In Christianity
(and in Judaism, too) God is transcendent. He is the One[1]
who can not be approached. Like a
great black hole at the center of a galaxy He melts anything that gets too
close to Him. He is a consuming
fire[2],
and the dreadfulness of His glory is such that even the holy seraphim cover
their eyes as they soar around His throne.[3]
But there is more
to God than His terrible transcendent Oneness. He is also unimaginable
condescending love. His love is
such that He is near whenever He is called[4],
and He is unfailingly faithful and loyal.[5] The Prophet King David describes
God’s love:
The Lord executes mercy and judgment for all that are
injured. He made known his ways to Moses, his will to the children of Israel.
The Lord is compassionate and pitiful, long-suffering, and full of mercy. He
will not be always angry; neither will he be wrathful for ever. He has not
dealt with us according to our sins, nor recompensed us according to our
iniquities. For as the heaven is high above the earth, the Lord has so increased
his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so
far has he removed our transgressions from us. As a father pities his children,
the Lord pities them that fear him. For he knows our frame: remember that we
are dust.[6]
His love is so great that it can
only be measured by His transcendence:
“as the heaven is high above the earth”
.[7] But what is the source of this
love? How can the One love
anything inferior to itself?
Specifically, how can the One love man so as to want to save man?
It might be that
the Holy Trinity Icon by St. Andrei Rublev is the perfect introduction to how
the Holy Trinity loves and saves man[8]. Indeed, we can look at this Icon as a
framework on which to hang all the theology of salvation.
The first thing to
notice about the Icon is that it is not just an Icon of God. It is an Icon of a specific event[9]
in the history of salvation. The
point being that God acts in history. The Icon teaches us that the three Divine
Persons don’t just sit around in Heaven admiring each other. The Holy Trinity
acts in history, on earth, with people.
The historical table at which the Divine Persons were seated was
prepared by Abraham and Sarah near the Oaks of Mamre. The Holy Trinity entered history at that point[10]
to make a promise[11]
and judge two cities[12].
But
this is not the first time the Holy Trinity came down from heaven in order save
us; either by keeping us away from total self-destruction by killing the most
wicked among us, or by forcing us to obey him.
An example of the
former is when God spoke to Noah.
Then, when he saved a remnant of humanity, we see in the Masoretic
text a hint of His Trinitarian nature when
he speaks as Elohim not as the
singular El. The second person plural noun
(elohim = gods) is turned into a proper noun and used as the singular name of
God.[13]
“The earth also was corrupt before [Elohim], and the earth
was filled with violence. And [Elohim]
looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had
corrupted his way upon the earth. And [Elohim] said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for
the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy
them with the earth. Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in
the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch…And, behold, I, even
I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein
[is] the breath of life, from under heaven; [and] every thing that [is] in the
earth shall die. But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt
come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with
thee.”[14]
We see an example
of the latter in the story of the tower of Babel in the eleventh chapter of
Genesis. God had told humanity to
scatter across the whole Earth but we refused to obey. Nevertheless, God was determined that
we would obey. The reason this
story is important to understanding the Holy Trinity is one word: “us”. When we read of Him stopping us from
committing great evil at Babel we read that He revealed Himself as YHWH but He
used a first person plural pronoun (“us”) in reference to Himself[15]:
“And [YHWH]
came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. And
the [YHWH] said, Behold, the
people [is] one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and
now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. Go
to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not
understand one another's speech.”[16]
Neither of these
two examples is explicitly Trinitarian[17]
but taken together with the account of the theophany at the Oaks of Mamre, it
is clear that the Old Testament teaches that three Divine Persons work together
in history for the salvation of men.[18]
But there is more
to the Old Testament teaching regarding the Holy Trinity than His[19]
actions in history.
