TRINITY

Introduction to the Trinity

The core belief

The doctrine of the Trinity is the Christian belief that:

There is One God, who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Other ways of referring to the Trinity are the Triune God and the Three-in-One.

The Trinity is a controversial doctrine; many Christians admit they don't understand it, while many more Christians don't understand it but think they do.

In fact, although they'd be horrified to hear it, many Christians sometimes behave as if they believe in three Gods and at other times as if they believe in one.

Trinity Sunday, which falls on the first Sunday after Pentecost, is one of the few feasts in the Christian calendar that celebrate a doctrine rather than an event.

A fundamental doctrine

The doctrine of the Trinity is one of the most difficult ideas in Christianity, but it's fundamental to Christians because it:

states what Christians believe God is like and who he isplays a central part in Christians' worship of an "unobjectifiable and incomprehensible God"emphasises that God is very different from human beingsreflects the ways Christians believe God encounters themis a central element of Christian identityteaches Christians vital truths about relationship and communityreveals that God can be seen only as a spiritual experience whose mystery inspires awe and cannot be understood logically

Unpacking the doctrine

The idea that there is One God, who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit means:

There is exactly one GodThe Father is GodThe Son is GodThe Holy Spirit is GodThe Father is not the SonThe Son is not the Holy SpiritThe Father is not the Holy Spirit

An alternate way of explaining it is:

There is exactly one GodThere are three really distinct Persons - Father, Son, and Holy SpiritEach of the Persons is God

Common mistakes

The Trinity is not

Three individuals who together make one GodThree Gods joined togetherThree properties of God

Bible and why Christians believe in the Trinity

The Bible and why Christians believe in the Trinity

Christianity adopted this complicated idea of God because it was the only way they could make sense of One God in the context of the events and teaching of the Bible.

The idea of the Trinity does not supersede monotheism; it interprets it, in the light of a specific set of revelatory events and experiences.

Keith Ward, Religion and Creation, 1996

Encounters with God

Humanity met God in three different forms:

God the Father: revealed by the Old Testament to be Creator, Lord, Father and Judge.God the Son: who had lived on earth amongst human beingsGod the Holy Spirit: who filled them with new life and power

What the Bible taught

The Bible taught that Christians were to worship Father and Son and Holy Spirit. It also taught that Christians should only worship God. Finally, it taught that there was only one God:

We must worship only GodWe must worship God the FatherWe must worship God the SonWe must worship God the Holy SpiritThere is only one God

This seemed to put Christians in an impossible position from which they were rescued by the doctrine of the Trinity, which solved the puzzle by stating that God must be simultaneously both Three and One.

Scripture and the Trinity

For obvious reasons the Trinity is not referred to in the Old Testament, although many writers think that the Old Testament does drop heavy hints about it - for example when it uses a plural Hebrew noun to refer to God.

The New Testament of the Bible never explicitly refers to the Trinity as such, but it does contain a number of references to the Economic Trinity:

Go therefore 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

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

2 Corinthians 13:14

One text that is often quoted to provide scriptural authority for the doctrine of the Trinity is now thought to have been added to the text much later, and with the specific purpose of justifying the doctrine.

For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost; and these three are one

The mystery of the Trinity: (1+1+1=1) = Nonsense!

This idea that three persons add up to one individual seems like nonsense. And logically, it is.

So Christians don't try to understand the doctrine of the Trinity logically or as a problem of arithmetic.

Unfortunately most other attempts to explain the Trinity don't really capture the concept either, or are very difficult to understand.

God is not like us

One way out of the problem is to say that God is not like human beings and human beings get in a mess when they try to describe God using the same sort of language and understanding that they use to describe other human beings.

But human beings don't have any other language available, so they have to do the best that they can with it. That's fine, as long as they remember that the whole truth of the nature of God is simply beyond them.

So the doctrine of the Trinity only attempts to provide a rudimentary sketch of the mystery of God's nature, rather than a full description of what God is like. God is a mystery, before which humanity should stand in awe.

Why the Trinity is important

Before trying to understand the doctrine of the Trinity, it's vital to realise why it's important.

Its purpose is not to provide factual knowledge of God's hidden nature of the sort that describes a dog as "having 4 legs, fur, barks, bites, domesticated by humankind etc".

The doctrine of the Trinity has other functions:

it brings humanity face to face with the mystery of Godit helps humanity recognise the God they meet in the Bible, in history and in their own livesit helps humanity understand God's complexity, otherness and mysteryit helps humanity worship Godit steers humanity away from wrong ideas of God, such as:a patriarchal/hierarchical Goda God who can be logically understoodit is the foundation of much Christian worship and liturgyit helps humanity understand its own nature as made in the image of Godit provides a model for human relationships, both as individuals and in community

So, for example, one might be inspired by the doctrine of the Trinity to come up with an understanding of human relationships that was something like this...

