Apart from all of the heresies, ignorance, and slander, what is the real Doctrine of the Trinity?
In Orthodox Christianity, we speak of God the Father, as being the “Divine Mind,” the Supreme Consciousness, Who knows Himself. And, that’s the doctrine of the Trinity. Pretty simple, right? Allow me to explain further.
When a man knows himself (that is, in the soul) he sends forth within himself, or “begets,” an image of his consciousness, which is what we call the “self image” or “logos.” As a man comes to know himself more, the image of his consciousness, or, the man’s “thought,” expands and becomes greater.
Do you recall the verse? “As a man thinks in his heart, he is” (Proverbs 23:7).
Now, God, of course, is infinite— and not limited as man is— and so He knows Himself fully, and thereby sees, or knows, within Himself, His whole being. In other words, He is consciously aware of all that He is, by means of His absolute self knowledge. This conscious image of God’s being, we also call “Logos” or “wisdom,” as is written in the Holy Scriptures.
The Logos of God, we also call the “Son” of God, Who is “the exact imprint of the Father’s hypostasis” (Hebrews 1:3).
By saying “Son,” we do not mean that God has a child, but this expression has been revealed to us by God in a symbolic manner, to conceal a certain secret of God, and of man.
Okay, so think about this: if, in theory, you were consciously aware of your whole self, then your whole self would be in your conscious awareness. So there’d be you, and within you, there would be an exact image of your being, the fullness of your self.
So, what about the Spirit of God? Well, we have God who knows all in Himself, and His Thought which is the all He knows in Himself, and the Spirit which is that by which He knows all in Himself: the Conscious One, that which He is conscious of, and the very operation of His consciousness— Father, Son, Spirit. As it is written, ׅ“No one knows the thoughts of God, except the Spirit of God” (1 Corinthians 2:11).
This doctrine has been taught for all of church history, as can be seen in the writings of, for example, Saint Irenaeus of Lyons, the 2nd successor to St. John the Disciple, who, writing about the Trinity, says the following:
“[God’s] thought is Logos . . . and the Mind comprehending all things is the Father Himself” (St. Irenaeus).
Still trying to understand the Trinity? Well, just think about it.
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