Father, son and holy spirit

According to Christian dogma, one of the doctrinal points in the church is the inseparability or unity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. It has been called the Holy Trinity, or the three persons of the Godhead. God is said to be a trinity in unity, three in one. Since the word Trinity does not occur in the Bible, and was not a word used by Christ Jesus after whom Christianity is named, and on whom the church is founded, there continues to be some argument within the church and among theologians and religious scholars, as to the meaning of the Holy Trinity.

The Bible, as well as Christ Jesus, mentions God as Father. It mentions the Son of God as the Saviour of the world, and it mentions the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost as the divine Comforter, which would lead man into all truth. In the Old Testament, Genesis 1 mentions God, the Word (accepted to indicate the Son), and the Spirit. However, the New Testament is more definite. In Matthew 28:19, Jesus commissions His disciples to go, teach and baptise in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Moreover, I John 5:7 states: ‘For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word and the Holy Ghost; and these three are one. These Bible verses indicate that there are three distinct Persons, although they are the same in essence, substance or nature.

Mary Baker Eddy, founder of the Church of Christ, Scientist, writes in her book on Christian healing entitled Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, that the ‘Triune Person called God represents a trinity in unity, three in one, — the same in essence, though multiform in office.’ She identifies God the Father; Christ the spiritual idea of sonship; and the Holy Comforter. Eddy goes on to say that these three express the threefold, essential nature of the infinite, as well as reveal the intelligent relation of God to man and the universe.

Whether as the central doctrine of the Catholic Church, in the Apostles Creed of the Protestant Church, or in the Tenets of the Christian Science Church, it is Scriptural for every Christian church, in their statement of faith, to accept God as the Father of all, Christ Jesus as the Son of God and Saviour of mankind, and the Holy Ghost as the promised Comforter, which Jesus says will lead man into all Truth.
Moji George, Christian Science Committee on Publication for Nigeria West