Human beings are made in the image of GodGod is a community of persons in a mutual loving relationshipTherefore the essence of humanity is to be found in human relationships with others, with God, and with God's creationThese relationships are filled with transforming powerFor human beings to live truly in the image of God, these relationships must be mutual, generous and justThese relationships must acknowledge and value difference as well as samenessThese relationships must accept as well as give

That's one way in which contemplating the Trinity might provide useful information for a Christian as to how they should try to live their life.

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Making use of the Trinity

Is the Trinity a useful idea?

The Christian doctrine of the Trinity is not just an abstract belief, but something that has real practical use for those who believe it.

Absolutely nothing worthwhile for the practical life can be made out of the doctrine of the Trinity taken literally.

Immanuel Kant, Der Streit der Fakultätencite>

...the doctrine of the Trinity so easily appears to be an intellectual puzzle with no relevance to the faith of most Christians.

Karen Kilby

Until quite recently, many theologians thought that the doctrine of the Trinity was pretty pointless.

And the churches themselves disagree about the content of the doctrine; the most common Western statement of the Trinity is not accepted by the Eastern churches.

And yet somehow it remains at the heart of the Christian faith:

It is impossible to overemphasise the importance of the Christian doctrine that God is one in three persons. This has correctly been called the teaching distinctive of the Christian faith, that which sets the approach of Christians to the "fearful mystery" of the deity apart from all other approaches.

Gerald S. Sloyan, The Three Persons in One God, 1964

The Trinity and worship

Christian worship is inherently Trinitarian. Christians worship God in the presence of Christ and with the Holy Spirit within them.

So for example:

Worship and praise are offered "to God through Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit"Blessings are given "In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit", the sign of the Cross is a Trinitarian gesture.The creed, the fundamental statement of Christian belief, sets out the Trinitarian nature of God.Baptism is carried out "in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit".

Eucharistic prayers are firmly Trinitarian in concept. The traditional doxology is Trinitarian:

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,

World without end. Amen

Trinitarian doxology

Many hymns are explicitly Trinitarian, such as this one:

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!

Early in the morning our song shall rise to thee;

Holy, holy, holy! Merciful and mighty,

God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!

Or this

I bind unto myself today

the strong name of the Trinity,

by invocation of the same,

the Three in One, and One in Three.

Or this

Firmly I believe and truly

God is Three, and God is One;

and I next acknowledge duly

manhood taken by the Son.

Or this modern classic

Shine, Jesus, shine,

fill this land with the Father's glory;

blaze, Spirit, blaze,

set our hearts on fire.

The Trinity as a lesson to Christians

The Trinity expresses the way Christians should relate to God:

worship God the Fatherfollow the example set by God the SonGod the Holy Spirit lives in them

The Trinity as a recipe for life

The doctrine of the Trinity teaches human beings how they should shape their lives.

Many Christians see the relationship between the persons of the Trinity as providing a recipe for the best sort of human relationships. These are relationships in which individuality is balanced with relationship; relationships whose basis is mutual love and perfect communication.

The relationship that exists within the Godhead is the basis for unity in every human relationship, be it marriage, family, or church.

Patrick Henry Reardon

The American theologian Catherine LaCugna suggested that the doctrine of the Trinity helps humanity answer the question

How are we to live and relate to others so as to be most Godlike?

Catherine LaCugna, God For Us: The Trinity and the Christian Life

She suggested that the Trinity taught:

a theology of relationship, which explores the mysteries of love, relationship, personhood and community within the framework of God's self-revelation in the person of Christ and the activity of the Spirit.

Catherine LaCugna, God For Us: The Trinity and the Christian Life

And the key teaching within this doctrine of relationship is that the best relationships are those of equality and mutuality.

Social implications

The Trinity as a power structure

The relationships within God as a Trinity discredit any hierarchical power structure in which those lower down are dominated and oppressed by those above them.

Instead, using the example of the Trinity leads to an ideal structure of mutual interdependence and support in pursuit of a common aim.

Thus the Trinity shows the way God wants the world to be run and the power structures that he recommends to human society.

This seems to contradict the traditional idea of God as one Supreme Being, Lord of all, but should be seen as demonstrating the non-hierarchical nature of God in himself, without diminishing God's status in relationship to others.

