# Trinitarian Theology Questions concerning Who is the Holy Trinity?, Who is the Father?, Who is the Son? And Who is the Holy Spirit? # Course on the Holy Trinity - HG Bishop Raphael [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOBsSh97QNo&list=PLroBJmBsb1QhimgHdoIAli7PeP2eQdfBQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOBsSh97QNo&list=PLroBJmBsb1QhimgHdoIAli7PeP2eQdfBQ) # Fundamentals: Fr Daniel Ava Moses - Essence - That which all Subjects of a Common Group are constituted or made up of - Essence is what causes a Being to be what it is - A being is not said to POSSESS the Essence but IS the Essence - Complete definition of an essence includes All its natural attributes - Removing natural attributes from an essence destroys the definition of that essence - Definition of an essence is made clear by stating what an essence is and not by stating what it is not - This definition is NOT impacted by Accidents (Contingent attributes) - It can also be viewed that contingent attributes are included in the definition of an essence - Using secular methods of categorizing existence is NOT wrong - Synonyms - Being or Existence - Concrete Reality - Hypostasis (archaic) - Nature - Substance - Divine Essence - Synonyms for the Divine Essence - Divinity - Godhead - Principles of the Divine Essence - Able to be Imitated - Able to be Partaken of - Able to be taught by faith and pious reasoning - Eternal, Uncreated, Unoriginate - Incommunicable - NO created being can EVER become constituted of the Divine Essence - Incomprehensible - NOT possible to know WHAT the Divine Essence is - Seeking the definition of the Divine Essence is NOT to be pursued - ONLY the Trinity know WHAT the Divine Essence is - Indivisble - Cannot be broken up into parts - Division of Divine Essence would necessitate that It be incomplete - One - This necessitates that there be One God - This One God is a Triad - It is NOT wrong to confess belief in One God, but better to unfold or expand our confession to clearly note each of the Three Divine Hypostases - This is the Fullness of the Godhead - This is the Perfect Doctrine of the Only True Religion - The Holy Trinity is Father, Son, Holy Spirit - Multiple divine essences would necessitate multiple gods - The Divine Essence is Referred to when naming individual Divine Hypostasis - The Divine Essence is not able to exist or energize contrary to Itself - Hypostasis - Essence (archaic) - Individual Subject - In Most cases, each hypostasis is a portion of essence distinct from another hypostasis constituted of the same essence - **MW:** This is NOT the case with the Divine Essence - Synonyms - Person - Individual or Personal Existence - Subsistence - An Individual Hypostasis is NOT the same thing as a commonly shared essence - Divine Hypostases - Father - Son - Holy Spirit - Principles of the Divine Hypostases - The Divine Hypostases are all able to be partaken of or participated in - Partaking of One Divine Hypostasis is the same as partaking of any of Them - NO Created Being can cause another created being to partake of God - Divine Hypostases do NOT partake of anything created - The Divine Hypostases are all coessential, connatural, consubstantial, being constituted of the One and Only Divine Essence - This precludes Them from not being equal - This causes Them to be equal in all things - The Divine Hypostases are all complete, perfect or whole - The Divine Hypostases are all constituted of the One Undivided or Unpartitioned Divine Essence - The Divine Hypostases are all coworkers in any and all things - They will NEVER do anything separately EVER - Abilities or Energizations are not divided up among the Divine Hypostases - Assigning specific abilities or energies to individual divine hypostases leads to polytheism - If something is ascribed to a specific Divine Hypostasis, it should be understood as From the Father, Through the Son and In the Holy Spirit - Each Divine Hypostasis can be understood to energize the same energy in a way that varies from the other Divine Hypostases - The formula of HOW They work together is that each Divine Hypostasis has His own Preposition that describes its relationship to the work - From the Father - Through the Son (sometimes By the Son) - In the Holy Spirit - Each Divine Hypostasis having Its own preposition allows for differences and variation for the same energization - Being able to do the same works testifies to the Son being the Father’s Image and Imprint - Being able to do the same works testifies to their being coessential - Each Divine Hypostasis is completely sufficient of Itself to completely accomplish any work - They are equal in all things - Examples - Creating - Sharing Grace (Divine Attributes) - Judging - Purifying - Sanctifying - The Divine Hypostases are all distinct from one another - The Divine Hypostases are all Eternal, Uncreated, Unoriginate - This means before or outside of time - The Son and Holy Spirit are Simultaneously Originate (the Father is their Origin) and yet, NOT Temporally - The Divine Hypostases are all IN each other - The Father is In the Son - The Son is in the Father - The Son is in the Holy Spirit - The Holy Spirit is in the Father - The Holy Spirit is in the Son - The Divine Hypostases are all indivisible or inseparable from each other - Division of any Divine Hypostasis from each other… - Causes one to be Divided from Life - Causes the Divine Essence to be more than one - Destroys the perfection of the Trinity - Destroys the unity of the Trinity - Necessitates that the Divine Essence has mixed with it an essence that is created and different - Precludes there being only One True God - The Divine Hypostases are all said to be possessed by those who participate in Them - The Divine Hypostases are all simultaneously individually existent with the other Divine Hypostases - The Divine Hypostases are the ONLY Hypostases that can COMPLETELY know each Other. - The Divine Hypostases