Hippolytus On The Trinity

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St. Hippolytus of Rome was a Roman presbyter and theologian who lived between 170 AD and 225 AD. Origen heard Hippolytus preach in Rome. In the early third century he authored a text arguing against the position of Noetus who was perpetuating the notion that God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit were all one divine Person.

This text is surprisingly direct and accessible and it seems to be a fairly direct argument in favor of the Trinity as understood by modern Christians.

Here are some samples:

“Brothers, these things are declared by the Scriptures. The blessed John, in the testimony of his Gospel, gives us an account of this divine order and acknowledges this Word as God when he says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” If the Word was with God, and the Word was also God, what is the conclusion? Is he speaking about two Gods? I certainly am not speaking about two Gods, but one; but I am speaking of two Persons—in fact, we add even a third Person, because we also take into account the gift of the Holy Spirit.
The Father is certainly One, but there is another Person because there is also the Son, and then a third, the Holy Spirit. The Father decrees and the Word executes. The Son is manifested, and the Father is believed in through Him. This harmonious divine order is bound up in one God, for God is One. The Father commands, the Son obeys, and the Holy Spirit gives understanding; the Father is above all, and the Son is through all, and the Holy Spirit is in all. We cannot think of one God any other way except by believing in the truth of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
The Jews glorified—or rather gloried in—the Father, but they did not really give Him thanks, because they did not acknowledge the Son. The disciples acknowledged the Son, but not the Holy Spirit, and because of that they denied Him. Since the Father's Word knew the divine order and that this was the only way the Father wanted to be worshipped, He gave this command to the disciples after He rose from the dead: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”34 By this He showed that whoever omitted any one of these failed to glorify God completely, because it is through this Trinity that the Father is glorified; the Father willed, the Son did, the Spirit manifested. The whole Scriptures proclaim this truth!”

And:

“He bears this Word in Himself, and that Word was invisible to the created world. But He made Him visible by giving the command to manifest Him as Light of Light, presenting Him to the world as its Lord and His own mind. He had formerly been visible to God alone and invisible to the created world, but He made His Word visible so that the world would see this manifestation of Himself and be capable of being saved. And so there appeared another besides Himself. Now, when I say another, I do not mean that there are two Gods, but that it is only as light of light, or as water from a fountain, or as a ray from the sun; for there is only one power, which is from the All—the Father—and from Him comes this Power, the Word. This is the mind which came forth into the world and was manifested as the Son of God. All things were made by this Word, and He alone is of the Father. How could you declare the existence of a multitude of gods? For all are forced, however unwillingly, to admit this fact, that all things run up into One.”

It is interesting that Hippolytus' theology draws from Revelation:

“But someone might say, “You're stretching the truth when you call the Son the Word. Of course John speaks of the Word, but it's a figure of speech.” No, it isn't! For in the Apocalypse, John was presenting this Word that was from the beginning and has now been sent out, and he said, “And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.”

There seems to be a great deal of theology in Revelation that we may be missing.

Finally, notice the fundamental preaching style of this peroration:

“This is Jesus of Nazareth, who was invited to the marriage feast in Cana and turned water into wine, who rebuked the sea in the midst of the violent winds. He walked on the deep as if it was dry land, caused the man who was blind from birth to see, and raised Lazarus to life after he had been dead for four days. He did many mighty works, forgave sins, granted power to the disciples, and had blood and water flow from His sacred side when He was pierced with the spear. For His sake the sun was darkened, the day went black and the rocks were shattered. The veil was torn, the foundations of the earth were shaken, the graves were opened, the dead were raised, and the rulers were humiliated when they saw the Director of the universe close His eyes and give up His spirit upon the cross. Creation was tormented by the sight and shrouded itself in darkness, unable to bear the sight of His surpassing glory. This is the One who breathed upon the disciples and gave them the Spirit, who came in among them when the doors were shut. This is the One who was taken up into the heavens by a cloud while His disciples watched Him, and sat down at the right hand of the Father. And He is coming again as the Judge of the living and the dead. This is the God who for our sakes became man, and the Father has given Him authority over all things. To Him be the glory and the power, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, in the holy Church both now and forever, and even forever more. Amen.”

This is a text worth studying.