Orthodoxy: Its Truths And Errors Part 40

If you will only use the _word_ "Trinity" in any sense, if you will only call Christ G.o.d in any sense, you are Orthodox.

-- 3. Errors in the Church Doctrine of the Trinity.

The errors in the popular view concerning the Trinity, as it is at present held, appear to be these:-

1. _The Trinity is held as a mere dogma_, or form of words, not as a reality. It is held in the letter, not in the spirit. There is no power in it, nor life in it; and it is in no sense an object of faith to those who accept it. They do not believe it, but rather believe that they ought to believe it. There are certain texts in Scripture which seem to a.s.sert it, certain elaborate arguments which appear convincing and irrefutable. On the strength of these texts and these arguments, they believe that they ought to believe it. But it is a matter of conscience, not of heart; of logic, not of life; of law, not of love. It is not held as a Christian doctrine ought to be held, with the heart; but only philosophically, with the head. If it should cease to be preached for a few years in Orthodox pulpits, it would cease to be believed; it would drop out of the faith, or rather out of the creed, of the community. Unitarianism has extended itself, without being preached, from the simple reading of the Bible. But Trinitarianism cannot be trusted to its own power. It has no hold on the heart. Here, in Ma.s.sachusetts, the ministers left off preaching the Trinity, and the consequence was, that the people became Unitarian.

Unitarianism in New England was not diffused by preaching: it came of itself, as soon as the clergy left off preaching the Trinity. This shows how worthless, empty, and soulless the doctrine was and is. Instead of this formal doctrine, we want something vital.

2. _Another objection to the present form of the Trinity is, that it is not only scholastic, or purely intellectual, but that it is also negative._ It is not even a positive doctrine. It is often charged against Unitarianism, that it is a mere negation; and, in one sense, the charge is well founded. Unitarianism is a negation, so far as it is a mere piece of reasoning against Orthodoxy; but, as a.s.serting the divine Unity, it is very positive, But the doctrine of the Trinity _is_ a mere negation, as it is usually held; because it is an empty form of denial. It only can be defined or expressed negatively. The three Persons are not substances, on the one hand; nor qualities, on the other hand. It is not Sabellianism, nor is it Arianism. Every term connected with the Trinity has been selected, not to express a truth, but to avoid an error. The term "one essence" was chosen in order to exclude Arianism; the term "three Persons," or subsistences, was chosen in order to avoid Sabellianism.

Because the doctrine is thus a negation, it has failed of its chief use.

It has become exclusive; whereas, when stated truly, as a positive truth, it would become inclusive. Rightly stated, it would bind together all true religion in one harmonious whole, comprehending in its universal sweep everything true in natural religion, everything true in reason, and uniting them in vital union, without discord and without confusion. Every manifestation which G.o.d has made of himself in nature, in Christ, and in the human soul, would be accepted and vitally recognized by Christianity, which comes, not to destroy, but to fulfil. The doctrine of the Trinity would be the highest form of reconciliation or atonement,-reconciling all varieties in one great harmony; reconciling the natural and supernatural, law and grace, time and eternity, fate and freedom.

But, before ill.u.s.trating this, we must consider further some of the objections to the common form of the doctrine.

3. _It is also charged against the doctrine of the Trinity, __"__that it is a contradiction in terms, and therefore essentially incredible.__"_ To this it is replied, that it would be a contradiction if G.o.d were called Three _in the same sense_ in which he is called One; but not otherwise.

The answer is perfectly satisfactory; and we therefore proceed to ask, In what sense is he called Three, and in what sense is he called One? The answer is, The Unity is of essence, or substance: the Trinity is of persons. This answer, again, is satisfactory, provided we know what is meant by these two terms. But the difficulty is to know what is meant by the word "person." We are expressly informed, that this term is not used in its usual sense; for, if it were, it would divide the essence, and three Persons would be the same as three G.o.ds. On the other hand, we are told that it means more than the three characters or manifestations. Here lies the difficulty, and the whole of the rational difficulty, in the doctrine of the Trinity. It is all on the side of the Triad. When we ask, What do you mean by "the three"? there can be given but three answers,-two of them distinct, and one indistinct. These answers are, (1.) We mean three somethings, which we cannot define; (2.) We mean three Persons, like Peter, James, and John; (3.) We mean three manifestations, characters, or modes of being. Let us consider these three answers.

(_a._) "The three Persons are three somethings, which cannot be defined.

It is a mystery. It is above reason. There is mystery in everything, and there must be mystery in the Deity." So Augustine said, long ago, "We say three Persons, not because we have anything to say, but because we want to say something."(85) But if one uses the phrase "three Persons," and refuses to define it positively, merely defining it negatively, saying, "It does not mean this, and it does not mean that, and I don't know what it does mean," he avoids, it is true, the difficulties, and escapes the objections; but he does it by giving up the article of faith. No one can deny that there _may be_ three unknown distinctions in the divine nature; but no one can be asked to believe in them, till he is told what they are.

