Describing the Trinity
The concept of the Trinity is difficult to understand.
Aside from the fact that it is near impossible to imagine, the word "Trinity" does not show up in the Bible. So people openly wonder whether emphasis should be placed on the topic. In Jewish circles, they might believe in the Holy Spirit (the Holy Spirit came upon Saul and David) but would not believe in the Son (or at least in Christ as the Son). In Muslim circles, the concept of the Trinity comes across as pantheism and an abomination. So what is the truth here?
In the past, explanations I've heard to describe the Trinity are in metaphor. The example I've heard the most is that of an egg: there are three parts - the shell, the whites, the yolk - all of them make up the egg. While they are each different entities, you cannot have an egg without them (not talking about the cooked forms, obviously).
The Bible states that God's invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, can be clearly understood through what He has made (see Romans 1) so it would make sense that there might be a natural example from which to draw metaphors as to God's nature. That said, the example of an egg has never seemed right to me. For example, once the egg is cracked it is no longer one entity. "Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall; all of the king's horses and all the king's men, couldn't put Humpty together again."
The Bible - the New Testament and the Old Testament - has examples where the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are doing the same things even though they have different manifestations and fill different roles. So the egg metaphor might be too incomplete to work well.
In my mind, water is a much better example. Why? Because no matter what form water takes, it is still water. Each form has different functions, but the essence of what makes water, water, is true regardless of its form: water not change its chemical structure, only its physical properties. Water is Water is Water: water is one; water has three forms; and all three physical forms of water can exist at the same time. And water is ubiquitous.
So when Jesus claims that those who have seen Him have seen the Father (John 14) and that He and the Father are One (John 10:30), He is in fact claiming to be God and to be of the same essence as the Father. Hebrews 1:3 states that Jesus is the exact representation of the Father. When the Bible calls the Holy Spirit both the Spirit of Christ (I Peter 1:11) / the Spirit of the Son (Galatians 4:6) and the Spirit of the Father (Matthew 10:20), it is saying that the Holy Spirit is the same in essence as both the Father and the Son.
Now, for our Muslim friends who see Jesus as a prophet (only) but do not put as much stock in the writings of Paul (Galatians) or Peter (I Peter), Jesus' words in Matthew 10:20 about the Holy Spirit being the Spirit of the Father would need to be taken seriously. Can prophets lie and still be prophets? That said, to my understanding, Muslims would also consider Isaiah a prophet. Isaiah 9:6 from the Bible describes the Son of God (Jesus) in terms of each person of the Trinity - the Father, the Spirit and the Son: "For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace."
And for our Muslim friends who take umbrage at the thought that God could have a Son through a woman, it should be noted that both Islam and the Bible place emphasis on the virgin birth of Jesus, but that the Bible states that the virgin conceived by the Holy Spirit (by the power of the Holy Spirit). It was not a physical union. God chose to become man and dwell among us and that came about through the incarnation of the Son. ". . . and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace."
John 14 describes the Holy Spirit in terms that could be described as a "Wonderful Counselor" and speaks of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit in terms that represent the three-in-one nature of God. The Holy Spirit is described as a Helper and as the Spirit of truth, sent from the Father in Jesus' name, who would bring to remembrance everything Jesus said to the disciples.
But back to the concept of God's divine nature being clearly understood in what He has made. If God could create water and other substances that exist in multiple forms but maintain the same essence throughout, would it be too far off to believe that God Himself could exist in three distinct manifestations of Himself, at the same time, but as one Being?
And as Jesus says of Himself in John 14, if you don't believe because of His words, believe because of the works that He did.
For our Atheist friends who see the concept of the Trinity as another man-made invention, when thinking about origins of the universe and trying to attribute a cause to the ultimate Cause; or when thinking about the inception of life on Earth, does it take any more faith to believe that aliens caused life on Earth than to believe Creator God made life and loved humankind so much as to send the Son as the incarnate Christ to pay the price for our sins, so that in His resurrection we can have forgiveness of sins and eternal life?
No.
The amazing thing about it is that while parents are willing to sacrifice themselves for their children, imperfect as those children are, God's love extends beyond that in His Son - that is, in sacrificing Himself for us, in the person of His Son.
