Eternal Relations of Origin: Understanding the Trinity's Divine Distinctions
An exploration of how the three persons of the Trinity are distinguished through their eternal relations while maintaining divine unity.
(This post was originally written for my coursework at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary)
The Athanasian Creed begins: "Whoever desires to be saved should above all hold to the catholic faith. Anyone who does not keep it whole and unbroken will doubtless perish eternally. Now this is the catholic faith: That we worship one God in trinity and the trinity in unity, neither blending their persons nor dividing their essence." The doctrine of Eternal Relations of Origin describes the way in which the one God's three persons are distinguished. "The only real distinctions between the three persons are their relations to each other." (Swain, The Trinity: An Introduction, p. 61). The relations of the three persons are the Father's "paternity", the Son's "filiation", and the Spirit's "spiration." The Father eternally begets the son ("paternity"), the Son is eternally begotten of the the Father ("filiation"), the Spirit eternally proceeds from, and is breathed out by, the Father and the Son ("spiration"). The three persons share one substance and no other distinctions other than these relations. A related doctrine that helps describe how certain acts in creation are attributed to one of the persons primarily, while still being true of the other two is called Appropriation.
Since the beginning, the church has dealt with heresies that fail to understand how the three persons are one God. These harmful teachings violate the creed either by "blending the persons or dividing their essence." The doctrine of Eternal Relations of Origin is important to the church and everyday lives of Christians because it preserves the one God's divine simplicity (Swain, p.62) even as it allows for the one immutable, impassible God to be full of life and internal fellowship of relationship. If God were mono-personal and immutable, there would be no relationship in his being, therefore no relationship in creation. His self-glorification would only be self-directed and self-ish. If God were three separate substances, there would be no unity of will, wisdom, decree, and act. We would have a passionate pantheon, capable of change, introducing the possibility of fickleness and fallibility, which would be devastating for the prospect of trust in the will and promises of the gods. But since we serve one God in three persons, distinguished only by their relationship to one another, we can be certain of God's manifold excellencies, that there is no shadow or shifting due to change, that he is the same yesterday today and forever, and, amazingly, in addition to those stable truths, that God is also full of life, light, and (simultaneously self-less and self-glorifying) love.