The Trinity: How 1+1+1 Equals 1

In This Chapter

Becoming familiar with the Trinity’s basic meaning

Exploring the qualities of the Christian God

Breaking it down: Looking at each member of the Trinity

Exploring why the Trinity is so important to Christianity

Noting biblical evidence for the Trinity

 

I just don’t get it. My wife is so perplexing to me at times. In the midst of a conversation, she doesn’t think twice about throwing in a topic that we talked about days before. (She calls it web thinking.) She frowns when I try to solve all her problems. (She much prefers that I listen.) My wife could also talk on the phone 24/7 (Doesn’t her ear even hurt?), thinks she needs shoes for every occasion (Won’t two pairs suffice?), and doesn’t even like to play Xbox video games (not even football!). Frankly, some of my wife’s behaviour is beyond my understanding – it must be that Venus and Mars thing. Yet, in spite of the fact that I find her mystifying on occasion, I don’t let that get in the way of our relationship. I deeply love my wife, and we continue to grow closer as the years go by. 

As I reflect on who God is, I believe that you can look at him in much the same way. When you concentrate on God as Creator of the universe, infinite in power and greatness, your mind goes numb. Yet, Christians believe he’s more than just some unexplainable Being in the sky – he’s profoundly personal. To Christians, God is someone whom you’ll never fully fathom in your head, but is who you can know intimately in your heart. 

In this chapter, you explore who Christians believe God is and what he’s like. Christianity says that God is a Trinity – one God expressed in three beings. That’s kind of confusing, so I start off by talking about God as a whole. Then, after getting your feet wet, you dive headfirst into the mystery of the Trinity and the distinct roles of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, find out why the Trinity is perhaps the most important concept of the Christian faith, and wade through the biblical basis for the whole idea. 

Introducing the Trinity

The basic gist of the Trinity is that one God exists, with three distinct identities (or “persons”): God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Each member of the Trinity has a unique personality and role, but they are all coequal and unified. 

The term trinity literally means “three-oneness” – combing the terms tri (meaning “three”) and unit (meaning “one”). Although the idea of the Trinity is plainly rooted in the Bible, the word isn’t mentioned in scripture. Instead, it’s an attempt by the Church to explain, as much as possible in human terms, the mystery of who God is. Check out the section, “Digging Up the Biblical Foundation of the Trinity,” later in this chapter, to find out where Christians got this idea. 

Think of the Trinity as an equilateral triangle, such as the one shown in Figure 7-1. The triangle consists of three equal, distinct sides that are never separate from each other – the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Together these sides form a triangle, the area of which is “one” – God. 

An equilateral triangle is a helpful illustration of the Trinity. 

Another way to think of the Trinity involves the three states of water – or, for the science buffs, H2O. Depending on the temperature, H2O takes on one of three forms: solid ice, liquid water, or a steamy vapour. In the same way, God is “one,” but expresses himself in three distinct manners.

Before I explain more about each member of the Trinity, however, I provide a foundation with the Christian belief on God’s very nature. Find out about these qualities in the following section.