Each one is fully God. What does that really mean? Here are a couple "usefully flawed" analogies for the Trinity. As a result, this analogy actually teaches modalism. This analogy explains that the Father is like the sun. In the same way, water is all the same molecular structure, expressing itself in three different modes. What is the Trinity? In the first place, if we truly claim to love God, then surely we should endeavour to know Him. This is just as bad as the Water analogy and leads to the same error. In using analogies, we need to acknowledge the demerits and limitations of the said analogy. The analogy explains that in the same way that one shamrock can have three leaves on it, the Trinity has three Persons that constitute one God. I'm always interested in ways to encourage you, so feel free to contact me and let me know what areas interest you! This analogy denies the unity of the God-head. He has one essenceone substance. Yet there is only one God. The egg analogy is very simple but it is OK to show something as simple as an egg can be one and yet three. MULTIPLICATION ANALOGY. 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. At the Cathedral, we recognize that there are responsibilities that come with . 1 Corinthians 8:6: Yet for us there is but one God.. The military would like to have that power. 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, 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.). 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. This analogy actually falls prey to the same error of modalism. Shively In scripture we see explicit trinitarian references, especially at Jesus' baptism where the Father speaks, the Spirit descends, and the Son is in the water. The Egg Analogy - This claims to be a good representation of the Trinity because Eggs have three distinct parts: the shell, the yolk, and the whites. RELATED: The Biblical Principle Of Baptism By Fire. St. Augustine, one of the most important Fathers of the Church, wrote a great deal on the doctrine of the Trinity. The Holy Spirit and Son do not send the Father. Every kid in Sunday school thinks he knows all about God. The divine persons are really DISTINCT from one another, and not merely different roles of God at different times. Thanks, Ann! Now, as youve probably guessed, this analogy also breaks down. And the Holy Spirit is not the Father or the Son. Before moving on I should note that providing a full theological explanation of Trinitarian doctrine is well beyond the scope of what I can do here. 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.. This view, also known as "modalism", was rejected by the early church. Part 2. Further, we can label each of the sides. That helps explain the concept quite well- the oneness, unity of God with the distinct three persons of God- Father, Son, and Spirit. The Unseen Father would have been put into Satans prison. He also knows how to perfectly love us. Both are one. In some ways, it resembles the tritheism view (Misunderstanding 2). We believe that it is a revelation that comes from Christ Himself. But having lots 6 Bible Study Tools To Help You Dive Deeper. The Bible teaches that the Father is God, that Jesus is God, and that the Holy Spirit is God. Thus the Father is in Jesus " I and My Father are One" (John 10:30), "The Father is in Me" (John 14:10) God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself (II Corinthians 5:19). Thought of Tim Its amazing to think that everything will be so clear when we het to Heaven! We might call one side A, another side B, and the other C. So, there is a distinction between each of the sides, yet, all three are the same. Who is God? And we know that because Hes been experiencing perfect love within Himself forever. God is Great, I always try to figure out how to explain it to my Sunday school kids and they get confused which i get, how would you explain it to them? But we can (and should) have a solid foundation to explain this core belief of our faith. Jesus Person is joined to the Father by the Fathers Holy Spirit, because Gods Spirit is also Jesus Spirit - "But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if the Spirit of God dwells in you. God is not made up of 3 'parts' like the 3 parts of the egg. Modalism teaches that one God just changes forms or modes over the course of scripture. The three-leaf clover analogy is OK. Paul leaves the Corinthians with this blessing in 2 Corinthians 13:14- May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.. The doctrine of the Trinity tells us that there's ONE GOD who is THREE distinct PERSONS existing as a community of self-giving and loving relationships with each other. This is a quick way to describe the doctrine of the Trinity namely, God is 1 being (the, is Gods nature, essence, being) and 3 whos (the, being Father, Son, and 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. In one of his sermons, he wrestled with the passage in Scripture recounting Jesus' Baptism. The word Trinity comes from the Latin word trinitas which means tri-unity. Here are a few common illustrations: The Egg- One egg has three parts: shell, whites, and yolk. He has the world and our individual lives within His supremely capable hands. Jesus isn't a demigod or partially god. When discussing God, especially in regards to his nature, being and persons, a simple statement to articulate the Trinity is: God is 1, *. Believing in the above 3 points leads all Christians to acceptance of the doctrine of the Trinity. The problem with this analogy is that an egg yoke is of a very different substance than a shell. A single molecule cannot simultaneously exist in three different states. The Father Matthew 27:45-46 (usually there is no argument that the Father is not God, since every place Jesus speaks to God, he is addressing the Father. For sure, our everyday experience does not include using our finite minds to understand the infinite! God is one. Here are some common analogies that Christians have used about the Trinity: God is kind of like water which can be ice, liquid and steam. Its impossible to be an Orthodox Christian without professing belief in the Triune nature of God. Stars were made on the forth day. 