The Trinity

The form in which this doctrine lies in the Bible, and in which it
enters into the faith of the Church universal, includes substantially
the following particulars.

1. There is one only living and true God, or divine Being. The
   religion of the Bible stands opposed not only to Atheism, but to all
   forms of polytheism. The Scriptures everywhere assert that Jehovah
   alone is God. (Deut. vi. 4.) "The Lord our God is one Lord." "I am the
   first, and I am the last; and besides me there is no God." (Is. xliv.
   6.) "Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well." (James
   ii. 19.) The Decalogue, which is the foundation of the moral and
   religious code of Christianity, as well as of Judaism, has as its
   first and greatest commandment., "Thou shalt have no other God before
   me." No doctrine, therefore, can possibly be true which contradicts
   this primary truth of natural as well as of revealed religion.
   
2. In the Bible all divine titles and attributes are ascribed equally
   to the Father, Son, and Spirit. The same divine worship is rendered to
   them. The one is as much the object of adoration, love, confidence,
   and devotion as the other. It is not more evident that the Father is
   God, than that the Son is God; nor is the deity of the Father and Son
   more clearly revealed than that of the Spirit.
   
3. The terms Father, Son, and Spirit do not express different
   relations of God to his creatures. They are not analogous to the terms
   Creator, Preserver, and Benefactor, which do express such relations.
   The Scriptural facts are, (a.) The Father says I; the Son says I; the
   Spirit says I. (b.) The Father says Thou to the Son, and the Son says
   Thou to the Father; and in like manner the Father and the Son use the
   pronouns He and Him in reference to the Spirit. (c.) The Father loves
   the Son; the Son loves the Father; the Spirit testifies of the Son.
   The Father, Son, and Spirit are severally subject and object. They act
   and are acted upon, or are the objects of action. Nothing is added to
   these facts when it is said that the Father, Son, and Spirit are
   distinct persons; for a person is an intelligent subject who can say
   I, who can be addressed as Thou, and who can act and can be the object
   of action. The summation of the above facts is expressed in the
   proposition, The one divine. Being subsists in three persons, Father,
   Son, and Spirit. This proposition adds nothing to the facts
   themselves; for the facts are, (1.) That there is one divine Being.
   (2.) The Father, Son, and Spirit are divine. (3.) The Father, Son, and
   Spirit are, in the sense just stated, distinct persons. (4.)
   Attributes being inseparable from substance, the Scriptures, in saying
   that the Father, Son, and Spirit possess the same attributes, say they
   are the same in substance; and, if the same in substance, they are
   equal in power and glory.
   
4. Notwithstanding that the Father, Son, and Spirit are the same in
   substance, and equal in power and glory, it is no less true according
   to the Scriptures, (a.) That the Father is first, the Son second, and
   the Spirit third. (b.) The Son is of the Father (ek theou, the logos,
   eikon, apaugasma, tou theou); and the Spirit is of the Father and of
   the Son. (c.) The Father sends the Son, and the Father and Son send
   the Spirit. (d.) The Father operates through the Son, and the Father
   and Son operate through the Spirit. The converse of these statements
   is never found. The Son is never said to send the Father, nor to
   operate through Him nor is the Spirit ever said to send the Father, or
   the Son, or to operate through them. The facts contained in this
   paragraph are summed up in the proposition: In the Holy Trinity there
   is a subordination of the Persons as to the mode of subsistence and
   operation. This proposition again adds nothing to the facts
   themselves.
   
5. According to the Scriptures, the Father created the world, the Son
   created the world, and the Spirit created the world. The Father
   preserves all things; the Son upholds all things; and the Spirit is
   the source of all life. These facts are expressed by saying that the
   persons of the Trinity concur in all acts ad extra. Nevertheless there
   are some acts which are predominantly referred to the Father, others
   to the Son, and others to the Spirit. The Father creates, elects, and
   calls; the Son redeems; and the Spirit sanctifies. And, on the other
   hand, there are certain acts, or conditions, predicated of one person
   of the Trinity, which are never predicated of either of the others.
   Thus, generation belongs exclusively to the Father, filiation to the
   Son, and procession to he Spirit. This is the form in which the
   doctrine of the Trinity lies in the Bible. The above statement
   involves no philosophical element. It is simply an arrangement of the
   clearly revealed facts bearing on this subject. This is the form in
   which the doctrine has always entered into the faith of the Church, as
   a part of its religious convictions and experience.
   

Hodge v 1. p 442 - ff

Shields of the Trinity images

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1. Kathee and I had an errand this morning that pertained to an organization that I serve (on the board). I had to get my name on as signer on their accounts. Turns out that there was no officer at the bank branch (in a grocery store) and so we could not complete this. I thought it was very poor service but its not my bank
   
2. We looked at the garage door and the electronic eye is aligned ok. The garage door functioned ok today so maybe the problem related to the extreme cold we had earlier in the week?
   
3. I got Turbo Tax loaded up on my pc and Roger did his taxes.
   
4. Kathee had a great dinner (both boys there) ... shrimp cocktail, steak, squash, potatoes, salad. Very nice.
   
5. Roger and Kathy came by for coffee at 7
   

All round nice day!

Tomorrow: worship at 4th.