Trinity

Now this is the faith: Similarly, the Father is almighty, the Son is almighty, That we worship one in the is almighty. and the trinity in unity, Yet there are not three almighty beings; neither blending their persons there is but one almighty being. nor dividing their essence. Thus the Father is God, For the person of the Father the Son is God, is a distinct person, the Holy Spirit is God. the person of the Son is another, Yet there are not three ; and that of the Holy Spirit still another. there is but one God. But the of the Father, Son, and Holy Thus the Father is Lord, Spirit is one, the Son is Lord, their glory equal, their majesty coeternal. the Holy Spirit is Lord. Yet there are not three lords; there is but one Lord.

What quality the Father has, the Son has, Just as Christian truth compels us and the Holy Spirit has. to confess each person individually The Father is uncreated, as both God and Lord, the Son is uncreated, so catholic religion forbids us the Holy Spirit is uncreated. to say that there are three gods or lords. The Father is immeasurable, The Father was neither made nor created nor the Son is immeasurable, begotten from anyone. the Holy Spirit is immeasurable. The Son was neither made nor created; The Father is eternal, he was begotten from the Father alone. the Son is eternal, The Holy Spirit was neither made nor created the Holy Spirit is eternal. nor begotten; And yet there are not three eternal beings; he proceeds from the Father and the Son. there is but one eternal being. So too there are not three uncreated or Accordingly there is one Father, not three fathers; immeasurable beings; there is one Son, not three sons; there is but one uncreated and immeasurable there is one Holy Spirit, not three holy spirits. being. Nothing in this trinity is before or after, nothing is greater or smaller; in their entirety the three persons are coeternal and coequal with each other. So in everything, as was said earlier, we must worship their trinity in their unity and their unity in their trinity.

1 of 4 Incarnation: Christ’s Divine and Human Nature

Now this is the true faith: That we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, God's Son, is both God and human, equally. He is God from the essence of the Father, begotten before time; and he is human from the essence of his mother, born in time; completely God, completely human, with a rational soul and human flesh; equal to the Father as regards divinity, less than the Father as regards humanity. Although he is God and human, yet Christ is not two, but one.

He is one, however, not by his divinity being turned into flesh, but by God's taking humanity to himself. He is one, certainly not by the blending of his essence, but by the unity of his person. For just as one human is both rational soul and flesh, so too the one Christ is both God and human.

He suffered for our salvation; he descended to hell; he arose from the dead; he ascended to ; he is seated at the Father's right hand; from there he will come to judge the living and the dead. At his coming all people will arise bodily and give an accounting of their own deeds.

2 of 4 Handouts for Week 2: Trinitarian Heresies

Modalism (i.e. , Noetianism and Ebionitism Patripassianism) ...taught that while Jesus was endowed with ...taught that the three persons of the Trinity as particular charismatic gifts which distinguished different “modes” of the Godhead. Adherants him from other humans but nonetheless believed that Father, Son and Holy Spirit are not regarded Him as a purely human figure. distinct personalities, but different modes of God's self-revelation. A typical modalist Macedonianism approach is to regard God as the Father in ...that that the Holy Spirit is a created being. creation, the Son in , and the Spirit in . In other words, God exists as Father, Son and Spirit in different eras, but ...taught that Jesus was born totally human and never as triune. Stemming from Modalism, only later was “adopted” – either at his Patripassianism believed that the Father suffered or at his resurrection – by God in a special (i.e. as the Son. divine) way.

Tritheism Partialism ... confessses the Father, Son and Holy ...taught that Father, Son and Holy Spirit Spirit as three independent divine beings; three together are components of the one God. This separate gods who share the 'same substance'. led them to believe that each of the persons of This is a common mistake because of the Trinity is only part God, only becoming fully misunderstanding of the use of the term God when they come together. 'persons' in defining the Trinity. …taught that the wrathful Hebrew God was a ...taught that the preexistent Christ was the first separate and lower entity than the all-forgiving and greatest of God’s creatures but denied his God of the New Testament. Marcionism, similar fully divine status. The Arian controversy was of to , depicted the God of the Old major importance in the development of Testament as a tyrant or . during the fourth century and was addressed definitely in the Nicene .

Docetism ...taught that Jesus Christ as a purely divine being who only had the “appearance” of being human. Regarding his suffering, some versions taught that Jesus’ divinity abandoned or left him upon the cross while other claimed that he only appeared to suffer (much like he only appeared to be human).

3 of 4 Apostles’ Creed — Traditional Version

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth; And in Jesus Christ his only Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried;* the third day he rose from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic** church, the communion of , the of , the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

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