If I made a toy, would I sacrifice myself for it if it came down to laying down my life? Not likely. What if I had made creatures in my image that were capable of loving me back - like Pinocchio magically being transformed into a real boy? Would I be willing to sacrifice myself for it? Maybe. What about for an adopted child?
The Bible claims that humans have the potential to spiritually adopted as children of God if they believe in Christ. And God's sacrifice of Himself in Jesus was while we were yet sinners, living lives in rejection of God, and that being sinners separated us from God as holy.
Mark 10:45 states the following in referring to Jesus: "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." Or as Romans 5:6-11 states,
For those who consider the concept anathema to a prophet, in one sense they are right. While Jesus prophesied His own death and resurrection (Mark 8:31-32), Jesus was more than a prophet: Jesus is God.
John 11 tells the story of Jesus resurrecting Lazarus. What is interesting is that before Jesus resurrected Lazarus, Martha meets Jesus outside the town and confronts Him for not being there to keep Lazarus from dying in the first place. Jesus' response: "your brother will rise again." Martha states that she knows he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day, but Jesus says to her, ""I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies; and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?" She said to Him, "Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world." Then Jesus resurrects Lazarus.
But it doesn't stop here. I mentioned the potential to become spiritually adopted as children of God. John 1, in describing human response to Jesus, states, "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God." In John 3, in conversation with a religious leader named Nicodemus, Jesus later calls this being "born again." Nicodemus, like any of us hearing the concept for the first time, did not understand. So Jesus explained that it was a matter of being born of the Spirit. We have the right to become children of God and this birth is spiritual of nature, not physical, and saves us from the wrath to come.
The full text is worth a read (John 3:4-21):
Aside from the fact that it is near impossible to imagine, the word "Trinity" does not show up in the Bible. So people openly wonder whether emphasis should be placed on the topic. In Jewish circles, they might believe in the Holy Spirit (the Holy Spirit came upon Saul and David) but would not believe in the Son (or at least in Christ as the Son). In Muslim circles, the concept of the Trinity comes across as pantheism and an abomination. So what is the truth here?
In the past, explanations I've heard to describe the Trinity are in metaphor. The example I've heard the most is that of an egg: there are three parts - the shell, the whites, the yolk - all of them make up the egg. While they are each different entities, you cannot have an egg without them (not talking about the cooked forms, obviously).
The Bible states that God's invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, can be clearly understood through what He has made (see Romans 1) so it would make sense that there might be a natural example from which to draw metaphors as to God's nature. That said, the example of an egg has never seemed right to me. For example, once the egg is cracked it is no longer one entity. "Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall; all of the king's horses and all the king's men, couldn't put Humpty together again."
The Bible - the New Testament and the Old Testament - has examples where the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are doing the same things even though they have different manifestations and fill different roles. So the egg metaphor might be too incomplete to work well.
In my mind, water is a much better example. Why? Because no matter what form water takes, it is still water. Each form has different functions, but the essence of what makes water, water, is true regardless of its form: water not change its chemical structure, only its physical properties. Water is Water is Water: water is one; water has three forms; and all three physical forms of water can exist at the same time. And water is ubiquitous.
So when Jesus claims that those who have seen Him have seen the Father (John 14) and that He and the Father are One (John 10:30), He is in fact claiming to be God and to be of the same essence as the Father. Hebrews 1:3 states that Jesus is the exact representation of the Father. When the Bible calls the Holy Spirit both the Spirit of Christ (I Peter 1:11) / the Spirit of the Son (Galatians 4:6) and the Spirit of the Father (Matthew 10:20), it is saying that the Holy Spirit is the same in essence as both the Father and the Son.
Now, for our Muslim friends who see Jesus as a prophet (only) but do not put as much stock in the writings of Paul (Galatians) or Peter (I Peter), Jesus' words in Matthew 10:20 about the Holy Spirit being the Spirit of the Father would need to be taken seriously. Can prophets lie and still be prophets? That said, to my understanding, Muslims would also consider Isaiah a prophet. Isaiah 9:6 from the Bible describes the Son of God (Jesus) in terms of each person of the Trinity - the Father, the Spirit and the Son: "For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace."
