St. Augustine, one of the most important Fathers of the Church, wrote a great deal on the doctrine of the Trinity. They suggest that only one God exists but this God transforms or morphs into each of the different persons Let's begin with the second view. Yet, as we view the pages of the Bible, we see that God is a personal and relational God. If you need to use an analogy, then use a good one. However, it breaks down on the level of equality: No one keeps or eats the shell of an egg. Three Gods or one? The egg shell is the image of the yolk and the white. I dont believe that God wishes us to be confused about the Three that are so apparent throughout the Old and New Testaments. It leads to the heresy of MODALISM which teaches that God switches to different modes. This error denies something central to God that makes Him God. And we know that because Hes been experiencing perfect love within Himself forever. Admittedly, the idea of three distinct persons/expressions that are each fully God is part of the mystery. One of the more traditional analogies is to the states of water. Part 2. They say that three separate beings exist, 2. However, Christians through the ages believe in the Trinity because the truths it represents are taught in the Bible. 2A) Dave is a father of four children: three boys and a . Time Analogy God is like time. That helps explain the concept quite well- the oneness, unity of God with the distinct three persons of God- Father, Son, and Spirit. The wonders and ways of God may not be apparent or fully known at present, but we can still marvel at His supremacy and worship Him in wonder- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit! 2 - The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are each God. Each side is co-equal with the others, yet, each side is necessary. And when the time comes when death is allowed to crack your shell in its final hour and your believing soul is released; the Spirit of God that holds you will carry you in His arms to your heavenly home because In My Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. Now if any man has not the Spirit of Christ, he is not His" (Romans 8:9). He is one God who expresses Himself in three modesFather, Son, and Spirit. When we speak of someone as being a "person", we often mean an individual who is separate from other people, or we simply mean a human being. Which ones have you heard? We came up with several practical implications of this doctrine. When we think about influential New Testament leaders, most names are male. If all you had were an eggshell, you wouldnt have a very exciting breakfast. God is kind of like a man who is a father, a son and an uncle God is kind of like a three-leaf clover, or a triangle; one object, but three different, identifiable leaves, or sides* Jesus is the Holy Spirit that saves us. The Trinity is one of the most foundational doctrines of Christianity. Others compare God to an egg, which is part shell, part white, part yolk. While each person is distinct, they are never separate from one another. Hello busy women! God has revealed some mysteries from the Old Testament in the New Testament (the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the coming of the Messiah, salvation by grace through faith, etc.) Its downright hard to understand. The more I reflect on Easter, the more Ive realized how much its become a consumeristic holidayeven Did Jesus really rise from the dead? It only has 1 person acting in three different roles. So while its tough to make sense of the Trinity, the Trinity actually helps us make sense of so many things we believe. This is because the H20 is changing forms in representing each person. Holy Trinity, the downtown Greek Orthodox church that was partially destroyed by fire 11 years ago, was a special place for 57-year-old Georgiou. The egg has a shell, the whites and a yoke. Jesus was standing in the Jordan River, His Father speaks from heaven above, and the Holy Spirit descends upon Him as a dove. The word Trinity comes from the Latin word trinitas which means tri-unity. The problem with this analogy is that it teaches that God has three components: The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Intercession: The Son intercedes as our High Priest before the Father. For those, like myself, who are not from a highly-liturgical denomination, it may come as a surprise that June 11 was Trinity Sunday. Bach, and has released two previous CDs, one . This would make Jesus something less than fully God. When it comes to the Trinity, we tend to forget that an analogy is an "aptness of proportion" or a "resemblance of relations," not an identity of relations. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on Him. Scripture however, doesnt depict God this way. If God has existed for all eternity in a perfectly loving Triune relationship, then it shows He is completely self-sufficient and requires no further relationship in order to complete or satisfy Himself. 