Is the Holy Trinity Found Anywhere in the Bible?

In the East, depictions of the Trinity are based on Genesis 18:1,2 "And the Lord appeared to [Abraham] ... [T]here appeared to him three men." The illustration is a famous icon of the Trinity by Andrei Rublev.

From Aleteia

By Philip Kosloski

The Catholic Church's belief in the Holy Trinity is firmly based on the Bible, with passages in the Old and New Testaments.

Sometimes we may read the Bible on the lookout for common terms used by Christians to describe God or other tenets of faith. The word "Trinity" is one of those terms that we may be looking for.

Technically speaking, you will not find the specific word "Trinity" anywhere in the Bible. It is a term that was later developed to help summarize the Christian belief in God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

The Catholic Encyclopedia explains the development of this term:

In Scripture there is as yet no single term by which the Three Divine Persons are denoted together. The word trias (of which the Latin trinitas is a translation) is first found in Theophilus of Antioch about A.D. 180. He speaks of "the Trinity of God [the Father], His Word and His Wisdom (To Autolycus II.15). The term may, of course, have been in use before his time.

However, this does not mean that the concept of the Trinity is not found in Scripture. On the contrary, the entire Bible is full of references to this central Christian belief, and to the Persons of the Trinity.

Trinity in the Old Testament

Here are a few examples from the Old Testament that many Scripture scholars agree are hidden references to the reality of the Blessed Trinity.

Genesis 1:1 - "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters."

Genesis 11:6-7 - "And the Lord said, 'Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; and nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down, and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.'"

1 Samuel 16:13 - "Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah."

Trinity in the New Testament

The New Testament, specifically Jesus himself, is much more explicit about the Trinity.

Matthew 28:19 - "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."

John 6:27 -  "Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of man will give to you; for on him has God the Father set his seal."

Romans 1:7 - "Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."

There are many more examples in the New Testament that highlight the action of God in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

So while the word "Trinity" is not found in the Bible, the concept behind the word is based entirely on Scripture.