The Trinity
- F01.1 One God, three co-equal, consubstantial persons: consensus from T1 (deity of Christ) to the councils (high)
- F01.2 Father, Son and Spirit are really distinct persons, not modes of one person: consensus from Era II (against Praxeas and Sabellius) (high)
- F01.3 The Son is eternally begotten of the Father, not made: Nicaea against Arius; consensus thereafter (high)
From the study it came from: Agree on the Trinity; on the filioque Scripture's wording matches the Eastern formula.
Two separate measures, shown side by side; neither is combined with the other (confidence-weighted, out of 4; counts show how many of this doctrine's 3 questions each rests on; ⚠ marks coverage more than 10 points below the median, a less certain rank). This doctrine is first-order (tier weight 3). How scoring works · Scripture and tradition · Glossary · Every score with its citation
Closeness to Scripture
Closeness to the fathers
Charts: closeness to the fathers by question, and timeline
- c. 110 Ignatius F01.1
- c. 110 Ignatius F01.3
- c. 205 Tertullian F01.1
- c. 205 Tertullian F01.2
- c. 205 Tertullian F01.2
- c. 325 Nicaea I F01.1, F01.3
- c. 325 Nicaea I F01.3
- c. 381 Constantinople I F01.1
- 1439 Council of Florence Catholic
- 1646 Westminster Confession Presbyterian
- 1672 Confession of Dositheus Orthodox
F1 · The Trinity
One God in three co-equal, co-eternal persons.
Tier: First-order (scoring weight 3). How the tiers were set: theological triage. Site structure: structure.
Questions
- F01.1 One God in three persons (was
trinity/T1) - F01.2 Are the three persons really distinct (against modalism)?
- F01.3 Is the Son eternally begotten of the Father, not made?
Verdicts and trace
F01.1 · One God in three persons
| Question | Verdict | Confidence | Reasoning | Key sources | Scripture (benchmark) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F01.1 | One God, three co-equal, consubstantial persons: consensus from T1 (deity of Christ) to the councils | High | F01.1.1 · F01.1.3 weighing | ignatius-tri-s1 · tertullian-tri-s1 · nicaea-i-tri-s1 · constantinople-i-tri-s1 | F01.1.4: high |
F01.2 · Are the three persons really distinct (against modalism)?
| Question | Verdict | Confidence | Reasoning | Key sources | Scripture (benchmark) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F01.2 | Father, Son and Spirit are really distinct persons, not modes of one person: consensus from Era II (against Praxeas and Sabellius) | High | F01.2.1 · F01.2.3 weighing | tertullian-f01x-s1 · tertullian-f01x-s2 | F01.2.4: high |
F01.3 · Is the Son eternally begotten of the Father, not made?
| Question | Verdict | Confidence | Reasoning | Key sources | Scripture (benchmark) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F01.3 | The Son is eternally begotten of the Father, not made: Nicaea against Arius; consensus thereafter | High | F01.3.1 · F01.3.3 weighing | nicaea-i-tri-s1 · nicaea-i-f02-s2 · ignatius-f02-s2 | F01.3.4: high |
Post-750 development
Which of this doctrine’s questions each tradition stays closest to, or departs from. Each row links to the tradition’s notes.
| Tradition | Closest to the fathers on | Departs or sharpens on |
|---|---|---|
| Catholic | F01.1, F01.2, F01.3 | — |
| Orthodox | F01.1, F01.2, F01.3 | — |
| Oriental Orthodox | F01.1, F01.2, F01.3 | — |
| Lutheran | F01.1, F01.2, F01.3 | — |
| Anglican | F01.1, F01.2, F01.3 | — |
| Presbyterian | F01.1, F01.2, F01.3 | — |
| Reformed Baptist | F01.1, F01.2, F01.3 | — |
| General Baptist | F01.1, F01.2, F01.3 | — |
| Anabaptist | F01.1, F01.2, F01.3 | — |
Origin
Plan, overall verdict and verification status of the former trinity category (shared with the other doctrines that came from it)
The Trinity and the filioque
Method and conventions: docs/conventions.md. Reasoning: trinity reasoning. Traditions’ sources: confessional sources.
1. Plan
Questions: T1 one God in three co-equal, consubstantial persons; T2 the procession of the Holy Spirit (from the Father, through the Son, or ‘and the Son’). Scripture: Matt 28:19; John 1:1; 10:30; 14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7, 14–15; Gal 4:6; 2 Cor 13:14. Fathers: Ignatius, Ephesians 7; Tertullian, Against Praxeas 2; Nicaea (325); the Creed of Constantinople (381); Gregory Nazianzen, Oration 31; Augustine, On the Trinity XV.26; John of Damascus, Exact Exposition I.8. Later: Toledo (589), the Photian controversy, Florence (1439), Nerses Shnorhali.
2. Verdicts and trace
Weighed under the source-proximity principle: Scripture first, then the father tiers T1–T4.
3. Post-750 development
4. Overall verdict
T1 / F01.1–F01.3: universal consensus on the Trinity, personal distinction, and eternal generation; all nine agree. T2 (filioque, S15): Scripture states procession from the Father; the fathers split East/West, and the creed’s 381 text lacks filioque. On T2 the Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox fit Scripture best; Western traditions follow Augustine’s strand.
5. Verification status
Florence, Toledo, Dositheus, AC I, WCF II.3 and the Orthodox Creed’s trinitarian article are cited from standard editions, not rechecked here (Art. V and 1689 2.3 standard; Art. I/V text available in the cached Articles).