To say, therefore, that the Trinity is a mystery, is to abandon it as an article of faith, and make of it only a subject of speculation. We avoid the contradiction; but we do it by relinquishing the doctrine.

This fact is not sufficiently considered by Trinitarians. They first demand of us to believe the doctrine of the Trinity, and, when pressed to state distinctly the doctrine, retire into the protection of mystery, and decline giving any distinct account of it. Now, no human being ever denied the existence of mysteries connected with G.o.d, and nature, and all life.

To a.s.sure us, therefore, that such mysteries exist, is slightly superfluous. But, on the other hand, no human being ever _believed_, or could _believe_, a mystery, any more than he could see anything invisible or hear anything inaudible. To believe a doctrine, the first condition is, that all its terms shall be distinct and intelligible.

(_b._) The second answer to the question is, "We mean, by Persons, three Persons, like Peter, James, and John." According to this answer, the _Trinity_ remains, but the _Unity_ disappears. This answer leaves the Persons distinct, but the Unity indistinct. The Persons are not confounded; but the essence is divided. The Tri-personality is maintained, but at the expense of the Unity. In fact, this answer gives us Tritheism, or three G.o.ds, whose unity is only an entire _agreement_ of feeling and action. But this answer we may set aside as unorthodox, no less than unscriptural.

(_c._) Having thus disposed of each other possible answer, there remains only that which makes of the three Persons three revelations or manifestations of G.o.d, or representations of G.o.d. This answer avoids all the difficulties. It avoids that of _contradiction_; as we do not say that G.o.d is one in the same sense in which he is three, but in a different sense. It avoids the objection of _obscurity_; for it is a distinct statement. It avoids the objection of Tritheism; for it leaves the Unity untouched. Moreover, it is a real Trinity, and not merely nominal. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are not merely three different names for the same thing, but they indicate three different revelations, three different views which G.o.d has given of his character, which, taken together, const.i.tute the total divine representation. It remains, therefore, simply to ask, Is this view _a true one_? Is there any foundation for it in Scripture, in reason, and in Christian consciousness, the three sources of our knowledge of the truth?

-- 4. The Trinity of Manifestations founded in the Truth of Things.

We repeat, that this view is an Orthodox view of the Trinity, according to the teaching of the greatest fathers of the Church. If we suppose that the Deity has made, and is evermore making, three distinct and independent revelations of himself,-each revelation giving a different view of the divine Being, each revelation showing G.o.d to man under a different aspect,-then each of these is a personal manifestation. Each reveals G.o.d as a Person. If we see G.o.d, for example, in nature, we see him not merely as a power, a supreme cause, but also a living Person, who creates evermore out of a fulness of divine wisdom and love. G.o.d in nature is, then, a Person. Again: if G.o.d reveals himself in Christ, it is not as abstract truth or as doctrinal statement. But we see G.o.d himself, the personal G.o.d, the Father and Friend, the redeeming grace, the G.o.d who loved us before the foundation of the world, approaching us in Christ to reconcile us and save us. It is a G.o.d who "so loved the world" that we see in Christ, therefore, a Person. And so the Spirit, which speaks in the human conscience and human heart, is not a mere influence, or rapture, or movement, but is one who communes with us; one who talks with us; one who comforts us; one who hears and answers us; therefore a Person.

If, then, there is no antecedent objection to this form of the Trinity as a threefold manifestation of the divine Being, we have only to ask, Is it _true_ as a matter of fact? Has such a threefold manifestation of G.o.d actually taken place? We reply, that it is so. According to Scripture, observation, and experience, we find such to be the fact. Scripture shows us G.o.d, the Father, as the source of all being, the fountain and end of all things; from whom all things have come, and to whom all things tend.

As the Creator, he reveals himself in nature and providence (as the apostle Paul declares), "being understood by the things that are made,"

and "not leaving himself without a witness."

Supreme power, wisdom, and goodness are manifested in nature as unchanging law, as perfect order. But G.o.d is seen in Christ again as Redeemer, as meeting the exigencies arising from the freedom of the creature by what we call miracle; not contrary to nature, but different from nature, showing himself as the Friend and Helper of the soul. As the essence of the first revelation of G.o.d is the sight of his goodness, and wisdom, and power, displayed in law, so the essence of the second revelation is of the same essential Being displaying himself as love. In the first revelation, he is the universal Parent; in the second, he is the personal Friend. But there is a third revelation which G.o.d makes of himself,-within the soul as life.

