GURUKUL LUTHERAN THEOLOGICAL COLLEGE AND RESEARCH INSTITUTE

KILPAUK, CHENNAI-10

PAPER PRESENTATION

Class- MTh I (COMMUNICATION)

SUBJECT- MCOM008: COMMUNICATION, GOSPEL AND CULTURE.

Topic: The Relationship Between Gospel, Communication and Culture.

- How They Interact as Dynamic Forces

- Issues in Gospel-Culture Encounter
- Translating and Transmitting the Gospel: Grasping the Complexities
- Discussion of Rediscovering Christianity
- Cultivating Missional Communities: Faithful Leadership

Presenter: Johana Faculty in-charge: Rev. Dr. Daniel J. Kirubaraj

Date: The 9th September, 2019.

God is a communicating God who communicates in God-self. The Trinity, one God in three persons-
God the Parent; God the Son; and God the Holy Spirit is always in communication since the beginning
till date and will be forever. The communication or trialogue in the Triune God is the source of the
communication of the whole creation.
How is that the communication among the Godhead of the Trinity become the foundation of all the
communications of the whole creation? What sort of foundation was being laid by the Triune God for
the whole creation will be the topic to be delved in this paper.
This paper is an attempt to uncover the being of the Trinity as the foundation of communication of the
whole creation. Attempt will be made to highlight the communication that happens between the three
persons of the Trinity.
The Doctrine of Trinity.
The Christian doctrine of the Trinity affirms that while God is one, God exists as three persons. The
creator and source of all life; Jesus Christ who has revealed the Parent God, and the Holy Spirit, the
bond of love between Parent and Son, who is always at work in transforming the world according to
God’s purpose.
Todd E. Marshall aptly sums up a brief introductory note on the trinity as,
In Christianity, the concept of the Trinity is that God exists in three persons. Father (Cit.), Son, and Holy Spirit. The
first formal statement of this conceptualization is found in the writings of the third century church father, Tertullian,
and was formally adopted in 325 C.E. at the First Council of Nicaea. In both the Eastern and Western branches of
the church as well as in Protestantism, the members of the Trinity are considered to be three separate but equal
persons in one being. The three members of the Trinity are considered to be fully God yet separate in personhood.
All members are equally God even though they have differing administrative functions. Variations from this
viewpoint have been rejected as heresy. These include Arianism (Jesus and the Holy Spirit are not equal to the

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 father), Sabellianiam/Modalism (there is one God in three manifestations), Tritheism/Polytheism (three gods),
andPartialism (Father, Son, and Spirit are three components of one God). There are other variations, but these are
the most relevant for this discussion.1

Joseph Oomen also briefly summarizes in the following ways,

“Belief in God as Three-in-One is as old as Christianity itself. The word Trinity doesn’t appear as a theological term
till near the end of the second century. It was first used as ‘Trias’ by Theophilus, the Bishop of Antioch in AD 180
and later by Tertullian as Trinitas to signify that God exists in three persons. Through the centuries the doctrine has
been violently attacked and robustly defended. A doctrine then is nothing else than the facts almighty God made
known to human beings by revelation, facts about God in Himself (Cit.), or about God in his (Cit.) relations with His
(Cit.) creatures. According to Marie Fargues a mystery is a truth which we must believe because God has made it
known to us, but which we cannot perfectly understand". Trinity is a mystery as well as a doctrine, which is beyond
our intuitive recognition and faculty. One God in Three persons, that is the mystery of the Holy Trinity.”2

Trinity in the Bible.

The Bible does not directly bear the exact word ‘Trinity’. In the Old Testament we have different terms
for God, out of those terms, the most prominent term used is the term ‘Elohim’. The term ‘Elohim’ is
plural, connoting the divine plurality. But the Old Testament only provides us a glimpse of the notion of
Trinity. But there are several biblical quotes which claim to bear the Trinitarian conceptual frameworks
in the Old Testament.

People have been debating the Trinity question since the beginning of the first century. Although the
Trinity is not explicitly taught in the Old Testament, the basis of this doctrine is certainly found there.
Let us discuss the hints of Trinity in the Old Testament in brief as follows.

 First, there is the use of the plural noun for God Elohim that is used with a singular verb. This
gives a hint of the Trinity. The Hebrew word for ‘maker’, which describes God, is also in the
plural (Gen 1.1).

 There are also passages where God speaks of Godself with the words, "Let us." This is another
possible reference to the Trinity (Gen. 1.26).
 There are also specific passages where the God, the Son, and the Spirit are mentioned. Add to
this passages that foreshadow the Trinity with the triple benediction. These passages, however,
do not reveal the doctrine of the Trinity.3 This was left for the New Testament to accomplish.

1
Todd E. Marshall, The Conversing God. Exploring Trinitarian Information Transfer through the Perspective of
Gordon Pask’s Conversation theory https.//pdfs.semanticscholar.org/a0ca/b7eb70de6a532f1d6e1e52cd1e3441b4fd4d.pdf
accessed on 5.12.2019
2
Joseph Oomen, The Concept of Trinity and Its Implication for Christian Communication in Indian Context,
Bangalore Theological Forum, 34/ 1, June 2002, page. 75-82.
3
A more detailed study on the topic could be found in Don Stewart, Is the Doctrine of the Trinity Found in the Old
Testament? https.//www.blueletterbible.org/faq/don_stewart/don_stewart_330.cfm accessed on 5.12.2019 12.29am

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  Todd E. Marshal opines that creation is the prime outcome of the communication between the
three Godheads/the Trinity at which the three members of the trinity as conversing among
themselves to decide creation.4

The Old Testament does not have a developed doctrine of the Trinity. However truths about the Trinity
are foreshadowed in the Old Testament.

