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Post by Starr☼ on Apr 30, 2013 20:26:56 GMT -5
shadrach, meshach, and abednego
from wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"mishael" redirects here. mishael is also the name of a minor biblical figure.
shadrach, meshach, and abednego bysimeon solomon, 1863.
shadrach, meshach, and abednego are men recorded in the book of daniel chapters 1–3, known for their exclusive devotion to god. in particular, they are known for being saved by divine intervention from the babylonian execution of being burned alive in a fiery furnace. they were three youngjews, of royal or noble birth from the kingdom of judah, who, along with daniel, were inducted into babylon when jerusalem was occupied by the babylonians in 606/605 bce, under the campaign of nebuchadnezzar ii, during the first deportation of the israelites.[1]
contents
[hide]
• 1 etymologies
o 1.1 hebrew etymologies
o 1.2 chaldean etymologies
• 2 induction into babylon
• 3 daniel 3
o 3.1 golden image
o 3.2 fiery furnace
o 3.3 deliverance
• 4 prayer of azariah
• 5 eastern orthodox observance
• 6 hat honour
• 7 in popular culture
• 8 see also
• 9 references
• 10 external links
[edit]etymologies
their hebraic names were hananiah (חֲנַנְיָה), mishael (מִישָׁאֵל) and azariah (עֲזַרְיָה). it was probably by the king’s decree that chief official ashpenaz assigned chaldean names, so that hananiah became shadrach, mishael became meshach and azariah became abednego.[dan.1:3,7]
in view of the possible foreign religious connotations attached to their names, commentators have questioned why the bible seldom uses their original hebrew names. it is speculated that they are identified mostly by their chaldean names to maintain the accuracy of the dialogue given in the text. since it would have been confusing to have the writer call them one thing and the king call them another, the story primarily uses their chaldean names instead.[citation needed]
[edit]hebrew etymologies
all three hebrew names are theophoric:
• hananiah means "jah who is gracious"
• misha'el means "who is like god?”, also means "to feed" or "to provide"—as in how a husband provides for his family
• azariah appropriately means "jah has helped"
chapters of thebook of daniel
1: induction into babylon
2: nebuchadnezzar's dream of an image
3: the fiery furnace
4: the madness of nebuchadnezzar
5: belshazzar's feast
6: daniel in the lions' den
7: daniel's first vision
8: vision of the ram and goat
9: prophecy of seventy weeks
10: vision of a man
11: kings of the north and south
12: epilogue
• V
• T
• E
[edit]chaldean etymologies
it has been asserted that shadrach, meshach, and abednego's names all pertained to pagan babylonian gods.
• shadrach possibly is derived from shudur aku "command of the moon god"[2]
• meshach is probably a variation of mi•sha•aku, meaning "who is what aku is?", and may have been an alteration of his hebrew name mishael
• abednego is either a corrupted or deliberate use of abednebo, "servant of nebo/nabu," or abednergo, a variation of abednergal, "servant of the god nergal"[3]
[edit]induction into babylon
painting showing hananiah (shadrach) from themenologion of basil ii (c. 1000 ad)
in daniel (daniy'el) chapter 1, king nebuchadnezzar wanted select men from judah to learn the language and literature of babylon. this would be a three-year training course to qualify those select to serve in the king’s palace. those chosen were to partake of babylonian royal food and wine. [v.3-5] among these men of judah were daniel (belteshazzar), shadrach, meshach and abednego. [v.6, 7] because daniel did not want to defile himself with the king’s food, he requested from his appointed guard to provide them vegetables and water for ten days. after the ten day trial, the four appeared better nourished and healthier than all the others who partook of the royal food. thus they were awarded the freedom to regularly have vegetables and water. [v.8-16] upon the king’s review, he also found them to be “ten times better than all the magicians and conjurers who were in all his realm”. [v.20]
daniel spoke highly of the three to the king whenever opportunity afforded itself, so that they could also have honorable positions in the province of babylon.[dan.2:48,49]
[edit]daniel 3
in daniel chapter 3, the narrative of shadrach, meshach and abednego describes how they were sent into a blazing fiery furnace because of their stand to exclusively serve their god alone. by god’s angel, they were delivered out of harm’s way from this order of execution by the king of babylon.
[edit]golden image
during the reign of king nebuchadnezzar ii, of babylon, nebuchadnezzar had a nine-storey high statue, made of gold,[4] stand erect in the plain of dura[v.1] (the region around present daykarbala, iraq).[5] the statue was either an image of himself or possibly of the babylonian god of wisdom, known as nabu.[6] when the project was complete, he prepared a dedication ceremony to this image ordering all surrounding inhabitants to bow down and worship it. the consequence for not worshiping the idol, upon hearing the cue of instruments, was execution in a fiery furnace.[v.2-9]
late 3rd century/early 4th century christians depicted the fiery furnace in thecatacombs of priscilla, rome
[edit]fiery furnace
during the dedication ceremony of the golden image, certain officials noticed shadrach, meshach, and abednego not bowing down to the idol. thus, nebuchadnezzar was immediately notified.[v.10-12] the king was enraged and demanded that these three men come before him.[v.13] nebuchadnezzar knew of these very men, because it was not too long ago when daniel had petitioned the king to assign shadrach, meshach and abednego over the affairs of the province of babylon.[daniel 2: 48, 49] daniel was also very special to the king because he was able to interpret his dreams unlike any of the chaldean wise men.[daniel 2: 24, 25] so it is of no surprise that the king would offer one more chance for these three jews, who held honorable positions to the king, to show their patriotism to babylon.[v.14, 15]
their response: "o nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. if we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the god we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, o king. but even if he does not, we want you to know, o king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up."[v.16-18]
nebuchadnezzar demanded that the execution furnace be heated seven times hotter than usual. valiant soldiers of the king’s army were ordered to firmly bind the fully clothed shadrach, meshach and abednego and cast them in the blazing furnace. upon approaching the mouth of the furnace, the fire was so hot that the soldiers perished while attempting to throw in the three tightly bound jews (who then fell in).[v.19-23]
burning in the form of execution was a typical practice of babylonian rulers. according to jeremiah 29:22, nebuchadnezzar burned to death two men named zedekiah and ahab. burning as a penalty for certain crimes appears twice in the code of hammurabi, the system of law set forth by the babylonian king in the 18th century bc. another early babylonian monarch, rim-sin, also executed death by burning as a form of punishment.[7]
[edit]deliverance
when the king saw what appeared to be four men in the furnace, unbound and walking about, he called to them to come out. king nebuchadnezzar then acknowledged the power of their god, even going as far as to make a decree, whereby any nation who says anything against the god of the jews is an act of war. shadrach, meshach and abednego were then given promotions to their positions over the province of babylon.[v.24-30]
in christian tradition, one interpretation of identifying the fourth man in the furnace is that of christ[citation needed], although he is more often shown in the arts as the archangel michael. the pagan king reasoned that the being in the fire was divine. there are inscriptions found in excavations of ancient ugarit (ras shamra, on the coast of syria), that use the expression “a son of the gods”.[8][9]
[edit]prayer of azariah
in the "prayer of azariah", an apocryphal passage of the septuagint, azariah (abednego) confesses their sins and the sins of israel, and asks their god to save them in order to demonstrate god’s power to the babylonians. it is followed by an account of an angel who came to make the inside of the furnace feel like a cool breeze over dew. an extended hymn of praise to their god for deliverance is found in the "song of the three young men".
[edit]eastern orthodox observance
the song of the three youths is alluded to in odes seven and eight of the canon, a hymn sung in the matins service and on other occasions in the eastern orthodox church, where their feast day is december 17 (along with daniel). the orthodox also commemorate them on the two sundays before the nativity of christ. the reading of the story of the fiery furnace, including the song, is prescribed for the vesperal divine liturgy celebrated by the orthodox on holy saturday. likewise, the three are commemorated as prophets in the calendar of saints of the lutheran church on december 17 with daniel.
[edit]hat honour
in 17th century england, quakers used the bible story of the fiery furnace to justify their campaign against the deference required by the judiciary, which they called "hat honour".
george fox: journal, 1656: when we were brought into the court, we stood a while with our hats on, and all was quiet. i was moved to say, "peace be amongst you." judge glynne, a welshman, then chief-justice of england, said to the jailer, "what be these you have brought here into the court?" "prisoners, my lord," said he. "why do you not put off your hats?" said the judge to us. we said nothing. "put off your hats," said the judge again. still we said nothing. then said the judge, "the court commands you to put off your hats." then i spoke, and said, "where did ever any magistrate, king, or judge, from moses to daniel, command any to put off their hats, when they came before him in his court, either amongst the jews, the people of god, or amongst the heathen? and if the law of england doth command any such thing, show me that law either written or printed." then the judge grew very angry, and said, "i do not carry my law-books on my back." "but," said i, "tell me where it is printed in any statute-book, that i may read it." then said the judge, "take him away, prevaricator! i'll ferk him." so they took us away, and put us among the thieves. presently after he called to the jailer, "bring them up again." "come," said he, "where had they hats, from moses to daniel; come, answer me: i have you fast now." i replied, "thou mayest read in the third of daniel, that the three children were cast into the fiery furnace by nebuchadnezzar's command, with their coats, their hose, and their hats on." this plain instance stopped him: so that, not having anything else to say to the point, he cried again, "take them away, jailer."[10]
the three young men in the fiery furnace. the fourth is sometimes interpreted as being the archangel michael (15th century icon of thenovgorod school).
[edit]in popular culture
• in 1999, the cartoonists howard mackie and john byrne created a spider-man foe after shadrac, that is a character cursed by being a "human torch" who never dies or burns up.
[edit]see also
• list of hebrew bible events
• the burning fiery furnace, a performance
• the prayer of azariah and song of the three holy children, an apocryphal text
wikimedia commons has media related to: fiery furnace
wikisource has the text of the 1897 easton's bible dictionaryarticle shadrach.
wikisource has the text of the 1897 easton's bible dictionaryarticle meshach.
wikisource has the text of the 1897 easton's bible dictionaryarticle abednego.
wikisource has the text of the1911 encyclopædia britannicaarticle abednego.
[edit]references
1. ^ barker, kenneth (editor); donald burdick, john h. stek, walter wessel, & ronald f. youngblood (1995). the niv study bible 10th anniversary edition. the book of daniel: zondervan publishing house. pp. 1291–1295.
2. ^ jewishencyclopedia.com, "shadrach"
3. ^ easton's bible dictionary, "abednego."
4. ^ apologetics study bible-hcsb, commentary on p. 1273 (3-1): “ancient rulers commonly constructed large statues, such as the great sphinx in egypt, and the statue of bel (marduk), a solid gold statue that stood 18 feet high in babylon.”
5. ^ compare old testament map #5. plain of dura with map of karbala, iraq
6. ^ the zondervan corporation (2005). archaeological study bible. the book of daniel (under the archaeological commentary): the zondervan corporation. p. 1389.
7. ^ apologetics study bible-hcsb, b&h publishing group, 2007, (isbn 1586404466, isbn 978-1-58640-446-8), p. 1274 (3-6)
8. ^ apologetics study bible-hcsb, 2007, p. 1275 (3-25)
9. ^ compare: genesis 18:1-10
10. ^ george fox: journal, 1656
[edit]external links
• bible stories for kids – the fiery furnace, modern christian telling of the story for children
• biblical art on the www, illustrations of the story
• chananya, mishael, and azarya – the fiery furnace. from talks and tales by nissan mindel at chabad.org
• lessons on shadrach, meshach, and abednego. teaching the story of shadrach, meshach, and abednego.