 |
| Holy Trinity by St. Anrei Rublev |
Regarding the
Angel of YHWH it is clear that the messenger is the sender, and that the
presenter is the presented.[21] Hagar encountered the Angel of YHWH,
and said to Him “Thou art the God of seeing…”[22] After Abraham prophesied “My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt
offering”[23] the Angel
of YHWH does, indeed, provide a sacrifice in the place of Isaac, but also promises that through Abraham all
the people of the earth will be blessed.[24]
It is interesting
to see that Bobrinskoy classes the appearance of “The Angel of Elohim” in
Genesis 31:11-13 as another appearance of the Angel of YHWH.[25]
Perhaps he has in mind Exodus 3:4 which
brings the two names, Elohim and YHWH together: “When YHWH saw that [Moses] turned
aside to see, Elohim called to him out of the bush.” Thus, the identification of the Angel of Elohim and the
Angel of YHWH is complete, and this identification takes place in the context
of the salvation of Israel from slavery in Egypt.
That Philo, the Alexandrian Jew believed
that the Angel of YHWH was the Logos is well known, and Bobrinskoy mentions
this.[26] But it is important to remember that
Philo was a speculative philosopher in the platonic mold, and seemed to think
of the Logos as something less than God:
“But the
shadow of God is his Logos, which he used like an instrument when he was making
the world. And this shadow, and, as it were, model, is the archetype of other
things. For as God is himself the model of that image which he [Moses] has now
called a shadow, so also that image is the model of other things, as he showed
when he commenced giving the law to the Israelites, and said, 'And God made man
according to the image of God,' (Gen.
1:26) as the image was modelled according to God, and as man was modelled
according to the image, which thus received the power and character of the
model.”[27]
Nevertheless,
it seems that Philo might have planted a seed that flowered in the teaching of
the Alexandrian Chruch Fathers that the Angel of YHWH was the Son. St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. 120 – c. 200) and Theodoret of Cyrrhus (c. 393 – c. 458) built on this, showing
that God readied the Incarnation of the Son through a series of theophanies,
among which were the appearances of the Angel of YHWH.[28] Nevertheless, St. Jerome (c. 341- 420) and
St. Augustine of Hippo (354 – 430) taught that the Angel of YHWH was a
theophany of all Three Divine Persons.
This same
difficulty in discerning which Divine Person is which is a theme that runs
throughout the Old Testament. This confusion (for want of a better word) is
especially apparent when we consider the Word of God and the Wisdom of
God. It might seem to us, at first,
that the Word of God is the Son, and that the Wisdom of God is the Holy
Spirit. But the facts are not that
neat and tidy. The Spirit who brings forth life on earth and who is breathed
into Adam thus making him a living being seems to have a co-laborer in the
life-giving works: namely, the Word.[29] This is seen in powerful imagery in the
valley of dry bones, where the Word of God, that Jeremiah described “as a
burning fire shut up in my bones”[30]
is spoken by the Holy Prophet Ezekiel and the Spirit brings life to dead
bodies.[31]
And the Word’s creative power is also possessed by the
Spirit.[32]
But we also have
to look at Wsidom. What is it? Where is t from? From the pen of Solomon the Wise we
learn of the eternal existence of Wisdom:
“The LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way, before
his works of old. I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever
the earth was. When [there were] no depths, I was brought forth; when [there
were] no fountains abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled,
before the hills was I brought forth: While as yet he had not made the earth,
nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world. When he prepared
the heavens, I [was] there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth: When
he established the clouds above: when he strengthened the fountains of the
deep: When he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his
commandment: when he appointed the foundations of the earth: Then I was by him,
[as] one brought up [with him]: and I was daily [his] delight, rejoicing always
before him; Rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth; and my delights
[were] with the sons of men.”[33]
Well, obviously,
Wisdom is the Holy Spirit. Of what
other Being can these statements be truthfully made? Certainly no created thing
can say these words. Perhaps the
Son might say them but look at the references to water in the text: They demand
that we look at Genesis 1:2:
And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness
[was] upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of
the waters.
