Three Gods or one? Explain the Trinity.

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Aug 14, 2019
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I like this analogy. Just throwing it in the mix.

When we look at the sun we see one huge sphere of light.
The Father.

Rays of light descends to earth.
The Son

The light warms the face.
The Holy Spirit.
 
Jul 23, 2018
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The question was: "Explain the Trinity". That is, the Trinity of God. There is only One God. This One God has a Will, that is referred to as "Father", in the scriptures. The Word(s) are the speech Of the Father, and the Character of the Father is his Spirit. ONE God, but manifested by his three attributes which consists of the Trinity concept. Then who is Jesus? He is the WORD of God made flesh, or given a body to reverse Adams transgression. The Trinity has not changed, It therefore still consists of the Father, his Word, and his Spirit.
Jesus nor the Holy Spirit are attributes
 
Jul 23, 2018
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I like this analogy. Just throwing it in the mix.

When we look at the sun we see one huge sphere of light.
The Father.

Rays of light descends to earth.
The Son

The light warms the face.
The Holy Spirit.
No.
You need equal personages.
3 persons is such oneness they are one.

The best viewpoint involves 3 persons first.
One God second.

Otherwise you will distort the Godhead into
One God with 2 or 3 effects.
 
Jul 23, 2018
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Sorry, my answer got posted too early, in the middle of typing and the 5 minute edit rule wouldn't let me post the rest.

Let us test your understanding of that scripture. Do you think that Paul saying to some that they had the mind of Christ means they understand everything Christ understood and that today you and all believers have in their minds the same understanding of God that Christ had? Think about it. Does reading a scripture that describes a person mean it describes everyone who believes? Does everytime the scripture says "YOU" does it mean the reader reading the writing?

Having the mind of Christ means we have the same understanding Christ had. What else can it mean? As we read the scriptures and in real life, some have more and some have less of the mind of Christ. Doesn't that seem reasonable?
Best to see what the mind of Christ is according to the word

Phil 2
5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:

7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:

8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
 
Aug 14, 2019
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No.
You need equal personages.
3 persons is such oneness they are one.

The best viewpoint involves 3 persons first.
One God second.

Otherwise you will distort the Godhead into
One God with 2 or 3 effects.
With proper teaching of course! Would not want the effects thing.
 
May 23, 2020
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Best to see what the mind of Christ is according to the word

Phil 2
5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:

7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:

8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
If a man does this 24/7, he will have the mind of Christ.

My post was an answer to a guy who thought a scripture promises we have the mind of Christ no matter what we think so we ought to understand the trinity.
 

tantalon

Active member
Oct 11, 2019
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If a man does this 24/7, he will have the mind of Christ.

My post was an answer to a guy who thought a scripture promises we have the mind of Christ no matter what we think so we ought to understand the trinity.
The "mind of Christ" means that after conversion, our intellect has been opened to spiritual truth. It does not mean that we know all things, but rather we are in the school of the Spirit, to be taught.
 

UnoiAmarah

Junior Member
Jul 28, 2017
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Yes. I have no problem with this question...

The first person cannot read the language. The illustration makes that clear.
The second person cannot speak the language (as many languages are not phonetic, and therefore can be read but not spoken).
The Third person can read and speak the language.
Actually the third person is the one who cannot read.

The first person knows how to read because he says he has not be taught. Only a person was taught how to read would respond they haven't been taught. But let me ask if you know what scripture it is written that person who has not learned to read was given a book to read?

The second person knows how to read because he could understand the language you spoke when you asked him to read what is written on the piece of paper. He response was that he couldn't speak the language that it was written in yet you both spoke in the same language when you asked and he responded. So if you wrote the note in English then why wouldn't he be able to read what you wrote since he didn't say he couldn't read the language it was written in.

(However, would you care to elaborate on your claim of 'many' languages which can be read but not spoken, which I presume you are referring unto non-verbal languages?)

The third person is the one who couldn't read. But I will admit that I didn't properly set the scenario since the way I formatted it didn't really allow for one being able to have heard what was written down before being given the piece of paper. Yet if the following was written on the piece of paper "The days be short and the nights be long." and the person reads aloud that "The days are short and the night be long." it could suggest the person didn't know how to read but had memorized it so that they could appear to be reading what was written.

So I can't say your answer is wrong, which wasn't the point anyway.
 

UnoiAmarah

Junior Member
Jul 28, 2017
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The "Burden of Proof" as defined by the Oxford Dictionary is "the obligation to prove ones own assertion". You are the one who asserted that "man does live by Scripture alone". Therefore, the burden of proof lies upon you to substantiate the claim.
Actually I said "man does not live by scripture alone."

