(no subject)
when He says 'I have not spoken on my own authority' (john 12:49) and 'as the father has said unto me, so I speak' (john 12:50) and 'the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father's who sent Me' (john 14:24) and 'I do as the Father has commanded Me' (john 14:31), He does not use language of this kind because He is incapable of His own choice, or is lawless, or has to wait for a prearranged signal. He wants to make clear that His will is indissolubly united to the Father. we must not think that what He calls a 'commandment' is an imperious order delivered by word of mouth by which the Father gives orders to His Son, as He would to a subordinate, telling Him what He should do. instead, let us think in terms worthy of the Godhead, and realize that there is a transmission of will, like the reflection of an object in a mirror, which reaches down from Father to Son without passage of time. 'the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all that He Himself is doing' (john 5:20). everything the Father has also belongs to the Son; He does not acquire it little by little, but has it all at once.
-st basil the great, on the Holy Spirit
the majesty of the Trinity! a mystery that we would do well to contemplate. being combined in essence yet unique in personage. an example often used in the eastern church is that of three torches burning with one flame. one will, one nature, but three hypostases. one thing that this implies and fulfills is the notion of God as love. for truly He is. He is many other things - holy, righteous, full of justice, merciful - the list goes on. but being a Trinity shows God to have moved in love from before the world began. even before the creation of the universe, God was love.
o Trinity, uncreated and without beginning,
o undivided Unity, three and one,
Father, Son, and Spirit, a single God;
accept this our hymn from tongues of clay
as if from mouths of flame.
-from the lenten triodion
personhood and love signify life, movement, discovery. so the doctrine of the Trinity means that we should think of God in terms that are dynamic rather than static. God is not just stillness, repose, unchanging perfection.
-bishop kallistos ware, the orthodox way
He lived in community. Father, Son and Holy Spirit. there was interaction, there was communion, there was love. God Himself is showing us how to truly become ourselves - being connected to others in love is an integral part of being human. we are created in God's image (gen. 1:27) and one part of God's image is truly loving others and entering into intimate relationship with them.
i freely admit that i am lacking in this area. i don't reach out to others as i should. i hold back - partially due to insecurities, partially due to vanity, partially due to selfishness. i pray that i may more fully enter into the Spirit of the Lord and become love. may i present the personification of Christ Jesus to those around me.
karen
-st basil the great, on the Holy Spirit
the majesty of the Trinity! a mystery that we would do well to contemplate. being combined in essence yet unique in personage. an example often used in the eastern church is that of three torches burning with one flame. one will, one nature, but three hypostases. one thing that this implies and fulfills is the notion of God as love. for truly He is. He is many other things - holy, righteous, full of justice, merciful - the list goes on. but being a Trinity shows God to have moved in love from before the world began. even before the creation of the universe, God was love.
o Trinity, uncreated and without beginning,
o undivided Unity, three and one,
Father, Son, and Spirit, a single God;
accept this our hymn from tongues of clay
as if from mouths of flame.
-from the lenten triodion
personhood and love signify life, movement, discovery. so the doctrine of the Trinity means that we should think of God in terms that are dynamic rather than static. God is not just stillness, repose, unchanging perfection.
-bishop kallistos ware, the orthodox way
He lived in community. Father, Son and Holy Spirit. there was interaction, there was communion, there was love. God Himself is showing us how to truly become ourselves - being connected to others in love is an integral part of being human. we are created in God's image (gen. 1:27) and one part of God's image is truly loving others and entering into intimate relationship with them.
i freely admit that i am lacking in this area. i don't reach out to others as i should. i hold back - partially due to insecurities, partially due to vanity, partially due to selfishness. i pray that i may more fully enter into the Spirit of the Lord and become love. may i present the personification of Christ Jesus to those around me.
karen