why is the concept of holy trinity confusing
Sep 9, 2023 
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The Catechism explains, "The Father is that which the Son is, the Son that which the Father is, the Father and the Son that which the Holy Spirit is, i.e. He represents Past and normally encountered during the earliest times in the bible. Confusion when thinking about the very essence of God is an extremely appropriate response. Genesis 1:26, Deuteronomy 6:4, Matthew 28:19. Holy Trinity Catholic Primary School - School Newsletter 28th April 2023 St. Augustine, one of the most important Fathers of the Church, wrote a great deal on the doctrine of the Trinity. Well, not so much, as the above analogies suggest. She previously worked as an administrator for NXT, a high school Christian youth group. "Understanding the Holy Trinity." Essence means the same thing as being. Thus, since God is only one essence, He is only one being, not three. How can Christians, who talk about one God, and one God only, believe in him being three things, and isn't that impossible? Why Do People Say Amen at the End of a Prayer. These 'modes' are consecutive, temporary, and never co-exist, thus denying the distinctiveness of the three persons of the Trinity. There was never a time when one of the Persons of the Godhead did not exist. What can you le How do they relate? While Jesus and the Father are both God, they are different Persons. God is spirit (John 4:24). Sigmund Freud theorized that our personalities are made up of three parts: Id, Ego, Super-ego. Partnering with urban churches to meet physical and spiritual needs. That's one reason why at times the Spirit may appear to be a person. But our minds are still unable to truly comprehend that God is one and God is three. (Romans 11:33-36). Rather, the being of each Person is equal to the whole being of God.[1] The divine essence is not something that is divided between the three persons, but is fully in all three persons without being divided into parts., Thus, the Son is not one-third of the being of God, He is all of the being of God. The central Christian affirmations about God are condensed and focused in the classic doctrine of the Trinity, which has its ultimate foundation in the special religious experience of the Christians in the first communities. , arn from other Someone please:(. When we are seeing objects or people, we are giving them characters and recognized them as different entities. In defense of that oneness, he was obliged to dispute the sameness of essence of the Son and the Holy Spirit with God the Father. I remember my teacher desperately trying to explain the concept of one God but three persons using an alarming range of elaborate analogies that left an already largely apathetic class more bemused than ever. His wife, Aset, took their son, Heru, into hiding, and Heru eventually returned to reclaim the earthly throne. It's all free! The Logical Problem of the Trinity and the Strong Theory of Relative M.P.A., University of IllinoisSpringfield. At the same time, the divine persons are really distinct from one another. It just doesn't add up (sorry). So that's what AGW is all about! Simple, right? Sproul cites as an example Dickens famous line, It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Obviously this is a contradiction if Dickens means that it was the best of times in the same way that it was the worst of times. why is the concept of Holy Trinity confusing for some Christians and 1:2), Jesus as God (Titus 2:13), and the Holy Spirit as God (Acts 5:3-4). The fact that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are distinct Persons means, in other words, that the Father is not the Son, the Son is not the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is not the Father. You can specify conditions of storing and accessing cookies in your browser. They begin by claiming that the Father of Jesus Christ is the one true God taught in the Old Testament. Anne's diary helped the world understand what it was like living in hiding during However, the Holy Spirit isn't a person. Write the letter of your answer in your answer sheet. Most people's problem, he says, centres ultimately on the three-in-one issue, "but that's not the big question about God". Would you like to give your time to work with Cru? The question of "Who is she?" is answered with, "Janie.". He is the way God revealed Himself to us in a way we could understand. It is that little voice in your head. Neither the word Trinity nor the explicit doctrine appears in the New Testament, nor did Jesus and his followers intend to contradict the Shema in the Hebrew Scriptures: Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord (Deuteronomy 6:4). Because ethnicity is part of the good of creation, we seek to honor and celebrate the ethnic identity of those with whom we serve as well as those we seek to reach. 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The late theologian Herman Bavinck has stated something very helpful at this point: The persons are modes of existence within the being; accordingly, the Persons differ among themselves as the one mode of existence differs from the other, and using a common illustration as the open palm differs from a closed fist.[4], Because each of these forms of existence are relational (and thus are Persons), they are each a distinct center of consciousness, with each center of consciousness regarding Himself as I and the others as You. Nonetheless, these three Persons all consist of the same stuff (that is, the same what, or essence). also 1:18). Is the Trinity a contradiction? It consisted of the fact that God came to meet Christians in a threefold figure: (1) as Creator, Lord of the history of salvation, Father, and Judge, as revealed in the Old Testament; (2) as the Lord who, in the figure of Jesus Christ, lived among human beings and was present in their midst as the Resurrected One; and (3) as the Holy Spirit, whom they experienced as the power of the new life, the miraculous potency of the kingdom of God. So, while God is the one, true God. I pay special attention to Leftow's claim that the persons of the Godhead must be divine in the same sense of the word 'divine' as the Godhead itself. The next step by which the transcendent God becomes self-conscious consists in the appearance in the divine nous of the divine world, the idea of the world in its individual forms as the content of the divine consciousness. Understanding the Holy Trinity. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. To be fair, it's maddeningly complex, and a concept that few have managed to get their heads around. It should be a comfort embraced, not Scripture to be altered (as the cults do), when we run into truths of God Father, Son, and Holy Spirit that rise above human logic. He is one Being in three Persons (centers of consciousness), not merely three roles. The problem comes when we get confused between what is helpful truth being illustrated, and what's actually misleading.". How can God be both one and three? Likewise, after the Son returned to the Father (John 16:10), the Father and the Son sent the Holy Spirit into the world (John 14:26; Acts 2:33). Learn why He did it and what it means for you. While there are some illustrations which are helpful, we should recognize that no illustration is perfect. Then there's the classic one about a man who is a father, husband and a son all at the same time. But we must also recognize that as human beings, if we were to actually fully comprehend God, it would go against what God has said, thus disproving the God described in the Bible is the true God. B. He has given us a written record of his truths and sent his Son to earth for this very purpose. Thus, they relate to each other personally the Father regards Himself as I, while He regards the Son and Holy Spirit as You. Likewise the Son regards Himself as I, but the Father and the Holy Spirit as You.. Was the Conspiracy That Gripped New York in 1741 Real? Meanwhile, Jesus is the Son of God, but also God. He is human-like, kind and he is loved by many. Thus, we are not speaking with a forked tongue we are not saying that God is one and then denying that He is one by saying that He is three. We all have a story. JSTOR, the JSTOR logo, and ITHAKA are registered trademarks of ITHAKA. The doctrine of the Trinity is considered to be one of the central Christian affirmations about God. In other words, you have contradicted yourself if you affirm and deny the same statement. Sacred Lore C.) Action D.) Sitting down near E.) Soul F.) Absolute Almighty G.) Prayer H.) to join I.) How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! However, Jesus was a physical manifestation of God we were able to see. His ways are higher than ours (Isaiah 55:9), and he's capable of far more than we can even imagine (Ephesians 3:20). Abstract. What Is The Trinity In The Bible? Many non-Christians and new Christians often struggle with the idea of the Holy Trinity, where we break up God into the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He is Immanuel, God with us. Of all the orthodox doctrines, it is right that the one closest to describing God is the one most difficult to understand. (2023, April 5). For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. Who Is God the Father Within the Trinity? Phew. The Doctrine of the Trinity Is Confusing Because It's True It is right for every Christian to pursue knowledge of God, fully expecting to attain it. The Trinity expresses the belief that God is one being made up of three distinct persons who exist in co-equal essence and co-eternal communion as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit .
