Depth isnt the same thing as height and height isnt the same thing as width, yet all three together are what comprise space. Modalism denies the distinction of person in the trinity. God is not made up of 3 parts like the 3 parts of the egg. Let's use an egg to explain the Holy Trinity! It may not appear to agree with common sense. It should bring us to realise that we truly are finite creatures standing before a sovereign, transcendent, divine mystery. Arius was condemned by the council of Nicea in 325 AD. Jesus loves us so much that he did not obliterate people who died, with power that set stars in the universe. The Latin word for trinity (trinitas) combines two words- unitas (unity) and trias (three). The Bible teaches three truths: 1 - there is one God. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,, , Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And whos the Holy Spirit? The white of an egg is the connection between the yolk and the shell. But you cannot be broken when your faith is in Jesus, for the Spirit of the Son that lives in us and gives us the voice through which we cry Abba, Father, (Galatians 4:6,) this Spirit of the Father that dwells within you is there to strengthen, protect and guard your person. The idea of God as three-in-one is indeed a mysterious concept, one that is difficult to understand. I did read about the shamrock analogy! I dont know how our majestic God feels about being compared to watermelons and eggs, but He is also a loving Father, and like any father, I believe God would seek to provide simple explanations so His little children can understand. Youre right, theyre all good but not perfect because only God IS perfect. Sadly, theres something "rotten" about this egg analogy. God is like H2O in that the Bible may refer to a specific person of the Trinity but that person is still God. Studying the Trinity poses difficulty to us Catholics. We can touch the cord, but not the power it is insulating. For instance at the baptism of Christ, the Father, Son and Spirit are all distinctly present and interacting (Matthew chapter 3 verses 16-17). She would explode!" This analogy actually falls prey to the same error of modalism. It's impossible to be an Orthodox Christian without professing belief in the Triune nature of God. But the Father is not the Son or the Spirit. As a result the water molecule must change forms. Thus, the Father Himself is not God, nor is the Son, nor is the Holy Spirit, but combining the three, there is one God. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. (Luke 1:35)One of my Sunday School students said, "How could Jesus (God) enter Mary's stomach (womb) and be born? He has been a member of the Royal Australian Air Force since 2007, and is now training to be an Air Force Chaplain. Its impossible to be an Orthodox Christian without professing belief in the Triune nature of God. What is the Trinity? The analogy breaks down because I can simultaneously be a father, husband, and son to any one person. What happens when an egg hatches? Modalism teaches that one God just changes forms or modes over the course of scripture. These images fall short, because these components arent enough to be considered a whole on their own. Should Women Really Keep Silent in Church? For example, I would say, "God is like an egg." THE TRUTH IS: The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are not three different parts or components of God, but the . That helps explain the concept quite well- the oneness, unity of God with the distinct three persons of God- Father, Son, and Spirit. God controls that light. In one of his sermons, he wrestled with the passage in Scripture recounting Jesus' Baptism. Lost will be burned up. This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. The shell, while important, is no longer needed. The word trinity is not in the Scriptures, but is a word used to describe the three in one God revealed in the Bible. My intention is merely to address some common erroneous analogies, including water. 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). This little child cannot look at one without experiencing a profound sense of wonderment and awe. At times God is Father, or Son, or Holy Spirit. Water can be frozen and is called ice. 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. 1:8-12; 1 Pet. He is one God who expresses Himself in three modesFather, Son, and Spirit. Starting with the three biblical affirmations, ask your kids to show you how these examples support or deny what the bible teaches about the Trinity. There are three different cloves that represent the three different persons of the trinity. This is a quick way to describe the doctrine of the Trinity namely, God is 1 being (the, is Gods nature, essence, being) and 3 whos (the, being Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). We recommend you adhere these emblems to your vestments by mounting on the material with fabric glue and then stitching them . Love your blogs! To help you out, here is a comical and silly video that teaches about these bad analogies. show me your glory. and Holy Spirit are only parts of God (egg and sun). The three distinct notes come together to make one beautiful sound. 3 - The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are distinct persons. H2O can exist in three forms: liquid, gas and solid. Some have taken on the task of explaining how Father, Son, and Holy Spirit exist as one. Yet it appears to be almost entirely misunderstood within contemporary evangelical circles. If you only had an apple core, you wouldnt pack it in your lunch. Required fields are marked *. Each separate being is co-equal, co-powerful and co-eternal. 