EXAMINATION:

THE JOHANNINE AND PAULINE THEOLOGY OF THE HOLY TRINITY.

By

Barry Neufeld
#16- 45589 First Ave
Chilliwack, British Columbia Canada V2P 1X5
Telephone (604) 793-9053
Email: ocoi@shaw.ca

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the

course of

Doctrine II

St. Stephen’s Course of Studies in Orthodox Theology

April 19, 2013

Approved by ________________________________________

Father Joseph Antypas

6940 Dakota Drive
Troy, MI 48098
 Neufeld: St. John and St. Paul on the Trinity page 2

The Trinitarian Theology of St. John

St. John's Gospel was composed to throw light on the Jewish-Christian controversy moving

from “He whom God has sent.” to “the only-begotten Son of the Father.” His purpose was to

emphasize to the Jews that the Messiah (Christ) was indeed the Logos who existed from the

beginning of time and was truly the son of God. “For the law was given through Moses, but grace and

truth came through Jesus Christ.” (John 1:17 NKJV)

The chief source of the believer’s understanding of the Trinity is in the Prologue to St. John's

Gospel, which is expanded in his first epistle.1 St. John begins with the Son's relationship to the

Father: “the Word was with God” or as Lossky interprets the Greek word πρός = “towards”

God.2 St. John declares the generation (or is it procession?) of the Son from the father in

eternity and his incarnation in time in John 1. The Patristic Fathers were puzzled by the

difference between procession and generation. St. John the Damascene said “We have learned

that there is a difference between generation and procession, but the nature of the difference we

in no wise understand.”3 However, Christ himself also explains his origin and mission from the

father in John 12:47-50 and 8:25.

However, if the pre-incarnate word was already present at Creation, there must be an

explanation of what was different when Christ was born of the Theotokos: “became flesh and

dwelt among us [humankind].” Christ was already in the world, according to John 1:10. The

1 Vladimir Lossky. Orthodox Theology: An Introduction. Translated by Ian & Ihita Kesarcodi-Watson. St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, Crestwood, NY. 1978
p 36
2 Ibid. p 38
3 St. John the Damascene De Fide Orthodoxa, I, 8', P.G., XCIV. 824 A quoted in Lossky, Vladimir. The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church Translated
by the Fellowship of St. Alban & St. Sergius. St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, Crestwood, NY. 1976. p 55
 Neufeld: St. John and St. Paul on the Trinity page 3

distinction between the sending of the Son and his pre-incarnate presence buttresses against

claims of subordination: that the Son was in anyway inferior to the Father.4 Salvation comes

from not only believing in God, but believing in His Son. “For God so loved the world that He gave

His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16

NKJV)

In his discussion with Philip, in John 14:7-10, Christ responds to Philip's request to see the

Father: Christ emphasizes his equality with the Father: “He who has seen Me has seen the Father”

and further declares that “the Father who dwells in Me does the works.” Philip did not yet have the

eyes of faith to see this. Christ's appearance in the world in the form of a servant hides or

camouflages his equality with the Father. It will take the presence of the Holy Spirit to reveal

this to humankind...to illuminate them to see the divinity in the Son of Man, Christ Jesus.5 “And

this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” (John

17:3 NKJV)

But John goes on to explain the Father-Son relationship in John 10:30 “I and My Father are

one.” This should silence the Sabellians who argue that the Son and the Father are the SAME.

and 14:28 “You have heard Me say to you, ‘I am going away and coming back to you.’ If you loved Me, you

would rejoice because ‘I am going to the Father,’ for My Father is greater than I.” At this point the Christian

faith may seem binarian. Yet, throughout the Gospel story the Holy Spirit's presence and

activity is closely intertwined with that of the incarnate God.