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. They are unified in one divine being. In reality, I change my role depending on who I am interacting with. Afterall, we can get rid of a few of its parts - for instance the shell - and still scramble an egg. But while this idea is central to the Christian faith, it is also incredibly mysterious to us. Discover the richness of the old yet living 2,000-year-old religion which built the West. Jesus loves us so much that he did not obliterate people who died, with power that set stars in the universe. He is married to Shamsa Lea, is the father of Amira, and loves running, boxing and studying history and theology. Let's use an egg to explain the Holy Trinity! Genisis 1:17, KJV. That is heaven in a person. They suggest that only one God exists but this God transforms or morphs into each of the different persons. Well the issue is, the water analogy is akin to the heresy of Modalism. 3 - The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are distinct persons. THE TRUTH IS: From the very beginning, the Blessed Trinity Father, Son, and Spirit was there. My intention is merely to address some common erroneous analogies, including water. This is not an exhaustive list: For further reading on the Trinity, I would recommend James Whites The Forgotten Trinity, Wayne Grudems Systematic Theology and online articles by CARM.org. This is a bad analogy because it fails at the truth that all three persons comprise the fullness of God. The doctrine of the Trinity is one of the primary tenants of the Christian faith. In the Scripture we see "the fullness of God was pleased to dwell" (Col 1:9). As we examine the scriptural witness we see three truths that make up the doctrine of the trinity. Unfortunately, no analogy is perfect. Our words should dissipate and be replaced instead with an awestruck adoration and wonder, as we realise the only appropriate response is to fall to our knees and humbly worship the one truly perfect, unified divine essence, comprising three diverse, co-equal and co-eternal divine persons. Here are 8 Bible Characters Who Should Be More Famous. History, lifestyle, family, music, theology, scripture, literature, the saints, church history, parenting, politics, prayer, the pope, and more. 1A) Dave is a son of Graham and Lois Armstrong. Heat it up, and it turns to vapor. One day, however, the image will be clear. Few topics of discussion in the Christian faith are more confusing than the idea of the Trinity. Just like an egg, none of the parts are co-equal, nor are all of the parts necessary for the egg to exist. Some people falsely claim the Trinity is a form of . Adorn your liturgical vestments with classic images from the Monastery Icons collection. Yet, the trinity is mysterious. Space Analogy God is like space. The three distinct notes come together to make one beautiful sound. This is perhaps the most common analogy for the Trinity. Vestment Emblems. The egg has a shell, the whites and a yoke. The meme above discourages the use of analogies in explaining the Trinity. Jesus is the Holy Spirit that saves us. - well, sort of. Some think of God as H 2 O, which is sometimes a solid (ice), sometimes a liquid (water), and sometimes a gas (steam). A good example would be an electrical cord. This analogy denies the unity of the God-head. As a result, this analogy can easily lead to tritheism in which there are three different gods which might share some like substance. He began to play the organ as a chorister in England, before continuing his studies in Qubec and France. Somewhere in the recesses of my mind lived the doctrinal truth about the Trinity. There is one GOD in three persons (Father, Son, Holy Spirit), 2. The analogy breaks down because I can simultaneously be a father, husband, and son to any one person. The Trinity is distinct in their roles and individuality, but united in their attributes of love, mercy, holiness, knowledge, etc. The Holy Spirit is Christs spirit in us guiding us into all truth. True, we humans are image bearers but nothing in creation serves as an analogy for the Trinity because the Trinity is a doctrine of special (biblical) revelation not nature or reason. The Trinity is not 1 + 1 + 1 but more like 1 x 1 x 1. And the reason we know that is because the Persons of the Godhead have perfectly loved each other for all eternity. 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. Love was not given to Jesus. Dont you know Jesus? Do you know why I keep saying God is like an egg (or H2O) but God is not like an egg (or H2O)? The Trinity is one of the most foundational doctrines of Christianity. 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. It is the Central Mystery of our Christian faith. The trinity is like water. THE DISTINCTION AND UNITY of the Trinity is not for us to fully understand because it is a supernatural mystery. For the Trinity, instead of using the formula 1+1+1, we use 1x1x1. . Here are four. So God performs 3 different roles/relationships but 1 God. We can admit it is a mystery and accept that our incomplete knowledge cannot fully comprehend it. Some people think that H2O cannot exist in all three states simultaneously but that is not true. This is a place to find encouragement and hope from God's Word as you move through your busy life. The Father is fully God; Jesus is fully God and the Holy Spirit is fully God. We believe in only one true God in all existence, in all places, at all times. 