Understanding the Trinity

[Wolf Spirit]

Hey there,

Could anyone help me please?

I’m sort of confused about the Trinity. I’m finding it hard to understand how if he is only one God, how is he also three Gods, and vice versa.

So far, the people I’ve asked have said that God is hard to understand and works in mysterious ways, but this isn’t much of an answer and only makes God seem cold and distant.

Is anyone able to explain this to me? Much appreciated

 

[Dave L]

Hey there,

Could anyone help me please?

I’m sort of confused about the Trinity. I’m finding it hard to understand how if he is only one God, how is he also three Gods, and vice versa.

So far, the people I’ve asked have said that God is hard to understand and works in mysterious ways, but this isn’t much of an answer and only makes God seem cold and distant.

Is anyone able to explain this to me? Much appreciated

the doctrine of the Trinity can be summarized in seven statements. (1) There is only one God. (2) The Father is God. (3) The Son is God. (4) The Holy Spirit is God. (5) The Father is not the Son. (6) The Son is not the Holy Spirit. (7) The Holy Spirit is not the Father.

The Athanasian Creed puts it this way: “Now this is the catholic [universal] faith: That we worship one God in trinity and the trinity in unity, neither blending their persons, nor dividing their essence. For the person of the Father is a distinct person, the person of the Son is another, and that of the Holy Spirit, still another. But the divinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is one, their glory equal, their majesty coeternal.”

Orthodox Trinitarianism rejects monarchianism which believes in only one person (mono) and maintains that the Son and the Spirit subsist in the divine essence as impersonal attributes not distinct and divine Persons.

Orthodox Trinitarianism rejects modalism which believes that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are different names for the same God acting in different roles or manifestations (like the well-intentioned but misguided “water, vapor, ice” analogy).

Orthodox Trinitarianism rejects Arianism which denies the full deity of Christ.

And finally, orthodox Trinitarianism rejects all forms of tri-theism, which teach that the three members of the Godhead are, to quote a leading Mormon apologist, “three distinct Beings, three separate Gods.”

 

[-57]

Hey there,

Could anyone help me please?

I’m sort of confused about the Trinity. I’m finding it hard to understand how if he is only one God, how is he also three Gods, and vice versa.

So far, the people I’ve asked have said that God is hard to understand and works in mysterious ways, but this isn’t much of an answer and only makes God seem cold and distant.

Is anyone able to explain this to me? Much appreciated

Yes, God can be hard to understand.

God is one God...not 3. Three Gods would be polytheism.

Trinity God consist of one in essence and nature yet 3 in persons.

 

[Albion]

WS, no one can actually "explain" it. For that matter, no one can actually explain the nature of God, whether we are speaking of a Trinity or not. This is all above our human level of comprehension.

What we can understand, however, are approximations or generalities, and they are sufficient for us to know our place in things and the relationship of Man to God and vice-versa.

Put in the simplest terms, God is one...but in three "somethings." St. Patrick is said to have used the example of a shamrock. It is a single item but yet it is three lobed and cannot be comtemplated--as a shamrock--without accounting for those three parts.

If we try to examine more minutely and describe with more precision, we usually are making a mistake, since the Bible indicates that it's not three gods or one God with three heads or it's all in the way we see our God.

We have the important information. Just let the speculation go and save yourself unnecessary anxiety.

As for the impression that God is cold and distant, there is really nothing in what we DO know of him that suggests this. The opposite is really the case, considering that he took on our nature and suffered for our sake. And none of that is much altered whether we'd thought God to be triune or not.

 

[Andrewn]

I’m sort of confused about the Trinity. I’m finding it hard to understand how if he is only one God, how is he also three Gods, and vice versa. So far, the people I’ve asked have said that God is hard to understand and works in mysterious ways, but this isn’t much of an answer and only makes God seem cold and distant.

God reveals himself in the person of Jesus and the Holy Spirit. If God is hard to understand then his attempts to reveal himself have failed, which is not true.

I've always liked the example of the sun. We see its light and experience the warmth. We can also look at the sun disc. The point is that God is One, even though we experience Him as a Trinity.

Like all examples, I'm sure the one I gave is inaccurate. Other replies have given other examples. God bless your fellowship with Him.

 

[com7fy8]

if he is only one God, how is he also three Gods

God is one God, yes > "God is love" > 1 John 4:8 and 1 John 4:16. And God is our Heavenly Father and Jesus His Son and the Holy Spirit > three Persons of family caring and sharing love.

So, may be it is like how there can be one family love, and different persons of this one love > father, child, and mother . . . Father, Son, Holy Spirit.

So far, the people I’ve asked have said that God is hard to understand and works in mysterious ways, but this isn’t much of an answer and only makes God seem cold and distant.

God does work in mysterious ways, but while He does things, He personally shares with us. This is why people know He works in mysterious ways: because He surprises us with such good, in spite of how at first things can seem to not make sense. So, actually, His mysterious ways are part of how He is warm and personal and sharing with us.

It's like how loving parents sometimes might not explain to you what is going on while they do things you don't understand; but then it all fits together.

