The Trinity

[bibleblevr]

Define it
Explain it
Provide an analogy.

I will go first:

God the father is the substance of God, he is the structure of God, he is the force that is called God. He is invisible, and impossible to understand in light of itself by man.

Jesus - As the likeness of a man's face is dependent on the form of the face, but by definition, the likeness is indivisible from the form, so Jesus is the image of the invisible God giving a likeness to the form of God. He is his "Logos", his word, and the summation of who he is,

The Holy Spirit - If one looks at a person, what they see is not the person himself, but rather the light that comes from the form of the person, and relays the likeness of the image of the form. So it is with the spirit, he proceeds from the father, and is the only way in which we can understand and see who God is, as he faithfully conveys the image who is God.

 

[light_eclipseca]

Definition:

Trinity - The Christian view of the ontology of God existing as one being (or one essence), and three persons.

Explanation:

I think the definition explains it the most clearly. If I were to explain it to myself should I not understand it to begin with, then I might say that God is made up of one thing (called Deity), and exists as three people within that one thing.

Analogy:

A wise person once told me that analogy will always fall short of the definition of the Trinity, and so I'll stay away from this one. Thank you.

 

[ittarter]

Define it
Explain it
Provide an analogy.

Father: Spirit In Itself (the absolute)
Son: Spirit For Itself (the absolute/universal becoming contingent/particular)
Holy Spirit: Spirit In and For Itself (the absolute, after having become contingent, now unites the two together)

This description of the Trinity belongs first and foremost to Hegel, but also inspired many twentieth century theologians, including Barth, Moltmann, Rahner and Pannenberg. The key point in this description is that becoming human uniquely completes the Trinity and thus draws the Incarnation into God's natural being.

For more information, check out this article I found today.

 

[Nemo Neem]

God the Father - Creator of life, of everything: the one true God, with no origin, ruler of everything, from first to last.

God the Son - God's only incarnation, God in human form, who came down from Heaven to preach to His creation how to live a sinless life, and paid the ultimate sacrifice so that the original order can be restored.

God the Holy Ghost - God working within us all, so that we can walk in His Holy Name blameless.

 

[beloved57]

The Trinity is manifested in the Creation of Adam !

Every biblical doctrine will be found in the beginning of the scripture, just to be expanded upon and clarified as revelation progresses.

That sacred doctrine of the Trinity is one of those doctrines, and the spiritually blessed will be able to see it..

One of the very first intimations of this Blessed Truth is when we hear the Creator say these words Gen 1:


26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

And upon making Man in His own Image, He made them Male and Female gen 5:

1This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him;

2 Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.

Now, How could Adam be made a them [Plural] being made in God's Image, and God not be a Them [Plural]

That right there should give evidence enough that God is a Them or in Plurality..

It should be clear from this account that God was His own standard by which He made man, all other is mere conjecture of men, those who say that the us means angels.

Let's look at what we have at the creation of Adam and how it portrays Plurality in Union.. At Adam's creation, He stood complete with the Women Eve and Her Seed in Him. The Women, the instrument by which their seed was to be brought into natural existence, Hence God speaks of the seed of the Women Gen 3:

15And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

And Eve speaks of Her seed here gen 4:

25And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew.

And so, as the Father, the Word and the Holy Ghost are all One 1 jn 5:

7For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.

So Also was the Man Adam, with Eve and the Seed [Christ and His Members] all being One !

So we Have God the Father, Christ the seed, and the Holy Ghost the instrument of their [ the seed] spiritual lives or existence, thats why Christ says one must be born of the Spirit jn 3..

And Just as God's People bore the Image of our Natural Father Adam [ 1 cor 15] likewise we shall bear the Image of Our Spiritual Father, God through Christ..
​

 

[Jpark]

The Father - God.

Jesus - named God by God (Phil. 2:9, See this for more info), is equal to God (John 5:18, 10:30-36), is God (John 1:1-3, 1 John 1:5, 5:20, 11, John 1:4, John 1:6-10), and is the same as God (John 1:14 (Codex Sinaiticus English translation) And the Word became flesh, and tabernacled [this indicates temporariness] among us..., 1 Cor. 15:45).

John 1:4 (Sinaiticus) In Him is life [perhaps "God"], and the life [Jesus] was the Light of men.

Note: I used Sinaiticus instead of NASB since the NASB renders it as "In Him was life".

1 John 1:2 (NASB) and the life [Jesus] was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life [Jesus], which was with the Father and was manifested to us--

1 John 5:20 (NASB) And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ This is the true God and eternal life.

1 John 5:11 (NASB) And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life [of Himself], and this life [He] is in His Son.

