Define
and defend the Trinity to a group of junior high school students. Use
appropriate vocabulary and examples being careful for how you use analogies.
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The doctrine of the Trinity states
that there is one God who exists eternally as three distinct persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit…The
three persons of the Trinity…are distinct
persons, yet they are all one God. They are in absolute perfect harmony consisting of one substance. They
are coeternal, coequal, and copowerful. If any one
of the three were removed, there would be no God.[1]
The
Trinity has been widely talked about for the last two thousand years. These
truths about God are so far above our comprehension that ultimately we must
believe that what God says regarding His nature is truth. Throughout the pages
of the Bible we see multiple passages that clearly state there is one God. The
prophet Isaiah wrote, “Before Me there was no God formed. And there will be
none after Me. ‘I, even I, am the LORD, and there is no savior besides Me.’”[2] Also
Moses said, “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one!”[3] We
could go on but for the sake of length we will leave it at just two examples. Once
we understand that there is clearly one God, we move on to examining the
passages that speak of His three unique persons. Philippians 1:2, John 1:11,
Acts 5:3 refer to God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit as God respectively.
Additionally, all three persons are respectively called the Creator in Genesis
1:1, Colossians 1:16, and Job 33:4. Finally, each member of the Trinity is
eternal as found in Psalm 90:2, John 8:58, and Hebrews 9:14.[4]
Again, there are verses upon verses that speak of the Trinity and these are
only a mere handful.
If
we understand that there is one God, three distinct persons, how do we describe
Him in terms we can understand? Several analogies have been given over the
years to describe the Trinity. Examples such as:
1. Water
H2O
can and does exist in a solid, liquid and a gas. This is one element which can appear in three different ways.
2. Egg
An
egg has three parts — shell, white, and the yoke. Again, we have one object which has three different parts.
The
problem, however, is that within the Godhead, each of the members are different,
but they are not separated. For instance, water cannot be a solid, liquid and
gas all at the same time, yet God is distinctly the Father, Son and Holy Spirit
simultaneously. While the water analogy is good to a point, it falls apart
because each distinct state of solid, liquid and gas must exist together concurrently
like God.
The
egg, also presents a false picture of God for two main reasons. First, the
shell is the least desired part when we are craving eggs. When we order
breakfast, we do not expect the waitress to place a whole egg, shell and all,
onto our plate. Second, the fact that you can separate part of the egg from
itself and still have an egg is nothing like God. If you removed one of the
members of the Godhead, then there would be no God.
Another
analogy, which is more abstract but perhaps a little more accurate than the
first two is that of a three letter acronym. For example, BLT is an acronym for
the delectable sandwich containing bacon, lettuce and tomato. There are three
letters each containing a degree of depth of understanding and play a necessary
role in the overall function of the name. All letters must be present at the
same time and in the same order for the acronym to carry any meaning and for
people to recognize what you are talking about. If one of the letters is
removed, then the name of the sandwich is gone (non-existent).
Ultimately,
all analogies break down and limit God. We are limited beings and our attempt
to describe a God who is infinite is impossible. Although we will never be able
to fully grasp the concept of God being a triune God, we must always remember
that a lack of understanding on our part does not make something to be untrue.
It just causes us to realize that we do not know everything. A concrete
illustration would be trying to explain the color blue to someone born blind. No
matter what is said, the blind man will never truly be capable of understanding
the concept of color let alone specific shades. Their lack of understanding
does not make blue any less true or non-existent. All it means is that the
blind man cannot understand as it is outside of his ability. If we as His
creation could understand everything about Him then that would prove god to be
very small indeed.
Bibliography
Cameron,
Kirk, THE SCHOOL OF BIBLICAL EVANGELISM, Bridge-Logos Publishers, Orlando, FL, 2004
NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE. Foundation Publications, Inc., Anaheim, CA, 1998
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