The New Testament Basis of the Trinitarian Doctrine

Jesus Reveals the Trinity

The main source of the Trinitarian faith is Jesus himself.

Jesus was aware of himself as the Beloved Son of the Heavenly Father, and who was filled with the Holy Spirit

He revealed to us God who is Father of infinite goodness

He made use of a political symbolism - the KINGDOM OF GOD - to show how God acts. This Kingdom is symbolized as a feast at which all sit together to celebrate, the new city in which all are brothers and sisters, with God in the midst of these sons & daughters, serving them all. So the images of communion and sharing describe the form God's rule will take.

He made use of family symbolism - God as ABBA, to portray God as the best and kindest of Fathers. Jesus describes God with a word drawn from the language of family relationship, ABBA, a childish expression of affection for a father. Jesus invoked his Father in his prayers (175 times)

He is the father who goes out of his way in search of sons and daughters, especially among the strayed and suffering. Jesus intimate relationship with the Father was expressed in practice - in his prayer and in his act of bring about the kingdom, thereby identifying himself with the Father.

Thus, while in the OT the title Father referred to God’s election and saving relationship with Israel; in the NT it signifies God’s special relationship with Jesus.

In the NT God is revealed and defined in and through God’s relationship with Jesus: God is the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ.

In Jesus, the eternal Son made flesh is revealed.

Rather than explicitly proclaiming himself as Son, Jesus acted and lived as Son of God. He acted with an authority that set him in the sphere of the divine....

Jesus did not just represent God in the world; he made God visible and touchable in all God's goodness and mercy. He forgave sins, introduced new teachings beyond the Law and tradition, things that belonged exclusively to God.

Two passages which show Jesus' relationship of Son to his Father-God.

The first is Luke 10:21-22 (also Mt 11:25-27):It was then that, filled with joy by the Holy Spirit, he said, "I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing them to mere children. Yes, Father, for that is what it pleased you to do. Everything has been entrusted to me by my Father; and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal himself."

The second text is John 10:30, 17:21 The Father and I are one (10:30)

The Holy Spirit is Revealed in Jesus' life and work.

The very incarnation of the Son is presented as the work of the Spirit (Lk 1:35, Mt 1:20), so Jesus is full of the Holy Spirit from the start.

The Spirit comes on him when he is baptised by John in the Jordan (Mk 1:9-11, Lk 3:21-22, Jn 1:32-33)

He is led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tested (Lk 4:1)

The Holy Spirit is Revealed in Jesus' life and work.

The very incarnation of the Son is presented as the work of the Spirit (Lk 1:35, Mt 1:20), so Jesus is full of the Holy Spirit from the start.

The Spirit comes on him when he is baptised by John in the Jordan (Mk 1:9-11, Lk 3:21-22, Jn 1:32-33)

He is led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tested (Lk 4:1)

He launches his messianic program with the quote: the Spirit of the Lord has been given to me (Lk 4:18).

The Spirit provides power with which he performs his liberating miracles.

In the Johannine Gospel Jesus promised the coming of his Spirit, the paraclete, to his disciples.

In Acts, the Holy Spirit descends on the community of disciples.

The Spirit Reveals the Son and the Father

In the Pauline and Johannine conception of the Spirit convey the master theme: The Spirit leads us to discover Jesus as Son of God and allows us to cry "Abba, Father."

The Spirit is shown as God. The Spirit provides the activating power of God in history. It signifies God acting, innovating, opening new paths in history together with men and women and creation.

So the work of the Spirit consists basically in revealing the Son to all and in working out the liberating action of the Son.

We come to the Son through the Spirit, which is why it is rightly called the Spirit of Christ (Rom 8:9) and also the Spirit of the Lord (2 Cor 3:17).

The Spirit provides the setting in which the baptized meet the Son, forming one body with him (1 Cor 12:13).

The Spirit leads us to God whom we recognize as Father. Johannine theology explains why: the Spirit "comes from the Father" (15:26), and the Father sends the Spirit at the request of the Son (14:16). The Spirit gives us access to the Father because the Son sends the Spirit (16:18) on behalf of the Father (15:26).

The Spirit communicates no other truth besides that of the Son.

In the NT, the Spirit is shown as divine Someone who acts personally, inspires, consoles, intercedes for us, teaches us the spirit of prayer, feeling of being children of God, the experience of God as Father and the many charisms for the good of the whole community.

Climax of Salvation History: The Father Sends the Son & the Holy Spirit

The belief that the climax/completion of salvation history :

The life, death and resurrection of Jesus (event of Christ)

The outpouring of the Spirit of God (event of the Spirit)

Thru these events, the first Christians were convinced that God had fulfilled the divine promise to Israel.

The basic kerygma in Peter’s Pentecost sermon:

The coming of Jesus, the Messiah and the outpouring of the Spirit

is the fulfillment of God’s promise salvation to Israel

By fulfilling his promise of salvation thru Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, God is fully revealed.

With these events God has fully revealed who and what God is.

The understanding of God in Christianity has 3 references:

God as Father,

Jesus Christ as Son of God,

and the Holy Spirit