The Byzantine Forum
Newest Members
PittsburghBob, Jason_OLPH, samuelthesearcher, Hannah Walters, Harry Kevin
6,196 Registered Users
Who's Online Now
2 members (San Nicolas, jjp), 410 guests, and 146 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Latest Photos
St. Sharbel Maronite Mission El Paso
St. Sharbel Maronite Mission El Paso
by orthodoxsinner2, September 30
Holy Saturday from Kirkland Lake
Holy Saturday from Kirkland Lake
by Veronica.H, April 24
Byzantine Catholic Outreach of Iowa
Exterior of Holy Angels Byzantine Catholic Parish
Church of St Cyril of Turau & All Patron Saints of Belarus
Forum Statistics
Forums26
Topics35,542
Posts417,783
Members6,196
Most Online4,112
Mar 25th, 2025
Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 122
R
Member
Member
R Offline
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 122
A metaphysical question.

I know outside of Christian learnings that there exists divine order in the universe and that nothing exists or happens outside of divine order. I know that this divine order has intelligence.
All of Science and unitarian religion base everything on physical or spiritual aspects of this divine order.

I know outside of Christian learnings that there exists a collective spirit or collective mind. This mind is the sum of all human thought and learnings. It also expands to all thought in the universe. I know the collective mind has a personality at every level.
New Age and Spiritualism seem to focus on this collective unconscious idea.

How does this relate to the Holy Trinity? Is divine order God the father? Is the collective mind something like the Holy Spirit?
If I'm on a right track where would Jesus Christ fit in? I know he is the son of God from faith, but I can't grasp the idea from a metaphysical perspective.

I once spoke to a spirit (maybe the Holy Spirit) and he said "I am Jesus" in answer to my question about what spirit was leading my spiritual path through some of my behaviors. These unusual behaviors led me to study metaphysics.

Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 3,528
Grateful
Member
Grateful
Member
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 3,528
Richard,

The Christian concept of the Holy Trinity comes from Jesus' revelation of it. He referred to God as His Heavenly Father; He identified Himself to be God's Son; and He taught us that He would send the Holy Spirit who procedes from the Father (which He did, after His resurrection).

In the Christian understanding of the Trinity, the one and only God is Three Persons who are undivided and of one essence. So, there is no "collective unconsciousness" in Christianity. There is God: The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, one in essence and undivided.

Among other things, that means all tree Persons of the Trinity are present whenever and wherever one of them is present. I mention that because some New Agers (and some Christians who are influenced by New Age) think that the Trinity is a metaphor for three different levels of human consciousness or three different operations of God in this world. Thus, they might says that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit of the Trinity are solely "Creator, Savior, Sanctifier" or "God Beyond us, God With us, God Within us." While those terms are accurate for God�s roles in creation, they are also incomplete. That is because the Persons of the Trinity are not defined by their roles in the world. The Persons of the Trinity are their own Persons, eternally existing within and comprising the ineffable infinity of God.

In short, the Christian concept of the Trinity is not analogous to New Age or East Asian monistic religions. The Trinity is not a metaphor for states of consciousness (including collective unconsciousness). The Trinity is not a metaphor for God's roles in creation.

Instead, the Trinity is who God is. And Christians know about it, and believe in it, because Jesus revealed it.

One of the best introductions to the Christian understanding of the Trinity is in a book by Bishop Kallistos Ware: "The Orthodox Way." If you are interested in the Trinity and in Jesus Christ, I highly recommend it to you.

May Jesus continue to guide you to the Truth. As He said, "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life."

-- John


Moderated by  theophan 

Link Copied to Clipboard
The Byzantine Forum provides message boards for discussions focusing on Eastern Christianity (though discussions of other topics are welcome). The views expressed herein are those of the participants and may or may not reflect the teachings of the Byzantine Catholic or any other Church. The Byzantine Forum and the www.byzcath.org site exist to help build up the Church but are unofficial, have no connection with any Church entity, and should not be looked to as a source for official information for any Church. All posts become property of byzcath.org. Contents copyright - 1996-2024 (Forum 1998-2024). All rights reserved.
Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 8.0.0