Defending The Trinity

[Mateo el Feo]

A few weeks ago, I was reading an anti-Trinitarian website (don't recall the link) that put into question the existance of the Holy Spirit as a distinct person in the Trinity.

One of their "stumper statements" was to ask, "Who is the father of Jesus?" Refering to the Gospels, the text shows that it was the Holy Spirit that came over Mary (for example, Matt 1:20, Luke 1:35). Their point was that the Holy Spirit appears to be the father of Our Lord, in order to prove that the Holy Spirit is just a title for the Father. I guess they think that God is only two persons--the Father and the Son.

In the Nicene Creed [url="http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11049a.htm"](Link to Nicene Creed at NewAdvent)[/url], part of the translation from Greek is:

[quote]And [Jesus Christ] was incarnate of the Holy Ghost and of the Virgin Mary and was made man.[/quote]

I have heard the Holy Spirit described as a person who is the love between the Father and the Son, so maybe this idea helps clarify this problem; but I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on this.

I'm not an expert on the theological explanations of the Trinity and how the different persons interact; mostly, I just have faith! Any ideas of how to respond to this attempted attack on the faith would be appreciated.

God bless!

[Mateo el Feo]

St. Thomas Aquinas did answer a related question in the Summa. The following is a link:

[url="http://www.newadvent.org/summa/103601.htm"]Whether this name "Holy Ghost" is the proper name of one divine person? (link)[/url]

This doesn't directly answer the "stumper question", but I thought that it's a good place to start!

[Apotheoun]

[quote name='Mateo el Feo' date='Jun 21 2004, 01:10 AM'] A few weeks ago, I was reading an anti-Trinitarian website (don't recall the link) that put into question the existance of the Holy Spirit as a distinct person in the Trinity. 

One of their "stumper statements" was to ask, "Who is the father of Jesus?"  Refering to the Gospels, the text shows that it was the Holy Spirit that came over Mary (for example, Matt 1:20, Luke 1:35).  Their point was that the Holy Spirit appears to be the father of Our Lord, in order to prove that the Holy Spirit is just a title for the Father.  I guess they think that God is only two persons--the Father and the Son.

In the Nicene Creed [url="http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11049a.htm"](Link to Nicene Creed at NewAdvent)[/url], part of the translation from Greek is:

[quote]And [Jesus Christ] was incarnate of the Holy Ghost and of the Virgin Mary and was made man.[/quote]

I have heard the Holy Spirit described as a person who is the love between the Father and the Son, so maybe this idea helps clarify this problem; but I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on this.

I'm not an expert on the theological explanations of the Trinity and how the different persons interact; mostly, I just have faith! Any ideas of how to respond to this attempted attack on the faith would be appreciated.

God bless! [/quote]
It is not a problem at all, because they are simply confusing the [i]eternal generation[/i] of the Son by the Father, with the [i]incarnation[/i] of the Son in time by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Edited June 21, 2004 by Apotheoun

[Jake Huether]

[quote name='Apotheoun' date='Jun 21 2004, 01:56 AM']
I have heard the Holy Spirit described as a person who is the love between the Father and the Son, so maybe this idea helps clarify this problem; but I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on this.

I'm not an expert on the theological explanations of the Trinity and how the different persons interact; mostly, I just have faith! Any ideas of how to respond to this attempted attack on the faith would be appreciated.

God bless! [/QUOTE]
It is not a problem at all, because they are simply confusing the [i]eternal generation[/i] of the Son by the Father, with the [i]incarnation[/i] of the Son in time by the power of the Holy Spirit. [/quote]
Good call!

Amen.