This idea can be developed in Church life:

in the hierarchical model power and authority in the church flow in one direction from God, through senior and junior clergy, down to the lay peoplein the Trinitarian model there is a church of mutual self-giving and equality that emulates the community of the Trinity.In this the members communicate with each other in a spirit of love that accepts responsibility for the well-being of each individual and that of the whole community.In this way the Church, and each church and community become a unity in which diversity flourishes and in which differences are seen as valuable and essential elements in the substance of these institutions.

The Trinity and Liberation Theology

The liberation theologians thought it was essential to start thinking about the Trinity by focusing on its three-ness first, then its oneness.

They saw the Trinity as first and foremost a community of divine persons whose essence was in their shared existence, their shared relationship and their surrender to each other.

They objected to the hierarchical model of One God, because they thought that it justified political power structures that oppressed the poor and allowed the Church to continue with a patriarchal model that was out of date and unhelpful to the poor.

So the liberation theologians took the Trinitarian theology of relationships to a grand scale. They used it to promote the ideal human society as a closely related and unified group of equal people living so as to promote the good of society as a whole.

The leading liberation theologian Leonardo Boff said the Trinity was a "model for any, just, egalitarian (while respecting differences), social organisation." It provided a "prototype of human community dreamed of by those who wish to improve society".

Essential and Economic Trinity

Some of the problems of the Trinity arise from confusion between the internal life and nature of the Trinity itself and the external life or "self-revelation" of God. The only thing humankind can directly know of God is his external life.

There are two ways of looking at God in Trinitarian terms:

The Essential (also called Immanent or Ontological) Trinity looks at the essence or substance of God; at what God is actually like in himself as he stands outside the created universe. It's how God appears to God.Warning: This is an unusual use of the word immanent, which Christians often use to refer to God's actions in the world.The Economic Trinity is concerned with humanity's experience of God; in human lives, in creation, in salvation; and derives the nature of God from that experience. This is how God appears to humanity.Some theologians point out that only the Son and the Spirit are directly met in the Economic Trinity.

The Economic and Essential Trinities are not two separate entities - just two ways of looking at God.

Are these two the same? Victor Shepherd (Professor of Systematic Theology at Tyndale University College, Toronto) put the question like this:

Is God's revelation merely the "face" God wears as he turns to us, or is it who God is in himself?

Is his face something he merely displays, or does his face unambiguously disclose his heart?

Victor Shepherd

The Western Churches believe that they are pretty much the same and that human beings meet God fully and completely as he is through his actions.

The 'economic' Trinity is the 'immanent' Trinity and the 'immanent' Trinity is the 'economic' Trinity.

Karl Rahner, The Trinity, 1970

To put it another way: God's actions reveal who God is. And since God acts as a threefold God, God himself must be threefold.

Some Western writers hint at the idea that there is no more to God than his actions in the world.

The Eastern Churches disagree, and teach there is much more to God than human experience can reveal.

Trinitarian heresies

Some theories of the Trinity are so wrong that they have been declared heretical.

Modalism

The proponents of Modalism were Noetus and Praxeas (late 2nd century CE) and Sabellius (3rd century CE).

Modalism teaches that Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are not distinct personalities, but different modes of God's self-revelation.

The idea is that there is only one God, but that this one God reveals himself in different ways and different forms - sometimes as Father, sometimes as Son, sometimes as Holy Spirit.

Father: The creator and the law giverSon: The revealer, the Messiah and the redeemerHoly Spirit: The sanctifier and giver of eternal life

One of the standard analogies for the Trinity is a good example of modalism: The Trinity is like water because water comes in three forms - ice, water, steam. This is Modalism because these are three states or modes of the substance water.

Some modalists believe that God revealed himself differently at different times in history, others believe that during any particular period of history God can reveal himself in different ways; so when God is acting as redeemer, that's God the Son, and so on.

Warning: Some modern writers refer to the different persons of the Trinity as different "modes of being", but they aren't guilty of Modalism because they are not referring to different modes in which God appears to humanity, but different internal ways in which God is to him/herself.

Tritheism

Tritheism portrays Father, Son and Holy Spirit as three independent divine beings; three separate gods who are linked together in some special way - most commonly by sharing the "same substance" or being the same sort of thing.

People often make this mistake because they misunderstand the use of the word "persons" in defining the Trinity; it does not mean that Father, Son and Holy Spirit are three separate personalities.

Partialism

This is the idea that Father, Son and Holy Spirit together make up God. This would suggest that each of the persons of the Trinity is only part God, only becoming fully God when they are together.

Monarchianism

Monarchianism stresses God as One and downgrades the idea of the Trinity; it comes in various versions:

Adoptionism

Christ was born human and adopted by God at his resurrection (or baptism).

Arianism

This isn't a strictly Trinitarian heresy but it's relevant because it's the idea that the Son is in some way less fully God than the Father.

