+ Our Knowledge of God and the Holy Trinity

Transcription

1 + Our Knowledge of God and the Holy Trinity Introduction: The Two Ways of Knowing God There are two ways of exploring and experiencing a new place. Let s say that we are tourists in Northern California and that we would like to visit the city of San Francisco. We have one of two ways available to us for experiencing San Francisco. The first way is for all of us to stand around a map, stare at it, and find all the major San Francisco landmarks. If we considered that as a full experience of or a visit to San Francisco, then others would probably accuse us of being pretty pathetic. On the other hand, we could all climb into a car and just start driving without a map and hope that we reach San Francisco. We could arrive at a large downtown area (it may or may not be San Francisco), wander around aimlessly, see some interesting sites (which, again, may or not be in San Francisco), climb back in the car and return home. Once again, this visit to San Francisco would be unsatisfying. There are a lot of people who approach their experience of God in these same ways. Some people open books and read about Him, and consider themselves to be theologians, but perhaps doubt His existence, or never stand and pray to God, or never attempt to commune with Him. There are others who decide that they do not need to read anything about God, but can just experience Him directly, somehow. [Another example: if you met someone famous and didn t even know it. Wouldn t our experience of that person be so much fuller if actually read and knew something about that famous person? Or let s say we read about a famous a person, but never have the chance to meet them?] The Church offers us a balance between these two methods and teaches us that both are necessary. God has revealed Himself to us in the Sacred Scriptures, and have knowledge about who He is and about how He relates to His people. We also have the writings of the Church Fathers and the stories of all the saints who have experienced God and have provided us with a roadmap of ways for us to unite with Him as well. 1

2 But it is not enough for Christians to read about God without experiencing Him. It would be like reading the contents of a can without actually opening it and eating the food inside. The Church provides many means for communing with God including the Scriptures, Prayer, and the Holy Mysteries. In this lesson, we explore our knowledge of God and the dogma of the Holy Trinity. The Nature of our Knowledge of God God in His essence (or His being - His isness ) is incomprehensible (we will speak more about essence, ousia, below). Saint Paul describes God as He, who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen (1 Timothy 6:16). Saint Cyril of Jerusalem (4 th Century) says: We explain not what God is, but candidly confess that we have not exact knowledge concerning Him. For in what concerns God, to confess our ignorance is the best knowledge (Sixth Catechetical Lecture). But just because His essence is incomprehensible, does this mean that we should not even seek God at all? Saint Gregory of Nyssa (4 th Century) gives us the answer: If someone is making a journey in the middle of the day, when the sun with its hot rays scorches the head and by its heat dries up everything liquid in the body, and under one s feet is the hard earth which is difficult for walking and waterless; and then such a man encounters a spring with splendid, transparent, pleasing and refreshing streams pouring out abundantly will he sit down by the water and begin to reason about its nature, seeking out from whence it comes, how, from what, and all such things which idle speakers are wont to judge about, for example: is it a certain moisture which exists in the depths of the earth that comes to the surface under pressure and becomes water, or is it canals going through long desert places that discharge water as soon as they find an opening for themselves? Will he not rather, saying farewell to all rational deliberations, bend down his head to the stream and press his lips to it, quench his thirst, refresh his tongue, satisfy his desire, and gave thanks to the One Who gave this Grace? Therefore, let you also imitate this thirsting one (Homily on His Ordination). 2

3 In spite of all this, we do have knowledge of God to the extent that He Himself has revealed it to mankind. Therefore, we have to distinguish between the total comprehension of God, which in essence is impossible, and the knowledge of Him, even though it is incomplete. The degree of this knowledge is relative and depends on our ability and will to know God. Saint Cyril of Jerusalem also teaches us that there is a degree of the knowledge of God which is possible, useful, and needful for us. If someone says that the Essence of God is incomprehensible, then why do we speak about Him? But is it really true that because I cannot drink the whole river I will not take water from it in moderation for my benefit? Is it really true that because my eyes are not in a condition to take in the whole sun, I am therefore unable to behold as much as is needful for me? If, when going into some great garden, I cannot eat all the fruits, would you wish that I go away from it completely hungry (Catechetical Lectures 6.5). Also, Blessed Augustine was once walking on the seashore thinking about God, and saw a boy sitting at the seaside scooping water from the sea with a seashell and pouring it into a pit in the sand. This scene made Blessed Augustine realize the disproportion between our shallow minds and the greatness of God. Although we have some knowledge of God, it is impossible for our mind to hold a complete conception of Him in all His greatness, just as it is impossible to scoop up an entire sea with a seashell and fill a small pit in the sand. From whence do we derive our knowledge of God? There are at least two sources: 1. It is revealed to men from the knowledge of nature, the knowledge of oneself, and the knowledge of all of God s creation in general. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead (Romans 1:20). Therefore, what is invisible in God is made visible from the creation of the world through observing created things. 2. Even more than this however, is the supernatural revelation of God in that He was manifested in the flesh, through the Incarnation of the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who became man for our salvation. God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds (Hebrews 1:1-2). 3

