The concept of a Triune God is the foundation of Christianity. Although the word "trinity" is not found in the bible, the three persons of the Godhead are in the first three verses of the entire bible (God in Gen. 1:1, Spirit in 1:2, Jesus as the Light in 1:3). Y'all are familiar with the doctrine that the Father, the Son and the Spirit are three distinct yet co-equal members with the same essence; but what **edited** does that mean? Since God operates outside time and space, it's impossible to comprehend the true nature of God who "was, is and always will be" with finite human mind. God is the creator of the universe first and foremost, he's addressed as the "Father" not because he's a biological father of anybody, if you think that way, then you're thinking about Zeus, not God. He's called the Father because an earthly father is the man who sires the son and loves, protects, disciplines and provides for the son. That's the closest human model of God we can relate to. Notice that in the OT God was always addressed as the Lord, only in the NT was he called the Father by Jesus, and we get to know him as the Father only through Jesus the Son.
Many theologians tried to illustrate the Trinity with analogies. That's one purpose of the parables, using what the audience were familiar with to illustrate what they were not familiar with. It's a noble attempt with good intention, but unfortunately many are inaccurate, even dangerous, as they have led to heresies. Here're some popular ones:
Three forms in one: Much like ice, liquid and vapor, God appears in three different suitable forms in different environments and stages of history.
Three roles in one: Like a middle aged man being a son, a father and a brother in his family or a leader, a worker and an advisor at work, the same God fills in three different roles under different circumstances;
Three personALITIES in one: God expresses His senses of justice, mercy and wisdom through the Father, the Son and the Spirit of the Trinity respectively.
Three parts in one: Father, Son and Spirit are the soul (power source), body (physical being) and mind (intelligence) of the same God. In Jesus's words, He is the life, the way and the truth. A classic illustration is the two olive branches on either side of a menorah, that's Zechariah's vision, also Adam between the Tree of Life and the Tree of knowledge. Similar analogies include "three leaves of a clover" or "shell, white and yolk of an egg".
Three functions in one: This is similar to the "three roles in one", but in this analogy it's three separate entities with three distinct functions working in unison as one, according to Isaiah 33:22 - "For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, The Lord is our king; he will save us." That was the original inspiration for the three branches of the federal government - the congress, white house and supreme court as the legislative, executive and judicial branches.
You've probably heard some these from the pulpit, and if you discuss with other fellow brothers and sisters, chances are they'll come up with one of these, but there're fatal flaws. The first three are called "modalism", it asserts that God was “The Father” in the Old Testament, then became “the Son” in the Incarnation, and then after Pentecost God is revealing himself to us as “the Spirit.” That is a heresy. It can be refuted by the simultaneous presence of the Father, the Son and the Spirit in the baptizing of Jesus in Matt. 3:16-17:
And behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, "This is My beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.
The other two have some biblical standing, but there's a big problem as well - God is not a combination of three components, and he's not divided into three entities. We as members of the Body of Christ have individual functions, each one is gifted in his own way, but that's not the case for God. This is reductionism which limits our vision to see the big picture.
Now here is a modern illustration which I personally believe in and others can easily understand. It's based on "simulation theory" appealing to a lot of secular minds, I would call it "three presences in one". It goes like this:
The universe - or cosmos - we're living in is a CREATED simulation like a virtual game world or a "Matrix", of which God is the sole designer and developer who spoke everything into being like a programmer turns lines of code into active programs, He and the angels are maintaining it from another dimension which we have absolutely no access to until we drop dead. That ladder in Jacob's dream was a gateway that connects the spiritual realm and the material world, and sometimes we get to pass through this gateway and have a glimpse of the spiritual realm in our dreams. So in the framework of this theory, Jesus is God's own character, and the Spirit is the data, i.e. logos, the "Word". God acted through His Spirit in Jesus while maintaining control from the outside, so He got to yell from heaven in some occasions such as the baptism and the transfiguration.
This brilliant analogy not only reveals the sinful and fallen nature of the cosmos, but also our fate in the afterlife: while our characters come to an end, our data was preserved and returned to God; and for those whose data are in God's database, i.e book of LIFE, they'll be remade with same data, but in a grandeur, remastered version in the other world. It may not sound very Christian, but so far it's the only one that has successfully avoided the pitfalls of both modalism and reductionism.
Many theologians tried to illustrate the Trinity with analogies. That's one purpose of the parables, using what the audience were familiar with to illustrate what they were not familiar with. It's a noble attempt with good intention, but unfortunately many are inaccurate, even dangerous, as they have led to heresies. Here're some popular ones:
Three forms in one: Much like ice, liquid and vapor, God appears in three different suitable forms in different environments and stages of history.
Three roles in one: Like a middle aged man being a son, a father and a brother in his family or a leader, a worker and an advisor at work, the same God fills in three different roles under different circumstances;
Three personALITIES in one: God expresses His senses of justice, mercy and wisdom through the Father, the Son and the Spirit of the Trinity respectively.
Three parts in one: Father, Son and Spirit are the soul (power source), body (physical being) and mind (intelligence) of the same God. In Jesus's words, He is the life, the way and the truth. A classic illustration is the two olive branches on either side of a menorah, that's Zechariah's vision, also Adam between the Tree of Life and the Tree of knowledge. Similar analogies include "three leaves of a clover" or "shell, white and yolk of an egg".
Three functions in one: This is similar to the "three roles in one", but in this analogy it's three separate entities with three distinct functions working in unison as one, according to Isaiah 33:22 - "For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, The Lord is our king; he will save us." That was the original inspiration for the three branches of the federal government - the congress, white house and supreme court as the legislative, executive and judicial branches.
You've probably heard some these from the pulpit, and if you discuss with other fellow brothers and sisters, chances are they'll come up with one of these, but there're fatal flaws. The first three are called "modalism", it asserts that God was “The Father” in the Old Testament, then became “the Son” in the Incarnation, and then after Pentecost God is revealing himself to us as “the Spirit.” That is a heresy. It can be refuted by the simultaneous presence of the Father, the Son and the Spirit in the baptizing of Jesus in Matt. 3:16-17:
And behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, "This is My beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.
The other two have some biblical standing, but there's a big problem as well - God is not a combination of three components, and he's not divided into three entities. We as members of the Body of Christ have individual functions, each one is gifted in his own way, but that's not the case for God. This is reductionism which limits our vision to see the big picture.
Now here is a modern illustration which I personally believe in and others can easily understand. It's based on "simulation theory" appealing to a lot of secular minds, I would call it "three presences in one". It goes like this:
The universe - or cosmos - we're living in is a CREATED simulation like a virtual game world or a "Matrix", of which God is the sole designer and developer who spoke everything into being like a programmer turns lines of code into active programs, He and the angels are maintaining it from another dimension which we have absolutely no access to until we drop dead. That ladder in Jacob's dream was a gateway that connects the spiritual realm and the material world, and sometimes we get to pass through this gateway and have a glimpse of the spiritual realm in our dreams. So in the framework of this theory, Jesus is God's own character, and the Spirit is the data, i.e. logos, the "Word". God acted through His Spirit in Jesus while maintaining control from the outside, so He got to yell from heaven in some occasions such as the baptism and the transfiguration.
This brilliant analogy not only reveals the sinful and fallen nature of the cosmos, but also our fate in the afterlife: while our characters come to an end, our data was preserved and returned to God; and for those whose data are in God's database, i.e book of LIFE, they'll be remade with same data, but in a grandeur, remastered version in the other world. It may not sound very Christian, but so far it's the only one that has successfully avoided the pitfalls of both modalism and reductionism.
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