Editing Trinity (section)

{{Short description|Christian doctrine that God exists in three persons}}
{{redirect-several|dab=off|Holy Trinity (disambiguation)|Trinity (disambiguation)}}
[[File:Shield of Trinity in hexagon English.svg-squared.png|thumb|A compact diagram of the Trinity, known as the "[[Shield of the Trinity]]", consisting of [[God the Father]], [[God the Son]] (Jesus), and [[God the Holy Spirit]] (the Shield is generally not intended to be a schematic diagram of the structure of God, but it presents a series of statements about the relationship between the persons of the Trinity)]]
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}}
{{Christianity}}
{{God}}
{{Historical Christian theology}}

The '''Trinity'''<!-- Do not add the word "holy" --> ({{Langx|la|Trinitas|lit=triad}}, from {{lang|la|trinus}} 'threefold')<ref name="oxforddictionaries.com" /> is the [[Christian doctrine]] concerning the nature of [[God in Christianity|God]], which defines [[one God]] existing in three, {{linktext|coeternal}}, [[consubstantial]] [[prosopon|divine persons]]:{{sfn|Daley|2009|pp=323–350}}{{sfn|Ramelli|2012}} [[God the Father (Christianity)|God the Father]], [[God the Son]] ([[Jesus in Christianity|Jesus Christ]]) and [[God the Holy Spirit]], three distinct persons (''[[Hypostasis (philosophy and religion)|hypostases]]'') sharing one essence/substance/nature (''[[homoousion]]'').<ref name="def-lateran1" />

As the [[Fourth Lateran Council]] declared, it is the Father who {{linktext|beget}}s, the Son who is {{linktext|begotten}}, and the Holy Spirit who proceeds.<ref name="Fourth Lateran Council">{{cite book |url=https://www.ewtn.com/library/councils/lateran4.htm |title=Fourth Lateran Council (1215) List of Constitutions: 2. On the error of abbot Joachim |access-date=7 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190707222231/https://www.ewtn.com/library/councils/lateran4.htm |archive-date=7 July 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Greek and Latin Traditions Regarding the Procession of the Holy Spirit {{!}} EWTN |url=https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/greek-and-latin-traditions-regarding-the-procession-of-the-holy-spirit-2349 |access-date=24 December 2022 |website=EWTN Global Catholic Television Network |archive-date=3 September 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040903132523/http://www.ewtn.com/library/CURIA/PCCUFILQ.HTM |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Fathers |first1=Council |url=https://www.papalencyclicals.net/councils/ecum12-2.htm |title=Fourth Lateran Council: 1215 Council Fathers |date=11 November 1215 |access-date=24 December 2022 |archive-date=24 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221224233054/https://www.papalencyclicals.net/councils/ecum12-2.htm |url-status=live}}</ref> In this context, one essence/nature defines {{em|what}} God is, while the three persons define {{em|who}} God is.<ref name="thelogy-sanity" /><ref>{{cite book |last1=Sheed |first1=Frank J. |author-link1=Frank Sheed |title=Theology & Sanity |date=11 January 1978 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v5kS8XXWKmwC |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |publication-date=1978 |isbn=978-0-8264-3882-9 |access-date=21 December 2021 |quote=Nature answers the question what we are; person answers the question who we are. [...] Nature is the source of our operations, person does them.}}</ref> This expresses at once their distinction and their indissoluble unity. Thus, the entire process of creation and [[grace in Christianity|grace]] is viewed as a single shared action of the three divine persons, in which each person manifests the attributes unique to them in the Trinity, thereby proving that everything comes "from the Father", "through the Son", and "in the Holy Spirit".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Blanch |first=Jorge |date=2024-11-24 |title=The Trinity: Historical Development and Debates |url=https://themythiccross.com/the-trinity-historical-development |access-date=2024-11-24 |website=The Mythic Cross |archive-date=1 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241201205659/https://themythiccross.com/the-trinity-historical-development |url-status=live}}</ref>

This doctrine is called '''Trinitarianism,''' and its adherents are called '''Trinitarians''', while its opponents are called [[Nontrinitarianism|antitrinitarians or nontrinitarians]] and are considered non-Christian by most mainline groups. Nontrinitarian positions include [[Unitarianism]], [[binitarianism]] and [[modalism]]. The theological study of the Trinity is called "triadology" or "Trinitarian theology".<ref>{{Citation |last=Januariy |first=Archimandrite |title=The Elements of Triadology in the New Testament |date=2003 |work=The Trinity: East/West Dialogue |pages=99–106 |editor-last=Stewart |editor-first=Melville Y. |url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-94-017-0393-2_10 |access-date=2025-03-07 |place=Dordrecht |publisher=Springer Netherlands |doi=10.1007/978-94-017-0393-2_10 |doi-broken-date=24 March 2025 |isbn=978-94-017-0393-2}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Westhuizen |first=Henco van der |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W2WnEAAAQBAJ |title=Reader in Trinitarian Theology |date=2022-12-15 |publisher=UJ Press |isbn=978-1-77641-949-4}}</ref>

While the developed doctrine of the Trinity is not explicit in the [[Books of the Bible|books]] that constitute the [[New Testament]], the New Testament possesses a [[triad (religion)|triadic]] understanding of God{{sfn|Hurtado|2010|pp=99–110}} and contains a number of [[Trinitarian formula]]s.{{sfn|Januariy|2013|p=99}}<ref>{{cite book |author1=Archimandrite Janurariy (Ivliev) |editor-last1=Stewart |editor-first1=Melville Y. |editor-link1=Melville Y. Stewart |orig-date=2003 |location=Dordrecht |chapter=The Elements of Triadology in the New Testament |title=The Trinity: East/West Dialogue |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xJzdBgAAQBAJ |series=Volume 24 of Studies in Philosophy and Religion |date=9 March 2013 |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |publication-date=2013 |page=100 |isbn=9789401703932 |access-date=21 December 2021 |quote=Trinitarian formulas are found in New Testament books such as 1 Peter 1:2; and 2 Cor 13:13. But the formula used by John the mystery-seer is unique. Perhaps it shows John's original adaptation of Paul's dual formula.}}</ref> The doctrine of the Trinity was first formulated among the [[early Christian]]s (mid-2nd century and later) and [[fathers of the Church]] as they attempted to understand the [[Christology|relationship between Jesus and God]] in their scriptural documents and prior traditions.{{sfn|Hurtado|2005|pp=644–648}}