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The Old Testament theophanies were thus seen as Christophanies, each a "preincarnate appearance of the Messiah". This interpretation is found in Christianity as early as Justin Martyr and Melito of Sardis, and reflects ideas that were already present in Philo. 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. 19:18) Augustine saw that Lot could address them as one because they had a single substance, despite the plurality of persons. Then in Genesis 19, two of the visitors were addressed by Lot in the singular: "Lot said to them, 'Not so, my lord '" (Gen. He saw no indication that the visitors were unequal, as would be the case in Justin's reading. Justin interpreted the God who visited Abraham as Jesus, the second person of the Trinity.Īugustine, in contrast, held that the three visitors to Abraham were the three persons of the Trinity. 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 Martyr, and John Calvin similarly, interpreted it such that Abraham was visited by God, who was accompanied by two angels.
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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. In Genesis 19, "the two angels" visited Lot at Sodom. The narrative has the Lord appearing to Abraham, who was visited by three men. Genesis 18–19 has been interpreted by Christians as a Trinitarian text. Other Church Fathers, such as Gregory 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". 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, Genesis 21:17, Genesis 31:11, Exodus 3:2 and Wisdom of the sapiential books with the Son, and "the spirit of the Lord" with the Holy Spirit. However, it is generally agreed among Trinitarian Christian scholars that it would go beyond the intention and spirit of the Old Testament to correlate these notions directly with later Trinitarian doctrine. The Old Testament has been interpreted as referring to the Trinity by referring to God's word (Psalm 33:6), his spirit (Isaiah 61:1), and Wisdom (Proverbs 9:1), as well as narratives such as the appearance of the three men to Abraham. Russian icon of the Old Testament Trinity by Andrei Rublev, between 14 The doctrine of the Trinity was first formulated among the early Christians and fathers of the Church as early Christians attempted to understand the relationship between Jesus and God in their scriptural documents and prior traditions. While the developed doctrine of the Trinity is not explicit in the books that constitute the New Testament, the New Testament possesses a triadic understanding of God and contains a number of Trinitarian formulas.
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Nontrinitarian positions include Unitarianism, Binitarianism and Modalism. This doctrine is called Trinitarianism and its adherents are called trinitarians, while its opponents are called antitrinitarians or nontrinitarians. In this context, the three persons define who God is, while the one essence defines what God is. The Christian doctrine of the Trinity ( Latin: Trinitas, lit.'triad', from Latin: trinus 'threefold') defines God as being one god existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the Father, God the Son ( Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit, three distinct persons sharing one homoousion (essence).