The Filioque fracas

Can you believe that the Christian Church fell apart over a single word?

Well it's true: The greatest row in the history of Christianity centred on a single word filioque and on the doctrine of the Trinity.

The row split the Eastern Church, which mostly became the Orthodox Church, and the Western Church, which became the Roman Catholic Church and its later Protestant offshoots. There were other matters at issue as well, but the row over "the filioque clause" led to the Great Schism of 1054.

What the row was about

The Churches were arguing about whether the Son played any part in the origin of the Spirit as one of the persons of the Trinity from the Father, who is the only ultimate source.

The Latin word filioque, which means "and from the son", was gradually inserted by Western churches into the Nicene Creed so that it stated that the Holy Spirit proceeds not from the God the Father alone, as the early Church Fathers believed, but from both God the Father and God the Son.

The Eastern wing of the Church believed and believes that the Father alone had given rise to the Holy Spirit, and the idea that both Father and Son had done so was condemned as heretical.

Even today, the creed used by the Eastern Churches professes faith "in the Holy Spirit who proceeds from the Father," without mentioning the Filioque. The Western Churches (i.e. the Roman Catholic and Protestant churches) expressly say that the Holy Spirit "proceeds from the Father and the Son."

There were fundamental problems of authority as well as of doctrine. The Eastern wing of the Church was angry that the Western wing of the Church had altered a fundamental part of the creed without their agreement - indeed without even consulting them. This didn't seem to them like the behaviour of a united church, and so the two wings eventually went their separate ways.

Many church historians think that the Western wing of the Church did behave very badly by trying to introduce such a major change to Christian belief in such a cavalier way.

The doctrine of 'dual procession'

This is the name that theologians give to the idea that the Spirit proceeds from both Father and Son.

Proceeds?

When Christians say that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father (and the Son), what do they mean, and why do they use such an odd word?

The word comes from the Greek text of John 15.26, which speaks of the one "who proceeds (ekporeuetai) from the Father". The Greek word has the sense of movement out of, and early theologians used it to show that the Spirit's origin was within the person of the Father.

Greek theologians restricted this Greek word to this particular technical use - the coming forth of the Spirit from the Father - so that it has a unique reference to the relationship of the Father and the Spirit.

The Greek theologians also thought that the way in which the Spirit comes from the Father is similar to, but significantly different from, the way the Son comes from the Father.

The equivalent Latin word is "procedure", but unlike the Greek word it doesn't include the notion of a starting point within something; it's a more general word for movement. This different meaning may have contributed in a small way to the dispute.

Latin theologians taught that the Spirit comes from both the Father and the Son, but comes from each of them in significantly different ways. These differences do not diminish the Father's role as the only cause of everything that exists.

The arguments

The arguments in the dispute are highly technical, and seem pretty dull to anyone except a theologian - but they stirred hugely passionate debates in the church because they were about something that mattered terribly: the nature of God.

To get a flavour of the passion the debate aroused, look at this comment from a 9th century Patriarch:

...dishonourable men emerged out of the darkness (that is, the West), and poured down like hail or, better, charged like wild boars upon the newly-planted vineyard of the Lord, destroying it with hoof and tusk, which is to say, by their shameful lives and corrupted dogmas.

Encyclical to the Eastern Patriarchs

Here are some of the arguments that were used by each side.

Against the filioque clause

The nature of God the Father is to be the sole cause of everythingGod the Father is the "First Person of the Trinity" because he gives existence to everything elseGiving life to others is what it means to be a father, it is not what it means to be a sonJesus said only that the Spirit proceeds from the Father

But when the Counsellor comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness to me.

John 15:26

The idea that the Spirit proceeds from Father and Son detracts from the separate character of each person of the Trinity, and confuses their relationshipsThe idea that the Spirit proceeds from the Son as well as the Father diminishes the status of God the Father

In favour of the filioque clause:

Jesus did not say that the Spirit only proceeds from the FatherThe Creed and the Bible say that the Son does give life to others:

All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.

John 1:3

Jesus said that the Spirit proceeds from both the Father and the Son:

Jesus said to them again, "Peace be unto you. As the Father has sent me, even so send I you." And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit"

John 20:21-3

If the Spirit and the Son both proceed only from the Father, then there is no internal distinction between them in the Godhead (as opposed to their action on Earth).The Spirit is the bond of love that unites Father and Son - this bond must proceed from both Father and SonThe Spirit proceeds eternally from the Father and Son as from a single principle

Moving closer

In modern times the Eastern and Western churches have moved closer together.

In December 1965 Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras of Constantinople revoked the excommunications of 1054 and called for an active pursuit of mutual understanding.

