What is the official, complete definition of the Trinity?

Question

The subject of Jesus' deity is introduced here with great frequency. It seems that different people seem to have different understandings of the doctrine of the Trinity. I thought it would help me if I knew how people understand it. So, will you share with me, please, the Official, specific, complete, definition of the Trinity? Can a Protestant please give me the definition as he understands it as well as the Catholic definition? (They may differ, I am not sure). I do NOT want scriptural citations. I just want the definition from sources such as encyclopedias, dictionaries and also from your pastors and priests.

Thank you for your responses. I am getting really specific ones: just what I want! And I am still reading. Please keep them coming. But again, I DO NOT WANT citations to scripture. I also do not want illustrations. Just definitions. For instance, the reference to water, ice and steam is not a definition. The reference to Elohim in the Hebrew is not a definition. Thanks!

Thank you FoxFamily238 for your thorough response and for the in-depth information you gave, much of which I had never seen before.

Thank you to tik_of_totg for your thorough response consisting of citations from at least nine sources!

Answer 1

The trinity is based on the Catholic Athanasian Creed. Here it is in its entirety:

Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the Catholic Faith. Which Faith except everyone do keep whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly. And the Catholic Faith is this, that we worship one God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity. Neither confounding the Persons, nor dividing the Substance. For there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Ghost. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Ghost is all One, the Glory Equal, the Majesty Co-Eternal. Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Ghost. The Father Uncreate, the Son Uncreate, and the Holy Ghost Uncreate. The Father Incomprehensible, the Son Incomprehensible, and the Holy Ghost Incomprehensible. The Father Eternal, the Son Eternal, and the Holy Ghost Etneral and yet they are not Three Eternals but One Eternal. As also there are not Three Uncreated, nor Three Incomprehensibles, but One Uncreated, and One Uncomprehensible. So likewise the Father is Almighty, the Son Almighty, and the Holy Ghost Almighty. And yet they are not Three Almighties but One Almighty.
So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Ghost is God. And yet they are not Three Gods, but One God. So likewise the Father is Lord, the Son Lord, and the Holy Ghost Lord. And yet not Three Lords but One Lord. For, like as we are compelled by the Christian verity to acknowledge every Person by Himself to be God and Lord, so are we forbidden by the Catholic Religion to say, there be Three Gods or Three Lords. The Father is made of none, neither created, nor begotten. The Son is of the Father alone; not made, nor created, but begotten. The Holy Ghost is of the Father, and of the Son neither made, nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding.

So there is One Father, not Three Fathers; one Son, not Three Sons; One Holy Ghost, not Three Holy Ghosts. And in this Trinity none is afore or after Other, None is greater or less than Another, but the whole Three Persons are Co-eternal together, and Co-equal. So that in all things, as is aforesaid, the Unity is Trinity, and the Trinity is Unity is to be worshipped. He therefore that will be saved, must thus think of the Trinity.

Furthermore, it is necessary to everlasting Salvation, that he also believe rightly the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. For the right Faith is, that we believe and confess, that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and Man.

God, of the substance of the Father, begotten before the worlds; and Man, of the substance of His mother, born into the world. Perfect God and Perfect Man, of a reasonable Soul and human Flesh subsisting. Equal to the Father as touching His Godhead, and inferior to the Father as touching His Manhood. Who, although He be God and Man, yet He is not two, but One Christ. One, not by conversion of the Godhead into Flesh, but by taking of the Manhood into God. One altogether, not by confusion of substance, but by Unity of Person. For as the reasonable soul and flesh is one Man, so God and Man is one Christ. Who suffered for our salvation, descended into Hell, rose again the third day from the dead. He ascended into Heaven, He sitteth on the right hand of the Father, God Almighty, from whence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. At whose coming all men shall rise again with their bodies, and shall give account for their own works. And they that have done good shall go into life everlasting, and they that have done evil into everlasting fire. This is the Catholic Faith, which except a man believe faithfully and firmly, he cannot be saved.

Answer 2

who's to assert what the "respected definition" is of the trinity? purely via fact there are creeds or encyclopedias does not recommend this is the fact. Are the Mormon's Creeds actuality purely via fact they have them? What approximately THEIR definition of God? what's Muslims definition of God? Buddhists? Atheists? etc... for sure absolutely everyone could have diverse comments. Is there an "respected" definition of what God is? i do no longer declare "each and all of the three persons is (ARE, no longer IS) co-eternal, none is (ARE) afore or after different, none is (ARE -- back) greater suitable or lesser than different; and each and each have glory equivalent and majesty co-eternal." and that i nonetheless have faith interior the Trinity. a million Timothy 3:sixteen (sure it fairly is GOD) and Philippians 2:5-7 say all of it. there is not any way around it and John a million:a million. the only bible that seems to have John a million:a million screwed up is NWT....

Answer 3

It can be found in the original Hebrew word "Elohyim."
In English, it is a collective noun, a single entity made up of multiple parts. (in much the same way that a "team" has many players. Single team, made of multiple members)

Genesis 1:1... In the beginning, (Elohyim) created the heaven and the earth.

God as a "Trinity" has three members, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
All three persons are God (like each member of the Chicago Bulls are Bulls).
Each person of the Trinity has a different role, yet each works in conjunction with each other, all to the same end result.

Answer 4

Google "Nicene Creed".

That sums it up pretty much.

Edit: I'll save you the time....

We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father [and the Son].
With the Father and the Son
he is worshipped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. AMEN.

