Holy Trinity

The "Trinity" or, "Holy Trinity" of the Father, the Son;;; and the Holy Spirit

Note: see glossary entry on "Holy"

Terminology of the Trinity

Godhead

The Trinity may also be referred to as the "Godhead"

= God in the full nature of the Trinity
- from Middle English God + hede (nature of)

hypostasis

or "hypostatic union" refers to the oneness of God in the three persons of God

Triune

a similar reference to "Godhead" for the Holy Trinity

but also used as an adjective, as in "the Triune God"

The Trinity

From the "Athanasian Creed" per [CCC 264|https://www.usccb.org/sites/default/files/flipbooks/catechism/72/]:

"Now this is the Catholic faith: We worship one God in the Trinity and the Trinity in unity, without either confusing the persons or dividing the substance; for the person of the Father is one, the Son's is another, the Holy Spirit's another; but the Godhead of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is one, their glory equal, their majesty coeternal" (Athanasian Creed: DS 75; ND 16).

See
- The "Athanasian" Creed (slightly different translation from EWTN)
- encyclopedic entry Heinrich Denzinger and his work, "Handbook of Creeds, Definitions and Declarations on matters of faith and morals"

the mystery of God in three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
- called collectively the "Godhead" or the "Triune"
- also, the "Blessed Trinity"
the Trinisy consists of the
- Persons of God: Father Son and Holy Spirit
- Natures of God: Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier
the Trinity was source of much conflict and contention in the early Church
and, ultimately, a core tenant of Church doctrine
- Jews were offended that fellow Jews worshiped Christ, as Judaism was supposed to be monotheistic
- Romans considered Christians atheistic, as they rejected Roman gods and refused to worship Caesar
- gnostics and other heretics believed that Jesus fully God and not a Man, thus he was either not a man or not God
St. Thomas Aquinas deeper thought on the Trinity in Summa Theologica
- involves extensions from the concepts of the Trinity and the Oneness of God:
- One God
- Two Processions
  1. The Father > The Son (Generation)
  2. The Father and The Son > Holy Spirit (Spiration)
  - Three Persons
    1. The Father
    2. The Son
    3. The Holy Spirit
  - Four Relations
    1. The Father > The Son = Paternity
    2. The Son < The Father = Filiation
    3. The Father and The Son > The Holy Spirit = Active Spiration (originiation)
    4. The Father and The Son < The Holy Spirit = Passive Spiration (procession)
  - Five Notions
    1. The Father > innascibility or unbegottennes
    2. The Father > paternity, i.e. The Father > The Son
    3. The Father and The Son "spirate" the Holy Spirit
    4. The Son = both Filiation and Spiration
    5. The Holy Spirit = Procession
  - notes:
    - St. Thomas wrote in Summa Theologica,
      - "Although there are four relations in God, one of them, spiration, is not separated from the person of the Father and of the Son, but belongs to both;"
    - these relations, originatinos, and processions are internal to God and not related to temporal process (outside of time)
    - See: