ABSTRACT: In this essay, I hope to clarify some other matters with regards to the Doctrine of the Trinity. Namely, I want to explain the connection between the Son and Jesus, and the Father and God.

This is the Doctrine of the Trinity:

(1) There is only ONE God.
(2) The Son is God.
(3) The Father is God.
(4) The Holy Spirit is God.
and
(5) The Son is neither the Father, nor the Holy Spirit, and the Father is not the Holy Spirit.

One particular aspect of this that I myself often have confused is the relationship between the Father and God. Most often we think of the Father as being the same God that is referred to by the term God. (We tend to use the term Father and God interchangeably. (How to explain ?) I'll explain what I mean by rewriting the above in a manner it should not be written.

The Doctrine of the Trinity:

(1) There is only ONE God.
(2') The Son is God the Father. i.e. The Son is the Father.
(3') The Father is God the Father.
(4') The Holy Spirit is God the Father.
and
(5) The Son is neither the Father, nor the Holy Spirit, and the Father is not the Holy Spirit.

No... ? Notice the problems above.

Similarly so, the Son is oftentimes confused with Jesus in ways that the Son should not be. I'll try to explain how the Son and Jesus are different by drawing a trinitarian timeline.

Trinitarian Timeline *SANS CREATION,
We have: The F,S,
and the HSP.

Then we have :

In the begining: The F, S, HSP in one God.

Before Jesus is born: the F, S, and HSP in one God.

Jesus is born: The F, **Son, HSP in one God. again.

After Jesus's death: The F,S, and HSP in one God.

* Sans creation means without creation. God exists as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, without the creation. We cant say before the creation, since time itself was created by God. Its erroneous to say, there was a time before time.

**The Son has taken on human flesh. The Incarnation = God and Man simultaneously.
Before we only has the Son of God. Now in the Incarnation, we have the Son of God, and the Son of Man.(Doctrine known as Kenosis. Not that the Son gave up power in becoming human, but gave up status.)

When Jesus is born, something is added to the Son(the Word). What is added ? Humanity. He is still all the big O's - omniscient, omnipotent, etc... even in His cradle. Even as a baby, He is sustaining the Universe. Actually, even as He was dying on the cross, He was upholding the Universe, right from the quarks, leptons and hadrons to the M-9, M-16 and the Milky Way galaxies. Pretty far out ! Aaay ? Yeahhhhh ! Baby !!!

Finally, I want to very briefly point out that there is a sense of directionality in the relationships expressed above in the DOT. For example, according to (2), the Son is God. However, please note that, while it is OK to say that the Son is God, it is not OK to state that God is the Son. The reverse is not OK. I dont know why. Its like saying the following: Socrates is human, therefore Human is Socrates.

Getting a bit technical: The "is" that is in use in the DOT and in the statement about Socrates is the "is" of essential predication. Not the "is" of identity. For example, it is OK to say : Clark Kent is Superman, and Superman is Clark Kent, because the "is" in use here is the "is" of identity.

If you want to pursue this matter further, please consult the following article at : http://hisdefense.org/audio/jp_002ln.html The title is Lecture Notes for "Issues in Metaphysics" by J.P. Moreland at the His Defense apologetics site.

by A. Raj Rao

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