These are likewise erroneous or even heretical. We can touch the cord, but not the power it is insulating. There would be three thrones. So cool that God imparted that song in your mind and heart before you even wrote this blog post! 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. For sure, our everyday experience does not include using our finite minds to understand the infinite! The Holy Spirit is Christs spirit in us guiding us into all truth. Therefore, we would rightly say, within the Ontological Trinity, there is no variation or distinction made. We worship one God who exists in three persons. In humans, our spirits are designed to operate with and be united to the soul which is the person of anyone and so it is with our Egg. Its hard to explain! But God is the eternal Light, which has neither had a beginning, nor shall ever fail. RELATED: What Does The Bible Say About Ghosts? The apple seed alone is not an apple. But we can (and should) have a solid foundation to explain this core belief of our faith. It became real to me because I have experienced His love, grace, guidance, redemption, conviction of sin, and fellowship that comes from Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Not just for explaining it to others, but to bolster our own faith and see how each One works in our lives. Despite its potential obscurity, Trinity Sunday is a great occasion for me to revisit an old article on the Trinity. Indeed, how can an infinite God be contained in a finite human womb! 2. Each one is fully God. ORDER from Barnes and NobleAmazon.com or wherever fine books are soldISBN-13: 978-1978167643Return to Cafe Logos Homepage | Bite-Sized Bible Bites, The Egg and i -A Simple Explanation of The Trinity. If water is inadequate, there are a wide array of alternative analogies we can turn to in modern theological parlance. The word Trinity comes from the Latin word trinitas which means tri-unity. The Trinity is one of the most foundational doctrines of Christianity. The yolk represents Gods Person, His Being, and His Holiness which generates Light that no man can approach (I Timothy 6:16). In the Scripture we see "the fullness of God was pleased to dwell" (Col 1:9). Each character of the trinity has in one another (cf. In an attempt to explain the Trinity, there are some bad examples people use, and some better ones. But the Bible is CLEAR in its teaching. God is infinitely greater than we are; therefore, we should not expect to be able to fully understand Him. THE TRUTH IS: The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are not three different parts or components of God, but the three are all equally one God. This analogy is an invalid comparison to the Trinity and is a heresy called PARTIALISM. Adorn your liturgical vestments with classic images from the Monastery Icons collection. THE TRUTH IS: The Father, Son, and Spirit are three different persons who are all equally one God. Light comes from God. ANALOGY OF CHARACTERS. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength (1 Corinthians 1:25). Father, Son, Holy Sprit : 3 persons, 1 great relationship, Copyright 2023 Fervr | Terms of Service. They that dont have the Holy Spirit in them will talk like the Adversary. The Father is fully God; Jesus is fully God and the Holy Spirit is fully God. But theres one problem: the water analogy is not the biblical picture of God. So "son" = "Dave". Check out verse four: Holy Author, Holy Word, Holy Spirit, three we name thee; Still, one holy voice is heard; undivided God, we claim thee, and adoring bend the knee, while we own the mystery. . Basic mathematics tells us that 1x1x1 = 1.. Modalism teaches that one God just changes forms or modes over the course of scripture. Modalism, or Sabellianism, denies the three distinct Persons of the Trinity and claims that God is one Person who appears in different modes at different timesin the Old Testament He appeared as the Father, in the Gospels He appeared as the Son, and from Pentecost onwards He appears as the Holy Spirit. Blessings! 1 Corinthians 8:6: Yet for us there is but one God.. Among the most popular analogies for the Trinity, two in particular stand out; and most of the others resemble one of them. THE TRUTH IS: The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are not simply names designating modalities of the divine being, for they are really DISTINCT from one another: He is not the Father who is the Son, nor is the Son he who is the Father, nor is the Holy Spirit he who is the Father or the Son. (CCC 254), 3. In reality, I change my role depending on who I am interacting with. Examples of these different roles would be: The Incarnation: Only the Son became incarnate, took on flesh. The Latin word for trinity (trinitas) combines two words- unitas (unity) and trias (three). As a doctrine (belief), the trinity is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as three separate and distinct persons united in one being- God. As a result, this analogy can easily lead to tritheism in which there are three different gods which might share some like substance. The word Trinity comes from the Latin word trinitas which means tri-unity. Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. The Trinity is not 1 + 1 + 1 butmore like 1 x 1 x 1.You can throw away one part of an egg (e.g., shell) and still have essentially an egg. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,, , Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. Im giving God the credit for stirring this memory, and am extremely grateful. One cannot remove the Holy Spirit and still have the God as taught in the Bible. This is a bad analogy because it fails at the truth that all three persons comprise the fullness of God. God is much bigger and much greater than we can understand, and to be honest, I'm ok with that. Jesus is the visual form of God. As a doctrine (belief), the trinity is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as three separate and distinct persons united in one being- God. For instance at the baptism of Christ, the Father, Son and Spirit are all distinctly present and interacting (Matthew chapter 3 verses 16-17). But if they give us a warped idea of what they are trying to explain, they arent helpful illustrations. Your email address will not be published. The Holy Spirit and Son do not send the Father. There are two basic ways that people misunderstand the Trinity: 1. If God has existed for all eternity in a perfectly loving Triune relationship, then it shows He is completely self-sufficient and requires no further relationship in order to complete or satisfy Himself. It's impossible to be an Orthodox Christian without professing belief in the Triune nature of God. We can admit it is a mystery and accept that our incomplete knowledge cannot fully comprehend it. Modalism is a heresy because it denies the distinction of God. My intention is merely to address some common erroneous analogies, including water. What we can understand and accept is that God exists eternally as one divine nature, substance, or essence, comprising three co-equal, co-eternal and consubstantial personsthe Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. show me your glory. Starting with the three biblical affirmations, ask your kids to show you how these examples support or deny what the bible teaches about the Trinity. And we know that because the Persons of the Godhead have perfectly blessed and exalted each other for all eternity. Many of us would use analogies to explain the Trinity. Intercession: The Son intercedes as our High Priest before the Father. Matthew 3:16-17- As soon as Jesus was baptized, He went up out of the water. Modernizations of this analogy include that of an apple (with the peel, the flesh, and the core) or an egg (with its shell, yoke, and white). Being the brightness of the eternal Light, He Himself also is absolutely eternal. One sits on the throne looking like Sardine and Jasper stone. THE DISTINCTION AND UNITY of the Trinity is not for us to fully understand because it is a supernatural mystery. The Sun was created on the forth day. Or water can be evaporated and called steam. Time exists as 3 things: past, present, and future. Christians believe, then, that only one God exists but this God exists as a unity of three persons: a Trinity. One of the more traditional analogies is to the states of water. You are an egg! However, it breaks down on the level of equality: No one keeps or eats the shell of an egg. But Hes God too, right? Again, this analogy doesnt work because God doesnt morph, change, or become different aspects of Himself. However, Christians through the ages believe in the Trinity because the truths it represents are taught in the Bible. That is a holding pen for final judgment. Our words should dissipate and be replaced instead with an awestruck adoration and wonder, as we realise the only appropriate response is to fall to our knees and humbly worship the one truly perfect, unified divine essence, comprising three diverse, co-equal and co-eternal divine persons. All these make up one egg just as the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit make up one God. Trinity is like a Shamrock (or an Apple or an Egg). Thought of Tim Its amazing to think that everything will be so clear when we het to Heaven! Jesus, visually seen, judges all, not the Unseen Father. The problem here is it describes each part of the Trinity as 1/3 parts of the overall egg. Father, Son, and Spirit are each fully God (their own egg)- not fractions of one. in that He is not made up of three parts one part () the Father, another part () Jesus Christ and a third part () the Holy Spirit. This analogy denies the unity of the God-head. God controls that light. It falls into the heresy of tri-theism. Each PERSON is distinct from one another. - well, sort of. But we cannot do that (assuming we can) with God. The Trinity is distinct in their roles and individuality, but united in their attributes of love, mercy, holiness, knowledge, etc. The scientific analogy that will be provided in a few moments is truly inadequate to describe the Holy Trinity. We have the creeds for just that reason. Dont grieve the Holy Spirit out of you. is not). Or what? Moreover, the yoke and the whites are no longer as they used to be. None of the 3 are less divine than the others. 