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Understanding the Concept of Trinity: A Contextual Perspective

27 Juli 2020   13:47 Diperbarui: 27 Juli 2020   13:48 77
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Many assumptions suggest that the Christian Faith is accused of being unreasonable with the concept of trinity and with the simplification of the view that  in the Christianity doctrine is a another way of politheism that belief in three Gods. This view arises because of the lack of the context of the debate regarding the doctrine of the Trinity in Christian theology. Likewise, the debate about the divine status in Christianity is inseparable from the debate about the status of Jesus in its history. As understood in the context of history, Jesus who was seen as God never taught the concept of the Trinity.

Thus, understanding the context of trinity theology must address the context of the birth of Jesus in the Jewish tradition. There is a consensus of sorts on a basic outline of Jesus' life. Most scholars agree that Jesus was baptized by John, debated with fellow Jews on how best to live according to God's will, engaged in healings and exorcisms, gathered male and female followers in Galilee, went to Jerusalem, and was crucified by Roman soldiers during the governorship of Pontius Pilate (26-36 CE). But, to use the old clich, the devil is in the details (Levine 2006, 4) .

In the development of Christian Christology, the doctrine of the Trinity was influenced by the assimilation of the idea of Logos / Wisdom derived from Helllenistic Judaism (Collins 2016, 25).  In its development, Christian theology continues to evolve from time to time. The dynamics that occur are among others as a form of Christian response to the development of the world and the growth of life that occurs. The dynamics of theology always encounter a frictional struggle, both individual and institutional. In the historical setting, there is an endless process of dialectics between the various denominations and the mainstream in Christianity about this Trinity.

In general, the Trinity is defined as the unity of the Three. What is meant by the concept of trinity is the recognition of one God which consists of three elements, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, not the concept of polytheism that confesses all three as God. Instead, Christian believers acknowledge that they are monotheists.Christian affirmation of God's unity begins with the Jewish monotheistic confession, "Hear, O Israel: The LORD is our God, the LORD alone"(Hoover 2009, 7).

The doctrine of the Trinity began to be developed by Paul. In the year 57 AD Paul wrote "there is no other God, but the One For us there is only one God, the Father and one Jesus Christ." Then in AD 96 Clement I a bishop of Rome, wrote "Christ is extolled by God and the Apostles (apostle) is sent by Christ. "The polemical essence in the concept of Trinity really is the difference of views about the essence of God in the Father himself and the Holy Spirit. In the Council of Nicaea it was decided that there is one God with three persons, the Father, the Son and the Spirit Holy.

Because so many Christian schools emerged decide to make the first consensus in Nicea and Constantinople. In the Christian tradition, Jesus' divinity discussion has a long history, giving birth to two councils: the Council of Nicae in 325 and Chalcedon in 451. Based on the above explanation, the Trinity is the main doctrine of Christianity that was officially agreed upon by the Fathers of the Church in 325 at the Ecumenical Council in Nicea and reaffirmed at the Ecumenical Council in Constantinople in 381. Both councils were meant to discuss the religious dissent of the divine nature of Jesus. In the Council of Nicaea, it was successfully formulated that the Lordship of Jesus in one with the Father had been the decision of the council of Nicea. Trinitarian doctrine is rather the result of errant interpretation, the impositions of the Council of Nicaea (Hoover 2009, 5).

Meanwhile, the Chalcedony Council held in 451, formulated the true and biblical doctrine of Christology that should be accepted and believed by the church or Christians to this day. The Council of Chalsedon decided and decreed that Christ had only one person and two attributes. He is the true God and true man together that he has the nature of God and the nature of Man. The council addressed mainly two opposing views of Monophysitism which emphasized the unity of the character of Jesus and Nestorianism which called Jesus the two characters: Divine and Human (Sunquist 2004). The Council of Chalsedon took the middle path: Jesus had two united characters within him, and this is what the Christian faith has up to now.

The debate on trinity continues dynamically. To understand each of the Christian points of view of the Trinity shows that each argument has its own theological basis. However, understanding the doctrine of trinity theology in the current context is also worth considering the link between the doctrine of trinity and political theology. This notion was put forward by Kathryn Tanner (2004). According to him, in the contemporary discourse of Christian theology, faith does not merely deal with matters that are related to God alone, but also to political issues. Tanner proposes his first two arguments, the fact that Christianity is basically not just taking care of faith or faith alone but also the way people live in their daily activities. Second, theology essentially also comments on social and political issues. Therefore, he proposed a trinity-based political theology as an insight and idea underlying the contemporary denominational theme of today's ages such as egalitarianism and inclusive society (319-320).

 Based on the above description, the development of Christian theology concerns the issue of religious doctrine still evolve over century. From the second century to the nineteenth century, the doctrine of Christology continued to color a series of debates and doctrinal polemics. To conclude it, I see the debatable aspects include: firstly, of the deity and humanity of Christ, secondly, of the nature and deity of Christ, thirdly, concerning the existence and the divinity of Christ. This difference needs to be seen in two aspects: the advantages and disadvantages. On the positive side, the Christian theological debate on the Trinity proves that the discussion of theological issues in Christianity is fluid. In the current context, discussions that lead to theological aspects are often forgotten in everyday life. As a result, truth claims against one particular religion become absolute, giving rise to an exclusive view of another. Conversely, on the negative side, the continuous development of Christian theology in politics can also cause humanity's energy to be depleted only to question things that are truly beyond the reach of human beings. To examine the trinity in Christianity has inspired the birth of comparative theology with Abrahamic religions such as Islam and Judaism. However, the basic principle that must always be emphasized in relation to the comparative theology is the attempt to put a pluralist attitude into looking at every difference.

 

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