chapter 3: the nature of god: the blessed trinity

Chapter 3: The Nature of God: The Blessed

TrinityINTRODUCTION TO CATHOLICISM

ANTICIPATORY SET Review the Sign of the Cross. It is all of the following things: A Trinitarian prayer: it is prayed in the name of God

the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. A Christological prayer: it is traced in the shape of

Christ’s redemptive Cross. A sign of how everyone ought to love God: Making the

Sign of the Cross includes touching the head, chest, and shoulders, which represents the mind, heart, and will (or strength).

1. One God (pp. 56-60)

BASIC QUESTIONS What is the mystery of the Blessed Trinity? What was unique about Israel’s religion in the ancient

world? What name did God reveal to Israel? KEY IDEAS The Blessed Trinity is the central mystery of the

Christian Faith; as a mystery, it can be known by faith yet never completely comprehended.

God created Israel as a monotheistic nation intended to love the one God above all things.

God revealed his name to Israel through Moses: “I AM WHO I AM,” a name related to his self-existence.

1. One God (pp. 56-60)

FOCUS QUESTIONS What is our basic level of understanding of the Blessed Trinity? It is true, but nobody can fully explain or understand it. What is the basic content of the doctrine of the Blessed Trinity? There is only one God, and there are three Persons in that one God.

1. One God (pp. 56-60)

FOCUS QUESTIONS On what basis is the doctrine of the Blessed Trinity accepted? It is accepted on faith, specifically faith in the truth of God’s Revelation. What does it mean to say God is a mystery? God can be known, even intimately, by human beings, but he is so far beyond human experience that any utterance or conception of him cannot do him justice.

1. One God (pp. 56-60)

FOCUS QUESTIONS For what purpose did God create human beings? He created human beings to enjoy eternal happiness in communion with him forever in Heaven. How does grace fulfill the purpose for which human beings were created? Grace is a sharing in the divine life of the Blessed Trinity, which is a communion with God even in this life. What is something that can be known about God from reason alone? God exists. Extension: Reason can know the attributes God possesses, which will be studied later in this chapter.

1. One God (pp. 56-60)

FOCUS QUESTIONS What can reason not know about God? God is a Trinity of Persons. With respect to the Blessed Trinity, what does it mean to say that faith elevates reason? If people accept in faith the existence of a Trinity of Persons, then they can use reason to deepen their understanding of the Trinity. What keeps God’s life in each of the baptized? Each person must remain in a state of grace by growing in holiness.

1. One God (pp. 56-60)

GUIDED EXERCISE Complete a paragraph shrink on the Catechism, no. 234 (p. 57).

1. One God (pp. 56-60)

FOCUS QUESTIONS What made the Israelites unique in the ancient world? They were monotheistic, i.e., they believed in only one God, whereas other peoples in the ancient world were polytheistic, i.e., they believed in many gods. Why did Israel have this unique understanding of God? God chose Israel to play a primary role in revealing his plan of salvation, including who he is. What was Abraham’s role in God’s plan of salvation? God called Abraham, established a covenant with him, and formed a nation through his son, Isaac.

1. One God (pp. 56-60)

FOCUS QUESTIONS What is the Shema? This great prayer of Judaism was repeated by pious Jews several times each day. This prayer stressed the “oneness” or monotheistic nature of God. What is the key to understanding the history of ancient Israel? The key is the extent to which they were faithful to the covenant that God had made with them. Sometimes they were faithful and worshiped the one true God; at other times, they adopted the pagan, polytheistic practices of neighboring peoples.

1. One God (pp. 56-60)

GUIDED EXERCISE Conduct a focused reading of the Shema using the following question: How can the Shema be understood both as an idea

and a way of implementing that same idea?

1. One God (pp. 56-60)

FOCUS QUESTIONS What was the significance of a new, divinely given name in the Old Testament? Its recipient was to have a new role in God’s plan of Redemption. Extension: God changed Abram (“exalted father”) to Abraham (“father of a multitude”). Before the time of Moses, did Israel know God’s name? No. What name did God reveal to Moses? YHWH, or “I AM WHO I AM.”

1. One God (pp. 56-60)

FOCUS QUESTIONS Why did Jews not say God’s name aloud? They refrained out of respect for his name. What are some descriptive names Israelites used to address God? They used El Shaddai (Almighty God), El Elyon (All‑high God), Adonai (Lord), and Elohim (God the Creator).

1. One God (pp. 56-60)

GUIDED EXERCISE Work with a partner to identify three implications of the name God revealed.

1. One God (pp. 56-60)

HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT Study Questions 1-6 (p. 76) Practical Exercise 3 (p. 77) Workbook Questions 1-11 Read “The Trinity Foreshadowed” through the

sidebar “St. Patrick and the Blessed Trinity” (pp. 60-66)

1. One God (pp. 56-60)

CLOSURE Write a paragraph explaining how God blessed the whole world through Abraham based on what he revealed about himself.

