Eastern Orthodox Church

=== Trinity ===

Eastern Orthodox Christians believe in the [[Trinity]], three distinct, divine persons (''[[hypostasis (philosophy)|hypostases]]''), without overlap or [[Sabellianism|modality]] among them, who each have one divine [[essence]] (''ousia'', Greek: οὐσία)—uncreated, immaterial, and [[God and eternity|eternal]].{{sfn|Ware|1993|pp=208–211}} These three persons are typically distinguished by their relation to each other. The [[God the Father|Father]] is eternal and not begotten and does not proceed from any, the [[God the Son|Son]] is eternal and begotten of the Father, and the [[Holy Spirit (Christianity)|Holy Spirit]] is eternal and proceeds from the Father.<ref name="Theokritoff 2010">{{cite book |author-last=Theokritoff |author-first=Elizabeth |year=2010 |orig-date=2008 |chapter=Part I: Doctrine and Tradition – Creator and creation |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jP2vivMSezMC&pg=PA63 |editor1-last=Cunningham |editor1-first=Mary B. |editor2-last=Theokritoff |editor2-first=Elizabeth |title=The Cambridge Companion to Orthodox Christian Theology |location=[[Cambridge]] and [[New York City|New York]] |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |pages=63–77 |doi=10.1017/CCOL9780521864848.005 |isbn=9781139001977}}</ref> Orthodox doctrine regarding the Trinity is summarised in the [[Nicene Creed#Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed|Nicene Creed]].{{sfn|Ware|1993|p=202}}

Eastern Orthodox Christians believe in a [[Monotheism|monotheistic]] [[God in Christianity|conception of God]] (God is only one), which is both [[Transcendence (religion)|transcendent]] (wholly independent of, and removed from, the material universe) and [[Immanence|immanent]] (involved in the material universe).<ref name="Theokritoff 2010"/> In discussing God's relationship to his creation, Eastern Orthodox theology [[Essence–Energies distinction|distinguishes]] between God's eternal essence, which is totally transcendent, and his ''uncreated energies'', which is how he reaches humanity.<ref name="Theokritoff 2010"/> The God who is transcendent and the God who touches mankind are one and the same.<ref name="Theokritoff 2010"/> That is, these energies are not something that proceed from God or that God produces, but rather they are God himself: distinct, yet inseparable from God's inner being.{{sfn|Ware|1993|pp=67–69}} This view is often called [[Palamism]].

In understanding the Trinity as "one God in three persons", "three persons" is not to be emphasised more than "one God", and vice versa. While the three persons are distinct, they are united in one divine essence, and their oneness is expressed in community and action so completely that they cannot be considered separately. For example, their salvation of mankind is an activity engaged in common: "Christ became man by the good will of the Father and by the cooperation of the Holy Spirit. Christ sends the Holy Spirit who proceeds from the Father, and the Holy Spirit forms Christ in our hearts, and thus God the Father is glorified." Their "communion of essence" is "indivisible". Trinitarian terminology—essence, hypostasis, etc.—are used "philosophically", "to answer the ideas of the heretics", and "to place the terms where they separate error and truth."{{sfn|Hierotheos|1998|pp=128–130}} The words do what they can do, but the nature of the Trinity in its fullness is believed to remain beyond man's comprehension and expression, a holy mystery that can only be experienced.