Simple explanation of the Trinity?
Contents
4. THE THEOLOGICAL EXPLANATIONS
4.1. The Mistaken Explanations
Prolegomenon
Unfortunately, there is no simple
or easy expla-nation of the Trinity. This theological concept is what Ken Boa
calls an antinomy. Although “antinomy”
literally means a conflict between two equally valid principles, the term is
used theologically to refer to God’s revelation in Scripture going beyond “the
level of human reasoning and comprehension by stating as fact two things which
[human beings] cannot reconcile.’
The basis of biblical antinomies is
found in Isaiah 55:8-9, * your ways My ways, declares the Lord. ‘For as the
heavens For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are are higher than the
earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your
thoughts.” It’s not that the Trinity is contrary to logic and reason, but
rather it’s beyond the human ability to comprehend fully. God understands the
Trinity just fine; we human beings dont.
Nevertheless, the Trinity is
clearly expressed as a fact in Scripture; it just doesn't explain exactly how
it works. Later theologians have developed explanations that have come to us as
the accepted understanding of this biblical teaching. We'll examine what the
Bible and theologians have said and hopefully get a better grip on the Trinity.
1. THE SIMPLE
DEFINITION
You may be surprised to hear that
the word “Trinity” is not found in the Bible. This is a fact frequently pointed
out by people who don't believe in it. The absence of the word is actually
irrelevant since the concept of the Trinity is certainly found in Scripture.
The word refers to God being three in one, with the “tri” indicating His
threeness and the “nity” indicating His unity or oneness. I actually prefer to
use the term “triunity” of God because it seems so much clearer. But where does
the Bible teach that God is three in one?
2. THE
BIBLICAL DATA
2.1.
God’s
Oneness
The Old Testament clearly teaches
monotheism (the belief that there is only one God), indicating that God alone
is the one and only true God. The most foundational verse supporting God’s
oneness is called the Shema (the Hebrew word meaning “hear”), the basis of
monotheism in Judaism: “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one!”
(Deut. 6:4).
The oneness of God is presented
throughout the Old Testament, not just in this verse. For example, God declared
through Isaiah, “For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no
one like Me’ (Isa. 46:9, cf. Ex. 20:3; Deut. 4:35; 5:7; 32:39; Ps. 83:18; Isa.
43:10-11).
The New Testament also affirms
monotheism. For example, Paul states explicitly, “For there is one God” (1 Tim.
2:5) and again, “There is... one Lord... one God and Father of all” (Eph.
4:4-6; cf. 1 Cor. 8:6). James also says, “You believe that God is one. You do
well” (James 2:19). Of course, in Mark 12:29, the Lord Jesus affirmed the
oneness of God, declaring that the foremost commandment was Deuteronomy 6:4
(cited above). There is no doubt that both the Old and New Testaments teach
monotheism.
2.2.
God’s
Threeness
Although there is no one specific
verse explicitly declaring that God is triune, both Testaments provide evidence
of this fact. The Old Testament implies that there is a plurality in the one
God, while the New Testament speaks of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit more
explicitly.
2.3.
Old
Testament Evidence
The very first Old Testament hint
of God’s plurality is when God says, “Let Us make man in Our image, accord-ing
to Our likeness” (Gen. 1:26). Some believe this is a mere use of the plural
pronoun to express God's majesty (the royal “We’), which is possible. Others
say that this is God speaking to the angels; however, humanity was not made in
the image of angels. Yet, it most likely refers to the mysterious plural-ity in
the Godhead because of the verse that follows. It states that God “created man
in His own image... male and female He created them” (Gen. 1:27).
This shows that one aspect of human
likeness to their Creator is that, just as God is one and also has plurality in
His nature, so humanity has one essence (humanity) but also has plurality, both
male and female. The Old Testament also points to the deity of the future
Messiah in several ways. It has a unique figure, called the Angel of the Lord,
who is identified as the Lord and yet distinct from the Lord (e.g., Gen.
22:15-16; Ex. 3:2-9), describing the pre-incarnate appearances of the Lord
Jesus.
Also, David calls the Messiah his
Lord, declaring, “The Lorp says to my Lord: ‘Sit at My right hand...” (Ps.
110:1). Isaiah gave four throne titles indicating the deity of the future
Messiah: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, and Prince of Peace
(Isa. 9:6). The Old Testament also describes the Holy Spirit as possessing
certain attributes that belong to God alone, such as omnipresence (Ps. 139:7)
and omnipotence (Job 33:4).
Additionally, the Old Testament
identifies the Holy Spirit’s deity by revealing His divine work in creation
(Gen. 1:2). Perhaps the clearest Old Testament passage indicating plurality in
the Godhead is Isaiah 48:12-16. At the beginning of the paragraph, God clearly
identifies Himself, saying, “I am the first, I am also the last. Surely My hand
founded the earth, and My right hand spread out the heavens” (Isa. 48:12-13).
Then, at the end of the paragraph,
God says, “And now the Lord Gop has sent Me, and His Spirit” (Isa. 48:16,
italics added). This verse presents the mysterious threeness within the oneness
of God.
Some might object that the Old
Testament teaching of plurality in the Godhead somehow contradicts Deuteronomy
6:4, which says that “the Lord is one.” However, the Hebrew word for one is
echad and can carry the meaning of a “composite unity.”
For example, when God established
marriage, He declared that when married, a man and a woman “shall become one
flesh” (Gen. 2:24), indicating a composite unity. Although the use of echad in
Deuteronomy 6:4 does not demand this meaning, it does permit it, allowing for
these hints of plurality in God’s oneness in the Old Testament.
