“Hmmm, haven’t done that in a long time,” was the first thing that popped into my mind. It was in response to a request to preach, or teach, a series on how to understand the Christian doctrine of The Trinity, i.e., One God in Three Persons. My guess is that most of us have wrestled with this image of God and either come away with an analogy that works for you, or have been left totally confused or have decided to just accept this on faith while leaving the details to heavier thinkers.
But in a modern world were the fastest growing segment of our population is prone to find fault with any concept of God and where people of other faiths want to know our understanding of God, leaving the sticky details to someone else can be problematic.
As far back as the first century the Church has struggled to explain Jesus’ divine nature, his connection to the "One" God found in the Hebrew Scriptures, and the profound evidence of God’s work in the world that continues in Jesus’ absence.
Adding to the confusion is the fact that you won’t find the doctrine of Trinity spoken of in the Bible, at least not in a direct way. What we have are words and stories that portray God as directly involved in the creation and maintenance of the world while at other times such work is attributed to God’s Spirit. In the “New” Testament there is the story of Jesus along with the earliest history account of how the church was formed by the work of the Spirit and the letters from church leaders that chronicle the Spirit of the Risen Christ continuing to work in and through them. As the Church struggled to connect these three the doctrine of the Trinity emerged.
Books upon books have been written on this doctrine but can this holy mystery of the One who is Three be made simple or is it doomed to eternal confusion? If you’re like me some of the best analogies leave me scratching my head. And, though you may choose to stop reading now, I don’t promise these to be any better.
But, before going further, keep this in mind when developing your understanding of God: all of what we communicate about God has one, very big, obvious limitation, we can only use words to describe our experience of God. Usually we use our words to draw comparisons to things that are more concrete and universal in our experience. There is no other way. Words and comparisons are all we have. Attempting to prove otherwise will only confirm the obvious.
So with that limitation and being a pretty simple thinker, here are two analogies that help me see the picture in the puzzle. Both speak of our perception of God related to time and space. Our perception of and relationship to any being determines how we experience that being and thus our description of what that being is like. Example: I am one person but I am to some a father, to another a husband, to another a son, and to some a pastor—sorry, I know I should have stopped at three.
When we speak of God as Creator (or Father), Redeemer (or Son), and Sustainer (or Spirit) we are expressing at a particular time and place how we, or others, have experienced God.
A second comparison coincidentally involves one of the essential elements for life. Water is two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen and it is found in three forms: solid, a liquid, and a gas. The characteristics of water are different depending on the circumstances in which it is found yet it is at its core, H2O. No matter the form the basic composition remains unchanged.
I’ll let you take it from here. Until next time, are there other analogies you find helpful?
– Pastor Gene
But in a modern world were the fastest growing segment of our population is prone to find fault with any concept of God and where people of other faiths want to know our understanding of God, leaving the sticky details to someone else can be problematic.
As far back as the first century the Church has struggled to explain Jesus’ divine nature, his connection to the "One" God found in the Hebrew Scriptures, and the profound evidence of God’s work in the world that continues in Jesus’ absence.
Adding to the confusion is the fact that you won’t find the doctrine of Trinity spoken of in the Bible, at least not in a direct way. What we have are words and stories that portray God as directly involved in the creation and maintenance of the world while at other times such work is attributed to God’s Spirit. In the “New” Testament there is the story of Jesus along with the earliest history account of how the church was formed by the work of the Spirit and the letters from church leaders that chronicle the Spirit of the Risen Christ continuing to work in and through them. As the Church struggled to connect these three the doctrine of the Trinity emerged.
Books upon books have been written on this doctrine but can this holy mystery of the One who is Three be made simple or is it doomed to eternal confusion? If you’re like me some of the best analogies leave me scratching my head. And, though you may choose to stop reading now, I don’t promise these to be any better.
But, before going further, keep this in mind when developing your understanding of God: all of what we communicate about God has one, very big, obvious limitation, we can only use words to describe our experience of God. Usually we use our words to draw comparisons to things that are more concrete and universal in our experience. There is no other way. Words and comparisons are all we have. Attempting to prove otherwise will only confirm the obvious.
So with that limitation and being a pretty simple thinker, here are two analogies that help me see the picture in the puzzle. Both speak of our perception of God related to time and space. Our perception of and relationship to any being determines how we experience that being and thus our description of what that being is like. Example: I am one person but I am to some a father, to another a husband, to another a son, and to some a pastor—sorry, I know I should have stopped at three.
When we speak of God as Creator (or Father), Redeemer (or Son), and Sustainer (or Spirit) we are expressing at a particular time and place how we, or others, have experienced God.
A second comparison coincidentally involves one of the essential elements for life. Water is two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen and it is found in three forms: solid, a liquid, and a gas. The characteristics of water are different depending on the circumstances in which it is found yet it is at its core, H2O. No matter the form the basic composition remains unchanged.
I’ll let you take it from here. Until next time, are there other analogies you find helpful?
– Pastor Gene
Just saw the notice in the church paper and thought I would check it out. I've never blogged before. So this is a first for me! I'm excited to see what happens here!!!
ReplyDeleteCouldn't be prouder to see my church's senior pastor bloggin'. Well done Pastor Gene.
ReplyDeleteI read a bit on the interweb about how this Trinity position had little in the way of space in the Bible. Apparently Matthew 28:19 and Paul's blessing in 2 Corinthians 13:14 are the most oft-quoted sources. Matters not to me however, because I don't question any of the rules and logic. God is the Father, God is the Son, and God is the Holy Spirit. I'm not sure if I should have questioned this logic at some point but I haven;t and I see no reason to do so now.