When we look at the egg as an example of the Trinity, we must view it in its entirety. In the first place, if we truly claim to love God, then surely we should endeavour to know Him. Theyve transformed. La da dee dee dum dum (I couldnt remember the in-between parts). Arianism denies the deity of each person in the trinity. For sure, our everyday experience does not include using our finite minds to understand the infinite! . Located in the heart of Quebec's historic district, it is a source of inspiration for visitors from around the world. Light comes from God. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are each called Jehovah (or Spirit of Jehovah), given divine attributes, and are distinguished from one another. If we separate them we still may have God the Egg yolk, God the Holy Spirit Egg white and God the Son, the Egg shell/image, three individual parts of an Egg, but they cannot be a Trinity, or tri-unity unless they are unified and are seen as one Egg, so to speak. Which ones have you heard? . The trinity is a like a Three-Leaf Clover. The Holy Trinity, one of the five Dogmas of the Church, is an extraordinary and unfathomable mystery. It is not important merely for the sake of tradition, or because the word itself is taught in the Bible (the word is not). God controls that light. At times God is Father, or Son, or Holy Spirit. Three persons is false. Tritheism denies that there is only one God. In other words, one stuffness. However, He exists in three Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. copyright 2009 by H.D. The Father sends the Son, and both the Father and Son send the Holy Spirit. It is a miraculous invention, the egg. Every kid in Sunday school thinks he knows all about God. copyright 2009 by H.D. Perhaps we must be content to admit that we cannot fully understand Gods nature in our finitude. What we can understand and accept is that God exists eternally as one divine nature, substance, or essence, comprising three co-equal, co-eternal and consubstantial personsthe Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. There is one GOD in three persons (Father, Son, Holy Spirit), 2. The Bible teaches that the Father is God, that Jesus is God, and that the Holy Spirit is God. Each PERSON is distinct from one another. The analogy breaks down because the three cloves are overly distinct and cannot represent the unity of God. Haydn describes himself as a five-point Calvinist, but he recognises that many faithful Christians disagree. Here are a couple "usefully flawed" analogies for the Trinity. I dont believe that God wishes us to be confused about the Three that are so apparent throughout the Old and New Testaments. The Son was begotten by the Father IN ETERNITY, and the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father., 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. This is a bad analogy because it fails at the truth that all three persons comprise the fullness of God. If the Sun existed from eternity past then so were the light rays from the Sun. It does not represent 3 persons existing simultaneously. When we think about influential New Testament leaders, most names are male. Thus the Father is in Jesus " I and My Father are One" (John 10:30), "The Father is in Me" (John 14:10) God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself (II Corinthians 5:19). It is still important that we have some understanding of the concept, however. The idea that the Trinity can be compared to a shamrock is largely attributed to St. Patrick. When we separate them we can fall into the error of tritheism, which is the worship of three individual deities as one. St. Augustine, one of the most important Fathers of the Church, wrote a great deal on the doctrine of the Trinity. 5And there are varieties of ministries and the same Lord. In the same way, water is all the same molecular structure, expressing itself in three different modes. Vestment Emblems. Each part of the egg make up only one portion of the wholethe yolk is not the fullness of the egg. But God is the eternal Light, which has neither had a beginning, nor shall ever fail. You are an egg! God is not made up of 3 'parts' like the 3 parts of the egg. This may be my favorite verse of them all. His ways are not my ways! This analogy denies the unity of the God-head. This analogy actually teaches the heresy of modalism. 1:8-12; 1 Pet. God does not morph from one person to another, nor does God exist as three separate beings. Haydn Lea is an Associate Pastor in Queensland, and is currently studying his Master of Arts (Theology). The egg white represents Gods Spirit. They are three in one egg. Thought of Tim Its amazing to think that everything will be so clear when we het to Heaven! If we separate them we still may have God the Egg yolk, God the Holy Spirit Egg white and God the Son, the Egg shell/image, three individual parts of an Egg, but they cannot be a Trinity, or tri-unity unless they are unified and are seen as one Egg, so to speak. The mystery is in the how this is accomplished; something we will finally understand in heaven. Each one is fully 100% God. Augustine's typical dialectic is to move from the exterior realities of creation to the interior reality of the human soul where he hoped to encounter God in the image of God, damaged as it is by the fall. Celebrating