Rowan
Active member
Some people think that the doctrine of the Trinity means that Christians believe in three gods. This is the idea of tritheism, which the church has categorically rejected throughout its history. Others see the Trinity as the church’s retreat into contradiction.
I once Read a book by a man who had a PhD in philosophy, and he objected to Christianity on the grounds that the doctrine of the Trinity represented a manifest contradiction—the idea that one can also be three—at the heart of the Christian faith. Apparently this professor of philosophy was not familiar with the law of non-contradiction.
That law states, “A cannot be A and non-A at the same time and in the same relationship.” When we confess our faith in the Trinity, we affirm that God is one in essence and three in person. Thus, God is one in A and three in B. If we said that He is one in essence and three in essence, that would be a contradiction. If we said He is one in person and three in person, that also would be a contradiction. But as mysterious as the Trinity is, perhaps even above and beyond our capacity to understand it in its fullness, the historic formula is not a contradiction.
So before I can make a thread about the Trinity, I think my OP Should be about unity, because the word Trinity means “tri-unity.” Behind the concept of unity is the biblical affirmation of monotheism. The prefix mono means “one or single,” while the root word theism has to do with God. So, monotheism conveys the idea that there is only one God.
Many unbiblical positions can be traced back to a misunderstanding of the nature of God. God has revealed to us in His Word some aspects of His nature. If we are to have a correct understanding of God, then we must accept what God has said about Himself. This is why the Trinity is an essential Christian doctrine. Many people deny what the Bible says about God’s nature, and instead place their faith in a god they have produced from their own imagination – a god that is easier to understand. The problem is, an imaginary god cannot save you. Only the real God can. And the real God is Triune. But what does the Trinity actually mean, and does the Bible really teach this doctrine?
Here is what R. C. Sproul Teaches on the trinity:
The “Trinity” is a term we use as a short-hand way of referring to several doctrines pertaining to the nature of God. Succinctly stated, these doctrines are as follows:
1. There is one and only one God. That is, there is exactly one all-powerful, all-knowing being we call “God” or “the Lord” or by the Hebrew name “Yahweh.”
2. There are three co-equal persons who are God: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
3. The three persons of God are each fully God and are eternally distinct from each other. In other words, the Father is not the Son or the Spirit, nor is the Son the Spirit, but each is fully God and this has always been that way and will always be that way.
Any position that denies one or more of these doctrines is, by definition, a non-trinitarian position. This is crucial because when people argue against the Trinity, most of the time they do not understand the Trinity. Their arguments are actually arguments against a misrepresentation of the Trinity: a straw-man fallacy. For example, some people seem to have the impression that the Trinity is teaching that there are three gods. But this is not so. In fact, I have heard people argue against the Trinity on the basis that the Bible teaches that there is only one God (monotheism) in passages such as Deuteronomy 6:4. But of course, the Trinity affirms monotheism; it is the first doctrine of the Trinity!
The word “trinity” stems from the prefix “tri” meaning “three,” and “unity” meaning “one.” Hence, there is a one-ness aspect of God, and a three-ness aspect of God. The one-ness aspect of God is His being or His nature. There is one all-powerful being. (A moment’s reflection reveals that logically there can be only one all-powerful being.) However, this one being is comprised of three persons defined in terms of their relationship to each other. It should be clear that a person is not the same as a being. A rock has “being” because it exists. But it is not a person.
So the sense in which God is one is different from the sense in which God is three. Perhaps a simplistic way to put it is this: God is one “what” and three “who’s.” This is a crucial distinction because people who don’t understand the Trinity often assert that the concept is contradictory. They say “God can’t be both one and three because that is a contradiction.” But a contradiction is to assert both A and not-A at the same time and in the same sense. If I said “God is (only) one being and God is three beings,” then that would be a contradiction. And if I said, “God is (only) one person and also three persons in the same sense,” then that too would be a contradiction. But neither of these assertions is the Trinity. There is no contradiction in asserting that God is one in one sense (being/nature), and three in a different sense (persons). It may be counter-intuitive or contrary to our preferences or expectations. But it violates no principle of logic.
Indeed, many things in nature are one in one sense, and more than one in a different sense. The physical universe is one universe, but it is three in terms of components: space, time, and matter. Furthermore, there is only one space, but space is three in terms of dimensions (height, width, and depth). Time is one dimension but with three aspects: past, present, and future. There is nothing contradictory or absurd in recognizing that something can be one in one sense, and three in a different sense. Note that I am not saying that the above examples are exactly like the Trinity.[1] But they do demonstrate the irrationality of asserting that something cannot possibly be one in one sense and more than one in an entirely different sense. The Lord has provided us with a universe of counterexamples.
