Here many of the creeds help us in clearly articulating the trinity. God is one. It is the Fathers desire to join His Spirit with all of us as well for He has said They shall be My sons and daughters (II Corinthians 6:18). Our God is three in one. We define a person as one having a will and who is distinguishable from another person. While it captures the idea that God is one, it doesnt do such a good job of showing how God is three and one at the same time. It is still H20, but just different forms. Space Analogy God is like space. Yet we do not have three gods but ONE God. A chicken egg consists of a shell, a yolk, and an egg white, yet it is altogether one egg. According to modalism, God does not actually exist in three persons. But Hes God too, right? Again, this analogy doesnt work because God doesnt morph, change, or become different aspects of Himself. In trying to describe what they saw in the pages of the Bible, the early church decided to use the word person to describe the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. None of the 3 are less divine than the others. The watermelon has a skin, pulp and seeds; the egg is shell, yolk and egg white. As a doctrine (belief), the trinity is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as three separate and distinct persons united in one being- God. Humans as we are, we cannot fully understand how the three divine Persons, though really distinct from one another, are one and the same God. My name is AnnMarie and I'm so glad you're here! Before I even began writing this post, I had an unusual song stuck in my head Holy God, we praise thy name. They are three in one egg. When discussing God, especially in regards to his nature, being and persons, a simple statement to articulate the Trinity is: God is 1 what and 3 whos*. But it cant be that way with God. This view, also known as "modalism", was rejected by the early church. And let us once more come to illustrations. Now if any man has not the Spirit of Christ, he is not His" (Romans 8:9). These attributes are: omnipotence (all-powerful), omniscience (all-knowing), and omnipresence (exists in all places). So, I shot down a lot of images that seems to be pretty helpful. Can you think of some Bible verses to back up your explanation? When we see them as three individual spirits, (God is one Spirit John 4:24), then that is the blasphemy of polytheism which is the worship of more than one God. ), The Son Phil. The Trinity is distinct in their roles and individuality, but united in their attributes of love, mercy, holiness, knowledge, etc. There is what is called the 'triple point' the combination of pressure and temperature at which H2O can exist simultaneously in all three states: solid, liquid and gas. Born in England in 1961, Benjamin Waterhouse Benjamin Waterhouse has been the organist of the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity since 2000. This analogy actually teaches the heresy of tritheism. MULTIPLICATION ANALOGY. John introduces us to the Trinity in John 1:1- In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and Word was God. Jesus, the Word, was present in Genesis 1. The 3 Most Common "Trinity Analogies" (and their limitations) The three most common go-to analogies for explaining the Trinity are water, an egg, and the sun. . This analogy denies the distinction of the God-head. The Trinity is one of the most foundational doctrines of Christianity. Sure enough, one member answered Well Ive heard that the Trinity is like water: water can be liquid, gas (steam), or solid (ice), but its still the same water. This description that all persons are fully God is called the Ontological Trinity. Each part of the egg make up only one portion of the wholethe yolk is not the fullness of the egg. So, in God, there are three distinct persons. This is the Christmas paradox. Your email address will not be published. But based on what you know that Jesus is born so that He can save people from their wrongdoings, will you trust Him to forgive you. There are many mysteries to our faith. Each one is fully God. For since light is always in existence, it is manifest that its brightness also exists, because light is perceived to exist from the fact that it shines, and it is impossible that light should not shine. In contrast to the Ontological Trinity, there is the Economic Trinity. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there you may be also (John14:2, 3). Being the brightness of the eternal Light, He Himself also is absolutely eternal. Now God can be in you by His Spirit! The problem with this analogy is that it also leads to the heresy of MODALISM. It taught there is one nature in God, and that there are two processions, three persons, and four relations that constitute the Blessed Trinity. And a voice from heaven said, This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. God the Father spoke from heaven and spoke of His Son, Jesus. There are some analogies that come close. Hi Im not a theologian and I dont disagree with what you say but when you state that we know the persons of the Trinity have perfectly loved for eternity etc how do we know? But you cannot be broken when your faith is in Jesus, for the Spirit of the Son that lives in us and gives us the voice through which we cry Abba, Father, (Galatians 4:6,) this Spirit of the Father that dwells within you is there to strengthen, protect and guard your person. When they used the word person, they didnt mean it in the same way that we do today. Modalism is a heresy because it denies the distinction of God. God created us for community, since God is communal and we were created in His image. The more I reflect on Easter, the more Ive realized how much its become a consumeristic holidayeven Did Jesus really rise from the dead? It is so important that to deny the trinity is to deny Christianity. We can touch the cord, but not the power it is insulating. The Father sends the Son, and both the Father and Son send the Holy Spirit. All Scripture is taken from the NIV version