So how do you expect me to substantiate what someone falsely claims that I asserted when they can't prove what they assert I said, so prove your assertion that I said "man does live by scripture alone" if your assertion is that man does live by scripture alone.
 
May 23, 2020
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The "mind of Christ" means that after conversion, our intellect has been opened to spiritual truth. It does not mean that we know all things, but rather we are in the school of the Spirit, to be taught.
I think that is a fairly useless explanation. There are those believers who have closed their intellect to spiritual truth (as other truth as well) and are not at all in the school of the Spirit as evident by their lack of growth but more degradation of understanding. It is much more useful to see that the mind of Christ is having the thinking of Christ on a matter, something to be desired and sought. To tell everyone they already have it is to abort the seeking at the get go. Why seek the mind of Christ is you are told you already have it? But to tell a believer that they can come to have the mind of Christ, that is, see more and more things as Christ does, now that is giving a man something to go for. That is my position.
 

tantalon

Active member
Oct 11, 2019
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I think that is a fairly useless explanation. There are those believers who have closed their intellect to spiritual truth (as other truth as well) and are not at all in the school of the Spirit as evident by their lack of growth but more degradation of understanding. It is much more useful to see that the mind of Christ is having the thinking of Christ on a matter, something to be desired and sought. To tell everyone they already have it is to abort the seeking at the get go. Why seek the mind of Christ is you are told you already have it? But to tell a believer that they can come to have the mind of Christ, that is, see more and more things as Christ does, now that is giving a man something to go for. That is my position.
If you will reread what I said, you will find we both are saying the same thing.
 
May 23, 2020
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If you will reread what I said, you will find we both are saying the same thing.
Ok. I reread it. We aren’t saying the same thing. You say it is so of all believers (if not which aren’t so) and I say it’s true of those whose actual thoughts in areas are the same as Christ’s thoughts on the matter. You seem to think it’s a given and I see it as a goal.
 

Diakonos

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Jan 19, 2019
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Anacortes, WA
Actually I said "man does not live by scripture alone."
That's what I mean to type

the burden of proof lies with you since he who is of God hears God's word
(Since I made a typo in the previous comment, this will be my edited respond to this comment of yours):

The "Burden of Proof" as defined by the Oxford Dictionary is "the obligation to prove ones own assertion". You are the one who asserted that "man does not live by Scripture alone". Therefore, the burden of proof lies upon you to substantiate the claim.

The second person knows how to read because he could understand the language you spoke when you asked him to read what is written on the piece of paper
From the way you worded it, it seemed like the language written on the piece of paper would have different from what the people were speaking. So that wasn't clear.

would you care to elaborate on your claim of 'many' languages which can be read but not spoken, which I presume you are referring unto non-verbal languages?
Of course.
Just to clear up any misconceptions first, a "phonetic language" does not mean that a language can be spoken.
Phonetic languages are languages that have a symbol for every spoken sound. I.e. Written=Spoken.
For example, when I learned Greek, I was pleased to find out that the spoken language was completely consistent with its written form... I could know exactly how to pronounce a word just by looking at the letters and applying Elision properly.
These are not all the Greek letter and digraphs, I'm only listing a few for this example:

α = Like the a in “father.”
β = Like English v
η = Like ey in “they.”
θ = Like th in “thin.”
ξ = Like x in “fox.”
ψ = Like ps in “lips.”

αι = pronounced \e\
ει = pronounced \ē\
οι = pronounced like upsilon: \ü\
υι = pronounced \wē\ or \ē\ with a little bit of an \ü\ sound at the front of it
αυ = pronounced \äv\
ευ = pronounced \ev\
ου = pronounced \ū\

These letters correspond to these sounds 100% of the time. There is never a question of pronunciation because Greek is a phonetic language.


English on the other hand is not a phonetic language.
There are numerous example of how English's written form differs from its spoken form. Here are a few:
1590604033546.png

1590604039721.png
If someone merely knew the English alphabet, they could properly pronounce some words. But without being taught the many rules about when to pronounce certain letters differently in certain situations, they would pronounce many words wrong. With phonetic languages, once you learn the alphabet and their digraphs, you can pronounce any words in that language correctly.

But let me ask if you know what scripture it is written that person who has not learned to read was given a book to read?
Yes I do (Isaiah 29:9-12), but unfortunately, you have taken it out of its context:
The people were told to blind themselves (verse 9) but God also caused the blindness (verse 10). The fact that the prophets and the seers did not see and understand clearly was part of God’s judgment. They did not understand God’s revelation about His judgment on the Assyrians that Isaiah recorded on a scroll (verse 11–12). No one, either people who could read or those who couldn’t, could understand this truth.
 

