Institutes Book 1, Chapter 8: In Scripture, From the Creation Onward, We Are Taught One Essence of God, Which Contains Three Persons. (III)

Section 14: The Divinity of the Spirit is Demonstrated in His Work.

Having shown the divinity of the Son, Calvin now moves to showing the divinity of the Spirit. This proof begins with the work that the Spirit does, starting in Genesis 1:2, where the Spirit of God tends to creation, hovering over the depths. "It is the Spirit who, everywhere diffused, sustains all things, causes them to grow, and quickens them in heaven and in earth. Because he is circumscribed by no limits, he is excepted from the category of creatures; but in transfusing into all things his energy, and breathing into them essence, life, and movement, he is indeed plainly divine." The same can be said for his work of regeneration, which clearly shows his divinity as well.

Section 15: Express Testimonies for the Deity of the Spirit.

Scripture does not refrain from using the name 'God' of the Spirit. Paul, Calvin shows, "concludes that we are temples of God from the fact that the Spirit dwells in us." It is this indwelling by the Spirit which causes us to be temples of God--by his Spirit God dwells in this temple. Calvin then goes on to show that speaking of the Spirit means also speaking of God, and then returns to the creative power of the Spirit to show his divinity.

Section 16: Oneness.

Having shown that both the Son and the Spirit are true God, Calvin now proceeds to show that although there are three Persons, there is still only One God. To show this, Calvin simply looks to baptism, as Paul closely connects baptism, faith, and God. Baptism is one, so the faith into which we are baptized is one, and therefore the God in whom we have such faith is one. This is made clear when Christ commands his disciples to make disciples of all nations, "baptizing them into the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28:19)--notice how 'name' is singular, but there are three names mentioned. "Hence it is quite clear that in God's essence reside three persons in whom one God is known."

"Therefore, since that there is one God, not more, is regarded as a settled principle, we conclude that Word and Spirit are nothing else than the very essence of God."

Section 17: Threeness.

Although God is one in essence, yet "Scripture sets forth a distinction of the Father from the Word, and of the Word from the Spirit." These words imply a real distinction, but without implying a division. Each Person has a distinct character from the other Persons, but this does in no way mean that there are three Gods, but One God. We cannot make the Father, Son and Spirit into the same Person, just as we cannot make the One God into three gods.

Section 18: Difference of Father, Son, and Spirit.

Calvin begins this section cautiously: he is not going to us an analogy because no analogy will work and he does not want to lead people astray. But there is one way in which we can understand the difference between the three Persons. "It is this: to the Father is attributed the beginning of activity, and the fountain and wellspring of all things; to the Son, wisdom, counsel, and the ordered disposition of all things; but to the Spirit is assigned the power and efficacy of that activity." But we must understand that when we speak of God, we are in the category of eternity, and so speaking of 'before' and 'after' is not perfect, but there is in a sense such an order. "For the mind of each human being is naturally inclined to contemplate God first, then the wisdom coming forth from him, and lastly the power whereby he executes the decrees of his plan."

Section 19: The Relationship of Father, Son, and Spirit.

Even this distinction does not destroy the unity of God, for in each Person the whole divine nature is understood, but in each Person there exists their own peculiar quality. This, however, is beyond us, and we should stop with simply this idea rather than "wander through many evanescent speculations."

Section 20: The Triune God.

"Therefore, let those who dearly love soberness, and who will be content with the measure of faith, receive in brief form what is useful to know: namely, that, when we profess to believe in one God, under the name of God is understood a single, simple essence, in which we comprehend three persons, or hypostases. Therefore, whenever the name of God is mentioned without particularization, there are designated no less the Son and the Spirit than the Father; but where the Son is joined to the Father, then the relation of the two enters in; and so we distinguish among the persons. But because the peculiar qualities in the persons carry an order within them, e.g., in the Father is the beginning and the source, so often as mention is made of the Father and the Son together, or the Spirit, the name of God is peculiarly applied to the Father. In this way, unity of essence is retained, and a reasoned order is kept, which yet takes nothing away from the deity of the Son and the Spirit."

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Reflection: Speaking about the Trinity is, to say the least, confusing. Previously Calvin had admitted that theological terms, like Trinity, were useful in summarizing clearly the truth of Scripture. Now we see how useful it is, since the doctrine itself is anything but simple and clear to us. This is not to say that it is not clearly understood from Scripture--Calvin has shown that it is--but that we as finite human beings cannot grasp such teachings because we have no point of comparison.

I think Calvin's closing of Section 19 is good to keep in mind: let's stop with what Scripture says about the doctrine of the Trinity, lest we wander through speculations. It would be easy to think wrong things about such a doctrine, even if we try to remain true to Scripture. Since there is no analogy that perfectly describes the Trinity, there is no way we can grasp it in our minds. We can only believe this doctrine in awe and humility, praising God (Father, Son and Spirit) for revealing such majestic mysteries to us, finite and sinful people.

In my studies in philosophy, that is one thing that made things easier, the fact that there is a limit to what we can understand. Many people in the world today do not realize this--there is around us a firm faith in our own faculty of reason. Many people reject faith, especially the Christian faith, because it doesn't fit their logic or reason. What they do not realize is that it is beyond logic and reason, not illogical and irrational. At some point we have to realize that we do not know everything, and so cannot expect to understand everything, but if we do not understand it, that does not make it any less true, it just makes it wonderful and mysterious.