6And there are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons., , The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all., There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; 5one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. In Biblical Trinitarianism we can never have one without the other because they are one Spirit; each is the totality of the other which means we cannot have the Holy Spirit without the Father and the Son, We will come (into the believer through the Holy Spirit, John 14:23), and we cannot have the Son without The Father whose Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the Father (Matthew 10:20). The Trinity is Like an Egg How the analogy goes: The Trinity is like an egg. There was no relational deficiency that prompted God to create us. Three persons is false. When discussing God, especially in regards to his nature, being and persons, a simple statement to articulate the Trinity is: God is 1, *. His motto was that "There was a time when the son did not exist". God is NOT like H2O in that He does not need the right pressure and temperature to exist as three persons. According to the first, just as water takes three forms (liquid, vapor, and ice), so too God takes the form of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength (1 Corinthians 1:25). 7But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christs gift., , according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, that you may obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in fullest measure., , But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith; praying in the Holy Spirit; 21keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.. The above picture is a famous work of art by Andrei Rubilev, the great medieval Russian painter of Orthodox icons and frescos. show me your glory. Yet we do not have three gods but ONE God. Now God can be in you by His Spirit! What happens when an egg hatches? This analogy explains that the Father is like the sun. Trinity is like a Shamrock (or an Apple or an Egg). [4] The goal of an analogy is to draw out similarities between it and its referent in illuminating ways, not to define the referent itself. Now that we know the doctrine of the trinity and its corresponding major heresies, now we are ready to look at some bad analogies for the trinity. In the Scripture we see "the fullness of God was pleased to dwell" (Col 1:9). And the Holy Spirit is not the Father or the Son. Deuteronomy 6:4- Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. This verse is also the beginning of the Jewish Shema prayer; their confession of faith. Jesus Person is the image of Gods Person (Hebrews 1:3), and the Invisible Spirit of the Father that is in Him - God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself (II Corinthians 5:19). Some think of God as H 2 O, which is sometimes a solid (ice), sometimes a liquid (water), and sometimes a gas (steam). While an egg has a yolk, a white and a shell to make up the whole, each part is only ever . I know in the past Ive used analogies that werent the best (more on those later.) The trinity is Like a man who is a father, husband, and son. Light comes from God. God is like an egg in that He is 3-in-1 God the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ) and the Holy Spirit. Water can exist in liquid at room temperature. Do you know why I keep saying God is like an egg (or H2O) but God is not like an egg (or H2O)? It can also be a liquid and called water. It is still important that we have some understanding of the concept, however. And a voice from heaven said, This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. God the Father spoke from heaven and spoke of His Son, Jesus. Sadly, theres something "rotten" about this egg analogy. The Holy Spirit is the shell, Jesus is the egg white, and the Father is the egg yolk. Should Women Really Keep Silent in Church? Unfortunately, most of them actually give us the wrong idea about what the Trinity is. Jesus is in the form of the Holy Spirit. Not just for explaining it to others, but to bolster our own faith and see how each One works in our lives. But the Bible is CLEAR in its teaching. For example, triangles are not the kinds of things that are personal. There are, however, some that work better than others. This analogy actually falls prey to the same error of modalism. Yet we do not have three gods but ONE God. So when God created us and revealed Himself to us, what He did was to invite us into the perfect goodness He has always known within Himself. We recommend you adhere these emblems to your vestments by mounting on the material with fabric glue and then stitching them . For sure, our everyday experience does not include using our finite minds to understand the infinite! Some people have suggested using an egg to explain how God can be both one and three. In this analogy, God is compared to a man. In Arianism, the Son is not eternally equal with the Father, but was the Fathers first and best creation. 