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« The Trinity: A Mystery for Eternity | Main | "The Trinity and the Nature of Love" by Fr. Christopher Rengers »

Sunday, May 26, 2013

Comments

Philip

It is neither patristic nor biblical to begin, as Sheed does, with an impersonal "divine substance," rather than the person of the Father and his monarchy. The Father is the font and origin of the Godhead. He is also, as the Cappadocians made clear, the source of unity in the Godhead. You'll notice that the Preface for the Feast of the Trinity, which he cites, begins with and is directed toward the Father. As is the entire liturgy. This is because the Son Himself adores the Father, through and in the Spirit. The Father must be the beginning of all Trinitarian speculation. Anything else is novel and dangerous. The Orthodox understand this. Why don't we? Perhaps the filioque truly has been damaging to western triadology.

Mal

Here is something that helps me appreciate the oneness.
The human soul is mind, body and spirit.
The mind analyses information some of which comes via the senses, and makes decision which it conveys to the body - the visible, audible and tangible entity of the person. The mind works through the brain exploiting the organ’s specific functions. It activates different parts of the brain as it does so. (Not much different from the activity in a junction box attached to a building as electricity enters and passes through it.} We also know that the individual has a relationship – good, bad, loving, uncaring or whatever - with everything around him. The nature of this spiritual dimension, which has been nurtured by the individual, determines his relationship. The spirit influences the mind as decisions are being made. This is why some act with love while others are rather selfish or hateful.
Now although the mind, body and spirit are different entities (or personships) they work together I harmony as human being – an individual soul.
Our heavenly Father, our Creator, is pleased that the Son manifests his words and majesty in heaven and on earth. (One can find many appropriate statements in the gospels.) And we also know that the Holy Spirit of love and truth is present in all the works of God. So, in like manner, we could accept the Father, Son and Holy Spirit as one harmonious Divine Being – our God.

Ross Twele

Philip,
I don't think your approach and Sheed's are incompatible. Sheed's approach lays the groundwork for how to think about the Trinity as it exists, as the nature and persons relate to each other at any one "moment" of the Trinity's existence, in terms of understanding the vocabulary we use to describe the dogma. Your approach, and that of Scripture and the Fathers, relates to the relations between the Persons, which Sheed does not do here but does do in the very next portion of his book. The relations between the Persons are the source and origin of salvation history, and of course they are critically important; but they would mean nothing to someone who has a false or deficient understanding of what Nature and Person mean (something that Scripture authors and Fathers, honestly, could much more easily assume among their contemporaries than we can now).

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