In this article, we turn our attention to the triadic formulations in the apostolic literature. Triadic patterns abound in the New Testament. Although the emphasis in the texts we have examined so far support a binitarianism including the Father and the Son within the one divine identity, these triadic patterns begin to include the Holy Spirit within the divine identity as well. In 1 Corinthians 12:4-6, for example, the apostle Paul affirms that “there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone.” Paul Owen argues that “the terms Spirit, Lord, and God appear to be three designations of the One whose rule was manifest in the context of the gifted congregation…. According to Paul, the worship of the Christian community now centers around these three divine Persons” (Paul Owen, in The New Mormon Challenge, 294). 

We find another occurrence of this triadic formulation in 2 Corinthians 13:14: “The grace of the Lord Jesus and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” In this concluding prayer, Paul has included all three persons within the identity of the one to whom he is praying. He does this in the greetings and conclusions to his epistles with such regularity and ease, that well before he began to write, he must have internalized and integrated within his concept of the one and only God a profound awareness of the plurality of his personhood. It would have been unthinkable to the point of blasphemy for a pious Jew of Paul’s credentials to utter such a prayer unless he was thoroughly convinced that all three persons were in some way included within the one divine identity. 

Perhaps the most striking and decisive triadic formula was uttered by Jesus himself in what is known as The Great Commission. In Matthew 28:18-20, Jesus announces without hesitation, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the earth.” Jesus does not mince words. By ascribing to himself “all authority” in creation, Jesus could only be understood by his Jewish followers to be identifying himself with the Creator who called all things into existence. His concluding statement further reinforces this identity by placing himself within the Jewish eschatological expectation that looked forward to the presence of the LORD with his people in the restored kingdom. Sandwiched in between, Jesus offers the New Covenant name of the God with whom he has identified himself. This God, who introduced himself to Abraham as Elohim and to Moses as Yahweh, shall henceforth be known as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

This is an astonishing move. Old Testament Jews carried with them the abiding awareness that God had revealed to them his great name. He had “chosen Jerusalem that my name may be there” (2 Ch 6:6) and had promised that “in Jerusalem shall my name be forever” (2 Ch 33:4). In light of this, Owen points out that in Matthew 28:18-19 “we see that Jesus’ possession of universal divine authority is linked with a triadic formula that identifies the singular ‘name’ of God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The worldwide mission is founded on the Trinitarian revelation of God’s true identity” (Owen, in The New Mormon Challenge, 293). Richard Bauckham adds,

The formula, as in the phrase ‘calling on the name of the Lord’ which New Testament usage takes up from the Old with reference to baptism and profession of faith, requires precisely a divine name. ‘The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit’ names the newly disclosed identity of God, revealed in the story of Jesus the Gospel has told (God Crucified, 76). 

Hence, we see no evidence of a syncretistic or otherwise mutated Second Temple Judaism in the New Testament. Having picked up its cues from the Old Testament, and without in any way doing violence to Jewish monotheism, the New Testament dances to the beat of a trinitarian rhythm that intentionally and decisively includes the Son and the Spirit within the divine identity of the one eternal God. In our next article, we will begin to explore the evidence from the post-apostolic church, and how the early Church began to faithfully integrate the data provided by the New Testament text into its liturgy and theology.

Blessings,

Arnie Gentile

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