4 Part of knowing God is following the map toward Him. We receive guidance from the saints and fathers of the Church. These are men and women who properly preserved the correct interpretation of Scripture through Sacred Tradition, and who struggled and reached for the aim of knowing God. They went towards this high aim to reach perfection in their Christian lives, and to be, inasmuch as it is possible in this life, holy as God is holy, and perfect as God is perfect. In their purity, they knew and saw God, and left for us the means to attaining this knowledge and perfection. Therefore, it is not enough to be familiar with the map ; i.e. to simply read some nice sayings of the fathers and mothers of the Church and to be able to quote them. We must strive to go on their journey. We must strive to acquire the minds of these saints and to view God, the Church, and the world in the same ways that they did. God s Revelation in the Holy Scriptures What are the attributes of God that have been revealed to us in the Bible? 1. God is Spirit God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth (John 4:24). Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty (2 Corinthians 3:17). God does not have a material or bodily nature and is of a spirituality that is greater, higher, and more perfect than all the created spiritual beings and the soul of man. However, we see many passages in the Holy Scriptures wherein something bodily is symbolically ascribed to God. For instance, God speaks, or God sits on His throne, or God sleeps and awakens, or God walked in the cool of the day in Paradise (Genesis 3:8). So what do we make of these anthropomorphic attributes of God. According to the Church Fathers, we must understand them in a way befitting God, as well as the way in which He relates to us. Saint Gregory the Theologian says: For, in accordance with our own understanding we have given names to the things of God which are taken from ourselves. When God, for reasons know to Him alone, ceases His care and, as it were, takes no more concern for us, this means that He is sleeping because our sleep is a similar lack of activity and care. When, on the contrary, He suddenly begins to do good, this means He awakens. He chastises, and for this we have made it out that He is angry because chastisement among us is with anger. He acts sometimes here, sometimes there and so, in our way of thinking, He walks, because walking is going from one place to another. He reposes and as it were dwells in the holy powers and we have called this a sitting, and a 4

5 sitting on a throne, which is likewise characteristic of us, for the Divinity does not repose in any place as well as in the saints. A swift movement we call flying. If there is a beholding, we speak of a face ; if there is a giving and a receiving, we speak of a hand. Likewise, every other power and every other action of God are depicted among us by something taken from bodily things (Homily 31, Fifth Theological Oration, On the Holy Spirit ). Saint John Chrysostom (4 th Century) in his commentary on the Book of Genesis also speaks about the anthropomorphic attributes of God. For instance, in commenting on God walking in paradise, he says: He wished to arouse in them [Adam and Eve] such a feeling (of God s closeness) that it might make them upset which in fact is what happened. They felt this and strove to conceal themselves from God Who was approaching them. So, we use these likenesses and images and symbols in order to better understand the actions of a God who is beyond our understanding. 2. Eternal God is Eternal, which is different than immortal. To be eternal means to everexist, to have no beginning or end (there is neither past nor future, only the present), whereas the concept of immortality means that something has been brought into being, but does not die. 3. All-Good God s goodness, His compassion, His mercy, and His love are unlimited and unconditional. His love is not limited to certain people or certain regions, but He is lovingly concerned with everyone and with every creature. 4. Omniscient God is all-knowing. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account (Hebrews 4:13). Since for God, everything is in the present, He sees our present, past, and future and has an immediate knowledge of all things. The foreknowledge of God does not violate our free will. The Church Fathers also comment on God s wisdom, particular in the ordering of the visible world. Saint Basil the Great says: One blade of grass or one speck of dust is enough to occupy your entire mind, in beholding the art with which it has been made. 5

