Grosey's Messages

Slide 1,2 "If properly understood, this Trinitarian relationship—unity in Trinity and Trinity in unity—will inspire and teach us how to relate to the God of Scripture, who is both personal and transcendent." Albert Mohler. Because its not theory, its fact.

Slide 3 The Apostle's Creed  (120 AD) The Nicene Creed (325-381 AD) to combat Arianism (like JW's) who say Jesus is a creation of God. The Athanasian Creed (417-500AD ) again combating many views that had crept into the church such as Modalism:  United Pentecostals, Jesus Only church, some Churches of Christ non creedal.  Potters House has recently changed to become Trinitarian.

And the Catholic Faith is this: That we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity; 4. Neither confounding the Persons: nor dividing the Substance [Essence] 5. For there is one Person of the Father: another of the Son: and another of the Holy Ghost.  But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, is all one: the Glory equal, the Majesty coeternal. Such as the Father is: such is the Son: and such is the Holy Ghost. The Father uncreate [uncreated]: the Son uncreate[uncreated]: and the Holy Ghost uncreate [uncreated] .

Slide 4,5,6 Misunderstandings of the Trinity

Tritheism, Modalism  (United Pentecostals),  Unitariansim  (JW's).

Slide 7 It is Important   Whoever desires to be saved should above all hold to the catholic faith. Anyone who does not keep it whole and unbroken will doubtless perish eternally.  Jude 4 I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints.4 For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

Slide 8 2 John 7-11 antichrist.8 Watch yourselves, that you do not lose what we have accomplished, but that you may receive a full reward.9 Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son.10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting;

Slide 9,10,11 T12he Oneness of God "This is what the LORD says—Israel's King and Redeemer, the LORD of Heaven's Armies" "I am the First and the Last; there is no other God"  (Isaiah 44:6)  "Understand that I alone am God. There is no other God—there never has been, and there never will be"  (Isa 43:10)

Slide 13 Triunity in the Old Testament Genesis 1: 1 In the beginning God (Elohim. pl.) created (barah. sing.)the heavens and the earth (3:22, 11:6,7, Eccles 12:1) 26 Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness" Isaiah 6:8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?"  Deuteronomy 6:"Hear, O Israel! The LORD (YHWH, sing.)  is our God (Elohenu. pl), the LORD is one!"

Slide 14,  Isaiah 9:6   For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

 48: ¹² "Listen to Me, O Jacob, even Israel whom I called; I am He, I am the first, I am also the last. ¹³ "Surely My hand founded the earth, And My right hand spread out the heavens; When I call to them, they stand together…. ¹⁶ "Come near to Me, listen to this: From the first I have not spoken in secret, From the time it took place, I was there. And now the Lord GOD has sent Me, and His Spirit." ¹⁷ Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel,"         Slide15   Isa 59:19,20; 63:9-11;

Slide 16   "Within the nature of the one, true God exists three Person(age)s:  the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, who share the same attributes,  are the same substance (nature, essence or reality)  and are in effect the one, true God." Slide17

Slide 18 Triunity in the New Testament

As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water.  At that moment heaven was opened,  and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him.  And a voice from heaven said,  "This is my Son, whom I love;  with him I am well pleased." Matt 3:16,17

Slide 19 Therefore go 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

Slide 20,21, 22 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14, 1 Peter 1:2-3 Ephesians 4:4-6, Ephesians 5:18-20, 1 Corinthians 12:4-6,  Jude 20-21

Slide23  You Can Experience The Trinity

2 Corinthians 13:14--"May the grace  of the Lord Jesus Christ, only this Solves The Problem of Spirituality. Only this can cover the depth of my sin. Full atonement! Oh vast surprise the wondrous incarnation! Creation's God now born in Adam's race! To bleed for sin, and bring us free salvation! A wonder dwarfing matter, time and space!

and the love of God, God's ultimate purpose in History: Only the Father's love could determine the decision to give His Son forever as our Saviour. Order out of chaos.

Feminists attack this as repressive patriarchalism. Sexless but personal (CFHenry).

and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Authentic Christianity. Only this can give you and I individually and everywhere omnipresently comfort and peace.

St. Patrick said, "I bind unto myself today the strong Name of the Trinity." It is a strong name, and it is a name we can trust.

John Newton May the grace of Christ our Savior And the Father's boundless love With the Holy Spirit's favor, Rest upon us from above.

Thus may we abide in union With each other and the Lord,

And possess, in sweet communion, Joys which earth cannot afford. Slide24

The conflict between orthodoxy and Arianism continued for centuries. The Nicene Creed, and especially the word "homoousios" remained very confusing. While it meant Arius was wrong, it could have been interpreted as claiming another extreme – that Father and Son are one and the same (in theological words, not just one substance, but also one person/hypostasis) and that opinion (known as modalism or Sabellianism) had been declared heretical long ago. The Arian party recovered and gained momentum. Eusebius of Nicomedia, having returned from his exile, turned out to be particularly skilful in increasing influence and did his best to undermine Athanasius and the supporters of homoousios. Eusebius asked Athanasius to restore Arius to the church of Alexandria, but Athanasius declined. Eusebius decided to overcome this obstacle in an ambitious way – using the emperor. Arian priests managed to get gain significant influence on the emperor's wife and later on Constantine himself. They convinced him that Arius was mistreated by the council and that he was, in fact, willing to publicly agree with the Nicene Creed. Constantine recalled Arius from his exile to answer the questions about his faith. Arius managed to convince the emperor that he indeed basically agreed with the declaration of the Council and very diplomatically reformulated his opinions in a way that didn't provoke such a disgust. Constantine was satisfied and allowed Arius to return home to Alexandria. As you can imagine, Athanasius didn't welcome him with open arms and once again refused to take him back into the Alexandrian church.

