The Religions Book

217

so three persons of one substance.
Such theological reasoning involved
stretching the meaning of human
terms in order to express the
magnitude of God appropriately.
Some of the theologians who
achieved this most successfully
were the Cappadocian Fathers:
Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of
Nazianzus, and Gregory of Nyssa
(Basil’s younger brother), who lived
in the late 4th century CE. They
explained the difference between
ousia and hypostases (substance
and persons) by giving an example:
ousia is humanity as a general
category, while each hypostasis
is an individual human. Every
person has their humanity
in common with other people; but
at the same time, each person has
individual characteristics that
make them who they are. Defining
humanity accordingly would
involve stating “we experience
one common humanity in billions
of persons,” followed by listing
every person who has ever lived,
is living, and will live.
In this definition of the Trinity,
the persons of the Trinity have
their divinity in common, in the

same way that people share their

common humanity. There are just

three persons of the one divine

substance—Father, Son, and Spirit.

By using the language of

hypostases or persons, Christian

thinkers were able to avoid the

problems of Sabellius and modalism.

It was agreed that Father, Son, and

Spirit were not three masks worn

by a mysterious divine actor, just

as there is no ideal human lurking

somewhere behind all the humans

who have ever lived. Instead, there

are three persons (Father, Son, and

Spirit) who, together, are God.

Understanding the Trinity

Why is it important to Christians

that one God is worshipped in

three persons, rather than as three

CHRISTIANITY

separate gods? The easy answer

is that if the Trinity was understood

as three separate gods, Christians

could not be certain that the God

of the story of Jesus Christ had

anything to do with the God who

they believe created the world, or

who is at work in the world today.

The idea of a Trinity safeguards

the unity of God’s relationship

with the world. Traditionally, the

Father is seen as the one who

created the world, the Son is the

one who came into the world to

save it, and the Spirit is the one

who transforms the world into the

place God wants it to be. It is

important that these are seen as

one God working in three ways

toward the same goal—to share

God’s love with the world—not ❯❯

The Father is not

The Holy

Spirit

God

The Son

is not

is not

is

is

is

The Trinity comprises three distinct persons who

are not interchangeable, yet share the same divine

substance, and this divine substance is present in

only these three persons.

Every act which extends

from God to the creation...

originates with the Father,

proceeds through the Son,

and is completed by

the Holy Spirit.

Gregory of Nyssa