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He also knows how to perfectly love us. For example, an equilateral triangle (a triangle with three equal sides) has three sides. The trinity is not a contradiction, but a paradox. Some have used examples such as water, watermelons and eggs; the principle behind those illustrations is that even though each thing is one, it is also three. Genisis 1:17, KJV. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit also exist eternally and concurrently. He has been relationally fulfilled within Himself since forever. In this episode, Fred Sanders discusses what it really means to say that God is a Trinitythree persons in one God. Another wrong illustration is using ourselves: I am one person, but also a wife, mother, and writer. When we look at the egg as an example of the Trinity, we must view it in its entirety. Jesus isn't a demigod or partially god. It leads to the heresy of MODALISM which teaches that God switches to different modes. This analogy sounds pretty good, but it is fatally flawed in that is describes the Son and Spirit as creations of the Father. His ways are not my ways! 1B) This son of Graham and Lois Armstrong is Dave. Instead, each person is co-equal, co-powerful and co-eternal. 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. I think the analogy of the Sun works well. Pingback: 3 Reasons Why Jesus Humanity Really Matters Her & Hymn, Pingback: 3 Reasons Why Jesus' Humanity Really Matters, Pingback: How Jesus Teaches Us To Be Human Her & Hymn. The Trinity is not 1 + 1 + 1 but more like 1 x 1 x 1. I dont believe that God wishes us to be confused about the Three that are so apparent throughout the Old and New Testaments. Thus, the Father Himself is not God, nor is the Son, nor is the Holy Spirit, but combining the three, there is one God. The mystery is in the how this is accomplished; something we will finally understand in heaven. TO AVOID HERESIES, LET US LIVE BY WHAT HAS BEEN REVEALED TO US: 1. Likewise we cannot have the Father or His Spirit without the Son I am the Way the Truth and the Life, no one comes to the Father except by Me- John 14:6. The Bible reveals that each person of the Trinity has unique roles, relationships, and functions which are distinct from one another. The Egg and I - Part Two Now were going to look at how some people often misunderstand the Trinity. The teaching of the trinity is clearly taught in Scripture and must be preserved as such. In some ways, it resembles the tritheism view (Misunderstanding 2). This means there is a sense in which all 3 persons may act or speak as one. Did I leave out any analogies? What is wrong with what I said? These images fall short, because these components arent enough to be considered a whole on their own. On a whim, I looked up the lyrics at a later time. We can say that the first is egg the shell, the second is egg the albumen and the third is egg the yoke. 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. Rather, He created us in order to bless us. Well the issue is, the water analogy is akin to the heresy of Modalism. To the other major monotheistic faiths (Islam and Judaism), it is rank heresyTrinitarianism is therefore definitional to Christianity. 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 egg white represents Gods Spirit. The concept is literally unthinkable. If you say, "water" then you are incorrect. According to modalism, God does not actually exist in three persons. In this analogy, God is compared to a man. Further, his dialectic is guided by the particular consideration of what true love is: a trinity of lover, beloved and the love that binds . Each one is fully 100% God. It is so important that to deny the trinity is to deny Christianity. Below is a compilation of the verses that reference all 3 persons of the one God. Truly, it is a Mystery. Afterall, we can get rid of a few of its parts - for instance the shell - and still scramble an egg. From time to time, Doctors of the Church used analogies, but with care. The wonders and ways of God may not be apparent or fully known at present, but we can still marvel at His supremacy and worship Him in wonder- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit! Blessings! But the Trinity is our belief as Christians that God is one being who exists in three Persons- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.. It is the Central Mystery of our Christian faith. Arianism clearly denies the deity of the three persons. But having lots 6 Bible Study Tools To Help You Dive Deeper. God is not made up of 3 'parts' like the 3 parts of the egg. Common, yes. The God of the Bible is one God. Each Person in the Trinity (or the Godhead) is fully God and fully a Person. These attributes are: omnipotence (all-powerful), omniscience (all-knowing), and omnipresence (exists in all places). Among the most popular analogies for the Trinity, two in particular stand out; and most of the others resemble one of them. If you need to use an analogy, then use a good one. The Spirit white is connected to Jesus Person I will come to you (John 14:18) and the Fathers Person, We will come to him and make our abode with him (John 14:23). The analogy breaks down because I can simultaneously be a father, husband, and son to any one person. In Biblical Trinitarianism we can never have one without the other because they are one Spirit; each is the totality of the other which means we cannot have the Holy Spirit without the Father and the Son, We will come (into the believer through the Holy Spirit, John 14:23), and we cannot have the Son without The Father whose Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the Father (Matthew 10:20). Some people think that H2O cannot exist in all three states simultaneously but that is not true. Paul explains our finite understanding of beliefs like the Trinity as looking into a poor-quality mirror- a distorted image; dim and unclear. But theres one problem: the water analogy is not the biblical picture of God. The Unseen Father is in Christs mind. Our limited intellects are unable to comprehend its reality, yet, our Scriptures and scholarly Tradition makes it known to us. Learn how your comment data is processed. Modalism teaches that the trinity is not three distinct persons, but just different modes that God reveals himself to human beings. Three Gods or one? The trinity is an essential doctrine to the Christian faith. In the same way, at one moment God is the Father, but at different times God morphs or transforms into the Son or Holy Spirit. Jesus is the Holy Spirit. The divine persons are really DISTINCT from one another, and not merely different roles of God at different times. 1 Corinthians 8:6: Yet for us there is but one God.. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. I have the good one. The Council's definitions concerning the Trinity are really as easy as one, two, three four. This may be my favorite verse of them all. The problem with this analogy is that no one molecule of H2O can actually exist as solid, liquid, and gas at the same time. For sure, our everyday experience does not include using our finite minds to understand the infinite! Unfortunately, no analogy is perfect. We can always rebut these claims with another equation: 1 x 1 x 1=1. But its all the same person, operating in three roles or functions. But its all water. Yet there is still only one God we serve. In an attempt to explain the Trinity, there are some bad examples people use, and some better ones. Though I find the video to be hilarious and often . The Unseen Father keeps the Father that is seen, alive. Surely this is a better understanding of the water analogy! 1:8-12; 1 Pet. God is kind of like a man who is a father, a son and an uncle God is kind of like a three-leaf clover, or a triangle; one object, but three different, identifiable leaves, or sides* The problem with this analogy is that it also leads to the heresy of MODALISM. If one of the sides were removed, then there would be no equilateral triangle. 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 established by 3 Biblical truths, . These two analogies are the "water" analogy and the "egg" analogy. However, keep in mind that the one being who is God is a personal being. 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. The Biblical Principle Of Baptism By Fire, The Deep Things of God: How the Trinity Changes Everything, 3 Reasons Why Jesus Humanity Really Matters Her & Hymn, 3 Reasons Why Jesus' Humanity Really Matters, How Jesus Teaches Us To Be Human Her & Hymn. Here are a few common illustrations: The Egg- One egg has three parts: shell, whites, and yolk. 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. The white of an egg is the connection between the yolk and the shell. But, when it's heated, it turns into a gas (steam) and, when it's frozen, it turns into a solid (ice). For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father., 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. When we separate them we can fall into the error of tritheism, which is the worship of three individual deities as one. He differs from the Father, but was and still is God. I believe that the best way to talk about the Trinity is to simply say that God is one God, who eternally exists in three Persons. Likewise we cannot have the Father or His Spirit without the Son I am the Way the Truth and the Life, no one comes to the Father except by Me- John 14:6. Infinite thy vast domain, everlasting is thy reign.. 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.