The New Testament gives us a clearer picture of the Trinity. A general passage used for demonstrating
the Trinity is the baptism of Jesus in Matthew 3.16-17. As Jesus the Son is baptized, a voice which
referred to as the parent God speaks from heaven, and the Spirit like a dove descends on Jesus. This
individual identity is also seen when Jesus says, “I do not speak of my own accord, but the Father (Sic.)
who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it” (John 12.4). In this case the Parent God and
the Son are acting as separate persons. Similarly, Psalm 110.1, “The LORD says to my Lord. ‘Sit at my
right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet’” is understood as to refer to intra-
Trinitarian conversing. These texts indicate conversing between the persons of the Trinity.

There are some instances where Trinity is implied in the New Testament are,

 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was
with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made
that has been made.” (Joh 1.1).

 In John 14 Jesus says “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father (Sic.) will send in my
name, the Holy Spirit will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said
to you.”

 “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father (Sic.)
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”(Matthew 28.19).

 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be
with you all. (2 Corinthians 13.14).
 There are other texts demonstrate the involvement of all three members in creation. the Father
(Sic.) (1 Cor. 8.6), the Son (John 1.1-4, Col. 1.15-17), and the Spirit (Gen. 1.2, Job 33.4).

The Trinity in communication/Trialogue.

We can say that God the Father (Sic.) is the encoder, originator in whom all mysteries are hidden. The
Son is the expression of God, the WORD, the communication and expression of the intent. The Spirit is
the understanding of God, the decoding of the WORD and the effective communication of that intent.
4
Todd E. Marshall, The Conversing God. Exploring Trinitarian Information Transfer Through the Perspective of
Gordon Pask’s Conversation https.//pdfs.semanticscholar.org/a0ca/b7eb70de6a532f1d6e1e52cd1e3441b4fd4d.pdf accessed
on the 5.12.2019, 8-9.

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Which means that on earth, all successful communication is a reflection of the nature of God. An idea,
which is then expressed and communicated, then finally understood. All successful communication is a
fractal expression of the nature of God.5

Carlos A. Valle says, “When God communicates God also listens… And when God hears, God
Answers.”6It is indeed a true statement made by Valle that God is always in communication within
Godself. The answer always lies not in the angels nor in the creations, but in God and God alone to
answer what God hears.

We can also say that God the parent is the source of the message; and the son as the message and the
channel, who is the mind of God; and the Holy Spirit as the spirit of God, who is with God and the Son
always and is with the receiver of the message, the human beings. So, we can say that God, the Son, the
Logos, who was with God in the beginning and was the mind of God incarnate into human being, and
the spirit of God cannot be separated and yet one God in commonality in communication in one accord.
The trialogue of the Trinity is the communication per excellence where there is no barrier to disrupt the
flow of the communication. And in turn this has become the source of all the communication of the
whole creations.

Conclusion

Patrick Henry Reardon said, “The relationship that exists within the Godhead is the basis for unity in
every human relationship, be it marriage, family, or church.” 7 And Catherine LaCugna, also said, “The
mysteries of love, relationship, personhood and community within the framework of God's self-
revelation in the person of Christ and the activity of the Spirit.” 8The writer here, do agree with the stated
authors that all forms of communications owe their origin into the relationship between the commonality
that lies in between the three persons of a Triune God. But, Reardon limits the communication to the
extent of human relationship which the writer finds it quite exclusive that all the creations should be
included in the communication originated by God. The communication which originated from the
Triune God has to cover all the creations at which human beings are just only a part of it. Though human
being may be given the role to take care of the creation, yet this does not qualify them to subordinate of
put their feet on other creations.

5
Introduction to the Trinity https.//www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/beliefs/trinity_1.shtml accessed on
5.12.2019
6
Carlos A Valle, Challenges of Communication (Delhi: ISPCK, 1995) 6.
7
Introduction to the Trinity https.//www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/beliefs/trinity_1.shtml accessed on
5.12.2019
8
Introduction to the Trinity https.//www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/beliefs/trinity_1.shtml accessed on
5.12.2019

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Bibliography.

Valle, Carlos A. Challenges of Communication, Delhi: ISPCK, 1995.

Oomen, Joseph The Concept of Trinity and Its Implication for Christian Communication in Indian
Context Bangalore Theological Forum, 34/ 1, June 2002, page. 75-82.

_________________, Introduction to the Trinity

https.//www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/beliefs/trinity_1.shtml accessed on
5.12.2019

Marshall, Todd E. The Conversing God. Exploring Trinitarian Information Transfer through the
Perspective of Gordon Pask’s Conversation Theory
https.//pdfs.semanticscholar.org/a0ca/b7eb70de6a532f1d6e1e52cd1e3441b4fd4d.pd f accessed
on 5.12.2019

Stewart, Don Is the Doctrine of the Trinity Found in the Old Testament?
https.//www.blueletterbible.org/faq/don_stewart/don_stewart_330.cfm accessed on 5.12.2019
12.29am