unless otherwise specified, Author Ignace Franz, translated by Clarence A. Walworth. The Trinity is a tri-unity, a unity of Three, - God the Father, Jesus, the Son of God and the Holy Spirit. [4] The goal of an analogy is to draw out similarities between it and its referent in illuminating ways, not to define the referent itself. Some people falsely claim the Trinity is a form of . The Holy Trinity, one of the five Dogmas of the Church, is an extraordinary and unfathomable mystery. The problem with this analogy is it denies the unity of the God-head. The analogy explains that in the same way that one shamrock can have three leaves on it, the Trinity has three Persons that constitute one God. Each one is fully 100% God. Or what? The analogy breaks down because the three cloves are overly distinct and cannot represent the unity of God. This is a worse analogy than the egg because it is more analogous to the heretical doctrine of Modalism/Oneness than for the Trinity. Misunderstanding 1: The transforming trinity This was first used by Patrick of Ireland (yes there really was a Patrick of Ireland and he was a great guy), around 400 A.D. 2. The wonders and ways of God may not be apparent or fully known at present, but we can still marvel at His supremacy and worship Him in wonder- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit! 7But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christs gift., , according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, that you may obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in fullest measure., , But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith; praying in the Holy Spirit; 21keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.. But remember, it is much better to let Scripture teach the 3 points above which establish the doctrine of the Trinity than to rely on analogies. But in the Godhead, each Person is fully and completely God unto Himself (even as they are all one God). These are likewise erroneous or even heretical. But we cannot do that (assuming we can) with God. The water analogy of the Trinity follows this line of reasoning: water can be a solid (ice/frozen water), liquid, and gas (water vapor), and yet all three forms are still water (H 2 O), and likewise, God manifests Himself in 3 different ways in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. H2O is a combination of two particles (atoms) of hydrogen and one particle of oxygen and this compound can exist as water (liquid), ice (solid) and vapour (gas). Depth isnt the same thing as height and height isnt the same thing as width, yet all three together are what comprise space. The Father is fully God; Jesus is fully God and the Holy Spirit is fully God. The Holy Spirit is the shell, Jesus is the egg white, and the Father is the egg yolk. In scripture we see explicit trinitarian references, especially at Jesus' baptism where the Father speaks, the Spirit descends, and the Son is in the water. These images fall short, because these components arent enough to be considered a whole on their own. So "son" = "Dave". I and My Father are One (John 10:30). Jesus, visually seen, judges all, not the Unseen Father. God Himself explains why some things are still a mystery: For as heaven is higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:9) Our human minds can never understand all of who God is and how He thinks and acts. Discover the richness of the old yet living 2,000-year-old religion which built the West. There are three different cloves that represent the three different persons of the trinity. As we examine the scriptural witness we see three truths that make up the doctrine of the trinity. So while its tough to make sense of the Trinity, the Trinity actually helps us make sense of so many things we believe. Therefore the eternal brightness shines forth before Him, and co-exists with Him, in that, existing without a beginning, and always begotten, He always shines before Him; and He is that Wisdom which says, I was that wherein He delighted, and I was daily His delight before His face at all times.. In reality, I change my role depending on who I am interacting with. The trinity is an essential doctrine to the Christian faith. The apple seed alone is not an apple. The Son intercedes as our High Priest before the Father. The divine persons are really DISTINCT from one another, and not merely different roles of God at different times. If the Sun existed from eternity past then so were the light rays from the Sun. Because God is utterly unique, all comparisons will fail at some point. Since these bad analogies tend to lead to a heresy, we will examine the main three areas of heresy concerning the trinity. As a result, this analogy can easily lead to tritheism in which there are three different gods which might share some like substance. The trinity is not a contradiction, but a paradox. Learn how your comment data is processed. Few topics of discussion in the Christian faith are more confusing than the idea of the Trinity. My interview: https://www.readlotswritelot.com/wp/podcast/episode-21-john-k-adams/, More from Catholicism for the Modern World, https://www.readlotswritelot.com/wp/podcast/episode-21-john-k-adams/. But you cannot be broken when your faith is in Jesus, for the Spirit of the Son that lives in us and gives us the voice through which we cry Abba, Father, (Galatians 4:6,) this Spirit of the Father that dwells within you is there to strengthen, protect and guard your person. THE TRUTH IS: The Father, Son, and Spirit are three different persons who are all equally one God. PART OF A WHOLE. In Biblical Trinitarianism we can never have one without the other because they are one Spirit; each is the totality of the other which means we cannot have the Holy Spirit without the Father and the Son, We will come (into the believer through the Holy Spirit, John 14:23), and we cannot have the Son without The Father whose Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the Father (Matthew 10:20). There are, however, some