Augustine Hippo was an early philosopher and theologian who made significant contributions to the development of Western philosophy and Christianity. After the church introduced Trinity doctrine, Augustine wrote about it. In the early church, individuals were trying to understand the notion of Trinity and its application in gospel preaching. As a result, Augustine Hippo saw the need to elaborate on the meaning and concept of Trinity. The early church was also attempting to defend the teaching against unorthodox formulations. The writers faced numerous difficulties in formulating the Trinity as prescribed by Arius. The Arius was very much concerned with the authority of the father which is one aspect of the Trinity. According to Arius, the Son was much leaser than the Farther in their true nature, there was an idea that he must have been created after the existence of the father, meaning that the Son was begotten; it took time before he was brought into existence. Augustine attempted to disperse these claims and elaborated that the members of the Trinity are the same and they have the same important natures; they were a necessary arrangement of God that are used in various Christian teaching. Because modern Christianity borrows a lot of ideas and concept from the early church, the concept of the Trinity is applied in the present church to aid the teachings of the bible. The paper discusses concepts applied by Augustine in explaining the idea of Trinity in an attempt to aid the understanding to the early and even to the present church.
Augustine Perception of Trinity
Augustine perceives the Trinity as a concept that aids in the understanding of the true nature of God. In the early church and even in the modern church, people understand God as a spirit and since there is lack of solid proof about how these spirits operate, Augustine attempt to expand the explanation of the early church. According to Augustine, there is God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit and all these forms of God exist in one God. In the Trinity, God the Father initiates the existence of the Son through the Holy Spirit; He then uses them to create all things that exist in the universe. The work of the Father is therefore performed through the Son. For instance, the creation of the world was aided by the Son; God the father was working through the Son to accomplish the plans of creation. The above scenario is one of the Augustine’s most important views on the role of the Father. Augustine does not consider the chain of command attributed by other theologians. He does not treat the Spirit and the Son as the bench players but he perceives all the three forms as equal. The Trinity which involves the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is the creator of all creations that exist. In the book of Genesis, God created the universe and everything that exist in it through the Son and the Holy Spirit. He commanded His powers through the above forms to initiate the existence of heavenly bodies as well as the life on earth. Therefore, God the Father creates through and with God the Holy Spirit and God the Son by giving the three forms co-equal tributes in the establishment of all the things that exist. In the book of Genesis 1:26, the bible says that “come and let us make man in our own image.” According to the above bible verse, Augustine argues that God the Father was communicating with the Son and the Holy Spirit. Augustine argues that a righteous relationship with Christ must involve reconciliation to God the Father through forgiveness of sins. The above case is the reason why Jesus Christ appeared before the sinners as the righteous part of God in form of humanity. God operates in various forms, in the New Testament the ideas of Augustine were substantiated by the arrival of Jesus Christ who came from the virgin womb to save the world from sin. God came in form of human being to interact freely with people and change their perception from the past sinful experiences. The Augustine’s writings suggest that the Holy Spirit dwells in the hearts of believers and link them to the God the Father. Sharing with the God the Father means that humanity share in the entire part of eternity. Finding rest in Christ means sharing in God’s life and to be with the Father, one has to reach Him through the Holy Spirit. The three forms of God are therefore interdependent, meaning that God operates through all the forms, He all initiates righteousness by reaching his creation through the forms. Augustine stipulates that Holy Spirit is the provider of knowledge of God and he who receives the knowledge of God only receives it through the Holy Spirit.
Augustine Description of the Triune Communion between
The Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit
Augustine in his writing stipulates that God is the Life of lives and the life of souls. The scripture reveals the triune God; confessions are made through him by creeds, and life altering-works are obtained from Him through the Holy Spirit. Augustine could not escape the above state of thought. Augustine analyses the concept of the Trinity by including essential facts from the scripture. The greatness of God is felt by the believers and it comes from God the Father. Consequently, when the greatness of the Father is combined with the greatness of the Son, the greatness of the Holy Spirit arises, meaning that all the three forms are actually the same God. When the concept of the greatness of the Son is connected to the greatness of the Holy Spirit, there is the greatness of the Father, and the greatness of the Father combined with the greatness of the Holy Spirit results into the greatness of the Son. According to Augustine, it is true to say that God is the greatest Love, the greatest Knowledge, and the greatest Word. The two parts of the Trinity is never greater than the remaining one, the three parts are essential and dependent to each other. The members of the Trinity share the same nature. Augustine also applies grammar to prove the tripartite nature of God through analyzing the doctrines of the early church that were widely misunderstood by the theologians. Augustine uses the symbol of Love to explain the concept of Trinity; he stipulates that for love to exist there must be a lover, the action of love, and lastly the loved. Because God is an embodiment of love and that He loved himself, then He exists in all the three elements of Trinity. For Him to be loved, God the Father ought to be the subject, the verb, and the object. Augustine state that God is the uppermost love and the love has got three parts, therefore it means that God must be having three parts. The idea of the Trinity is sometimes ignored or overlooked by many people; some people understand the concept of Trinity in a mathematical way, stating its meaning as three-in-one without deep evaluation. The triune nature of God is driven by the theological ideas and the life-giving truth.
Comparison of the Theological Traditions
The Baptist traditions believed in the trinity but they did not consider that all the three forms of God are equal. They believed that God the Father is more powerful than the Son and the Holy Spirit. Augustine deconstructed the above idea by putting the idea of Trinity from the early church in the right context by explaining that the aspects of trinity actually mean the same thing. God communicates to through all the aspects and people can also reach him through the all the aspects of Trinity. In the Baptist tradition, Christians believed that God the Son did not exists in time of creation. Augustine argues by quoting the book of Genesis 1:26 that God the Son actually existed in times of creation. God operates equally in all the three aspects of Trinity. In the New Testament, He appealed directly to the people through Christ who was brought to the earth in form of human being to act as the way to the God the Father. The Christians who believe in Augustine conception of Trinity would be able to appreciate the true nature of God and to worship him equally through God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Through Augustine arguments, Christians are able to understand ways on how to reach God through prayers; they would be able to know where to direct their prayers and repentance. The understanding of the Trinity according to Augustine will facilitate the understanding of the creation process and the existence of the universe and everything in it. The conception of Augustine’s trinity would enable Christians to facilitate the teachings of the holy bible and to aid the understanding of the word of God through the bible scriptures. The Augustine perception of Trinity is able to modify the doctrines of Christians by enabling them to formulate new ideas and principles on how to preach the word of God in various Christian communities.
Conclusion
Augustine attempted to disperse these claims and elaborated that the members of the Trinity are the same and they have the same important nature; they were the necessary arrangement of God that are used in various Christian teaching. The greatness of God is felt by the believers and it comes from God the Father and when the greatness of the Father is combined with the greatness of the Son, the greatness of the Holy Spirit is formulated. Augustine does not consider the chain of command attributed by other theologians, He does not treat the Spirit and the Son as the bench players but he perceives all the three forms as equal.
Bibliography
Augustine, Saint. The Trinity. Vol. 5. New City Press, 1991.