Glossary of the Trinity

Appropriation and Perichoresis are two ideas that are important in reconciling God's one-ness with the three-ness of God in human experience.

Appropriation

Appropriation teaches that all three persons of the Trinity do everything God does, but that it is appropriate to see some actions as being particularly associated with one specific person of the Trinity.

So the Father is associated with creation and the Son with redemption, but all three persons are actually involved with these actions.

Perichoresis

Perichoresis is a Greek word that means permeation without confusion.

This is the idea that each of the persons of the Trinity shares completely in the life of the other two.

Theologians say that each of the persons of the Trinity "interpenetrates" the others, so that the distinctions between the persons are preserved and the substance of God is not divided into three.

The theologian Leonardo Boff described perichoresis as "the intimate and perfect inhabitation of one Person in the other," meaning that the three persons of the Trinity live in and relate to each other perfectly.

Many modern writers prefer to use the word indwelling to express the idea of perichoresis. They say there is a mutual indwelling of the persons of the Trinity.

Other words for the same thing are coinherence and circuminsessio.

All facets of divine activity are reflected in all three persons of the Trinity. They are dynamically intermingled. They may not be separated.

Richard B. Hays

Persons

Persons is a theological word that answers the question "Three what?"

The traditional statement of the doctrine of the Trinity is this: There are three persons within the Godhead; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. These three persons have equal status and are equally divine.

But the word person in this definition doesn't mean person in any sense that modern people understand it - it's an ancient technical philosophical term, which originally meant the mask worn by actors playing parts in an ancient Greek play.

The Greek word was hypostases (the singular term is hypostasis). The ancient writers said that there were three distinct hypostases in one ousia (ousia is the word now translated as substance - see below.)

There's a hint here of a very important concept in the idea of the Trinity. Actors playing a part in a play do so in relationship to other members of the cast, and a key element of the doctrine of the Trinity is that the three persons of the Trinity are in relationship with one another.

But "person" to modern people means, at the very least, a separate centre of consciousness, and more usually, an individual human being. That is not what it means in the definition of the Trinity.

The idea that the three persons of the Trinity are separate individuals is the heresy of tritheism.

Unfortunately, modern theological translations of the word "persons" into phrases such as "distinct manners of subsisting" don't make things much clearer (and that particular phrase, as it happens, sounds very like the heresy of modalism).

Procession

This word is used to describe the coming forth of one of the persons of the Trinity from another (or from both the others).

The use of this word in statements of the Trinity is a reminder that there is movement and dynamic energy in the Christian concept of God.

Substance

Substance is the theological word that answers the question "One what?"

It comes from the Greek word ousia, which means "beingness", but it has a more restricted meaning in this context than it had had to the ancient Greek philosophers who coined the word.

A substance is a thing which fully exists; a presence in the universe - so for example, a dog is a substance. Although in the case of God this is not a substance made of matter.

The key concept of substance is that of unity - it's not separate from the three persons of the Trinity, it's what makes them one.

God in Three Persons: A Doctrine We Barely Understand

Do all Christians believe the doctrine of the Trinity? If one does not believe in the Trinity—that is, if a person has come to a settled conclusion that the doctrine of the Trinity is not true—does it make him a heretic?

Ray Pritchard

All Christians believe in the doctrine of the Trinity. If you do not believe this—that is, if you have come to a settled conclusion that the doctrine of the Trinity is not true—you are not a Christian at all. You are in fact a heretic. Those words may sound harsh, but they represent the judgment of the Christian church across the centuries. What is the Trinity? Christians in every land unite in proclaiming that our God eternally exists as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Those who deny that truth place themselves outside the pale of Christian orthodoxy.

Having said that, I admit that no one fully understands it. It is a mystery and a paradox. Yet I believe it is true.

I can think of at least three reasons for believing in the Trinity:

The Bible teaches this doctrine.Christians everywhere have always believed it.No other explanation makes sense.

Someone has said it this way: If you try to explain the Trinity, you will lose your mind. But if you deny it, you will lose your soul. Let's take a look at the definition of the Trinity and what the role of the Trinity is today

The Trinity Defined

There are many places we might go to find a suitable definition. Any of the great ecumenical creeds would serve us well in this regard. However, let's stick closer to home and simply reprint Article B—The True God from the Calvary Memorial Church Articles of Faith.

We believe in one living and true God who is the Creator of heaven and earth; who is eternal, almighty, unchangeable, infinitely powerful, wise, just, and holy.

We believe that the one God eternally exists in three Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; and that these three are one God, co-equal and co-eternal, having precisely the same nature and attributes, and worthy of precisely the same worship, confidence, and obedience. Matthew 3:16, 17; Matthew 28:19, 20; Mark 12:29; John 1:14; Acts 5:3, 4; II Corinthians 13:14.