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. Each character of the trinity has in one another (cf. What portion is erroneous? How would you explain the Trinity if someone asked you right now? In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Each one is fully God. There have been many attempts to explain the Trinity the relationship between God the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. His ways are not my ways! This analogy is an invalid comparison to the Trinity and is a heresy called PARTIALISM. Therefore it behoves us to know what He has revealed (including the Trinity), and to lovingly worship Him accordingly. 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. Common, yes. show me your glory. If you're looking to dive deeper into God's word, here are 6 kinds of bible study tools and resources 9 Influential Female Leaders in the New Testament. 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). The Holy Trinity, one of the five Dogmas of the Church, is an extraordinary and unfathomable mystery. 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 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). ANALOGY OF CHARACTERS. If water is inadequate, there are a wide array of alternative analogies we can turn to in modern theological parlance. Its a very common explanation within the church to try to explain how God, who clearly exhorts His followers to preserve His supreme oneness (Deuteronomy chapter 6 verse 4), could also be identified with Jesus (Titus chapter 2 verse 13), and the Holy Spirit (Acts chapter 5 verses 3-4). Another analogy that Tim remembers, being Irish Catholic, is the analogy of the shamrock with its three parts. If the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are three separate beings, then its not really clear how someone can say that God is one or that only one God exists. This view teaches that three separate beings exist. He has been a member of the Royal Australian Air Force since 2007, and is now training to be an Air Force Chaplain. Son and Holy Ghost are each fully God. H2O can exist in three forms: liquid, gas and solid. Therefore, there is one God, who is eternally present in three persons. The Unseen Father is in Christs mind. When they used the word person, they didnt mean it in the same way that we do today. God does not just change forms but exists as three persons in unity. What makes it hard is that all of our analogies and metaphors fall short of capturing what the Trinity actually is. The Holy Spirit is the shell, Jesus is the egg white, and the Father is the egg yolk. Each person is fully God (Phil 2; Acts 5:3-4). is not). Check out verse four: Holy Author, Holy Word, Holy Spirit, three we name thee; Still, one holy voice is heard; undivided God, we claim thee, and adoring bend the knee, while we own the mystery. . The Son "proceeds" from the Father, and the Holy Spirit "proceeds from the Father and the Son.". See the depths of Catholicism for yourself! As a doctrine (belief), the trinity is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as three separate and distinct persons united in one being- God. As a doctrine (belief), the trinity is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as three separate and distinct persons united in one being- God. Not just for explaining it to others, but to bolster our own faith and see how each One works in our lives. They that dont have the Holy Spirit in them will talk like the Adversary. Though I find the video to be hilarious and often . This is why Jesus said, He who has seen Me, has seen the Father (John 14:9). These images fall short, because these components arent enough to be considered a whole on their own. Water Analogy God is like water, or H2O, which can exist in 3 forms. 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). Shively, This book is now available in a published format for easy sharing and classroom use. This error denies something central to God that makes Him God. Is He Jesus side-kick? The watermelon has a skin, pulp and seeds; the egg is shell, yolk and egg white. The Trinity are three distinct persons who exist apart from each other. This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. If all you had were an eggshell, you wouldnt have a very exciting breakfast. A chicken egg consists of a shell, a yolk, and an egg white, yet it is altogether one egg. This analogy sounds pretty good, but it is fatally flawed in that is describes the Son and Spirit as creations of the Father. Scripture however, doesnt depict God this way. The beautiful depth of Gods eternal Triune nature is a sublime reality which should bring an end to our attempts to cognitively master Him. This analogy actually teaches the heresy of modalism. The trinity is a like a Three-Leaf Clover. Thus, the Father Himself is not God, nor is the Son, nor is the Holy Spirit, but combining the three, there is one God. We came up with several practical implications of this doctrine. I write to see memory and language wrestle with reality. Yet we do not have three gods but ONE God. According to modalism, God does not actually exist in three persons. But thats not how they understood it. This is a general rule when we study this Mystery using our human weakness since it is absolutely impossible for our human minds to comprehend the Divine. Yet it appears to be almost entirely misunderstood within contemporary evangelical circles. Water can be frozen and is called ice. I believe that the best way to talk about the Trinity is to simply say that God is one God, who eternally exists in three Persons. Light comes from God. I go to prepare a place for you. The Unseen Father is in Christs mind. If you only had an apple core, you wouldnt pack it in your lunch. In other words, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have a unique and unbreakable unity, and their existence together is the being that is God. Trinity Egg Analogy . But they are one God. Despite its potential obscurity, Trinity Sunday is a great occasion for me to revisit an old article on the Trinity. This is the one I used long ago when trying to explain the Trinity to a group of 1st-5th graders. What happens when an egg hatches? Its all one person, simply functioning in three different roles. God controls that light. The Trinity is Like an Egg How the analogy goes: The Trinity is like an egg. He differs from the Father, but was and still is God. Light comes from God. Arianism is named after the heretic Arius. We can touch the cord, but not the power it is insulating. When we use analogies, we need to indicate these things so as to not lead to heresies, A Catholic and Filipino writer interested in theology, philosophy, liturgy, politics, and law. It is still H20, but just different forms. Jesus then becomes a created being and thus less than fully God. While an egg has a yolk, a white and a shell to make up the whole, each part is only ever . 