4 Charles Wesley Lowry. “The Genesis of the Religious Formula of the Trinity.” Anglican Theological Review, 20 no 2 Ap 1938, p 583)
5 Evan F Kuehn. The Johannine logic of Augustine's trinity: a Dogmatic Sketch." Theological Studies, 68 no 3 S 2007, p 586
 Neufeld: St. John and St. Paul on the Trinity page 4

Jesus the Son comes from the Father in the power of the Holy Spirit, He is conceived by the

Spirit, baptized with the Spirit, and let by the Spirit into the desert to be tested, in the Spirit he

proclaims the gospel to the poor and heals the sick; finally, he sacrifices himself through the

Spirit. Jürgen Moltmann sums this up by stating: “The history of Jesus is a history of the

Spirit.”6 Vladimir Lossky's foundational doctrine, according to his son Nicholas, was that

deification, or union with God which “implies seriously taking the Holy Spirit's role in the

economy of salvation.”7 Indeed, the Eastern Church teaches that deification (theosis) is the goal

of human existence.8

However, John quotes our Lord who explains that there is more to come: Jesus promises to

pray that the Father would send a comforter/protector to be with his followers: “The Spirit of

Truth.” John 15:16-17 In John 16:12-15 When He [Christ] leaves, He will send his Spirit, to

guide them into all truth. It is clear from John 15:26 that the Spirit is different from the Father,

and proceeds from the father, which is different from the generation of the Son. Nevertheless,

both the Son and the Spirit were sent into the world, but with different tasks assigned by the

Father. The Son “to quicken our personal liberty.” and the Spirit to “unite itself with our nature

and regenerate it.”9

6 Jürgen Moltmann. "The Unity of the Triune God: Comprehensibility of the Trinity and Its Foundation in the History of Salvation" St Vladimir's
Theological Quarterly, 28 no 3 1984, p 162
7 Nicolas Lossky. “Theology and Spirituality in the Work of Vladimir Lossky.” Ecumenical Review, 51 no 3, 1999, p 291
8 John Meyendorff. Byzantine Theology: historical trends and doctrinal themes. Fordham University Press, New York, 1979 p 163
9 Vladimir Lossky. Orthodox Theology: An Introduction. Translated by Ian & Ihita Kesarcodi-Watson. St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, Crestwood, NY. 1978
p 39
 Neufeld: St. John and St. Paul on the Trinity page 5

St. Paul’s Trinitarian Doctrine

St. Paul, unlike the other Apostles did not sit at the feet of the Master when he walked on the

earth. There does not appear to be any evidence that he had actually met Jesus Christ in the

flesh: St. Paul learned by direct teaching of the Spirit. He therefore does not mention the roles

of Christ as "messenger" and prophet" which were important for the Jews. St. Paul met Christ

when Christ was already an exalted heavenly being and was sitting at the right hand of God the

father. St. Paul's introduction to Jesus Christ was similar to that experienced by St. Peter on

Mount Tabor: both of them experienced the uncreated light of glory that was proof of the

Messiah's divinity. But St. Paul seems to be equating the Spirit with the Lord Jesus Christ when

he writes in 2 Corinthians 3:17-18

"Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled

face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory,

just as by the Spirit of the Lord." (NKJV)

Moltmann understands Paul's comment that the chosen ones of God are “to be conformed

to the image of His Son,” (Romans 8:29) means that salvation is the assumption by means of

Trinitarian history into the eternal life of the Trinity. Father Kronseder, whose preaching

converted (the then atheistic) Maria von Trapp said it best: “To include the individual in the circle of

divine relations and draw the soul into God's most intimate life stream, this is the essence of revelation and

redemption.” 10

10 Father Kronseder, Im Banne der Dreieinigkeit, Regensburg, 1934, 45 quoted in Moltmann "The Unity of the Triune God etc.” : p 162).
 Neufeld: St. John and St. Paul on the Trinity page 6

Jaroslav Pelikan points out that the Son is simultaneously less than and equal to the father

which is emphasized in the quasi-creedal hymn to The Humbled and Exalted Christ11

Philippians 2:5-11

5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not
consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bond
servant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled
Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. 9 Therefore God also has
highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that
every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (NKJV)
St. Paul closes most of his letters with the benediction: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ

be with you.” Paul's earliest mention of the Trinity is found in 2 Corinthians 13:14 “The grace of

the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” (NKJV)