For example, yesterday, I chose between going to see a guy I knew, for maybe fifteen minutes, or going shopping with more time before the store closed. I was a little concerned that God seemed to have me just go to the store. Well, it turned out it started raining while I was in the store; so may be it would have been wet at his place, with us staying out back and distant during the present COVID-19 precaution time. So, God knew that, and could guide me accordingly, plus I could spend more time, on the phone.

Then I met a fawn on the bike path. And then I tried to get two frogs off the high-speed road on my way back to my apartment. Those nature encounters held me up, just enough so I got back to where I stay, right when the mother in the next-door apartment drove in; so we had a chance to have an enjoyable talk with each other. So, I can see how God mysteriously had things perfectly timed . . . holding me up with a fawn that didn't run away, so I spent time with it, plus two frogs I cared about, or else I could have gotten into the apartment before she got there.

 

[Pavel Mosko]

Hey there,

Could anyone help me please?

I’m sort of confused about the Trinity. I’m finding it hard to understand how if he is only one God, how is he also three Gods, and vice versa.

So far, the people I’ve asked have said that God is hard to understand and works in mysterious ways, but this isn’t much of an answer and only makes God seem cold and distant.

Is anyone able to explain this to me? Much appreciated

The Trinity is a concept that resolves the nature of the paradox

1) That God is one
13 Bible verses about God Is One

2) Yet He is also three different personalities " aka Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
The Trinity reconciles this apparent conflict ("Is it it one being or 3"?). We have 3 personalities united in One God head / essence.



Besides this the Trinity also covers some of the ways that we think about God coming out of the Classical age. In Stoicism, their was a belief that were 3 areas where God was active in the universe


1) As a Transcendent Creator, that is for the most part apart from the Universe.

2) As a "fire" that is at work in the universe, aka God imminent in the Universe.

3) And as Logos a rational principle/ pattern by which the world was created, and which continues to operate in the Universe.


In Christianity we have something very similar, except with some fine differences.

1) God the Father is a bit like the Stoic Creator, but called a "Fountain head", 1st principle of the Trinity (the Son and Holy Spirit being continually generated from Him),

2) The Holy Spirit likewise has some similarities to the Stoic fire. e.g.- is at work in believers and at work in the universe.

3) and likewise the Son has some similarities to the Stoic Logos, but with some important differences, namely being incarnated as a person. Also in general the Stoic Creator/divinity was far removed from humanity and humanities suffering etc. being almost completely transcendent from humanity.



Lastly it should be noted that in orthodox Trinitarianism all 3 members of the Trinity are considered equals, God the Father is however "the first among equals", kind of like the chairman that holds the gavel of the committee. And to cover an issue just raised to me, it should be noted that 3 members of the Trinity always operate in agreement with each other. They speak with One voice like the 3 visitors to Abraham in Genesis 18.

 

[Gregorikos]

The Trinity is a concept that resolves the nature of the paradox

1) That God is one
13 Bible verses about God Is One

2) Yet He is also three different personalities " aka Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
The Trinity reconciles this apparent conflict. We have 3 personalities united in One God head.



Besides this the Trinity also covers some of the ways that we think about God coming out of the Classical age. In Stoicism, their was a belief that were 3 areas where God was active in the universe


1) As a Transcendent Creator, that is for the most part apart from the Universe.

2) As a "fire" that at work in the universe, aka God imminent in the Universe

3) And as Logos a rational principle/ pattern by which the world was created, and which continues to operate in the Universe.


In Christianity we have something very similar, except with some fine differences.

1) God the Father is a bit like the Stoic Creator, but called a "Fountain head", 1st principle of the Trinity (the Son and Holy Spirit being continually generated from Him),

2) The Holy Spirit likewise has some similarities to the Stoic fire. e.g.- is at work in believers and at work in the universe.

3) and likewise the Son has some similarities to the Stoic Logos, but with some important differences, namely being incarnated as a person. Also in general the Stoic Creator/divinity was far removed from humanity and humanities suffering etc. being almost completely transcendent from humanity.



Lastly it should be noted that in orthodox Trinitarianism all 3 members of the Trinity are considered equals, God the Father is however "the first among equals", kind of like the chairman that holds the gavel of the committee.

By using the term "personalities" haven't you made it appear that there could be disagreement between the members of the Godhead? It seems that way to me. And of course, there is only unity in the Godhead.

 

[eleos1954]

God reveals himself in the person of Jesus and the Holy Spirit. If God is hard to understand then his attempts to reveal himself have failed, which is not true.

I've always liked the example of the sun. We see its light and experience the warmth. We can also look at the sun disc. The point is that God is One, even though we experience Him as a Trinity.

Like all examples, I'm sure the one I gave is inaccurate. Other replies have given other examples. God bless your fellowship with Him.