In addition to the quoted text from
Proverbs 8 we can find other places where Wisdom seems to align with our
understanding of the Holy Spirit: Ecclesiasticus 24:1-9, Baruch 3 come to
mind. But there is a famous
passage in the Wisdom of Solomon which seems to muddy the waters:
“For
wisdom, which is the worker of all things, taught me: for in her is an
understanding spirit holy, one only, manifold, subtil, lively, clear,
undefiled, plain, not subject to hurt, loving the thing that is good quick, which
cannot be letted, ready to do good,
Kind to man, steadfast, sure, free from care, having all power,
overseeing all things, and going through all understanding, pure, and most
subtil, spirits. For wisdom is
more moving than any motion: she passeth and goeth through all things by reason
of her pureness. For she is the breath of the power of God, and a pure
influence flowing from the glory of the Almighty: therefore can no defiled
thing fall into her. For she is the brightness of the everlasting light, the
unspotted mirror of the power of God, and the image of his goodness. And being but one, she can do all
things: and remaining in herself, she maketh all things new: and in all ages
entering into holy souls, she maketh them friends of God, and prophets. For God
loveth none but him that dwelleth with wisdom. For she is more beautiful than
the sun, and above all the order of stars: being compared with the light, she
is found before it. For after this cometh night: but vice shall not prevail
against wisdom. Wisdom reacheth from one end to
another mightily: and sweetly doth she order all things.”[34]
In this passage we see Wisdom
called the “image” and we are told that the “spirit holy” resides in Wisdom,
these two descriptions seem to have more to do with Jesus than with the Holy
Spirit. Nevertheless, there are
other phrases in the passage that seem more in line with what we know about the
Holy Spirit.
It
seems that St. Andre Rublev expressed this closeness, this frequent inability
to distinguish one Divine Person from another, both in essence and in
operation. This is why he has each Divine Person wearing blue and holding a rod. And though it is impossible to
distinguish one face from another, one authority from another we do see glimpses
of their separateness in the fact of their number and in their postured and
some of their clothing (i.e. the Holy Spirit is wearing green in addition to
blue.)
Notwithstanding
the separateness of the Divine Persons, the close working relationship that
leads readers of the Bible into difficulties continues throughout the Old
Testament so that the reader comes to see that the modalities of the Word and
the Spirit are such that each transmits the other: The Sprit transmits the Word, the Word transmits the Spirit.[35]
The Divine Persons serve each
other and do each others work. And
this brings us to the table in the Icon.
In the Icon by St.
Andre we see the Divine persons seated around a table enjoying a meal. And what
does this table signify? It
signifies sacrifice, for it is no ordinary table: It is an altar. The fellowship of the Three is one of
mutual self-surrender. Even the
Father, the source of the others, loves and gives himself to the others. He does not ever think of himself, but
only of the others. He is never
the subject of his own divine gaze, rather “He sees himself as the object of
the Son’s love.”[36] In fact, because of his intense focus
on the Son he would utterly forget himself but for the Son’s love for him.[37] There is no thought of self, only of
other. No individual “I”, only
individual “Thou”.[38] Thus the Son and the Father, beholding
themselves in each others gaze are reduced to one, and in their unity there is
“I”[39] And this union exists between the Son and
the Holy Spirit, and between the Holy Spirit and the Father. Each one gives everything to the
others. And the other two give
their unity to the one.[40] Kovalovsky has said:
“The Character of the hypostasis of the Holy Spirit is
to love by eclipsing himself, as the Father forgetting himself loves the Son in
whom he has placed all his joy, and as the son is beloved because he puts off
his own “I” in order that the Father may be made manifest and the Spirit shine
forth.”[41]
In short,
relationship among the Three requires sacrifice of “I” - preferment of the
others before the self. This is
why this paper is not merely three lists:
The Father does X, the Son does Y, and the Holy Spirit does Z. “The work of human persons is
distinct. Not so those of the Divine
persons; for the Three, having but one nature, have but a single will, a single
power, a single operation.”[42] Nevertheless, as St. Irenaeus of Lyons
has shown[43], it is
possible to make such lists. But
there is danger in that such lists can result in a misunderstanding of how the
Holy Trinity does what He does, to say nothing of the polytheism such lists
could represent. The persons of
the Holy Trinity work together in every thing they do[44]–
All three are seated at the table in the Icon. This is part of what St. John the Theologian meant when he
said, “God is love.”[45] And what Archimadrite Kallistos had in
mind when he said the motto of the Holy Trinity could be Amo ergo sum.[46] And this brings us to the cup sitting
on the table.
