Holy Trinity, Perfect Community

by Boff, Leonardo

• ISBN13: 9781570753329
• ISBN10: 1570753326
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-10-01
• Publisher: Orbis Books

Summary

In a series of clear, short chapters, Leonardo Boff unpacks the mysteries of Trinitarian faith, showing why it makes a difference to believe that God is communion rather than solitude. Instead of God as solitary ruler standing above a static universe, Christian belief in the Trinity means that at the root of everything there is movement, an eternal process of life, outward movement, and love.

Boff shows how the Holy Trinity is, among other things, the image of the perfect community and the image of the church in its ideal form: not a hierarchy of power, but a community of diverse gifts and functions.

Ideal for study or personal reflection.

Author Biography

Leonardo Boff is an internationally recognized theologian

Table of Contents

Preface	xi
Introduction: Holy Trinity, Our Liberation Program	xv
I In the beginning is the communion of the Three not the solitude of a One
From the solitude of a One to the communion of the Three	1	(2)
In the beginning is communion	3	(1)
Why only three divine Persons? Why not two or just one?	4	(3)
It's dangerous to say: One God in heaven and one head on earth	7	(2)
A disintegrated experience of the blessed Trinity	9	(2)
The same glory to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit	11	(1)
The blessed Trinity is a mystery ever to be known anew	12	(2)
Perichoresis: The interpenetration of the three divine Persons	14	(2)
The Father's two hands, the son and the Holy Spirit	16	(2)
II The revealing of the Trinity
How has the Father of infinite Kindness been revealed?	18	(2)
How has the Son, our brother, been revealed?	20	(2)
How has the Holy Spirit, our strength, been revealed?	22	(1)
The trinitarian awareness of the early Christians	23	(2)
The Old Testament preparation for the revelation of the Blessed Trinity	25	(3)
III Human reason and the Blessed Trinity
How Christians have expressed the Blessed Trinity	28	(2)
Three ways of understanding the Blessed Trinity	30	(2)
Key words for expressing faith in the Blessed Trinity	32	(1)
Erroneous ways of understanding the Blessed Trinity	33	(3)
IV Human imagination and the Blessed Trinity
Believing also with our imagination	36	(2)
The human person as image of the Trinity	38	(1)
The human family, symbol of the Trinity	39	(2)
Society as image of the Trinity	41	(2)
The church, great symbol of the Trinity	43	(1)
The world, sacrament of the Trinity	44	(3)
V What the Blessed Trinity is: Communion of life and love among the divine Three
The Trinity is an eternal communication of life	47	(2)
I-Thou-We: The Blessed Trinity	49	(2)
The Trinity as an eternal self-communication	51	(2)
The Blessed Trinity is the perfect community	53	(2)
Male and female within the Blessed Trinity	55	(2)
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit exist together from all eternity	57	(1)
In the Trinity all relationships are threefold	58	(2)
Three suns but a single light: Such is the Blessed Trinity	60	(3)
VI The communion of the Trinity: Critique and inspiration for society and church
Beyond capitalism and real socialism	63	(2)
From a church-as-society to a church-as-communion	65	(3)
VII The Person of the Father: Mystery of tenderness
Who is the Father? Mystery of tenderness	68	(2)
The Father, eternal root of all sister-and-brotherhood	70	(2)
Motherly Father, and fatherly Mother	72	(2)
The Father, principle without principle	74	(1)
How the Father appears: In the mystery of all things	75	(3)
VIII The Person of the Son: Mystery of communication and principle of liberation
Who is the Son? Eternal communication	78	(2)
The eternal Son of the eternal Father in the Holy Spirit	80	(1)
The male and female of the Son and our Brother	81	(2)
The mission of the Son: Liberate and make all sons and daughters	83	(3)
IX The Person of the Holy Spirit: Mystery of love, and in-breaking of the new
Who is the Holy Spirit? The driving force of full liberation	86	(2)
The Spirit is always united with the Son and the Father	88	(2)
The simultaneity of the Holy Spirit with the Father and the Son	90	(2)
The feminine dimension of the Holy Spirit	92	(1)
Mission of the Holy Spirit: To unify and create the new	93	(2)
The unique relationship between the Holy Spirit and Mary	95	(3)
X The Trinity in heaven and the Trinity on Earth: The internal history of the Trinity reflected in the external history of creation
As it was in the beginning: The eternity of the Trinity	98	(2)
The Trinity in heaven mainfests itself on earth	100	(1)
The glory and joy of the Trinity	101	(2)
Creation projected toward communion	103	(2)
Each divine Person helps in creating the universe	105	(2)
Signs of the Trinity under the shadow of history	107	(2)
Now and forever: The Trinity in creation and creation in the Trinity	109	(2)
Conclusion: Summary of trinitarian doctrine: The whole in many fragments	111	(6)
Glossary: Technical theological terms used for discussion of the Trinity	117