And in our efforts to grasp it, weve come up with a number of analogies. You are an egg! He also knows how to perfectly love us. This analogy explains that the Father is like the sun. Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. The Bible reveals that each person of the Trinity has unique roles, relationships, and functions which are distinct from one another. Space consists of three things: height, width, and depth. I think the illustration that represents the Trinity most accurately is the egg example. For instance, we know that God is perfectly loving. They all exist as fully God, with none of them lacking in any attribute or aspect that defines God. Over the course of church history there have been several heresies that have cropped up that deny one of these three truths. This is the one I used long ago when trying to explain the Trinity to a group of 1st-5th graders. La da dee dee dum dum (I couldnt remember the in-between parts). There are two basic ways that people misunderstand the Trinity: 1. God is not made up of 3 'parts' like the 3 parts of the egg. St. Augustine, one of the most important Fathers of the Church, wrote a great deal on the doctrine of the Trinity. Indeed, how can an infinite God be contained in a finite human womb! Blessings! God does not just change forms but exists as three persons in unity. Dont you know Jesus? Lord of all, we bow before thee. This analogy denies the unity of the God-head. I did read about the shamrock analogy! 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. It is still important that we have some understanding of the concept, however. RELATED: What Did Jesus Really Look Like? There would be three thrones. Both are one. I bet I havent sung or heard this song in years! It can also be a liquid and called water. So God performs 3 different roles/relationships but 1 God. 1. For them, a person is someone who could relate to another. When they used the word person, they didnt mean it in the same way that we do today. Yet God lovingly chose to create and eventually redeem us anyway (both thoroughly Trinitarian acts), at great cost to Himself. Again, this analogy doesnt work because God doesnt morph, change, or become different aspects of Himself. Arianism is named after the heretic Arius. 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. Or water can be evaporated and called steam. 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. He wondered how it was possible that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit could be inseparable, while, in . The more I reflect on Easter, the more Ive realized how much its become a consumeristic holidayeven Did Jesus really rise from the dead? Jesus is the visual form of God. 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). One sits on the throne looking like Sardine and Jasper stone. He was with God in the beginning. Water Analogy God is like water, or H2O, which can exist in 3 forms. An explanation that is so common, and seemingly does elucidate how something can simultaneously be three and onecan it really be that bad? 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. 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. Some who deny the Trinity claim 1+1+1=3, and therefore claim we worship three Gods. I know in the past Ive used analogies that werent the best (more on those later.) Genesis 1:26- Let us make man in our image, in our likeness The plural us and our show more than one person was involved. Truly, it is a Mystery. See the depths of Catholicism for yourself! These three persons - Father, Son and Holy Spirit - exist together in complete unity, with no separation, as one divine being. The Spirit white is connected to Jesus Person I will come to you (John 14:18) and the Fathers Person, We will come to him and make our abode with him (John 14:23). We can touch the cord, but not the power it is insulating. The word trinity is not in the Scriptures, but is a word used to describe the three in one God revealed in the Bible. Scripture however, doesnt depict God this way. 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). His ways are not my ways! The unseen Father is in Christs mind. Each of the persons is that supreme reality, viz., the divine substance, essence or nature. (Lateran Council IV), 4. show me your glory. The Trinity is one of the most foundational doctrines of Christianity. The God of the Bible is one God. The Father hears their intercessory prayers. It is so important that to deny the trinity is to deny Christianity. If we separate them we still may have God the Egg yolk, God the Holy Spirit Egg white and God the Son, the Egg shell/image, three individual parts of an Egg, but they cannot be a Trinity, or tri-unity unless they are unified and are seen as one Egg, so to speak. We came up with several practical implications of this doctrine. 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. Stars were made on the forth day. 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 Unseen Father would have been put into Satans prison. Another analogy that Tim remembers, being Irish Catholic, is the analogy of the shamrock with its three parts. The trinity is Like a man who is a father, husband, and son. Trinity Egg Analogy . In using analogies, we need to acknowledge the demerits and limitations of the said analogy. An essential factor lacking from those concepts is the relational quality of God. It taught there is one nature in God, and that there are two processions, three persons, and four relations that constitute the Blessed Trinity. The three parts create a unified whole. They've always led to error and have been rejected by the church. I can only shake my head when He does these things! Perhaps we must be content to admit that we cannot fully understand Gods nature in our finitude. The above picture is a famous work of art by Andrei Rubilev, the great medieval Russian painter of Orthodox icons and frescos. Water at room temperature is liquid. Infinite thy vast domain, everlasting is thy reign.. John introduces us to the Trinity in John 1:1- In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and Word was God. Jesus, the Word, was present in Genesis 1. Genisis 1:17, KJV. History, lifestyle, family, music, theology, scripture, literature, the saints, church history, parenting, politics, prayer, the pope, and more. As a result the water molecule must change forms. The Father is fully God; Jesus is fully God and the Holy Spirit is fully God. 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. copyright 2009 by H.D. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. (Luke 1:35)One of my Sunday School students said, "How could Jesus (God) enter Mary's stomach (womb) and be born? God does not play three roles.. There are two basic ways that people misunderstand the Trinity: 1. Here are 8 Bible Characters Who Should Be More Famous. RELATED: Did Jesus Really Rise From The Dead? Adorn your liturgical vestments with classic images from the Monastery Icons collection. 3 - The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are distinct persons. Celebrating Easter Is About so Much More Than One Hour on Sunday. The past is not the present and the present is not the future, yet all three together is what we call time. We Christians believe it on faith. [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. The problem with this analogy is that it also leads to the heresy of MODALISM. Intercession: The Son intercedes as our High Priest before the Father. 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. The watermelon has a skin, pulp and seeds; the egg is shell, yolk and egg white. He is one God in three persons, all at the same time. 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? Because God is utterly unique, all comparisons will fail at some point. Analogies that we present would always be insufficient as none of them would equate to the incomprehensible beauty of God. Dont become discouraged if you cant answer the question to your liking. 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. Martyn Iles Removed as Managing Director of Australian Christian Lobby by Board, Seven Types of Rest to Restore Your Body, Mind and Spirit, 8 witnesses testified against Hillsong founder Brian Houston in court case, wife Bobbie reveals, Why you feel guilty for not going to church, Samaritan's Purse sends 52-bed field hospital to Turkey. Jesus is the Holy Spirit that saves us. 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). This analogy actually teaches the heresy of modalism. Thankfully he isnt a cage-stage Calvinist about it all. His motto was that "There was a time when the son did not exist". These images fall short, because these components arent enough to be considered a whole on their own. When we look at the egg as an example of the Trinity, we must view it in its entirety. The analogy breaks down because I can simultaneously be a father, husband, and son to any one person. Just as water changes forms so too is the trinity. Perhaps youve heard the analogy that the Trinity is like H2O (the molecular symbol for water). But common sense is intuition based on day-to-day experience. 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 very definition of the heresy known as Modalism/Oneness is that there is one person existing in three different modes or manifestations. 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. in that while water can change into vapour or ice, Jesus cannot change into the Father or the Holy Spirit. What portion of the analogy holds true with Church Teaching?
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