5And there are varieties of ministries and the same Lord. Revelation 4:3And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. That would not be had God be three persons. He got married there in 1965, and his four . The Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, constructed between 1800 and 1804, is the first Anglican cathedral to have been built outside the British Isles. How can God be Three in One? Each one is fully God. Lastly, below is a helpful graphical chart explaining the doctrine of the Trinity I found from the Christian blog by Tim Challies found at Challies.com. Tritheism denies the unity of the God-head by saying there is just three different gods. Dont grieve the Holy Spirit out of you. What we can understand and accept is that God exists eternally as one divine nature, substance, or essence, comprising three co-equal, co-eternal and consubstantial personsthe Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. THE TRUTH IS: The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are not simply names designating modalities of the divine being, for they are really DISTINCT from one another: He is not the Father who is the Son, nor is the Son he who is the Father, nor is the Holy Spirit he who is the Father or the Son. (CCC 254), 3. The problem with this analogy is that it would imply that there is only one Divine Person, who eventually multiplied Himself. The egg example, while not perfect or complete by any means, will still give us a basic understanding of the primary principle of Biblical Trinitarianism. Its all one person, simply functioning in three different roles. There is what is called the 'triple point' the combination of pressure and temperature at which H2O can exist simultaneously in all three states: solid, liquid and gas. Through the brokenness of the Shell, His Son, the Spirit white pours out into our beings through our faith in what was done and believers are joined with the yolk, for it is by One Spirit we have access to God the Father (Ephesians 2:18). There are two basic ways that people misunderstand the Trinity: 1. Although he is one man who is simultaneously a husband, a father, and a student, he would consider it Modalism to suggest that this is a good Trinitarian analogy. RELATED: What Did Jesus Really Look Like? Some people falsely claim the Trinity is a form of . These attributes are: omnipotence (all-powerful), omniscience (all-knowing), and omnipresence (exists in all places). It is not important merely for the sake of tradition, or because the word itself is taught in the Bible (. Jesus would have remained in the tomb, or hell, had Jesus sinned. This is the error of Arianism (not to be confused with Aryanism, which is also bad). It is the Fathers desire to join His Spirit with all of us as well for He has said They shall be My sons and daughters (II Corinthians 6:18). They say that three separate beings exist 2. But this view, too, wont do. Therefore the eternal brightness shines forth before Him, and co-exists with Him, in that, existing without a beginning, and always begotten, He always shines before Him; and He is that Wisdom which says, I was that wherein He delighted, and I was daily His delight before His face at all times.. Similarly, light and heat are simply creations of the sun, yet it is the heresy of Arianism to claim that the Son or Spirit are mere creations of the Father. God is like H2O in that the Bible may refer to a specific person of the Trinity but that person is still God. For since light is always in existence, it is manifest that its brightness also exists, because light is perceived to exist from the fact that it shines, and it is impossible that light should not shine. Each Person in the Trinity (or the Godhead) is fully God and fully a Person. It does not represent 3 persons existing simultaneously. In order to accomplish this union with God and man, He allowed His Shell to be broken with the weight of our sins to cleanse our souls so His holiness can approach, for God cannot look upon sin (Habakkuk 1:13). Im giving God the credit for stirring this memory, and am extremely grateful. Good and Bad Analogies of the Trinity - Answers . We can think of it this way: the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God. Blessings! - well, sort of. An analogy illustrates that in a similar way, one shamrock can have three leaves on it, and the trinity has three persons that comprise one God. The word Trinity comes from the Latin word trinitas which means tri-unity. The egg shell is the image of the yolk and the white. Arianism is named after the heretic Arius. I'm always interested in ways to encourage you, so feel free to contact me and let me know what areas interest you! The Egg Analogy God is like an egg. PART OF A WHOLE. Understanding 1 Corinthians 14:34-35. So comparing God to water isnt really as helpful as it seems on the surface. To help you out, here is a comical and silly video that teaches about these bad analogies. Water is water, but exists in three different forms: liquid, frozen, or steam. Although the water changes forms