Trinity (Holy Trinity)
Holy Trinity theme slide by Lars Hammar
Trinity (Holy Trinity)
In Christian theology, the Holy Trinity refers to the belief that God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit form a co-equal and co-eternal mystical union.
Each of the three parts is defined as a “person.”
It remains somewhat mysterious as to just what this means. Are the persons human in form? Or do created human beings resemble the three holy persons of the Trinity?
According to one interpretation of the latter view, some persons predominantly act as God’s “hands,” others the “mind” and others the “heart.”
Biblical support for this idea is often drawn upon Romans 12:4-6, 1 Corinthians 10:17, and Collossians 3:15.
Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772) forwarded a similar idea in his book, The Universal Human and Soul-Body Interaction.
The notion of different types of people corresponding to different parts of the Divine Body is also fundamental to Hinduism, a religion which has its own kind of Trinity, one quite different from the Christian Trinity.
The Hindu Trinity consists of Brahma (Creator), Visnu (Preserver of the Universe) and Siva (Cosmic Destroyer).
Obviously, to say that the Trinity as understood by Swedenborg, Hindus and mainstream Christians is identical would be a gross simplification.
The idea that the diversity of human beings resembles the Trinity opens important questions about the relationship between God and humanity. For most Christians it does not mean that God is humanity and nothing more. Rather, the idea is that God, as Creator, is reflected by and present in humanity but still transcends the human condition.
The Christian Holy Trinity is often quickly dismissed as a cultural and historical production (i.e. a man-made belief) but those claiming to have been granted a vision of the Holy Trinity say that its mysterious character may only be comprehended through revelation.
Holy Trinity, Tattershall, Lincolnshire by Brian
Rev. Glenn “Mac” at GlennFrazier.com adds:
Since you mention Swedenborg, it might be worth pointing out that he explicitly spoke up against the idea of a trinity of persons. According to his theology (in, e.g., his book, True Christian Religion), Jehovah the Father and Jesus the Son were not only one God, but also the one and only one person of God. Likewise, the Holy Spirit is the activity of that person, and not a seperate person in its own right. This is somewhat similar to Michael Servetus’ ideas expressed a good deal earlier in his “Errors of the Trinity”. Swedenborg’s idea of a trinity of essentials, rather than of persons, should not be confused with modalism-the idea of there being one God that at various times takes on different functions or modes in sequence. To Swedenborg, the Father was literally God’s soul, the Son his body, and the Spirit his influence/activity, not by analogy, but actually. » Source
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Posted on April 6, 2009, in T and tagged christianity, hinduism, religion, swedenborg, trinity. Bookmark the permalink. 3 Comments.
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Since you mention Swedenborg, it might be worth pointing out that he explicitly spoke up against the idea of a trinity of persons. According to his theology (in, e.g., his book, True Christian Religion), Jehovah the Father and Jesus the Son were not only one God, but also the one and only one person of God. Likewise, the Holy Spirit is the activity of that person, and not a seperate person in its own right. This is somewhat similar to Michael Servetus’ ideas expressed a good deal earlier in his “Errors of the Trinity”. Swedenborg’s idea of a trinity of essentials, rather than of persons, should not be confused with modalism–the idea of there being one God that at various times takes on different functions or modes in sequence. To Swedenborg, the Father was literally God’s soul, the Son his body, and the Spirit his influence/activity, not by analogy, but actually.
Thanks very much for this excellent comment. You know, I started writing this dictionary about 10 years ago. And many of these entries are quite old. I find that my analytical capacities are sharpening with age. But even at the time of writing that entry, I probably knew that I was presenting a somewhat overly analogous assortment of ideas, something akin to what Joseph Campbell does. It really is a trade off. But you’re absolutely right. It’s essential to point out that each system – not just Swedenborg’s – displays important variations. And to just toss out apparent similarities really doesn’t do justice to the topic. We really do need both, I think.
Now as for Swedenborg, do you think it possible that he still relies on the intellect a bit too much? I know he was a mystic. But he was also coming from a scientific background. Myself, I prefer to put faith first and intellect second.
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Note: I just edited the entry. And I plan to include some of your comments in the entry for Swedenborg. Much appreciated.
swedenborg was rational, a mystic deals with religion through the sensual, the old testament was ritual, the new testament sensual, the writings of swedenborg rational, the holy spirit is the rational mind of God, so there you have it, the 3 fold word, swedenborg was the final peace to the spiritual puzzle.