The Three C's for Confessing the Trinity

The Three C’s for Confessing the Trinity

The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are coessential, coeternal, and coequal.

Coessential

• The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God.  Yet, there are not three gods, but One God.
• All three persons of the Blessed Holy Trinity have the one undivided divine essence in common.

Coeternal

• The Father is eternal, the Son is eternal, and the Holy Spirit is eternal.  Yet, there are not three eternals, but One Eternal God.
• The Father is eternally unbegotten, the Son is eternally begotten, and the Holy Spirit eternally proceeds.
• There never was a time in which the person of the Father did not exist, there never was a time in which the person of the Son did not exist, and there never was a time in which the person of the Holy Spirit did not exist.
• In the beginning, all three persons were present and active, namely the person of the Father referred to as God, the person of the Son referred to as the Word of God, and the person of the Holy Spirit referred to as the Spirit of God.
• All three persons of the Blessed Holy Trinity are eternal.

Coequal

• The Holy Spirit is worshiped and glorified with the Father and the Son.  Yet, there are not three gods that are worshiped and glorified, but One Eternal God who is worshiped and glorified.
• All three persons of the Blessed Holy Trinity are to be given equal divine praise and honor that can only rightfully be given to God.