Catholic
Roman Catholic
One God in three co-equal, co-eternal persons — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — each fully God, one divine essence.
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The Trinity
One God in three persons — compare how six traditions confess the mystery at the heart of the Christian faith.
Key versesDeuteronomy 6:4Matthew 28:19John 1:1John 10:302 Corinthians 13:14Ephesians 4:4-6Colossians 2:9Genesis 1:261 Peter 1:2
Review status: initial-release
Every Christian is baptized “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” yet the Church needed centuries to say precisely how God is both one and three. The Trinity — one divine essence eternally existing in three distinct persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, each fully God — is confessed by all six traditions, above all in the Nicene Creed. On the Trinity itself the traditions stand together: one God, three persons, each fully and equally divine. The one point of real difference, the Western filioque (that the Spirit proceeds from the Father “and the Son”), belongs to its own topic.
Content review notice: Initial release — under theological review. Positions summarize official denominational sources; named reviewers from each tradition are being onboarded.
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In 30 seconds
On the Trinity itself, all six traditions stand together: one God, one divine essence, eternally existing in three really distinct persons — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — each fully and equally God. They confess it in the Nicene Creed, reject both tritheism (three gods) and modalism (one person wearing three masks), and baptize in the threefold name of Matthew 28:19. The differences between East and West concern how the persons relate within the Godhead — above all the filioque, whether the Spirit proceeds from the Father alone or from the Father and the Son — and that debate belongs to its own topic. This page presents each church’s confession of the one triune God in its own words.
At a glance
Six traditions, one line each
Tap a tradition to jump to its full column below. Traditions aren't ranked — shown in historical order, with your tradition first if you've picked one.
| Tradition | In one line |
|---|---|
| Catholic | One God in three co-equal, co-eternal persons — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — each fully God, one divine essence. |
| Orthodox | One essence (ousia) in three hypostases; the Father alone is the source — the Son begotten, the Spirit proceeding from the Father alone. |
| Lutheran | One Divine Essence in three coeternal persons of the same essence and power — confessed in the Augsburg Confession and the Athanasian Creed. |
| Reformed | In the unity of the Godhead three persons, of one substance, power, and eternity — each fully God, yet one God, not three. |
| Baptist | The eternal triune God — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — with distinct personal attributes but without division of nature, essence, or being. |
| Methodist | One living and true God, in whose unity there are three persons of one substance, power, and eternity — the ground of Methodist worship and experience. |
Orthodox
Eastern Orthodox
One essence (ousia) in three hypostases; the Father alone is the source — the Son begotten, the Spirit proceeding from the Father alone.
Lutheran
Lutheran
One Divine Essence in three coeternal persons of the same essence and power — confessed in the Augsburg Confession and the Athanasian Creed.
Reformed
Reformed
In the unity of the Godhead three persons, of one substance, power, and eternity — each fully God, yet one God, not three.
Baptist
Baptist
The eternal triune God — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — with distinct personal attributes but without division of nature, essence, or being.
Methodist
United Methodist
One living and true God, in whose unity there are three persons of one substance, power, and eternity — the ground of Methodist worship and experience.
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How we got here
The story of this doctrine across the centuries — how the early church practiced it, where the traditions diverged, and why.
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What the early church said
Quotes from the early church on this topic — its writers, councils, and creeds: what Christians believed before the traditions split, with full source citations.
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Common objections, answered
The pushback each view tends to hear — and how that tradition answers it, steelmanned fairly with sources.
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Verse breakdowns
The key passages behind this topic, verse by verse — tap any verse to see how each of the six traditions reads it.
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Word studies
The Greek and Hebrew terms where the meaning shapes the debate — what each word actually says, and why traditions read it differently.
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Go deeper
Keep exploring
Related topics where this conversation continues.
The Filioque →
This topic confesses one God in three persons, on which all traditions agree; the filioque topic takes up the one point where East and West differ — whether the Spirit proceeds from the Father alone or from the Father and the Son.
The Incarnation →
The Son confessed here as fully divine is the same Word who became flesh; incarnation compares how the traditions confess Christ fully God and fully man.
Worship and Liturgy →
Trinitarian faith shapes Christian worship — baptism, benediction, and doxology are all addressed to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; worship compares how the traditions order their liturgy.
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- Full sources with paragraph numbers — every claim traceable
- Patristic voices — what the early church said before the traditions split
- Word studies — the Greek and Hebrew terms where meaning shapes the debate
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Teach this topic
Class-ready resources for apologetics teachers and study leaders: key passages to assign, discussion questions, the toughest objections answered, and fathers to quote.
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