Now, however, the situation was a bit different. The first time, Athanasius had the unchallenged liberty to manage his church, but now, not accepting Arius back meant conflict with the wishes of the Roman emperor. After the initial rejection, Athanasius even received a letter from Constantine informing him that everyone who wishes to become part of the church should be allowed to do so. Eusebius sensed the conflict between the Alexandrian bishop and the emperor and recognized his chance to make a move and get rid of Athanasius for good. The Arian party allied with the Melitian sect (heretic Egyptian Christians following Melitius) and together they accused Athanasius of a great many crimes:

• demanding a tribute in the form of linen garment from Egyptians
• plotting against the emperor
• ordering his subordinate to assault a presbyter, defile an altar and burn sacred books
• killing Arsenius, a Melitian bishop, cutting off his hand and using it in black magic rituals

The sources (of course, only orthodox sources survived) tell us that all those accusations were false. Some of them have been proven false even before Athanasius could prepare his defence. Nevertheless, the emperor wanted the crimes to be investigated. He planned to assemble bishops in Jerusalem for a grand opening of a new church anyway, so he asked the bishops to first meet in Tyre and inspect the charges against Athanasius. This assembly became known as the First Synod of Tyre.

Athanasius prepared his arguments and went to Tyre to face his accusers. Especially the murder charge was outrageous. Being accused of killing someone and performing witchcraft was hardly something a bishop could tolerate. To Athanasius, the charge seemed even more disgraceful due to the fact that the supposed victim of the crime, Arsenius, was, to the best of Athanasius' knowledge, still alive and well.

The accusers presented their evidence in a truly impactful way. To the utmost shock of the audience, they showed off a human hand. The hand was obviously real and obviously human. The speech that accompanied the reveal was sharp and accused the Alexandrian bishop of a terrible crime. Had Athanasius not been prepared, this would have harmed his chances devastatingly.

But he was prepared. He started his defence speech with a question. "Who of you know Arsenius?". Many people admitted they knew him. Then, amazingly, Athanasius presented Arsenius. In person! To avoid any doubt, it was not a corpse, it was a living and breathing man. "Is this the person who has lost a hand?", he asked again. The bishops recognized Arsenius but still weren't ready to acquit Athanasius completely. After all, a cloak covered Arsenius and his hands were not visible. Athanasius might not have killed the poor man but cutting off one's hand should still be considered a crime and not a tolerated pastime for a respectable bishop of the Christian church.

The Alexandrian bishop continued his performance. He removed Arsenius' cloak from one side, exposing one of his hands and then from the other side, exposing the other. Then he turned to his accusers with his punchline, "Arsenius, as you see, is found to have two hands: let my accusers show the place whence the third was cut off.". At this point, his main accuser left the room and a swift acquittal followed.

How did Athanasius manage to refute the charges in such a spectacular way? He had help. The governor of the province acquired information on Arsenius – apparently, he was held in a house belonging to the conspirators supporting the Arian party. However, one of the captors drank too much and talked too much in a local inn. The governor was made aware and he immediately ordered the house to be searched. Arsenius was indeed found. He proved to be no innocent victim as he concealed his identity and refused to admit who he really was. Fortunately, he was soon recognized and made available for Athanasius. The Synod acquitted Athanasius from murder charges, but that was only a minor victory. Some of the allegations still stood. Namely that his subordinate Macarius, acting on the orders of the bishop, assaulted a presbyter, burned sacred books and behaved aggressively toward the equipment of a church. Athanasius once again began a carefully planned defence. He intended to show that the assaulted presbyter was not a presbyter at all but an imposter who began preaching without the necessary authority and that this man fabricated all the following accusations against Macarius. The synod intended to send out a group of investigators to determine what had truly happened, but Athanasius spotted signs of foul play there – the investigators were chosen from his accusers. Athanasius immediately protested, but when his objection was overruled, he lost hope, left the Synod and appealed to the emperor himself. Unsurprisingly, the Synod continued, found him guilty and deposed him immediately. Funnily enough, the bishops reinstated Arsenius (who was now officially alive and two-handed) as bishop of the city of Hypselopolis and the guy also raised his hand against Athanasius. Very soon, Athanasius was banished and the heretic Arius welcomed back to the church.

The (ex-) bishop's appeal didn't fare well too. At first, Constantine seemed willing to listen. He even sent a letter to the leaders of the Synod criticizing their unfair steps and demanded them to visit him in Constantinople and justify their decisions. A party led by Eusebius eventually travelled to the city and successfully implemented a new strategy. Instead of discussing the already discussed accusations, they came up with a new one. A group of bishops allegedly heard Athanasius' threats that he would stop the usual supply of grain from Alexandria to Constantinople. The emperor was outraged and Athanasius ended up in exile. It was the first and, by far, not the last banishment he had to face in his life.

From  https://www.romaoptima.com/roman-empire/athanasius-of-alexandria-bishop-accused-of-murder/