it is still H2O. His ways are not my ways! All these make up one egg just as the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit make up one God. But they are one God. I can only shake my head when He does these things! and Holy Spirit are only parts of God (egg and sun). Yet there is still only one God we serve. If youre interested into diving deeper into the topic of the Trinity, here are some valuable resources that could help. Vestment Emblems. The Trinity is distinct in their roles and individuality, but united in their attributes of love, mercy, holiness, knowledge, etc. Therefore, we would rightly say, within the Ontological Trinity, there is no variation or distinction made. One popular and simple illustration of the Trinity is the egg. So cool that God imparted that song in your mind and heart before you even wrote this blog post! RELATED: The Biblical Principle Of Baptism By Fire. Proof texting is when we cite a bunch of bible verses to support a theological stance. An egg has a shell, white, and yolk, but these three are part of an egg or Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao but the same Philippines. God controls that light. In one egg you have the white, the yoke, and the shell composing one full egg. The egg white represents Gods Spirit. Similarly, in our aquatic analogy, water can appear in three different modes, depending on the environment, but the three are not co-existing. Many of these analogies have the best of intentions, but God cannot be described in a way we can fully comprehend or rationalize. When we separate them and view them as individual deities, that is the error of tritheism, which is the worship of three individual gods as one. Each person is fully God (Phil 2; Acts 5:3-4). In using analogies, we need to acknowledge the demerits and limitations of the said analogy. Love was not given to Jesus. The sun comprises the sun itself, its light and its heat. However, in some instances, the use of carefully chosen analogies may be of help for some of our brethren in learning the teachings of the Church. They are equally eternal, powerful, sovereign, and worthy of worship. We Christians believe it on faith. The Holy Spirit is the shell, Jesus is the egg white, and the Father is the egg yolk. Paul explains our finite understanding of beliefs like the Trinity as looking into a poor-quality mirror- a distorted image; dim and unclear. 1B) This son of Graham and Lois Armstrong is Dave. Take a moment and give it a try. The divine persons are really DISTINCT from one another, and not merely different roles of God at different times. It's impossible to be an Orthodox Christian without professing belief in the Triune nature of God. But it cant be that way with God. I dont know how our majestic God feels about being compared to watermelons and eggs, but He is also a loving Father, and like any father, I believe God would seek to provide simple explanations so His little children can understand. If youve been involved in ministries for children or young people, questions about the Trinity have most likely come up. In other words, this view denies Gods oneness. The Egg and I - Part Two The problem with this analogy is that an egg yoke is of a very different substance than a shell. There are two basic ways that people misunderstand the Trinity: 1. She would explode!" Our God is three in one. Yet we do not have three gods but ONE God. God is one. As a doctrine (belief), the trinity is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as three separate and distinct persons united in one being- God. Though I find the video to be hilarious and often . Here are a few of the many verses giving evidence of the Trinity in the Bible: Genesis 1:1&2- In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth The Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. The Holy Spirit was an active participant in the creative process. The meme above discourages the use of analogies in explaining the Trinity. Heat it up, and it turns to vapor. How can we ever explain our Most High, exalted, powerful, uncontainable, and most glorious God? They are unified in one divine being. The three distinct notes come together to make one beautiful sound. The Trinity is not real in my life because of superior knowledge or insight. Stars were made on the froth day. As a result, this analogy actually teaches modalism. Here are four. He explains why the doctrine of the Trinity is essential to the gospel even if it seems abstract or confusing, highlights why all analogies and metaphors are of limited value when thinking about the Godhead, and responds to the . The Son "proceeds" from the Father, and the Holy Spirit "proceeds from the Father and the Son.". His being is somewhat of a mystery to us. For instance at the baptism of Christ, the Father, Son and Spirit are all distinctly present and interacting (Matthew chapter 3 verses 16-17). But we cannot do that (assuming we can) with God. Armstrong. The Holy Trinity: Egg Analogy The Holy Trinity is GOD in three divine persons GOD the FATHER GOD the HOLY SPIRIT GOD the SON But together they makeup and are still ONE GOD Like how an egg is made up of three things but is still ONE EGG. The Father hears their intercessory prayers. Further, we can label each of the sides. Humans as we are, we cannot fully understand how the three divine Persons, though really distinct from one another, are one and the same God. This analogy actually teaches the heresy of tritheism. God does not play three roles.. Now God can be in you by His Spirit! Few if any have every tried to teach the heresy of Tritheism, but it needs to be mentioned anyway. These two analogies are the "water" analogy and the "egg" analogy. