Monday morning ping!
OK, I'll give this author an "A" for effort. But if you Catholics are going to let this author get away with referencing God as "itself," then shame on you.
God is Personal. He's not some impersonal entity. The Bible NEVER describes God as an "It."
So what RC lurkers & FReepers are actually going to take the time and e-mail Mr. Baruzzini that if He doesn't personally know a personal God, what's he doing writing about Him? (or something to that effect)
If somebody's ignorant about Someone as important as God, don't export the ignorance.
The Trinity is one of my least favorite subjects. I think it to be the least understood of all of the Church doctrines.
The Trinity as we know it today did not become popular until the first council held by Constantine approximately 300 years after the death of our Lord.
When the various bishops presented their ideas of the Gospel to the emperor he personally embraced the doctrine of the Trinity taught by a Greek bishop. This caused a schism. At the pain of excommunication the bishops were made to sign on to this doctrine. Those who would not were banished and later threatened with death if they did not sign literally to this doctrine. Constantine was under pressure to unify a Church that celebrated many different doctrines in each area. I do not condemn him or the Greeks that gave us the doctrine of Trinity, the Church needed to be unified under one set of doctrines. I think as a whole this was a good thing for The Church, I just think it was not all correct.
Prior to this council the Holy Trinity was not know by a majority of saints as we know it today. It was simply thought of as three entities with God the Holy Father at the head, Christ His literal son and The Holy Ghost who was an entity without form as God and Christ had. It was Christ who appeared to Paul on the road to Damascus not The Holy Father Elohim. When Stephen was martyred he looked up into heaven and saw both The Holy Father and the Son next to each other. When Christ left this world at the last meeting he had with the Apostles the angels standing by said he would come again in the same manner. Christ told his saints that He would inherit all that His Father had and that His saints would be joint heirs with Him.
The only way that Christ could inherit is if he didn’t already have it, the same way with the saints.
Christ did not pray in the garden to Himself for the cup to be taken away but instead did His Fathers will. When Christ taught us to pray he taught us not to pray to Christ but to “Our Father Who art in Heaven”. When The Lord was baptized by John the Gospels record that The Voice of God the Father was heard by those present acknowledging His satisfaction with His Son. At the same time the Holy Spirit was seen to descend in the form of a dove. All the while the Savior of the world was in the water at the hand of John. Three members of the Trinity in three different places at the same time. These are three entities. They share a mission and purpose but they are not one God. There is only one God, God the Father.
In the Godhead or Trinity there are three entities. We don’t really know how they are connected but much pious thought has been given to this matter. Many very intelligent people have spent years contemplating how this must be. Our doctrines of today are given to us by the wisdom of great men but is it only child’s play compared to the wisdom of God.
In the end I’m not sure how important it is to know exactly how the relationship of the Trinity works. It is important to know God the Father of mankind and also know His Son the savior of mankind. Without the Savior none can be saved. I’m not sure if it is important to believe that The Son is a literal inseparable part of The Father or that he is not but it is important to realize that he came to earth of his own choice and suffered the punishment for the sins of all men so that we would not have to suffer.
It would not bother me if I never heard the word Trinity again. My refusal to believe the common doctrine of Trinity keeps me from being a part of the organized catholic church. I do not mean the Roman Catholic Church, of which I have the most profound respect but the whole of organized Christianity.
Please don’t feel sorry for me or call me damned, I am a Christian in that I follow what I believe are the Christian doctrines handed down to us by the early Christian fathers and the Gospels.
Please don’t bother pouncing on me telling me how I am damned to Hell because I don’t believe the way you do, and then I won’t say the same thing to you. It is after all a matter of faith.