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. You know, that bearded guy on the throne who looks something like Zeus, right? Augustine's typical dialectic is to move from the exterior realities of creation to the interior reality of the human soul where he hoped to encounter God in the image of God, damaged as it is by the fall. The problem with this analogy is that it teaches that God has three components: The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. If we separate them we still may have God the Egg yolk, God the Holy Spirit Egg white and God the Son, the Egg shell/image, three individual parts of an Egg, but they cannot be a Trinity, or tri-unity unless they are unified and are seen as one Egg, so to speak. A person distinguishes himself from others by saying me, mine, you, yours, etc. A being is the whole nature or essence of something. The Trinity is foundational and at the heart of our Christian faith. Dr. Bruce Ware does an excellent job in his book Big Truths for Young Hearts. Jesus Person is joined to the Father by the Fathers Holy Spirit, because Gods Spirit is also Jesus Spirit - "But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if the Spirit of God dwells in you. There are three different cloves that represent the three different persons of the trinity. These images fall short, because these components arent enough to be considered a whole on their own. A good example would be an electrical cord. Yet we do not have three gods but ONE God. 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. How do we make sense of the Trinity? This analogy actually teaches the heresy of modalism. Each person is fully the one God, but is also distinct. Similarly, in our aquatic analogy, water can appear in three different modes, depending on the environment, but the three are not co-existing. The Trinity is not real in my life because of superior knowledge or insight. His ways are higher than ours, but isnt that a comfort?! 2 - The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are each God. Part 2. We believe in only one true God in all existence, in all places, at all times. God is like H2O in that the Bible may refer to a specific person of the Trinity but that person is still God. Memory, Understanding, and Will. Water can be frozen and is called ice. Before moving on I should note that providing a full theological explanation of Trinitarian doctrine is well beyond the scope of what I can do here. There have been many attempts to explain the Trinity the relationship between God the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. We can always rebut these claims with another equation: 1 x 1 x 1=1. THE TRUTH IS: From the very beginning, the Blessed Trinity Father, Son, and Spirit was there. If you say, "water" then you are incorrect. The idea that the Trinity can be compared to a shamrock is largely attributed to St. Patrick. He began to play the organ as a chorister in England, before continuing his studies in Qubec and France. Somewhere in the recesses of my mind lived the doctrinal truth about the Trinity. Space Analogy God is like space. Here are 8 Bible Characters Who Should Be More Famous. Or, we can quote Daniel Webster; a strong Christian- I do not pretend fully to understand the arithmetic of heaven now. . This analogy sounds pretty good, but it is fatally flawed in that is describes the Son and Spirit as creations of the Father. However, keep in mind that the one being. That fire keeps devils away from the saved. . God is like an egg in that He is 3-in-1 God the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ) and the Holy Spirit. Unfortunately, no analogy is perfect. They've always led to error and have been rejected by the church. He has the world and our individual lives within His supremely capable hands. . In one egg you have the white, the yoke, and the shell composing one full egg. In other words, this view denies Gods oneness. Some have taken on the task of explaining how Father, Son, and Holy Spirit exist as one. Thanks, Ann! There was no relational deficiency that prompted God to create us. Therefore, in this context, God is the what and the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are the who. Some who deny the Trinity claim 1+1+1=3, and therefore claim we worship three Gods. Infinite thy vast domain, everlasting