my Trinity concept

[Rolf Ernst]

Extirpated--I agree that they are equal in essence. I disagree with the thought of there being a super class or subclass of three.

On the basis of my Bible studies, I believe that there is one God in three persons. The unity derives from their being equal in essence.

Consider omnipotence--each person of the trinity is infinitely powerful (omnipotent).
Therefore when we view the aspect of omnipotence---since each is infinitely powerful the attribute of omnipotence we see will be identical whether we are viewing the omnipotence of one, of two, or of three altogether. The scripture says of Christ that "in Him dwelleth all the FULNESS of the Godhead bodily." That is, if we could view the aspect of Christ's omnipotence, it would be no different from viewing the omnipotence of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit altogether.

Likewise for ALL His attributes. Therefore, we have ONE GOD. There is no difference in them whether they are considered individually or in their triunity

 

[OrthodoxyUSA]

The Sun...

The light from the sun

The warmth from the sun

Forgive me...

 

[mshupe1959]

As stated earlier, there is no way we can come close to grasping the fullness of
God. Someone tried to explain it partially once.
Think of water. Water is water is water. But it can also come on three forms. gas(steam), liquid (water) or solid (ice). All different "forms" but the same thing.
Water.

 

[I'ddie4him]

St. Patrick used a clover. Each leaf representing one person of the trinity. But all are the clover.

Great analogy and example. I never thought of it that way before. Very true tho.

 

[I'ddie4him]

As stated earlier, there is no way we can come close to grasping the fullness of
God. Someone tried to explain it partially once.
Think of water. Water is water is water. But it can also come on three forms. gas(steam), liquid (water) or solid (ice). All different "forms" but the same thing.
Water.

Another great example. My wife just told me of one she uses with the kids she has in class. She uses an apple as an example.
The seeds, the inner part of the apple and the skin are 3 different parts. But, They all make up the apple as a whole. Simple way for kids to understand IMHO.

 

[Extirpated Wildlife]

I'm appreciate the responses. I'm still diving through all the info.

The Bible says that when a man and woman come together that those two become one flesh. We have the same thing here. 1+1=1.

How about my family. I also have a son. So we are one family, but 3 persons. Here the difference is we use the word God for both family and each of the persons. Do not take the terms I use below as if I am equating the Holy Spirit as the wife, even though the HS is called a helper.

One Family
Husband
Wife
Child

One God
God the Father
God the Holy Spirit
God the Son

 

[I'ddie4him]

I'm appreciate the responses. I'm still diving through all the info.

The Bible says that when a man and woman come together that those two become one flesh. We have the same thing here. 1+1=1.

How about my family. I also have a son. So we are one family, but 3 persons. Here the difference is we use the word God for both family and each of the persons. Do not take the terms I use below as if I am equating the Holy Spirit as the wife, even though the HS is called a helper.

One Family
Husband
Wife
Child

One God
God the Father
God the Holy Spirit
God the Son

That is another way to look at it. Another way to look at it would be to look at the egg.
You have the yolk, the white part, and the shell. They are 3 different parts, But, Make up the whole egg.

 

[Paleoconservatarian]

The Sun...

The light from the sun

The warmth from the sun

Forgive me...

That's my favorite analogy of the Trinity.

 

[Extirpated Wildlife]

Going with the Family that I set up. Here is what we have.

Class: Family
Subclasses: Husband, Wife, Child.

Class: God,
Subclasses: Father,Son, HS

Why is the way I stated it a couple of posts above more proper, yet this isn't? The Bible does say the man and woman become one flesh. My sublcass of husband and wife doesn't not negate their oneness. One flesh = One Family. One God = One God.

What makes up the One Flesh/Family? Husband and Wife and then Child.
What makes up the One God? Father and Son and Holy Spirit.

Am I getting clearer or is the water still too muddy?

 

[Apollo Rhetor]

Extirpated Wildlife, I was writing a reply to disagree with what you said, but being a programmer also I've understood what you are trying to say. I don't think your analogy really helps to explain anything.

We already know that God is made of three Persons. People already understand that. It is the *how* that confuses them.

When you say
Class: Family
Subclasses: Husband, Wife, Child
This confuses people, like myself, because it seems like you consider each Person in the trinity is capable of operating independently of the rest. Of course, the Class "Family" may no longer exist, but that would do no damage to the individual sub classes.
In other words, your analogy implies that Jesus could live and operate independently of the Father or the Holy Spirit if they were for some reason removed from existence. And we know that this is not so.

