The Mystery of the Trinity: Part 4

 

Exploring the Foundations of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church’s Faith

The Mystery of the Trinity: Part 4

The mystery of the Holy Trinity stands at the heart of the Orthodox Christian faith—acknowledged by the Church, yet surpassing human comprehension. Since this divine mystery cannot be grasped directly through created realities, the Fathers and scholars (ሊቃውንት) employed carefully chosen illustrations to guide the faithful toward an understanding of the mystery of the Holy Trinity. Though limited and incomplete, these illustrations serve as pedagogical tools through which the Church expresses both the oneness and the Threeness of God. This essay explores these illustrative approaches used by the Fathers to articulate the mystery of the Holy Trinity, while acknowledging their inherent limitations.

Illustrations of the Mystery of the Trinity (የምስጢረ ሥላሴ አስረጂ ምሳሌዎች)

In the teaching of the scholars (ሊቃውንት), the mystery of the Trinity is expressed in a manner consistent with what has been discussed in the previous sections: the Father is the begetter (ወላዲ), the Son is begotten (ተወላዲ), and the Holy Spirit proceeds (ሠራፂ). These terms—begetter (ወላዲ), begotten (ተወላዲ), and proceeds (ሠራፂ)—are the names by which the three persons are known distinctly. Within the faith of the Fathers (በሃይማኖተ አበው), the scholars present illustrative examples to explain this mystery. However, they consistently describe it as an incomplete example (ምሳሌ ዘይሐጽጽ /ጎደሎ ምሳሌ/), since no created example can fully express the mystery of the Trinity. Although every example is always less than what it represents, such illustrations remain useful for teaching, and through them the Church explains her belief. In light of this, the apostles clearly proclaimed the oneness and Threeness of the Trinity through the following examples, which they received from our Lord Jesus Christ and handed down to us according to apostolic Tradition.

The oneness and Threeness of the Trinity are illustrated through the example of the human soul. A human soul possesses threeness within itself, listed as being a heart (ልብነት), being a word (ቃልነት), and being a life (ሕይወትነት). Accordingly, the Father is illustrated by the soul’s heart (ልብነት), the Son by the soul’s word (ቃልነት), and the Holy Spirit by the soul’s life (ሕይወትነት). Similar to the Trinity, the soul derives its heart, word, and life from itself. Because the human being is like God’s soul in this respect, God said, “ሰውን በመልካችን እንደ ምሳሌአችን እንፍጠር።” (Gen. 1:26). Therefore, we confess that the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God; yet they are not called three gods, but one God (አብ አምላክ ነው፣ ወልድም አምላክ ነው፣ መንፈስ ቅዱስም አምላክ ነው ነገር ግን ሦስት አማልክት አይባሉም፣ አንድ አምላክ እንጂ)።

The oneness and Threeness of the Trinity are illustrated by the sun. Although the sun is one, it also possesses threeness: its circle (ክበቡ), its light (ብርሃኑ), and its heat (ሙቀቱ). Accordingly, the Father is illustrated by the sun’s circle (በክበቡ), the Son by its light (በብርሃኑ), and the Holy Spirit by its heat (በሙቀቱ). For this reason, Aba Hiryiakos, in the Liturgy of St. Mary, says: “The Father is the sun, the Son is the sun, the Holy Spirit is the sun, above all one true Sun” (አብ ፀሐይ ነው፣ ወልድ ፀሐይ ነው፣ መንፈስ ቅዱስ ፀሐይ ነው፣ ከሁሉ በላይ የሚሆን አንድ የእውነት ጸሐይ ነው።). The coexistence of these three natures of the sun does not imply three suns, but one sun. Just as the circle (ክበብ), light (ብርሃን), and heat (ሙቀት) of the sun are inseparable, so the Son was begotten of the Father and the Holy Spirit proceeded from the Father, without succession (ያለመቀዳደም). Likewise, just as only the light (ብርሃን) of the sun is united with our eyes, so from the Trinity the Son, Jesus Christ—who is called the true light (እውነተኛ ብርሃን)—united human nature.

