While the Trinity is certainly mysterious, it’s not quite as incomprehensible as we are often led to believe. Analogies like the clover leaf; an egg; water in liquid, ice, and steam seem to fall short of a helpful explanation. Although of course, I find them helpful in explaining the Trinity to my seven-year-old. But beyond that, I find the monarchy of the Father immensely helpful in understanding the Trinity. It might not answer all related questions, but it’s a good place to start.
As the name suggests, “The Monarchy of the Father” highlights the unique position of the Father in the Trinity as having supreme authority, power, and governance (click here for detailed lectures). Here there is a co-existence of contradictory ideas where the Father is said to be the spring of divinity, and yet there are three co-eternal persons that share the same essence and co-equality, existing in the community without subordination. The British theologian, Robert Letham, explains it well when he writes on Tertullian’s reflection on the Trinity, “If the monarch has a son, and the rule is shared, it remains a monarchy since the two are inseparable. In the case of God, the Son, and the Spirit are so closely joined with the Father in his substance … that his monarchy cannot be overthrown. The monarchy is preserved in the Son, since it was committed to him by the Father.”[1] Letham continues to say that the Son goes forth from the Father like a beam of light from the sun, and the Holy Spirit is like the apex of that ray of light. All this without any suggestion of an inferior status or inequality with the Father, because the Father is their source.[2] Neither the Son nor the Spirit are created, nor are they angelic ministers to God. No, they are themselves God, yet they proceed from the Father. Although the Father is the monarch, it should not be understood that there are three distinct beings in the Trinity, which would of course be polytheism (many gods).[3] But they are one being in three persons.
Christians believe in the Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Together they share equality and unity in essence. Yet, even so, there are diverse emphases and interpretations of the Trinity and how it is organized in the Godhead. As you know by now, I am arguing for the monarchy of the Father.
Looking at Scripture, I believe the following verses provide teaching on the monarchy of the Father, and yet I know that others may interpret them differently. Jesus says in John 14:28b, “…I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I” (emphasis mine). The Apostle Paul writes, “Yet for us, there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist” (1 Corinthians 8:6). And a few chapters later he proclaims, “But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God” (1 Corinthians 11:3; emphasis mine). And then we have this unusual passage where Paul says, “…then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all” (1 Corinthians 15:24-28; emphasis mine). Unusual though it might be, in light of a previous comment I made, one ought to understand “subjection” here as Jesus finishing the redemptive work for humanity and his recognition of his Father’s supreme authority. But Paul makes it quite clear that Jesus is God when he writes, “who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped” (Philippians 2:6). And then in 1 Timothy 2:5, Paul says that “there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (emphasis mine).
In these passages you get a strong sense of the monarchy of the Father, and perhaps even that the Son is lesser than the Father. But not so fast, the teaching of Scripture is emphatic that Jesus Christ is not only God but that he is equal with the Father, even though the Son is not the monarch (for Jesus’s divinity see, Isaiah 9:6, John 1:1; 10:30; 20:28, Romans 9:5, Philippians 2:5-6, Colossians 2:9, Titus 2:13, Hebrews 1:8, Revelation 1:8; see also Is Jesus God?).
The Monarchy of the Father is evident in scripture, but it was also taught by the Church Fathers who upheld the supremacy of the Father. It continues to be an important feature in trinitarian theology because (1) it helps us emphasize the significance of God the Father, (2) it protects us against the heretical view of modalism, which argues that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are all different modes of one God, rather than distinct persons of the Godhead, and (3) it helps us maintain the unity of the Trinity. The Monarchy of the Father is not a novel doctrine, it was taught in early Christianity and even the Council of Nicaea affirmed it in 325 AD in its creed.[4] Evident in the Nicene Creed, the Father is not greater than the Son or the Holy Spirit. They are co-equal and co-eternal. Yet, the Father is the source of the Trinity and it is he who sustains it. The Monarchy of the Father helps us understand part of the mystery of the Trinity, yet despite this, it’s still; enigmatic and mysterious to the human mind, and so it should be. As Beau Branson says in his lectures, the Monarchy of the Father shows that the Trinity is not a mystery that cannot be understood, but a mystery that can be known through faith.[5]
Notes:
[1] Letham, Letham. 2004. The Holy Trinity: In Scripture, History, Theology, and Worship. Phillipsburg: P&R Publishing, 98.
[2] Letham, The Holy Trinity, 101.
[3] Letham, The Holy Trinity, 150–51.
[4] “I believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible. I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages. God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father; through him all things were made. … I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father” (Nicene Creed).
[5] Branson, Beau. 2023. “Media Appearances,” Beau Branson, http://beaubranson.com/media-appearances/.
Image: Mosaic tiles depicting the Most Holy Trinity are seen in the Trinity Dome at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington. (CNS photo/Tyler Orsburn), available here: https://www.simplycatholic.com/the-apostles-creed/
Quite helpful, simple without being simplistic and thus very clear. Thank you.