I think you will be far better served from the analogy that I presented earlier - using a single person as a representation of what God is like. God said, "Let Us make man in Our image". What better place is there in this universe for us to look, outside of God's word, to understand a portion of how God is made up? There is only one analogy that can possibly fulfill that task.

When you consider the body, mind and spirit of a human then you will understand how God can be three parts, yet not a single part can ever fulfil or replace the other. So, for a human,
Class: Human
Subclasses: Mind, Body, Spirit

Class: God
Subclasses: Father, Son, Holy Spirit

We have one God, three Persons, who share the same essence, who are bound together.

 

[LukeBritt]

The trinity comes from a double procession from the Father. The Son flows from the Father. The Spirit Flows from the Father. All are subject to the Father, even Christ and the Spirit. One God. One Essence. Three persons. Persons not meaning individuals, because the Son and the Spirit cannot function without 'connection', if I may, with the Father.

 

[Rolf Ernst]

Some of you are grasping for straws in your attempt to explain the trinity by drawing comparisons between earthly things.

I have seen some attempt to explain the trinity by saying that the apple has three aspects, but they together constitute the apple. Someone else tries to explain the trinity in terms of verious family members.

Remember that Jesus said, "He that has seen me has seen the Father." WEllll--can a man say, "he who has seen my wife (or my child) has seen me"? Can a man say "he who has seen an apples pulp has seen the pit of the apple?"

All your earthly examples are as low beneath the truth of the trinity as the earth is low beneath the heavens.

 

[ImSoBlessed]

God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit but the three make the one... but there are three....

Just like we are Body, Soul, and Spirit...God is comprised of three because we are made like him.....

 

[ImSoBlessed]

him calling it God Class is no different than you calling it trinity....Trinity is not a biblical term...its just terminology.....

 

[ImSoBlessed]

The trinity comes from a double procession from the Father. The Son flows from the Father. The Spirit Flows from the Father. All are subject to the Father, even Christ and the Spirit. One God. One Essence. Three persons. Persons not meaning individuals, because the Son and the Spirit cannot function without 'connection', if I may, with the Father.

not true...they are equal...

 

[Extirpated Wildlife]

Because each of these “forms of existence” are relational (and thus are Persons), they are each a distinct center of consciousness, with each center of consciousness regarding Himself as “I” and the others as “You.” Nonetheless, these three Persons all “consist of” the same “stuff” (that is, the same “what,” or essence). As theologian and apologist Norman Geisler has explained it, while essence is what you are, person is who you are. So God is one “what” but three “whos.”

That is exactly how I am trying to do in my example. Since my programming skills are not exactly expertise level, maybe there is a different way I could have stated it besides Class and sub-class.

But my Class is the "what".
My sub-classes are the "whos"

 

[Extirpated Wildlife]

not true...they are equal...

That's true. However, there roles are such that the Son does answer to the Father. But they are still equal.

Equality doesn't mean Roles are equal.

 

[ImSoBlessed]

That's true. However, there roles are such that the Son does answer to the Father. But they are still equal.

Equality doesn't mean Roles are equal.

so then we are son's and we answer to the father so then were equal to the Son who is equal to the father so would that make us equal to the father...

 

[I'ddie4him]

Some of you are grasping for straws in your attempt to explain the trinity by drawing comparisons between earthly things.

I have seen some attempt to explain the trinity by saying that the apple has three aspects, but they together constitute the apple. Someone else tries to explain the trinity in terms of verious family members.

Remember that Jesus said, "He that has seen me has seen the Father." WEllll--can a man say, "he who has seen my wife (or my child) has seen me"? Can a man say "he who has seen an apples pulp has seen the pit of the apple?"

All your earthly examples are as low beneath the truth of the trinity as the earth is low beneath the heavens.

Well, For someone trying to understand why 1+1+1=1, This is a good way to show them. I was not grasping at straws, I was merely using a VALID point and demonstrating it with an example.

 

[Extirpated Wildlife]

so then we are son's and we answer to the father so then were equal to the Son who is equal to the father so would that make us equal to the father...

How can we be equal with God? We are finite beings. Nothing created can be equal with God in any respect.

Jesus wasn't created.
Father wasn't created.
Holy Spirit wasn't created.

We are created. We are only equal to the Son in the respect that we are adopted into the family of God, via the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, to live the rest of our existence in Heaven.

Jesus doesn't do the Father's role.
Father doesn't do the Holy Spirit's role.
Holy Spirit doesn't do the Son's role.