6 The Old Testament tends to focus on the wisdom of God in the orderly arrangement of the world, whereas the New Testament emphasizes His wisdom concerning His divine plan (economy) of our salvation. 5. All-Righteous There are two aspects to God s righteousness: 1) holiness, and 2) justice. His holiness is not just the absence of evil and sin, but also the presence of higher spiritual values, joined to purity from sin. Holiness is like light, and the holiness of God is like the purest light. Throughout the Scriptures, God is praised as holy. God is also perfect in His justice. Although He judges strictly for our sins, He does this as a loving father who chastises us with the aim of brining a disobedient son to his senses. The Lord allows us to undergo struggle and tribulation now in order to purify us, so that we can enter into His kingdom which is full of holiness and light. Otherwise, where is God s justice for those who insist on abiding in sin? How would we feel in His pure kingdom while being unclean, dark, and not having a trace of holiness? 6. Almighty God is all powerful in His creation of the world and in His care for His creatures. He is the beholder-of-all, the Pantocrator. God s omnipotence does not mean that evil cannot exist. It is not that He cannot annihilate evil, but He has given freedom to us, so that we can turn to Him freely, rejecting evil and doing good. 7. Omnipresent God is not subject to any limitation in space, and fills everything; but exactly how, we do not understand (Saint John Chrysostom). Where should I go from Your spirit? Or where should I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; if I descend to Hades, You are present. If I were to take my wings at dawn and tent at the farthest limits of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me fast (LXX Psalm 138:7-10). Saint John Damascene (8 th Century) says: The Divinity penetrates everything without being mingled with anything, but nothing can penetrate Him. 6

7 8. Unchangeable Finally, because God is perfect, and because change is seen as a sign of imperfection, therefore God must also be unchangeable. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning (James 1:17). THE DOGMA OF THE HOLY TRINITY The Trinity is a Mystery The Holy Trinity is a mystery beyond human comprehension. However, we can still learn some of the Trinity s attributes. God has revealed Himself as three persons in one essence: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, One God. So, we do not worship three Gods, but a single God. In order to understand the teaching of the Holy Trinity, we have to understand two Greek terms: ousia, which we usually translate as essence and hypostasis, which we sometimes translate as person or substance. Ousia is that which is, or that which is common. For example, the term mankind refers to the whole race or the humanity that is common and belongs to all members of the human race. So, if we apply this to God, the name God is common to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Father is God, beyond time and eternal; so is the Son; so is the Holy Spirit. From the point of view of ousia or essence, they are the same. Hypostasis is different. This term refers to that which is particular. For example, out of the human race, there may be two men. These two men are two hypostases. Each of them has received his concrete existence separately and specifically. So with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, they are the same essence, but with reference to hypostasis, the Father is one, the Son is another, and the Holy Spirit another. They are distinct, yet united perfectly. The Father, for instance, is unbegotten. The Son is begotten, and the Holy Spirit proceeds from the fathers. In this way, each of them, while being fully God, is different from the other two. Over the ages, the Church and her teachers and fathers have tried to give us examples to help us grasp the concept of three in one. For example: 1) the Sun, its rays, and its light, 2) the root, the trunk, and the fruit of the tree, 3) fire, the light 7

8 and warmth that come from the flame, 4) a spring of water and the fountain and the river that issue from it, 5) three candles burning simultaneously which give a single inseparable light. But with regard to these analogies, although they come close, they cannot fully describe the Trinity. Saint Gregory the Theologian says with regard to these analogies: I have very carefully considered this matter in my own mind, and have looked at it in every point of view, in order to find some likeness of this mystery, but I have been unable to discover anything on earth with which to compare the Nature of the Godhead (Homily 31, On the Holy Spirit ). Saint Gregory continues to enumerate some analogies to the Trinity, only to find that they fall short of who God really is. He concludes by saying: Finally, then, it seems best to me to let the images and the shadows go, as being deceptive and very far short of the truth, and clinging myself to the more reverent conception, and resting upon few words, using the guidance of the Holy Spirit, keeping to the end as my genuine comrade and companion the enlightenment which I have received from Him, and passing through this world to persuade others also to the best of my power to worship Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the one Godhead and Power (Homily 31, On the Holy Spirit ). The Holy Trinity in the Old Testament We have evidence of the Holy Trinity in the Old Testament. 1. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1). The word for God in Hebrew is Elohim, which has the grammatical form of the plural number. 2. When God crated the world, the Book of Genesis says, And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said... (Genesis 1:2-3), and indication that the Holy Spirit and the Word of God (the Logos/the Son) participated in creation. 3. Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness (Genesis 1:26). The plural here indicates that God is not just one Person. Us is also used in Genesis 3:22 after Adam and Eve sinned, as well as Genesis 11:6-7 in the story of the Tower of Babel. 4. Then the Lord appeared to him by the terebinth trees of Mamre, as he was sitting in the tent door in the heat of the day. So he lifted his eyes and looked, 8