is thy reign.. A certain YouTube page created a famous video titled "St. Patrick's Bad Analogies" (which can be found here), in which the historic St. Patrick meets charming villagers who deride him based on the analogies which he uses in the process of explaining the Holy Trinity. The Holy Trinity: Egg Analogy The Holy Trinity is GOD in three divine persons GOD the FATHER GOD the HOLY SPIRIT GOD the SON But together they makeup and are still ONE GOD Like how an egg is made up of three things but is still ONE EGG. The trinity is like this man. So if all of these explanations are heretical, what is a good analogy? We also know that God didnt create humanity out of loneliness or boredom. The doctrine of the Trinity is one of the primary tenants of the Christian faith. The God of the Bible is one God. 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*. FOR CENTURIES, the Church had fought against heresies on the Trinity. Dont become discouraged if you cant answer the question to your liking. Through the brokenness of the Shell, His Son, the Spirit white pours out into our beings through our faith in what was done and believers are joined with the yolk, for it is by One Spirit we have access to God the Father (Ephesians 2:18). 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/. Modalism teaches that the trinity is not three distinct persons, but just different modes that God reveals himself to human beings. How would you explain the Trinity if someone asked you right now? HO may act as water, steam, or ice, but it is still HO. God does not morph from one person to another, nor does God exist as three separate beings. The Son is not the Father or the Spirit. But this idea is central to the Christian faith. For example, triangles are not the kinds of things that are personal. Few if any have every tried to teach the heresy of Tritheism, but it needs to be mentioned anyway. There are some analogies that come close. Jonathon serves as a lay pastor at Gospel Life Church in New Braunfels, TX and currently works as the IT Manager for a non-profit ministry. If the Sun existed from eternity past then so were the light rays from the Sun. Three persons is false. The military would end up destroying themselves. 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. To become the people we were always created to be. As John 1:18 says, Jesus is "the only begotten God, in the bosom of [God] the Father.". Perhaps youve heard the analogy that the Trinity is like H2O (the molecular symbol for water). We define a person as one having a will and who is distinguishable from another person. The Trinity is not 1 + 1 + 1 but more like 1 x 1 x 1. The Holy Trinity, one of the five Dogmas of the Church, is an extraordinary and unfathomable mystery. The Father hears their intercessory prayers. It is a miraculous invention, the egg. Unfortunately, there is a problem with this view of the Trinity. The military would like to have that power. 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. 2A) Dave is a father of four children: three boys and a . Is He Jesus side-kick? I and My Father are One (John 10:30). PART OF A WHOLE. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are each called Jehovah (or Spirit of Jehovah), given divine attributes, and, (usually there is no argument that the Father is not God, since every place Jesus speaks to God, he is addressing the Father.). In one of his sermons, he wrestled with the passage in Scripture recounting Jesus' Baptism. Though I find the video to be hilarious and often . The Egg- One egg has three parts: shell, whites, and yolk . Truly, it is a Mystery. The problem with this analogy is that it would imply that there is only one Divine Person, who eventually multiplied Himself. You can throw away one part of an egg (e.g., shell) and still have essentially an egg. 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. He cares for his creation and his people. What is wrong with what I said? He was with God in the beginning. Each side is co-equal with the others, yet, each side is necessary. But they are one God. 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. H2O can exist in three forms: liquid, gas and solid. The Trinity is Like an Egg How the analogy goes: The Trinity is like an egg. When it comes to the Trinity, we tend to forget that an analogy is an "aptness of proportion" or a "resemblance of relations," not an identity of relations. One day, however, the image will be clear. Jesus is fully God. The analogy breaks down because the three cloves are overly distinct and cannot represent the unity of God. Another analogy that Tim remembers, being Irish Catholic, is the analogy of the shamrock with its three parts. The Holy Spirit is the shell, Jesus is the egg white, and the Father is the egg yolk. It only has 1 person acting in three different roles. God is Great, I always try to figure out how to explain it to my Sunday school kids and they get confused which i get, how would you explain it to them? The concept is literally unthinkable. Copyright 2023 Christian Today. Arianism denies the deity of each person in the trinity. The Holy Spirit descended upon Him to equip Him for His ministry. Admittedly, the idea of three distinct persons/expressions that are each fully God is part of the mystery. This is just as bad as the Water analogy and leads to the same error. Studying the Trinity poses difficulty to us Catholics. They suggest that only one God exists but this God transforms or morphs into each of the different persons Let's begin with the second view. All Rights Reserved. