Transcript Chapter 3: The Nature of God: The Blessed Trinity

Chapter 3: The Nature of God:
The Blessed Trinity
INTRODUCTION TO CATHOLICISM
1. One God (pp. 56-60)
ANTICIPATORY SET
Review the Sign of the Cross. It is all of the following things:
 A Trinitarian prayer: it is prayed in the name of God the Father, God
the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
 A Christological prayer: it is traced in the shape of Christ’s redemptive
Cross.
 A sign of how everyone ought to love God: Making the Sign of the
Cross includes touching the head, chest, and shoulders, which
represents the mind, heart, and will (or strength).
1. One God (pp. 56-60)
BASIC QUESTIONS
 What is the mystery of the Blessed Trinity?
 What was unique about Israel’s religion in the ancient world?
 What name did God reveal to Israel?
KEY IDEAS
 The Blessed Trinity is the central mystery of the Christian Faith; as a
mystery, it can be known by faith yet never completely comprehended.
 God created Israel as a monotheistic nation intended to love the one
God above all things.
 God revealed his name to Israel through Moses: “I AM WHO I AM,” a
name related to his self-existence.
1. One God (pp. 56-60)
FOCUS QUESTIONS
What is our basic level of understanding of the Blessed Trinity?
It is true, but nobody can fully explain or understand it.
What is the basic content of the doctrine of the Blessed Trinity?
There is only one God, and there are three Persons in that one God.
1. One God (pp. 56-60)
FOCUS QUESTIONS
On what basis is the doctrine of the Blessed Trinity accepted?
It is accepted on faith, specifically faith in the truth of God’s Revelation.
What does it mean to say God is a mystery?
God can be known, even intimately, by human beings, but he is so far
beyond human experience that any utterance or conception of him
cannot do him justice.
1. One God (pp. 56-60)
FOCUS QUESTIONS
For what purpose did God create human beings?
He created human beings to enjoy eternal happiness in communion with him
forever in Heaven.
How does grace fulfill the purpose for which human beings were created?
Grace is a sharing in the divine life of the Blessed Trinity, which is a communion
with God even in this life.
What is something that can be known about God from reason alone?
God exists. Extension: Reason can know the attributes God possesses, which
will be studied later in this chapter.
1. One God (pp. 56-60)
FOCUS QUESTIONS
What can reason not know about God?
God is a Trinity of Persons.
With respect to the Blessed Trinity, what does it mean to say that
faith elevates reason?
If people accept in faith the existence of a Trinity of Persons, then they
can use reason to deepen their understanding of the Trinity.
What keeps God’s life in each of the baptized?
Each person must remain in a state of grace by growing in holiness.
1. One God (pp. 56-60)
GUIDED EXERCISE
Complete a paragraph shrink on the Catechism, no. 234 (p. 57).
1. One God (pp. 56-60)
FOCUS QUESTIONS
What made the Israelites unique in the ancient world?
They were monotheistic, i.e., they believed in only one God, whereas other
peoples in the ancient world were polytheistic, i.e., they believed in many
gods.
Why did Israel have this unique understanding of God?
God chose Israel to play a primary role in revealing his plan of salvation,
including who he is.
What was Abraham’s role in God’s plan of salvation?
God called Abraham, established a covenant with him, and formed a nation
through his son, Isaac.
1. One God (pp. 56-60)
FOCUS QUESTIONS
What is the Shema?
This great prayer of Judaism was repeated by pious Jews several times
each day. This prayer stressed the “oneness” or monotheistic nature of
God.
What is the key to understanding the history of ancient Israel?
The key is the extent to which they were faithful to the covenant that God
had made with them. Sometimes they were faithful and worshiped the one
true God; at other times, they adopted the pagan, polytheistic practices of
neighboring peoples.
1. One God (pp. 56-60)
GUIDED EXERCISE
Conduct a focused reading of the Shema using the following question:
 How can the Shema be understood both as an idea and a way of
implementing that same idea?
1. One God (pp. 56-60)
FOCUS QUESTIONS
What was the significance of a new, divinely given name in the Old
Testament?
Its recipient was to have a new role in God’s plan of Redemption.