9 and behold, three men were standing by him; and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to met them, and bowed himself to the ground, and said, My Lord, if I have now found favor in Your sight, do not pass on by Your servant (Genesis 18:1-3). Blessed Augustine comments saying: Do you see that Abraham meets Three but bows down to One?... Having beheld Three, he understood the mystery of the Trinity, and having bowed down to One, he confessed One God in Three Persons. In the Coptic Orthodox Church, we do not consider this a manifestation of the Trinity, but perhaps only a symbol. Rather, we believe that this was the appearance of the Lord God the Son (Christ) with two angels. We find that after this meeting, the two angels went to Sodom, and Abraham remained standing before the Lord interceding for Sodom. Many Church Fathers such as Saint Justin and Saint John Chrysostom, as well as St. Hilary who says that Abraham s visitors were three, but only One of them was worthy of the worship and Abraham was able to distinguish Him by addressing Him my Lord, and He is Christ. 5. Other indications include the priestly triple blessing found in Numbers 6:24-26: The Lord bless you The Lord make His face shine upon you The Lord lift up His countenance upon you as well as the praise of the Seraphim in the book of Isaiah: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts (6:3). The Holy Trinity in the New Testament We also see evidence of the Holy Trinity in the New Testament, most clearly at the baptism of Christ wherein we hear the voice of the Father saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased (Matthew 3:17), the Incarnate Son, Jesus Christ, in the waters of the Jordan River, and the Holy Spirit descending like a dove and alighting upon Him (Matthew 3:16). 1. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 20:19). Saint Ambrose of Milan comments that the Lord said, In the name, not in the names. Because God is one and not two or three, there are not many names. 2. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with you all. Amen (2 Corinthians 13:14). 9

10 The Trinity in the History of the Church We also see evidence of the Trinity throughout the life of God s people and the Church. In the Old Testament, we see God the Father dealing with His people from above. God the Father is the Source of all things, the Foundation of all being, the Father of mercies Who loves us and cares for His creation. We are His children by Grace. In the Gospel, we see the Incarnate Son dwelling with His people ( Emmanuel means God with us ). God the Son is with us, Who for the sake of Divine love showed Himself to us as man, died for us, and saved us from sin and death. From the Day of Pentecost until now, the Holy Spirit has actively guided the Church and her members into the fullness of the truth, and has brought to remembrance all of the teachings and sayings of our Lord Jesus Christ. We say that the Holy Spirit is in us. We receive the Holy Spirit on the day of our chrismation, when we are anointed after baptism. All three persons were present during these stages of history, but each person was dominant at different times. We also see the early Church confessing the Trinity in the following ways: 1. The acts of the Christian martyrs and confessors who were not afraid to declare their faith in the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit before their torturers. 2. We see the trinity in the writings of the Apostolic Fathers and the ancient Christian writers. Early fathers such as Saint Justin Martyr, Tertullian, Saint Irenaeus, Saint Cyprian, Saint Athanasius, Saint Hilary, Saint Basil and others all wrote about baptism performed in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. 3. We see expressions in the Divine services. For example, Saint Basil quotes the small doxology, Glory to the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit, as well as, To Him (Christ) with the Father and the Holy Spirit may there be honor and glory unto the ages of ages. 4. The Ecumenical Councils of Nicea (325 A.D.) and Constantinople (381 A.D.) declared and affirmed the Divinity of the Son, Jesus Christ, as well as the Holy Spirit. 10

11 The Relationship of the Three Persons of the Trinity Finally, how do the three persons of the Trinity relate to one another? We confess that the Father is unbegotten, that the Son is begotten from the Father, and that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father. The Son is eternally begotten from the Father, and the Holy Spirit proceeds eternally from the Father. Therefore, although there is an order, these three hypostases are one in essence, co-existent and coeternal. Although in human terms we think of sons as being younger than their fathers, this is not the case with the Trinity. The Son is eternal, just as the Father is eternal. The two words begotten and proceeds distinguish the Son and the Holy Spirit from the rest of creation. These two persons come from the essence as God the Father, and are therefore divine and eternal. The Church has not sought to explain the exact difference between "begotten" and "proceeding" other than that they distinguish between the person of the Son and the person of the Holy Spirit and their respective works. This is what has been revealed to us in the Holy Scriptures: For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16), and, 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). This last verse indicates that the Son can send the Holy Spirit at various times and for special purposes within time (for instance, on the Day of Pentecost), but the Holy Spirit eternally proceeds from the Father. To say that the Holy Spirit eternally proceeds from the Son would be to disrupt the order of the Trinity as it has been revealed to us. Conclusion In this lesson, we primarily focused on our knowledge of God. If we refer back to our analogy at the beginning, we have looked at the map, but we have not yet talked about how to experience God. We have simply looked at His attributes and understand, inasmuch as we can grasp, the concept of the Trinity. Next semester, we will learn about the means that the Church gives us in order to experience God and to come in communion with Him; namely the Sacraments and the Divine Liturgy. Glory is due to God unto the age of all ages. Amen. 11