On the Trinity? "J. Mckenzie's 'Dictionary of the Bible'"

 On the Trinity? "J. Mckenzie's 'Dictionary of the Bible'"

Pat I.

"Trinity. The trinity of God is defined by the [Roman Catholic] Church as the belief that in God are three persons who subsist in one nature. The belief as so defined was reached only in the 4th and 5th centuries AD and hence is not explicitly and formally a biblical belief. The trinity of persons within the unity of nature is defined in terms of "person" and "nature" which are G[ree]k philosophical terms; actually the terms do not appear in the Bible. In the N[ew] T[estament] the Father is "the God" (G[ree]k - ho theos), and Jesus is "the Son of God" (ho kyrios tou theou). The Spirit is "the spirit of the God" or "the holy spirit," in this context a synonymous term. Deity [in the Bible] is conceived not in the G[ree]k [philosophical term] of nature but rather as a level of being ... What is less clear about the Spirit [in the Bible] is His personal reality: often He is mentioned in language in which His personal reality is not explicit. . . . The 0[ld]T[estament] , does not contain suggestions or foreshadowing of the trinity of persons." -Dictionary of the Bible, John McKenzie, S.i., 1965, pp. 899, 900.

Here are some quotes from Mckenzie. These statements are taken from his book entitled Light On The Gospels (Chicago, ILL: Thomas More, 1976).  Page numbers are in parentheses.

"The relation of the Father and Son as set forth in [John 5:17ff] is the foundation of later developments in Trinitarian and Christological belief and theology; it is not identical with these later developments. Much of the discourse seems to be a refutation of the charge that Jesus claimed to be equal to God. This is met by affirming that the Son can do nothing independently of the Father. Later theology found it necessary to refine this statement by a distinction between person and nature which John did not know" (Mckenzie 187).

"The New Testament writers could not have said that Jesus Christ is God: God meant the Father. They could and did say that Jesus is God's Son" (Mckenzie 188).

"it is altogether impossible to deduce the Nicene Creed, and still less the dogmatic statements of the Council of Chalcedon from the Synoptic Gospels . . . The word "consubstantial" had not even been invented yet: far from defining it, the evangelists could not even have spelled it. No, they did not know and they did not care" (Mckenzie 188).