6.11.20 - Holy Trinity II: Logic and Analogies

As promised... this constitutes our 2nd discussion on the Trinity which we had the last 40 minutes Monday night. I have added one thing: scriptural references to 3 in 1, and corrected the Dosadi Experiment slightly. I hope you enjoy!

Ron

Holy Trinity I Our first step in understanding the Trinity was to learn about the character of God. What is God like? Sunday’s readings on Trinity Sunday were about that. We learned in Exodus that, unlike most other gods, this God takes the initiative with humans. That was true with our first parents, with Seth, Noah, of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, and now Moses. Secondly, with all of them, including in the Exodus reading, we learn that God is seeking to establish a relationship with humans. That is also unique about this God. Third, we learned that God is gracious, loving, and kind – and gets angry when there is injustice in the world.

Holy Trinity II We are now in the second step in understanding the Trinity: tackling the logic of 3 persons in 1 God; and then we will look at some analogies.

Before we begin, I would like to discuss the word “mystery.”

Mystery

Our contemporary view of a mystery is, “Just tell me the answer.” Mysteries are meant to be solved, right? I can remember hearing an explanation of some religious thing when I was younger and as soon as they started with, “Well, most of this is a mystery…” I tuned out instantly. If it’s a mystery, I’m not interested. When you have it figured out, call me.”

However, our contemporary, impatient view of mystery is not the original view of the word. Sure, a mystery is not something completely understood, but there’s often a good reason for it. In the Christian sense, the word “mystery” generally refers to something that is partially revealed, but about which much more remains unknown. The reason for this is usually because it involves something that is not from this world. The logic of the spiritual domain doesn’t come to us immediately because it involves infinite things, and we live in a finite world. We do have the capability of increasing our understanding of such mysteries, but some things will remain out of reach. Actually, that happens all the time in this world. For instance, it’s a mystery to me how women think. Now, I may not solve this mystery in my lifetime, but that’s okay if I don’t. In fact, I kind of like it. Alternatively, women often find my thinking a mystery, too; so I know I’m not alone in this. I could go on but I’m feeling like I’m sinking, so let’s move on. My goal in this discussion is so when you hear the word “mystery,” instead of rolling your eyes, they should light up while you look up with great curiosity and say, “Hmmm, I must find out more about this!”

Q: Are there scriptural references to 3 being 1?

A: Yes, I will just point out a few.

1. In Genesis 3:22: “And the LORD God said, ‘The man has now become like one of us.’” It is interesting to read the Jewish interpretations of this (God must be referring to Him and the angels, or it is suggesting that he is the God over all other (pagan) gods, etc.). However, if we didn’t have Jesus Christ, we would be doing the same thing.

2. Elohim. Occuring over 2500 times, the word used for God is Elohim. It is interesting to note that this word is in the plural form. From a grammatical standpoint, Elohim actually means “Gods,” but, again, the Jewish people understood the sense of the word to be singular. And, in fact, the 3 in 1 is singular!

3. Jesus says, “The Father and I are one.” (Jn 10:30).

4. Jesus also says, “To have seen me is to have seen the Father.” (Jn 14:9).

5. “But when the Advocate comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness to me.” [John 15:26].

6. Just before his Ascension, Jesus says, “Baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Matt 28:19). What’s strange about this is that if they were all different, he would have either said “In the names…” (plural), or repeated “name”: “In the name of the Father, and the name of the Son, and the name of the Holy Spirit.” But he purposely used NAME (singular) for all of them.

Q: Is the Trinity a logical contradiction?

The problem: The Trinity is a) three distinct persons, b) each person is fully God, and c) there is One God.

Simple, right?

Although the Trinity is a mystery and may not be fully comprehended, it is not a contradiction, either. It is a paradox.

Paradox: 1) a statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth; 2) an apparently self-contradictory statement, the underlying meaning of which is revealed only by careful scrutiny.

To show that the concept of the Trinity is not a logical contradiction, we must first establish that there is a distinct difference between “being” and “person.”