Easter Is About so Much More Than One Hour on Sunday. No analogy is perfect, but we want to be careful of using wrong ones that may confuse people. The Trinity is one of the most foundational doctrines of Christianity. So God performs 3 different roles/relationships but 1 God. That is heaven in a person. He has the world and our individual lives within His supremely capable hands. Believing in the above 3 points leads all Christians to acceptance of the doctrine of the Trinity. The Father hears their intercessory prayers. This is because the H20 is changing forms in representing each person. The shell, while important, is no longer needed. An egg is made up of shell, white and yolk. Well the issue is, the water analogy is akin to the heresy of Modalism. One cannot remove the Holy Spirit and still have the God as taught in the Bible. Time Analogy God is like time. Trinity is like a Shamrock (or an Apple or an Egg). To the other major monotheistic faiths (Islam and Judaism), it is rank heresyTrinitarianism is therefore definitional to Christianity. God is like an egg in that He is 3-in-1 God the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ) and the Holy Spirit. If the sun exists, there is also day; if nothing of this be manifest, it is impossible that the sun should be there. This analogy denies the distinction of the God-head. We all want to experience the good life. I know in the past Ive used analogies that werent the best (more on those later.) Lost will be burned up. Some have used examples such as water, watermelons and eggs; the principle behind those illustrations is that even though each thing is one, it is also three. The beautiful depth of Gods eternal Triune nature is a sublime reality which should bring an end to our attempts to cognitively master Him. He has been a member of the Royal Australian Air Force since 2007, and is now training to be an Air Force Chaplain. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Studying the Trinity poses difficulty to us Catholics. There have been many attempts to explain the Trinity the relationship between God the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. It is the Fathers desire to join His Spirit with all of us as well for He has said They shall be My sons and daughters (II Corinthians 6:18). The Holy Spirit is the shell, Jesus is the egg white, and the Father is the egg yolk. Therefore the eternal brightness shines forth before Him, and co-exists with Him, in that, existing without a beginning, and always begotten, He always shines before Him; and He is that Wisdom which says, I was that wherein He delighted, and I was daily His delight before His face at all times.. I did read about the shamrock analogy! But it cant be that way with God. How do we make sense of the Trinity? The word Trinity comes from the Latin word trinitas which means tri-unity. Here are 8 Bible Characters Who Should Be More Famous. Take a moment and give it a try. This was first used by Patrick of Ireland (yes there really was a Patrick of Ireland and he was a great guy), around 400 A.D. 2. So when God created us and revealed Himself to us, what He did was to invite us into the perfect goodness He has always known within Himself. In Jesus is the fullness of the Godhead bodily (Colossians 2:9). This is a quick way to describe the doctrine of the Trinity namely, God is 1 being (the what is Gods nature, essence, being) and 3 whos (the whos being Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). 2:5-6; Col. 1:15-17, 2:9; Heb. Jesus would have remained in the tomb, or hell, had Jesus sinned. Share your thoughts with us in the comments! Not just for explaining it to others, but to bolster our own faith and see how each One works in our lives. It is still H20, but just different forms. MULTIPLICATION ANALOGY. (It is also why the Jews had an issue with Jesus calling Himself God.). Analogies that we present would always be insufficient as none of them would equate to the incomprehensible beauty of God. Trinity Egg Analogy . Did I leave out any analogies? Wow! Or what? Admittedly, the idea of three distinct persons/expressions that are each fully God is part of the mystery. An explanation that is so common, and seemingly does elucidate how something can simultaneously be three and onecan it really be that bad? From time to time, Doctors of the Church used analogies, but with care. Some think of God as H 2 O, which is sometimes a solid (ice), sometimes a liquid (water), and sometimes a gas (steam). What makes it hard is that all of our analogies and metaphors fall short of capturing what the Trinity actually is. Relationship Analogy (Husband/Son/Father) God is like a person with different relationships just as a man can be a Dad, but also someones Son, and also someones Husband. The Father hears their intercessory prayers. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. The Trinity is a tri-unity, a unity of Three, - God the Father, Jesus, the Son of God and the Holy Spirit. Rather, He created us in order to bless us. Surely this is a better understanding of the water analogy! The egg example, while not perfect or complete by any means, will still give us a basic understanding of the primary principle of Biblical Trinitarianism. The Unseen Father keeps the Father that is seen, alive. Similarly, people have used the example of the apple in the same way- skin, flesh, and seeds. So, in God, there are three distinct persons. And the reason we know that is because the Persons of the Godhead have perfectly loved each other for all eternity. In humans, our spirits are designed to operate with and be united to the soul which is the person of anyone and so it is with our Egg. (Describing God as LOVE is my favorite way of understanding the Trinity. May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all (2 Corinthians 13:14). The problem with this analogy is that it denies the distinction of persons in the God-head. , 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you., For further reading on the Trinity, I would recommend James Whites, Lastly, below is a helpful graphical chart explaining the doctrine of the Trinity I found from the Christian blog by Tim Challies. FOR CENTURIES, the Church had fought against heresies on the Trinity. Jesus is the visual form of God. Our God is three in one. It became real to me because I have experienced His love, grace, guidance, redemption, conviction of sin, and fellowship that comes from Father, Son and Holy Spirit. There was no relational deficiency that prompted God to create us. Blessings! These three Persons are all equally God and all equally Persons. The watermelon has a skin, pulp and seeds; the egg is shell, yolk and egg white. They have a common purpose in making harmonious music, but each note is its own separate entity. I dont know how our majestic God feels about being compared to watermelons and eggs, but He is also a loving Father, and like any father, I believe God would seek to provide simple explanations so His little children can understand. RELATED: Did Jesus Really Rise From The Dead? We have the creeds for just that reason. They that dont have the Holy Spirit in them will talk like the Adversary. God is infinitely greater than we are; therefore, we should not expect to be able to fully understand Him. And the Holy Spirit is not the Father or the Son. While it captures the idea that God is one, it doesnt do such a good job of showing how God is three and one at the same time. They are three in one egg. In an attempt to explain the Trinity, there are some bad examples people use, and some better ones. In other words, God may manifest Himself as the Father, Son, or Holy Spirit. It leads to the heresy of MODALISM which teaches that God switches to different modes. The egg shell is the image of the yolk and the white. For example, we know that God didnt create humanity because He bored or lonely. THE TRUTH IS: The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are not three different parts or components of God, but the three are all equally one God. 3 - The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are distinct persons. A good follow up verse to help explain is the baptism of Jesus. Over the course of church history there have been several heresies that have cropped up that deny one of these three truths. It is not important merely for the sake of tradition, or because the word itself is taught in the Bible (. His being is somewhat of a mystery to us. Jesus is the Holy Spirit that saves us. Jesus is the Holy Spirit. God is much bigger and much greater than we can understand, and to be honest, I'm ok with that. It's impossible to be an Orthodox Christian without professing belief in the Triune nature of God. Likewise we cannot have the Father or His Spirit without the Son I am the Way the Truth and the Life, no one comes to the Father except by Me- John 14:6. I and My Father are One (John 10:30). We believe in only one true God in all existence, in all places, at all times. The Trinity is pretty weird: the Father (or Mother), Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit are in some sense distinct from one another, but are all unified in another sense. See the depths of Catholicism for yourself! Its all one person, simply functioning in three different roles. God is much bigger than what we can understand yet He is close enough to us so that we can know some things about Him, though not completely and not everything. Just as water changes forms so too is the trinity. Time exists as 3 things: past, present, and future. But Hes God too, right? The concept is literally unthinkable. My interview: https://www.readlotswritelot.com/wp/podcast/episode-21-john-k-adams/, More from Catholicism for the Modern World, https://www.readlotswritelot.com/wp/podcast/episode-21-john-k-adams/. Sure enough, one member answered Well Ive heard that the Trinity is like water: water can be liquid, gas (steam), or solid (ice), but its still the same water. And we know that because the Persons of the Godhead have perfectly blessed and exalted each other for all eternity. Jesus Person is joined to the Father by the Fathers Holy Spirit, because Gods Spirit is also Jesus Spirit - "But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if the Spirit of God dwells in you. Often these analogies explicitly teach heresy. The Holy Spirit prays for us. There are three different cloves that represent the three different persons of the trinity. The Trinity is like an egg. John 17). Scripture however, doesnt depict God this way. So whats one good way to explain what the Trinity is?
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