Having discussed
the historical table set by Abraham, and having discussed the table in the
Icon, which is really an altar of sacrifice, we should look carefully at the
table one more time and let the Icon reveal two more things to us.
First, resting on
the table is a cup. But it is not
just a cup. It is a chalice. And it indicates the Mystery of Christ.
How so? A chalice on an altar only
contains one thing: The Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. But why would this chalice be in the
middle of the altar, equidistant from each of the Divine Persons, as though
Jesus Christ is proper to each of them, and not only proper to the Son? This is so because Jesus Christ is not
only the revelation of the Son, but he is also the revelation of the Father and
the Spirit[47], indeed he
is the “One in whom the Father and Spirit remain in fullness”.[48]
The facts of what
the Son did in history are well known and oft repeated in the Creed:
“We believe in … one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God… who for us
men and for our salvation came down from heaven, and was incarnate of the Holy
Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and became man. And He was crucified for us under
Pontius Pilate, and suffered, and was buried. And the third day He rose again,
according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sits at the right
hand of the Father...”[49]
But how Jesus
Christ is the fullness of the Father and the Spirit might not be so well
known. Jesus was sent by the
Father[50],
reveals the Father[51],
and is revealed by the Father[52]. Similarly, the Son is “from all
Eternity the ‘place’ of the presence of the Spirit; and therefore, that the
incarnate Son naturally becomes Anointed of the Spirit.”[53] And “Christ [i.e. Anointed] is the term in whom resides the
fullness of grace, of wisdom, of power, of authority and holiness, that is, the
fullness of the Spirit”. As St.
Paul wrote, “In [Jesus Christ] all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.”[54]
And Holy Spirit, as Bobrinskoy
writes, “conceals Himself, and, somehow, blends with His gifts, His energies
which are the eternal radiance of Divinity.”[55] And Jesus, the “abode of the Holy Spirit”[56]
is also able to give the Spirit with Whom he is anointed.
All of this “fullness”
is expressed by St. Paul when he writes, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the love of God [the Father], and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you.”[57] It is impossible to be the recipient of
only one because “the trinitarian revelation is all-encomapssing”. If we see the glimpse of the Father in
the Old Testament He directs us to the Son in the New Testament, Who pours out
the Holy Spirit on the Church. And,
if we are apprehended by the Spirit, He will prepare us and lead us to the Son,
Who will bring us into communion with the Father in whom all things will be
fulfilled.[58]
The second thing
we need to notice about the altar is that though Three Divine Persons sit
around it, the table has four sides and one side is open to us. It is God’s invitation for us to dine
with him[59]. He offers us a place at the table,
participation in the divine nature[60],
fellowship with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Salvation is not merely survival, either of the spirit
or of the body.[61] Rather it is eternal life in communion
with God.
And since
Pentecost we experience this in the life of the Church. During the Divine Liturgy[62]
the Holy Spirit changes the bread and wine into the body and blood of the Son,
and “introduces us to the
Trinitarian communion and intimacy (Rom. 8:16-17)”[63].
Man offers, much as Abraham offered food to the Holy Trinity, this food to the
Father, “on behalf of all and for all”[64]. And then we “in faith and love”[65]
eat the Logos[66] who was
slain for us from before time, and “enter freely and personally into communion
with the divinizing grace” of God[67].