And for our Muslim friends who take umbrage at the thought that God could have a Son through a woman, it should be noted that both Islam and the Bible place emphasis on the virgin birth of Jesus, but that the Bible states that the virgin conceived by the Holy Spirit (by the power of the Holy Spirit). It was not a physical union. God chose to become man and dwell among us and that came about through the incarnation of the Son. ". . . and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace."
John 14 describes the Holy Spirit in terms that could be described as a "Wonderful Counselor" and speaks of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit in terms that represent the three-in-one nature of God. The Holy Spirit is described as a Helper and as the Spirit of truth, sent from the Father in Jesus' name, who would bring to remembrance everything Jesus said to the disciples.
But back to the concept of God's divine nature being clearly understood in what He has made. If God could create water and other substances that exist in multiple forms but maintain the same essence throughout, would it be too far off to believe that God Himself could exist in three distinct manifestations of Himself, at the same time, but as one Being?
And as Jesus says of Himself in John 14, if you don't believe because of His words, believe because of the works that He did.
For our Atheist friends who see the concept of the Trinity as another man-made invention, when thinking about origins of the universe and trying to attribute a cause to the ultimate Cause; or when thinking about the inception of life on Earth, does it take any more faith to believe that aliens caused life on Earth than to believe Creator God made life and loved humankind so much as to send the Son as the incarnate Christ to pay the price for our sins, so that in His resurrection we can have forgiveness of sins and eternal life?
No.
The amazing thing about it is that while parents are willing to sacrifice themselves for their children, imperfect as those children are, God's love extends beyond that in His Son - that is, in sacrificing Himself for us, in the person of His Son.
If I made a toy, would I sacrifice myself for it if it came down to laying down my life? Not likely. What if I had made creatures in my image that were capable of loving me back - like Pinocchio magically being transformed into a real boy? Would I be willing to sacrifice myself for it? Maybe. What about for an adopted child?
The Bible claims that humans have the potential to spiritually adopted as children of God if they believe in Christ. And God's sacrifice of Himself in Jesus was while we were yet sinners, living lives in rejection of God, and that being sinners separated us from God as holy.
Mark 10:45 states the following in referring to Jesus: "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." Or as Romans 5:6-11 states,
For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.Too much to be true? Not if God's nature can be clearly seen in what has been made. But mind-blowing nonetheless.
For those who consider the concept anathema to a prophet, in one sense they are right. While Jesus prophesied His own death and resurrection (Mark 8:31-32), Jesus was more than a prophet: Jesus is God.
John 11 tells the story of Jesus resurrecting Lazarus. What is interesting is that before Jesus resurrected Lazarus, Martha meets Jesus outside the town and confronts Him for not being there to keep Lazarus from dying in the first place. Jesus' response: "your brother will rise again." Martha states that she knows he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day, but Jesus says to her, ""I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies; and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?" She said to Him, "Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world." Then Jesus resurrects Lazarus.
But it doesn't stop here. I mentioned the potential to become spiritually adopted as children of God. John 1, in describing human response to Jesus, states, "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God." In John 3, in conversation with a religious leader named Nicodemus, Jesus later calls this being "born again." Nicodemus, like any of us hearing the concept for the first time, did not understand. So Jesus explained that it was a matter of being born of the Spirit. We have the right to become children of God and this birth is spiritual of nature, not physical, and saves us from the wrath to come.
The full text is worth a read (John 3:4-21):
Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born, can he?" Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit."
Nicodemus said to Him, "How can these things be?" Jesus answered and said to him, "Are you the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things? Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know and testify of what we have seen, and you do not accept our testimony. If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God."So I prefer Martha's response, and like Martha, have believed. "Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world." And having been born again in the Spirit of God and given the right to be a child of God as a spiritually adopted child per se, if I die before Christ's return, I too will be resurrected on the last day.
You?
The concept of the Trinity is critical: Jesus, being God, became man and dwelt among us.
posted by The Lamplighter at 11:05 PM
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