Extension: God changed Abram (“exalted father”) to Abraham (“father
of a multitude”).
Before the time of Moses, did Israel know God’s name?
No.
What name did God reveal to Moses?
YHWH, or “I AM WHO I AM.”
1. One God (pp. 56-60)
FOCUS QUESTIONS
Why did Jews not say God’s name aloud?
They refrained out of respect for his name.
What are some descriptive names Israelites used to address God?
They used El Shaddai (Almighty God), El Elyon (All-high God), Adonai
(Lord), and Elohim (God the Creator).
1. One God (pp. 56-60)
GUIDED EXERCISE
Work with a partner to identify three implications of the name
God revealed.
1. One God (pp. 56-60)
HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT
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Study Questions 1-6 (p. 76)
Practical Exercise 3 (p. 77)
Workbook Questions 1-11
Read “The Trinity Foreshadowed” through the sidebar “St. Patrick
and the Blessed Trinity” (pp. 60-66)
1. One God (pp. 56-60)
CLOSURE
Write a paragraph explaining how God blessed the whole world
through Abraham based on what he revealed about himself.
1. One God (pp. 56-60)
ALTERNATIVE ASSESSMENT
Discuss the following questions:
 How is the Sign of the Cross the Shema of Christianity?
 How is it dissimilar to the Shema?
2. Three Divine Persons (pp. 60-66)
ANTICIPATORY SET
Incorporate the Nicene Creed into the Opening Prayer. Free
write for three minutes about something that surprised them about
this formulation of the Faith.
2. Three Divine Persons (pp. 60-66)
BASIC QUESTIONS
 How is the Blessed Trinity foreshadowed in the Old Testament?
 How is the Blessed Trinity revealed in the New Testament?
 How did Greek philosophy help the early Church explain the Blessed Trinity?
 How did heresies help the early Church understand the Blessed Trinity?
KEY IDEAS
 The doctrine of the Blessed Trinity is foreshadowed in the Old Testament.
 The Blessed Trinity is revealed explicitly in the New Testament.
 The early Church developed technical language derived from Greek philosophy to
explain more clearly how God could be both one and three.
 The early Church’s development of her understanding of God―particularly of Jesus
Christ―is in response to heresies. Various persons advocated and promoted views of
God that the Church recognized to be false, so she had to correct them by defining
precisely who is God and, specifically, who is Jesus Christ.
2. Three Divine Persons (pp. 60-66)
FOCUS QUESTIONS
“God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness’” (Gn 1:26). How
does the use of “our” in this passage prefigure the mystery of the Blessed
Trinity?
God spoke in the plural, which seems to hint at a plurality of Persons.
How does the creation of the human family prefigure the Blessed Trinity?
God created human beings to live as a loving community of persons: husband, wife,
and children. In the beginning, God created human beings in his image as a loving
community of persons: husband, wife, and children. This community of persons can
be said to reflect God as a unity of Persons.
How did Abraham’s three visitors prefigure the Blessed Trinity?
When God visited Abraham to tell him he would have a son, he did it in the guise of
three visitors. Eastern iconography in particular has used this encounter as an image
of the Blessed Trinity.
2. Three Divine Persons (pp. 60-66)
GUIDED EXERCISE
Work with a partner to complete the following table about references in the
New Testament to God as a Trinity of Persons.
2. Three Divine Persons (pp. 60-66)
2. Three Divine Persons (pp. 60-66)
FOCUS QUESTION
With respect to the Blessed Trinity, what is the meaning of nature,
person, and relation?
Borrowed from Greek philosophy, nature, or substance or essence, refers to
what the Blessed Trinity is in its being. Person, or hypostasis, designates how
each of the three Persons of the Blessed Trinity is distinct from the other
two. The Persons of the Blessed Trinity are distinct only in relation to each
other, e.g., God the Father is distinct from God the Son only insofar as the
Son is begotten of the Father and the Father begets the Son.
2. Three Divine Persons (pp. 60-66)
FOCUS QUESTIONS
What is the nature of the Blessed Trinity?
God is one in nature in three divine Persons.
How is divine Personhood different from human personhood?
