the four letters." As the name Jehovah, however, in some instances applied to the Son and the Holy Spirit, was the proper name of God the Father, so is Logos in as peculiar a manner the appropriated name of God the Son. The Chaldee Paraphrasts translate the original Hebrew text by Mimra da Jehovah, literally, "the word of Jehovah," a term totally different, as Bishop Kidder has incontestably proved, in its signification, and in its general application among the Jews, from the Hebrew dabar, which simply means a discourse or decree, and is properly rendered by pithgam. In the Septuagint translation of the Bible, a work supposed by the Jews to have been undertaken by men immediately inspired from above, the former term is universally rendered ?????, and it is so rendered and so understood by Philo and all the more ancient rabbins. The name of the third person in the ever blessed Trinity
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go and instruct all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father, and of the son, and of the holy ghost:
God is a spirit, and they that worship him, must worship him in spirit and in truth.