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What’s all this about the Holy Trinity? How can there be three persons in one God?
Firstly it is fair to say that the concept of the Holy Trinity is a
mysterious one that has kept theologians theologising and philosophers
philosophising for two thousand years. One of the wiser statements to
come out of all this says: “If we try to understand God
completely, we may lose our mind, but if we do not believe in the
Trinity sincerely, we lose our soul.” But that’s a
Christian speaking, I hear you say. Give me a simple explanation of the
Trinity…
OK, here’s the definition contained on everyone’s favourite online resource Wikipedia:
“Within Christianity, the doctrine of the Trinity states that God
is a single "Being" who exists, simultaneously and eternally, as a
communion of three persons: Father (the Source, the Eternal Majesty);
the Son (the eternal Logos or Word, incarnate as Jesus of Nazareth);
and the Holy Spirit. Traditionally, this doctrine has been stated as
"One God in Three Persons," all three of whom, as distinct and
co-eternal personae, share a single Divine essence, Being, or
nature.”
Notice that the text does not say that God has three natures in one
person or three persons in one person. That would indeed be a
contradiction. No, Christians believe that God has three persons
in one nature. You could say that God is like a triangle – at the
same time it has three corners but there is only one triangle. Each
corner is different from the triangle as a whole.
Put another way, God is like one to the third power (1³). –
1 x 1 x 1 = 1. God is not 1 + 1 + 1 = 3, which is tritheism (the belief
that there are three equally powerful gods who have separate powers) or
polytheism (belief in or worship of multiple gods or divinities). No,
our God is one God, manifested for ever and simultaneously in three
distinct persons.
You could also think about the Trinity thus: God is like your mind,
ideas and words. Although there is a unity between them, they are
clearly distinct from each other.
God is love says the Bible in 1 John 4:16. Ultimately, to have that
love there must be a lover (Father), a loved one (Jesus) and a spirit
of love (Holy Spirit). More than that you will never need… |
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Adapted from “Who made God”, general ediitors Ravi Zacharias and Norman Geisler. |
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