The oneness and Threeness of the Holy Trinity are illustrated by fire. Although fire is one, it is known through three inseparable realities: its body (አካሉ), its light (ብርሃኑ), and its heat (ዋዕዩ / ሙቀቱ). The Father is illustrated in the body of the fire (በአካሉ); the Son is illustrated in the light of the fire (በብርሃኑ); and the Holy Spirit is illustrated in the heat of the fire (በዋዕዩ / በሙቀቱ). For this reason, Aba Hiryiakos, in the Liturgy of the Holy Virgin Mary, declares: “The Father is fire, the Son is fire, and the Holy Spirit is fire, one fire of life who is in the Highest.” “አብ እሳት ነው ፣ ወልድ እሳት ነው ፣ መንፈስ ቅዱስ እሳት ነው፣ በልዕልና ያለ አንድ የሕይወት እሳት ነው።” Scripture also affirms this truth, saying, “አምላክህ እግዚአብሔር የሚበላ እሳት ቀናተኛም አምላክ ነውና።” (Deut. 4:24). Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself taught the apostles that the mystery of the Trinity is illustrated by the sun and by fire, saying, “ I, my Father, and the Holy Spirit, are fire (እሳት), flame (ነበልባል), and flamed charcoal (ፍሕም).” The apostles likewise recorded this teaching in the book called Clement (see The Liturgy of Selestu Meit ( The Liturgy of the Nicene Fathers), Verse 48  (ቅዳሴ ዘሠለስቱ ምእት ቁጥር 48).

The oneness and Threeness of the Holy Trinity are illustrated by the sea. Though the sea is one in essence (በባሕርይው), it is manifested in three ways: its sphere (ስፍሐት/ ስፋት), its moisture (ርጥበት), and its movement or tide (እንቅስቃሴ/ ማዕበል). The Father is illustrated by the sphere (በስፍሐቱ), the Son by the moisture (በርጥበቱ), and the Holy Spirit by the movement (በእንቅስቃሴው). When a person enters and swims in the sea, moisture (ርጥበት) covers the body, yet neither the sphere (ስፍሐት) nor the movement (እንቅስቃሴ). Likewise, although the Son alone took a human body, He was never separated from the Father and the Holy Spirit in His divinity. He remained one with them in essence (በባሕርይ). Therefore, even though the Son became man, it was not necessary for the Father and the Holy Spirit to take a human body.

The illustrations discussed above are spoken of as one soul (አንድ ነፍስ), one sun (አንድ ፀሐይ), one fire (አንድ እሳት), and one sea (አንድ ባሕር), and not as three souls, three suns, three fires, or three seas. In the same way, although the Holy Trinity is spoken of as three in person (በአካል), in name (በስም), and in work (በግብር), the Trinity is one in nature (በባሕርይ), in existence (በሕልውና), in will (በፈቃድ), and in divinity (በመለኮት). Therefore, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are not called different gods (አማልክት), but one God in three persons. Saint Basil of Caesarea expresses this mystery by saying that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, while they are one, are also three, and while they are three, are also one; three in person, yet one in divinity (አብ ወልድ መንፈስ ቅዱስ አንድ ሲሆኑ ሦስት ሦስት ሲሆኑ አንድ ናቸው፣ በአካል ሦስት ሲሆኑ በመለኮት አንድ ናቸው።). All the illustrations presented above are intended solely to help human understanding, as no example drawn from creation can fully capture the mystery of the Trinity. While they are useful for explanation, these illustrations remain incomplete and are therefore called (ሕጹጽ / ጎደሎ / ሙሉ ያልሆነ ምሳሌ).

Conclusion

The illustrations of the soul, the sun, fire, and the sea presented above all point to one fundamental truth: the Holy Trinity is one God in essence and three in persons. These illustrations help the human mind to understand the mystery of the Trinity, but they can not explain it fully, since no created image can fully express the uncreated God. The Church employs such illustrations not as exact representations, but as incomplete guides. By helping believers understand the mystery of the Trinity through such teaching methods, the Church safeguards the true confession of faith—proclaiming, without confusion or division, that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are one in divinity (በመለኮት) and undivided in essence (በባሕርይ).

May God grant us understanding of this resource and enable us to continue in the next part.