The same power, wisdom, and goodness which we see displayed externally in outward nature, we find manifested internally in the soul itself, as its natural and its spiritual life. That which is displayed outwardly as power is manifested within the soul as cause; that which is manifested outwardly as wisdom is revealed inwardly as reason; and that which is manifested outwardly as goodness is manifested inwardly as conscience, or the law of right.

-- 5. It is in Harmony with Scripture.

The Scriptures also speak of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. When they speak of the Father, they usually mean G.o.d as the Supreme Being.

Matt. 11:25: "Jesus said, I thank thee, _O Father_, Lord of heaven and earth." As omniscient: "Of that day knoweth no man, nor the angels, nor the Son, but _the Father_ only." As omnipotent: "Abba, _Father_, all things are possible to thee." As having life in himself, and as spirit: "They shall worship _the Father_ in spirit and in truth." As the source of all power, life, and authority of the Son: "I came forth _of the Father_;"

"_the Father_, which hath sent me;" "the works which _the Father_ hath given me to do." The apostle Paul says, "To us there is but _one G.o.d, the Father_;" and calls him "the G.o.d of our Lord Jesus;" also "the one G.o.d _and Father_ of all, who is above all, and through all, and in us all."

The great order of the universe depends on him: "He has put the times and the seasons in his own power." Christ will at last "deliver up the kingdom to G.o.d, _the Father_." By Christ, "we have access in one spirit _to the Father_." "All things were delivered" to Christ "of _his Father_," whose will Christ always sought. Thus is _the Father_ spoken of in the New Testament as the Source from which all things have proceeded, and the End to whom all things tend.

_The Son_ (or Son of G.o.d) is spoken of in the New Testament as distinct from the Father, but intimately united with him. The Father gives power; the Son receives it. The Father gives light; the Son receives it. The Son does nothing but what he seeth the Father do. "The Father hath sent me,"

he says, "and I live by the Father." "I am not alone; but I, and the Father who sent me." "The Son is in the Father, and the Father in him."

"No man cometh to the Father but by" him. He shows the Father to the world. The Father is glorified in the Son. He is in the bosom of the Father. The Father sent him to be the Saviour of the world. "He that hath the Son hath life;" "And in him is everlasting life."

_The Holy Spirit_, which came after Jesus left the world (also called the Holy Ghost and the Spirit of G.o.d), is an inward revelation of G.o.d and of Christ. It teaches all things, comforts, convinces. It is a spirit of life, lifts one above the flesh, makes one feel that he is a Son of G.o.d, communicates a variety of gifts, produces unity in the Church, sanctifies, sheds the love of G.o.d into the heart, and renews the soul. The New Testament speaks of joy in the Holy Ghost, power of the Holy Ghost, and communion of the Holy Ghost.

According to the New Testament, the Father would seem to be the Source of all things, the Creator, the Fountain of being and of life. The Son is spoken of as the manifestation of that Being in Jesus Christ; and the Holy Ghost is spoken of as a spiritual influence, proceeding from the Father and the Son, dwelling in the hearts of believers, as the source of their life,-the idea of G.o.d seen in causation, in reason, and in conscience, as making the very life of the soul itself.

There are these three revelations of G.o.d, and we know of no others. They are distinct from each other in form, but the same in essence. They are not merely three names for the same thing; but they are real personal manifestations of G.o.d, real subsistences, since he is personally present in all of them. This view avoids all heresies, since it neither "divides the substance" nor "confounds the persons." And these are really the two heresies, which are the most common and the most to be avoided. We think it can be easily shown that these are the great practical dangers to be avoided. To "divide the substance" is so to separate the revelations of G.o.d as to make them contradict or oppose each other: to "confound the persons" is not to recognize each as an independent source of truth to the soul.

-- 6. Practical value of the Trinity, when rightly understood.

There is, therefore, an essential truth hidden in the idea of the Trinity.

While the Church doctrine, in every form which it has. .h.i.therto taken, has failed to satisfy the human intellect, the Christian heart has clung to the substance contained in them all. Let us endeavor to see what is the practical value of this doctrine, for the sake of which its errors of statement have been pardoned. What does it say to the Christian consciousness?

The Trinity, truly apprehended, teaches, by its doctrine of Tri-personality, that G.o.d is _immanent_ in nature, in Christ, and in the soul. It teaches that G.o.d is not _outside_ of the world, making it as an artisan makes a machine; nor _outside_ of Christ, sending him, and giving to him miraculous powers; nor outside of the soul, touching it _ab extra_ from time to time with unnatural influences, revolutionizing and overturning it; but that he is personally present in each and all. So that, when we study the mysteries and laws of nature, we are drawing near to G.o.d himself, and looking into his face. When we see Christ, we see G.o.d, who is in Christ; and when we look into the solemn intuitions of our soul, the monitions of conscience, and the influences which draw our heart to goodness, we are meeting and communing with G.o.d.