St. Paul's driving goal is to nurture the Body of Christ, which has been given life by the Spirit of

God beginning at Pentecost which the early Christians viewed not only as an expanded form of

the mystery of the Transfiguration12 but as the fulfillment of Joel 2:28 and thus the inauguration

of the Messianic age.13

“The Holy Spirit is coordinated with Jesus Christ and God in connection with ή κοινωνία.”14

The Holy Spirit was given at Pentecost and this was the birth of the Holy Church, which is the

communion of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit's activity is thus different, but complimentary to

the love of God and the Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. St. Peter explained the meaning of

11 Jaroslav Pelikan. “Canonica Regula: The Trinitarian Hermeneutics of Augustine” in Collectanea Augustiniana, ed Joseph Schnaubelt and Frederick Van
Gleteren. New York Peter Lang 2990 p 335 quoted in Kuehn. “The Johannine Logic of Augustine's Trinity…” p 585
12 John Meyendorff. Byzantine Theology: historical trends and doctrinal themes. Fordham University Press, New York, 1979, p 172)
13 Lowry, “The Genesis of the Religious Formula of the Trinity…” p 92
14 Ibid. p 173-174
 Neufeld: St. John and St. Paul on the Trinity page 7

Pentecost in the earliest Apostolic reference to the Trinity when he preached his post-Pentecost

sermon: which (aside from the baptismal formula given by Christ Himself) is the earliest

scriptural reference to the Holy Trinity.

“This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. Therefore being exalted to the right hand of
God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you
now see and hear. (Acts 2:32-33 NKJV)
Although St. Paul struggled to free the fledgeling Christian Church from the stranglehold of

Jewish legalism and culture, he was not a Tritheist. Christianity has not denied the foundational

statement of the Jewish Shema: “Hear, O Israel: the LORD is our God, the LORD is one.” found in

Deuteronomy 6:4 .

The Son of God is set beside the Father, and adding a third person, the Spirit going forth

from God in power does not assert three or even two Gods. However, it introduces a new

name: The Father of mankind, who has acted and spoken through a Son, the Messiah: who

appeared on earth teaching in His Father's name, and continues to work by the power of His

Spirit.15

In the fourth Century, Marcellus of Ancyra proposed a heretical interpretation of 1

Corinthians 15:24-28 where the Apostle remarks that ultimately, Christ will deliver his reign to

the Father and himself be subjected to God. Marcellus argued that Christ's reign was only in his

humanity to overcome humanity's fallenness, and when this has been accomplished his reign

will end.16 But Eusebius, St. Hilary of Poitiers, Ambroiaster, Augustine and St. John

15 Lowry. “The Genesis of the Religious Formula of the Trinity.” p 101

16 Kelly, John N. D. Early Christian Doctrines. 5th Ed. Harper Collins, New York, NY. 1978. p 241
 Neufeld: St. John and St. Paul on the Trinity page 8

Chrysostom used this passage to emphasize that St. Paul viewed Christ's subjection as

manifesting his concord with God, and thus His divinity thereby enriches discussion in support

of Trinitarian Doctrine.17 The goal of salvation is theosis, when God's image will be perfected

in every human. The Spirit which established and sustains the Church has united fragmented

mankind and restored the original unity of human nature, (originally created in the Imago Dei)

to the point where St. Paul can refer to the Church as the Body of Christ. It is to this Church,--

this Body-- that St. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 12 that the Spirit has given spiritual gifts

(charismata) for the benefit of all the Body of Christ.18 Also given to the Church are the fruit(s)

of the Spirit. love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-

control. (Galatians 5:21-23 and Ephesians 5:9) In this way, according to St. Gregory of

Nazianzus, mankind's “soul is a breath of God, and, though heavenly, it suffers a mingling with

the earthly.”19 The ongoing communion with the divine energy creates in a human soul the

potential to become “a particle of divinity whose spirit is lit by the primordial light, which is