The Holy Spirit - God.

That's as far as I can go without violating the rules of this forum. I accept the Trinity concept, but I don't focus on it and I don't accept the doctrine. I focus on Jesus' deity.

 

[CryptoLutheran]

Define it
Explain it
Provide an analogy.

1. One God who is one substance, essence (ousia); existing as three persons, subsistences (hypostases): eternal and unbegotten Father, eternal and only-begotten Son, and eternal and ever proceeding Holy Spirit.

2. "[W]e worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity; Neither confounding the Persons; nor dividing the Essence. For there is one Person of the Father; another of the Son; and another of the Holy Ghost. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, is all one; the Glory equal, the Majesty coeternal. Such as the Father is; such is the Son; and such is the Holy Ghost. The Father uncreated; the Son uncreated; and the Holy Ghost uncreated. The Father unlimited; the Son unlimited; and the Holy Ghost unlimited. The Father eternal; the Son eternal; and the Holy Ghost eternal. And yet they are not three eternals; but one eternal. As also there are not three uncreated; nor three infinites, but one uncreated; and one infinite. So likewise the Father is Almighty; the Son Almighty; and the Holy Ghost Almighty. And yet they are not three Almighties; but one Almighty. So the Father is God; the Son is God; and the Holy Ghost is God. And yet they are not three Gods; but one God. So likewise the Father is Lord; the Son Lord; and the Holy Ghost Lord. And yet not three Lords; but one Lord." - Athanasian Creed

3. God is Love. The Father is the Lover, the Son is the Beloved, and the Holy Spirit is the Bond of Love shared between Father and Son. The term perichoresis describes the dance and intimate inter-relationship shared between the Three as the One God. And then there's Rublev's Icon of the Trinity, which is technically the scene with the three angelic visitors to Abraham, but has traditionally been viewed as an iconic representation of the holy fellowship of the Trinity within God's Being.

The Communion and one Life, one Being, and one Essence of God shared between Father, Son and Holy Spirit. One God, one Almighty, one Eternal, one Lord, one Creator.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[ripple the car]

One God, the Father.
Of whom the Word and Son was begotten in eternity, being of the same nature as the Father.
And from whom the Spirit of God proceeds through the Son.

The Three are One in Deity, nature, purpose, and holiness.

 

[royallighting7]

Definition:

Trinity - The Christian view of the ontology of God existing as one being (or one essence), and three persons.

I, just like many other Christians, am not a trinitarian, so the Trinity isn't nescesarily the Christian view. That's misleading to people of other faiths.

 

[Simonline]

Define it
Explain it
Provide an analogy.

I will go first:

God the father is the substance of God, he is the structure of God, he is the force that is called God. He is invisible, and impossible to understand in light of itself by man.

Jesus - As the likeness of a man's face is dependent on the form of the face, but by definition, the likeness is indivisible from the form, so Jesus is the image of the invisible God giving a likeness to the form of God. He is his "Logos", his word, and the summation of who he is,

The Holy Spirit - If one looks at a person, what they see is not the person himself, but rather the light that comes from the form of the person, and relays the likeness of the image of the form. So it is with the spirit, he proceeds from the father, and is the only way in which we can understand and see who God is, as he faithfully conveys the image who is God.

This is not the orthodox understanding of the Tri-Personal Nature of YHWH.

YHWH exists as both Eternal and Immutable therefore the way that YHWH exists at any single point is the way that He exists at all points. YHWH has declared through the Judeo-Christian Scriptures that He exists as Tri-Personal [Father, Son and Holy Spirit] and not as Mono-Personal (i.e. as just one of those Persons alone).

This means that all Three Persons [Father, Son and Holy Spirit] are simultaneously the One God and as such exist in unapproachable light beyond all finite comprehension.

The Messiah is the human incarnation of God (Jn.1:1,14; Heb.1:1-14). He is God Himself incarnate as a human creature. As God the Messiah is the Son of the Father but NOT the Son of God. As human the Messiah is both the Son of the Father and the Son of God.

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God and as such, since both the Father and the Son are God, is both the Spirit of the Father and the Spirit of the Son. Together all Three Persons are the One Tri-Personal Divine Creator YHWH.

Simonline.

 

[Simonline]

Definition:

Trinity - The Christian view of the ontology of God existing as one being (or one essence), and three persons.