Moreover, the Trinity, truly apprehended, teaches, by its doctrine of _One Substance_ (the h.o.m.oousion), that these three revelations, though distinct, are essentially at one; that nature cannot contradict revelation; that revelation cannot contradict nature; and that the intuitions of the soul cannot be in conflict with either. Hence it teaches that the Naturalist need not fear revelation; nor the Christian believer, natural Theism. Since it is one and the same G.o.d who dwells in nature, in Christ, and in the soul, all his revelations must be in harmony with each other. To suppose otherwise is to "divide the substance" of the Trinity.

And again: the Trinity, rightly understood, a.s.serts the distinctness of these three personal revelations. It is the same G.o.d who speaks in each; but he says something new each time. He reveals a new form of his being.

He shows us, not the same order and aspect of truth in each manifestation, but wholly different aspects.

And yet again: as the doctrine teaches that the Son is begotten of the Father, and the Spirit proceeds from the Father and Son, it thereby shows how the revelation in nature prepares for the revelation in Christ, and both for the revelation in the soul.

The error of "dividing the substance" is perhaps the most common. The man who sees G.o.d in nature, sees him only there: therefore G.o.d loses to him that personal character which seems especially to be seen through Christ; for G.o.d, as a person, comes to us most in Christ, and then is recognized also in nature and the soul as a personal being. So, without Christ, natural religion is cold: it wants love; it wants life. But, on the other hand, the Christian believer who avoids seeing G.o.d in nature, and who finds him only in his Bible, loses the sense of law or order, of harmonious growth, and becomes literal, dogmatic, and narrow. And so, too, the mystic, believing only in G.o.d's revelation through the soul, and not going to nature or to Christ, becomes withdrawn from life, and has a morbid and ghastly religion, and, having no test by which to judge his inward revelations, may become the prey of all fantasies and all evil spirits, lying spirits, foul spirits, and cruel spirits.

Such errors come from "dividing the substance;" and they are only too common. So that, when the true doctrine of Trinity in Unity is apprehended, the most beneficial results may be expected to flow into the life of the Church. No longer believed as a dead formula, no longer held in the letter which killeth, no longer accepted outwardly as a dogma or authority, but seen, felt, and realized in the daily activity of the intellect and heart, the whole Church will recover its lost union, sects will disappear, and the old feud between science and religion forever cease. Science will become religious, and religion scientific. Science, no longer cold and dead, but filled through and through with the life of G.o.d, will reach its hand to Christianity. Piety, no longer an outlaw from nature, no longer exiled from life into churches and monasteries, will inform and animate all parts of human daily action. Christianity, no longer narrow, Jewish, bigoted, formal, but animated by the great liberty of a common life, will march onward to conquer all forms of error and evil in the omnipotence of universal and harmonious truth.

Natural religion, Christianity, and spiritual piety, being thus harmonized, nature will be more warm, Christ more human, and the divine influences in the soul more uniform and constant. Nature will be full of G.o.d, with a sense of his presence penetrating it everywhere. Christianity will become more natural, and all its great facts a.s.sume the proportion of laws, universal as the universe itself. Divine influences will cease to be spasmodic and irregular, and become calm, serene, and pure, an indwelling life of G.o.d in the soul.

A simple Unity, as held by the Jews and Mohammedans, and by some Christian Unitarians, may be a bald Unity and an empty Unity. Then it shows us one G.o.d, but G.o.d withdrawn from nature, from Christ, from the soul; not immanent in any, but outside of them. It leaves nature G.o.dless; leaves Christ _merely_ human; leaves the soul a machine to be moved by an external impulse, not an inward inspiration.(86)

We conclude, finally, that no doctrine of Orthodoxy is so false in its form, and so true in its substance, as this. There is none so untenable as dogma, but none so indispensable as experience and life. The Trinity, truly received, would harmonize science, faith, and vital piety. The Trinity, as it now stands in the belief of Christendom, at once confuses the mind, and leaves it empty. It feeds us with chaff, with empty phrases and forms, with no real inflowing convictions. It seems to lie like a vessel on the sh.o.r.e, of no use where it is, yet difficult to remove and get afloat; but when the tide rises, and the vessel floats, it will be able to bear to and fro the knowledge of mankind, and unite various convictions in living harmony. It is there for something. It is providentially allowed to remain in the creeds of the Church for something. It has in itself the seed of a grand future; and, though utterly false and empty as it is taught and defended, it is kept by the deeper instinct of the Christian consciousness, like the Christ in his tomb, waiting for the resurrection.