The church itself is an example of one “what,” but more than one “who.” The universal church consists of all those who have been saved by Jesus. The one church is comprised of many persons. This example isn’t exactly like the divine Trinity because each person in the church is not “the church,” whereas each person of the Trinity is fully God. But it does illustrate a familiar example of one “what” with more than one “who.”
Some might ask, “But can you show me an analogy that is just like the divine Trinity?” No. There are many three-in-ones, but none are exactly like God. And there is a good reason for this. God is unique (Isaiah 46:9). He alone is one divine being consisting of three eternally distinct persons who are fully God. There is nothing besides God that is just like God. Deal with it. You can either humbly accept what God has said about Himself, or you can make up your own idol that is easier to understand. (But your idol cannot save you from your sins.)
So what then do we mean by the “persons” of the Trinity? We might initially think of a “person” in terms of a physical body, but God is a an omni-present spirit. He doesn’t have a physical body.[2] So this isn’t what we mean. Rather, we use the term “person” to speak of the personal relationships within the one being who is God. There is love and communication between the three persons who are God (John 5:20, Genesis 1:26). Each person has a particular role in the redemption of God’s people (John 6:44, 3:5). Each is a distinct witness to the events of history (John 5:31-37).
You might say, “But I don’t fully understand the nature of God.” But would you expect a finite being to be able to fully understand the infinite mind and uncreated nature of the eternal God? God doesn’t expect or require us to fully comprehend his nature (Deuteronomy 29:29). But He does require us to have faith that He is who and what He claims to be. And He Himself gives us such faith as He wills (Hebrews 12:2).
Some critics assert, “But the term ‘Trinity’ is not found in the Bible.” That’s true. But it is utterly irrelevant to the truth of the doctrine. After all, there are many modern terms not found in the Bible that nonetheless describe biblical principles. For example, God is omniscient, meaning he knows everything. The word “omniscient” isn’t found in most English Bibles. But the principle that God knows everything is definitely taught (Psalm 147:5). Even the term “Christianity” is not found in the Bible, but does that make “Christianity” unbiblical? Of course not! The term “monotheism” is not found in the Bible. But the Bible does endorse the principle that there is only one God – that’s monotheism.
I once Read a book by a man who had a PhD in philosophy, and he objected to Christianity on the grounds that the doctrine of the Trinity represented a manifest contradiction—the idea that one can also be three—at the heart of the Christian faith. Apparently this professor of philosophy was not familiar with the law of non-contradiction.
That law states, “A cannot be A and non-A at the same time and in the same relationship.” When we confess our faith in the Trinity, we affirm that God is one in essence and three in person. Thus, God is one in A and three in B. If we said that He is one in essence and three in essence, that would be a contradiction. If we said He is one in person and three in person, that also would be a contradiction. But as mysterious as the Trinity is, perhaps even above and beyond our capacity to understand it in its fullness, the historic formula is not a contradiction.
So before I can make a thread about the Trinity, I think my OP Should be about unity, because the word Trinity means “tri-unity.” Behind the concept of unity is the biblical affirmation of monotheism. The prefix mono means “one or single,” while the root word theism has to do with God. So, monotheism conveys the idea that there is only one God.
Many unbiblical positions can be traced back to a misunderstanding of the nature of God. God has revealed to us in His Word some aspects of His nature. If we are to have a correct understanding of God, then we must accept what God has said about Himself. This is why the Trinity is an essential Christian doctrine. Many people deny what the Bible says about God’s nature, and instead place their faith in a god they have produced from their own imagination – a god that is easier to understand. The problem is, an imaginary god cannot save you. Only the real God can. And the real God is Triune. But what does the Trinity actually mean, and does the Bible really teach this doctrine?
Here is what R. C. Sproul Teaches on the trinity:
The “Trinity” is a term we use as a short-hand way of referring to several doctrines pertaining to the nature of God. Succinctly stated, these doctrines are as follows:
1. There is one and only one God. That is, there is exactly one all-powerful, all-knowing being we call “God” or “the Lord” or by the Hebrew name “Yahweh.”
2. There are three co-equal persons who are God: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
3. The three persons of God are each fully God and are eternally distinct from each other. In other words, the Father is not the Son or the Spirit, nor is the Son the Spirit, but each is fully God and this has always been that way and will always be that way.
