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Belgic Confession – On the Trinity

“as he that denies this fundamental article of the Christian religion may lose his soul, so he that much strives to understand it may lose his wits” – Dr South

ARTICLE 1: There is One Only God

We all believe with the heart, and confess with the mouth, that there is one only simple and spiritual Being which we call God; and that He is eternal, incomprehensible, invisible, immutable, infinite, almighty, perfectly wise, just, good, and the overflowing fountain of all good.

ARTICLE 8: God is One in Essence, yet Distinguished in Three Persons

According to this truth and this Word of God,

We believe in one only God, who is one single essence, [ARTICLE 1]

in which are three persons, really, truly, and eternally distinct, according to their incommunicable properties; namely, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

The Father is the cause, origin, and beginning of all things, visible and invisible;

the Son is the word, wisdom, and image of the Father;

the Holy Ghost is the eternal power and might, proceeding from the Father and the Son.

Nevertheless God is not by this distinction divided into three, since the Holy Scriptures teach us that the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost have each His personality, distinguished by their properties; but in such wise that these three persons are but one only God. Hence then, it is evident that the Father is not the Son, nor the Son the Father, and likewise the Holy Ghost is neither the Father nor the Son. Nevertheless these persons thus distinguished are not divided nor intermixed; but the Father hath not assumed the flesh, nor hath the Holy Ghost, but the son only. The Father hath never been without His Son, nor without his Holy Ghost. For they are all three coeternal and coessential. There is neither first nor last; for they are all three one, in truth, in power, in goodness, and in mercy.

Epistemology	God's Unity	Article 1	There is Only One God
	Revelation	Article 2	By What Means God is Made Known unto Us
	Inspiration	Article 3	The Written Word of God
	Inscripturation	Article 4	Canonical Books of the Holy Scripture
	Divinity	Article 5	Whence the Holy Scriptures Derive Their Dignity and Authority
	Uniqueness	Article 6	The Difference between the Canonical and Apocryphal Books
	Sufficiency	Article 7	The Sufficiency of the Holy Scriptures to be the Only Rule of Faith
Theology	God's Trinity	Article 8	God is One in Essence, Yet Distinguished in Three Persons
	God's Trinity (Poof)	Article 9	The Proof of the Foregoing Article of the Trinity of Persons in One God
	The Son	Article 10	Jesus Christ is True and Eternal God
	The Holy Spirit	Article 11	The Holy Spirit is True and Eternal God

1 BELGIC CONFESSION UNFOLDING STRUCTURE

1.1 Expand on structure & look at WCF: William G. T. Shedd, D.D. “The doctrine of the Divine Unity is a truth of natural religion; the doctrine of the Trinity is a truth of revealed religion.”

1.2 Expand on structure of Trinitarian Articles

1.2.1 Difference between Article 8 & 9

1.2.2 Way it is written – Scriptural, logical & clear & negative (or tentative)

2 DEVELOPING OUR TRINITARIAN THOUGHT

2.1 Chart of Human nature & person vs God nature and person

Understanding the Mystery
Nature	Extension	Person	Being
God	(Limitless) Pure Spirit	Three Subsistence [Hypostases]	Undivided Being Essence / Substance [Homo ousia]
Man	(Restricted) Spiritual & Physical	One Person per body	Divided Being (Body & Soul)

2.2 Logic demands three persons not one – the mystery is not illogical, but rather we say beyond the full grasp of our understanding

2.3 Three persons not one – When we speak of Him it is the “corporate” person centered usually in the Father

3 TERMS

3.1 Esse (Being) – the act of existing (Discuss verb “to be” and idea of being)

3.2 Essentia (Essence) – “Whatness” of the act of existing. What makes a thing that it is. For Peter or Paul it is humanity. For God it is deity or divinity

3.3 Substantia (Substance) – The underlying stuff (material or spiritual) of things that exist. Emphasis here is on concrete reality rather than on things that exist. This is distinct from Essentia which indicates simply what a thing is.

3.4 Subsistantia (Subsistance) – Indicating a particular being or existant; An individual instance of a given essence. In this latter sense, the Latin equivalent of Hypostasis and a more technically & philosophically adequate term than Persona for the persons of the Trinity.

4 HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE DOCTRINE:

4.1 The Definition of the Councils

4.2 Medieval Developments

4.3 The Reformation

4.4 17^th Century

4.5 And Following

4.6 “To identify a person as the primary essence, is to claim real or substantial distinctions between the persons, to reduce the unity of the persons to a generic unity of secondary essence is to produce a form of tritheism or a radical subordinationism, akin to the homoiousian or homoousian, theologies of the fourth century”

5 Reading the Article

This article was developed on clear scriptural data. The scriptural data is limited but clear. The inferences from that data are clarifications not speculations. The doctrinal definition has positive statements based on the scriptures and negative statements from scripture and refuting error as it arose. The denomination of Trinity took hundreds of years. The full development of the doctrine took almost 2 millennia.

6 Common Statements & Some Questions

6.1 Trinity a mystery but what do we mean when we say that?

6.2 Trinity is a term not in the bible (The Concept is) – does that mean it is unbiblical?

6.3 Is the Trinity completely logical & rational?

6.4 Can you pray only to the Father or only to the Son or only to the Holy Spirit? If so then does that not ignore the other persons and so slight them?

6.5 Can you pray to the Lord Jesus considering that he is also fully man?

6.6 In what way is God one?

6.7 In what way is God three?

6.8 What questions do you have concerning the Holy Trinity that has not been answered?

7 Other Reference Material:

Heidelberg Catechism

Q. 25] Since there is but one only divine essence, why speakest thou of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost? Because God has so revealed himself in his word, that these three distinct persons are the one only true and eternal God.

Westminster Shorter Catechism

Q4] What is God? God is Spirit, Infinite eternal and unchangeable in his being wisdom power holiness justice goodness and truth

Q5] How many God’s are there? There is but one only, the Living and true God

Q6] How many persons are there in the Godhead? There are 3 persons in the Godhead, the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost and these three are one God, the same in substance and equal in power and glory.

8 Further Study

o Tertullian – Against Praxeas

o Augustine – On the Holy Trinity

o Athanasius

o Calvin & Others

o Confessions