Each human person has a unique essence, different from every other
person, whereas the Persons of the Blessed Trinity are of the same
essence. Extension: The phrase “of the same essence” can be rendered
consubstantial: “I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, / the Only Begotten
Son of God… / consubstantial with the Father” (Nicene Creed).
2. Three Divine Persons (pp. 60-66)
FOCUS QUESTIONS
What is the origin of the terms nature and person in Christian
theology?
They are borrowed from Greek philosophy.
What is the meaning of nature?
Nature is that which makes something what it is. It answers the question,
“What is this?”
2. Three Divine Persons (pp. 60-66)
FOCUS QUESTIONS
With respect to human beings, what is the difference between
nature and person?
Each human person is an individual person; every human person has a
common human nature.
With respect to God, what is the difference between nature and
person?
Each of the three Persons possesses the same divine nature. Each divine
Person shares in the fullness of the one divine nature.
2. Three Divine Persons (pp. 60-66)
FOCUS QUESTIONS
How many divine natures does God have?
There is only one divine nature. Each divine Person shares in the fullness
of the one divine nature.
How many natures does Jesus Christ have?
Because of his Incarnation, Christ has two natures; he retained his divine
nature when he took on human nature.
2. Three Divine Persons (pp. 60-66)
FOCUS QUESTIONS
How are the three Persons of the Blessed Trinity distinct from one
another?
They are distinct only in relation to one another. Extension: God the
Father begets, God the Son is begotten, and God the Holy Spirit
proceeds.
Are the relations among the Persons of the Blessed Trinity
modalities, functions, or activities?
The relations are none of these. The three Persons are inseparable in who
they are and what they do.
2. Three Divine Persons (pp. 60-66)
GUIDED EXERCISE
Think/Pair/Share of Christ’s words, “I am the way . . .” (Jn 14:6-11; p. 66)
using the following question:
 Why was it important for the Church to defend her understanding of the
Person of Jesus Christ?
2. Three Divine Persons (pp. 60-66)
FOCUS QUESTIONS
Why did the early Church define various aspects of the nature of God?
The early Church made precise definitions of the nature of God, particularly
Jesus Christ, because of the prevalence of erroneous beliefs, or heresies.
What was the Arian heresy?
First formulated by a priest named Arius, Arianism held that Jesus was a man
whom God recognized as so holy that he was given a special mission, unusual
powers, and graces, but this Jesus was not God; rather, he was the greatest of all
creatures.
What does the Nicene Creed affirm about Christ?
He is true God and true man.
2. Three Divine Persons (pp. 60-66)
FOCUS QUESTIONS
What were some other heresies of the early centuries of the
Church?
Gnosticism considered Jesus to be neither fully God nor fully man.
Docetism denied Jesus’ humanity. Nestorianism held that Jesus was a
union of two persons, one human and one divine. Monophysitism held
that Jesus had only one nature because his humanity was absorbed into
his divinity.
What do the early centuries of Church history imply about the
Magisterium of the Church?
There was a teaching authority in the Church—even from her
beginning—and it was able to defend vigorously the truths of the Faith.
2. Three Divine Persons (pp. 60-66)
GUIDED EXERCISE
Work with a partner to formulate and answer three Focus Questions about
the sidebar “St. Patrick and the Blessed Trinity” (p. 65).
2. Three Divine Persons (pp. 60-66)
HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT
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Study Questions 7-12 (p. 76)
Practical Exercise 1 (p. 77)
Workbook Questions 12-24
Read “Perfect Attributes of God” through “Conclusion” (pp. 66-72)
2. Three Divine Persons (pp. 60-66)
CLOSURE
Write a paragraph explaining to a child the doctrine of the
Blessed Trinity.
2. Three Divine Persons (pp. 60-66)
ALTERNATIVE ASSESSMENT
Free write for five minutes in response to the following question:
 One of the reasons that God permits evil is so that he can bring a
greater good out of it. How can this idea be said to be true when it
comes to heresies?
3. Divine Attributes (pp. 66-72)
ANTICIPATORY SET
Incorporate “A Prayer to the Blessed Trinity” (p. 71) into the
Opening Prayer, and then free write for two minutes in
response to this prayer.