While I am sure that this statement is biblically accurate, I also understand that it can seem very intimidating. Let's break it down into six smaller statements about the trinity that's easier to understand:

One God and One Only Exists in three Persons Equal and Eternal Worthy of equal praise and worship Distinct yet acting in unity Constituting the one true God of the Bible

As you might imagine, the early church struggled mightily over this doctrine. They eventually reduced their belief in the Trinity to two short statements. They concluded that God is …

One in Essence Three in Person

When we say these things we mean that the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, but they are not three gods but only one God. The Father is not the Son, the Son is not the Spirit, the Spirit is not the Father, but each is God individually and yet they are together the one true God of the Bible.

Have you ever seen the word "Godhead?" Theologians sometimes use that term when they want to refer to God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit as three divine Persons in one God.

At this point, I think we should acknowledge the chief objection to the doctrine of the Trinity, which is that it is absurd. Sometimes the Jehovah's Witnesses (who pointedly deny the Trinity) ridicule it with this little equation: 1 + 1 + 1 = 3. In their minds, Christians worship three Gods, not one. The answer is quite simple. The doctrine of the Trinity is not absurd if that's what the Bible teaches. Furthermore, there is more than one way to play with equations. You could also say it this way: 1 x 1 x 1 = 1!

The Trinity Explained

What exactly do we mean when we speak of the Trinity? Let's start with the negative and work toward the positive.

A. What we don't mean

First of all, Christians don't believe in three Gods. That's a heresy called Tritheism. Second, we don't believe that the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit are three "forms" of God—like, steam, water and ice. That's the heresy called Modalism. Third, we don't believe that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are "parts" or "pieces" or God. That would imply that Jesus is 1/3rd God, the Father is 1/3rd God, and the Holy Spirit is 1/3rd God.

B. Where do we find the Trinity doctrine in the Bible?

I would answer that the Trinity is taught in both the Old and the New Testaments. It is taught by implication in the Old and by direct statement in the New.

For instance, the Bible contains numerous clear statements regarding the unity of God: Deuteronomy 6:4 tells us that "the Lord is one." 1 Corinthians 8:4 adds that "there is no God but one." 1 Timothy 2:5 explicitly says "there is one God." All Christians heartily affirm this truth.

However, the Bible also contains clear statements regarding diversity within that unity. For instance, in the very first verse of the Bible we are told that "In the beginning God." The Hebrew word for God is elohim, which is actually a plural form of the word el. It's a word that in other contexts is sometimes translated as "gods," referring to heathen deities. Later in the same chapter we have one of the most striking statements of diversity-in-unity:

Then God said, ''Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:26-27

Notice the shift in pronouns. "Let us … in our image … So God created man in his own image. … he created him." From us and our to he. Why the shift? Commentators speak of a literary form called the plural of majesty or the "editorial we." This much is certainly true. If Genesis 1 does not explicitly teach diversity-in-unity within the Godhead, it certainly leaves room for it to be developed later in the Bible.

Isaiah 48:16 seems to explicitly refer to all three Persons of the Trinity (with my additions in parentheses): "And now the Sovereign LORD (the Father) has sent me (the Son), with his Spirit (the Holy Spirit)." I'm not suggesting that Isaiah fully understood the Trinity or that the Jewish readers would have understood what it meant, but I do think that in the light of the New Testament, we can say that this seems to be a clear statement of the Trinity in the Old Testament.

Consider further this line of evidence. All Three Persons are called God in different places in the Bible.

Father — Galatians 1:1Son — John 20:28Spirit — Acts 5:3-4

How could the Son and the Spirit be called God unless they somehow share in God's essence? But if they share in God's essence, they are God alongside the Father.

Finally, all three Persons are associated together on an equal basis in numerous passages:

Jesus' baptism—Matthew 3:13-17 (voice of the Father, Son baptized, Spirit descending like a dove). Salvation—1 Peter 1:2 (chosen by the Father, sanctified by the Spirit, sprinkled with the blood of Jesus). Sanctification—2 Corinthians 13:14 (grace of the Lord Jesus, love of God, fellowship of the Holy Spirit). Christian Baptism—Matthew 28:19 (baptized in one name, yet three Persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). Prayer—Ephesians 3:14-21 (strengthened by his Spirit, know the love of Christ, filled with the fullness of God). Christian Growth—2 Thessalonians 2:13 (chosen by God, loved by the Lord, sanctified by the Spirit).

