(DrBubbaLove;35764)
Yes, we have to have Three Persons and One Nature in order to have a Trinity and One God. The question and understanding goes to what a nature and a person means.How it is possible or can we fully comprehend God in this life, we deny knowing. So no matter what one believes, in some sense God remains in many ways a mystery to us, something that we cannot "see" or "know" FULLY in this life.Having said that, there are things that He has revealed to us. Many Christians hold that the orthodox Trinity doctrine is one of these things. Now to your point about that doctrine.It is true the Father is both unbegotten and First. However, in what sense can we say He is "first" in time? The teaching is that Jesus is the Word of the Father. So is it possible to imagine the Father existing at any "time" without His Word? Is the Father speechless before begetting Jesus? Jesus is "Begotten not Made" means something. But what? Ok, Jesus is uncreated by the Father. So how did Jesus come to be? The tradition and orthodox answer is that both the Father and Jesus are and have always existed. You cannot have Father without His Word.Another way to look at it, is that we all have an idea in our minds of who we are. That idea may not agree with what others think of us and it may be an imperfect idea, but none the less, we have a picture in our mind of who we are. We can do that because we are rational beings, created that way. While science tells us we are not born with this image of ourselves, it is something that developes as we mature. And in the sense that we can picture it, the image of ourself is real, but of course we cannot touch it and it is not something that exists as it's own person. It is just my image of me. Like looking at myself in a mirror, it is my reflection, not another person.Now God the Father, Creator of All things is certainly a rational Being, no one would argue that. So like us, He too would have an Image of Himself that He could conceive, reflecting on Himself. But what kind of Image would that be? God the Father is Perfect in all ways. That is the meaning of fully Divine. So that Image would have to be Perfect, a Perfect Reflection of Himself. (God from God, True God from True God, Light from Light.) In fact a such Perfect and fully complete Image of God the Father, that Image would BE, would EXIST, which means that Reflection is a Person and is God. And as God the Father is never changing, is uncreated, has always "been"; the realization is then that such an Image of Himself must have also always never changed, is begotten from the Father's mind/Will and has always "been"/existed.So in this view of the Trinity, in saying that the Father is First, it is only True in the sense that in order for the Son to be, there has to be a Father. The Son "proceeds" from the Father. The Son is the Perfect EXPRESSION of the Mind of the Father, another way of saying His Word! It cannot really be said to be true in any sense we have of time. Just as we can say the Love of Father for His Image, Himself, His Son and the Son for His Father is so Real, we have the Holy Spirit; who is also never changing and always existing.
Questions If I May Ok ? Then Maybe We Can Stay On The Subject . In Genesis 1; 26 , In Who Image And Likeness Was God Created ? :study:
Yes, we have to have Three Persons and One Nature in order to have a Trinity and One God. The question and understanding goes to what a nature and a person means.How it is possible or can we fully comprehend God in this life, we deny knowing. So no matter what one believes, in some sense God remains in many ways a mystery to us, something that we cannot "see" or "know" FULLY in this life.Having said that, there are things that He has revealed to us. Many Christians hold that the orthodox Trinity doctrine is one of these things. Now to your point about that doctrine.It is true the Father is both unbegotten and First. However, in what sense can we say He is "first" in time? The teaching is that Jesus is the Word of the Father. So is it possible to imagine the Father existing at any "time" without His Word? Is the Father speechless before begetting Jesus? Jesus is "Begotten not Made" means something. But what? Ok, Jesus is uncreated by the Father. So how did Jesus come to be? The tradition and orthodox answer is that both the Father and Jesus are and have always existed. You cannot have Father without His Word.Another way to look at it, is that we all have an idea in our minds of who we are. That idea may not agree with what others think of us and it may be an imperfect idea, but none the less, we have a picture in our mind of who we are. We can do that because we are rational beings, created that way. While science tells us we are not born with this image of ourselves, it is something that developes as we mature. And in the sense that we can picture it, the image of ourself is real, but of course we cannot touch it and it is not something that exists as it's own person. It is just my image of me. Like looking at myself in a mirror, it is my reflection, not another person.Now God the Father, Creator of All things is certainly a rational Being, no one would argue that. So like us, He too would have an Image of Himself that He could conceive, reflecting on Himself. But what kind of Image would that be? God the Father is Perfect in all ways. That is the meaning of fully Divine. So that Image would have to be Perfect, a Perfect Reflection of Himself. (God from God, True God from True God, Light from Light.) In fact a such Perfect and fully complete Image of God the Father, that Image would BE, would EXIST, which means that Reflection is a Person and is God. And as God the Father is never changing, is uncreated, has always "been"; the realization is then that such an Image of Himself must have also always never changed, is begotten from the Father's mind/Will and has always "been"/existed.So in this view of the Trinity, in saying that the Father is First, it is only True in the sense that in order for the Son to be, there has to be a Father. The Son "proceeds" from the Father. The Son is the Perfect EXPRESSION of the Mind of the Father, another way of saying His Word! It cannot really be said to be true in any sense we have of time. Just as we can say the Love of Father for His Image, Himself, His Son and the Son for His Father is so Real, we have the Holy Spirit; who is also never changing and always existing.
Questions If I May Ok ? Then Maybe We Can Stay On The Subject . In Genesis 1; 26 , In Who Image And Likeness Was God Created ? :study: