B. THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH AND TRITHEISM AND SUBORDINATIONISM

The unity of God is denied by the Tritheists and the Subordinationists, both of whom ascribe to the one and indivisible Divine Being, in addition to the three Persons, also three divine essences, or natures. Tritheism assumes that these alleged three essences are of equal quality, while Subordinationism teaches that they are of unequal quality. The chief representatives of Tritheism were John Philoponus, toward the end of the sixth century, and Roscellin, in the eleventh century.15 Subordinationism is taught by the Arians and Semiarians, Anninians,16 and even some modern Lutherans, especially Kahnis, who speaks of the Son and the Holy Ghost as “God in the second and third sense of the word.”17

In opposition to Tritheism (three equal divine essences) and Subordinationism (three unequal divine natures), the Christian Church maintains that the Divine Being cannot exist in three essences, or natures, because the Scriptures ascribe to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost the one divine essence (eadem numero essentia).

Scripture teaches, in the first place, that there is no division of the divine essence. On the basis of 1 Cor. 8:4 (“there is none other God but one,” ) we must maintain the indivisibility of the Godhead. There is, as it were, only one sample of the divine essence. We must also maintain that each of the three Persons possesses this one undivided and indivisible divine essence in its entirety. A division of the Divine Being which would ascribe to the Father the first third of the Godhead, to the Son the second, and to the Holy Spirit the third, is contrary to the very essence of God. The Divine Being is infinite, and infinitude precludes the possibility of division. Any division of the divine essence is also contrary to the express teaching of God’s Word, which ascribes the entire divine essence to the Father as well as to the Son and to the Holy Ghost. In Col. 2:9 we read of the Son: “In Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.” And addressing Ananias, St. Peter said with reference to the Holy Ghost (Acts 5:4): “Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God” (); and certainly denotes the entire Godhead and not one third of it. The fact that the divine name is given to each of the three Persons shows clearly that the entire divine essence is the property of each Person. In the baptismal formula (Matt. 28:19), the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost have only one name (). Again, the Old Testament name Jehovah is given to each of the three Persons. The name Jehovah is that distinctively divine name which denotes the immutable being of God, the absolute essence. God Himself defines this name as to its etymology and meaning: “I am that I am” (Ex. 3:14), i. e., semper idem. Luther: “God has no beginning nor end … and His name can never be ‘has been,’ or ‘will be,’ but it must always be ‘Is,’ ‘Being,’ ‘Jehovah.’ ”18 The term (God) is ascribed also to creatures in so far as they actually or allegedly performed divine functions and enjoyed divine authority (e.g., judges, Ps. 82:6; idols, Deut. 4:28). The term “Jehovah,” however, is used only of God and has therefore been designated as nomen Dei essentiale et incommunicabile. And this specifically divine name is ascribed not only to the Father, but also to the Son and to the Holy Ghost. The “Angel of the Lord” in Ex. 3:2, that is, the messenger of the Lord, par excellence, the Son of God, is, according to vv. 4, 7, 15, Jehovah Himself, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Likewise the Holy Spirit is known in the Old Testament as Jehovah. In Ps. 85:8 the Psalmist says: “I will hear what God the Lord [Jehovah] will speak,” but this Lord, or Jehovah, is the “Spirit of the Lord,” who spoke through David (2 Sam. 23:2), and the “Spirit of Christ,” who foretold the future glory of the New Testament Church through the Prophets (1 Pet. 1:11). The Holy Spirit is therefore the Lord Jehovah. The New Testament calls Christ not only (John 20:28), but also (1 John 5:20), (Titus 2:13), (Rom. 9:5). Likewise the Holy Ghost, in contrast to men, is expressly called (Acts 5:3-4).

Scripture teaches, secondly, that there is no division or limitation of the divine attributes, works, or worship among the three Persons, but that the three Persons share in them without any distinction of rank. 1) Scripture nowhere indicates that the divine attributes are distributed among the three Persons, as though the divine omnipotence, omniscience, or omnipresence could be divided into three parts and one part assigned to the Father, another to the Son, and the third to the Holy Ghost. On the contrary, Scripture ascribes these attributes without any division or limitation not only to the Father, but just as absolutely to the Son (John 10:28, omnipotence; John 21:17, omniscience; Matt. 28:20, omnipresence) and to the Holy Ghost (Ps. 33:6, omnipotence; 1 Cor. 2:10, omniscience; and Ps. 139:7, omnipresence). 2) Scripture ascribes the same divine works (opera ad extra) to the Son and the Holy Spirit as well as to the Father. The creation of the world is the work of the Son (John 1:3; Col. 1:16; Heb. 1:10) and also the work of the Holy Ghost (Ps. 33:6; Job 33:4). 3) Since all three Persons possess the same divine essence, attributes, and works, therefore one and the same divine worship is due each Person. Trium personarum unus est cultus divinus. Concerning the worship of the Son the Scriptures state expressly that “all men should honor the Son even as they honor the Father” (John 5:23). While the Scriptures do not say in express words that men must worship the Holy Ghost,19 it is nevertheless taught very definitely in all those Scripture passages where divine majesty, attributes, and works are ascribed to the Holy Ghost. That the Holy Spirit is entitled to the same worship as the Father and the Son is expressed also in the baptismal formula. By being baptized into the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, the Christian adores the Holy Spirit with the same divine worship which is accorded to the Father and the Son. The Christian Church therefore worships the Trinity in Unity and the Unity in Trinity.20