3. New
Testament Evidence
The New Testament does not have one
verse that says “God is triune” but it does explicitly identify the Father,
the Son and the Holy Spirit as deity. To begin, the Father is plainly called
God. For example, the Gospel of John speaks of the Son, on whom “the Father,
God, has set His seal” (John 6:27).
Paul also recognizes the deity of
the Father, calling Him “one God and Father of all who is over all” (Eph. 4:6).
In addition to the Father, the Son, the Lord Jesus the Messiah, is called God
in the New Testament.
For instance, when Thomas finally
believed that Jesus has been raised from the dead, Thomas called Him, “My Lord
and my God!” (John 20:28). Paul described the Second Coming as “the blessed
hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus”
(Titus 2:13). He also declared that in the Lord Jesus, “all the fullness of
Deity dwells in bodily form” (Col. 2:9) and that Jesus is “the Messiah, who is
God over all, praised forever” (Rom. 9:5 HcsB).
The New Testament describes Jesus
with attributes that only belong to God, such as omniscience (John 2:24—25;
Matt. 9:4), omnipotence (Matt. 28:18; Heb. 1:3), and eternality (John 17:5). It
also attributes the divine work of creation to Him (John 1:3; Col. 1:16). The
deity of the Lord Jesus the Messiah, God the Son, is one of the clearest
teachings of the New Testament. Also, the New Testament identifies the Holy
Spirit as God.
For example, the Holy Spirit
possesses omniscience (1 Cor. 2:10-12), an attribute that belongs exclusively
to God. The Spirit also performs divine works such as regeneration (John 3:5-6,
8), conviction (John 16:8), and the inspiration of Scripture (2 Tim. 3:16; 2
Peter 1:21). The most obvious passage indicating the deity of the Holy Spirit
is Acts 5:3-4, where lying to the Holy Spirit is equated with lying to God (“Why
has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit? . . . You have not lied
to men but to God.”).
Frequently, the New Testament
speaks of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as equals in their work. For example,
Paul gives praise for the entire Godhead’s work in salvation: First the Father
who chose us (Eph. 1:3-6), then the Son who redeems us (Eph. 1:7-12), and also
the Holy Spirit who secures us (Eph. 1:13-14).
Similarly, Peter describes
believers as “chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the
sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His
blood” (1 Peter 1:1-2, italics added; cf. 2 Cor. 13:14). Perhaps the strongest
statement of the triune nature of God is found in the command of the Lord Jesus
for His followers to baptize “in the name of the Father and the Son and the
Holy Spirit” (Matt. 28:19). While identifying the three persons, indicating the
“threeness” of God, the noun “name” is singular where a plural would be
expected grammatically, indicating God’s oneness. It is plain to see that the
whole Bible supports the idea that God is one and that there is a mysterious
threeness or plurality in that oneness. This led many theologians to attempt to
explain how this could be.
4. THE
THEOLOGICAL EXPLANATIONS
4.1.
The
Mistaken Explanations
One erroneous explanation affirms
that the Father is fully God but denies or depreciates the deity of the Son and
the Holy Spirit. This interpretation contradicts the testimony of Scripture.
Another mistaken approach is a form
of Tritheism, affirming the deity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit but denying
the biblical teaching that there is only one God. A third incorrect
explanation, called Modalism, sees the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as three
forms or modes of the One God.
So, God is the Father in the Old
Testament, the Son in the Gospels, and the Holy Spirit after the giving of the
Holy Spirit in Acts 2. Yet, at the baptism of the Lord Jesus, the Son was
baptized, the Holy Spirit descended from heaven, and the Father declared His
love for the Son (Matt. 3:16-17), showing all three persons present at once.
These wrong views led to other theologians providing a better explanation.
4.2.
The
Orthodox Explanation
There is an explanation of the
trinity that has been considered correct and agreed upon (what we mean by
“orthodox”) by the church leaders since ancient times. Certain church fathers
affirmed both the oneness and threeness of God and sought to explain how this
could be using a Greco- Roman philosophical perspective.
They adopted two terms, essence
(ousia) and person (hypostasis), explaining that there is but one essence of
God, and that the three distinct persons of the Godhead each fully had the
essence of deity. This satisfied the need for an explanation and was accepted
as the correct meaning of the triunity of God. Some have objected to using the
word “person” because it may imply three separate individuals. It might be
better to say that the essence of deity exists in three personal
self-distinctions. Once again it gets awfully hard to understand.
Although certainly helpful in explaining the triunity of God, it still remains a hard concept to grasp. As a result people have proposed a variety of illustrations. Some say God is like water (H,O), which can be solid (ice), gas (steam), or liquid, and given the right conditions, all three can exist in equilibrium. Others have proposed an egg, with shell, yolk, and albumen (egg white) all being fully egg and yet distinct. These and other illustrations may help but ultimately are not fully adequate for explaining God’s triunity.
5. FINAL
THOUGHTS
At the outset, I wrote that the
theological concept of the triunity of God, although biblical, is certainly
hard to grasp. It’s why my predecessor as Jewish Studies professor at Moody
Bible Institute, Dr. Louis Goldberg, a brilliant philosophical scholar, would
always speak of “the mystery nature of God.” He would often tell us in class
that God’s plurality in His oneness is the infinite mystery of God’s being.
It’s what Ken Boa meant when he
spoke of the triune nature of God as an antinomy, writing, there are “many
things about God [which] are mysterious, incomprehensible, and superrational.
God in his existence as the three-in-one is beyond the limits of human
comprehension.” We can affirm that the Trinity is certainly taught in Scripture
but it’s beyond our finite human minds. So, although we may not be able to
explain the Trinity completely, we must certainly believe in it absolutely.
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