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. (Luke 1:35)One of my Sunday School students said, "How could Jesus (God) enter Mary's stomach (womb) and be born? Stars were made on the forth day. If you looked at a single cloverleaf, you wouldnt call it a shamrock. Unfortunately, an analogy from the limited realm of creation may not be sufficient in explaining Gods nature. In using analogies, we need to acknowledge the demerits and limitations of the said analogy. Martyn Iles Removed as Managing Director of Australian Christian Lobby by Board, Seven Types of Rest to Restore Your Body, Mind and Spirit, 8 witnesses testified against Hillsong founder Brian Houston in court case, wife Bobbie reveals, Why you feel guilty for not going to church, Samaritan's Purse sends 52-bed field hospital to Turkey. This analogy is still not perfect because each of the aspect cannot stand as egg like each of the persons in the trinity can stand as God. The Egg Analogy - This claims to be a good representation of the Trinity because Eggs have three distinct parts: the shell, the yolk, and the whites. The Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Spirit is God. It is not existing as 3 different parts (persons) at the same time. Only the Son became incarnate, took on flesh. This is a bad analogy because it fails at the truth that all three persons comprise the fullness of God. These attributes are: omnipotence (all-powerful), omniscience (all-knowing), and omnipresence (exists in all places). Our limited intellects are unable to comprehend its reality, yet, our Scriptures and scholarly Tradition makes it known to us. 3:15; John 17:1-4, The Holy Spirit Acts 5:3-4; John 14:16-17, 26; John 16:7-13. The Unseen Father is in Christs mind. The past is not the present and the present is not the future, yet all three together is what we call time. The beautiful depth of Gods eternal Triune nature is a sublime reality which should bring an end to our attempts to cognitively master Him. Instead, each person is co-equal, co-powerful and co-eternal. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are each called Jehovah (or Spirit of Jehovah), given divine attributes, and are distinguished from one another. Cool it down, and itll eventually freeze into a solid. In other words, God may manifest Himself as the Father, Son, or Holy Spirit. And then theres Jesus, Gods son. Although he is one he has different roles to different people. The Trinity is pretty weird: the Father (or Mother), Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit are in some sense distinct from one another, but are all unified in another sense. Tritheism denies that there is only one God. She would explode!" This is a place to find encouragement and hope from God's Word as you move through your busy life. Yet God lovingly chose to create and eventually redeem us anyway (both thoroughly Trinitarian acts), at great cost to Himself. In other words, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have a unique and unbreakable unity, and their existence together is the being that is God. 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. I remember asking my Life Group last year, How have you heard the Trinity explained? I braced myself for the inevitable reply. When discussing God, especially in regards to his nature, being and persons, a simple statement to articulate the Trinity is: God is 1, *. Yet, as we view the pages of the Bible, we see that God is a personal and relational God. Because God is utterly unique, all comparisons will fail at some point. Time Analogy God is like time. They have a common purpose in making harmonious music, but each note is its own separate entity. This analogy explains that the Father is like the sun. 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. 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. It is a miraculous invention, the egg. What makes it hard is that all of our analogies and metaphors fall short of capturing what the Trinity actually is. Paul explains our finite understanding of beliefs like the Trinity as looking into a poor-quality mirror- a distorted image; dim and unclear.
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