How is the Blessed Trinity revealed?

Answer 1

A:The Holy Trinity has never been revealed in the literal sense. It was not until at least the second century that Christians began to ponder the notion of God as three persons in one, and it was not until the Council of Nicaea in the fourth century that the concept of the Blessed Trinity was formally adopted by the church.

If the Trinity had been revealed to the early Christians, it would surely not have taken centuries for the church to accept its existence, nor for it to be debated heatedly for the remainder of the fourth century until Emperor Theodosius ruled that Christians must believe in the Trinity. Moreover, if the Trinity was never truly revealed to the early Christians, then it was never truly revealed to those who came after.

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Catholic AnswerThe Blessed Trinity was revealed over time, this revelation started at the very beginning of Genesis (Gensis 1:2 "the Spirit of the Lord") in the Old Testament and reached its completion upon Our Blessed Lord's return to the Father when He send the Holy Spirit. The answer above is talking about the progressive understanding of the Blessed Trinity, it had already been revealed and Our Blessed Lord specifically sends out His Apostles to baptize "in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." (St. Matthew 28:19b) Thus it has been the central mystery of the Catholic faith since the very beginning. "The sending of the person of the Spirit after Jesus' glorification (Cf. Jn 7:39) reveals in its fullness the mystery of the Holy Trinity." (from paragraph 244 of The Catechism of the Catholic Church, second edition, English translation 1994) St. Gregory of Nazaianzuz, the Theologan, esplains this progression in terms of the pedagogy of divine "condescension":

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from The Catechism of the Catholic Church, second edition, English translation 1994

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The Old Testament proclaimed the Father clearly, but the Son more obscurely. The New Testament revealed the Son and gave us a glimpse of the divinity of the Spirit. Now the Spirit dwells among us and grants us a clearer vision of himself. It was not prudent, when the divinity of the Father had not yet been confessed, to proclaim the Son openly and, when the divinity of the Son was not yet admitted, to add the Holy Spirit as an extra burden, to speak somewhat daringly . . . By advancing and progressing "from glory to glory," the light of the Trinity will shine in ever more brilliant rays. (St. Gregory of Nazianzuz, Oratio theol., 5, 26 (=Oratio 31, 26): J.P. Migne, ed., Patrologia Graeca {Paris, 1857-1866} 36)