Understanding the Doctrine of the Trinity

The Doctrine stated thus

ABSTRACT: In this essay, I hope to reintroduce the Doctrine of the Trinity, discuss some traditional analogies that have been used to explicate it.

The Doctrine of the Trinity as previously stated is the following:

    (1) There is only ONE God.

    (2) The Son is God.
    (3) The Father is God.
    (4) The Holy Spirit is God.

    and

 		  

    (5) The Son is niether the Father, nor the Holy Spirit, and the Father is not the Holy Spirit.

As you may notice, there is something quirky going on here. On the one hand we seem to be saying that there are 3 Gods - the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and on the other hand, we seem to be saying that there is only one God. So are there three gods or just one ? Something is amiss.

As Christians we are to affirm that there is only one God, not three, so how are we to understand this ?

Typically a number of analogies are offered to help us understand this Doctrine.
Here are some that I've heard :

example. 1 - The sun, sunlight, and its heat.

example. 2 - An egg. Three distinct parts: the yolk, the egg white, and the eggyolk together.

example. 3 - The 3 leaf clover. There are three leaves that are unique and distinct while the three still make up one clover.

example. 4 - Water can exist in 3 phases, solid, liquid and steam.
Ice is water. Steam is water. Just like God in 3 phases: The Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

example. 5 - The Mobius Strip - One side or two sides. Two of what in One of what ??? See the M.C. drawing of a Mobius up above.

Here are some more examples at Mr. D's theology notes : http://www.open.org/~mrdsnts/d01900.htm

All of these analogies fall short at one point or another. Lets see how.

The Sun analogy: God would be like the the Sun, the heat would be like the Holy Spirit, and the sunlight would be the Son. All these three help make up the sun. Afterall, without sunlight, can we have a sun ? No. Yet the sun is not the sunlight itself. Weird. It is possible for light and heat to make up the sun, and not be identical to each other. Just like the members of the Godhead, not being identical to each other.

The egg example would be similar to the sun example.

In the 3 leaf clover example, there are 3 distinct leaves ... that taken together form the 3 leaf clover. This example is a mess. First off who says that each clover is distinct ? The 3 leaves that make up the clover seem to me to be in a parts/whole relationship. That is, each leaf individually, is a part of the clover. Neither the Son, nor the Father, nor the HSP are a part of God. They are God. For the clover example to stand, each of the leaves, petals, ... whatever... must be the clover itself.

In the H2O example, we have one thing - water existing in three different phases. We know that ice is made up of H2O, that steam is made up of H2O, and obviously that liquid itself is H2O. The example would go something like the following: Ice, steam, liquid are H2O. There is only one H2O. But yet clearly, ice is not the same as steam, liquid water is not the same thing as ice, etc... Yet they are all H2O. God does not exist in phases however. God is not one moment the Holy Spirit, and the next moment the Son. God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit at the same time allways. (This example is a mess. In trying to explain it, I myself had a hard time seeing its relevance.)

So... whats the deal with all of these analogies ? Whats the point in going through any of these analogies, if their explanatory power is gimped by one flaw or another upon closer inspection ? Of what value are these analogies ?

Here's my take. I think that these analogies show to us that it isnt just the DOT that is wierd, but that the world itself is a wierd place to live in. There more to it than meets the eye. These weirdness of these analogies make the weirdness of the DOT a less weird. I mean just I havent even gone into the philosophical metaphysics behind these analogies. They can give you a mental breakdown. No kidding.

by A. Raj Rao

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