• october 1998 scientific american magazine
• map 9: the world of the old testament, see #5. plain of dura
• the height of the golden image, (60 cubits = 90 feet; 90 ft. = 9 stories)
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Post by Starr☼ on Apr 30, 2013 20:29:59 GMT -5
three's a crowd
from wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
for other uses, see three's a crowd (disambiguation).
this article needs additional citations for verification. please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (january 2012)
three's a crowd
also known as three's company, too
format sitcom
developed by michael ross
bernie west
george burditt
martin rips
joseph staretski
starring john ritter
mary cadorette
robert mandan
alan campbell
theme music composer michael lloyd (music)
al kascha, joel hirschhorn,
don nicholl & michael lloyd(lyrics)
opening theme "side by side"
ending theme "side by side" (instrumental)
country of origin united states
original language(s) english
no. of seasons 1
no. of episodes 22 (list of episodes)
production
executiveproducer(s) michael ross
bernie west
george burditt
producer(s) martin rips
joseph staretski
george sunga
camera setup videotape; multi-camera
running time approx. 23 minutes (per episode)
productioncompany(s) nrw productions
bergman-taffner productions
distributor dlt entertainment
broadcast
original channel abc
original run september 25, 1984 – april 9, 1985
chronology
preceded by three's company
related shows robin's nest
three's a crowd (also known as three's company, too in the three's company syndication package) is an american television sitcom sequel tothree's company. it is loosely based on the british tv series robin's nest, which was itself a spin-off of man about the house, on which three's company was based.
contents
[hide]
• 1 synopsis
• 2 characters
• 3 production history
o 3.1 transitioning from three's company to three's a crowd
o 3.2 ratings and cancellation
• 4 reruns
• 5 references
• 6 external links
[edit]synopsis
in the final episodes of its predecessor, three's company, vicky bradford (mary cadorette) is introduced as a love interest of jack tripper (john ritter) beginning in "cupid works overtime", episode 20 of season 8. in the following two episodes, "friends and lovers" parts 1 and 2, jack asks vicky to marry him, but she refuses and explains that although she loves jack, she does not want to be married because she remembered when her father and mother got divorced. so, marriage scares her. however, jack and vicky eventually move to a new apartment together, the landlord of which is james bradford (robert mandan), vicky's father. james does not approve of jack and constantly tries to disrupt their relationship.
other characters included e.z. taylor (alan campbell), jack's "surfer dude" assistant chef at his bistro, and claudia bradford (jessica walter), vicky's mother and james' ex-wife. three's a crowd was broadcast on abc from september 25, 1984 (only one week after the final new episode ofthree's company was broadcast) until april 9, 1985, with reruns airing until september 10, 1985.
[edit]characters
• john ritter as jack tripper
• mary cadorette as vicky bradford
• robert mandan as james bradford
• alan campbell as e.z. taylor
• jessica walter as claudia bradford (recurring)
[edit]production history
three's company had been based on the british sitcom man about the house which aired in the united kingdom from 1973 to 1976. when the series concluded in 1976, series producers brian cooke and johnnie mortimer devised two spin-offs of the series. the first spin-off was fashioned for actors brian murphy and yootha joyce who played the popular george and mildred roper on the series. the series, called george and mildred, ran from 1977 to 1980, and followed the ropers selling their apartment building and moving into a high class neighborhood, the comedy arising from the seemingly lower-class ropers and their relationship with their higher-class neighbors. the second spin-off was written for richard o'sullivanwho played robin tripp (which would serve as the basis for jack tripper on three's company) and was named robin's nest, also the name of his restaurant on the series. running from 1977 to 1981, the series followed robin moving into an apartment above the restaurant he ran with his girlfriend, a situation which was frowned upon by her father.
three's company producers were anxious to capitalize on these spin-offs. in 1979, they had spun off norman fell and audra lindley to their own series, the ropers, based on george and mildred, but it lasted only until 1980 after one and a half seasons. three's company's ratings remained high though. producers ted bergmann and don taffner devised adapting the robin's nest series without john ritter. a pilot for a series calledbyrd's nest was written, involving a young man living with his older girlfriend much to the chagrin of the her father who owned the building they lived in. the series was planned to be a spin-off from three's company and possibly a vehicle for richard kline, who played larry dallas on three's company, but abc passed on the idea. however, as three's company entered its eighth season in 1983, ratings took a dive due to stiff competition from the new nbc series the a-team. realizing they had an aging show abc okayed the development of a new series which was to be called three's a crowd.
development and casting of the new series occurred in secret as three's company's eighth season progressed. fellow cast members joyce dewitt, priscilla barnes, don knotts, and richard kline were kept out of the loop. during a christmas hiatus in late 1983 producers auditioned several female leads to play jack's new love interest vicky bradford, and eventually decided upon broadway actress mary cadorette. an embarrassing situation arose when joyce dewitt accidentally walked in on the auditions after coming to the studio to set up her dressing room as the holiday hiatus was coming to a close. dewitt was then informed by the producers that the series, ending at the close of the season with ritter, would spin off to threes a crowd without her. dewitt, who had been with the show from the beginning, weathering the highly publicized contractual dispute former cast member suzanne somers had with abc and series producers, was hurt by the secrecy involved with the series ending and the spin-off. she and fellow cast member priscilla barnes would find it very hard to tape the rest of the season. both dewitt and barnes learned that their characters would conclude with the series finale, however, both richard kline and don knotts were offered an opportunity to have recurring roles on the spin-off. both actors declined the offer (kline would make a guest appearance on the show in early 1985). former cast mate suzanne somers tried to be cast as jack's love interest in the spin-off, unsuccessfully.
[edit]transitioning from three's company to three's a crowd
in transitioning from three's company to three's a crowd, series producers decided to follow the plotline of the british series. season eight of three's company drew to a close in a three episode story arc. in the first of these episodes, janet meets wealthy art collector phillip dawson. in the second episode she falls in love with him, while jack meets and falls in love with stewardess vicky bradford. her wealthy father, played by robert mandan, does not approve of the relationship. when first aired, this episode ended with the words "to be continued... next fall," and when rerun late in the summer, this was changed to "to be continued... next week." the last episode of three's company aired as an hour long special that kicked off the 1984-85 fall television season and set up the premise for three's a crowd. in the episode, janet married phillip, and terri relocated to hawaii. jack and vicky profess their love for one another, but vicky turns down jack's proposal of marriage, citing her fear of the institution after seeing her parents feud her whole life. they instead move in together, in an apartment above jack's bistro. in the last scene, jack and vicky are spending their first romantic evening together in the new apartment, only to have mr. bradford accidentally barge in on them, explaining that he received the key from jack's old boss mr. angelino, having just bought the building from him, becoming the couple's new landlord. the title card for three's company then appears over the screen with the word "company" zooming out, being replaced with "a crowd".
three's a crowd employed most of the same writers, producers, and staff from three's company, but the new show's style was changed. while jack was the lead star of three's company, it had an ensemble cast of three, with some ancillary characters. however, the new show was centered around jack. vicky, her parents, and e.z. played supporting roles. the new show also employed even more slapstick comedy for john ritter to exhibit. the events and characters of the previous show were not mentioned, except in a late season episode in which larry dallas appeared. he had moved to bakersfield due to business downturns, and during his visit invited along "greedy" gretchen, who had often been mentioned on three's company. when rebuked by jack, saying he was now living with a woman, she replied, "you're slowing down, jack – you used to live with two women."
[edit]ratings and cancellation
three's a crowd garnered only modest ratings, still competing with the a-team. when the 1984-85 television season finished the show placed 38th in the nielsen ratings; this put the show on the fence with abc, since the show had enough of an audience to warrant renewal. however, when compared to three's company's ratings and the a-team, which finished sixth for the season, abc was tepid in committing to another season of three's a crowd. john ritter was told that abc would commit to a half-season of thirteen episodes to see how the series would place, although ritter was reported as saying that he would not return to the show unless a full season was ordered. finally, abc decided instead to pick up diff'rent strokes for another season, which had just been cancelled by nbc.
[edit]reruns
daytime reruns aired on abc from september 23, 1985 to january 3, 1986, followed by another prime time run on usa network. some syndicated versions aired under the title three's company, too, using an instrumental version of the theme song of three's company.
six episodes of the series were aired on tv land in september 2006, and four episodes were aired on wgn america in october 2008. three's a crowd also airs in canada on dejaview. the series began airing on digital broadcast network antenna tv in june 2011 (it airs—as three's a crowd with its "side by side" theme song—after each cycle of three's company concludes).[1]
[edit]references
1. ^ posted by pavan -- sitcomsonline.com (2010-12-16). "our exclusive interview with antenna tv's sean compton; ktla preview of antenna tv; 2011 sag nominations — sitcomsonline.com news blog". blog.sitcomsonline.com. retrieved 2012-10-24.
[edit]external links
• three's a crowd at the internet movie database
• three's a crowd at tv.com
• three's a crowd at epguides.com
• o'connor, john j. (september 17, 1984). "ritter and a new cast on 'three's a crowd'". the new york times. retrieved may 31, 2012.
• sitcoms online: three's a crowd
[hide]
• V
• T
• E
three's company
characters • jack tripper
• janet wood
• chrissy snow
• cindy snow
• terri alden
• stanley roper
• helen roper
• ralph furley
• larry dallas
• lana shields
see also • list of episodes
• behind the camera
• man about the house
• george and mildred
• robin's nest
• the ropers
• three's a crowd
• en fyra för tre
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Post by Starr☼ on Apr 30, 2013 20:33:50 GMT -5
trinity
from wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(redirected from holy trinity)
this article is about the christian trinity. for other uses, see trinity (disambiguation).
"holy trinity" redirects here. for other uses, see holy trinity (disambiguation).
this article may be too technical for most readers to understand. please help improve this article to make it understandable to non-experts, without removing the technical details. the talk page may contain suggestions. (november 2012)
the "shield of the trinity" or "scutum fidei" diagram of traditional western christian symbolism.
the christian doctrine of the trinity defines god as three divine persons or hypostases:[1] the father, the son (jesus christ), and the holy spirit; "one god in three persons". the three persons are distinct, yet are one "substance, essence or nature".[2] a nature is what one is, while a person is who one is.[3][4][5]
the trinity is considered to be a mystery of christian faith.[6] according to this doctrine, there is only one god in three persons. each person is god, whole and entire. they are distinct from one another in their relations of origin: as the fourth lateran council declared, "it is the father who generates, the son who is begotten, and the holy spirit who proceeds". while distinct in their relations with one another, they are one in all else. the whole work of creation and grace is a single operation common to all three divine persons, who at the same time operate according to their unique properties, so that all things are from the father, through the son and in the holy spirit.[6] the three persons are co-equal, co-eternal and consubstantial.
trinitarianism (one deity in three persons) contrasts with nontrinitarian positions which include binitarianism (one deity in two persons, or two deities),unitarianism (one deity in one person, analogous to jewish interpretation of the shema and muslim belief in tawhid), oneness pentecostalism ormodalism (one deity manifested in three separate aspects), and social trinitarianism (three persons united by mutual love and accord).
contents
[hide]
• 1 etymology
• 2 history
• 3 theology
• 4 biblical background
• 5 non-orthodoxy
• 6 artistic depictions
• 7 nontrinitarianism
• 8 see also
• 9 endnotes and references
• 10 further reading
• 11 external links
[edit]etymology
the english word "trinity" is derived from latin "trinitas," meaning "the number three, a triad".[7] this abstract noun is formed from the adjective "trinus" (three each, threefold, triple),[8] as the word "unitas" is the abstract noun formed from "unus" (one).