The Trinity: There is one God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, a unity of three co-eternal Persons. God is immortal, all-powerful, all-knowing, above all, and ever present. He is infinite and beyond human comprehension, yet known through His self-revelation. He is forever worthy of worship, adoration, and service by the whole creation. (Deut. 6:4; Matt. 28:19; 2 Cor. 13:14; Eph. 4:4-6; 1 Peter 1:2; 1 Tim. 1:17; Rev. 14:7.)

The Father: God the eternal Father is the Creator, Source, Sustainer, and Sovereign of all creation. He is just and holy, merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. The qualities and powers exhibited in the Son and the Holy Spirit are also revelations of the Father. (Gen. 1:1; Rev. 4:11; 1 Cor. 15:28; John 3:16; 1 John 4:8; 1 Tim. 1:17; Ex. 34:6, 7; John 14:9.)

The Son: God the eternal Son became incarnate in Jesus Christ. Through Him all things were created, the character of God is revealed, the salvation of humanity is accomplished, and the world is judged. Forever truly God, He became also truly man, Jesus the Christ. He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He lived and experienced temptation as a human being, but perfectly exemplified the righteousness and love of God. By His miracles He manifested God's power and was attested as God's promised Messiah. He suffered and died voluntarily on the cross for our sins and in our place, was raised from the dead, and ascended to minister in the heavenly sanctuary in our behalf. He will come again in glory for the final deliverance of His people and the restoration of all things. (John 1:1-3, 14; Col. 1:15-19; John 10:30; 14:9; Rom. 6:23; 2 Cor. 5:17-19; John 5:22; Luke 1:35; Phil. 2:5-11; Heb. 2:9-18; 1 Cor. 15:3, 4; Heb. 8:1, 2; John 14:1-3.)

The Holy Spirit: God the eternal Spirit was active with the Father and the Son in Creation, incarnation, and redemption. He inspired the writers of Scripture. He filled Christ's life with power. He draws and convicts human beings; and those who respond He renews and transforms into the image of God. Sent by the Father and the Son to be always with His children, He extends spiritual gifts to the church, empowers it to bear witness to Christ, and in harmony with the Scriptures leads it into all truth. (Gen. 1:1, 2; Luke 1:35; 4:18; Acts 10:38; 2 Peter 1:21; 2 Cor. 3:18; Eph. 4:11, 12; Acts 1:8; John 14:16-18, 26; 15:26, 27; 16:7-13.)

They are in perfect harmony with one another in all things.

 

[Pavel Mosko]

By using the term "personalities" haven't you made it appear that there could be disagreement between the members of the Godhead? It seems that way to me. And of course, there is only unity in the Godhead.

Well yes I could use "persons", but that would have the same problem. I was trying to use something that was in English rather than a Greek term like Hypo-stasis to keep it simple, since this person doesn't seem to have any background in it. But the issue you raised is something I would need to to edit in or change the terms for something that is basically a rough draft etc.

 

[com7fy8]

Well you could say Persons who all have the same personality >

gentle and humble

all-loving

kind and caring

personal, not distant

 

[Gregorikos]

Well you could say Persons who all have the same personality >

gentle and humble

all-loving

kind and caring

personal, not distant

I like that better.

 

[Andrewn]

Well you could say Persons who all have the same personality >

I don't think this is a proper understanding. If they have the same personality, how do you distinguish between them?

The Trinity – Personalities
The Trinity
One God - Three Personalities - Father, Son and Holy Spirit - at Holy Trinity Store
Personalities in the Trinity - The Catholic Thing

According to the article, "These three Persons, therefore, are not identical in personality, like clones, and we should not be surprised that they have specific personality characteristics."

 

[com7fy8]

If they have the same personality, how do you distinguish between them?

By personality I mean which personality characteristics They have in common. The have the same.

So, how do you distinguish between the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit? Well, They can distinguish between Themselves. So, how do They? I don't know.

But Jesus does say,

"He who has seen Me has seen the Father;" (John 14:9)

So, their personalities are the same, at least enough so seeing Jesus is seeing the Father . . . I mean, I think He means . . . seeing how Jesus is is seeing how our Father is.

So, then, how are They different? I would say in hierarchical position, and specialized love purposes. Our Father, I believe, takes care of the universe as a whole and works things in our circumstances according to how He will have Jesus guide us. And Jesus is our Head who guides us while making intercession for us. And the Holy Spirit makes intercession for us while He in us cares for us spiritually and emotionally while He also works our willing and doing what God wants while changing us into the image of Jesus.

So, I consider > Their personality is the same, but their roles are distinct.

But yes we humans certainly can have different personalities, partly because of how we are different in our character. But what is true about us does not decide what is true about God.

 

[Noxot]

The smallest perfect unity of love is 3. With three the first two persons are preserved and fully United.

I guess the Latin word they use is persona, I think it means mask. Hypostasis is the Greek word and it apparently means something very specific. It means something like "who is the being" or something like that, or so I have heard from someone.

 

[Albion]

By using the term "personalities" haven't you made it appear that there could be disagreement between the members of the Godhead? It seems that way to me. And of course, there is only unity in the Godhead.

That's correct. Although we use the term "persons," it does not refer to personalities (as we normally use that word) or to different beings.