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 analogy actually teaches the heresy of modalism. 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. One sits on the throne looking like Sardine and Jasper stone. Because Gods Person is unapproachable, the Spirit White acts as insulation, for we know that it is through the Holy Spirit that God can communicate, speak through and interact with mankind. There are many mysteries to our faith. Jesus isn't a demigod or partially god. He explains why the doctrine of the Trinity is essential to the gospel even if it seems abstract or confusing, highlights why all analogies and metaphors are of limited value when thinking about the Godhead, and responds to the . The Trinity is not 1 + 1 + 1 butmore like 1 x 1 x 1.You can throw away one part of an egg (e.g., shell) and still have essentially an egg. The Trinity is a tri-unity, a unity of Three, - God the Father, Jesus, the Son of God and the Holy Spirit. I dont know how our majestic God feels about being compared to watermelons and eggs, but He is also a loving Father, and like any father, I believe God would seek to provide simple explanations so His little children can understand. What we can understand and accept is that God exists eternally as one divine nature, substance, or essence, comprising three co-equal, co-eternal and consubstantial personsthe Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Often these analogies explicitly teach heresy. How can we ever explain our Most High, exalted, powerful, uncontainable, and most glorious God? So, in God, there are three distinct persons. Sending of another: The Father sends the Son, and both the Father and Son send the Holy Spirit. Hi Im not a theologian and I dont disagree with what you say but when you state that we know the persons of the Trinity have perfectly loved for eternity etc how do we know? This is one of the reasons we say that "God is LOVE". They are equally eternal, powerful, sovereign, and worthy of worship. TO AVOID HERESIES, LET US LIVE BY WHAT HAS BEEN REVEALED TO US: 1. Before moving on I should note that providing a full theological explanation of Trinitarian doctrine is well beyond the scope of what I can do here. In the Scripture we see "the fullness of God was pleased to dwell" (Col 1:9). Check out verse four: Holy Author, Holy Word, Holy Spirit, three we name thee; Still, one holy voice is heard; undivided God, we claim thee, and adoring bend the knee, while we own the mystery. . How so? In other words, one stuffness. However, He exists in three Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Furthermore, this trinity is related to a shamrock, an apple, or an egg. So when God created us and revealed Himself to us, what He did was to invite us into the perfect goodness He has always known within Himself. (Which I just found out is in error). The Father hears their intercessory prayers. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit also exist eternally and concurrently. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. A chicken egg consists of a shell, a yolk, and an egg white, yet it is altogether one egg. This is perhaps the most common analogy for the Trinity. He got married there in 1965, and his four . Each PERSON is distinct from one another. None of the 3 are less divine than the others. Genisis 1:17, KJV. While an egg has a yolk, a white and a shell to make up the whole, each part is only ever . Although the water changes forms it is still H2O. God created us for community, since God is communal and we were created in His image. One popular and simple illustration of the Trinity is the egg. Deuteronomy 6:4- Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. This verse is also the beginning of the Jewish Shema prayer; their confession of faith. 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. 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. But if modalism is true, and the Trinity really is like water, then the story of Jesus (the Son) praying to the Father as recorded in the Bible seems like an awfully strange masquerade. Analogies often fall short. The concept is literally unthinkable. Although he is one he has different roles to different people. The Unseen Father is in Christs mind. I bet I havent sung or heard this song in years! Does that make sense? Understanding 1 Corinthians 14:34-35. So, the egg analogy doesnt work after all. 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. Because Gods Person is unapproachable, the Spirit White acts as insulation, for we know that it is through the Holy Spirit that God can communicate, speak through and interact with mankind. I think the illustration that represents the Trinity most accurately is the egg example. It became real to me because I have experienced His love, grace, guidance, redemption, conviction of sin, and fellowship that comes from Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And the reason we know that is because the Persons of the Godhead have perfectly loved each other for all eternity. In other words, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have a unique and unbreakable unity, and their existence together is the being that is God. Therefore, in this context, God is the what and the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are the who. In humans, our spirits are designed to operate with and be united to the soul which is the person of anyone and so it is with our Egg. That is why Moses said. In Jesus is the fullness of the Godhead bodily (Colossians 2:9). There are, however, some that work better than others. But based on what you know that Jesus is born so that He can save people from their wrongdoings, will you trust Him to forgive you. I go to prepare a place for you. This error denies something central to God that makes Him God. He is married to Shamsa Lea, is the father of Amira, and loves boxing and studying Theology. The more I reflect on Easter, the more Ive realized how much its become a consumeristic holidayeven Did Jesus really rise from the dead? Each character of the trinity has in one another (cf. If water is inadequate, there are a wide array of alternative analogies we can turn to in modern theological parlance. 