Once again Robert Louis Wilken’s work on, “The Spirit of Early Christian Thought: Seeking the Face of God,” has both sparked thoughts and memories of precious truths. Consider this nugget:
The place to begin the discussion of the doctrine of the Trinity is the Resurrection of Christ. This may seem surprising. In the standard accounts of the history of Christian thought the Resurrection is usually discussed as a topic in itself, for example, as part of eschatology, the last things and future hope, and in relation to the understanding of salvation.Of course one might say that the Resurrection of Christ is implicit in everything Christians do and believe. The Eucharist is an empty ritual if Christ is not risen, and prayer to Christ is otiose if Christ is not alive. The New Testament affirms that belief in Christ as God is directly related to his Resurrection. At the beginning of his epistle to the Romans, Saint Paul says that Christ was ‘designated Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead’ (Rom. 1:4).
How do we know that God is both One in one sense, and, in the words of Origen, also 2 or more? Hilary of Poitiers answers that the Resurrection transfigures everything we know about the declaration that God is One. “When Jesus came and stood among the disciples and put his finger in his side, Thomas said, ‘My Lord and my God!’ When confronted by the risen Christ one does not say, ‘How interesting,’ but ‘My Lord and my God!’”
The Orthodox (having recently celebrated the Theophany) would say that the Trinity was first revealed on the Baptism of our Lord, and again on Mt. Tabor at the Transfiguration.
Paul, thank you for your comment. Certainly the Scriptures display the Trinity prior to the Resurrection, and reveal God as Trinity, as you mentioned, before the Resurrection as well. Regarding you observation, would you be willing to unpack the Transfiguration angle?
It is also interesting to note, that as for the Christ being attributed as the One God, and Jesus as the Christ, that in Second Temple Judaism, the question was not as the Westminster Divines stated, “What is God?” but “Who is God?” To which the people of Israel would have declared, 1) Creator of all things, and 2) Ruler of all things. If you fit these two personal criterion, you are God. According to Richard Bauckham’s “God Crucified,” this was what the writers of the New Testament were trying to make clear, especially the apostle Paul and the gospel of John.