ECCLESIAL COMMUNION: OF DIVINE ECONOMY THROUGH LOVE AND PARTICIPATION

Following the councils of Nicaea and Constantinople, the early followers of Christian faith understood the proper name for their God to be entirely triune in essence: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. While this trinitarian heritage has scarcely been passed down to modern believers of Christianity, the fundamental truth of God’s triune nature remains the same. Out of the divine economy, humanity was crafted in the image of God with koinonia at heart. As Father, Son, and Holy Spirit comprise the singular ousia and cannot exist apart from one another, so the Body with many members is only possible in the context of communion. By way of love and participation, communion is therefore the driving force behind the Church, the paramount principle of God’s love for creation. In this thesis, I explore contemporary accounts of the relational nature of the Trinity as it directly correlates to the relational nature of the Church in hopes of laying a foundation for the beginnings of a Pentecostal Trinitarian ecclesiology