CS1

Well-known member
May 23, 2012
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Then why does the Bible use the term "heavens" (plural)?
And why does the Bible explicitly refer to "The third heaven"?
the heavens are what we can see and what we cannot see, the sky is a heaven,

  1. The atmosphere (sky) that surrounds the earth
  2. The Universe or what we call Space
  3. The place where His throne is located
 

CS1

Well-known member
May 23, 2012
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I think that is a fairly useless explanation. There are those believers who have closed their intellect to spiritual truth (as other truth as well) and are not at all in the school of the Spirit as evident by their lack of growth but more degradation of understanding. It is much more useful to see that the mind of Christ is having the thinking of Christ on a matter, something to be desired and sought. To tell everyone they already have it is to abort the seeking at the get go. Why seek the mind of Christ is you are told you already have it? But to tell a believer that they can come to have the mind of Christ, that is, see more and more things as Christ does, now that is giving a man something to go for. That is my position.
I must I agree with your observation and it is very much Biblical I shall try to explain the school of the Spirit.
1cor 2:11AMP:
For what person knows the thoughts and motives of a man except the man’s spirit within him? So also no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.

The Holy Spirit KNOWS the mind of God John 14:17 and chapter 16:13-15 Jesus said the work of the Holy Spirit is to reveal the will of the father to us and help us remember all that Jesus said why is that important?

Because Jesus is the absolute Authority when HE is speaking. The School of the Spirit will not promote Paul of The Lord Jesus. The Holy Spirit schooling build from Christ outward Jesus is the main circle of Context in the word of God. The Chief Corner stone on which all others MUST BE BUILT ON. He who has an ear let him, hear what the Spirit is saying.

The School of the Spirit is not one of head knowledge but one full of faith and relationship.
 
May 23, 2020
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How can Jesus be God, the Spirit be God and the Father be God?
This question needs to be phrased like this to see clearly what you are asking,

Given that I have one body in which my soul, spirit and all material elements of my being are housed and cannot separate at my will, how can God have a different experience of existance than I do? I understand how my body, mind, spirit and soul function (as best I can and know that it does function even if I do not get it) and do not see how any superior Being can know anything different than what I know as existance. What I know of existance is all there is so how can God be three in one able to be separated in some fashion when I cannot be separated from the parts of me and still live?
 

maryjohanna

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May 24, 2020
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How can you be a son, and a father, and a brother, and a cousin, and an uncle, and a friend, and an enemy, all at the same time?
I love this response! I am going to use this if I ever face questions regarding the Trinity. Wow. Awesome!
 
May 23, 2020
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How can you be a son, and a father, and a brother, and a cousin, and an uncle, and a friend, and an enemy, all at the same time?
On the surface this sounds good and if the recepient doesn't think deeply it probably works. Same as the explanation of 1 x 1 x 1 = 1 works. But the problem is one of metaphysics. The answer above is relationship. We have no problem seeing that each of us is in different relationships with other people and the list is very long from stranger and then acquaintance along various lines of depth to spouse. The trinity problem is not relationship but the metaphysics of it.

The answer is that God is superior to us in every way including metaphysically and we cannot measure his abilities or nature or Being with the limitations we know we have. We, for example, cannot separate our spirit from the rest of us and live at will. Our spirits do not enter another being in any case. He can send His spirit into lesser beings. Demonic elements can also inhabit another creature, by the way. Seems to be an ability spiritual beings have that we do not have and cannot really understand. So that is the real answer. We are lesser creatures and therefore do not fully understand the experience of higher creatures same as butterflys would not understand our existance. There are some things that are just beyond us.
 

tantalon

Active member
Oct 11, 2019
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Jesus nor the Holy Spirit are attributes
Webster's dictionary describes attributes as " quality or characteristic that can be ascribed to a person. To ascribe, or as belonging to.
 

CS1

Well-known member
May 23, 2012
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The question was: "Explain the Trinity". That is, the Trinity of God. There is only One God. This One God has a Will, that is referred to as "Father", in the scriptures. The Word(s) are the speech Of the Father, and the Character of the Father is his Spirit. ONE God, but manifested by his three attributes which consists of the Trinity concept. Then who is Jesus? He is the WORD of God made flesh, or given a body to reverse Adams transgression. The Trinity has not changed, It therefore still consists of the Father, his Word, and his Spirit.
The term you used " Manifested" is suggesting no personification of the THREE in the Godhead. Attributes are descriptive and bring distinction to what EACH One of the Godhead do, Yet still one. if it is a manifestation, then is is not attribute contextually. The suggestion is only one is doing it. The Word of God clearly tell US each do and act on their own while in agreement to each other. This is not an area one can fully understand. This is God. Who is unlimited.