A Question on the Trinity

A Question on the Trinity

Timothy Wood wrote: "Could you explain the Trinity to me please?"

The hymn goes “God in three persons blessed trinity.” What do we mean by that phrase?  Most people just shake their heads and say it is a mystery and still others think we Christians worship three gods, which is not true. You will not find the word “Trinity” in the scriptures.

For me the easiest way to think about all this is to recognize that there is only one God. Jesus said that. “God is spirit and must be worshiped in spirit and in truth” so this is our starting point.

Humans have a difficult time relating to a god that can not be seen or touched so we want to make pictures or statues to help us. That however is forbidden in the Ten Commandments. The early Christian church struggled with this relationship. They needed to express the different ways they experienced and talked about God. They saw that the one God was doing three things in relating to us and the terms they used were Father Son and Holy Spirit.

Father: God acting in creation to make all things by word of command.

Son: In the man Jesus God put His spirit and saved us from our sins.

Holy Spirit: God created us with our own spirit and contacts directly as spirit.

The very human concept of Trinity is our way of relating to the different ways that God has used and continues using to relate to us.