Author: Richard

[Click here for the companion YouTube video] QUESTION: The prologue of the Gospel of John explicitly says that, in the beginning, the Word was with God and that the Word was God. But John makes no mention of the Holy Spirit also being God, although the Holy Spirit is mentioned many times in the Gospel. Read more

[Click here for the companion YouTube video] QUESTION: Most Christians believe that they are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, resulting in a transition from being spiritually dead to being spiritually alive. But there are also But there are also verses such as Galatians 2:20, where Paul says, “Christ liveth in me.” In what sense does Read more

[Click here for the companion YouTube video] QUESTION: The doctrine of perichoresis teaches that each of the Persons of the Trinity indwell the other two. Do you think that the entirety of each Person indwells the other two, or just a portion? Does the belief in one or the other of these views have any Read more

[Click here for the companion YouTube video] QUESTION: The Father of the Trinity is the father of the Son, begets the son, and spirates the Holy Spirit. Are these three separate things, or in some sense the same thing? THOMAS AQUINAS (c.1225–1274). Thomas was from the Italian town of Aquino and is typically referred to Read more

[Click here for the companion YouTube video] QUESTION: The original Nicene Creed states that we are to believe in “the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of life, who proceeds from the Father.” Later, the Western churches added “and the Son” to the end of this statement, so that the Holy Ghost “proceeds from the Read more

[Click here for the companion YouTube video] QUESTION: What do you think that “begotten” means when the Bible describes Christ as the Father’s only begotten Son? What do you think that “proceed” means when the Bible describes the Holy Spirit as proceeding from the Father? THE CAPPADOCIAN FATHERS. The Cappadocian Fathers are Basil the Great Read more

[Click here for the companion YouTube video] QUESTION: What does it mean to say that the Father is in the Son, that the Son is in the Father, that the Son is in the Holy Spirit, and all other indwelling combinations? Is this indwelling an important aspect of the triune God? ATHANASIUS ALEXANDRIA (c.296–373). Athanasius Read more

[Click here for the companion YouTube video] QUESTION: The Bible states that the Son is begotten of God the Father. Origen of Alexandria agrees. But he also states that the Son is eternally generated by an active act of the Father’s will. Do you think that, with respect to the Son, the concept of begotten Read more

[Click here for the companion YouTube video] QUESTION: In the NT, Jesus makes statements  such as “my Father is greater than I” (Jn 14:28), “my will, but thine, be done” (Lk 22:43), and “no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Read more

THE TRINITY SERIES: PART 1 [Click here for the companion YouTube video] QUESTION: Do you think that a good way to illustrate the Trinity is the Son and the Holy Spirit being the hands of the Father? Do you think that a good way to describe how the Trinity creates is with the Father commanding, Read more