This list of passages might be extended. It simply shows how easily the writers of Scripture passed from one Person of the Trinity to another, doing so in a way that assumes their equality of nature while preserving their distinct personhood. If the doctrine of the Trinity is not true, it would seem to be blasphemy to speak so freely of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in one and the same breath.

How to Explain the Trinity

At best, what we have in terms of the Bible, you don't have, actually, in the Bible, a chapter that you go to that is an explanation of that. You have, if you like, a formulation of that. You have the notion of, the story of the Trinity or the reality of the Trinity is born out just in viewing things. So it's a hard one for a child, but that is, I think, the importance of catechetical teaching, in that we explain to our children, that God is three-in-one and one-in-three. Now, we may try and go to ice and steam and water. We may try and go to the shell, the white, and the yolk, but our children will be clever enough to say that, "I don't think that really gets to it either."

And we have to be honest enough to say, "No, it doesn't, that this is a profound mystery." And yet, it is so clearly revealed that Jesus is in the water being baptized, that the father speaks from heaven, that the holy spirit alights upon him as a dove, and we're there. The reality of his Gethsemane experience is explained so much, the distinction between who he is as the son, and, then, the father looking down upon his son. In fact, I think in one part of the book, and it came to mind because it struck me, I think in one part, Sinclair suggests that when Jesus finally said, "Nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done," that Sinclair says, "And here we have the father singing, 'My Jesus, I love thee. I know thou art mine.'" And it's a wonderful thought, of the interplay between the father and the son, but it's a tough one.

The Trinity Examined

In this section of the message I want to examine some of the common questions about the Trinity.

A. Where in the Bible do you find the word Trinity?

The word "Trinity" is not in the Bible. Neither is the word "Inerrancy" but we don't discard it simply because it isn't found in the Bible. The issue is not the word, but the concept or the idea. We don't believe in the Trinity because of the word, but because of what the Bible teaches.

B. Is there another word we could use?

Yes there is. Theologians sometimes speak of the Tri-Unity of God. That's a good word—even though it sounds odd to our ears—because it combines the two ideas of unity and diversity in one word. There is a third word you should know. Sometimes we speak of the "Triune" God. That's also another word that means the same thing as Trinity.

C. How can we illustrate the Trinity?

A number of illustrations have been suggested. They all are useful as long as you remember they are only illustrations. For water can exist as solid, liquid, or steam. That's okay, but usually water only exists in one state at a time. However, there is a physical condition in which water can exist as solid, liquid and steam at the same time—which would be a much better illustration of the Trinity.

There are others we could mention. An egg is made up of a shell, the eggwhite, and the yolk. All three are needed for an egg to be complete. One of the more interesting illustrations note the different roles a person can play. I am a father, a son and a husband at one and the same time. Yet I am only one person. Perhaps a more biblical approach is to consider that a husband and wife are two persons yet in God's eyes they are "one flesh." Add children and then you have the family as a miniature (and very imperfect) version of the Trinity.

Tony Evans commented that the pretzel is a good illustration because it consists of one piece of dough with three holes. Take away any one of the holes and the pretzel isn't really a pretzel anymore. (According to some people, the pretzel was actually invented in Europe several hundred years ago by a monk who wanted to illustrate the Trinity to the children of his village so he took some dough, looped into the familiar three-hour shape, based it, and gave it to the children as an edible object lesson.)

My personal favorite illustration comes from noted scientist Dr. Henry Morris. He notes that the entire universe is trinitarian by design. The universe consists of three things: matter, space, and time. Take away any one of those three and the universe would cease to exist. But each one of those is itself a trinity.

Matter = mass + energy + motion Space = length + height + breadthTime = past + present + future

Thus the whole universe witnesses to the character of the God who made it (cf. Psalm 19:1).

It's important to remember that all illustrations fail eventually. They don't "prove" the Trinity, they simply help us understand the concept.

The Trinity Applied

I am sure that many Christians think this doctrine has no practical value. That is, even if it's true, it doesn't and shouldn't matter to them. However, that simply isn't true. Let me suggest five important ramifications of this truth.

A. The Trinity helps us answer the question, "What was God doing before he created the universe?"

This is a question little children like to stump their parents with. But skeptics like to ask it as well. You may remember Augustine's answer: "He was preparing Hell for people who ask questions like that!"

But the Trinity teaches us that before the foundation of the world, God was having fellowship within his own being. That's why the Bible tells us that the Father loves the Son (John 17:24). In some sense we can never understand that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit have forever communicated and loved each other.

Francis Schaeffer emphasized this point in his books. This, he says, is where the human desire for intimacy and communication comes from. We were made to communicate. That design is part of the image of God within each of us.

