Chapter 8: Some Further Precisions

1. Introduction
   • Restatements of the Doctrine
     • The doctrine can be expressed in terms of the procession of persons as follows:
       • “The doctrine of the Blessed Trinity means that the [one] Divine Nature is wholly expressed as Thinker, wholly expressed as the Thinker’s Thought of Himself, wholly expressed as Love” (110-2).
       • An alternate statement that avoids the problem with “thinker”:
         • The doctrine of the Blessed Trinity means that the [one] Divine Nature is wholly expressed as Infinite Knower, wholly expressed as Infinite Knowledge, wholly expressed as Infinite Love-Bond.
     • The doctrine can also be expressed in terms relative to the philosophical definition of person:
       • “[The Blessed Trinity] is an infinite, rational nature in which . . . there are three centers of attribution [persons]: an infinite principle of operation [nature] in which there are three [infinite] operators [persons]” (110-2).
2. Person and Nature Again
   • Substance and Accident
     • Even though “person possesses nature,” and not the other way around, the distinction between person and nature is not so clear that we can dismiss the possibility that the same infinite nature could be possessed (not shared) by multiple persons (111-1).
       • This is also discussed on pages 94-95.
     • Philosophically, a person is an incommunicable substance of a rational nature:
       • A substance of a rational nature (contrast substance with accident).
         • Substance – a being that subsists, that is, a being that exists in and of itself.
           • Every particular human being is an individual substance, existing independently of other beings.
         • Accident – a being that can only exist in some other being.
           • The color of a man’s hair is an accident. The existence of that particular instance of color is dependent upon the existence of the man’s hair.
       • Incommunicable – a person is not capable of being a part of some other substance.
     • Our nature is bound up in this, but our nature is not the whole explanation of it.
       • The fact that we are distinct persons is not due to the fact that we have distinct instances of human nature (111-1).
         • Again, we need to note here that we all possess the same human nature: a union of body and soul. The differences among us arise from of the “individuation” of matter.
         • For this reason each of us has his own unique physical characteristics along with the various differences that result from having differences in our material makeup.
         • It is the observation of these unique physical characteristics that incline one to say that we have “distinct natures,” but the reality is that we have the same nature with our distinctions lying in the matter to which our souls are united; matter is the source of our unique physical characteristics. It is what makes each of us a distinct instance of human nature.
     • This concept of person applies in its fullness to each of the three Divine Persons. Each is wholly Himself while fully possessing the one divine nature (111-1).
3. How Are the Divine Persons Equal if Distinct?
   • Regarding the Mystery’s Apparent Contradiction
     • Recall that mystery presents itself to us not only as darkness but also as an apparent contradiction. Hence the mystery of the Blessed Trinity raises questions such as the following:
       • In order for the Divine Persons to be distinct, is it not necessary for there to be something in each of them that is lacking in the others? (112-3)
       • And if each of the three has something that is lacking in the others, does that not contradict their equality and infinity? (112-3)
       • Regarding the “lack” of generation (112-3):
         • Are the Son and the Holy Spirit lacking something because they don’t beget, as does the Father?
         • Is the Holy Spirit lacking something because He does not spirate, as do the Father and the Son?
       • Regarding the “lack” of having been generated (112-3):
         • Does the Father lack something because He has not been begotten, as has the Son?
         • Do both Father and Son lack something because they have not been spirated?
       • Note that if we could clearly see the answers to these questions, the mystery of the Blessed Trinity would not be a mystery at all (112-4). Despite our inability to clearly see the answers, we can expand the circle of light.
   • Scripture on Three Persons and One God
     • Before looking at these questions, let us recall that of which we are certain. By way of Revelation, we know that there are exactly three persons in God and that each of them is wholly God.
       • The Father is God:
         • “We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you . . .” (Col 1:3).
         • “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Cor 1:2).
         • “[There is] one God and Father of us all, who is above all and through all and in all” (Eph 4:6).
       • That the Son is God:
         • “All that the Father has is mine” (Jn 16:15).
         • “The Father and I are one” (Jn 10:30)
         • “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (Jn 1:1).
       • That the Holy Spirit is God:
         • “Peter said, ‘Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back part of the proceeds of the land? . . . You have not lied to men but to God” (Acts 5:3-4).
         • “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Mt 28:19).
         • “The Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God” (1 Cor 2:10).
     • Even if our knowledge of the Trinity is limited to knowing that there are three persons and that each is wholly God, that by itself opens the door to a wealth of doctrine.
       • Knowing that the Son is God gives significance to His Passion, Death and Resurrection that it wouldn’t otherwise have; the same is true of the rest of His life.
       • Knowing that the Holy Spirit is God gives significance to Scripture, sacraments and the Church that they wouldn’t otherwise have.
   • Distinction by Way of Knowledge
     • By way of the one divine intellect, the Father conceives an infinite Idea of Himself, “which, because it is an idea, is wholly [within] that one same Nature” (113-3, 105-2).
     • “Because it is an adequate idea, it contains [the Divine Nature] wholly” (105-2). It follows that the [one] Divine Nature is fully expressed in this Idea by way of knowledge (113-3).
       • The “idea” God conceives of Himself can lack nothing of what is in His own being. The Idea must contain all of the perfections of being that exist in God Himself (104-1).