Explanation:

I think the definition explains it the most clearly. If I were to explain it to myself should I not understand it to begin with, then I might say that God is made up of one thing (called Deity), and exists as three people within that one thing.

Analogy:

A wise person once told me that analogy will always fall short of the definition of the Trinity, and so I'll stay away from this one. Thank you.

You are indeed wise. Analogies in relation to YHWH are anathema and to be avoided like the plague. Simply define according to Divine Revelation and leave it at that.

In truth, God is not made up of anything because God is simply not made up. He exists eternally and the way that he exists at any one point is the way that he exists at all points. Furthermore, deity is not just another name for a mathematical set comprising of three finite persons. YHWH is a single entity who exists as Tri-Personal [Father, Son and Holy Spirit] rather than mono-personal like His human creatures (schizophrenia notwithstanding).

Simonline.

 

[Simonline]

God the Father - Creator of life, of everything: the one true God, with no origin, ruler of everything, from first to last.

According to the Scriptures this is equally true of the Son and the Holy Spirit?

God the Son - God's only incarnation, God in human form, who came down from Heaven to preach to His creation how to live a sinless life, and paid the ultimate sacrifice so that the original order can be restored.

The term 'God the Son' refers to the Second Person of the One Tri-Personal Divine Creator YHWH existing as the Eternal and Immutable Divine Creator and not as the temporal and mutable human creature. It is the 'Son of God' [i.e. God Himself incarnate as a man] who is the human incarnation of YHWH.

The Messiah did not preach a formula for living a sinless life since He knew that as fallen humans were/are incapable of living sinless lives. Instead he preached that Israel (the message to all Mankind came later) needed to repent of her sins, die to herself and live by faith in YHWH and the Messiah (Hab.2:4; Rom.1:16-17) in order to experience redemption and to avoid everlasting Perdition.

Salvation is not about the restoration of innocence but rather the reconcilliation of the relationship between the spiritual and the physical that was ruptured as a result of the fall. From a Biblical perspective reality is holistic rather than dualistic and salvation is about the reconcilliation of the two realms back together as one and not about escaping from the physical realm in order to find refuge in the spiritual realm.

God the Holy Ghost - God working within us all, so that we can walk in His Holy Name blameless.

This is a very superficial definition of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is quite literally infinitely more than just another way of saying 'God working within each one of us'?

Simonline.

 

[Croref]

Define it
Explain it
Provide an analogy.

I will go first:

God the father is the substance of God, he is the structure of God, he is the force that is called God. He is invisible, and impossible to understand in light of itself by man.

Jesus - As the likeness of a man's face is dependent on the form of the face, but by definition, the likeness is indivisible from the form, so Jesus is the image of the invisible God giving a likeness to the form of God. He is his "Logos", his word, and the summation of who he is,

The Holy Spirit - If one looks at a person, what they see is not the person himself, but rather the light that comes from the form of the person, and relays the likeness of the image of the form. So it is with the spirit, he proceeds from the father, and is the only way in which we can understand and see who God is, as he faithfully conveys the image who is God.

But God has no form.

 

[Croref]

The Trinity is manifested in the Creation of Adam !

So we Have God the Father, Christ the seed, and the Holy Ghost the instrument of their [ the seed] spiritual lives or existence, thats why Christ says one must be born of the Spirit jn 3..

And Just as God's People bore the Image of our Natural Father Adam [ 1 cor 15] likewise we shall bear the Image of Our Spiritual Father, God through Christ..
​

How 'bout it is that Christ is the 'result' of the "seed" implanted in Mary. In this will the evidence that God only had one "only begotten Son". . . . and He didn't come into existence until He was born?

 

[Simonline]

But God has no form.

More correctly, God existing as God has no form (Jn.4:24) but that is not true of God incarnate as a man (Isa.43:10-13; Titus.2:13 cf. Jn.1:1,14)

Simonline.

 

[Simonline]

If Jesus was not fully man, He could never be our role model for life.

Absolutely! I couldn't agree more (Heb.2:17)...but that does not mean (as you are wrongly assuming simply because such a thing is highly irregular though not impossible) that the same Person cannot, by means of a different nature to that by which He exists as a man, also exist as the Divine Creator as well (Isa.43:10-13; Titus.2:13 cf. Jn.1:1,14)?!

Simonline.

 

[Simonline]

How 'bout it is that Christ is the 'result' of the "seed" implanted in Mary. In this will the evidence that God only had one "only begotten Son". . . . and He didn't come into existence until He was born?