Answer 5

This is my concept of the Trinity:

God is Eternal and Almighty. The creator and supreme being.

Jesus (The Word, God's Son) is a human like you and me. Though he was not born of man but a Holy Spirit (God's Spirit). He is "God With Us". He's called "God's Son" because he is not God The Father Almighty. He's a Holy Spirit as a human. (Why send an angel when he can send his Holy Spirit -- angels can fall like Lucifer. It was the Holy Spirit who came upon Mary not an angel. An angel only spoke to Mary.)

The Holy Spirit is a working force of God's Spirit. Not a human. We call him a person because he's not an "it". The Holy Spirit speaks and does other personal things.

God is able to do anything even create a part of him as a human which is lower than angels. He came to live like a human not as anything of high-power.

God is Jesus but Jesus is not God. Just like a rectangle is a square but a square is not a rectangle.

Answer 6

In Christianity, the doctrine of the Trinity states that God is one being who exists, simultaneously and eternally, as a mutual indwelling of three persons (not to be confused by "person"): the Father, the Son (incarnate as Jesus of Nazareth), and the Holy Spirit. Since the 4th century, in both Eastern and Western Christianity, this doctrine has been stated as "three persons in one God," all three of whom, as distinct and co-eternal persons, are of one indivisible Divine essence, a simple being. Supporting the doctrine of the Trinity is known as Trinitarianism. The majority of Christians are Trinitarian, and regard belief in the Trinity as a test of orthodoxy.

In addition to teaching that God comprises three persons, the doctrine also teaches that the Son Himself has two distinct natures, one fully divine and the other fully human.

Answer 7

The wikipedia definition is perfectly concise.

The reason there are so many perspectives is that most people do not understand that the 'trinity' concept references an internal state of psychological UNITY which allows god/reality to synchronize with authentic being and purpose.

Ego death means you have achieved SON of God status (authentic Self as opposed to the little learned identity)

HOLY SPIRIT means there is nothing in you but WHAT you purely love (a matter of remembering).

God the FATHER is having made peace with (clearly seen the discrepancy between) the limitations of your earthly father's supportiveness (or lack their of) and what you know you deserve from god/reality.

Answer 8

The Trinity is NOT bible doctrine. It is man-made. Nevertheless, here is the historical reference you need...

Trinitarianism is the belief that there are three persons in one God. This has been stated in various ways, such as "one God in three Persons" [61] and "three persons in one substance." [62] It holds that in God are three distinctions of essence, not just of activity. [63] The names given to these three persons are God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost (or Holy Spirit).

Since trinitarians attempt to reject the concept of three gods, they usually are reluctant to describe God in terms of three beings, personalities, or individuals. One trinitarian stated, "No important Christian theologian has argued that there are three self-conscious beings in the godhead." [69] Another trinitarian writer rejects the idea that the trinity is composed of three individuals, but he does denounce an overemphasis on oneness, which (he says) leads to a Jewish view of God. [70]

There are severe problems with trinitarian terminology. First, the Bible nowhere uses the word trinity. The word three does not appear in relation to God in any translation of the Bible except the King James Version, and only once in that translation - in the doubtful verse of I John 5:7. Even this passage reads, "these three are one."

In short, as many trinitarian scholars admit, the Bible does not explicitly express the doctrine of the trinity. The New Catholic Encyclopedia states: "There is the recognition on the part of exegetes and Biblical theologians… that one should not speak of Trinitarianism in the New Testament without serious qualifications… New Testament exegesis is now accepted as having shown that not only the verbal idiom but even the patterns of thought characteristic of the patristic [church fathers] and concilian [church councils] development would have been quite foreign to the mind and culture of the New Testament writers." [79]

If trinitarianism does not come from the Bible, where did it originate? There is no question that Christian trinitarianism developed over several centuries of time after the New Testament was written. According to The New Catholic Encyclopedia, historians of dogma and systematic theologians recognize "that when one does speak of an unqualified Trinitarianism, one has moved from the period of Christian origins to, say, the last quadrant of the 4th century… From what has been seen thus far, the impression could arise that the Trinitarian dogma is in the last analysis a late 4th century invention. In a sense, this is true but it implies an extremely strict interpretation of the key words Trinitarian and dogma… The formulation 'one God in three Persons' was not solidly established, certainly not fully assimilated into Christian life and its profession of faith, prior to the end of the 4th century. But it is precisely this formulation that has first claim to the title the Trinitarian dogma."

http://www.housefellowship.org

Answer 9

The Father God, The Son, The Holy Spirit.

Answer 10

232 Christians are baptized "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." Before receiving the sacrament, they respond to a three-part question when asked to confess the Father, the Son, and the Spirit: "I do." "The faith of all Christians rests on the Trinity."

233 Christians are baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit: not in their names, for there is only one God, the almighty Father, his only Son, and the Holy Spirit: the Most Holy Trinity.

234 The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of Christian faith and life. It is the mystery of God in himself. It is therefore the source of all the other mysteries of faith, the light that enlightens them. It is the most fundamental and essential teaching in the "hierarchy of the truths of faith." The whole history of salvation is identical with the history of the way and the means by which the one true God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, reveals himself to men "and reconciles and unites with himself those who turn away from sin."

Answer 11

Pastor here - the Trinity refers to the three persons of the Godhead, which are God the Father (or sovreign), God the Son (Jesus the Christ), and God the Holy Spirit.