The Trinity

One of the most difficult points of Christian doctrine to wrap one's head around is the Trinity. Growing up as a good Presbyterian kid, I accepted that there was one God, and three persons. Yet, how that could possibly be seemed impossible to explain.

Sunday school teachers would use various "analogies": an egg has a shell, white and yolk, yet is one egg; water can exist as solid, liquid and gas, yet is all water; a person can be a father, a son and a husband, yet be one man.

Such analogies all have weaknesses. They either emphasize the one-ness so much that the three-ness is lost. Or they emphasize the three-ness so much that the one-ness is lost. This was the problem that the early church theologians encountered as they grappled with the problem.

But you might ask, why is it even a problem? Why even posit such a theological Gordian's knot? The word "trinity" does not appear in the Bible, but was first coined by Tertullian in the early third century. Isn't this an example of the corruption of early church beliefs?

We can blame the Bible for this controversy. The New Testament begins with an incredible scene: Jesus is being baptized and, coming up out of the water, the Holy Spirit descends on him like a dove and the Father speaks from heaven, "This is my Son, whom I love: with him I am well pleased" ( Matt: 3: 16-17). Matthew's Gospel ends with Jesus commanding believers to baptize "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Matt. 28: 19).

Actually, if you study the early development of church theology, the two issues that occupied a lot of intense debate were somewhat interrelated: The Christological and the Trinitarian debates. Both of these debates were attempts to understand the biblical witness. Scripture treated Jesus as a man, yet he was worshiped as God. And God was presented as One, yet the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are all presented as God, equal to one another, while retaining their distinctiveness.

The first debate issue can be stated thus: "What was the nature of Jesus' relationship to God?" The early counsels ended up giving us the boundaries of orthodoxy, called the "hypostatic union," but not necessarily how it works. "When you teach about Jesus' humanity, you cannot forget his full divinity. When you teach about his divinity, you cannot lose his full humanity. Jesus Christ is one substance with two natures."

The Trinitarian issue can be stated thus: "What is the relationship between Father/Son/Spirit and God?" The early counsels ended up giving the boundaries of orthodoxy in a similar way. "When you talk about the three-ness of God, you cannot lose the one-ness. When you teach about the one-ness of God, you can't lose the distinction of the three-ness. God is one substance, yet has three natures (which we translate "persons")."

I recently heard a great YouTube explanation of the Trinity by Ravi Zacharias to a Mormon audience (see below). He quotes C. S. Lewis (who was probably inspired by Augustine) in using the analogy of love as a strong philosophical argument for the NECESSITY of the doctrine of the Trinity. Let me summarize the argument:

1. Humanity demonstrates love for others as part of our nature. How else to explain why people would give up their own safety to reach out to others in need?

2. Love itself demonstrates an inherent relational element in the created. There must be a relationship between the one who loves and the one who is loved. And you could also posit that the love itself is a necessary third element.

3. "God is love" (1 John 4: 8 & 16). For God, in his eternal existence, to be love, all the necessary elements for love must be inherent in his very nature. Thus relationship is inherent in the "Godhead." And love is triadic by nature. A radical monism cannot explain how "God is love" can be true apart from Creation. A radical monism cannot explain how loving creatures, created in His image, must live in loving community to fully reflect the imago dei.

Take a moment to watch this video. It will be worth the time.

Ravi Zacharias on The Trinity