The Trinity is a doctrine that many have taken issue with since the earliest days of Christianity. The great Church Father, St. Augustine of Hippo, had to deal with Christological heresies in his day (late 4th early 5th centuries). Though the heresies are Christological, the controversies about the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity make them Trinitarian heresies as well.
The Unity of the Trinity
If a there is a false understanding of who Christ is, then there is a false understanding of what the Trinity is. In discussing these various heresies, St. Augustine wrote treatise entitled De Trinitatis (On the Trinity).
This has become known as one of his most difficult works, and it took him sixteen years to complete (Augnet, 2135). His work is a gift to all of us and shows various arguments supporting the equality of the divine Persons against the Christological heresies which exalted or diminished Christ alone.
In chapter one of De Trinitatis, St. Augustine warns the reader about those who commit heresy through the misuse of reason. They fall into error by misinterpreting the sacred text through a crude love of reason. By doing so they miss the point of the text and somehow twist scripture to mean something it does not intend.
In all fairness, this is still something that happens today regarding the Trinity. When we see this, it is prudent to correct those who propose the false teachings because the Trinity is at the core of the Christian faith.
In chapter five, Augustine speaks of the unity of the divine Persons. He does this specifically by describing how the three Persons are one, how they have individual work and yet work together. In regard to their work, Augustine states, “The Father does some things, the Son other things, and the Holy Spirit yet others” (5.8).
Teaching Against Modalism
In chapter six, Augustine seems to be teaching against a type of modalism that was current in his day; namely that the Persons of the Trinity are just different “modes” of being.
Some were saying that God is not immortal because He changed into the Son and Holy Spirit through time, or that somehow Christ was less than the Father. Augustine brilliantly answers with scripture, an apologetical method that is still effective today.
He quotes John 1:1 to show that Christ has always existed, and that the scriptures call Him God (6.9). He then alludes to the Baptism of Christ in Matthew 3 to show the unity and equality of the three.
Jesus was present in the flesh, the Father spoke from heaven, and the Holy Spirit was present in the dove. This shows that they all exist at the same time, in unity and equality, and that the Trinity is not one form changing to another.
Divinity of Christ Confirmed
In proving his case of equality among the Trinitarian Persons, St. Augustine looks to 1 Corinthians 8:6 which states, “Yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.” This verse affirms the divinity of Christ by mentioning Him in the same sentence with God, the Father.
Notice also how all things exist through the Father and the Son. Each Person of the Trinity has a clause expressing a “duty” particular to each. One is not more important than the other, but they work together for our redemption and salvation (6.12).
Some may say that the verse mentioned above makes sense, but what of the Holy Spirit? In Chapter 6, St. Augustine goes to great lengths to show that the Holy Spirit is equal to the Father and the Son.
The Holy Spirit had no beginning or origin, nor will He have an ultimate end. He is not a creature. The Holy Spirit is equal, coeternal, and of the same essence as the Father and the Son.
Regarding the Holy Spirit, St. Paul writes in Philippians 3:3, “For it is we who are the circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and boast in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh.”
Also in 1 Corinthians 6:9, St. Paul specifically mentions that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit. We serve, worship, and ask the Holy Spirit for things just as we would the Father and the Son. That is because they are all coequal and are all God.
Works Cited
Augustine. On the Trinity From Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol. 3. Edited by Philip Schaff. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1887.) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight. http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/130101.htm>, accessed December 1, 2020.
Augustinians Australia. http://www.augnet.org/en/works-of-augustine/writings-of-augustine/2135-on-the-trinity/, accessed December 1, 2020.
4 thoughts on “St. Augustine’s Trinitarian Christology”
I agree; but the Trinity is now Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The human component of Jesus did not change the nature of God; but the human nature of Jesus is now part of the Trinity. “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory” (1Timothy 3:16).
We serve, worship, and ask the Holy Spirit for things just as we would the Father and Son.
I don’t think for one moment that the Holy Spirit is there to be asked anything, His is to lead, inspire and light our way, should we choose to follow. The Trinity also begs the question of what function it may have had in the creation, formation and intervention at the rebellion of angels. Since the gift of free will was the downfall for both human and angel, there should have been an attempt and way to redemption, since their ‘pure’ intellectual nature wasn’t much of a game changer if a third were turned into demons.
So many gaps in theological underpinnings pokes lots of holes into this mystery that still needs a lot of work, to work.
When Christ was conceived, the Trinity did change because it received a human component that had not been there.
Prior to this, the Trinity was Father, Word, and Holy Spirit. The Spirit of the Son within us now enables us to connect with the Godhead in a way that was not possible before Pentecost.
The nature of God did not change with the Incarnation. God is unchangeable.