1. One God (pp. 56-60)

ALTERNATIVE ASSESSMENT Discuss the following questions: How is the Sign of the Cross the Shema of

Christianity? How is it dissimilar to the Shema?

1. One God (pp. 56-60)

ANTICIPATORY SET Incorporate the Nicene Creed into the Opening Prayer. Free write for three minutes about something that surprised them about this formulation of the Faith.

2. Three Divine Persons (pp. 60-66)

BASIC QUESTIONS How is the Blessed Trinity foreshadowed in the Old Testament? How is the Blessed Trinity revealed in the New Testament? How did Greek philosophy help the early Church explain the Blessed

Trinity? How did heresies help the early Church understand the Blessed Trinity? KEY IDEAS The doctrine of the Blessed Trinity is foreshadowed in the Old Testament. The Blessed Trinity is revealed explicitly in the New Testament. The early Church developed technical language derived from Greek

philosophy to explain more clearly how God could be both one and three. The early Church’s development of her understanding of

God―particularly of Jesus Christ―is in response to heresies. Various persons advocated and promoted views of God that the Church recognized to be false, so she had to correct them by defining precisely who is God and, specifically, who is Jesus Christ.


FOCUS QUESTIONS “God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness’” (Gn 1:26). How does the use of “our” in this passage prefigure the mystery of the Blessed Trinity? God spoke in the plural, which seems to hint at a plurality of Persons. How does the creation of the human family prefigure the Blessed Trinity? God created human beings to live as a loving community of persons: husband, wife, and children. In the beginning, God created human beings in his image as a loving community of persons: husband, wife, and children. This community of persons can be said to reflect God as a unity of Persons. How did Abraham’s three visitors prefigure the Blessed Trinity? When God visited Abraham to tell him he would have a son, he did it in the guise of three visitors. Eastern iconography in particular has used this encounter as an image of the Blessed Trinity.


GUIDED EXERCISE Work with a partner to complete the following table about references in the New Testament to God as a Trinity of Persons.


FOCUS QUESTION With respect to the Blessed Trinity, what is the meaning of nature, person, and relation? Borrowed from Greek philosophy, nature, or substance or essence, refers to what the Blessed Trinity is in its being. Person, or hypostasis, designates how each of the three Persons of the Blessed Trinity is distinct from the other two. The Persons of the Blessed Trinity are distinct only in relation to each other, e.g., God the Father is distinct from God the Son only insofar as the Son is begotten of the Father and the Father begets the Son.


FOCUS QUESTIONS What is the nature of the Blessed Trinity? God is one in nature in three divine Persons. How is divine Personhood different from human personhood? Each human person has a unique essence, different from every other person, whereas the Persons of the Blessed Trinity are of the same essence. Extension: The phrase “of the same essence” can be rendered consubstantial: “I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, / the Only Begotten Son of God… / consubstantial with the Father” (Nicene Creed).


FOCUS QUESTIONS What is the origin of the terms nature and person in Christian theology? They are borrowed from Greek philosophy. What is the meaning of nature? Nature is that which makes something what it is. It answers the question, “What is this?”


FOCUS QUESTIONS With respect to human beings, what is the difference between nature and person? Each human person is an individual person; every human person has a common human nature. With respect to God, what is the difference between nature and person? Each of the three Persons possesses the same divine nature. Each divine Person shares in the fullness of the one divine nature.


FOCUS QUESTIONS How many divine natures does God have? There is only one divine nature. Each divine Person shares in the fullness of the one divine nature. How many natures does Jesus Christ have? Because of his Incarnation, Christ has two natures; he retained his divine nature when he took on human nature.


FOCUS QUESTIONS How are the three Persons of the Blessed Trinity distinct from one another? They are distinct only in relation to one another. Extension: God the Father begets, God the Son is begotten, and God the Holy Spirit proceeds. Are the relations among the Persons of the Blessed Trinity modalities, functions, or activities? The relations are none of these. The three Persons are inseparable in who they are and what they do.


GUIDED EXERCISE Think/Pair/Share of Christ’s words, “I am the way . . .” (Jn 14:6-11; p. 66) using the following question: Why was it important for the Church to defend her

understanding of the Person of Jesus Christ?


FOCUS QUESTIONS Why did the early Church define various aspects of the nature of God? The early Church made precise definitions of the nature of God, particularly Jesus Christ, because of the prevalence of erroneous beliefs, or heresies. What was the Arian heresy? First formulated by a priest named Arius, Arianism held that Jesus was a man whom God recognized as so holy that he was given a special mission, unusual powers, and graces, but this Jesus was not God; rather, he was the greatest of all creatures. What does the Nicene Creed affirm about Christ? He is true God and true man.