We encounter many things in life that have being (they exist), such as rocks, trees, and clouds, but they are not persons. Then, there are other beings – such as you and me – that have personhood. So, in our experience, beings either have 0 persons or 1 person, correct?

If beings can have 0 or 1 person, is it a logical contradiction to say (theoretically) that a being may have 2 or more persons? No.

God, who is a supreme being, has revealed to us that He has 3 persons. Okay, yes, that’s a little unusual and outside our box, but it is not a logical contradiction.

Look at the progress we’re making!

Whenever it comes to deep thought experiments or spiritual matters, humans love to use analogies. When we can compare a difficult issues to something we understand, we can get it much quicker. For instance, if I said, “Bob is not the sharpest tool in the shed,” you would say, “Yep, I now understand Bob perfectly.” So, it should be no surprise that people have attempted to explain the Trinity with analogies.

Below are six analogies. Many are heroic efforts, but most come up short for one theological reason or another. I will point those out.

Trinitarian Analogies

The goal of each analogy is to satisfy these Trinitarian conditions:

1. God is three Distinct Persons (distinct)

2. Each Person is fully God (deity)

3. There is One God (unity)

1. The Trinity is Like an Egg

How the analogy goes: The Trinity is like an egg. In one egg you have the white, the yoke, and the shell composing one full egg.

Problem: The parts are entirely different from each other, and not any one of them is the egg, which denies #2 and #3.

2. The Trinity is like Water

How the analogy goes: The trinity is like water. Water has three states: solid, liquid, and gas. Although the water changes forms it is still H2O. Just as water changes forms so too is the trinity.

Problem: No one molecule of H2O can actually exist as solid, liquid, and gas at the same time. As a result, the water molecule must change forms to be one or the other. This is more like one God who changes his form (presentation) depending on the circumstances. Denies #1.

3. The Trinity is Like a Three-Leaf Clover

How the analogy goes: The trinity is a like a Three-Leaf Clover. There are three different cloves that represent the three different persons of the trinity.

Problem: The three cloves are overly distinct/separate and cannot represent the unity of God. Almost like three different gods which might share some like substance. Denies #3.

4. The Trinity is Like a Man who is a Father, Husband, and Son (or a Woman who is a Mother, Wife, and Daughter).

How the analogy goes: The trinity is like a man who is a father, husband, and son. Although he is one he has different roles to different people.

Problem: This analogy breaks down because it is just one person playing three different roles. Similar to water, it denies #1.

5. Three colors juxtaposed

How the analogy works: Take three projectors, each of which projected a circle: one red, one green, and one blue. At the intersection of the three circles the color white appears. Mysteriously, the three primary colors are present in the color white, but only one shows forth.

The analogy is not perfect if we look at the white as a blending of colors, because the Father, Son, and Spirit do not “blend” to make God. But if we think of all three colors maintaining their identity (color) in the white, then we have a good analogy.

6. The Dosadi Experiment (Ron’s)

Analogy: Dosadi Experiment was the name of a science fiction book written by Frank Herbert in 1977. Higher beings were experimenting on the planet Dosadi which had sentient beings that were not nearly as advanced (yet). The protagonist (like James Bond) is secretly transported onto the planet to investigate. He falls in love with a beautiful woman but he is discovered and has to leave the planet asap, but there is only a way for one person to leave. There is a secret technology that enables people to swap bodies; they figured if they could go half-way and get both of them into one body, then they could escape together (in one body). It was a risky proposition but they decide to try it and it works. Thereafter, both of them were in the same body. They talked to each other, insulted each other, planned escapes together, etc.

Problem: Only two persons in one. We need three! :)

______________

In my own journey to understand the Trinity, at some point the fact that God is a bigger and greater than we can understand became both reasonable and acceptable to me. Not that this stops me from trying to better my understanding... :)

In the words of the St. Athanasius:

“We worship one God in trinity and the trinity in unity, neither blending their persons nor dividing their essence.”

Next up: Trinity III. If the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are different persons, what are their roles?

We will do this if "Corpus Christi" allows us Monday night!

Ron