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. 1. And a voice from heaven said, This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. God the Father spoke from heaven and spoke of His Son, Jesus. It is not important merely for the sake of tradition, or because the word itself is taught in the Bible (. His ways are higher than ours, but isnt that a comfort?! So whats one good way to explain what the Trinity is? It taught there is one nature in God, and that there are two processions, three persons, and four relations that constitute the Blessed Trinity. He began to play the organ as a chorister in England, before continuing his studies in Qubec and France. It is the Central Mystery of our Christian faith. The Trinity is a tri-unity, a unity of Three, - God the Father, Jesus, the Son of God and the Holy Spirit. Further, his dialectic is guided by the particular consideration of what true love is: a trinity of lover, beloved and the love that binds . CafeLogos.orgThe Egg and i -A Simple Explanation of The Trinity The visual form of God seperated from Jesus on the cross. H2O can exist as a solid, a liquid and a gas but they are all still H2O. In order to accomplish this union with God and man, He allowed His Shell to be broken with the weight of our sins to cleanse our souls so His holiness can approach, for God cannot look upon sin (Habakkuk 1:13). Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. Here are 8 Bible Characters Who Should Be More Famous. (Describing God as LOVE is my favorite way of understanding the Trinity. The Egg and I - Part Two Wow! It is the Fathers desire to join His Spirit with all of us as well for He has said They shall be My sons and daughters (II Corinthians 6:18). According to modalism, God does not actually exist in three persons. They have a common purpose in making harmonious music, but each note is its own separate entity. But we cannot do that (assuming we can) with God. Yet we do not have three gods but ONE God. But understanding the Trinity is important. What is H2O? All Scripture is taken from the NIV version unless otherwise specified, Author Ignace Franz, translated by Clarence A. Walworth. Through the brokenness of the Shell, His Son, the Spirit white pours out into our beings through our faith in what was done and believers are joined with the yolk, for it is by One Spirit we have access to God the Father (Ephesians 2:18). This analogy is still not perfect because each of the aspect cannot stand as egg like each of the persons in the trinity can stand as God. The word Trinity comes from the Latin word trinitas which means tri-unity. Each of the persons is that supreme reality, viz., the divine substance, essence or nature. (Lateran Council IV), 4. The beautiful depth of Gods eternal Triune nature is a sublime reality which should bring an end to our attempts to cognitively master Him. 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. 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). Under Arianism Jesus is less than fully God. These are likewise erroneous or even heretical. The egg analogy fails because it denies that each person of the Trinity is of the same eternal essence. We all want to experience the good life. ), The Son Phil. He completed a doctorate in 1990, looking at the question of harmonic rhythm in the organ music of J.S. I have the good one. The analogy breaks down because the three cloves are overly distinct and cannot represent the unity of God. Here are four. While it captures the idea that God is one, it doesnt do such a good job of showing how God is three and one at the same time. Jesus is fully God. The mystery is in the how this is accomplished; something we will finally understand in heaven. He can even be all three at the same time. However, in some instances, the use of carefully chosen analogies may be of help for some of our brethren in learning the teachings of the Church. He has one essenceone substance. As a doctrine (belief), the trinity is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as three separate and distinct persons united in one being- God. How would you explain the Trinity if someone asked you right now? , 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. The Trinity is one of the most foundational doctrines of Christianity. Others compare God to an egg, which is part shell, part white, part yolk. The Son is not the Father or the Spirit. Born in England in 1961, Benjamin Waterhouse Benjamin Waterhouse has been the organist of the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity since 2000. John 17). If you say, "Jesus Christ" then you MAY BE incorrect. The trinity is a like a Three-Leaf Clover. Take a moment and give it a try. 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. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength (1 Corinthians 1:25). In part one, we looked at what the Bible has to say about the Trinity.
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