La Trinita, la famiglia umana e la comunita religiosa. Opportunita e limiti delle analogie trinitarie
The Trinity, the Human Family and the Religious Community. Opportunities and Limits of Trinitarian Analogies

Summary/Abstract: Reflection about God makes use of analogies. The inspired language of the Bible is analogical as well. Among various analogies we have the analogy between the Trinity and the human family. The Triune God is the foundation and model for the family, and the family is a picture of the mystery of the Trinity. The analogy between the Trinity and the family developed in the first millennium in the East. It was not appreciated in the West, as St Augustine was critical of it. It reappeared in the 19th century, particularly after the Second Vatican Council, even in the teaching of the Popes. After the Council, the idea of the Trinitarian model of the life of religious communities was also taken up and developed. Every analogy, however, has its limitations which must be taken into account in order to teach about God adequately and at the same time to be able to draw practical conclusions from the mystery of God concerning human life. Yet, some theological and pastoral exaggeration is noticeable in presenting the analogy between the Triune God and the human family, especially the religious community. Some caution is necessary, therefore, to prevent a pious but abstract rhetoric, far from everyday life, when pointing to the ideal. The Trinity should be an inexhaustible source for a better individual and communal life, but it is all the more worth remembering the teaching of the Fourth Lateran Council that “between Creator and creature no similitude can be expressed without implying an even greater dissimilitude”

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