3. Divine Attributes (pp. 66-72)
BASIC QUESTIONS
 What are God’s transcendence and immanence?
 What are God’s perfections?
 How is the Blessed Trinity involved in our spiritual lives?
KEY IDEAS
 God both transcends human beings in every way and is intimately
present in the life of every person.
 God is Perfect, Pure Spirit, Immutable, Eternal, All-good, Omniscient,
Wise, All-powerful, and Presence.
 Each of the Persons of the Blessed Trinity plays a part in the Christian
life through their indwelling in the soul of every baptized person as in a
temple.
3. Divine Attributes (pp. 66-72)
FOCUS QUESTION
God is Perfect. How does this help people to know more about
him?
God can be described as possessing to an infinite degree certain
characteristics that people experience in life. Thus, God is not just more
good than people are; he is goodness itself. In the same way, he is love
itself, beauty itself, and so on.
3. Divine Attributes (pp. 66-72)
FOCUS QUESTIONS
For what is St. Athanasius most famous?
He defended the divinity of Christ against the Arians, especially at the
First Ecumenical Council of Nicæa.
How serious was the problem of Arianism?
Almost the entire Eastern Church had fallen to Arianism.
3. Divine Attributes (pp. 66-72)
FOCUS QUESTIONS
How was St. Athanasius punished for his orthodoxy?
He endured false charges, which resulted in exile five different times.
Did the First Ecumenical Council of Nicæa solve the problem of
Arianism?
No; although the Council Fathers rejected Arianism just six years after its
outbreak, the heresy continued to gain in popularity after the council.
3. Divine Attributes (pp. 66-72)
GUIDED EXERCISE
Work with a partner to complete the following table about the perfect attributes of
God.
3. Divine Attributes (pp. 66-72)
3. Divine Attributes (pp. 66-72)
FOCUS QUESTIONS
Why is God’s perfection a motive for people to be closer to him?
The closer a person is to God, the more he or she possesses God’s
attributes such as goodness, love, knowledge, and happiness.
What does it mean to say God is transcendent?
He is above and not influenced by the limits of human experience and
knowledge.
What does it mean to say God is immanent?
He is intimately present in the life of every person. Extension: This
immanence extends to everything in creation.
3. Divine Attributes (pp. 66-72)
FOCUS QUESTIONS
When does the Blessed Trinity first become present in the life of a
person?
The Blessed Trinity is infused in the Sacrament of Baptism.
What role does God the Father play in the Christian life?
He sends his Only-Begotten Son to reconcile all people to himself. He
sends his Holy Spirit through the Son to sanctify all people.
What role does God the Son play in the Christian life?
God the Son reveals the Father and offers himself as a Sacrifice for the
redemption of all people, making reconciliation with God possible.
3. Divine Attributes (pp. 66-72)
FOCUS QUESTIONS
What role does God the Holy Spirit play in the Christian life?
God the Holy Spirit reveals the Son and the Father and sanctifies people
with his grace.
According to the Catechism, no. 259, how are the Persons of the
Blessed Trinity at work in every Christian?
Christians glorify God the Father through God the Son in God the Holy
Spirit. They follow God the Son because God the Father draws them and
God the Holy Spirit moves them.
3. Divine Attributes (pp. 66-72)
GUIDED EXERCISE
Think/Pair/Share using the following question:
 What does it mean to say the Triune God dwells in a person?
3. Divine Attributes (pp. 66-72)
GUIDED EXERCISE
Write your own prayer to the Blessed Trinity, saying to each of the
Persons what you most want to say.
3. Divine Attributes (pp. 66-72)
HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT
 Study Questions 13-17 (p. 76)
 Practical Exercises 2 (p. 77)
 Workbook Questions 25-28
3. Divine Attributes (pp. 66-72)
CLOSURE
Based on the content of this lesson, Write a paragraph explaining
why Heaven should be a place of perfect happiness, fulfillment,
and interest.
3. Divine Attributes (pp. 66-72)
ALTERNATIVE ASSESSMENT
Work with a partner to complete Practical Exercise 3 (p. 77).
THE END