There are two basic ways that people misunderstand the Trinity: 1. It should bring us to realise that we truly are finite creatures standing before a sovereign, transcendent, divine mystery. In other words, God may manifest Himself as the Father, Son, or Holy Spirit. We all want to experience the good life. What is H2O? The word Trinity comes from the Latin word trinitas which means tri-unity. What happens when an egg hatches? Now were going to look at how some people often misunderstand the Trinity. Water can be ice and steam, yet they are the same element. No analogy is perfect, but we want to be careful of using wrong ones that may confuse people. (It is also why the Jews had an issue with Jesus calling Himself 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. 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. RELATED: What Does The Bible Say About Ghosts? What is the Trinity? Living Theologically Space Analogy God is like space. If you're looking to dive deeper into God's word, here are 6 kinds of bible study tools and resources 9 Influential Female Leaders in the New Testament. It's impossible to be an Orthodox Christian without professing belief in the Triune nature of God. The Trinity is a tri-unity, a unity of Three, - God the Father, Jesus, the Son of God and the Holy Spirit. Thought of Tim Its amazing to think that everything will be so clear when we het to Heaven! Modalism teaches that the trinity is not three distinct persons, but just different modes that God reveals himself to human beings. Father, Son, Holy Sprit : 3 persons, 1 great relationship, Copyright 2023 Fervr | Terms of Service. This view, also known as "modalism", was rejected by the early church. Few topics of discussion in the Christian faith are more confusing than the idea of the Trinity. There are many mysteries to our faith. The word trinity is not in the Scriptures, but is a word used to describe the three in one God revealed in the Bible. But theres one problem: the water analogy is not the biblical picture of God. 1B) This son of Graham and Lois Armstrong is Dave. httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQLfgaUoQCw. Now if any man has not the Spirit of Christ, he is not His" (Romans 8:9). Thanks, Ann! You can throw away one part of an egg (e.g., shell) and still have essentially an egg. This description that all persons are fully God is called the Ontological Trinity. There would be three thrones. 1A) Dave is a son of Graham and Lois Armstrong. He began to play the organ as a chorister in England, before continuing his studies in Qubec and France. , 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you., For further reading on the Trinity, I would recommend James Whites, Lastly, below is a helpful graphical chart explaining the doctrine of the Trinity I found from the Christian blog by Tim Challies. 2:5-6; Col. 1:15-17, 2:9; Heb. Three persons is false. Just as water changes forms so too is the trinity. We might call one side A, another side B, and the other C. So, there is a distinction between each of the sides, yet, all three are the same. The egg white represents Gods Spirit. I and My Father are One (John 10:30). The Holy Spirit prays for us. Here are a couple "usefully flawed" analogies for the Trinity. 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* ANALOGY OF CHARACTERS. They have a common purpose in making harmonious music, but each note is its own separate entity. Before we look at a few bad analogies that many often use to try to illustrate the trinity, we need to first understand the doctrine itself. Have you wondered what is God like? This analogy actually falls prey to the same error of modalism. Similarly, light and heat are simply creations of the sun, yet it is the heresy of Arianism to claim that the Son or Spirit are mere creations of the Father. In the first place, if we truly claim to love God, then surely we should endeavour to know Him. 1:8-12; 1 Pet. Light comes from God. 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). It is still important that we have some understanding of the concept, however. And the Holy Spirit is not the Father or the Son. When we see them as three individual spirits, (God is one Spirit John 4:24), then that is the blasphemy of polytheism which is the worship of more than one God. The shell, while important, is no longer needed. . To the other major monotheistic faiths (Islam and Judaism), it is rank heresyTrinitarianism is therefore definitional to Christianity. All of the above Bad Analogies would perhaps do more harm than good if used in explaining the Trinity. The word Trinity comes from the Latin word trinitas which means tri-unity. in which all 3 persons may act or speak as one. One is a musical chord with three notes. The Trinity is not real in my life because of superior knowledge or insight. They are equally eternal, powerful, sovereign, and worthy of worship. This analogy sounds pretty good, but it is fatally flawed in that is describes the Son and Spirit as creations of the Father. They suggest that only one God exists but this God transforms or morphs into each of the different persons. 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. His being is somewhat of a mystery to us. How Helpful Are Analogies of the Trinity? - Kuyperian Commentary Thus, the Father Himself is not God, nor is the Son, nor is the Holy Spirit, but combining the three, there is one God. Over the course of church history there have been several heresies that have cropped up that deny one of these three truths. The trinity is a like a Three-Leaf Clover. The problem with this analogy is that an egg yoke is of a very different substance than a shell. Explaining the Holy Trinity. Being the brightness of the eternal Light, He Himself also is absolutely eternal. Do you know why I keep saying God is like an egg (or H2O) but God is not like an egg (or H2O)? Jesus Person is the image of Gods Person (Hebrews 1:3), and the Invisible Spirit of the Father that is in Him - God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself (II Corinthians 5:19). He taught that the son was at one point created by God the father. If the sun exists, there is also day; if nothing of this be manifest, it is impossible that the sun should be there. is not). In Jesus dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily (Colossians 2:9) His ways are not my ways! 6And there are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons., , The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all., There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; 5one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. 