the corresponding word in greek is "τριάς," meaning "a set of three" or "the number three".[9]
the first recorded use of this greek word in christian theology (though not about the divine trinity) was by theophilus of antioch in about 170. he wrote:[10][11]
"in like manner also the three days which were before the luminaries, are types of the trinity [τριάδος], of god, and his word, and his wisdom. and the fourth is the type of man, who needs light, that so there may be god, the word, wisdom, man."[12]
tertullian, a latin theologian who wrote in the early 3rd century, is credited as being the first to use the latin words "trinity",[13] "person" and "substance"[14] to explain that the father, son, and holy spirit are "one in essence—not one in person."[15]
[edit]history
pope clement i prays to the trinity, in a typical post-renaissance depiction bygianbattista tiepolo.
further information: trinity of the church fathers
the ante-nicene fathers, although likely foreign to the specifics of trinitarian theology because they were not defined until the 4th century, nevertheless affirmed christ's deity and referenced "father, son and holy spirit". trinitarians view these as elements of the codified doctrine.[16] ignatius of antiochprovides early support for the trinity around 110,[17] exhorting obedience to "christ, and to the father, and to the spirit."[18] justin martyr (ad 100–ca.165) also writes, "in the name of god, the father and lord of the universe, and of our saviour jesus christ, and of the holy spirit."[19] the first of the early church fathers recorded actually using the word trinity was theophilus of antioch writing in the late 2nd century. he defines the trinity as god, his word (logos) and his wisdom (sophia)[20] in the context of a discussion of the first three days of creation. the first defence of the doctrine of the trinity was in the early 3rd century by the early church father tertullian. he explicitly defined the trinity as father, son, and holy spirit and defended the trinitarian theology against the "praxean" heresy.[21]
although there is much debate as to whether the beliefs of the apostles were merely articulated and explained in the trinitarian creeds,[22] or were corrupted and replaced with new beliefs,[23][24] all scholars recognize that the creeds themselves were created in reaction to disagreements over the nature of the father, son, and holy spirit. these controversies, however, were great and many, and took some centuries to be resolved.
of these controversies, the most significant developments were articulated in the first four centuries by the church fathers[22] in reaction toadoptionism, sabellianism, and arianism. adoptionism was the belief that jesus was an ordinary man, born of joseph and mary, who became the christ and son of god at his baptism. in 269, the synods of antioch condemned paul of samosata for his adoptionist theology, and also condemned the term homoousios (ὁμοούσιος, "of the same being") in the sense he used it.[25]
sabellianism taught that the father, son, and holy ghost are aspects of how humanity has interacted with or experienced god. in the role of the father, god is the provider and creator of all. in the role of the son, god is manifested in the flesh as a human to bring about the salvation of mankind. in the role of the holy spirit, god manifests himself from heaven through his actions on the earth and within the lives of christians. this view was rejected as heresy by the ecumenical councils.[which?]
arianism, which was coming into prominence during the 4th century, taught that the father came before the son, and that the son was a distinct being from the holy spirit. in 325, the council of nicaea adopted the nicene creed which described christ as "god of god, light of light, very god of very god, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the father." the creed used the term homoousios (of one substance) to define the relationship between the father and the son that from then on was seen as the hallmark of orthodoxy. this was further developed into the formula "three persons, one being".
saint athanasius, who was a participant in the council, stated that the bishops were forced to use this terminology, which is not found in scripture, because the biblical phrases that they would have preferred to use were claimed by the arians to be capable of being interpreted in what the bishops considered to be a heretical sense.[26] moreover, the meanings of "ousia" and "hypostasis" overlapped then, so that "hypostasis" for some meant "essence" and for others "person."athanasius of alexandria (293–373) helped to separate the terms.[27]
the confession of the council of nicaea said little about the holy spirit.[28] the doctrine of the divinity and personality of the holy spirit was developed by athanasius in the last decades of his life.[29] he defended and refined the nicene formula.[28] by the end of the 4th century, under the leadership of basil of caesarea, gregory of nyssa, and gregory of nazianzus (the cappadocian fathers), the doctrine had reached substantially its current form.[28]
[edit]theology
[edit]trinitarian baptismal formula
the baptism of christ, by piero della francesca, 15th century
in the synoptic gospels the baptism of jesus is often interpreted as a manifestation of all three persons of the trinity: "and when jesus was baptized, he went up immediately from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened and he saw the spirit of god descending like a dove, and alighting on him; and lo, a voice from heaven, saying, 'this is my beloved son, with whom i am well pleased.'"[mt 3:16–17] baptism is generally conferred with thetrinitarian formula, "in the name of the father, and of the son, and of the holy spirit."[mt 28:19] trinitarians identify this name with the christian faith into which baptism is an initiation, as seen for example in the statement of basil the great (330–379): "we are bound to be baptized in the terms we have received, and to profess faith in the terms in which we have been baptized." the first council of constantinople (381) also says, "this is the faith of our baptism that teaches us to believe in the name of the father, of the son and of the holy spirit. according to this faith there is one godhead, power, and being of the father, of the son, and of the holy spirit." matthew 28:19 may be taken to indicate that baptism was associated with this formula from the earliest decades of the church's existence.
nontrinitarian groups, such as oneness pentecostals, demur from the trinitarian view on baptism. for them, the omission of the formula in acts outweighs all other considerations, and is a liturgical guide for their own practice. for this reason, they often focus on the baptisms in acts, citing many[which?] authoritative theological works.[30] those who place great emphasis on the baptisms in acts often likewise question the authenticity ofmatthew 28:19 in its present form. most scholars of new testament textual criticism accept the authenticity of the passage, since there are no variant manuscripts regarding the formula, and the extant form of the passage is attested in the didache[31] and other patristic works of the 1st and 2nd centuries: ignatius,[32] tertullian,[33] hippolytus,[34] cyprian,[35] and gregory thaumaturgus.[36]
commenting on matthew 28:19, gerhard kittel states:
this threefold relation [of father, son and spirit] soon found fixed expression in the triadic formulae in 2 cor. 13:14 and in 1 cor. 12:4–6. the form is first found in the baptismal formula in matthew 28:19; did., 7. 1 and 3....t is self-evident that father, son and spirit are here linked in an indissoluble threefold relationship.[37]
[edit]one god
main article: monotheism
christianity, having emerged from judaism, is a monotheistic religion. never in the new testament does the trinitarian concept become a "tritheism" (three gods) nor even two.[38] god is one, and that the godhead is a single being is strongly declared in the bible:
• the shema of the hebrew scriptures: "hear, o israel: the lord our god, the lord is one."[deut 6:4]
• the first of the ten commandments—"thou shalt have no other gods before me"[5:7].
• and "thus saith the lord the king of israel and his redeemer the lord of hosts: i am the first and i am the last; and beside me there is no god."[isa 44:6]
• in the new testament: "the lord our god is one."[mk 12:29]
in the trinitarian view, the father and the son and the holy ghost share the one essence, substance or being. the central and crucial affirmation of christian faith is that there is one savior, god, and one salvation, manifest in jesus christ, to which there is access only because of the holy spirit. the god of the old testament is still the same as the god of the new. in christianity, statements about a single god are intended to distinguish the hebraic understanding from the polytheistic view, which see divine power as shared by several beings, beings which can and do disagree and have conflicts with each other.
[edit]god in three persons
in trinitarian doctrine, god exists as three persons or hypostases, but is one being, that is, has but a single divine nature.[39] the members of the trinity are co-equal and co-eternal, one in essence, nature, power, action, and will. as stated in the athanasian creed, the father is uncreated, the son is uncreated, and the holy spirit is uncreated, and all three are eternal with no beginning.[40] "the father and the son and the holy spirit" are not three different names for different parts of god but one name for god,[41] because three persons exist in god as one unity[42]and the father can not be divided from the son nor the holy spirit from the son. each person is understood as having the identical essence or nature, not merely similar natures.[43]
god has always loved, and there has always existed perfectly harmonious communion between the three persons of the trinity. one consequence of this teaching is that god could not have created man to have someone to talk to or to love: god "already" enjoyed personal communion; being perfect, he did not create man because of a lack or inadequacy he had. another consequence, according to rev. fr. thomas hopko, an eastern orthodox theologian, is that if god were not a trinity, he could not have loved prior to creating other beings on whom to bestow his love. thus god says, "let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground. so god created man in his own image, in the image of god he created him; male and female he created them."[gen 1:26–7] for trinitarians, emphasis in genesis 1:26 is on the plurality in the deity, and in 1:27 on the unity of the divine essence. a possible interpretation of genesis 1:26 is that god's relationships in the trinity are mirrored in man by the ideal relationship between husband and wife, two persons becoming one flesh, as described in eve's creation later in the next chapter.[2:22]
[edit]perichoresis
main article: perichoresis
perichoresis from greek ("going around", "envelopment") is a term used by some theologians to describe the relationship between the members of the trinity. the latin equivalent for this term iscircumincessio. this concept refers for its basis to john 14–17, where jesus is instructing the disciples concerning the meaning of his departure. his going to the father, he says, is for their sake; so that he might come to them when the "other comforter" is given to them. then, he says, his disciples will dwell in him, as he dwells in the father, and the father dwells in him, and the father will dwell in them. this is so, according to the theory of perichoresis, because the persons of the trinity "reciprocally contain one another, so that one permanently envelopes and is permanently enveloped by, the other whom he yet envelopes". (hilary of poitiers, concerning the trinity 3:1).[44]
perichoresis effectively excludes the idea that god has parts, but rather is a simple being. it also harmonizes well with the doctrine that the christian's union with the son in his humanity brings him into union with one who contains in himself, in the apostle paul's words, "all the fullness of deity" and not a part. (see also: divinization (christian)). perichoresis provides an intuitive figure of what this might mean. the son, the eternal word, is from all eternity the dwelling place of god; he is the "father's house," just as the son dwells in the father and the spirit; so that, when the spirit is "given", then it happens as jesus said, "i will not leave you as orphans; for i will come to you."[john 14:18]
according to the words of jesus, married persons are in some sense no longer two but are joined into one.[mark 10:7–8] therefore, orthodox theologians also see the marriage relationship as an image, or "icon" of the trinity, relationships of communion in which, in the words of st. paul, participants are "members one of another". as with marriage, the unity of the church with christ is similarly considered in some sense analogous to the unity of the trinity, following the prayer of jesus to the father, for the church, that "they may be one, even as we are one".[john 17:22]
[edit]eternal generation and procession
further information: filioque
trinitarianism affirms that the son is "begotten" (or "generated") of the father and that the spirit "proceeds" from the father, but the father is "neither begotten nor proceeds". the argument over whether the spirit proceeds from the father alone, or from the father and the son, was one of the catalysts of the great schism, in this case concerning the western addition of the filioque clause to the nicene creed. the roman catholic church teaches that, in the sense of the latin verb procedere (which does not have to indicate ultimate origin and is therefore compatible with proceeding through), but not in that of the greek verb ἐκπορεύεσθαι (which implies ultimate origin),[45] the spirit "proceeds" from the father and the son, and the eastern orthodox church, which teaches that the spirit "proceeds" from the father alone, has made no statement on the claim of a difference in meaning between the two words, one greek and one latin, both of which are translated as "proceeds". the eastern orthodox churches object to the filioque clause on ecclesiological and theological grounds, holding that "from the father" means "from the father alone"
this language is often considered difficult because, if used regarding humans or other created things, it would imply time and change; when used here, no beginning, change in being, or process within time is intended and is excluded. the son is generated ("born" or "begotten"), and the spirit proceeds, eternally. augustine of hippo explains, "thy years are one day, and thy day is not daily, but today; because thy today yields not to tomorrow, for neither does it follow yesterday. thy today is eternity; therefore thou begat the co-eternal, to whom thou saidst, 'this day have i begotten thee."[ps 2:7]
most protestant groups that use the creed also include the filioque clause. however, the issue is usually not controversial among them because their conception is often less exact than is discussed above[citation needed] (exceptions being the presbyterian westminster confession 2:3, the london baptist confession 2:3, and the lutheran augsburg confession 1:1–6, which specifically address those issues).
