The Trinity 3: The Father Comes First

The third of 5 Sunday sermons on the doctrine of the Trinity, delivered at St Mary's Kemsing during June and July 2020.

This third talk continues to answer the question how there can be 3 distinct persons within the Trinity, and yet one God (rather than three). Last time, we said that the 3 persons always work together. This week, I explain how the Trinity is a Trinity of 3 equal persons, each fully God, and yet in important ways the Father comes first. It may seem that this diminishes the Son (and the Spirit); in fact, this safeguards the full divinity of God the Son, and ensures that there is one God and not several. This truth, "the Father comes first", protects "divine monarchy" (to use the language you'll find in many books).