Divinely Human
Just finished reading Manana by Justo Gonzalez and have learned more than expected.
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God is three in one. The confusion of the central doctrine of the Trinity is no longer confusing to me now that I have had it explained from a new perspective that gives it a new light.
There is a commonality within the Godhead that is to imitated by humanity (we were created in God's image). God did not reveal Godself as the Trinity so we could waste our time trying to figure it out and what it means. God revealed the Trinitarian nature of Godself because we are to imitate the Godhead.
God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit share of one substance. In the same way humanity is to share of themselves and what they own with those around them. The doctrine of the Trinity affirms a belief in a God who's essence is sharing. A society (or church) that lacks sharing (of love, power, stuff, etc.) is a society (or church) without God.
This leads to some insight that I have gathered into the nature of the incarnation of God in Jesus Christ. Another essence of God is other-centeredness. Jesus demonstrated his divinity by living a life of other-centeredness. This also demonstrated his humanity. We were created in the image of God and Jesus showed us how to live the life that we were created for.
It has been said that "God became human so that human could become god," and I agree. I would go further (or not as far, depending on your perspective) and say that "God became human so that humans could become fully human."
We were created with the potential for perfection and the incarnation of God in Jesus Christ demonstrated how to become what we were created to be.
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God is three in one. The confusion of the central doctrine of the Trinity is no longer confusing to me now that I have had it explained from a new perspective that gives it a new light.
There is a commonality within the Godhead that is to imitated by humanity (we were created in God's image). God did not reveal Godself as the Trinity so we could waste our time trying to figure it out and what it means. God revealed the Trinitarian nature of Godself because we are to imitate the Godhead.
God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit share of one substance. In the same way humanity is to share of themselves and what they own with those around them. The doctrine of the Trinity affirms a belief in a God who's essence is sharing. A society (or church) that lacks sharing (of love, power, stuff, etc.) is a society (or church) without God.
This leads to some insight that I have gathered into the nature of the incarnation of God in Jesus Christ. Another essence of God is other-centeredness. Jesus demonstrated his divinity by living a life of other-centeredness. This also demonstrated his humanity. We were created in the image of God and Jesus showed us how to live the life that we were created for.
It has been said that "God became human so that human could become god," and I agree. I would go further (or not as far, depending on your perspective) and say that "God became human so that humans could become fully human."
We were created with the potential for perfection and the incarnation of God in Jesus Christ demonstrated how to become what we were created to be.
posted by Justin at 10/27/2005 09:37:00 AM
2 Comments:
I like what you said at the end: "God became human so that humans could become fully human." So, hey man, I think you're on your way to discovering the economy of the Trinity! Communism!!!
Theo,
You should read St. Athanasius' book On the Incarnation. He uses the language of us becoming (like) God in his Oracles Against the Arians.
The Trinitarian Rennaissance has produced some interesting and important works, but I think that it needs to also focus on incarnation (and not just crucifixion or resurrection). I think that this is one of the more overlooked areas of systematics. I think someone should do some work comparing Athanasius to Barth!
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