[edit]economic and ontological trinity
depiction of trinity from saint denis basilica in paris.
the economic trinity refers to the acts of the triune god with respect to the creation, history, salvation, the formation of the church, the daily lives of believers, etc. and describes how the trinity operates within history in terms of the roles or functions performed by each person of the trinity—god's relationship with creation. the ontological (or essential or immanent) trinity speaks of the interior life of the trinity[john 1:1–2]—the reciprocal relationships of father, son, and spirit to each other without reference to god's relationship with creation.
the ancient nicene theologians argued that everything the trinity does is done by father, son, and spirit working in unity with one will. the three persons of the trinity always work inseparably, for their work is always the work of the one god. because of this unity of will, the trinity cannot involve the eternal subordination of the son to the father. eternal subordination can only exist if the son's will is at least conceivably different from the father's. but nicene orthodoxy says it is not. the son's will cannot be different from the father's because it is the father's. they have but one will as they have but one being. otherwise they would not be one god. if there were relations of command and obedience between the father and the son, there would be no trinity at all but rather three gods.[46] on this point st. basil observes "when then he says, 'i have not spoken of myself,' and again, 'as the father said unto me, so i speak,' and 'the word which ye hear is not mine, but [the father's] which sent me,' and in another place, 'as the father gave me commandment, even so i do,' it is not because he lacks deliberate purpose or power of initiation, nor yet because he has to wait for the preconcerted key-note, that he employs language of this kind. his object is to make it plain that his own will is connected in indissoluble union with the father. do not then let us understand by what is called a 'commandment' a peremptory mandate delivered by organs of speech, and giving orders to the son, as to a subordinate, concerning what he ought to do. let us rather, in a sense befitting the godhead, perceive a transmission of will, like the reflexion of an object in a mirror, passing without note of time from father to son."[47]
in explaining why the bible speaks of the son as being subordinate to the father, the great theologian athanasius argued that scripture gives a "double account" of the son of god—one of his temporal and voluntary subordination in the incarnation, and the other of his eternal divine status.[48] for athanasius, the son is eternally one in being with the father, temporally and voluntarily subordinate in his incarnate ministry. such human traits, he argued, were not to be read back into the eternal trinity.
like athanasius, the cappadocian fathers also insisted there was no economic inequality present within the trinity. as basil wrote: "we perceive the operation of the father, son, and holy spirit to be one and the same, in no respect showing differences or variation; from this identity of operation we necessarily infer the unity of nature."[49]
augustine also rejected an economic hierarchy within the trinity. he claimed that the three persons of the trinity "share the inseparable equality one substance present in divine unity".[50]because the three persons are one in their inner life, this means that for augustine their works in the world are one. for this reason, it is an impossibility for augustine to speak of the father commanding and the son obeying as if there could be a conflict of wills within the eternal trinity.
john calvin also spoke at length about the doctrine of the trinity. like athanasius and augustine before him, he concluded that philippians 2:4–11 prescribed how scripture was to be read correctly. for him the son's obedience is limited to the incarnation and is indicative of his true humanity assumed for human salvation.[51]
much of this work is summed up in the athanasian creed. this creed stresses the unity of the trinity and the equality of the persons. it ascribes equal divinity, majesty, and authority to all three persons. all three are said to be "almighty" and "lord" (no subordination in authority; "none is before or after another" (no hierarchical ordering); and "none is greater, or less than another" (no subordination in being or nature). thus, since the divine persons of the trinity act with one will, there is no possibility of hierarchy-inequality in the trinity.
catholic theologian karl rahner went so far as to say:
"the 'economic' trinity is the 'immanent' trinity and the 'immanent' trinity is the 'economic' trinity."[52]
[edit]logical coherence
this section relies on references to primary sources. please add references to secondary or tertiary sources. (february 2013)
in christian tradition the trinity is a mystery of faith revealed in scripture, beyond human understanding. theological explanations thus tend to lack or avoid a logical or philosophical foundation. in his explanation of the doctrine of the trinity, augustine pointed out that jesus spoke in similitudes and would later reveal the father more plainly.[53] despite his lengthy exposition to explain the trinity in light of scripture, augustine states that an explanation is beyond human language, and that the definition of the trinity as three persons is but a similitude needed in order to express it.[54] augustine concludes that one must believe before one understands, and that the trinity must remain unknown.[55] after this conclusion augustine then attempted to describe analogies of the trinity in love itself and in the mind of man.
hilary of poitiers stressed that as god is infinite, eternal and omnipresent, his true nature is unfathomable, and that "words cannot describe him." he notes that scripture states no one knows the father except the son.[56] as to how the son could be begotten, and yet not be created, he admits that it is a mystery, and confesses his ignorance at understanding it, for the son had not yet made revelation concerning this matter.[57] when jesus said that he and his father are one, he interprets it as one nature, but two persons. again it is a mystery: "there cannot be one person only, for he speaks not of himself; and, conversely, they cannot be separate and divided when the one speaks through the voice of the other. these words are the revelation of the mystery of their unity."[58] because they share one nature the doctrine is "guiltless of ditheism."[59]
beginning around the 12th century, theology began to be influenced by scholasticism, which is a method based on dialectical reasoning. this can be seen in the works of thomas aquinas, who thought that both faith and reason are necessary in christian theology. the names of father, son and holy spirit signify the procession or emanation of the divine. this act of procession is comparable to how an idea is conceived in the intellect; and this came forth from god as the word. this can only be understood via similitudes, and not literally understood through material bodies.[60] moreover, there are two processions in god, one of the intellect (the word) and one of the will or love.[61] in regards to the trinity of persons, aquinas lists the following objection:
"it would seem that there are not several persons in god. for person is the individual substance of a rational nature. if then there are several persons in god, there must be several substances; which appears to be heretical."[62]
in answer to this objection, he redefines the word "person" as "a relation subsisting in the divine nature."[63] thus properties found in god, such as goodness and wisdom, are distinguishable, but subsist together as one.[63] but then aquinas comes to the question, why three? and, three what? to the first question, he answers because scripture says so, and to the second question, he answers "three persons."[64]
in contrast to joachim of fiore's historicization of the trinity, there have been recent philosophical attempts to defend the logical coherency of trinity by men such as peter geach. regarding the formulation suggested by geach, not all philosophers would agree with its logical coherency.[citation needed] geach suggested that "a coherent statement of the doctrine is possible on the assumption that identity is "always relative to a sortal term".[65]
the canadian philosopher-theologian, bernard lonergan, attempted to argue for the the logical coherency of the trinity by analogy with the operations of the human subject (the psychological analogy).[citation needed] it is chiefly in his work "the triune god: systematics" that he draws on his abstract phenomenology to attempt to show this logical inner coherency in the trinity doctrine.[citation needed] he saw himself as doing nothing more than standing in the tradition of augustine and aquinas on this issue and not based on the bible.
[edit]biblical background
god the father (top), and the holy spirit(represented by a dove) depicted abovejesus, painting by francesco albani
from the old testament the early church retained the conviction that god is one.[66] the new testament does not use the word τριάς (trinity)[67] nor explicitly teach the nicene trinitarian doctrine, but there are several passages which use twofold and threefold patterns to speak of god. binitarian passages include rom. 8:11, 2 cor. 4:14, galatians 1:1, eph. 1:20, 1 tim. 1:2, 1 pet. 1:21, and 2 john 1:13. passages which refer to the godhead with a threefold pattern include matt. 28:19, 1 cor. 6:11 and 12:4ff., gal. 3:11–14, heb. 10:29, and 1 pet. 1:2. these passages provided the material with which christians would develop doctrines of the trinity.[68] reflection by early christians on passages such as the great commission: "go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit"[matt 28:19] and paul the apostle's blessing: "the grace of the lord jesus christ and the love of god and the fellowship of the holy spirit be with you all,"[2 cor. 13:14] while at the same time the jewish shema yisrael: "hear, o israel: the lord our god, the lord is one."[deuteronomy 6:4][69] led the early christians to question how the father, son, and holy spirit are "one". later, the diverse references to god, jesus, and the spirit found in the new testament were systematized into a trinity—one god subsisting in three persons and one substance—to combat heretical tendencies of how the three are related and to defend the church against charges of worshiping two or three gods.[70]
some scholars dispute the idea that support for the trinity can be found in the bible, and argue that the doctrine is the result of theological interpretations rather than sound exegesis of scripture.[71][72] the concept was expressed in early writings from the beginning of the 2nd century forward, and other scholars hold that the way the new testament repeatedly speaks of the father, the son, and the holy spirit is such as to require one to accept a trinitarian understanding.[38]
the earliest known depiction of the trinity, dogmatic sarcophagus, 350 ad[73]vatican museums.
the comma johanneum, 1 john 5:7, is a disputed text which states: "for there are three that bear record in heaven, the father, the word, and the holy ghost: and these three are one." however, this passage is not considered to be part of the genuine text,[74] and most scholars agree that the phrase was a gloss.[75]
[edit]jesus as god
god the father (top), the holy spirit (represented by a dove), and child jesus, painting by bartolomé esteban murillo
the gospel of john has been seen as especially aimed at emphasizing jesus' divinity, presenting jesus as the logos, pre-existent and divine, from its first words, "in the beginning was the word, and the word was with god, and the word was god."[john 1:1][76] the gospel of john ends with thomas's apparent confession of faith to jesus, "my lord and my god!"[john 20:28][70] there is no significant tendency among modern scholars to deny that john 1:1 and john 20:28 identify jesus with god.[77] john also portrays jesus as the agent of creation of the universe[78]
there are also a few possible biblical supports for the divinity of jesus found in the synoptic gospels. the gospel of matthew, for example, quotes jesus as saying, "all things have been handed over to me by my father".[mt 11:27] this is similar to john, who wrote that jesus said, "all that the father has is mine".[john 16:15] these verses have been quoted to defend the omnipotence of christ, having all power, as well as the omniscience of christ, having all wisdom.
expressions also in the pauline epistles have been interpreted as attributing divinity to jesus. they include: "for by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him"[colossians 1:16] and "for in christ all the fullness of the deity lives in bodily form",[colossians 2:9] and in paul the apostle's claim to have been "sent not from men nor by man, but by jesus christ and god the father".[galatians 1:1][79]
god in the person of the son confronts adam and eve
some have suggested that john presents a hierarchy when he quotes jesus as saying, "the father is greater than i",[14:28] a statement which was appealed to by non-trinitarian groups such as arianism.[80] however, church fathers such as augustine of hippo argued this statement was to be understood as jesus speaking in the form of a man.[81]
[edit]holy spirit as god
as the arian controversy was dwindling down, the debate moved from the deity of jesus christ to the equality of the holy spirit with the father and son. on one hand, the pneumatomachi sect declared that the holy spirit was an inferior person to the father and son. on the other hand, the cappadocian fathersargued that the holy spirit was an equal person to the father and son.
