Relation in Trinitarian Theology: Thomas Aquinas and the Church Fathers

Abstract

Relation has always been used as a tool to understand the central truths of Scripture, i.e., God as absolutely one and irreducibly three. In this paper, I first traced the use of relation in the Church Fathers’ Trinitarian reflections, specifically that of Basil the Great, Gregory of Nazianzus, and Augustine; then I explained how Thomas understands relation as a special category of being and how his understanding of the divine persons as subsisting relations gives an excellent exposition of Scriptural truths on the one hand, and on the other hand provides a quite balanced and thus accommodative Trinitarian monotheism wherein the Church Fathers’ functional use of relation merge together and the their insightful reflections on the Trinity shine brilliantly.