|
We are here not concerned with atheists and pantheists,
who deny God the Creator Himself, nor with the
rationalists, who simply reject every supernatural
mystery. The errors about the Trinity can be easily
divided into those which attempt to safeguard the unity of
the divine nature by denying either the real distinction
between the persons (Monarchians and Sabellians) or the
consubstantiality of the persons (Subordinationists,
Arians, Macedonians). Opposed to these are the
Tritheists who say there are three natures in God in
order to safeguard the Trinity of persons.[49]
We see how divine providence permits errors and heresies
that the truth made stand out more clearly, just as it
permits sin for a greater good. With regard to the
Trinity, God permitted errors to appear which are
opposed to one another as early as the first three
centuries. During that time all the principal aspects of
this supreme mystery were speculatively considered and this
supreme dogma stood forth in the clearest light. In the
East particularly the chief speculative heresies, those
of the metaphysical order, preceded the Pelagian heresy,
which is of the moral order and originated in the West.
The Trinitarian errors can be so classified as to support
the axiom that erroneous systems often are true in what
they affirm and false in what they deny because the reality
with which they deal is higher and broader than the
heresies themselves.
|
Denial
Trinity of persons
|
|
|
With respect to their real distinction—Monarchians & Modalists
With respect to their consubstantiality—Arians and Macedonians
|
|
|
Unity of nature—The Tritheism of Roscelline (11th
cent.) and of Abbot Joachim (12th Cent.)
|
|
It would be difficult to imagine any other errors, unless
we include the errors of modern rationalists, such as
Kant.
These errors can also be presented in a way to show the
opposition existing between them. Between Unitarianism
(Monarchists, Modalists, and Arians) and
Tritheism, the Catholic dogma of the Trinity appears as
the highest point of truth, like the apex of a pyramid
rising from errors opposed to one another. The errors
thus opposed to one another appear false in what they
deny, e. g., the denial of the Trinity or of the
divine unity, and true in what they affirm, because the
divine reality is infinitely broader than the limited
concepts of the human mind. As we shall see, the
medieval conflict between nominalism and realism had
considerable influence on these theological questions.
|
|