although the main text used in defense of the deity of the holy spirit was matthew 28:19, cappadocian fathers such as basil the great argued from other verses such as "but peter said, 'ananias, why has satan filled your heart to lie to the holy spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? while it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? and after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? you have not lied to men but to god.'"[acts 5:3–4][82]
another passage the cappadocian fathers quoted from was "by the word of the lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host."[psalm 33:6] according to their understanding, because "breath" and "spirit" in hebrew are both "רוּחַ" ("ruach"), psalm 33:6 is revealing the roles of the son and holy spirit as co-creators. and since, according to them,[82] because the holy god can only create holy beings such as the angels, the son and holy spirit must be god.
yet another argument from the cappadocian fathers to prove that the holy spirit is of the same nature as the father and son comes from "for who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? so also no one comprehends the thoughts of god except the spirit of god."[1cor. 2:11]they reasoned that this passage proves that the holy spirit has the same relationship to god as the spirit within us has to us.[82]
the cappadocian fathers also quoted, "do you not know that you are god's temple and that god's spirit dwells in you?"[1cor. 3:16] and reasoned that it would be blasphemous for an inferior being to take up residence in a temple of god, thus proving that the holy spirit is equal with the father and the son.[83]
they also combined "the servant does not know what his master is doing"[john 15:15] with 1 corinthians 2:11 in an attempt to show that the holy spirit is not the slave of god, and therefore his equal.[84]
the pneumatomachi contradicted the cappadocian fathers by quoting, "are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?",[hebrews 1:14] in effect arguing that the holy spirit is no different than other created angelic spirits.[85] the church fathers disagreed, saying that the holy spirit is greater than the angels, since the holy spirit is the one who grants the foreknowledge for prophecy[1cor. 12:8–10] so that the angels could announce events to come.[82]
[edit]old testament foreshadowing
the holy trinity as throne of mercy, c. 1300–1350. english or spanish.alabaster.national gallery of art, washington, d.c.
in addition, the old testament has also been interpreted as foreshadowing the trinity,[86] by referring to god's word,[ps 33:6] his spirit,[isa 61:1] and wisdom,[prov 9:1] as well as narratives such as the appearance of the three men to abraham.[gen 18][87] however, it is generally agreed that it would go beyond the intention and spirit of the old testament to correlate these notions directly with later trinitarian doctrine.[88][89]
some church fathers believed that a knowledge of the mystery was granted to the prophets and saints of the old testament, and that they identified the divine messenger of genesis 16:7, 21:17, 31:11, exodus 3:2 and wisdom of the sapiential books with the son, and "the spirit of the lord" with the holy spirit.[88] other church fathers, such asgregory nazianzen, argued in his orations that the revelation was gradual, claiming that the father was proclaimed in the old testament openly, but the son only obscurely, because "it was not safe, when the godhead of the father was not yet acknowledged, plainly to proclaim the son."[90]
genesis 18–19 has been interpreted by christians as a trinitarian text.[91] the narrative has the lord appearing to abraham, who was visited by three men.[gen 18:1–2] then in genesis 19, "the two angels" visited lot at sodom. the interplay between abraham on the one hand, and the lord/three men/the two angels on the other was an intriguing text for those who believed in a single god in three persons. justin martyr, and john calvin similarly, interpreted it such that abraham was visited by god, who was accompanied by two angels.[92] justin supposed that the god who visited abraham was distinguishable from the god who remains in the heavens, but was nevertheless identified as the (monotheistic) god. justin appropriated the god who visited abraham to jesus, the second person of the trinity.
augustine, in contrast, held that the three visitors to abraham were the three persons of the trinity.[92] he saw no indication that the visitors were unequal, as would be the case in justin's reading. then ingenesis 19, two of the visitors were addressed by lot in the singular: "lot said to them, 'not so, my lord.'"[gen 19:18 kjv][92] augustine saw that lot could address them as one because they had a single substance, despite the plurality of persons.[93] some christians see indications in the old testament of a plurality and unity in god, an idea that is rejected by judaism.
according to swedenborg, the three angels which appeared to abraham do represent the trinity, but a trinity of one being: the divine itself, the divine human and the divine proceeding. that one being is represented is indicated by the fact that they are referred to in the singular as jehovah and lord.[94] the reason why only two of the angels went to visit sodom and gomorrah is that they represent the divine human and the divine proceeding, and to those aspects of the divine belongs judgment, as jesus declared that all judgment was entrusted by the father to the son john 5:22.[95] the three angels did indeed appear to abraham as three men, but they are only a symbolic representation of the trinity, which should not be taken literally as three distinct persons. in the old testament, swedenborg finds the earliest direct reference to a trine in the divinity in the account of moses' encounter with the lord in exodus which states, "and jehovah passed by upon his face, and called, jehovah, jehovah, a god merciful and gracious."exodus 34:6[96]
some christians interpret the theophanies or appearances of the angel of the lord as revelations of a person distinct from god, who is nonetheless called god.[97] this interpretation is found in christianity as early as justin martyr and melito of sardis, and reflects ideas that were already present in philo.[98] the old testament theophanies were thus seen as christophanies, each a "preincarnate appearance of the messiah".[99]
[edit]non-orthodoxy
non-orthodox views of the christian trinitarian god have also been suggested by process theologians like lewis s. ford, who endorse the entitative view of god as timeless and eternalconcrescence, but interpret the whiteheadian natures of god (primordial nature, consequent nature, and superjective nature) in a trinitarian way. other process theologians like joseph a. brackenconsider the three divines persons, each understood in the neo-whiteheadian societal view of god sensu charles hartshorne and david ray griffin, as constituting a primordial field of divine activity.
[edit]artistic depictions
main article: trinity in art
holy trinity, fresco by luca rossetti da orta, 1738–9 (st. gaudenzio church ativrea).
the trinity is most commonly seen in christian art with the spirit represented by a dove, as specified in the gospel accounts of the baptism of christ; he is nearly always shown with wings outspread. however depictions using three human figures appear occasionally in most periods of art.[100]
by the end of the 15th century, larger representations, other than the throne of mercy, became effectively standardised, showing an older figure in plain robes for the father, christ with his torso partly bare to display the wounds of his passion, and the dove above or around them. in earlier representations both father, especially, and son often wear elaborate robes and crowns. sometimes the father alone wears a crown, or even a papal tiara.
[edit]nontrinitarianism
main article: nontrinitarianism
nontrinitarianism (or antitrinitarianism) refers to monotheistic belief systems, primarily within christianity, which reject the doctrine of the trinity. nontrinitarian views differ widely on the nature of god, jesus, and the holy spirit. various nontrinitarian views, such as adoptionism, monarchianism and arianism existed prior to the formal definition of the trinity doctrine in 325, 360, and 431 ad, at the councils of nicaea, constantinople, and ephesus.[101] nontrinitarianism was later renewed in the gnosticism of the cathars in the 11th through 13th centuries, in the age of enlightenment of the 18th century, and in some groups arising during the second great awakening of the 19th century.
modern nontrinitarian groups or denominations include christadelphians, christian scientists, the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints (mormons), dawn bible students, friends general conference, iglesia ni cristo, jehovah's witnesses, la luz del mundo, living church of god, oneness pentecostals, members church of god international, unitarian universalist christians and the united church of god. islam, which considers jesus a prophet but not divine,[102] teaches the absolute indivisibility of a supremely sovereign and transcendent god (see god in islam),[103] and is distinctly anti-trinitarian as several verses of the koran teach that the doctrine of trinity is blasphemous.[104]
[edit]see also
• ahura, the zoroastrian trinity
• avatar
• ayyavazhi trinity
• cult of the holy spirit
• islamic view of the trinity
• shituf
• social trinity
• trikaya, the three buddha bodies
• trinitarian order
• trinitarian universalism
• triple deity
• trimurti, the hindu trinity
[edit]endnotes and references
1. ^ see discussion in "person". catholic encyclopedia. new york: robert appleton company. 1913.
2. ^ definition of the fourth lateran council quoted incatechism of the catholic church, 253
3. ^ frank sheed, theology and sanity
4. ^ understanding the trinity
5. ^ baltimore catechism, no. 1, lesson 7
6. ^ a b "catechism of the catholic church: the dogma of the holy trinity".
7. ^ "lewis and short: ''trinitas''". perseus.tufts.edu. retrieved 2012-01-02.
8. ^ "lewis and short: ''trinus''". perseus.tufts.edu. retrieved 2012-01-02.
9. ^ liddell & scott, a greek-english lexicon. entry for τριάς, retrieved december 19, 2006
10. ^ theophilus of antioch, to autolycus, ii.xv (retrieved on december 19, 2006).
11. ^ w.fulton in the "encyclopedia of religion and ethics"
12. ^ aboud, ibrahim (fall 2005). theandros an online journal of orthodox christian theology and philosophy. 3, number 1.
13. ^ "against praxeas, chapter 3". ccel.org. 2005-06-01. retrieved 2012-01-02.
14. ^ against praxeas, chapter 2 and in other chapters
15. ^ history of the doctrine of the trinity. accessed september 15, 2007.
16. ^ "orthodox outlet for dogmatic enquiries: on god". oodegr.com. retrieved 2012-01-02.
17. ^ eusebius of caesarea, church history iii.36
18. ^ st. ignatius of antioch to the magnesians (shorter recension), roberts-donaldson translation.
19. ^ first apology, lxi
20. ^ theophilus, apologia ad autolycum, book ii, chapter 15
21. ^ tertullian against praxeas
22. ^ a b bingham, jeffrey, "ht200 class notes", dallas theological seminary, (2004).
23. ^ the encyclopedia americana (1956), vol. xxvii, p. 294l
24. ^ nouveau dictionnaire universel (paris, 1865–1870), vol. 2, p. 1467.
25. ^ "catholic encyclopedia: article:''paul of samosata''". newadvent.org. 1911-02-01. retrieved 2012-01-02.
26. ^ "athanasius: de decretis or defence of the nicene definition, introduction, 19". tertullian.org. 2004-08-06. retrieved 2012-01-02.
27. ^ "athanasius, bishop of alexanria, theologian, doctor". justus.anglican.org. retrieved 2012-01-02.
28. ^ a b c "trinity". britannica encyclopaedia of world religions. chicago: encyclopædia britannica. 2006.
29. ^ on athanasius, oxford classical dictionary, edited by simon hornblower and antony spawforth. third edition. oxford; new york: oxford university press, 1996.
30. ^ kittel, 1:540.[full citation needed]
31. ^ 7:1, 3 online
32. ^ epistle to the philippians, 2:13 online
33. ^ on baptism 8:6 online, against praxeas, 26:2 online
34. ^ against noetus, 1:14 online
35. ^ seventh council of carthage online
36. ^ a sectional confession of faith, 13:2 online
37. ^ kittel, 3:108.
38. ^ a b stagg, frank. new testament theology. broadman press, 1962. isbn 978-0-8054-1613-8, pp. 38 ff.
39. ^ grudem, wayne a. 1994. systematic theology an introduction to biblical doctrine. leicester, england: inter-varsity press. page 226.
40. ^ "athanasian creed". ccel.org. retrieved 2012-01-02.
41. ^ barth, karl, and geoffrey william bromiley. 1975. the doctrine of the word of god prolegomena to church dogmatics, being volume i, 1. edinburgh: t. & t. clark. pages 348–9.
