On the Trinity

The fundamental revelation about God in the Christian faith is that there is one God in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Thus, both the Apostles’ and the Nicene Creeds have a three-part structure, being organized around what the Church believes regarding each of the three Divine Persons. Although the term “Trinity” is not found in the Bible, the Bible gives witness to the Trinity in a variety of places, including the baptism of Jesus (Mk. 1:10-11; Matt. 3:16-17; Luke 3:21-22; John 1:33-34); Jesus’ discourses regarding the Holy Spirit in John 14-16; Jesus’ commandment to baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in Matthew 28:19; and in several passages in the letters of St. Paul (including 2 Cor. 13:14). One of the implications of the tripersonal reality of God is that God exists eternally in a divine community of love. And the reason that God created human beings was that he desired to be in a relationship of love with us. This goes to the very heart of our Christian faith. God loves us and desires to be in relationship with us so much that he actually became one of us: Jesus of Nazareth. And for Christian believers he continues to live with us and abide in us in the power of the person of the Holy Spirit.