Our knowledge of the Holy Trinity has come to us through the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. He revealed to us the Father, His good Father, as proclaimed in the Holy Gospel, and He revealed the Holy Spirit through His promise to His disciples that, after His Ascension into heaven, He would send them the Holy Spirit.
The doctrine of the Holy Trinity is therefore, first and foremost, a divine revelation. Our response is not to subject it to philosophical speculation, but to believe in Christ our Lord, in His revelation of the Father, and in His precious gift of the Holy Spirit. Through this faith we enter into the communion of the Holy Trinity, and in this communion we receive eternal life.
Everything that Christ has revealed to us was not given as material for debate or intellectual proof, but so that we might participate in eternal life. As Saint John the Evangelist writes:
“But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.” (John 20:31)
The Inability of Human Language to Express the Holy Trinity
Since the Divine Essence is incomprehensible, it cannot be fully expressed in human language. Nor can it be truly apprehended by the natural man—that is, one who has not been anointed by the Holy Spirit through the Holy Mysteries of Holy Baptism and Holy Chrismation.
As Saint Gregory the Theologian says:
“The Divine Nature is infinite and difficult to comprehend. All that we can truly grasp concerning God is His infinity… Therefore He cannot be fully comprehended or perfectly understood.”
(Oration 45.3)
He also declares:
“No one has yet discovered God in His Nature and Essence, nor will anyone ever fully do so.”
Thus, every attempt to define God according to His Essence falls short, for the Divine Essence infinitely transcends the limits of human understanding.
Our Knowledge of God Is Through His Attributes
For this reason, the expressions used in the Church’s prayers and theological language to describe God by means of negation—such as Infinite, Uncontained, Incorporeal, Timeless, and Incomprehensible, as found in the Divine Liturgy of Saint Gregory—do not describe the Divine Essence itself.
Likewise, the positive attributes by which Holy Scripture speaks of God—such as righteousness, goodness, wisdom, mercy, and love—are indeed true and inspired descriptions. Nevertheless, because these expressions refer to the manifestations of God rather than to His inner Essence, they do not exhaust or fully reveal what God is in Himself.
They disclose not the Nature of God in its fullness, but rather the attributes and operations of that Divine Nature.
Saint Gregory the Theologian beautifully expresses this mystery:
“God is Light—supreme and inaccessible, beyond investigation, incomprehensible to the mind, and impossible to express by human lips.”
Thus, while God truly reveals Himself to humanity, His Divine Essence remains forever beyond complete human comprehension. What we know is true, yet it is always knowledge according to His self-revelation, not according to an exhaustive understanding of His Essence.
The Confession of Our Faith
The faith of the Church is therefore this:
We believe in the One God in His Essence, existing eternally as Three Hypostases: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, consubstantial, sharing one and the same Divine Essence.
The Holy Fathers explain that the Three Hypostases are Three distinct Hypostases of the one Godhead without beginning. These Three are inseparably united, each existing in eternal communion with the Others while sharing the one Divine Essence.
Within the one Divine Essence, God exists eternally as Three equal and indivisible Hypostases. Yet the Divine Essence does not belong to one Hypostasis to the exclusion of the Others; rather, it is wholly possessed by each Hypostasis without division or separation.
Neither should the Hypostases be understood as parts composing a whole, as though the Godhead were divided into three portions. Nor are They merely attributes, modes, manifestations, or temporary expressions of God. Rather, each Hypostasis truly subsists within the one Divine Essence that is common to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Each Hypostasis acts according to His distinctive manner of personal existence, yet always within the unity of the one God. Consequently, we glorify the One God in Trinity, and the Trinity in Unity, “existing simultaneously in unity of Essence and plurality of Hypostases.”
Saint Gregory the Theologian expresses this truth by saying:
“When we invoke the Holy Trinity, we say: ‘In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,’ not ‘in the names’ of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
The oneness of God is therefore understood through the perfect unity and equality of the Three Hypostases, who eternally share the one Divine Essence.
