Regional Synod of Canada - Reformed Church in America

Pioneer Christian Monthly

Date - May/91

Contributor - Wim Meijer

Title - 1x1x1=1

Topic - Trinity

A Long-winded Creed I very seldom use the Athanasian Creed in a worship service. Maybe the only time I do this is when I preach on Lord's Day 8 of the Heidelberg Catechism which is about the Trinity. Such negligence of this beautiful creed is totally unwarranted in the light of art. 1, 2, and 44 of this creed. These articles read:

Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the catholic faith; which faith except every one do keep whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly.... This is the catholic faith, which except a man believe faithfully he cannot be saved.

Apparently this creed deals with matters of (eternal) life and (eternal) death. This should caution us not to remain ignorant about the contents of this creed.

The problem is of course that this creed is quite lengthy compared with the Apostles Creed or the Nicene Creed. It also seems to be full of repetitions, rather long-winded, and not quite to the point. Actually I wonder how many of the readers of Pioneer Christian Monthly, know the Athanasian Creed or have even read it. With a shock, I found that The Hymnbook does have the Nicene and the Apostles Creed, but omitted the Athanasian Creed. (I do not own a copy of "Rejoice in the Lord", so I cannot say anything about that.)

Why bother about it?

If you have access to the Athanasian Creed then read it and reread it. The least you will notice is how the church fathers have struggled with the concepts of the Trinity and of the natures of Jesus Christ. If we may believe the report from one of those church fathers, Gregory of Nazianzus (c.329-390), then the dispute was not only between theologians, but it was also taken into the streets. Gregory says:

You ask the baker the price of bread and he answers that the Father is greater than the Son and that the Son is subordinate to the Father; you ask whether the bath is ready and the answer is that the Son was created of nothing.

Times have changed! Not only are the bakeries swallowed up by the supermarkets and baths placed in private houses, but public conversations also centre on different topics today.

We speak about the GST (not meaning God's Sovereign Trinity) and about the unity of Canada with or without Quebec (instead of about the unity of God with or without the Holy Spirit). Is it still worthwhile to pursue difficult theological disputes? Perhaps we should just simply believe in Jesus Christ and in the heavenly Father and pray for the Holy Spirit to tell us, and not worry about the internal relation between Father, Son and Holy Spirit?

It must be admitted that no explanation can be given for the Trinity. It is a mystery which goes beyond our comprehension. Many people have tried to find a comparison in our human world, but they all fail. Take for instance the Canadian flag. It has three parts, and these three parts together form one flag. Three-in-one so to say. God however is different. The Father is not a part of God, but He is God - so is the Son and so is the Spirit. The only useful illustration I have found is a mathematical one: lxlxl=l.

The Bible Tells Us So!

Why make trouble about something which we cannot understand? Simply because in the Bible God reveals himself as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Sometimes they are mentioned together - for instance in the Baptism formula (Matt. 28:19); in the Benediction (11 Cor. 13:14); in passages like Isa. 61:1 "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me."; Jesus' Baptism in the Jordan River (Matt. 3:16, 17); and even in Gen 1:1, 2 where we read that the Spirit of that God moved upon the face of the waters. We also know from John 1:3 and Col. 1:16 that all things were created by the Son. Other times we read about the three Persons of the Trinity as each having their own distinctive work. We think of the Father especially in connection with creation (although the Son and the Spirit were also involved in this work as we have seen). We think of the Son as our Saviour, our Mediator, whose distinctive work is the work of the High Priest in making a sacrifice for us and praying for us. We think of the Holy Spirit as the One who fills our hearts and renews us, so that more and more we become like unto the image of Christ.

When we open our Bible, we find that the Trinity is a fact - clearly attested by Biblical data. There is one God who reveals himself as three distinctive persons. They are three and yet they are one. As the Athanasian Creed says (art. 27), "So that in all things ... the Unity in Trinity and Trinity in Unity is to be worshipped."

Triple Comfort

What do we do with this in practice?

The greatest comfort we receive from the doctrine of the Trinity is that there are three omnipotent Persons working together toward one goal. The Father required a just punishment for sin; the Son underwent this punishment; and the Spirit makes us partaker of this saving work of the Son. You may also say it this way: The Father provides us with whatever we need (Matt. 6:32), the Son makes us right with God (I Cor. 1:30), and the Holy Spirit makes us fruitful in the service of the Lord (Gal. 5:22, 23). If this God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit is for us, who can be against us? Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost!

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