The Trinity are three distinct persons who exist apart from each other. I think the illustration that represents the Trinity most accurately is the egg example. 3 - The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are distinct persons. This view teaches that three separate beings exist. The trinity is an essential doctrine to the Christian faith. While it captures the idea that God is one, it doesnt do such a good job of showing how God is three and one at the same time. Here are some of them: The problem with this is that it leads to the view that God is a Trinity simply because He relates differently to us at different times. 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. Now God can be in you by His Spirit! This is a worse analogy than the egg because it is more analogous to the heretical doctrine of Modalism/Oneness than for the Trinity. HO may act as water, steam, or ice, but it is still HO. Studying the Trinity poses difficulty to us Catholics. The Son "proceeds" from the Father, and the Holy Spirit "proceeds from the Father and the Son.". Jesus, visually seen, judges all, not the Unseen Father. If one of the persons were not there, then we would not have God. And let us once more come to illustrations. Each PERSON is distinct from one another. 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. The shell, while important, is no longer needed. 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. We all want to experience the good life. But its all water. Some think of God as H 2 O, which is sometimes a solid (ice), sometimes a liquid (water), and sometimes a gas (steam). 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). Moreover, the yoke and the whites are no longer as they used to be. While each person is distinct, they are never separate from one another. I did read about the shamrock analogy! 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.. Son and Holy Ghost are each fully God. Water can be frozen and is called ice. Some people falsely claim the Trinity is a form of . 1A) Dave is a son of Graham and Lois Armstrong. This book is now available in a published format for easy sharing and classroom use. 5And there are varieties of ministries and the same Lord. So under modalism, God acts as the Father in the Old Testament, the son in the Gospels, and the Spirit in Acts and the Epistles. Or have you ever tried to teach kids about the Trinity? When the Bible talks about God, it may be referring to Jesus Christ in a specific instance, the Holy Spirit in another and God the Father in a third occasion. The doctrine of the Trinity is one of the primary tenants of the Christian faith. So whats one good way to explain what the Trinity is? He completed a doctorate in 1990, looking at the question of harmonic rhythm in the organ music of J.S. My name is AnnMarie and I'm so glad you're here! Jesus is the visual form of God. Yeah its definitely a hard thing to understand, let alone explain to little ones ! Yet there is only one God. I know in the past Ive used analogies that werent the best (more on those later.) Therefore, in this context, God is the what and the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are the who. Blessings! The problem with this analogy is that no one molecule of H2O can actually exist as solid, liquid, and gas at the same time. God created us for community, since God is communal and we were created in His image. 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. This analogy is an invalid comparison to the Trinity and is a heresy called PARTIALISM. Analogies that we present would always be insufficient as none of them would equate to the incomprehensible beauty of God. Youre right, theyre all good but not perfect because only God IS perfect. Finally, I would suggest that the mere fact that we cannot understand the full depth of the Trinity (even with our myriad of analogies) has implications. 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. (Describing God as LOVE is my favorite way of understanding the Trinity. It does not imply Jesus was created if you emphasize that the Sun existed from eternity past. ORDER from Barnes and NobleAmazon.com or wherever fine books are soldISBN-13: 978-1978167643Return to Cafe Logos Homepage | Bite-Sized Bible Bites. This is a bad analogy because it fails at the truth that all three persons comprise the fullness of God. Relationship Analogy (Husband/Son/Father) God is like a person with different relationships just as a man can be a Dad, but also someones Son, and also someones Husband. Further, we can label each of the sides. 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. This error denies something central to God that makes Him God. What makes it hard is that all of our analogies and metaphors fall short of capturing what the Trinity actually is. As a doctrine (belief), the trinity is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as three separate and distinct persons united in one being- God. So, in God, there are three distinct persons. The Father hears their intercessory prayers. Each person is fully God (Phil 2; Acts 5:3-4). The Latin word for trinity (trinitas) combines two words- unitas (unity) and trias (three). The Holy Spirit and Son do not send the Father. in that while water can change into vapour or ice, Jesus cannot change into the Father or the Holy Spirit. There is one GOD in three persons (Father, Son, Holy Spirit), 2. Another analogy that Tim remembers, being Irish Catholic, is the analogy of the shamrock with its three parts. 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). 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. If you say, "Jesus Christ" then you MAY BE incorrect. Every kid in Sunday school thinks he knows all about God. It is so important that to deny the trinity is to deny Christianity. The beautiful depth of Gods eternal Triune nature is a sublime reality which should bring an end to our attempts to cognitively master Him. Now if any man has not the Spirit of Christ, he is not His" (Romans 8:9). God is like H2Olike water. Somewhere in the recesses of my mind lived the doctrinal truth about the Trinity. 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 website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. Time Analogy God is like time. 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. There are two basic ways that people misunderstand the Trinity: 1. Each part of the egg make up only one portion of the wholethe yolk is not the fullness of the egg. And then theres Jesus, Gods son. There are three different cloves that represent the three different persons of the trinity. Trinity Egg Analogy . Similarly, people have used the example of the apple in the same way- skin, flesh, and seeds. Space Analogy God is like space. Not just for explaining it to others, but to bolster our own faith and see how each One works in our lives. I bet I havent sung or heard this song in years! 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. 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). 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. Jesus then becomes a created being and thus less than fully God. In the same way is God being the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.. So, the egg analogy doesnt work after all. You can throw away one part of an egg (e.g., shell) and still have essentially an egg. Christians believe, then, that only one God exists but this God exists as a unity of three persons: a Trinity. Instead, each person is co-equal, co-powerful and co-eternal. MULTIPLICATION ANALOGY. So, I shot down a lot of images that seems to be pretty helpful. Therefore it behoves us to know what He has revealed (including the Trinity), and to lovingly worship Him accordingly. 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 . 3:15; John 17:1-4, The Holy Spirit Acts 5:3-4; John 14:16-17, 26; John 16:7-13. Here many of the creeds help us in clearly articulating the trinity. These attributes are: omnipotence (all-powerful), omniscience (all-knowing), and omnipresence (exists in all places). This description that all persons are fully God is called the Ontological Trinity. Light comes from God. One of the more traditional analogies is to the states of water. Its all one person, simply functioning in three different roles. The Son was begotten by the Father IN ETERNITY, and the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. Learn how your comment data is processed. In some ways, it resembles the tritheism view (Misunderstanding 2). The Trinity is Like an Egg How the analogy goes: The Trinity is like an egg. Some people think that H2O cannot exist in all three states simultaneously but that is not true. The military would end up destroying themselves. Understanding 1 Corinthians 14:34-35. God is much bigger and much greater than we can understand, and to be honest, I'm ok with that. This is perhaps the most common analogy for the Trinity. Water at room temperature is liquid. Paul explains our finite understanding of beliefs like the Trinity as looking into a poor-quality mirror- a distorted image; dim and unclear. When we look at the egg as an example of the Trinity, we must view it in its entirety. And for a mere mortal to have dared invent it and be able t. Although God is transcendent, sovereign, unapproachable light, He has condescended to reveal something of Himself to His creation. Dont become discouraged if you cant answer the question to your liking. RELATED: What Did Jesus Really Look Like? This is a place to find encouragement and hope from God's Word as you move through your busy life. Arianism clearly denies the deity of the three persons. He also knows how to perfectly love us. The problem with this analogy is that an egg yoke is of a very different substance than a shell. That fire keeps devils away from the saved. Proof texting is when we cite a bunch of bible verses to support a theological stance. The Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, constructed between 1800 and 1804, is the first Anglican cathedral to have been built outside the British Isles. 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.