<P> In the Trinitarian view, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit share the one essence, substance or being . The central and crucial affirmation of Christian faith is that there is one savior, God, and one salvation, manifest in Jesus Christ, to which there is access only because of the Holy Spirit . The God of the Old Testament is still the same as the God of the New . In Christianity, statements about a single God are intended to distinguish the Hebraic understanding from the polytheistic view, which see divine power as shared by several beings, beings which can and do disagree and have conflicts with each other . </P> <Table> <Tr> <Td> The Father Son Holy Spirit The "Shield of the Trinity" or Scutum Fidei diagram of traditional medieval Western Christian symbolism </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Td> The Father Son Holy Spirit The "Shield of the Trinity" or Scutum Fidei diagram of traditional medieval Western Christian symbolism </Td> </Tr> <P> In Trinitarian doctrine, God exists as three persons or hypostases, but is one being, having a single divine nature . The members of the Trinity are co-equal and co-eternal, one in essence, nature, power, action, and will . As stated in the Athanasian Creed, the Father is uncreated, the Son is uncreated, and the Holy Spirit is uncreated, and all three are eternal without beginning . "The Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit" are not names for different parts of God, but one name for God because three persons exist in God as one entity . They cannot be separate from one another . Each person is understood as having the identical essence or nature, not merely similar natures . </P>

When was the doctrine of the trinity officially adopted by the church