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there you may be also (John14:2, 3). If one of the sides were removed, then there would be no equilateral triangle. But having lots 6 Bible Study Tools To Help You Dive Deeper. God is much bigger than what we can understand yet He is close enough to us so that we can know some things about Him, though not completely and not everything. It is the Fathers desire to join His Spirit with all of us as well for He has said They shall be My sons and daughters (II Corinthians 6:18). Or what? These three persons - Father, Son and Holy Spirit - exist together in complete unity, with no separation, as one divine being. Here many of the creeds help us in clearly articulating the trinity. One cannot remove the Holy Spirit and still have the God as taught in the Bible. However, keep in mind that the one being who is God is a personal being. Did I leave out any analogies? The yolk represents Gods Person, His Being, and His Holiness which generates Light that no man can approach (I Timothy 6:16). Lost will be burned up. But you cannot be broken when your faith is in Jesus, for the Spirit of the Son that lives in us and gives us the voice through which we cry Abba, Father, (Galatians 4:6,) this Spirit of the Father that dwells within you is there to strengthen, protect and guard your person. Common, yes. A good example would be an electrical cord. The Trinity is a tri-unity, a unity of Three, - God the Father, Jesus, the Son of God and the Holy Spirit. Copyright 2023 Christian Today. Matthew 3:16-17- As soon as Jesus was baptized, He went up out of the water. The shortfall of this illustration, and others like it, is that God cannot be divided into "parts." So God performs 3 different roles/relationships but 1 God. THE DISTINCTION AND UNITY of the Trinity is not for us to fully understand because it is a supernatural mystery. It is not existing as 3 different parts (persons) at the same time. Have you wondered what is God like? When we see them as three individual spirits, (God is one Spirit John 4:24), then that is the blasphemy of polytheism which is the worship of more than one God. In an attempt to explain the Trinity, there are some bad examples people use, and some better ones. Its impossible to be an Orthodox Christian without professing belief in the Triune nature of God. Is He Jesus side-kick? How do we make sense of the Trinity? The white of an egg is the connection between the yolk and the shell. The trinity is a mystery that cannot be fully comprehended. The angel answered (Mary), The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High (referring to the Father, italics mine) will overshadow you. Shively The analogy breaks down because the three cloves are overly distinct and cannot represent the unity of God. This was first used by Patrick of Ireland (yes there really was a Patrick of Ireland and he was a great guy), around 400 A.D. 2. The unseen Father is in Christs mind. He is married to Shamsa Lea, is the father of Amira, and loves boxing and studying Theology. Because God is utterly unique, all comparisons will fail at some point. I think the analogy of the Sun works well. Although he is one he has different roles to different people. But Jesus makes it clear in John 10:30- I and the Father are One. The Greek word for one means one thing, not one person. They are united in their essence (spirit, nature) but not identical persons. This is why Jesus said, He who has seen Me, has seen the Father (John 14:9). I write to see memory and language wrestle with reality. But if modalism is true, and the Trinity really is like water, then the story of Jesus (the Son) praying to the Father as recorded in the Bible seems like an awfully strange masquerade. Jesus then becomes a created being and thus less than fully God. It falls into the heresy of tri-theism. When we view the egg in its entirety we have the Biblical Trinity, One that is Three. The Unseen Father and Father that is seen existed at the same time. . Jonathon serves as a lay pastor at Gospel Life Church in New Braunfels, TX and currently works as the IT Manager for a non-profit ministry. This is a quick way to describe the doctrine of the Trinity namely, God is 1 being (the what is Gods nature, essence, being) and 3 whos (the whos being Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). But