Posted on 05/24/2016 6:49:46 AM PDT by Salvation
Many of you know that I write the Question and Answer column for Our Sunday Visitor. Given the celebration of Trinity Sunday this past Sunday, I thought I might reproduce here on the blog a question/answer regarding the Trinity. It is a fairly common question; perhaps you have it, too. Remember that my answers in the column are required to be brief.
We read in a recent Sunday Gospel (May 1, 2016) that Jesus says that the Father is greater than He (Jn 14:28). Since we are all taught that each Divine Person of the Blessed Trinity fully possesses the nature of God, equally to be adored and glorified, what did Jesus mean by such a statement?” – Dick Smith, Carrolton, TX.
Theologically, Jesus means that the Father is the eternal source in the Trinity. All three persons of the Trinity are co-eternal, co-equal, and equally divine. But the Father is the Principium Deitatis (the Source in the Deity).
Hence, Jesus proceeds from the Father from all eternity. He is eternally begotten of the Father. In effect, Jesus is saying, “I delight that the Father is the eternal principle or source of my being, even though I have no origin in time.”
Devotionally, Jesus is saying that He always does what pleases His Father. Jesus loves His Father; He’s crazy about Him. He is always talking about Him and pointing to Him. By calling the Father greater, He says (in effect), “I look to my Father for everything. I do what I see Him doing (Jn 5:19) and what I know pleases Him (Jn 5:30). His will and mine are one. What I will to do proceeds from Him. I do what I know accords with His will.”
So although the members of the Trinity are all equal in dignity, there are processions in the Trinity, such that the Father is the source, the Son eternally proceeds from Him (Jn 8:42), and the Holy Spirit eternally proceeds from the Father and the Son as from one principal (Jn 15:26).
St Thomas speaks poetically of the Trinity as follows:
Genitori, Genitoque … Procedenti ab utroque … compar sit laudautio
(To the One Who Begets, and to the Begotton One, and to the One who proceeds from them both, be equal praise.)
The Athanasian Creed says the following regarding these processions:
The Father is made by none, neither created nor begotten.
The Son is of the Father alone, neither made nor created, but begotten.
The Holy Spirit is of the Father and of the Son, not made, nor created, nor begotten, but he proceeds from them.
So although equal, processions do have an order. The Father is “greater” (as source), but is equal in dignity to Son and Holy Spirit.
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Is that lie still circulating amongst the RC’S?
Based on FReepmails I’ve received in the past from certain RC’s I can tell that it is.
I set that poster straight but never got an acknowledgement or apology for lying about me.
Not that I even expected one.
And I can see that the correction I sent them never made the rounds either.
Actually, I just hate hypocrisy and when someone condemns others for divorce and then offers their own version of no fault divorce, free from the consequences of sin, just relabeled and repackaged, that’s hypocrisy.
Breaking marriage vows is breaking marriage vows no matter what you call it.
Renaming sin does not make it OK with God.
Yeah, getting stalked and lied about makes me feel so special.
You need to be able to substantiate this claim regarding metmom....or any other freeper for that matter. Your accusation is a highly personal one.
If you are unable to substantiate your claim, I believe an apology and withdrawal of this statement should be forthcoming.
Just remember MM:
11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you
I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for that apology, MM. Like admitting one made a mistake, apologies for false accusations requires both humility and honesty.
Yeah, and that is very interesting considering his tagline.
So, TM, are you going to stand for the truth?
Like even bothering to find out what it is before making personal accusations and assassinating someone’s character?
That’s right, Mark. I do recall seeing that on this thread earlier.
It’s always good to be reminded of it.
Thank you.
So do I, though I can't remember who said it. 😀😆😃
Seven_0: Explain?
Arghhhhh! You've got me, pardner! Dead to rights! I confused myself with leavened and unleavened. What I really meant to say was
The term for leavened bread is artos, and it is the noun whose intrinsic meaning is bread made of dough that has risen due to the action of a gas-producing process through fermentation of the bread ingredients to produce trapped bubbles that are baked in by heat-sealing of the outer membrane into the crust. Although your verse contains the word "leaven" as both noun and verb forms, and the word artos is the Greek word for ordinary leavened bread, it is not in your verse.
On the other hand, the word azumos is translated as "unleavened bread," but it is an adjective, the property or quality of something, not the something itself. The Greek simply does not have a word for that kind of baked flour dough that would be called "matzos" in Hebrew. The Greek simply does not have any other word for bread, and to call it "adzumos artos" be an oxymoron. That would mean unleavened leavened bread, I would says. And I guess actually the same is true in the English.
I hope this doesn't confuse you even more.
Matthew 26:26-28
“Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”
John 6:53-54
“So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
“First Corinthians 10:16
“The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?”
You’re problem is not with me, because I didn’t say this. Jesus and St Paul did.
Take it up with them.
Amen. They can revile away!
I’ve been taking care of my brother n law since Wed when he began his transition from this world to the next. I was a hospice nurse for years but am currently unable to work due to health problems.
He is no longer persecuted or reviled living in this valley of tears. He told us Thursday he wanted to go home and he did @ 10:15 last night.
People are cruel and full of malice and wickedness. You will know them by their fruit. There are some rotten fruit trees around here.
Every believer in a church is a Tabernacle of God. There are no physical buildings serving as Tabernacles in the Church Age. Even 2nd grade believers understand these concepts.
If he passed away, then my sympathies for the grief, which always occurs with a death in the family.
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