As you are aware I am sure, the doctrine of the trinity occurred years after, and the debate has raged on.
Will highlights a point which I think is fundamental to Penguin's question. Whilst I would say that is true from the viewpoint of a doctrinal and dogmatic definition, it is nevertheless the case that from the outset, the teaching of the Church was entirely Trinitarian. Baptism in a Trinitarian formula was in place before the close of the first century.
Many might find this questionable, and perhaps a separate thread should be considered to discuss the issue, but in focussing on Penguin's question primarily, certain distinctions should be understood.
The Gospels formed the kernel of the
evangelium, "the Good News", preached to the world at large, a preaching aimed at a non-Christian audience. Another term used is
kerygma, meaning "proclamation, announcement, preaching". Related words are
kerux "herald, preacher" and
kerusso, "announce, make known, proclaim aloud, preach".
For Biblical scholars (famously the Protestant C. H. Dodd, amongst others),
kerygma is distinguished from
didache, this latter the "doctrine" or "teaching" that formed an ongoing catechesis of the initiate, the catechumen. Kerygma means the initial gospel proclamation designed to introduce a person to Christ and to appeal for conversion. Didache refers to the doctrinal and ethical teaching of the church into which a person needs to be grounded once they become a Christian. Here the theology comes into play, but here also, the catechumen was initiated into the
disciplina aracana "the Discipline of the Secret" or "Secret Teaching" (as spoken of by Clement, Gregory Nazianzen, Cyril of Jerusalem... )
Bearing this in mind, there is another aspect that should be considered.
"The Fathers of the Church distinguish between theology (
theologia) and economy (
oikonomia). "Theology" refers to the mystery of God's inmost life within the Blessed Trinity and "economy" to all the works by which God reveals Himself and communicates His life. Through the oikonomia the theologia is revealed to us; but conversely, the theologia illuminates the whole oikonomia. God's works reveal who He is in Himself; the mystery of His inmost being enlightens our understanding of all His works. So it is, analogously, among human persons. A person discloses himself in his actions, and the better we know a person, the better we understand his actions."
(CCC 236)
In traditional Christianity there is the 'economic Trinity' and the 'theological Trinity'. Penguin's question addresses the theological Trinity, but the point I wish to stress is that the economic Trinity is there, and evidently there, in Scripture. It is most evident in the Johannine and Pauline literature, but it is amply evident in Acts and the life of the Jerusalem Church. Thus we have two principle Christian communities, Jerusalem and Ephesus, who are Trinitarian in foundation and teaching. This teaching, part of the
sacra doctrina, was an opening up (on my course we call it 'unpacking') of the
oikonomia, in a continual process of what we call today 'spiritual formation'.
Will's point effectively splits this discussion in two.
We can pursue Penguin's line of questioning, and the development of Trinitarian theology (itself inseparable from Christology), but we should not fall into the error of assuming there was no Trinitarian economy — there was and it is most apparent.
Look at it this way: the Christological disputes continued in the life of the Church up until the seventh century and beyond — but that does not mean the Church ever doubted that it is in Christ that we are saved. Who He is and indeed how He is was the pursuit of the theologian ... but for the faithful the simple facts were He lived, He died, and He rose from the dead, and in so doing we might rise with Him.
Likewise the Holy Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit, there is no Church, there is no Christ — the Christian was in no doubt about that. John 7:39, 14:16; 15:26; 16:13; Acts 2, Acts 10 ... Indeed, the Church was founded by Christ, on Peter, but it was inaugurated by the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.
The Early Christian believed according to the rule as told by Irenaeus, himself a disciple of a disciple of John — as the Son reveals the Father, so the Spirit reveals the Son.
To Penguin directly — I would say look to distinguish between the
oikonomia and the
theologia — I would suggest you're trying to make the latter explain itself, which is far from easy, and all but impossible without reference to numerous texts and commentaries. Rather I would look first to the
oikonomia ... and the
theologia will reveal itself therein.
It's in the 'why' of the Cross that your question is answered, I think. We can pursue that aspect, if it helps ...
Failing that, get hold of a copy of "The Christian Trinity in History" by Bertrand de Margerie SJ — it's out of print, but I managed to hunt one down.
Thomas