While confessing the unity of the Holy Trinity and the equality of the Three Hypostases in Essence, will, operation, glory, and every divine perfection, we also confess the personal distinctions among Them.
The Father is the Begetter of the Son and the Source from whom the Holy Spirit eternally proceeds.
As Saint Gregory of Nyssa writes:
“With respect to the Holy Trinity, the Father is the Begetter of the Son and the Source of the Holy Spirit. Therefore we confess one God, while these Two Hypostases have Their existence in Him. The Three Hypostases can never be separated from one another—not by time, nor by place, nor by will, nor by operation, nor by any distinction found among created beings.”
The Divine Attributes
1. God Is Spirit
God is a holy and pure Spirit. His Divine Nature is immaterial, transcending every form of material existence. He is without beginning and without end.
As our Lord Jesus Christ declared:
“God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:24)
Because God is Spirit, He is not confined by space. He is present everywhere, yet no place can contain Him. Nothing in creation can limit or encompass His being.
Likewise, because God is Spirit, He is immutable. In Him there is neither change nor variation.
2. God Is Eternal: Without Beginning and Without End
God is eternal in the fullest sense of the word.
Everlasting
God has neither beginning nor end. His existence is unoriginated and endless. His eternity has no beginning, and His everlasting life has no conclusion.
Eternal
To say that God is eternal means that He existed before all ages. Nothing preceded Him, for He has no beginning.
Everlasting
To say that God is everlasting means that His existence continues without end. His life is infinite and unceasing.
Thus, God alone is the Eternal One, existing beyond the limits of time and preceding all creation.
3. God Is Immutable
God neither changes nor undergoes alteration.
Because He knows from all eternity everything that takes place throughout the universe, there is never any need for Him to revise His will, alter His purposes, or modify His divine judgments.
A question naturally arises:
How, then, should we understand passages of Scripture stating that God “relented” or “repented” concerning a judgment, as in the case of Nineveh?
“Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it.” (Jonah 3:10)
Likewise:
“So the Lord relented from the harm which He said He would do to His people.” (Exodus 32:14)
These passages do not imply any change in God Himself. Rather, it was the people who changed through repentance. Holy Scripture expresses God’s dealings with humanity in language accommodated to human understanding. What changed was humanity’s condition before God, not the Divine Will or the Divine Nature.
4. God Is Self-Existent
God derives His existence from no one.
He does not owe His being to any external source, nor was His existence caused by another. Rather, He exists of Himself and from Himself.
His existence is absolute, underived, and eternal.
5. God Is Omnipresent
God is present everywhere.
No place confines Him, no boundary limits Him, and no created reality contains Him.
He is present in all things, beyond all things, and embraces all things, while remaining transcendent above the whole of creation.
His omnipresence does not mean that He is identified with creation, but that His Divine Presence fills all things while His Divine Essence infinitely transcends the created order.
The Holy Trinity in Holy Scripture
The doctrine of the Holy Trinity is not presented in Holy Scripture as a single systematic definition. Rather, the truths of God’s unity, the distinction of the Three Hypostases, Their equality in the one Divine Essence, and Their eternal relationship with one another are revealed throughout the Scriptures in many passages.
Taken together, these revelations form the Church’s confession of the Holy Trinity.
Several considerations demonstrate the truth of this faith.
1. Progressive Divine Revelation
The revelation of the Holy Trinity unfolds progressively throughout Holy Scripture.
The earliest books of the Old Testament contain indications that become fully understood only in the light of later revelation.
For example, in the Book of Genesis, the Divine Name Elohim, although referring to the one God, appears in a plural form. Likewise, God says:
“Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.” (Genesis 1:26)
Similar expressions appear elsewhere (Genesis 3:22; 11:7; Isaiah 6:8).
These passages alone do not constitute a complete proof of the doctrine of the Holy Trinity. However, when read together with the fuller revelation given throughout the rest of Holy Scripture, they become clear witnesses to the existence of Three Hypostases within the one Godhead.