are all united to each other - Father <—> Son - Father <—> Holy Spirit - Son <—> Holy Spirit - They are NOT able to go above or below Three - They are NOT the Divine Essence - They are NOT duplicates of each Other - Attributes - Descriptive capacities possessed by an essence or individual - Energies - The supplying of an effect - The effect itself - Principles - Attributes can be categorized as: - Essential, Natural, Substantial - Shared and possessed by any and all things constituted of a given essence - These attributes are rooted in the nature and cannot be lost by that nature - These can grow dull if they are not used - Hypostatic - Belonging to specific individuals of a group that is coessential - Hypostatic Attributes of the Holy Trinity - Fatherhood - Only-Begottenness or Sonship - Procession - These are the ONLY differences between the Divine Hypostases - If these are removed, the Divine Hypostases will contract into One - Conditional, Contingent, Dependent or Impermanent (Accidents) - These type of attributes are not inherent to the Essence which they are attached - These can be lost by the Essence or Individual they were in - Losing these does not do any harm to the Essence or Subject - Mutually Exclusive Attributes CANNOT exist simultaneously in the same subject - Attributes are not: - Essences - Individual Hypostases - Self-existent or able to exist independent of an essence or hypostasis - Divine Attributes of the Holy Trinity - All-encompassingness - Authority or Sovereignty - Calmness, Peace, Serenity, Tranquility - Compassion - Completeness, Perfection, Wholeness - Creativity - How God creates is not able to be comprehended - Only the Trinity is able to possess this attribute - Causing something to exist in a given state and restoring this thing back to this state are the same thing - Whatever God wants to create is created immediately in its entirety - Energizing (Able to bring something about) - Eternity or Timelessness - Existence - God can NEVER not exist - His existence is beyond all understanding - Fearlessness - Formlessness or Shapelessness - Freedom - Gentleness - Glory - Godhood (Being Divine) - Goodness - Graciousness (Kindness) - Holiness, Righteousness, Sanctity - Honesty - Humility - Immateriality, Impalpability or Intangibility - Immeasurability - Immortality - Immutability, Inalterability, Unchangeability - Impartiality - Immovability or Impassibility - Imperishability - Incomprehensibility - Incorporeality - Incorruption or Indestructibility - Indescribability, Ineffability, Inexpressibility - Indivisibility - Infiniteness, Limitlessness or Unquantifiability - Invisibility - Only the Trinity can truly see Itself - The Divinity can appear to created beings through Accomodation - This is NOT seeing the Divine Essence itself - The Divine Nature CAN be seen with the soul - This is NOT possible with bodily eyes - This is what it means to gain knowledge of God - Invulnerability - Judgmental (Having the capacity to judge) - Leniency - Life - Light - Longsuffering or Patient - Lordship - Love - Manliness - Mercy - Nobility - Omnipotence - Omnipresence - Omniscience - Purity - Self-existence, Originateness, Subsistence - Self-sufficiency - Sinlessness - Supraessentiality - Supremacy or Transcendence - Truth - Uncompoundedness (Simplicity) - Uncreatedness - Unoriginateness - Unweariedness - Will - Wisdom - Principles of Divine Attributes - The Divine Attributes are a means to contemplate and gain knowledge of God - The Divine Attributes are able to be actualized or not by the Trinity at will - The Divine Attributes are able to be discovered through Holy Scripture - The Divine Attributes are able to be divided up - The Divine Attributes are able to be guarded - The Divine Attributes are able to be increased by those who receive them - The Divine Attributes are able to be manifested: - through an object - towards an object - The Divine Attributes are able to be shared with created beings and become conditional attributes in them - This process is called partaking or participating in - Not ALL of the Divine Attributes are able to be shared with created beings - The Divine Attributes are difficult or hard to innumerate/explain - The Divine Attributes are eternal and uncreated - The Divine Attributes are from God as their Source - The Divine Attributes are immutable or unchangeable - The Divine Attributes are infinite or immeasurable - The Divine Attributes are possessed by the Trinity - The Divine Attributes are said to exist - The Divine Attributes are revealed in Holy Scripture - The Divine Attributes are a Single Instance of each divine attribute and not separate instances of the same divine attribute for each divine Hypostasis - The Divine Attributes are NOT: - The Divine Essence - If the Divine Attributes are the Divine Essence, then it is composite!!! - Divine Hypostases - Principles about energization, partaking, participation or sharing - It cannot occur if one is already constituted of that essence or inherently possesses that essence’s attributes - It can cause one to gain a new title or description - It enables one to escape one’s natural state - Created beings are not able to grant participation in the Divine Nature - Created beings can share some divine attributes with another being THROUGH themselves (e.g. teaching) - A human is not able to share every divine attribute it receives with others - Does NOT change the definition of an essence or its natural state UNLESS these new attributes become inherent in the essence - Is Passive - God shares - Is Active - Accomplished through Free will - Is Reversible (can be lost) - Maintained via - Attentiveness or Watchfulness - Faith - Humility - Holiness, keeping God’s commandments or Love - Purity - Disrupted via - Disbelief - Disobedience or Sin - Negligence - Turning to what is worse - No Created being can EVER inherently possess Divine Attributes - Humans Did NOT exist prior to being created