FOCUS QUESTIONS What were some other heresies of the early centuries of the Church? Gnosticism considered Jesus to be neither fully God nor fully man. Docetism denied Jesus’ humanity. Nestorianism held that Jesus was a union of two persons, one human and one divine. Monophysitism held that Jesus had only one nature because his humanity was absorbed into his divinity. What do the early centuries of Church history imply about the Magisterium of the Church? There was a teaching authority in the Church—even from her beginning—and it was able to defend vigorously the truths of the Faith.


GUIDED EXERCISE Work with a partner to formulate and answer three Focus Questions about the sidebar “St. Patrick and the Blessed Trinity” (p. 65).


HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT Study Questions 7-12 (p. 76) Practical Exercise 1 (p. 77) Workbook Questions 12-24 Read “Perfect Attributes of God” through

“Conclusion” (pp. 66-72)


CLOSURE Write a paragraph explaining to a child the doctrine of the Blessed Trinity.


ALTERNATIVE ASSESSMENT Free write for five minutes in response to the following question: One of the reasons that God permits evil is so that he

can bring a greater good out of it. How can this idea be said to be true when it comes to heresies?


ANTICIPATORY SET Incorporate “A Prayer to the Blessed Trinity” (p. 71) into the Opening Prayer, and then free write for two minutes in response to this prayer.

3. Divine Attributes (pp. 66-72)

BASIC QUESTIONS What are God’s transcendence and immanence? What are God’s perfections? How is the Blessed Trinity involved in our spiritual lives? KEY IDEAS God both transcends human beings in every way and is

intimately present in the life of every person. God is Perfect, Pure Spirit, Immutable, Eternal, All-good,

Omniscient, Wise, All-powerful, and Presence. Each of the Persons of the Blessed Trinity plays a part in

the Christian life through their indwelling in the soul of every baptized person as in a temple.


FOCUS QUESTION God is Perfect. How does this help people to know more about him? God can be described as possessing to an infinite degree certain characteristics that people experience in life. Thus, God is not just more good than people are; he is goodness itself. In the same way, he is love itself, beauty itself, and so on.


FOCUS QUESTIONS For what is St. Athanasius most famous? He defended the divinity of Christ against the Arians, especially at the First Ecumenical Council of Nicæa. How serious was the problem of Arianism? Almost the entire Eastern Church had fallen to Arianism.


FOCUS QUESTIONS How was St. Athanasius punished for his orthodoxy? He endured false charges, which resulted in exile five different times. Did the First Ecumenical Council of Nicæa solve the problem of Arianism? No; although the Council Fathers rejected Arianism just six years after its outbreak, the heresy continued to gain in popularity after the council.


GUIDED EXERCISE Work with a partner to complete the following table about the perfect attributes of God.


FOCUS QUESTIONS Why is God’s perfection a motive for people to be closer to him? The closer a person is to God, the more he or she possesses God’s attributes such as goodness, love, knowledge, and happiness. What does it mean to say God is transcendent? He is above and not influenced by the limits of human experience and knowledge. What does it mean to say God is immanent? He is intimately present in the life of every person. Extension: This immanence extends to everything in creation.


FOCUS QUESTIONS When does the Blessed Trinity first become present in the life of a person? The Blessed Trinity is infused in the Sacrament of Baptism. What role does God the Father play in the Christian life? He sends his Only‑Begotten Son to reconcile all people to himself. He sends his Holy Spirit through the Son to sanctify all people. What role does God the Son play in the Christian life? God the Son reveals the Father and offers himself as a Sacrifice for the redemption of all people, making reconciliation with God possible.


FOCUS QUESTIONS What role does God the Holy Spirit play in the Christian life? God the Holy Spirit reveals the Son and the Father and sanctifies people with his grace. According to the Catechism, no. 259, how are the Persons of the Blessed Trinity at work in every Christian? Christians glorify God the Father through God the Son in God the Holy Spirit. They follow God the Son because God the Father draws them and God the Holy Spirit moves them.


GUIDED EXERCISE Think/Pair/Share using the following question: What does it mean to say the Triune God dwells in a

person?


GUIDED EXERCISE Write your own prayer to the Blessed Trinity, saying to each of the Persons what you most want to say.


HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT Study Questions 13-17 (p. 76) Practical Exercises 2 (p. 77) Workbook Questions 25-28


CLOSURE Based on the content of this lesson, Write a paragraph explaining why Heaven should be a place of perfect happiness, fulfillment, and interest.


ALTERNATIVE ASSESSMENT Work with a partner to complete Practical Exercise 3 (p. 77).


THE END

chapter 3: the nature of god: the blessed trinity

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unique understanding

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trinity of persons

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