The Athanasian Creed: Trinity & Mystery

The Athanasian Creed is one of the 'forgotten Creeds'  (along with the Creed of the Council of Trent). It was traditionally said at Prime on Sundays when the Office was of the Sunday. The 1911 reforms reduced that to Sundays after Epiphany and Pentecost and on Trinity Sunday, except when a commemoration of a double feast or a day within an Octave occurred. The 1960 reforms further reduced its use to once a year, on Trinity Sunday. Now? It doesn't occur at all in the Liturgy of the Hours.

From Ignitum Today

By Andrew Cavallo

The Athanasian Creed states the Doctrine of the Trinity with clarity, amplifying what is present in the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed.

“The Catholic faith is this: that we honor one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity, neither confounding the Persons nor separating the Substance. For one is the Person of the Father, another that of the Son, another that of the Holy Ghost. But of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost the Divinity is one, the glory equal, the majesty coeternal. Such as the Father is, such is the Son, such the Holy Ghost. The Father is uncreated, the Son is uncreated, the Holy Ghost is uncreated. . . . The Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Ghost is God; . . . and yet there are not three Gods, but there is one God. . . . The Father is not made by any one, nor created, nor born. The Son is of the Father alone, not made, nor created, but born. The Holy Ghost is of the Father and the Son, not made, nor created, nor born, but proceeding.”

Trinity & Mystery

Some claim that mysteries are inherently anti-intellectual; they reject the mysterious as an easy way out. I do not think this a tenable position. For example, the continuum is a natural mystery surrounded by a vast penumbral cloud of paradoxes that one cannot hope to fully comprehend — and yet the continuum is the foundation of man’s work in mathematical physics, geometry, and analysis. To reject the continuum on the basis that it is mysterious and paradoxical would indeed be irrational.

It is equally irrational to suppose that a finite mind could completely comprehend the modus operandi of an infinite God. One can know many things about God, but God is ultimately the deepest of all mysteries; and in the infinite mystery of God, one finds sustenance.

“Mysticism keeps men sane. As long as you have mystery you have health; when you destroy mystery you create morbidity. The ordinary man has always been sane because the ordinary man has always been a mystic. He has permitted the twilight.” (This passage was taken from G.K. Chesterton’s Orthodoxy.)

God made man for Himself, so it is perfectly natural to find supreme satisfaction and ultimate freedom in God’s boundless depths.

Trinity: Old Testament

The Church teaches that the Book of Psalms, the Book of Wisdom, and other parts of the Old Testament allude to the Trinity.

Psalm 2:7. The Lord hath said to me: Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee. (Douay-Rheims Bible)

Psalm 109:3. With thee is the principality in the day of thy strength: in the brightness of the saints: from the womb before the day star I begot thee. (Douay-Rheims Bible)

In his Letter to the Hebrews, St. Paul demonstrated that these passages refer to Jesus.

Trinity: New Testament

The Church teaches that the New Testament openly reveals the Trinity, as evidenced by the following passages.

Luke 1:26-40. And in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God into a city of Galilee, called Nazareth, To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And the angel being come in, said unto her: Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. Who having heard, was troubled at his saying, and thought with herself what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said to her: Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found grace with God.

Behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and shalt bring forth a son; and thou shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the most High; and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of David his father; and he shall reign in the house of Jacob for ever. And of his kingdom there shall be no end. And Mary said to the angel: How shall this be done, because I know not man? And the angel answering, said to her: The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the most High shall overshadow thee. And therefore also the Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

And behold thy cousin Elizabeth, she also hath conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month with her that is called barren: Because no word shall be impossible with God. And Mary said: Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her. And Mary rising up in those days, went into the hill country with haste into a city of Juda. And she entered into the house of Zachary, and saluted Elizabeth.

Matthew 3:16-17. And Jesus being baptized, forthwith came out of the water: and lo, the heavens were opened to him: and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon him. And behold a voice from heaven, saying: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

John 16:7-16. But I tell you the truth: it is expedient to you that I go: for if I go not, the Paraclete will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. And when he is come, he will convict the world of sin, and of justice, and of judgment. Of sin: because they believed not in me. And of justice: because I go to the Father; and you shall see me no longer.

And of judgment: because the prince of this world is already judged. I have yet many things to say to you: but you cannot bear them now. But when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will teach you all truth. For he shall not speak of himself; but what things soever he shall hear, he shall speak; and the things that are to come, he shall shew you. He shall glorify me; because he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it to you. All things whatsoever the Father hath, are mine. Therefore I said, that he shall receive of mine, and shew it to you.

A little while, and now you shall not see me; and again a little while, and you shall see me: because I go to the Father.

Matthew 28:16-20. And the eleven disciples went into Galilee, unto the mountain where Jesus had appointed them. And seeing him they adored: but some doubted. And Jesus coming, spoke to them, saying: All power is given to me in heaven and in earth. Going therefore, teach ye all nations; baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world.

Matthew 28:19 is pivotal. Christ would not instruct man to baptize in any name other than the name of God; and yet Christ’s instructions are to baptize in the name (singular) of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This fact implies that there is one and only one God, and God is Triune.