But for those who
are “members of Christ and temples of the Holy Spirit” Eucharist does not stop
when the final words of the Divine Liturgy have been said. For having consumed the Bread of Life[68]
they are in Christ and Christ is in them[69]
and Christ is forever offering Eucharist at the throne of God.[70] Therefore, St. Paul can offer Eucharist
in the inner liturgy of his heart:
“I do not cease to give thanks (eucharistôn) for you,
remembering you in my prayers…(Eph. 1:16). I give thanks to God always for you…(1
Cor. 1:4) We give thanks to God
always for you all…(1 Thess. 1:2) I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every
prayer of mine… (Phil. 1:3-4) [see Col. 1:3; 1Thess. 2:13; 2 Thess. 1:3; 2:13].
Always and for everything giving thanks in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to
God the Father (Eph. 5:20). Give
thanks (eucharisteite) in all circumstances…Do not quench the Spirit (1 Thess.
5:18-19).”[71]
But we need to notice that this offering
of Eucharist in the Divine Liturgy and this inner offering of Eucharist
expressed by St. Paul both followed the descent of the Holy Spirit. And St. Paul says the Eucharist is spiritual food and spiritual drink, and that the songs sung during the rite are spiritual songs, and Church is a spiritual house and the sacrifices
offered by the church are spiritual sacrifices.[72]
And here, finally,
in the age of the life of the Church, where the Spirit dwells, which the Spirit
penetrates, we see the Holy Spirit.
Thus the Father, Who was revealed in the Old Testament, and the Son, Who
was revealed in the Gospels, have been joined in being revealed by the Holy Spirit,
Who is revealed in the Church.
[1] Deuteronomy
6:4, Isaiah 49:15
[2] Deuteronomy
4:24
[3] Bobrinskoy,
Boris, The Mystery of the Trinity: Trinitarian Experience and Vision in the
Biblical and Patristic Tradition (St.
Vladimir’s Seminary Press: Crestwood, New York, 1999), P. 15
[4] Deuteronomy
4:7
[5] Hosea
11:1-4, Isaiah 49:15
[6] Psalm 103:
6-14 (LXX, Sir Lancelot Brenton trans. , http://www.ecmarsh.com/lxx/Psalms/index.htm
)
[7] Bobrinskoy, Op.
Cit. 15
[8] This Icon
reveals much more than this but I am only dealing with salvation.
[9] Genesis 18
[10] Circa 1700
B.C. See
http://www.jewfaq.org/origins.htm#Abraham
[11] Genesis
18:10
[12] Genesis
18:20-21
[13] Scofield,
C.I., Scofield Study Bible (Oxord
University Press: New York 1967), p. 981
[14] Genesis
6:11-14 and 17-18
[15] Scofield,
C.I., Op.Cit. p. 981
[16] Genesis
11:5-7
[17]
Brobrinskoy, p. 62
[18] We could
also look at Genesis ch.1 where God [the Father] Created, The Spirit moved, and
God said [the Word]. But that is
the history of creation and not the history of salvation.
[19] I am not
sure that I feel comfortable using any of the pronouns available in English to
speak of the Holy Trinity. They
all lack something. If I use a
plural personal pronoun it sounds like I am talking about three gods. If I use a non-personal pronoun it
sounds horrific. If I use the
singular personal pronoun it seems that I am denying the Three Persons. I do
not think there is a sloution to the problem. In this paper, as I do in the rest of my life, I sometimes
use the plural personal and sometimes use the singular personal. There doesn’t seem to be a solution.
[20] Bobrinskoy,
p. 18
[21] Ibid.
[22] Genesis
16:13
[23] Genesis
22:8
[24] Genesis
22:11-18
[25] Bobrinskoy,
Op. Cit., p.18
[26] Bobrinskoy,
Op. Cit., p.19
[27] Philo
quoted by Hillar, Marian, The Logos and Its Function in the Writings of Philo
of Alexandria: Greek Interpretation of the Hebrew Myth and Foundations of
Christianity, A Journal from The Radical
Reformation. A Testimony to Biblical Unitarianism, Vol. 7, No. 3 Spring 1998, Part I pp. 22-37; Vol. 7, No. 4
Summer 1998, Part II pp. 36-53.