       • Thus, the infinite Idea is a perfect image of the Father, lacking nothing that the Father has. For that reason, it must be a Divine Person, the Son Who is the Word of the Father (104-1).
     • It is only the Father who generates a Divine Word because the divine nature is fully expressed as knowledge by way of the Father’s knowledge of Himself (113-3).
       • Both the Son and the Holy Spirit fully possess the knowledge the Father possesses, but they possess it as received from the Father
       • It would be a contradiction to admit of the possibility of the divine nature being wholly expressed a second time by way of the Son’s knowledge or the Holy Spirit’s knowledge after it has already been expressed as infinite Knowledge by the Father. There cannot be two distinct instances of infinite Knowledge.
   • Distinction by Way of Love
     • By way of the one divine will, the Father and the Son express their infinite mutual love, “which produces a state of Lovingness within the Divine nature” (113-3, 106-1).
     • Because they “pour all that they have and all that they are” (106-1) into this state of Lovingness, “the Divine Nature is . . . utterly [i.e., fully] expressed as Love” (113-3).
       • This state of Lovingness, this Love-Bond, lacks nothing that is in the Father and the Son; hence, the Love-Bond must contain all of the perfections of being that exist in the Father and the Son.
       • It follows that the Love-Bond is “Infinite, Eternal, Living, Someone, a Person, God” (106-1).
     • It is only the Father and the Son together who produce the Love-Bond, because the divine nature is fully expressed as love by the mutual love of the Father and the Son.
       • The love between the Father and the Holy Spirit, and the love between the Son and the Holy Spirit lack nothing that is found in the love between the Father and the Son.
       • Just as the Divine Nature is fully expressed by way of knowledge, so the Divine Nature is fully expressed by way of love. It would be a contradiction to say that it could be fully expressed by way of love a second time. There cannot be two distinct instances of infinite love.
   • Distinctions Lie in Their Relationships
     • In summary, “no One of the Three has anything that the others have not; each possesses the whole Godhead, but each possesses it in His own way” (114-1).
       • The distinctions among the Divine Persons lie entirely in the manner in which They possess the Divine Nature.
       • The Father fully possesses the Divine Nature unreceived, the Son fully possesses the Divine Nature as received from the Father, by whom He is begotten, and the Holy Spirit fully possesses the Divine Nature as received from the Father and the Son, from both of Whom He proceeds.
       • “The Church uses (I) the term ‘substance’ (rendered also at times by ‘essence’ or ‘nature’) to designate the divine being in its unity, (II) the term ‘person’ or ‘hypostasis’ to designate the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in the real distinction among them, and (III) the term ‘relation’ to designate the fact that their distinction lies in the relationship of each to the others” (CCC 252).
4. Reason and Revelation
   • We Accept What God Has Revealed
     • Note: By “this,” in the second line of paragraph 2 on page 114, Sheed is referring to the question: “How are the persons equal if distinct?”
     • The tension between the equality of persons and their being distinct has a bearing upon our understanding of the doctrine of the Blessed Trinity, but it has no bearing upon our acceptance of the doctrine (114-2).
       • We have received the doctrine from God Himself. We could neither discover the doctrine nor verify it. We can only strive to understand the aspects of the doctrine that are within the grasp of finite human reason (114-2).
     • We study the doctrine so as to get what light from it our finite intellects are able to obtain so as to know God more deeply and to delight in the mystery (114-2).
   • A Caution Regarding Our Study
     • We must be aware of the temptation of settling our minds on our concept of “Infinite,” rather than realizing that our concept is “merely a synthetic affair compared with [Infinity’s] own incredible reality” (114-3).
     • The use of logic is as valid with the mystery of the Blessed Trinity as it is everywhere else. However, we cannot apply the methods of logic with certainty when speaking of matters of the Infinite because we do not (cannot) have sufficient knowledge of the infinite (115-1).
     • “Our premises are a shadow and an approximation of the Infinite Reality: how can our conclusions be sure?” (115-1).
   • We Can Be Sure of What the Church Has Defined
     • What is sure is what God has revealed; what is sure is what the Church has defined as true and what it has condemned as false (115-2)
       • “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you” (Jn 14:26).
       • “The Holy Spirit is the vital [life-giving] principle [i.e., the soul] of the Church, [immanent] yet transcendent. . . . Therefore, it is by the Holy Spirit’s light that the Church comes to the announcement of the revealed truth” (John Paul II, “The Spirit”, p. 321, 3).
       • Because the Church announces revealed truth by the Holy Spirit’s light, these announcements cannot be in error without the Holy Spirit ceasing to be the life-giving principle of the Church.
         • “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth” (Jn 16:13).
         • “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hades shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Mt 16:18-19)
       • Because the Holy Spirit is the soul of the Church, when the Church defines a matter of faith or morals it can say “It has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us . . .” (Acts 15:28).
     • “What we know [of the Blessed Trinity] is a knowledge from which the mind can draw light and upon which the whole soul can feed” (115-2).
       • The beauty of supernatural mystery is analogous to natural beauties such as the occasional brilliantly red sunrise or sunset. One can know nothing of the physics of light that underlies such natural beauty and still delight in it immensely.
       • Our ability to marvel at the beauty contained in the mystery of the Blessed Trinity is commensurate with the effort we put in to understanding what has been revealed about this mystery.