You are correct in saying that the Messiah/Christ did not come into existence until the Virgin Birth but you are wrong in implying that the Messiah is nothing more than a regular human creature rather than the human incarnation of God Himself, as the Scriptures declare.

The Person Who has incarnated (i.e. the Son) is Divine and therefore Eternal but that is not true of the Incarnation. The Messiah/Christ existing as human had a definite point of origin and is therfore only everlasting.


Simonline.

 

[Ormly]

You are correct in saying that the Messiah/Christ did not come into existence until the Virgin Birth but you are wrong in implying that the Messiah is nothing more than a regular human creature rather than the human incarnation of God Himself, as the Scriptures declare.

I never wrote that nor even implied it.

The Person Who has incarnated (i.e. the Son) is Divine and therefore Eternal but that is not true of the Incarnation.

That is wrong. He was the second of the Godhead, the Word who was also God.

The Messiah/Christ existing as human had a definite point of origin and is therfore only everlasting.

Messiah was human and His origin could only be human, of Adam's seed per Gen.3:15. Creation was complete in 6 days. The seed of the Word of God was the only means by which He could come into existence as a sinless being, the last Adam. Jn 1:1-4
Jesus was not of a new creation. He was the last of the old one and AFTER His victorious life over sin and death, became the first of a new one. .

 

[light_eclipseca]

You are indeed wise. Analogies in relation to YHWH are anathema and to be avoided like the plague. Simply define according to Divine Revelation and leave it at that.

In truth, God is not made up of anything because God is simply not made up. He exists eternally and the way that he exists at any one point is the way that he exists at all points. Furthermore, deity is not just another name for a mathematical set comprising of three finite persons. YHWH is a single entity who exists as Tri-Personal [Father, Son and Holy Spirit] rather than mono-personal like His human creatures (schizophrenia notwithstanding).

Simonline.

Sorry. I'm so used to using these idioms like "made up" that I forget that their literal interpretation can cause people to misunderstand what I'm actually trying to explain. My bad. I concur with your further explanation.

Best Regards,

 

[Simonline]

I never wrote that nor even implied it.

You need to pay a lot more careful attention to detail. Those comments were not addressed to you they were addressed to 'croref' (unless, of course, 'croref' and 'ormly' are one and the same person)?!

That is wrong. He was the second of the Godhead, the Word who was also God.

Like I said, you need to pay an awful lot more attention to detail. I have already said that the One who has incarnated [i.e. the Son - the Second Person of the One Eternal, Immutable and Tri-Personal Divine Creator YHWH] is Divine but that the Incarnation is human [i.e. the human creature Jesus of Nazareth].

Messiah was human and His origin could only be human, of Adam's seed per Gen.3:15.

The Messiah IS human (present tense) and has been ever since the Incarnation but the Person Who exists as the human creature Jesus of Nazareth also exists as the Eternal and Immutable Divine Creator, YHWH (Isa.43:10-13; Titus.2:13). Indeed, His Existence as Divine Creator takes precedence over His existence as human creature because as Divine Creator the Son is Eternal whilst as human the Son is but everlasting. The Messiah is not just a regular human creature like the rest of us He is the Divine Creator YHWH Himself incarnate as the sinless human creature Jesus of Nazareth. This is the essence of the Divine Revelation that is the Judeo-Christian Scriptures.

Creation was complete in 6 days. The seed of the Word of God was the only means by which He could come into existence as a sinless being, the last Adam. Jn 1:1-4

No. The Messiah is not 'the seed of the Word of God'. He IS the Word of God [i.e. the Second Person of the Eternal, Immutable and Tri-Personal Divine Creator, YHWH] incarnate as the human creature Jesus of Nazareth (Jn.1:1,14). As the Second Person of the One Eternal, Immutable and Tri-Personal Divine Creator, YHWH, the Son/Word/Logos/Memre is ALREADY Eternally Sinless even before He incarnated as the human creature Jesus of Nazareth.

Jesus was not of a new creation. He was the last of the old one and AFTER His victorious life over sin and death, became the first of a new one. .

No. If the Messiah had been of the old order as you suppose then He would never have been victorious over sin and death. Unlike the rest of the human race, the Messiah was never included 'in Adam' (5:12-21) otherwise he would have been born a regular sinful human creature, just like the rest of us (Rom.3:9-18). Instead the Messiah as victorious is the 'father' of the 'New Man' (2Cor.5:17). In other words the Messiah is of a different order of human creature to that of Adam. The Messiah was sinless precisiely because He was/is YHWH Himself incarnate as a human creature.

Simonline.