Continuing from where we left off, perichoresis comes from the Greek word perichorein which means to contain or to penetrate. This term was first used in talking about the co-inherence – without any mixing – of humanity and divinity in Jesus. But it came to play a central role in attempts to describe God as Trinity.

It is true that the specific term perichoresis is not found in the New Testament but there is sufficient evidence in Scriptures supporting the use of the term that it became acceptable both in the Eastern and Western Churches.

In some mysterious manner which is difficult for us to even imagine, the persons of the Trinity are ‘part’ of each other and yet, they are not diminished in any way and retain their individual personhood. As we saw in the previous letter, there are intimations of this relationship in the created order, although in a manner much short of what happens in the Trinity. Nature is permeated with traces of the Trinity.

The relationships and persons that we describe through the term Trinity are the archetype of all human relationships. We only understand the shape of creation properly when we take into account what we know of the Trinity.

One could say, and some have done so, that what is in the heart of the Trinity cannot and should not be applied to our consideration of the created order. But it is Jesus himself who highlights the similarities between the divine perichoresis and the relationship of the Church and all believers with him and the Father.

In the famous farewell speech of Christ in the Gospel of John, Jesus asks the Father that they may all be one; even as Thou, father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be in Us. The Trinity, far from being some obscure teaching, is a central component of God and the reflection of His being in creation. Moreover, the members of the Church are to mirror this perichoretic property amongst themselves. And the more common word for this is love. We are to love one another – this is the new commandment given by Jesus. We are to mirror the internal relations of the Trinity in our relations with our neighbors and this is most clearly underlined in the Church.

The Good News brought to humanity is that Jesus has come to redeem and to transform fallen humanity. But if there is no union of the Son and Father, then this attempt will fall short of its objective. We are redeemed and our sins are forgiven and we can enter eternal life if, and only if, there is a perichoretic activity between the Son and the Father. Salvation happens because God is Trinity.

So the Trinity is not just some mystifying dogma but lies at the heart of the process of the rescue of creation.

Interestingly, in John’s Gospel, Jesus says that no one has seen God at any time. In the first chapter of the Gospel, John writes about the Word coming to dwell amongst humanity. The word that we translate as dwell can also be translated as tabernacled or pitched a tent. The eternal Word has pitched his tent amongst men. And in doing so he has shown the ‘glory’ of God.

How can we love something that we have never seen? John answers that if we have seen the Son, then we have also seen the Father and therefore we are now open to love God fully as we should and not as some shadowy distant figure.

In the Old Testament, when the ‘glory’ came into the tabernacle (the tent), everyone, including the priests and even Moses, evacuated the tent. Now, the Word of ‘glory’ descends in the flesh for all of us to see and we no longer have to evacuate the area but can have open fellowship with the ‘glory’.

Now, by coming to live among men, Jesus shows us the Father and he claims that his words and works display what the Father says or does. The invisible God has become visible and now it is possible to love him through His Son who is the eternal ‘home’ of the Father.

What underlies our ability to love God – and for John it is necessary to know before loving – is the perichoretic indwelling of the Trinity which is passed on onto the creation.

What the Trinity has given us is the concept of perichoresis and with this it has immensely expanded our concept of creation. Creation is fallen and is in need of redemption and it is here that we can see such an enrichment of our concepts.

Christ is the home for believers and the believers have given him a home as well. As Paul writes, I have been crucified with Christ and now he (Christ) lives in me. Humanity was created for union with God and in Christ, we have become united with God. St. Maximus the Confessor said that God always wanted to be incarnated; He always wanted a special and close relationship with his creation.

At times Paul hints at a cosmic perichoresis whereby all things are summed up in Christ. Heaven and earth are now at home in Jesus. He is the head of the Church and over everything that exists. In Him we move and live and exist.

For Christians, being saved is not just having our sins forgiven – although this is a very important component of redemption – but we are called to indwell in God and have Him indwell in us. We must also be opened up through love so that others can also indwell in us.

Salvation is the adoption of humans as children of God. Salvation is a wedding celebration with its implications of union. Salvation is the coming of a new age and a new earth and the new heavens. The whole cosmos will be renewed. Salvation is the coming of the Holy Spirit onto each of us so that the darkness of our minds is dispersed and we begin to see the world as it truly is. Salvation is such a rich and far impacting concept and we have short changed it by concentrating on the juridical question of guilt.

This oneness, this deep interpenetration is underlined poignantly at the foot of the cross on Golgotha. In the Gospel of John we read: When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing by, he said to his mother: “Woman, behold your son!” Then he said to his disciple: “Behold your mother!” This is not just symbolical; it is deeply ontological affecting the very depths of our being. This is another example of the perichoresis that undergirds all of creation.

Now I can almost hear your objections to all of this. This is just poetic language and expression and has no bearing on the ‘real’ world. These are just nice thoughts which are not literally true. These are just nice words that the harsh world out there destroys and shows them to be merely false wishes.

And you say this because what has been written above is hard to understand and to comprehend. I grant you that. But reality is complex and difficult to understand as quantum mechanics and other sciences show. You wouldn’t expect a discussion of the universe in a sort of theory of everything, that has become the holy grail of scientists, but is available in the scriptures, to be any easier to understand and to grasp.

You see, this is a different sort of understanding. We normally think of understanding as being merely a cerebral event governed by our thinking. But what we have talked about above is information such as God as Trinity, perichoresis, the importance of love – something that is known through a different pathway.

It is known through doing and through living it. If we were to live these teachings we would then be in a better position to understand them and they would become part of who we are. We would be better able to understand them although we would never attain total comprehension. This process is called faith and it is a gift – it is not something that we obtain for ourselves on our own, merely through our efforts At the same time we are called on not to be passive in this process – we are called on to make a commitment.

We denigrate physical creation to our peril. All created things were made by God. Creation is communication from God and we should take it seriously and look for hints of God’s radiance in the seemingly most mundane parts of the world.

The doctrine of the Trinity is not something that is optional – it lies at the heart of our faith. It is not just some extraneous mystification – it gives us indications of why there is a creation and what its final goal is.

We have to take nature, creation seriously and it does matter what we say about the world and about God. This will impact heavily on how we behave and how we treat others and how we think of God. But more on this in the next letter.

Sincerely,
Bar-Abbas