God.”20

Conclusion

In both the Apostles’ theologies, there is a movement from establishing a bipartite formula:

the divinity of the Father and the Son, and then tie it together with the work of the Holy Spirit,

who completes the work of the Tri-partite Godhead. “The Spirit remains mysteriously

17 Chrysostom, Homilies on 1 Corinthians quoted in Victor Paul Furnish. The Theology of the First Letter to the Corinthians. Cambridge University Press.
Cambridge UK, 1999, 135
18 Lossky, Vladimir. Orthodox Theology: An Introduction. p 125
19 St. Gregory of Nazianzus Seventh Oration. “On the Soul” Works part IV quoted in Lossky, Vladimir. Orthodox Theology: An Introduction. 121-122
20 St. Gregory of Nazianzus Fortieth Oration. “On Holy Baptism” quoted in Lossky, Vladimir. Orthodox Theology: An Introduction. , 123
 Neufeld: St. John and St. Paul on the Trinity page 9

hidden....His function is not to reveal Himself but to reveal the Son.”21 God the Father, God

the Son and the Holy Spirit are interrelated through Love, which is the Salvation for fallen

humankind. This saving grace consists of being admitted into the circle of divine relations and

mutual indwellings of the Trinitarian God. Their mutual indwelling thus includes human beings:

“Whoever abides in love abides in God, and God in him.” (1 John 4:16).22 If you see charity, you see the

Trinity”, wrote Saint Augustine.23 In his inaugural homily, Deus Caritas Est, the former Pope

Benedict stated:

“The Spirit [brings] the energy which transforms the heart of the ecclesial community, so that it becomes a
witness before the world to the love of the Father, who wishes to make humanity a single family in his
Son.” 24

21 Meyendorff. Byzantine Theology: Historical Trends and Doctrinal Themes. p 169

22 Kuehn. “The Johannine logic of Augustine's Trinity…” p 590
23 Augustine of Hippo. De Trinitate, VIII, 8, 12: CCL 50, 287. quoted by Pope Benedict XVI “Deus caritas est” in John F. Thornton, Susan B.
Varenne. Eds. The Essential Pope Benedict XVI: His central Writings and Speeches. Harper Collins New York NY, 2007 p 408
24 The Essential Pope Benedict XVI: His central Writings and Speeches. p 409
 Neufeld: St. John and St. Paul on the Trinity page 10

Bibliography
Furnish, Victor Paul. The Theology of the First Letter to the Corinthians. Cambridge University Press.
Cambridge UK, 1999
Kelly, John N. D. Early Christian Doctrines. 5th Ed. Harper Collins, New York, NY. 1978
Kuehn, Evan F. “The Johannine Logic of Augustine's Trinity: a Dogmatic Sketch.” Theological
Studies, 68 no 3 S 2007. pp 572-594.
Lossky, Nicolas. “Theology and Spirituality in the Work of Vladimir Lossky.” Ecumenical Review,
51 no 3, 1999, pp 288-293.
Lossky, Vladimir. Orthodox Theology: An Introduction. Translated by Ian & Ihita Kesarcodi-
Watson. St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, Crestwood, NY. 1978
Lossky, Vladimir. The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church. translated by the Fellowship of St.
Alban & St. Sergius. St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, Crestwood, NY. 1976.
Lowry, Charles Wesley. “The Genesis of the Religious Formula of the Trinity.” Anglican
Theological Review, 20 no 2 April. 1938, p 85-102
Meyendorff, John. Byzantine Theology: Historical Trends and Doctrinal Themes. Fordham University
Press, New York, 1979
Moltmann, Jürgen. “The Unity of the Triune God: Comprehensibility of the Trinity and Its
Foundation in the History of Salvation.” St Vladimir's Theological Quarterly, 28 no 3 1984, pp
157-171.
John F. Thornton, Susan B. Varenne. Eds. The Essential Pope Benedict XVI: His Central Writings
and Speeches. Harper Collins. New York NY, 2007