How can Father, Son and Spirit all be God if there is only one God?
Everyone on this map who takes a position confesses one God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The difference is one of era rather than belief: 21 hold the faith as the Council of Nicaea settled it in 325, while Irenaeus, writing more than a century earlier, states it without that vocabulary. No one here holds that the Son or Spirit is lesser in being, or that the three are one person in three roles.
The 2 views side by side
| One being, three equal personsNicene Trinitarianism | The same faith, before the vocabularyPre-Nicene (proto-Trinitarian) |
|---|---|
| What does it say about Father, Son and Spirit? | |
One God in three persons. Each is fully God, equal and eternal, and none of them is the others. From Westminster Confession, Second London Baptist Confession, The Church of Eleven22 Statement of Faith, Justin Peters, Philip Melanchthon, R.C. Sproul, John MacArthur | Three “points” of faith: the Father who made all things, the Son through whom all things were made, and the Holy Spirit who spoke through the prophets. From Irenaeus of Lyons |
| Did the Son have a beginning? | |
No. Nicaea condemned saying there was a time when the Son did not exist, and Athanasius notes Scripture calls the Word “always” and “eternal,” never “once.” From Council of Nicaea I, Athanasius of Alexandria, Westminster Confession, Jonathan Edwards | No. The Son “did not then begin to exist, being with the Father from the beginning.” From Irenaeus of Lyons |
| What words do they use? | |
One “substance” or essence, and three “persons.” Calvin says the church added such words because some used the Bible’s own words evasively. From John Calvin, Council of Nicaea I, Basil the Great, John Owen, R.C. Sproul | None of the later technical terms. Irenaeus works from Bible texts, linking God’s Word and Wisdom to the Son and the Spirit. From Irenaeus of Lyons |
| Where they differ among themselves | |
Whether the Spirit comes from the Father alone, as the creed of 381 says, or from the Father and the Son, as Westminster, the 1689 Confession and MacArthur say. Some, like Edwards and Eleven22, hold the doctrine without its technical words. From Council of Constantinople I, Westminster Confession, Second London Baptist Confession, John MacArthur, Jonathan Edwards, The Church of Eleven22 Statement of Faith | Nothing to compare: Irenaeus is the only one here. His outline is exact, not vague; only the vocabulary is early. From Irenaeus of Lyons |
| Key passage | |
| Matthew 28:19 | Psalm 33:6 |
| In their own words | |
“That Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, three distinct persons in one divine essence and nature, are one God, who has created heaven and earth.” | “God, the Father... this is the first point of our faith. The second point is: The Word of God, Son of God, Christ Jesus our Lord... The third point is: The Holy Spirit." — Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching 6 (trans. J. Armitage Robinson, via CCEL” |
| On this map | |
| 22 figures | 1 figure |
Who holds which view
13 other figures on the map have no entry on this doctrine. That means nobody has assessed them on it — not that they hold no view.
One being, three equal persons
One substance, three persons, co-equal and co-eternal
The same faith, before the vocabulary
Trinitarian in substance but pre-Nicene and terminologically undeveloped
How to read a cell — sourcing tiers, blanks, and why some figures are never quoted
A cell marked quoted carries the figure's own words — 359 of 518of them, about 69%. Where there is no quotation the claim is still sourced, and the tier says how far. 3 figures carry no quotation at all, for reasons that differ: a living author cannot be quoted at length under copyright where Calvin can, and a figure at the standard account tier has simply had no primary-source pass yet. 3 of them state their own reason on their page.
A state label ending in ° was read from the stance, tier and note rather than stated on the map. See themethodology.