Paper 104 Overview: Growth of the Trinity Concept

This paper examines the historical development of trinity concepts across human civilizations and distinguishes between evolutionary triad beliefs and the revealed Paradise Trinity. It traces how trinity ideas emerged from primitive thinking patterns and natural groupings, explaining how various cultures incorporated trinity concepts into their religious systems and clarifying that many early triads were simply evolutionary religious developments, not true trinities.

The paper further explores the complex relationships between the First Source and Center and other cosmic realities, introducing the concepts of triunities and triodities. It details the seven triunities, each with the Universal Father as a member, and explains how these divine associations function in the universe. Finally, it concludes by discussing non-Father triodities that organize potential and actual aspects of cosmic reality, providing readers with a framework for understanding these complex divine relationships.

The Trinity concept of revealed religion should not be confused with the triad beliefs found in evolutionary religions. Triads emerged naturally in human thinking due to simple physical realities such as the three joints of fingers, the stability of three-legged stools, and early humans' difficulty counting beyond three. These natural patterns influenced early religious development before any true trinity concept was revealed.

Beyond these elementary groupings, humans naturally observe dualities like day and night, but tend to think in triads such as yesterday, today, and tomorrow or father, mother, and child. Numerous civilizations developed triad gods as a result of these natural tendencies, but these were not actual trinities. Sometimes these evolutionary triads became mixed with the concept of a revealed Trinity, making it difficult to distinguish between them, especially in later religious developments.

The first revelation of the Paradise Trinity on Urantia occurred approximately half a million years ago through Prince Caligastia's staff, but this teaching was lost during the planetary rebellion. The second presentation came through Adam and Eve in the first and second gardens, with elements of this teaching persisting in several regions, particularly in Mesopotamia, Egypt, and India, where it endured for thousands of years. Machiventa Melchizedek offered the third revelation of the Trinity about thirty-five thousand years ago, symbolized by three concentric circles on his breastplate, though he struggled to convey these complex concepts to the Palestinian Bedouins, who mostly interpreted the Trinity as referring to the three Most Highs of Norlatiadek.

The Melchizedek teachings gradually spread throughout Eurasia and northern Africa, though they often became intermingled with evolutionary triad concepts. The Hindus developed trinitarian concepts such as Being, Intelligence, and Joy, while later adding Brahma, Siva, and Vishnu. Similarly, Buddhists embraced trinitarian concepts like Teacher, Law, and Brotherhood from Gautama Siddhartha, as well as Supreme Lord, Holy Spirit, and Incarnate Savior in northern branches. The Hebrews, due to their strict monotheism, largely abandoned trinitarian teachings despite earlier exposure through Melchizedek's influence, as did followers of Islam. Early Christians eventually adopted a trinity concept consisting of the Universal Father, the Creator Son of Nebadon, and the Divine Minister of Salvington.

Monotheism emerged as a philosophical response to the inconsistencies of polytheism, progressing from the organization of pantheons to the elevation of a single deity above others, and finally to the exclusion of all gods except the One God. Trinitarian thinking developed as a response to the challenge of conceiving a solitary, depersonalized deity that could meaningfully relate to the universe. This concept became necessary as philosophy sought to abstract personal qualities from monotheistic deity concepts, which would otherwise reduce God to a pantheistic Absolute with no personal connection to creation.

The Trinity concept enables the human mind to grasp how love and law can coexist in creation while recognizing both the personal Father revealed through spiritual faith and the impersonal Deity governing universal law. The Paradise Trinity is not simply a grouping of three personalities but a unified Deity whose functions transcend the combined attributes of its members. For example, justice is administered not by individual persons of Deity but by their collective function as the Trinity, demonstrating how Trinity operations differ from the simple sum of the three Paradise Deities' separate actions.

While humans sometimes grasp the Trinity concept of three Deity persons, consistency requires recognizing relationships between all seven Absolutes. A triunity differs from a trinity, though they may appear similar in certain functional aspects, they are fundamentally different in nature. As human cosmic philosophy evolves, it must accelerate to match the expanding intellectual awareness of cosmic relationships.

Despite the urge to recognize unity in all existence, humans perceive diversity throughout the cosmos. Even while acknowledging Deity's unchanging nature, we must accept that we live in a constantly changing universe undergoing experiential growth. The First Source and Center, who is Father to the Eternal Son and Pattern to Paradise, relates to six coordinate Absolutes in various ways. Together, all seven Absolutes encompass infinity throughout eternity's endless cycles, forming the basis of reality.

In discussing the seven triunities, it is important to note that the Universal Father is the primary member of each one. He is the First Universal Father-Source, Absolute Center, Primal Cause, Universal Controller, and much more. The Father is the personal cause of the Absolutes and is himself the absolute of Absolutes, providing the foundation for all reality relationships.

The paper describes in detail the seven triunities: the personal-purposive triunity (the three Deity personalities), the power-pattern triunity (Father-Son, Paradise Isle, Conjoint Actor), the spirit-evolutional triunity, the energy infinity triunity, the reactive infinity triunity, the cosmic-associated Deity triunity, and the infinite unity triunity. Each triunity serves specific functions in the cosmos, from love and mercy to pattern creation, spirit evolution, energy control, reactive capacity, Deity association, and infinite unity. These seven triunities multiply versatility, eternalize new depths, and reveal new meanings throughout creation.

Beyond the Father-containing triunities, there exist certain three-way relationships that are non-Father in constitution and are not true triunities. These associations, variously called associate triunities, coordinate triunities, and triodities, are consequences of the existence of the triunities. They are clearly distinguished from Father triunities and serve different functions in the cosmic order.

The paper details two principal triodities: the Triodity of Actuality and the Triodity of Potentiality. The Triodity of Actuality consists of the Eternal Son (absolute of spirit reality), the Paradise Isle (absolute of cosmic reality), and the Conjoint Actor (absolute of mind reality), and this association coordinates the sum total of actualized reality. The Triodity of Potentiality includes the Deity Absolute, Universal Absolute, and Unqualified Absolute, integrating all latent energy reality with infinite potential. These triodities are involved in the cosmic emergence of experiential Deities and the power-personality synthesis of the Supreme Being.