42. ^ thomas, and anton charles pegis. 1997. basic writings of saint thomas aquinas. indianapolis, indiana: hackett pub. pages 307–9.
43. ^ for 'person', seerichard de smet, a short history of the person, available in brahman and person: essays by richard de smet, ed. ivo coelho (delhi: motilal banarsidass, 2010).
44. ^ "npnf2-09. hilary of poitiers, john of damascus | christian classics ethereal library". ccel.org. 2005-07-13. retrieved 2012-01-02.
45. ^ pontifical council for promoting christian unity: the greek and the latin traditions regarding the procession of the holy spirit (scanned image of the english translation onl'osservatore romano of 20 september 1995); also text with greek letters transliterated and text omitting two sentences at the start of the paragraph that it presents as beginning with "the western tradition expresses first ..."
46. ^ phillip cary, priscilla papers vol. 20, no. 4, autumn 2006
47. ^ "basil the great, de spiritu sancto, npnf, vol 8". ccel.org. 2005-07-13. retrieved 2012-01-02.
48. ^ athanasius, 3.29 (p. 409)
49. ^ basil "letters", npnf, vol 8, 189.7 (p. 32)
50. ^ hill, de trinitate, 2.15
51. ^ p. van buren, christ in our place (grand rapids: eerdmans, 1957), p. 38
52. ^ k. rahner, the trinity (herder & herder:1970) p.22
53. ^ augustine, on the trinity, book i, ch. 10.
54. ^ op. cit., book iv, ch. 21; book v, ch. 9; book vii, ch. 4.
55. ^ op. cit., book viii, ch. 5.
56. ^ hilary, on the trinity, book ii, n. 6.
57. ^ op. cit., book ii, n. 8-9.
58. ^ op. cit., book vii, n. 40.
59. ^ op. cit., book vii, n. 41.
60. ^ aquinas, summa theologica, q. 27, art. 1.
61. ^ op. cit., q. 27, art. 5.
62. ^ op. cit., q. 30, art. 1.
63. ^ a b ibid.
64. ^ op. cit., q. 30, art. 2.
65. ^ routledge encyclopedia of philosophy online, on trinity,link
66. ^ rusch, william g. (1980). "introduction". in rusch, william g. the trinitarian controversy. minneapolis:fortress press(subscription required). p. 2.
67. ^ "neither the word trinity nor the explicit doctrine appears in the new testament ... the new testament established the basis for the doctrine of the trinity"(encyclopædia britannica online: article trinity).
68. ^ rusch, william g. (1980). "introduction". in rusch, william g. the trinitarian controversy. minneapolis:fortress press(subscription required). p. 2.
69. ^ "trinity". britannica.com. retrieved 2012-01-02.
70. ^ a b the oxford companion to the bible (ed. bruce metzger and michael coogan) 1993, p. 782–3.
71. ^ mcgrath, alister e.understanding the trinity. zondervan, 9789 isbn 0-310-29681-1
72. ^ harris, stephen l. understanding the bible. mayfield publishing: 2000. pp. 427–428
73. ^ see elizabeth lev, "dimming the pauline spotlight; jubilee fruits", 2009
74. ^ see, for instance, the note in 1 jn 5:7-8.
75. ^ bruce m. metzger, the text of the new testament: its transmission, corruption, and restoration, 2d ed. oxford university, 1968 p.101
76. ^ "the presentation of jesus in john's gospel". bbc.co.uk. retrieved 2012-01-02.
77. ^ brown, raymond e. the anchor bible: the gospel according to john (xiii–xxi), pp. 1026, 1032
78. ^ hoskyns, edwyn clement (ed davey f.n.) the fourth gospel faber & faber, 1947 p.142 commenting on "without him was not any thing made that was made."[john 1:3]
79. ^ paul helps us understand truths about jesus[dead link]
80. ^ simonetti, manlio. "matthew 14–28." new testament volume 1b, ancient christian commentary on scripture.intervarsity press, 2002. isbn 978-0-8308-1469-5
81. ^ st. augustine of hippo,de trinitate, book i, chapter 3.
82. ^ a b c d st. basil the great,on the holy spirit chapter 16.
83. ^ st. basil the great, on the holy spirit chapter 19.
84. ^ st. basil the great, on the holy spirit chapter 21.
85. ^ "catholic encyclopedia: article ''pneumatomachi''". newadvent.org. 1911-06-01. retrieved 2012-01-02.
86. ^ see book of wisdom#messianic interpretation by christians
87. ^ the oxford dictionary of the christian church (oxford university press, 2005 isbn 978-0-19-280290-3), articletrinity, doctrine of the
88. ^ a b "catholic encyclopedia: article ''the blessed trinity''". newadvent.org. 1912-10-01. retrieved 2012-01-02.
89. ^ "encyclopedia of religion", vol. 14, p.9360, on trinity
90. ^ gregory nazianzen, orations, 31.26
91. ^ for the two chapters as a single text, see robert. day in mamre, night in sodom: abraham and lot in genesis 18 and 19. brill publishers: 1995.isbn 978-90-04-10250-7 pp.37ff. web: 9 january 2010
92. ^ a b c "francis watson, abraham's visitors (the journal of scriptural reasoning, number 2.3, september 2002". etext.lib.virginia.edu. retrieved 2012-01-02.
93. ^ augustine had poor knowledge of the greek language, and no knowledge of hebrew. so he trusted the lxx septuagint, which differentiates between κύριοι[gen 19:2]('lords', vocative plural) andκύριε[gen 19:18] ('lord', vocative singular), even if the hebrew verbal form,נא-אדני (na-adoni), is exactly the same in both cases.
94. ^ swedenborg, emanuel. heavenly arcana, 1749-58. rotch edition. new york: houghton, mifflin and company, 1907, in the divine revelation of the new jerusalem (2012), n. 2149, 2156, 2218.
95. ^ swedenborg, n. 2319-2320.
96. ^ swedenborg, n. 10617.
97. ^ the trinity in the old testament
98. ^ larry w. hurtado, lord jesus christ: devotion to jesus in earliest christianity. wm. b. eerdmans publishing, 2005 isbn 0-8028-3167-2 pp. 573–578
99. ^ "baker's evangelical dictionary of biblical theology: ''angel of the lord''". studylight.org. retrieved 2012-01-02.
100. ^ see below and g schiller,iconography of christian art, vol. i, 1971, vol ii, 1972, (english trans from german), lund humphries, london, figs i;5–16 & passim, isbn 0-85331-270-2 and isbn 0-85331-324-5
101. ^ von harnack, adolf (1894-03-01). "history of dogma". retrieved 2007-06-15. "[in the 2nd century,] jesus was either regarded as the man whom god hath chosen, in whom the deity or the spirit of god dwelt, and who, after being tested, was adopted by god and invested with dominion, (adoptionist christology); or jesus was regarded as a heavenly spiritual being (the highest after god) who took flesh, and again returned to heaven after the completion of his work on earth (pneumatic christology)"
102. ^ glassé, cyril; smith, huston (2003). the new encyclopedia of islam. rowman altamira. pp. 239–241.isbn 0759101906.
103. ^ encyclopedia of the qur'an. thomas, david. 2006. volume v: trinity.
104. ^ qur'an 3:79-80, 112:1-4, etc.
[edit]further reading
• emery, gilles, o.p.; levering, matthew, eds. (2012). the oxford handbook of the trinity. isbn 978-0199557813.
• fiddes, paul, participating in god : a pastoral doctrine of the trinity (london: darton, longman, & todd, 2000)
• harris, b.p. (2006). understanding the trinity. an encouragement to abide in the doctrine in both faith and practice.
• holmes, stephen r. (2012). the quest for the trinity: the doctrine of god in scripture, history and modernity. isbn 9780830839865.
• johnson, thomas k., "what difference does the trinity make?" (bonn: culture and science publ., 2009)
• la due, william j., the trinity guide to the trinity (continuum international publishing group, 2003 isbn 1-56338-395-0, isbn 978-1-56338-395-3)
• letham, robert (2004). the holy trinity : in scripture, history, theology, and worship. isbn 9780875520001.
• o'collins, gerald (1999). the tripersonal god: understanding and interpreting the trinity. isbn 9780809138876.
• olson, roger e.; hall, christopher a. (2002). the trinity. isbn 9780802848277.
• phan, peter c., ed. (2011). the cambridge companion to the trinity. isbn 978-0-521-87739-8.
• so, damon w. k., jesus' revelation of his father: a narrative-conceptual study of the trinity with special reference to karl barth. (milton keynes: paternoster, 2006). isbn 1-84227-323-x
[edit]external links
wikimedia commons has media related to: holy trinity
• trinity entry at the stanford encyclopedia of philosophy
• doctrine of the trinity
• trinity article at theopedia
• eastern orthodox trinitarian theology
• doctrine of the trinity reading room: extensive collection of on-line sources on the trinity (tyndale seminary)
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Post by Starr☼ on May 6, 2013 1:07:59 GMT -5
3 (number)
from wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
this article may contain excessive, poor, or irrelevant examples. please improve the article by adding more descriptive text and removing less pertinent examples. see wikipedia's guide to writing better articles for further suggestions. (july 2012)
this article is about the number. for the year, see 3. for other uses, see 3 (disambiguation).
3
−1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 →
list of numbers — integers
← 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 →
cardinal
3
three
ordinal
3rd
third
numeral system
ternary
factorization
prime
divisors
1, 3
roman numeral
iii
roman numeral (unicode) Ⅲ, ⅲ
arabic
٣,3
bengali
৩
chinese
三，弎，叁
devanāgarī
३
ge'ez
፫
greek
γ (or γ)
hebrew
ג
japanese
三
khmer
៣
korean
셋,삼
malayalam
൩
tamil
௩
telugu
౩
thai
๓
prefixes
tri- (from greek)
tre-/ter- (fromlatin)
binary
11
ternary
10
octal
3
duodecimal
3
hexadecimal
3
3 (three; pron.: /ˈθriː/) is a number, numeral, and glyph. it is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4.
contents
[hide]
• 1 in mathematics
o 1.1 in numeral systems
o 1.2 list of basic calculations
• 2 evolution of the glyph
• 3 in science
o 3.1 anatomy
o 3.2 anthropology
o 3.3 astronomy
o 3.4 biology (specific and general)
o 3.5 chemistry
o 3.6 physics
• 4 in religion
o 4.1 three major divisions in comparative religion
o 4.2 abrahamic religions
o 4.3 in buddhism
o 4.4 in hinduism
o 4.5 in norse mythology
o 4.6 other religions
o 4.7 in esoteric tradition
o 4.8 in cartomancy
o 4.9 as a lucky or unlucky number
• 5 in philosophy
• 6 in technology
• 7 in music
o 7.1 artists, albums, songs
• 8 in geography
• 9 in filmography
• 10 in sports
• 11 in games
• 12 in literature
o 12.1 original scholarly articles/reviews about the three
• 13 see also
• 14 references
• 15 external links
[edit]in mathematics
• three is the first odd prime number,[1] and the second smallest prime. it is both the first fermat prime (22n + 1) and the first mersenne prime (2n − 1), the only number that is both, as well as the first lucky prime. however, it is the second sophie germain prime, the second mersenne prime exponent, the second factorial prime (2! + 1), the second lucas prime, the second stern prime.
• three is the first unique prime due to the properties of its reciprocal.
• three is the aliquot sum of 4.
• three is the third heegner number.
• three is the second triangular number and it is the only prime triangular number. three is the only prime which is one less than a perfect square. any other number which is n2 − 1 for some integer n is not prime, since it is (n − 1)(n + 1). this is true for 3 as well, but in its case one of the factors is 1.