that work better than others. This analogy actually teaches the heresy of modalism. Analogies often fall short. For the Trinity, instead of using the formula 1+1+1, we use 1x1x1. Similarly, light and heat are simply creations of the sun, yet it is the heresy of Arianism to claim that the Son or Spirit are mere creations of the Father. Jesus Person is the image of Gods Person (Hebrews 1:3), and the Invisible Spirit of the Father that is in Him - God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself (II Corinthians 5:19). Unfortunately, there is a problem with this view of the Trinity. Should Women Really Keep Silent in Church? Thankfully he isnt a cage-stage Calvinist about it all. Similarly, in our aquatic analogy, water can appear in three different modes, depending on the environment, but the three are not co-existing. So if all of these explanations are heretical, what is a good analogy? God does not just change forms but exists as three persons in unity. This little child cannot look at one without experiencing a profound sense of wonderment and awe. The egg (or apple) fails in that the shell, white, and yolk are parts of the egg, not the egg in themselves, just as the skin, flesh, and seeds of the apple are parts of it, not the apple itself. In one egg you have the white, the yoke, and the shell composing one full egg. God does not morph from one person to another, nor does God exist as three separate beings. This is why Jesus said, He who has seen Me, has seen the Father (John 14:9). 2. So under modalism, God acts as the Father in the Old Testament, the son in the Gospels, and the Spirit in Acts and the Epistles. If you say, "water" then you are incorrect. 6And there are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons., , The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all., There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; 5one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on Him. Here are a few of the many verses giving evidence of the Trinity in the Bible: Genesis 1:1&2- In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth The Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. The Holy Spirit was an active participant in the creative process. We came up with several practical implications of this doctrine. Yet God lovingly chose to create and eventually redeem us anyway (both thoroughly Trinitarian acts), at great cost to Himself. we worship one God in trinity and the trinity in unity,neither blending their personsnor dividing their essence. Shively The Unseen Father is in Christs mind. Jesus isn't a demigod or partially god. Many of us would use analogies to explain the Trinity. Or, we can quote Daniel Webster; a strong Christian- I do not pretend fully to understand the arithmetic of heaven now. . The Father hears their intercessory prayers. So when God created us and revealed Himself to us, what He did was to invite us into the perfect goodness He has always known within Himself. Our limited intellects are unable to comprehend its reality, yet, our Scriptures and scholarly Tradition makes it known to us. The Trinity is a concept that is impossible for any human being to fully understand, let alone explain. Here's a look at six explanations for why so many people truly believe 3 Ways to Experience The Good Life in Jesus. The shell, while important, is no longer needed. When we think about influential New Testament leaders, most names are male. It does not represent 3 persons existing simultaneously. His ways are not my ways! Although the water changes forms it is still H2O. And when the time comes when death is allowed to crack your shell in its final hour and your believing soul is released; the Spirit of God that holds you will carry you in His arms to your heavenly home because In My Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. Unfortunately, an analogy from the limited realm of creation may not be sufficient in explaining Gods nature. We wont find the word Trinity in the Bible, but the concept is shown in many verses. To the other major monotheistic faiths (Islam and Judaism), it is rank heresyTrinitarianism is therefore definitional to Christianity. This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. Yet there is still only one God we serve. In Biblical Trinitarianism we can never have one without the other because they are one Spirit; each is the totality of the other which means we cannot have the Holy Spirit without the Father and the Son, We will come (into the believer through the Holy Spirit, John 14:23), and we cannot have the Son without The Father whose Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the Father (Matthew 10:20). God is not made up of 3 parts like the 3 parts of the egg. The following verses attest to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19). Lost will be ashes under the feet of the righteous. HO may act as water, steam, or ice, but it is still HO. The Holy Spirit is Christs spirit in us guiding us into all truth. What is H2O? I dont believe that God wishes us to be confused about the Three that are so apparent throughout the Old and New Testaments. The egg example, while not perfect or complete by any means, will still give us a basic understanding of the primary principle of Biblical Trinitarianism. Theyve transformed. The Spirit white is connected to Jesus Person I will come to you (John 14:18) and the Fathers Person, We will come to him and make our abode with him (John 14:23). I remember asking my Life Group last year, How have you heard the Trinity explained? I braced myself for the inevitable reply. He is one God in three persons, all at the same time. 1B) This son of Graham and Lois Armstrong is Dave. He has been a member of the Royal Australian Air Force since 2007, and is now training to be an Air Force Chaplain. See the depths of Catholicism for yourself! St. Augustine, one of the most important Fathers of the Church, wrote a great deal on the doctrine of the Trinity.
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