The Bible Book

298

T

he church in Corinth,

which the Apostle Paul had

founded and led for several

years, faced many difficulties after

Paul left to continue his missionary

work, mainly arising from the arrival

of teachers opposed to Paul. These

problems prompted two letters

from the Apostle to correct and

redeem the wayward church.

Writing from Ephesus in Asia

Minor, Paul takes a sharp tone

in 2 Corinthians, but ends on a

gentle note. In the final paragraph

(13:11–14), he exhorts his readers

to become spiritually mature and to

come together, reminding them

that God is hard at work among

them to this end. Paul then ends

by blessing the entire congregation,

concluding, “May the grace of the

Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of

God, and the fellowship of the Holy

Spirit be with you all” (13:14).

In this blessing, Paul combines

three ideas about the relationship

of God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit

to Christians, affirming the equal

dignity of the three persons. It

is thus one of the most complete

references in the New Testament

to the concept of the Trinity.

Three in one

The New Testament affirms that

there is only one true God, yet also

asserts that the Father is God,

The Holy Trinity (1440) by the Master

of the Darmstadt, an anonymous artist

from Germany, shows God holding the

body of His Son, and the Holy Spirit

represented by a dove.

IN BRIEF

PA S SAGE

2 Corinthians 13:1–14

THEME

The Trinity

SETTING

54–55 ce Corinth, a major city

in Greece and the provincial

capital of the Roman province

of Achaea. It was occupied by

Rome until around 521 ce.

KEY FIGURES

Paul The Apostle who

founded the church at Corinth

in around 50 ce during his

ministry in the Aegean.

The Corinthians Christians

in the troubled church of

Corinth, who have been led

astray by teachers opposed

to Paul.

THE GRACE OF THE

LORD JESUS CHRIST

AND THE LOVE OF GOD

AND THE FELLOWSHIP

OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

2 CORINTHIANS 13:14, THE HOLY TRINITY

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299

See also: The Divinity of Jesus 190–93 ■ The Nature of Faith 236–41 ■

The Council of Jerusalem 292–93 ■ Salvation Through Faith 301

ACTS, EPISTLES, AND REVELATION

Jesus is God (John 5:22–23), and

the Holy Spirit is God (Matthew

12:32). Christians have therefore

concluded that the Bible teaches

its readers that, while there is only

one divine being, there are three

divine persons within that being.

Reinforcing this idea are texts in

which each Person is present but

distinct, such as in the baptismal

formula in Matthew 28:19; and the

“confessions” of faith in Ephesians

4:4–6 and 1 Peter 1:1–2.

The Nicene Creed

In 325 ce, centuries after Paul’s

death, Church leaders met at

Nicaea (modern Iznik, Turkey) to

address the teachings of Arius. His

followers defended the uniqueness

of God and the personal distinction

between the Father and Son by

denying the godhood of Jesus,

arguing that the Son merely had

a nature “similar” to the Father’s.

The Council of Nicaea developed

the ideas essential to the doctrine

of the Trinity: the uniqueness of

God, the divinity of the Father and

Son, and the personal distinction

between them. Christians argued

over these concepts extensively,

but most eventually agreed that

to deny the deity of Jesus was to

render dependence upon Jesus

for salvation and that worship of

Him was a form of idolatry. While

Arians affirmed that Jesus had

a nature that was homoiousios

(similar) to that of God the Father,

defenders of the Nicene Creed

insisted that Jesus’s nature was

homoousious (same). In English,

the latter idea is expressed by the

word “consubstantial” or “being of

one substance with the Father.” ■

The Father Jesus Christ^

(The Son)

God

The Holy Spirit

Council of Nicaea

Constantine the Great’s

Council of Nicaea was the first

of seven ecumenical councils

held between 325 and 787 ce.

The purpose of each of these

meetings was to address

some of the heresies that

were arising within the

Church and answer difficult

questions raised by Christian

skeptics. Constantine realized

that by establishing universal

doctrines that could be widely

shared and promulgated,

the Church, and his empire,

would strengthen and expand.

Prior to the Council of Nicaea,

doctrine had been decided at

the local level, such as at the

Council of Jerusalem in 50 ce.

Constantine himself

presided over the council

meeting, even though he

was a Catechumen (the

name given to an adherent

of Christianity who had not

been baptized). The rest of

the council was made up of

representatives drawn from

across Christendom.

Constantine the Great presides

at the Council of Nicaea, in 325 ce,

in a 12th-century fresco in the

Bachkovo Monastery in Bulgaria.

The figure below him is Arius.

Holy Trinity

The Trinity

refers to the

existence of

God as three

consubstantial

persons. These

three persons

are distinct—

The Father,

Christ, and Holy

Spirit—yet share

one nature.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

the Lord, the giver of life,

who proceeds from the

Father and the Son, who

with the Father and the Son

is adored and glorified.

The Nicene Creed

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