Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish

FR MICHAEL BIBLICAL IMAGERY

(Fr Michael Boakye Yeboah: Vice Rector of St Gregory Seminary, Kumasi-Ghana)

THE TRINITY

            Catholic doctrine defines the Holy Trinity as three persons in one God, sharing the same substance. This teaching ranks among the most debated teachings in Holy Scripture and within Christian circles. The teaching on the Trinity was among the things that Jesus was accused of. During his public ministry the Nazarian rabbi held the view that he and the Father are one and he pre-existed Abraham the revered father of the Jews. The simple logic that the Jews maintain is that, for Jesus to claim that he is God and equal to God means polytheism and for them, polytheism was against the commandment of God which forbade them to have any God besides Yahweh.

            The “Trinity controversy” did not die with Christ’s death but “resurrected” with him and became the main source of division among the early Christians. Some Christians in their efforts to protect the monotheistic faith started teaching “subordinationism.” Subordinationism was a teaching that held the view that Jesus though God was subordinate to God the Father; and that he does not have the SAME substance with God the Father but rather he possessed a substance that is LIKE the substance of God the Father. The controversy was weakening the Church so much to the extent that it was having negative political effects on the unity of the Roman Empire under the leadership of Emperor Constantine. The Emperor collaborating with the Church summoned the First Ecumenical Council of the Church at Nicaea in AD 325 to resolve the controversy. Though the Council ended and many people thought the problem was finally over little did they know that, the problem was like sweeping dust under the carpet.

            There was a problem also with the place of the Holy Spirit in the Trinity. The eastern churches continue to teach that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father alone while the Latin church maintains that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. This misunderstanding has led to the schism between the East and the West since circa 1057 and even today this reason and others separate us from our eastern brothers.

            The teachings on the Holy Trinity continue to divide the Christian world, but what others see as controversial, I see it as a mystery. A mystery is a religious truth that one can know only by revelation and cannot fully understand, while a controversy, is a discussion marked especially by the expression of opposing views.

            The readings of today can guide us towards the understanding of the inner mystery of God. Theologians and “simple” Christians should understand that one’s refusal of the divinity of Jesus is the denial of his/her own destiny. It was St. John who clarified this destiny to us in his first letter to the Christian Churches. The inspired writer stated: “See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure” (1 John 3:1-3).

            God created us in his own image and likeness through the power of his WORD (Jesus). Life came to us when God gave us his Spirit. Once we come to this world we begin our journey back to God. We cannot find that path back to God without Jesus, for he is the way, the truth and the life and no one can come to the Father except through him. To deny the divinity of Jesus, is for one to deprive himself/herself the opportunity to return back to heaven. It is within this context that the Church teaches that outside the Church (Jesus Christ and not the institution), there is no salvation.

            The doctrine of the Holy Trinity can never be a controversial teaching for a man of faith. There are some Christians who are comfortable with the marital doctrine that says a man and a woman, once joined together in marriage become one flesh but cannot find room in his minds to accept how three persons can have the same substance. May the Holy Spirit continue to enlighten us and lead us to the truth.