3:15; John 17:1-4, The Holy Spirit Acts 5:3-4; John 14:16-17, 26; John 16:7-13. He is married to Shamsa Lea, is the father of Amira, and loves boxing and studying Theology. God is not made up of 3 parts like the 3 parts of the egg. In Jesus is the fullness of the Godhead bodily (Colossians 2:9). Haydn Lea is an Ordained Minister, and is currently serving as an Air Force Chaplain in Adelaide. This analogy is still not perfect because each of the aspect cannot stand as egg like each of the persons in the trinity can stand as God. If you need to use an analogy, then use a good one. 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. 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. That is why Moses said. in that while water can change into vapour or ice, Jesus cannot change into the Father or the Holy Spirit. For example, an equilateral triangle (a triangle with three equal sides) has three sides. (Describing God as LOVE is my favorite way of understanding the Trinity. If the Sun existed from eternity past then so were the light rays from the Sun. Jesus, visually seen, judges all, not the Unseen Father. Does that make sense? Jesus is the Holy Spirit. The Church should not forget that these heresies still exist in the present day and is even being taught by some priests and catechists. RELATED: What Did Jesus Really Look Like? In the same way, at one moment God is the Father, but at different times God morphs or transforms into the Son or Holy Spirit. 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 . We define a person as one having a will and who is distinguishable from another person. It is so important that to deny the trinity is to deny Christianity. Arianism clearly denies the deity of the three persons. Just as water changes forms so too is the trinity. For instance at the baptism of Christ, the Father, Son and Spirit are all distinctly present and interacting (Matthew chapter 3 verses 16-17). 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. I think the illustration that represents the Trinity most accurately is the egg example. They are three in one egg. The egg (or apple) fails in that the shell, white, and yolk are parts of the egg, not the egg in themselves, just as the skin, flesh, and seeds of the apple are parts of it, not the apple itself. One sits on the throne looking like Sardine and Jasper stone. These three persons - Father, Son and Holy Spirit - exist together in complete unity, with no separation, as one divine being. The Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, constructed between 1800 and 1804, is the first Anglican cathedral to have been built outside the British Isles. The Holy Spirit is like the heat that the sun produces, unseen yet powerful and effective in making the sun felt. The problem with this analogy is that it would imply that there is only one Divine Person, who eventually multiplied Himself. 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. The Latin word for trinity (trinitas) combines two words- unitas (unity) and trias (three). However, Christians through the ages believe in the Trinity because the truths it represents are taught in the Bible. In contrast to the Ontological Trinity, there is the Economic Trinity. Stars were made on the froth day. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father., 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. Perhaps we must be content to admit that we cannot fully understand Gods nature in our finitude. Ontological means the nature or essence of something. There are some analogies that come close. 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. 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. These attributes are: omnipotence (all-powerful), omniscience (all-knowing), and omnipresence (exists in all places). In this analogy, God is compared to a man. Being the brightness of the eternal Light, He Himself also is absolutely eternal. The problem with this analogy is that it denies the distinction of persons in the God-head. Jesus is the visual form of God. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,, , Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. Examples of these different roles would be: The Incarnation: Only the Son became incarnate, took on flesh. 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 following verses attest to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19). 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. When we view the egg in its entirety we have the Biblical Trinity, One that is Three. The Father hears their intercessory prayers. He has been relationally fulfilled within Himself since forever. 5And there are varieties of ministries and the same Lord. It leads to the heresy of MODALISM which teaches that God switches to different modes. 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). But we cannot do that (assuming we can) with God. La da dee dee dum dum (I couldnt remember the in-between parts). God is like an egg in that He is 3-in-1 God the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ) and the Holy Spirit. Analogies often fall short. Another wrong illustration is using ourselves: I am one person, but also a wife, mother, and writer.