What Is the Holy Trinity?

The Holy Trinity is the central Christian confession that the one God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Orthodox Christians do not believe in three gods. They confess one God in three divine Persons, or Hypostases: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

One God, three divine Persons

The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are distinct Persons, yet they are not divided or separate gods. Each is fully divine. Orthodox worship therefore glorifies the Trinity as consubstantial and undivided.

The Father

The Father is confessed as the source and fountainhead within the Holy Trinity. He is eternally Father and is never without His Son and His Holy Spirit.

The Son

The Son of God is eternally begotten of the Father, not created. The eternal Son became man as Jesus Christ for our salvation. Orthodox Christians therefore confess Jesus Christ as truly God and truly man.

The Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is divine, eternal, and life-giving. In the Nicene Creed used by the Orthodox Church, the Holy Spirit is confessed as proceeding from the Father and as worshiped and glorified together with the Father and the Son.

Can the Trinity be completely explained?

No human comparison can fully explain the mystery of God's inner life. Analogies such as water, fire, or the sun can easily create misunderstandings if taken too literally. Orthodox theology therefore begins with what God has revealed and with the Church's experience of the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit.

The Trinity in Orthodox life

Faith in the Holy Trinity is not only an abstract doctrine. Orthodox prayers and services repeatedly glorify the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Christians are baptized in the name of the Holy Trinity, and the sign of the Cross is commonly accompanied by the words, "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."