We have come again to the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. I don’t know who dreads this Sunday more, the priests who have to attempt to explain this most mysterious of all Catholic Doctrines in a short homily, or the poor congregation who has to listen to it.
I came across an article this week titled: Dear Priests: The Top 5 Heresies to Avoid this Trinity Sunday. The author begins his article: “The doctrine of the Trinity is arguably the most important doctrine of the Church, since it is regarding the very nature of God. It’s also one of the most confusing and misunderstood. So Trinity Sunday is a great time for priests to clear up misconceptions among their flock.”
To better understand what we actually believe, sometimes it’s helpful to examine what we don’t believe. The author then goes on to list 5 of those common misconceptions or errors about the Trinity.
The first error he lists is denying the personhood of the Holy Spirit. The author wrote that he once heard a priest preach that the Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit was “two whos and a what” or “two persons and a thing.” But that’s wrong. The Holy Spirit is not some impersonal divine “force”, nor is it acceptable to say that He’s simply “God’s action in the world.” The Holy Spirit is a divine person just as much as the Father and Son. He is a full and distinct person. So the Trinity isn’t “two whos and a what” but “three whos”—three persons.
On the other hand, a second error the author mentions is “Tritheism”. Just as it’s important to emphasize the three persons, it’s also imperative to make clear that Catholics do not believe in three Gods. The first line of the Creed is, “We believe in one God…” The three persons of the Trinity are divine, but they are not three Gods. Rather, they share the same divine substance…which is why we use our favorite word “consubstantial”.
Often Muslims claim that Christians are guilty of believing in multiple gods because of the doctrine of the Trinity. But, we don’t believe in multiple gods, we believe in one God who is a Trinity of Three Divine Persons. Jesus Himself even clarifies this when he says, “I and the Father are one”
The third error the author mentions is one of the most ancient yet common heresies about the Trinity, that of Modalism. Modalism claims that the persons of the trinity are just three modes or masks that God switches between. So Modalism claims that sometimes God puts on his Father mask, sometimes he puts on his Jesus mask, sometimes he puts on his Holy Spirit mask.
But that’s not right. From all eternity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have existed coeternally, at the same time.
Another error, one which I’ve actually heard preached by many well-meaning Catholics, is that when God is mentioned in the Old Testament, it is only referring to God the Father.
I’ve heard people say, well, the God of the Old Testament had a really bad temper, and wasn’t loving or merciful, so Jesus showed up and showed us that God is really loving. This is a serious error. That goes back to the second century. A heretical teacher named Marcion claimed that the God of the Old Testament was evil, and told his followers not even to read the Old Testament because it was full of error. Marcion’s error was quickly condemned by the Church.
We don’t believe in two Gods—one cruel, one merciful. Now yes, the Son and the Holy Spirit are most clearly revealed in the New Testament, but the The God whose words and actions are recorded in the Old Testament is the same God who, assumed a human nature and preached the Sermon on the Mount.
It cannot be said that the God of the Old Testament is without mercy. In fact, the word, “Mercy”, used to describe God more times in the Old Testament than the New. Both the New Testament and the Old are clear that God is full of mercy, while at the same time urging us to turn away from sin, to follow the commandments.
I really liked this article about the top heresies to avoid about the trinity. There was a really good question at the end of the article, and you might be thinking this yourself: what does it matter? What does it matter if I say the Holy Trinity is “two whos and a what”? What does it matter if I don’t believe Jesus is consubstantial with the Father? Am I really going to go to hell if I ascribe to Modalism or the Marcionist Heresy? Isn’t it okay to change the words from Father, Son, Holy Spirit to “Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier” If I feel like it?
And the answer is, it does matter. We believe, as Catholics, that Faith is not something that we make up as we go along. Christianity is something that we have inherited from God Himself. Christianity is not man’s word, but God’s word. In so many of our Doctrines, God has revealed His Heart to Us, He’s Revealed His Holy Will for us, and we commit a grave mistake, one that has eternal consequences, if we say, I’m just going to believe whatever I want.
Jesus said in the Gospel today, “teach ALL that I have commanded you.” He didn’t say, bend the truth that you find difficult, water down the truth that you find demanding, ignore the truth that you find inconvenient.
We might not be able to understand the profound depths of the Catholic doctrines, but every Catholic is called to firmly believe them, even when our understanding is lacking.
I don’t understand the doctrine of the Trinity, but I believe it because it is an unchangeable doctrine of the Catholic Church. St. Augustine said, I believe so that I may understand. Faith proceeds understanding.
Even the Opening Prayer for Mass today is clear on this point. “grant us, we pray, that in professing the true faith, we may acknowledge the Trinity of eternal glory and adore your Unity, powerful in majesty.” Notice it didn’t say, grant that we may fully understand the doctrine of the Trinity, but grant that we may profess the truth faith.
St. Athanasius wrote, Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the Catholic faith…And the Catholic faith is this: That we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity; Neither confounding the Persons; nor dividing the substance.”
This is the Catholic Faith. Though we can never fully understand it, we are proud to profess it…for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
No comments:
Post a Comment