It also teaches us that God is never "lonely." He didn't create us because he "needed" us. God could have existed forever without us. That he made us at all is a statement of his great love and the wisdom of his plan.

B. The Trinity sets the limits on human speculation about the nature of God.

There is so much we would like to know about God, but our finite minds cannot comprehend it. We are not free to create God in our own image. The Trinity sets the limits for human speculation. God is more than the Trinity, but he is not less than that.

C. The Trinity teaches us that God is beyond all human comprehension.

After all, if we could explain God, he wouldn't be God. I have no doubt that God is much more than "one in essence, three in Person," but since I can't even understand those simple phrases, I don't worry at all about what else might be true about God. If you feel baffled by the Trinity, join the crowd. The greatest minds of history have stood in amazement before a God so great that he cannot be contained by our puny explanations.

D. The Trinity exalts the Son and the Spirit.

We all know that God the Father is to be worshiped. But what about Jesus Christ? If he is God, should we not also worship him? The answer of course is yes. But that truth leads us back to the Trinity. He is not merely the Son of God but also God the Son. The same thing may be said about the Holy Spirit. He is not just a "force" but a Divine Person. Not an "influence" or some vague power, but the Third Person of the Trinity.

Let me draw one important inference. Since all Three Persons of the Trinity are equally God, we may pray to any member of the Trinity. That, by the way, is the number one question I have been asked about the Holy Spirit since writing Names of the Holy Spirit. Many Christians simply do not feel comfortable praying to the Spirit even though we often sing songs that are essentially prayers to the Spirit, such as "Spirit of God, descend upon my heart" and "Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me." Surely if we may sing to the Spirit, we may also pray to him. If he is God, our prayers may be directed to him.

I do agree that Christian prayers will customarily be made to the Father (e.g. The Lord's Prayer). But let us not quibble or imagine that the Father is slighted if we direct our prayers to the Son or to the Spirit, according to the need of the moment. There is no jealousy among the members of the Trinity nor could there ever be.

E. The Trinity helps us understand what really happened at the Cross.

At the climax of Jesus' suffering, he cried out, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" What do those strange, tortured words mean? We have a hint of the answer in that every other time Jesus prayed, he used the term "Father." But at that moment, when he bore the full weight of the sins of the world, when all that is evil and wretched was poured out upon him, in some way we cannot begin to fathom, God—who cannot look upon sin—turned his back on his own Son. Sin as it were (though not in ultimate reality) caused a rupture in the Trinity. Instead of "Father," Jesus cries out, "My God, my God!" It is God speaking to God. The eternal Son cries out to the Father at the moment when the penalty of sin has been laid upon him. If it be asked, how could one man pay for the sins of the entire race, we find the answer in the doctrine of the Trinity. Only an infinite God could bear the sins of the world!

A Doctrine that Unites and Divides

The doctrine of the Trinity has been called the most puzzling doctrine in the Christian faith and the central truth of the Christian faith. Which is it? Inscrutable puzzle or central truth? The answer is, both are true.

This doctrine unites all true Christians and separates us from those who are not Christian. You may believe and still not be a Christian, but if you deny this doctrine in your heart, you are not a Christian at all.

I come now to the end of my sermon. In so doing I end where I began. The Trinity is a doctrine that all Christians believe but no one really understands. That much should be clear from this message. If you try to explain the Trinity, you will lose your mind. But if you deny it, you will lose your soul.

Someone asked Daniel Webster, who happened to be a fervent Christian, "How can a man of your intellect believe in the Trinity?" "I do not pretend fully to understand the arithmetic of heaven now," he replied. That's a good phrase—the arithmetic of heaven.

The Trinity should cause us to bow in humble adoration before a God who is greater than our minds could ever comprehend.

Let us rejoice that we have a Triune God who has provided for Trinitarian salvation. When we were lost in sin, our God acted in every Person of his being to save us. The Father gave the Son, the Son offered himself on the Cross, and the Holy Spirit brought us to Jesus. We were so lost that it took every member of the Godhead to save us.

In 1774 a man named Ignaz Franz wrote a hymn of praise to the Trinity: Holy God, We Praise Your Name. Verse three may serve as an apt conclusion to this message.

"Holy Father, Holy Son, Holy Spirit, Three we name you;

While in essence only one, undivided God we claim you.

Then, adoring, bend the knee, and confess the mystery."

Indeed it is a mystery, and with all the saints we bend the knee in worship before our great God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Prayer.

O lord help me to understand that your are one .

Let the purpose of Trinity be fulfilled in my life.

O Lord my God fill me with the holy spirit.

Lord Jesus review your self to me

O Lord review your word to me

O Lord God baptize me in your power and spirit.

You can pray other prayer.

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