[28] Bobrinskoy,
Op. Cit., p.19
[29] Psalm
107(106):20
[30] Jeremiah
20:9
[31] Ezekiel
37:1-10
[32] Psalm 104
(103):29-30
[33] Proverbs
8:22-31
[34] Wisdom of
Solomon 7:22-8:1
[35] Bobrinskoy,
Op. Cit. p.23
[36] Staniloae,
Dumitru, Theology and the Church (St.
Vladimir’s Seminary Press: Crestwood, New York, 1980), P. 88
[37] Ibid., p.89
[38] Ibid., p.88
[39] Ibid., p.89hn 10:31
[40] Ibid.
[41] Ibid. p. 89, f. 11
[42] Lossky,
Vladimir, The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church (St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press: Crestwood, New York,
1976), p.53
[43] McGrath,
Alister, Christian Theology: An Introduction, 2nd Ed. (Blackwell Publishers: Malden, Mass. & Oxford,
UK, 1997), p.296
[44] Yannaras,
Christos, Elements of Faith: An Introduction to Orthodox Theology (T & T
Clark: Edinburgh, Scotland, 1991), p. 21-22
[45] 1 John 4:8
[46] Ware,
Kallistos, The Orthodox Way, (St.
Vladimir’s Seminary Press: Crestwood, New York, 1986), P. 33
[47] Colossians
2:9
[48] Bobrinskoy,
Op. Cit., p. 142
[49] The Nicene-Constantinopolitan
Creed accessed on line at http://oca.org/OCchapter.asp?SID=2&ID=10
[50] John 3:16
[51] John 14:9
[52] Matthew
16:15-17
[53] Bobrinskoy,
Op. Cit. p.66
[54] Colossians
1:19, 2:9
[55] Bobrinskoy,
Op. Cit. p.66-67
[56] Ibid., p.68
[57] 2
Corinthians 13:13
[58] Bobrinskoy,
Op. Cit., p. 69
[59] John
21:12. Also the sermon on Exodus
24:1-11 by Bernard Bell (www.pbcc.org/sermons/bell/1186.html).
[60] 2 Peter 1:4
[61] Yannaras, Op.
Cit., p.66
[62] The very
name of the act indicates that people are doing divine work.
[63] Bobrinskoy,
Op. Cit., p. 132
[64] Divine
Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom
[65] Ibid.
[66] John 6
[67]
Mantzaridis, Georgios, The Deification of Man: St. GregoryPalams and the
Orthodox Tradition (St. Vladimir’s Seminary
Press: Crestwood, New York), p. 42
[68] John 6:48
[69] John:6:56
[70] Hebrews 8:1
[71] Bobrinskoy,
Op. Cit., p.132
[72] Ibid.,
p.133
Bibliography
Bobrinskoy, Boris, The Mystery of the Trinity: Trinitarian Experience and Vision in the Biblical and Patristic Tradition (St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press: Crestwood, New York, 1999)
Hillar, Marian, The Logos and Its Function in the Writings of Philo of Alexandria: Greek Interpretation of the Hebrew Myth and Foundations of Christianity, A Journal from The Radical Reformation. A Testimony to Biblical Unitarianism, Vol. 7, No. 3 Spring 1998, Part I pp. 22-37; Vol. 7, No. 4 Summer 1998, Part II pp. 36-53.
Lossky, Vladimir, The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church (St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press: Crestwood, New York, 1976)
Mantzaridis, Georgios, The Deification of Man: St. Gregory Palams and the Orthodox Tradition (St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press: Crestwood, New York, 1984)
McGrath, Alister, Christian Theology: An Introduction, 2nd Ed. (Blackwell Publishers: Malden, Mass. & Oxford, UK, 1997)
Staniloae, Dumitru, Theology and the Church (St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press: Crestwood, New York, 1980)
Ware, Kallistos, The Orthodox Way (St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press: Crestwood, New York, 1986)
Yannaras, Christos, Elements of Faith: An Introduction to Orthodox Theology (T & T Clark: Edinburgh, 1999)
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