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. John 17). God is like an egg in that He is 3-in-1 God the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ) and the Holy Spirit. He completed a doctorate in 1990, looking at the question of harmonic rhythm in the organ music of J.S. In reality, I change my role depending on who I am interacting with. 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. This is the one I used long ago when trying to explain the Trinity to a group of 1st-5th graders. Water at room temperature is liquid. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are each called Jehovah (or Spirit of Jehovah), given divine attributes, and are distinguished from one another. The problem with this analogy is that it teaches that God has three components: The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Now God can be in you by His Spirit! How so? There is only one egg with three different parts. Love your blogs! 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. When we look at the egg as an example of the Trinity, we must view it in its entirety. On a whim, I looked up the lyrics at a later time. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength (1 Corinthians 1:25). 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. 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. Haydn Lea is an Ordained Minister, and is currently serving as an Air Force Chaplain in Adelaide. Haydn Lea is an Associate Pastor in Queensland, and is currently studying his Master of Arts (Theology). H2O is a combination of two particles (atoms) of hydrogen and one particle of oxygen and this compound can exist as water (liquid), ice (solid) and vapour (gas). As a doctrine (belief), the trinity is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as three separate and distinct persons united in one being- God. What portion is erroneous? One popular and simple illustration of the Trinity is the egg. So cool that God imparted that song in your mind and heart before you even wrote this blog post! La da dee dee dum dum (I couldnt remember the in-between parts). But Hes God too, right? He has one essenceone substance. So much of what we know about what God does is wrapped up in who He is. An egg is made up of shell, white and yolk. In Jesus is the fullness of the Godhead bodily (Colossians 2:9). It is still H20, but just different forms. That is why Moses said. We believe that it is a revelation that comes from Christ Himself. Does that make sense? Afterall, we can get rid of a few of its parts - for instance the shell - and still scramble an egg. In other words, this view denies Gods oneness. God is much bigger than what we can understand yet He is close enough to us so that we can know some things about Him, though not completely and not everything. The analogy breaks down because the three cloves are overly distinct and cannot represent the unity of God. We can touch the cord, but not the power it is insulating. As a doctrine (belief), the trinity is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as three separate and distinct persons united in one being- God. We can always rebut these claims with another equation: 1 x 1 x 1=1. Learn how your comment data is processed. When the Bible talks about God, it may be referring to Jesus Christ in a specific instance, the Holy Spirit in another and God the Father in a third occasion. The word God in this sense is defined as a single being, having all divine attributes. Humans as we are, we cannot fully understand how the three divine Persons, though really distinct from one another, are one and the same God. Our limited intellects are unable to comprehend its reality, yet, our Scriptures and scholarly Tradition makes it known to us. Some have taken on the task of explaining how Father, Son, and Holy Spirit exist as one. H2O can exist in three forms: liquid, gas and solid. The Trinity is one of the most foundational doctrines of Christianity. The Cathedral - The Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, Quebec, Canada Three Gods or one? He has been a member of the Royal Australian Air Force since 2007, and is now training to be an Air Force Chaplain. The Holy Spirit prays for us. And when the time comes when death is allowed to crack your shell in its final hour and your believing soul is released; the Spirit of God that holds you will carry you in His arms to your heavenly home because In My Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. God has revealed some mysteries from the Old Testament in the New Testament (the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the coming of the Messiah, salvation by grace through faith, etc.) I go to prepare a place for you. The egg has a shell, the whites and a yoke. In part one, we looked at what the Bible has to say about the Trinity. We also know that God didnt create humanity out of loneliness or boredom. Depth isnt the same thing as height and height isnt the same thing as width, yet all three together are what comprise space. 5And there are varieties of ministries and the same Lord. God Himself explains why some things are still a mystery: For as heaven is higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:9) Our human minds can never understand all of who God is and how He thinks and acts. This analogy actually teaches the heresy of tritheism. But God is the eternal Light, which has neither had a beginning, nor shall ever fail.

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