Perichoresis

In Christian theology, perichoresis (from Ancient Greek: περιχώρησις, romanized: perikhōrēsis, lit. 'rotation') is the relationship of the three persons of the triune God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) to one another. The term was first used theologically by the Church Fathers. As a noun, the word first appears in the writings of Maximus Confessor (d. 662), but the related verb perichoreo is found earlier in the work of Gregory of Nazianzus (d. 389/90). Gregory used the word to describe the relationship between the divine and human natures of Christ, as did John of Damascus (d. 749), who also extended it to the "interpenetration" of the three persons of the Trinity, and it became a technical term for the latter. "Circumincession" is a Latin-derived term for the same concept. However, the idea was present in Latin Christianity even before the Eastern fathers; this is made explicit by St. Hillary's De Trinitate. Augustine also writes in his De Trinitate (On the Trinity): but in that highest Trinity one is as much as the three together, nor are two anything more than one. And They are infinite in themselves. So both each are in each, and all in each, and each in all, and all in all, and all are one. The term has been given recent currency by such contemporary writers as Jürgen Moltmann, Miroslav Volf, John Zizioulas, Richard Rohr, and others. Modern authors extend the original usage as an analogy to cover other interpersonal relationships. The term "co(-)inherence" is sometimes used as a synonym.