• three non-collinear points determine a plane and a circle.
• three is the fourth fibonacci number. in the perrin sequence, however, 3 is both the zeroth and third perrin numbers.
• three is the fourth open meandric number.
• vulgar fractions with 3 in the denominator have a single digit repeating sequences in their decimal expansions, (.000..., .333..., .666...)
• a natural number is divisible by three if the sum of its digits in base 10 is divisible by 3. for example, the number 21 is divisible by three (3 times 7) and the sum of its digits is 2 + 1 = 3. because of this, the reverse of any number that is divisible by three (or indeed, any permutation of its digits) is also divisible by three. for instance, 1368 and its reverse 8631 are both divisible by three (and so are 1386, 3168, 3186, 3618, etc..). see also divisibility rule. this works in base 10 and in any positional numeral system whose base divided by three leaves a remainder of one (bases 4, 7, 10, etc.).
• a triangle is the only figure which, if all endpoints have hinges, will never change its shape unless the sides themselves are bent.
• 3 is the smallest prime of a mersenne prime power tower 3, 7, 127, 170141183460469231731687303715884105727. it is not known whether any more of the terms are prime.
• three of the five regular polyhedra have triangular faces — the tetrahedron, the octahedron, and the icosahedron. also, three of the five regular polyhedra have vertices where three faces meet — the tetrahedron, the hexahedron (cube), and the dodecahedron. furthermore, only three different types of polygons comprise the faces of the five regular polyhedra — the triangle, thequadrilateral, and the pentagon.
• there are only three distinct 4×4 panmagic squares.
• only three tetrahedral numbers are also perfect squares.
• the first number, according to the pythagoreans, and the first male number.
• the first number, according to proclus, being the first number such that n2 is greater than 2n.
• the trisection of the angle was one of the three famous problems of antiquity.
• gauss proved that every integer is the sum of at most 3 triangular numbers.
• gauss proved that for any prime number p (with the sole exception of 3) the product of its primitive roots is ≡ 1 (mod p).
• any number not in the form of 4n(8m+7) is the sum of 3 squares.
[edit]in numeral systems
it is frequently noted by historians of numbers that early counting systems often relied on the three-patterned concept of "one- two- many" to describe counting limits. in other words, in their own language equivalent way, early peoples had a word to describe the quantities of one and two, but any quantity beyond this point was simply denoted as "many". as an extension to this insight, it can also be noted that early counting systems appear to have had limits at the numerals 2, 3, and 4. references to counting limits beyond these three indices do not appear to prevail as consistently in the historical record.
[edit]list of basic calculations
multiplication
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 50 100 1000
3 6
9
12
15
18
21
24
27
30
33
36
39
42
45
48
51
54
57
60
63
66
69
72
75
150
300
3000
division
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
3 1.5
1 0.75 0.6 0.5 0.375
0.3 0.25
0.2
1 2 3 4 5
exponentiation
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
3 9 27 81
243
729 2187 6561 19683 59049 177147 531441 1594323
1 8
27
64
125
216
343
512
729 1000
1331 1728 2197
[edit]evolution of the glyph
three is the largest number still written with as many lines as the number represents. (the ancient romans usually wrote 4 as iiii, but this was almost entirely replaced by the subtractive notationiv in the middle ages.) to this day 3 is written as three lines in roman and chinese numerals. this was the way the brahmin indians wrote it, and the gupta made the three lines more curved. the nagari started rotating the lines clockwise and ending each line with a slight downward stroke on the right. eventually they made these strokes connect with the lines below, and evolved it to a character that looks very much like a modern 3 with an extra stroke at the bottom. it was the western ghubar arabs who finally eliminated the extra stroke and created our modern 3. (the "extra" stroke, however, was very important to the eastern arabs, and they made it much larger, while rotating the strokes above to lie along a horizontal axis, and to this day eastern arabs write a 3 that looks like a mirrored 7 with ridges on its top line): ٣[2]
while the shape of the 3 character has an ascender in most modern typefaces, in typefaces with text figures the character usually has a descender, as, for example, in . in some frenchtext-figure typefaces, though, it has an ascender instead of a descender.
a common variant of the digit 3 has a flat top, similar to the character ʒ (ezh). since this form is sometimes used to prevent people from fraudulently changing a 3 into an 8, it is sometimes called a banker's 3.
[edit]in science
[edit]anatomy
• a human ear has three semicircular canals.
• a human middle ear has three ossicles.
• most elbows consist of three bones, the only joint in the human body where three articulations are surrounded by one capsule.
• humans perceive white light as the mixture of the three additive primary hues: red, green, and blue.
[edit]anthropology
according to french historian georges duby, the three leaves of the fleur-de-lissymbol represent the three main medieval social classes:
those who prayed,
those who fought and...
those who worked.[3]
• georges dumézil developed the trifunctional hypothesis which divides prehistoric indo-european society into three classes: priests, warriors, and commoners.
[edit]astronomy
• there are three main galaxy morphological classifications: ellipticals, spirals and lenticulars. these classes are extended for finer distinctions of appearance and to encompass irregular galaxies.
• the roman numeral iii stands for giant star in the yerkes spectral classification scheme.
• earth is the third planet in its local solar system.
[edit]biology (specific and general)
• genetic information is encoded in dna and rna using a triplet codon system.
• hemimetabolous insects undergo gradual metamorphosis through three distinct stages: the egg, nymph, and the adult stage, or imago. there is no pupal stage. (compare to holometabolism which has four stages and is less gradual).
• in paleontology, trilobites are named as such because their bodies are divided in three longitudinal lobes.
[edit]chemistry
• three is the atomic number of lithium.
• atoms consist of three constituents: protons, neutrons, and electrons.
[edit]physics
• the first three minutes: a modern view of the origin of the universe is a book written by steven weinberg and published in 1977. it explains the early stages of the universe.
• the standard model of fundamental particles includes three generations of matter (fermions), encompassing the leptons (generation i—electron; ii—muon; iii—tau; and their three corresponding neutrinos), and, in pairs of flavors, the quarks (generation i—up quark & down quark; ii—charm quark & strange quark; iii—top quark & bottom quark). thus each of the three generations contains four particles, and these are often shown aligned with four bosons (force-carrying particles) excluding hypothetical bosons such as the graviton.
• a baryon (including protons and neutrons) consists of three quarks.
• we perceive our universe to have three spatial dimensions[citation needed].
• three physicists, albert einstein, boris podolsky and nathan rosen (known collectively with the acronym epr) moved a critique against quantum mechanics publishing the epr paradox.
[edit]in religion
main article: triple deity
many world religions contain triple deities or concepts of trinity, including:
• the christian holy trinity
• the hindu trimurti
• the hindu tridevi
• the three jewels of buddhism
• the three pure ones of taoism
• the triple goddess of wicca
[edit]three major divisions in comparative religion
there are three major divisions in comparative religion:
• abrahamic religions
• indian religions (dharmic) and
• east asian religions (taoic).
[edit]abrahamic religions
the shield of the trinity is a diagram of the christian doctrine of the trinity
• there are three main abrahamic religions: christianity, islam, and judaism.
christianity
• christians worship the trinity, which is one god in three persons.
• three people (including jesus) were crucified at the crucifixion.
• jesus laid dead in a tomb for three days before his resurrection.
• the threefold office of christ is a christian doctrine that christ performs the functions of prophet, priest, and king.
• the three theological virtues referred to 1 corinthians 13.
• in roman catholicism, a group of three martyrs, collectively known as faith, hope, and charity (named after the theological virtues).
• also in roman catholic doctrine, there are three realms of the afterlife: heaven, hell and purgatory (limbo is regarded as hypothetical).
• the three members of the holy family: jesus, mary, and joseph.
• the wise men who visited jesus after his birth left him three gifts.
• the sanctus is a hymn forming part of the order of mass in western christianity which includes the word "sanctus" (holy) is repeated three times.
• the trisagion (greek: τρισάγιον "thrice holy") is a standard hymn of the divine liturgy in most of eastern christianity.
• "holy, holy, holy" is a christian hymn in which the word "holy" is repeated three times.
islam
• during wudhu, the hands, arms, face and feet are each washed three times.
• according to the prophet muhammad, there are three holy cities of islam (to which pilgrimage should be made): mecca, medina, and jerusalem.
judaism
• king solomon states in ecclesiastes 4:12: "a three-ply cord is not easily severed." examples of this concept of three-ness in judaism are:
• the three patriarchs: abraham, isaac, and jacob.
• the tanakh has 3 sections: torah, nevi'im, and ketuvim.
• there are three main divisions of jews: kohen, levi, and israel (israelite).
• shimon hatzaddik taught: "on three things the world stands: on torah, on prayer, and on acts of kindness" (pirkei avoth 1:2). rabban shimon ben gamliel taught: "the world continues to exist because of three things: justice, truth, and peace"
[edit]in buddhism
• the three jewels (or triple gem) in which buddhists "take refuge" are the buddha, the dharma (the buddha's teachings), and the sangha (the community of enlightened beings).
• the triple bodhi (ways to understand the end of birth) are budhu, pasebudhu, and mahaarahath.
• the buddha has three bodies.[citation needed]
[edit]in hinduism
the "om" symbol, indevanagari is also written ओ३म् (ō̄m [õːːm]), where ३ is दीर्घ (dirgha, "three times as long")
• the trimurti: brahma the creator, vishnu the preserver, and shiva the destroyer.
• the three gunas underlie action, in the vedic system of knowledge.
[edit]in norse mythology
three is a very significant number in norse mythology, along with its powers 9 and 27.
see also: numbers in norse mythology
• there were three original beings: the primordial cow audhumla, ymir the first giant, and búri the first god and grandfather of odin.
• prior to ragnarök, there will be three hard winters without an intervening summer, the fimbulwinter.
• yggdrasil the world tree has three roots, and three is the square root of the number of worlds (nine) joined by yggdrasil. under the three roots are three sacred wells, one for each, including the well of urd in asgard, the well of mimir located "among the frost giants", and hvergelmir in niflheim.
• odin endured three hardships upon the world tree in his quest for the runes: he hanged himself, wounded himself with a spear, and suffered from hunger and thirst.
• during the onset of ragnarök three cockerels will begin to crow, heralding the final conflict: gullinkambi for the gods, fjalar for the giants and an unnamed third for the dead.
[edit]other religions
• the wiccan rule of three.
• the triple goddess: maiden, mother, crone; the three fates.
[edit]in esoteric tradition
• the theosophical society has three conditions of membership.
• gurdjieff's three centers and the law of three.
[edit]in cartomancy
the three cards spread are used in tarot reading with the first representing the past, the second the present, the third the future.
[edit]as a lucky or unlucky number
this section does not cite any references or sources. please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (april 2009)
three (三, formal writing: 叁, pinyin san1, cantonese: saam1) is considered a good number in chinese culture because it sounds like the word "alive" (生 pinyin sheng1, cantonese: saang1), compared to four (四, pinyin: si4, cantonese: sei1), which sounds like the word "death" (死 pinyin si3, cantonese: sei2).
counting to three is common in situations where a group of people wish to perform an action in synchrony: now, on the count of three, everybody pull! assuming the counter is proceeding at a uniform rate, the first two counts are necessary to establish the rate, but then everyone can predict when three" will come based on "one" and "two"; this is likely why three is used instead of some other number.
in vietnam, there is a superstition that considers it bad luck to take a photo with three people in it; it is professed that the person in the middle will die soon.
there is another superstition that it is unlucky to take a third light, that is, to be the third person to light a cigarette from the same match or lighter. this superstition is sometimes asserted to have originated among soldiers in the trenches of the first world war when a sniper might see the first light, take aim on the second and fire on the third.
the phrase "third time's the charm" refers to the superstition that after two failures in any endeavor, a third attempt is more likely to succeed. this is also sometimes seen in reverse, as in "third man [to do something, presumably forbidden] gets caught".
luck, especially bad luck, is often said to "come in threes".[4]
[edit]in philosophy
main article: trichotomy (philosophy)
• the three doshas (weaknesses) and their antidotes are the basis of ayurvedic medicine in india.