while this idea is central to the Christian faith, it is also incredibly mysterious to us. Truly, it is a Mystery. When we separate them we can fall into the error of tritheism, which is the worship of three individual deities as one. So, part of understanding the Trinity is realizing that God is personal and relational. This analogy is an invalid comparison to the Trinity and is a heresy called PARTIALISM. The word trinity is not in the Scriptures, but is a word used to describe the three in one God revealed in the Bible. Yet others have thought that H20 (water) shows us the Trinity since H20 can be three things: solid (ice), liquid (running water) and vapor (steam). I have the good one. For the Trinity, instead of using the formula 1+1+1, we use 1x1x1. The Bible teaches that the Father is God, that Jesus is God, and that the Holy Spirit is God. A person distinguishes himself from others by saying me, mine, you, yours, etc. A being is the whole nature or essence of something. Now, as youve probably guessed, this analogy also breaks down. This means there is a sense in which all 3 persons may act or speak as one. In humans, our spirits are designed to operate with and be united to the soul which is the person of anyone and so it is with our Egg. This may be my favorite verse of them all. Yet, the trinity is mysterious. Or, we can quote Daniel Webster; a strong Christian- I do not pretend fully to understand the arithmetic of heaven now. . We believe that it is a revelation that comes from Christ Himself. Somewhere in the recesses of my mind lived the doctrinal truth about the Trinity. we worship one God in trinity and the trinity in unity,neither blending their personsnor dividing their essence. Thankfully he isnt a cage-stage Calvinist about it all. What makes it hard is that all of our analogies and metaphors fall short of capturing what the Trinity actually is. In trying to describe what they saw in the pages of the Bible, the early church decided to use the word person to describe the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. RELATED: Did Jesus Really Rise From The Dead? In the same way, water is all the same molecular structure, expressing itself in three different modes. Perhaps we must be content to admit that we cannot fully understand Gods nature in our finitude. Now were going to look at how some people often misunderstand the Trinity. The three parts create a unified whole. The doctrine of the Trinity is one of the primary tenants of the Christian faith. Time exists as 3 things: past, present, and future. This is just as bad as the Water analogy and leads to the same error. The idea that the Trinity can be compared to a shamrock is largely attributed to St. Patrick. See the depths of Catholicism for yourself! Likewise we cannot have the Father or His Spirit without the Son I am the Way the Truth and the Life, no one comes to the Father except by Me- John 14:6. THE TRUTH IS: From the very beginning, the Blessed Trinity Father, Son, and Spirit was there. The mystery is in the "how" this is accomplished; something we will finally understand in heaven. You can also catch up with me on Facebook, Pinterest, and TikTok The very definition of the heresy known as Modalism/Oneness is that there is one person existing in three different modes or manifestations. The Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Spirit is God. Thus, the Father Himself is not God, nor is the Son, nor is the Holy Spirit, but combining the three, there is one God. Furthermore, this trinity is related to a shamrock, an apple, or an egg. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are each called Jehovah (or Spirit of Jehovah), given divine attributes, and, (usually there is no argument that the Father is not God, since every place Jesus speaks to God, he is addressing the Father.). Both are one. What is the Trinity? The trinity is like water. Theyve transformed. A certain YouTube page created a famous video titled "St. Patrick's Bad Analogies" (which can be found here), in which the historic St. Patrick meets charming villagers who deride him based on the analogies which he uses in the process of explaining the Holy Trinity. The water analogy of the Trinity follows this line of reasoning: water can be a solid (ice/frozen water), liquid, and gas (water vapor), and yet all three forms are still water (H 2 O), and likewise, God manifests Himself in 3 different ways in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are each called Jehovah (or Spirit of Jehovah), given divine attributes, and are distinguished from one another. - well, sort of. There would be three thrones. He cares for his creation and his people. The Holy Spirit descended upon Him to equip Him for His ministry. I dont know how our majestic God feels about being compared to watermelons and eggs, but He is also a loving Father, and like any father, I believe God would seek to provide simple explanations so His little children can understand.
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