Comments on From Wittenberg to Athens and All Stops in Between: What if God were not Three Persons?

Frances, thanks so much for commenting! I can onl...

2009-05-20T23:49:52.433-04:00

Frances, thanks so much for commenting! I can only imagine how it must have been for you to know God in this way from childhood. And it doesn't surprise me one bit that your husband was influenced by your Orthodox prayers. After my own experience with Orthodox prayer I am fully convinced that the prayers of the Church lead the willing to the Truth. In fact I can't imagine praying them and not becoming Orthodox!

While I don't post much I hope you won't be a stranger around here. I think we'd all love to hear more from your perspective.

When I met the man who is now my husband, we began...

2009-05-19T14:45:00.000-04:00

When I met the man who is now my husband, we began to pray together. I used my Orthodox daily prayers, and of course, we use "Father, Son, and Holy Spirit" a LOT in those prayers! This led to discussions like yours- what does the Trinity mean to you? I had to explain what I believed to be true, which led to his seeking the truth on his own- and eventually to his conversion to Orthodoxy. All from "what does that mean?" It took me until I was "middle-aged" to appreciate the gift that I had been given by my foundation in a God of love, a trinitarian wholeness, on which to base my understanding of God. The first verses I ever memorized were from John 1- rightly called the Gospel of love. When I asked my parents, (my Dad was an orthodox priest) "what God was", the reply
was "love". I can't even imagine God as OTHER than the Trinity! The commandment that Christ gave His disciples was simple- Love one another AS I HAVE LOVED YOU. And yes, I am "cradle Orthodox", that didn't keep me from seeking for my own answers- I wound up right back where I started, in an Orthodox church in the heart of the south!

My goddaughter, before she became Orthdox, went ar...

2009-05-19T11:57:00.000-04:00

My goddaughter, before she became Orthdox, went around asking everybody she could what, in their opinion, did the Holy Trinity MEAN, and what pracitcal difference did it make?

Nobody had any idea, except the pastor of her mega-church.

Two persons can be engrossed in themselves, an exc...

2009-05-14T17:27:00.000-04:00

Two persons can be engrossed in themselves, an exclusive love that ignores others, a love that creates a "we" between the two instead of an "I / thou" with all others. A third Person ensures an objective, unselfish love.

Best argument against contraception I've seen so far. (And theological too...)

Thanks for your positive comments. It is further ...

2009-05-13T07:25:00.000-04:00

Thanks for your positive comments. It is further affirmation of my experience that outside of Orthodoxy we didn't really talk much about the Trinity except to invoke the Trinity in prayer.

I remember early on in my journey to Holy Orthodoxy I listened to a lecture by Clark Carlton (this was well before the birth of the podcasts). He said of his protestant years that if all references to the Holy Trinity were removed from his hymnal it would have taken him 9 months to figure out that something was missing. He was the first one to get me thinking about the importance of the Trinity.

I would also say that this foundational principle of Trinity is probably one of the reasons we hear so much about Love in our homilies. And it is not hard to love a God who is understood in this way. Quite honestly it makes me sad that other Christians are not taught this and do not know God as Trinity in this way. Even the whole aspect of "the curse" after the fall and death entering the world was an act of love and mercy from God...so that we would not live forever in our sin and corruption. Isn't that a twist on everything you had heard before Orthodoxy!

Father Calinic, in the talk I referenced, says the Orthodox are Trinitarians par excellance. If you have some time, listen to his talk. It is a treat.

And as far as being a former Lutheran who never understood Lutheranism...well, it certainly wasn't for lack of trying! Who knew it was so complicated that being under the care of several Lutheran pastors (the result of relocations), worshiping for years as a Lutheran, taking Lutheran bible studies, attending extension courses offered by an LCMS university and buying materials from CPH and reading them wouldn't be enough!!!

Sorry Deb...I know I shouldn't have but I couldn't help myself...

I don't think I ever heard one lecture or sermon o...

2009-05-12T16:47:00.000-04:00

I don't think I ever heard one lecture or sermon on the doctrine of the Trinity until I was Orthodox. I remember being completely blown away by it.

I'm sure if I asked me husband the same question I would probably get a similar response, simply because I know I never thought about it much before becoming Orthodox.

elizabeth - don't feed the troll... he has an ax to grind.

Ignoring the first commenter (what?? and show resp...

2009-05-12T15:18:00.000-04:00

Ignoring the first commenter (what?? and show respect to other bloggers please!) I really enjoyed this post.

Thanks so much for sharing this explanation of the Trinity. I love how I keep learning more and more of why it was good for me to convert to Orthodoxy... Rublev's icon of the Trinity helps a lot too... :)

This was very insightful. I never wondered what Ch...

2009-05-12T13:09:00.000-04:00

This was very insightful. I never wondered what Christianity would mean if there weren't a trinity. I didn't realize how it truly represents the relationship we have with God.

Paul McCain, I don't understand. If the Trinity isn't the foundational principle of Christianity then what is?

Here is yet another example of a convert from Luth...

2009-05-12T09:15:00.000-04:00

Here is yet another example of a convert from Lutheranism, who never understood Lutheranism to begin with, making silly claims about what "the foundational principle" is or is not.

Sad.