• philosophers such as aquinas, kant, hegel, and c. s. peirce have made threefold divisions, or trichotomies, which have been important in their work.
• hegel's dialectic of thesis + antithesis = synthesis creates three-ness from two-ness.
• according to pythagoras and the pythagorean school, the number 3, which they called triad, is the noblest of all digits, as it is the only number to equal the sum of all the terms below it, and the only number whose sum with those below equals the product of them and itself.[5]
[edit]in technology
it has been suggested that this article or section be merged into 3 (disambiguation). (discuss) proposed since january 2013.
• the resin identification code used in recycling to identify polyvinyl chloride.
• on most telephone keypads, the "3" key is also associated with the letters "d", "e", and "f".
• the glyph "3" may be used as a substitute for yogh (ȝ, ȝ) or greek xi (ξ, ξ) or ze (з, з) when those characters are not available.
• three is the minimum odd number of voting components for simple easy redundancy checks by direct comparison.
• three is approximately pi (actually closer to 3.14159) when doing rapid engineering guesses or estimates. the same is true if one wants a rough-and-ready estimate of e, which is actually approximately 2.7183.
• "3" is the dvd region code for many east asian countries, except for japan (which is region 2) and china (which is region 6).
• "3" is the trading name of mobile network operator hutchison 3g.
• channel 3 is the television channel traditionally associated with itv in the uk, and, since 1990, the broadcaster's legal name.
• the television vhf channel most often used in north america for hooking up vcrs and/or video game systems. if it is otherwise occupied by a local broadcaster, then channel 4 is used instead.
• some may use "3" as an alternate to the letter "e", often in jest or when using leetspeak, to denote being experienced in certain technology related fields.
see also: numb3rs and leetspeak
• in resource description framework, subject-predicate-object expressions are referred to as triples, because they contain 3 values.
[edit]in music
• in music, the roman numeral iii is the mediant scale degree, chord, or diatonic function, when distinguished iii = major and iii = minor.
• three is the number of performers in a trio.
• there are 3 notes in a triad, the basic form of any chord.
• the tritone, which divides the octave into 3 equally spaced notes (root, tritone, octave).
• in indian classical music, three equal repetitions of a rhythmic pattern is a common device called tihai.
[edit]artists, albums, songs
main article: 3 (music)
[edit]in geography
flag of trinacria with a three-legged symbol.
• several cities are known as tripoli from greek for "three cities".
• sicilia was known as trinacria for its triangle-shape.
• three mile island is known for a nuclear accident.
• several cities are also known as triad winston-salem, high point, and greensboro nc
[edit]in filmography
• there is a 1977 film titled 3 women.
• in both the film the craft and the fantasy television series charmed, the "power of three" has been used as part of wiccan incantations.
• three, original title for survival island.[6]
[edit]in sports
it has been suggested that this section be split into a new article titled 3 (sports). (discuss) proposed since january 2013.
• in association football:
• the squad number 3 is assigned in most cases to the starting left defender or fullback.
• in almost all leagues, and in the group phases of most international competitions, 3 competition points are awarded for a win.
• in bowling, 3 strikes in a row is called a turkey.
• in gaelic football, hurling and camogie, a "goal", with a scoring value of 3, is awarded when the attacking team legally sends the ball into the opponent's goal.
• in ice hockey, a game consists of 3 periods of twenty minutes each.
• in rugby union, 3 is the jersey number of the starting tighthead prop. it is also the number of points received for a successful drop goal or penalty kick.
• in rugby league, 3 is the jersey number of the starting right centre threequarter (except in the european super league, which uses static squad numbering).
• in baseball, 3 is the number of strikes before the batter is out and the number of outs per side per inning. it also represents the first baseman's position.
• in basketball:
• a shot made from behind the three-point arc is worth 3 points (except in the 3x3 variant, in which it is worth 2 points).
• 3 is used to represent the small forward position.
• a potential "three-point play" exists when a player is fouled while successfully completing a two-point field goal, thus being awarded one additional free throw attempt.
• on offense, the "3-second rule" states that an offensive player cannot remain in the opponent's free throw lane for more than 3 seconds while his team is in possession of the ball and the clock is running.
• in the nba only, the defensive 3-second violation, also known as "illegal defense", states that a defensive player cannot remain in his own free throw lane for more than 3 seconds unless he is actively guarding an offensive player.
• the number of the famous nascar stock car that dale earnhardt drove for nearly 20 years before his death in 2001. in iroc, hélio castroneves had his car number changed from his standard 3 (which he drives in the indy racing league) to number 03. in nascar's nationwide series, the #3 car is currently driven by austin dillon, grandson of earnhardt's friend and former employer richard childress.
• a hat-trick in sports is associated with succeeding at anything three times in three consecutive attempts, as well as when any player in ice hockey or soccer scores three goals in one game (whether or not in succession). in cricket, if a bowler takes 3 wickets in a row it is called a hat trick.
• in volleyball, 3 is the number of sets needed to be won to win the whole match. the number is also important because of the "3-metre line", a line on either side of the court 3 metres from the net, which restricts certain attacking plays by back-row players.
• in both american football and canadian football, the number of points received for a successful field goal. (an exception is in six-man football where the field goal is worth four points.)
• in canadian football, the last down before a team loses possession on downs. usually, a team faced with a third down will punt (if far from the opponent's goal line) or attempt a field goal (if relatively close).
• a triathlon consists of three events: swimming, bicycling, and running.
• the jersey number 3 has been retired by several north american sports teams in honor of past playing greats or other key figures:
• in major league baseball:
• the atlanta braves, for dale murphy.
• the chicago white sox, for harold baines.
• the cleveland indians, for hall of famer earl averill.
• the minnesota twins, for hall of famer harmon killebrew.
• the new york yankees, for hall of famer babe ruth.
• the san francisco giants, for hall of famer bill terry, who played for the team when it was based in new york city.
• in the nfl:
• the chicago bears, for hall of famer bronko nagurski.
• the green bay packers, for hall of famer tony canadeo.
• the kansas city chiefs, for hall of famer jan stenerud.
• in the nba:
• the boston celtics, for hall of famer dennis johnson.
• the new jersey nets, for hall of famer dražen petrović.
• in the nhl:
• the boston bruins, for lionel hitchman.
• the chicago blackhawks, for keith magnuson and hall of famer pierre pilote.
• the edmonton oilers, for al hamilton.
• the montreal canadiens, for hall of famer émile bouchard.
• the new jersey devils, for ken daneyko.
• the new york rangers, for hall of famer harry howell.
• the st. louis blues, for bob gassoff.
• the quebec nordiques retired the number for j. c. tremblay. however, the team moved to denver as the colorado avalanche after the 1994–95 season, and the avalanche placed all of the nordiques' retired numbers back into circulation.
• five association football clubs are also known to have retired the number 3:
• al-ahly of egypt, for defender mohamed abdelwahab, who died in 2006 during a club training session.
• a.c. milan of italy, for longtime defender paolo maldini. he stipulated that if either of his two sons ever makes milan's first team, they can choose to wear the number.
• atlante of mexico, for longtime goalkeeper federico vilar.
• internazionale of italy, for longtime defender giacinto facchetti, who went on to serve as club president and died in that office.
• sturm graz of austria, for longtime defender günther neukirchner.
• in cricket, each wicket, located on each each of the pitch, is made of 3 stumps.
[edit]in games
international maritime signal flagfor 3 is known as atriband, a form of the tricolour.
• the game rock-paper-scissors involves three hand shapes. rock, paper, and scissors.
• the number is notorious in the gaming community since developer valve is yet to release a second sequel to any of their major games, with half-life 3 being known as one of the industry's most famous cases of vaporware.[7]
[edit]in literature
it has been suggested that this article or section be merged into 3 (disambiguation). (discuss) proposed since january 2013.
• it is a peculiarity of semitic linguistics that a large majority of consonantal roots are triliterals.
• 3 is the number of witches in william shakespeare's macbeth.
• 3 is the number of words or phrases in a tripartite motto.
• 3 is the number of novels or films in a trilogy and the number of interconnected works of art in a triptych.
• thr3e is a 2003 suspense novel written by thriller author ted dekker.
• dante alighieri's divine comedy has three parts each of thirty-three cantos (plus one introductory canto totaling 100). it was written in terza rima, a combination of tercets. all of this is an allusion to the christian trinity.
• the number three recurs several times in tolkien's the lord of the rings and also in the silmarillion. three rings of power were given to the elves. there are three silmarils. the unions of theeldar (elves) and the edain (men) were three in number: beren and lúthien, tuor and idril, and aragorn and arwen.
• three blind mice is a children's nursery rhyme and musical round.
• the three musketeers is a novel by alexandre dumas, and is part of a trilogy.
• three sisters is a play by anton chekhov.
• a recurring theme in arthur c. clarke's rama series is the observation that "the ramans do everything in threes."
• the three bears – children's classic literature
• the three little pigs – children's classic literature.
• 3 is the number of wishes normally granted in most fairy tales and stories. likewise, the protagonist in most stories faces 3 conflicts, whether mental or physical before his or her great triumph.[citation needed]
• "threes" is a poem by carl sandburg.
• in many czech folktales, a great beast of some sort will, if bound in some manner, usually be bound by three chains, hooks, ropes, etc., and a menial task must be repeated three times to free it.
• the day of the triffids, 1951 by john wyndham. genetically modified plants with three legs take over the earth.
• the number three is a recurring theme in the series of unfortunate events: there are three baudelaire orphans, three snicket orphans, three quagmire orphans, etc.
• the good, the bad and the ugly centers around a theme of 3
[edit]original scholarly articles/reviews about the three
travelling in a troika (three-horse sled).
• "the number three in the american culture". a selected chapter found in the book entitled every man his way (1967–68) by alan dundes.
• "people in threes going up in smoke and other triplicities in russian literature and culture" (fall 2005, rocky mountain review) by lee b. croft.
• "buckland's third revolution" (1997–98) and "three wise men" (1984–85) posters by herb o. buckland.
[edit]see also
mathematics portal
• cube (algebra) – (3 superscript)
• third
[edit]references
1. ^ bryan bunch, the kingdom of infinite number. new york: w. h. freeman & company (2000): 39
2. ^ georges ifrah, the universal history of numbers: from prehistory to the invention of the computer transl. david bellos et al. london: the harvill press (1998): 393, fig. 24.63
3. ^ georges duby, france in the middle ages 987–1460: from hugh capet to joan of arc
4. ^ see "bad" in the oxford dictionary of phrase and fable, 2006, via encyclopedia.com.
5. ^ priya hemenway (2005), divine proportion: phi in art, nature, and science, sterling publishing company inc., pp. 53–54, isbn 1-4027-3522-7
6. ^ three at the internet movie database
7. ^ 10 cases of vaporware
• wells, d. the penguin dictionary of curious and interesting numbers london: penguin group. (1987): 46–48
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