1. What is the catholic faith concerning God?
This is the catholic faith: that we worship the one God in Trinity, and the Trinity in Unity, neither confounding the persons, nor dividing the essence. For there is one person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Ghost. But the Godhead of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost is one, their glory equal, and their Majesty co-eternal. (Athanasian Creed)
2. What therefore is God?
God is a Being, spiritual, intelligent, eternal, true, good, pure, just, merciful, free, of infinite power and wisdom; the Father eternal, who from eternity has begotten the Son, his own image; and the Son, the co-eternal image of the Father; and the Holy Ghost, proceeding from the Father and the Son. For the infallible word of divine testimony has thus revealed the Godhead, that the Father eternal with the Son and Holy Ghost has created and preserves heaven and earth, and all creatures, and in their preservation is present to all; that through the Son he has collected for himself from among men a church; and that he is also the Judge of the just and unjust. (Melanchthon, Loci)
3. Prove that there is but one God?
Deut. 6:4. Hear, O Israel; the Lord our God is one Lord.
Isa. 44:6. I am the first, and I am the last; and besides me there is no God.
Isa. 44:8. Is there a God besides me?
Mark 12:29. And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord.
1 Cor. 8:4, 6. We know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God, but one… But to us there is but one God the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things and we by him.
4. But are there not three Gods, if the Father is God, and the Son is God, and the Holy Ghost is God?
The Father indeed is God, and the Son is God, and the Holy Ghost is God, when the word god is used with regard to person; and yet there are not three gods, but only one God, when the word god is used with regard to essence. So, likewise, the Father is Lord, the Son is Lord, and the Holy Ghost is Lord; and yet there are not three Lords, but only one Lord. For just as the Christian truth compels us to acknowledge each person taken by itself as God and Lord; so also the catholic religion forbids us saying that there are three Gods or three Lords. (Athanasian Creed)
5. How many persons are there in the Godhead?
Three. The Father, made of no one, uncreated and unbegotten; the Son of the Father, alone, not made, nor created, but from eternity begotten; the Holy Ghost, from the Father and the Son, not made, nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding; and these three persons are co-eternal, and the same in essence and power. (Athanasian Creed, Smalcald Articles)
There is therefore one Father, and not three Fathers; one Son, and not three Sons; one Holy Ghost, and not three Holy Ghosts. And in this Trinity nothing is before or after, nothing is greater or less. But all three persons are co-equal and co-eternal with one another. (Athanasian Creed)
The churches among us, with great agreement, teach that the decree of the Council of Nice, concerning the unity of the divine essence, and the three persons, is true, and, without doubt, to be believed; namely, that there is one divine essence which both is called, and is God, eternal, incorporeal, indivisible, of immense power, wisdom, and goodness, the Creator and Preserver of all things, visible and invisible; and yet there are three persons of the same essence and power, who are also co-eternal, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. (Augsburg Confession, Art. 1)
The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, three distinct persons in one divine essence and nature, are one God who created heaven and earth. The Father is of no one, the Son is begotten of the Father, the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father and the Son. (Smalcald Articles, Part 1)
6. Prove from the Scriptures the doctrine of the Trinity?
Ps. 33:6. By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, and all the hosts of them by the breath of his mouth.
Matt. 28:19. Go ye, therefore, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
1 John 5:7. There are three that bear record in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost; and these three are one.
7. What is God the Father?
The Father is the first person of the Godhead; not begotten, nor proceeding; but who from eternity has begotten the Son, his own image; who, together with the Son and Holy Ghost, creates, sustains, preserves and governs all things visible and invisible, angels and men; who has sent his Son as the Redeemer of the world, and the Holy Ghost as the Sanctifier. (Chemnitz, Loci)
8. What is God the Son?
The Son is the second person of the Godhead, not created, but from eternity begotten by the Father, his image, and the brightness of his glory, through whom, in the Holy Ghost, the Father has created, and sustains, preserves and governs all things, visible and invisible, heaven and earth, angels and men; who was sent by the Father into the world, in order that by means of his assumed human nature he might accomplish the work of redemption. (Chemnitz, ib.)
9. What is God the Holy Ghost?
The Holy Ghost is the third person of the Godhead, not made, nor created, nor begotten, but eternally proceeding from the Father and the Son, in whom the Father through the Son has created, and since their creation sustains, preserves and governs all things, visible and invisible, angels and men; through the Son, sent by the Father in a visible form upon the Apostles; and at the present day sent invisibly by the Father through the Son into the hearts of believers, in order to sanctify them by means of the word and sacraments. (Chemnitz, ib.)
10. What do the words person and essence, as used in this article, signify?
The word person signifies that which is not a part or quality of another; but what subsists of itself. Or, a person is a living, indivisible, intelligent, incommunicable being, not sustained by another. Essence, however, denotes that which truly exists, even though it be communicated. (Melancthon, Examen)
They use the word person in the sense in which the church writers on this subject have used it to denote not a part or quality in another, but what subsists of itself. (Augsburg Confession, Art. I)
11. As the divine nature of the Father has never been doubted, and the next article will treat of the divine nature of the Son, please here to prove that the Holy Ghost is true God?
This can be abundantly shown from the Holy Scriptures. For, in the first place, the great name Jehovah, which belongs as to his essence to the one and only God, is ascribed to the Holy Ghost; as he is that Jehovah who spoke through prophets and apostles.
Num. 12:6. Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream.
Acts 1:16. This Scripture must needs have been fulfilled which the Holy Ghost, by the mouth of David, spake.
Heb. 3:7. Wherefore, as the Holy Ghost saith, To-day, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
2 Pet. 1:21. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man; but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
Secondly. The Holy Ghost is expressly called God in Acts 5:3, 4, where Peter thus addresses Ananias: “Why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost? Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.” So also St. Paul in 1 Cor. 3:16, says: “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?”
Thirdly. Those essential attributes and properties which belong only to God, are ascribed to the Holy Ghost. These are:
- Eternity. Heb. 9:14. How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself…?
- Omniscience. John 14:26. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. 1 Cor. 2:10. For the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. 1 Cor. 2:11. The things of God knoweth no one, but the Spirit of God.
- Omnipotence. 1 Cor. 12:4-6. There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are differences of administration, but the same Lord; and there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.
- Infinity. Ps. 139:7. Whither shall I go from thy Spirit?
- Truth. 1 John 5:6. It is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth.
- Worship. For the holy angels, in most exalted strains, worship also the Spirit, crying unto one another, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts. Rev. 4:8; Isa. 6:3.
- Creation and Preservation. Ps. 33:6. By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.
- Finally, Quickening, Regeneration, Sanctification, and other works which belong to a divine nature. John 3:6. Except a man be born of water, and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. Matt. 12:28. If I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you. 1 Cor. 3:16. Quoted above. (Hunnius on the Holy Trinity)