The Old Testament also distinguishes between “the Lord” and “the Angel of the Lord.” This Angel bears divine titles, receives worship, and is identified with names such as the Word, Wisdom, and the Son of God.
Holy Scripture further reveals Him as existing from eternity, as the Mighty God, the Lord of David, “The Lord Our Righteousness,” and the One foretold to be born of a Virgin and to bear the sins of many.
Likewise, the Holy Scriptures reveal the Holy Spirit as the source of wisdom, order, and life throughout creation. He inspires the prophets, grants wisdom and strength to judges, kings, and the people of God, teaches, chooses, grieves, and acts personally.
Saint John the Baptist likewise bears witness to the Holy Spirit as truly divine and the source of heavenly blessings.
Our Lord Jesus Christ speaks of the Holy Spirit as a distinct Hypostasis, promising His disciples that after His Ascension He would send Him as the Comforter, who would teach them, strengthen them, and guide them into all truth.
Thus, what was initially revealed only in shadows and figures gradually became clearer until the mystery was fully manifested in the Holy Gospel and became the common faith of the entire Church.
The Holy Trinity in Holy Scripture (Continued)
2. The Baptismal Formula
Before His Ascension, our Lord Jesus Christ commanded His Apostles to baptize all who believed in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Accordingly, every Christian is baptized in the Name of the Holy Trinity. This baptismal formula affirms the distinct Hypostasis of each of the Three, Their equality, and Their unity in the one Divine Essence. It also calls every believer to worship the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and to confess Them openly before the world.
3. The Apostolic Blessing
The Apostolic Blessing likewise bears witness to the mystery of the Holy Trinity:
“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.” (2 Corinthians 13:14)
In this blessing, the Church invokes the grace that proceeds from the Son, the love of the Father, and the communion of the Holy Spirit.
Its very structure proclaims the distinct Hypostases of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, while simultaneously confessing Their one divinity and equal glory.
4. The Baptism of Christ
The Baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ provides one of the clearest manifestations of the Holy Trinity in the Holy Gospel.
As the Son was baptized in the Jordan, the Father’s voice was heard from heaven, while the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in the form of a dove.
This event beautifully reveals the distinction of the Three Hypostases while preserving Their perfect unity.
Likewise, during His farewell discourse to His disciples (John 14–16), our Lord repeatedly speaks of the Father, prays to the Father, and promises to send the Holy Spirit after His departure. In these chapters, the distinct Hypostases and full divinity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are revealed with remarkable clarity.
The Church’s Confession of the Holy Trinity
The Church’s faith in the Holy Trinity is not founded upon a single isolated biblical text, but upon the entirety of divine revelation contained in Holy Scripture.
Holy Scripture teaches:
that there is one God;
that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are distinct Hypostases;
that each Hypostasis possesses the fullness of the one Divine Essence;
that the Three are equal in glory, majesty, will, operation, and divinity.
From this scriptural witness, the Church has faithfully confessed throughout the centuries that:
There is one God existing eternally in Three Hypostases—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—equal in Essence and glory, each fully possessing the one indivisible Godhead.
This mystery does not contradict the unity of God, nor does it divide the Divine Essence. Rather, it proclaims the one God as He has revealed Himself: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—one in Essence, undivided in Nature, distinct in Hypostases, and eternally united in perfect communion.
The mystery of the Holy Trinity is therefore not merely a theological doctrine to be understood intellectually, but the very mystery of God’s self-revelation and the foundation of the Christian life. Through the Incarnate Son we come to know the Father, and through the gift of the Holy Spirit we enter into the life and communion of the Holy Trinity.
As the Lord Himself prayed:
“That they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us.” (John 17:21)
Thus, the ultimate purpose of the revelation of the Holy Trinity is not simply theological knowledge, but participation in the divine life through faith in Christ, by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, unto the glory of God the Father.
References
The Mystery of the Trinity and the Unity of God, Hegumen Philimon El-Anba Bishoy.
Our Christian Faith, Monk Basilius El-Maqari.
An Introduction to the Reality of the Holy Trinity, Fr. Ibrahim El-Qummus Azer.