For Trinity Sunday
Minister’s Letter - 9 June 2022
Friends in Christ, we are coming to Trinity Sunday. At all three services, we will use the special prayer for the day which speaks of our confession of a true faith to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity... to worship God as one!
The Trinity means God is ‘tri-une’, three-in-one. That is, one eternal God, existing in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, in eternal relationship. Think for example of Ephesians 4:4-6, which says there’s one Spirit, one Lord [Jesus], one God and Father of all. It’s a great unity or ‘oneness’ passage. But there are three persons.
Both the Nicene Creed (which we'll use at 10:30am), and the Athanasian Creed in particular (which we'll use at 8:30am) help explain this. And it's worth saying we don’t find the key technical terms developed by early Christian leaders to articulate the doctrine of the Trinity in the Bible. But the teaching flows straight out of the Bible. If you sit under solid, biblical preaching, you’ll hear all the actual content of the Trinity, over and again.
Icon of Athanasius of Alexandria
Here are two articles, the first summarising and explaining the doctrine, and the second answering some practical questions...
Kevin DeYoung: “The Doctrine of the Trinity: No Christianity Without It”
Gavin Ortlund (interviewing Fred Sanders): “Strange Is Good with the Trinity”
Below are some comments our Sub-Dean, Chris Allan, shared some time ago on the Athanasian Creed. (You can, and should, take time to read the whole Creed here, or consult the back of your Prayer Book!)
Warmly in Christ,
Sandy Grant
Dean of Sydney
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The Athanasian Creed
The name of this Creed comes from Athanasius (296-373), bishop of Alexandria, who was noted for his defence of the deity and humanity of Jesus, God the Son. Perhaps because this Creed is so clear on the Trinity and the deity of Jesus, Athanasius became associated with this Creed. Today, most scholars believe it was not written by Athanasius but in the 5th century. Regardless of the authorship it is the content of the Creed which the Church has always held of significance.
The Athanasian Creed is in two halves. The first half is concerned with the Bible’s teaching of God the Trinity. The second half speaks to the divinity and humanity of Jesus.
The Church has always had controversies and heresies that have assaulted it – particularly concerning the nature of God and the deity of Jesus. In particular there were two early heresies (modalism and Arianism) that attempted to break apart the Trinity and present different views of the nature of God that were at odds with the Bible. Thus, the Athanasian Creed makes bold statements as to the Father, Son and Spirit – clear statements regarding their nature. But then following, there is a trailing (or secondary) statement denying what is contrary and unorthodox. This two-fold pattern follows throughout, for example:
So the Father is God; the Son is God; and the Holy Ghost is God.
And yet they are not three Gods; but one God
Importantly, the historical Creeds are not Scripture – they do not retain the authority of the Bible. But these statements of doctrine have long been used by Christians as a summary of doctrine to be helpful and edify Christians; and importantly distinguish Christians from non-Christian sects like Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons.
As such they are important historical summaries of the faith for Christians that teach and provide Christians with confidence in the words declared together for “each phrase has been tested in the long fight, and has been found needful to protect some portion of the truth. Almost every section is a tombstone of a buried error” [p123, Neil and Willoughby, The Tutorial Prayer Book]
Chris Allan, Sub-Dean