Any position that denies one or more of these doctrines is, by definition, a non-trinitarian position. This is crucial because when people argue against the Trinity, most of the time they do not understand the Trinity. Their arguments are actually arguments against a misrepresentation of the Trinity: a straw-man fallacy. For example, some people seem to have the impression that the Trinity is teaching that there are three gods. But this is not so. In fact, I have heard people argue against the Trinity on the basis that the Bible teaches that there is only one God (monotheism) in passages such as Deuteronomy 6:4. But of course, the Trinity affirms monotheism; it is the first doctrine of the Trinity!
The word “trinity” stems from the prefix “tri” meaning “three,” and “unity” meaning “one.” Hence, there is a one-ness aspect of God, and a three-ness aspect of God. The one-ness aspect of God is His being or His nature. There is one all-powerful being. (A moment’s reflection reveals that logically there can be only one all-powerful being.) However, this one being is comprised of three persons defined in terms of their relationship to each other. It should be clear that a person is not the same as a being. A rock has “being” because it exists. But it is not a person.
So the sense in which God is one is different from the sense in which God is three. Perhaps a simplistic way to put it is this: God is one “what” and three “who’s.” This is a crucial distinction because people who don’t understand the Trinity often assert that the concept is contradictory. They say “God can’t be both one and three because that is a contradiction.” But a contradiction is to assert both A and not-A at the same time and in the same sense. If I said “God is (only) one being and God is three beings,” then that would be a contradiction. And if I said, “God is (only) one person and also three persons in the same sense,” then that too would be a contradiction. But neither of these assertions is the Trinity. There is no contradiction in asserting that God is one in one sense (being/nature), and three in a different sense (persons). It may be counter-intuitive or contrary to our preferences or expectations. But it violates no principle of logic.
Indeed, many things in nature are one in one sense, and more than one in a different sense. The physical universe is one universe, but it is three in terms of components: space, time, and matter. Furthermore, there is only one space, but space is three in terms of dimensions (height, width, and depth). Time is one dimension but with three aspects: past, present, and future. There is nothing contradictory or absurd in recognizing that something can be one in one sense, and three in a different sense. Note that I am not saying that the above examples are exactly like the Trinity.[1] But they do demonstrate the irrationality of asserting that something cannot possibly be one in one sense and more than one in an entirely different sense. The Lord has provided us with a universe of counterexamples.
The church itself is an example of one “what,” but more than one “who.” The universal church consists of all those who have been saved by Jesus. The one church is comprised of many persons. This example isn’t exactly like the divine Trinity because each person in the church is not “the church,” whereas each person of the Trinity is fully God. But it does illustrate a familiar example of one “what” with more than one “who.”
Some might ask, “But can you show me an analogy that is just like the divine Trinity?” No. There are many three-in-ones, but none are exactly like God. And there is a good reason for this. God is unique (Isaiah 46:9). He alone is one divine being consisting of three eternally distinct persons who are fully God. There is nothing besides God that is just like God. Deal with it. You can either humbly accept what God has said about Himself, or you can make up your own idol that is easier to understand. (But your idol cannot save you from your sins.)
So what then do we mean by the “persons” of the Trinity? We might initially think of a “person” in terms of a physical body, but God is a an omni-present spirit. He doesn’t have a physical body.[2] So this isn’t what we mean. Rather, we use the term “person” to speak of the personal relationships within the one being who is God. There is love and communication between the three persons who are God (John 5:20, Genesis 1:26). Each person has a particular role in the redemption of God’s people (John 6:44, 3:5). Each is a distinct witness to the events of history (John 5:31-37).
You might say, “But I don’t fully understand the nature of God.” But would you expect a finite being to be able to fully understand the infinite mind and uncreated nature of the eternal God? God doesn’t expect or require us to fully comprehend his nature (Deuteronomy 29:29). But He does require us to have faith that He is who and what He claims to be. And He Himself gives us such faith as He wills (Hebrews 12:2).
Some critics assert, “But the term ‘Trinity’ is not found in the Bible.” That’s true. But it is utterly irrelevant to the truth of the doctrine. After all, there are many modern terms not found in the Bible that nonetheless describe biblical principles. For example, God is omniscient, meaning he knows everything. The word “omniscient” isn’t found in most English Bibles. But the principle that God knows everything is definitely taught (Psalm 147:5). Even the term “Christianity” is not found in the Bible, but does that make “Christianity” unbiblical? Of course not! The term “monotheism” is not found in the Bible. But the Bible does endorse the principle that there is only one God – that’s monotheism.
