Today, I will start a series about the Christian Trinity and what the Trinity is.
To all of those who do not know what the Trinity is, it is the word commonly used to refer to the existence of God. It is the definition of God as three divine roles, but they are all still one God. Many people have an issue with this idea because Christianity is supposed to be monotheistic (following one God) but there seem to be three (The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit). I will make sure to clarify this in a moment.
These "three" are all omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. This is a fact about God. God must be all three of these things. Many people believe that these roles are not limitations, but a system set up for salvation. God the Father calls us (I am not referring to predestination, but to the fact that God calls souls to be with Him.) (Ephesians 1:4) God the Son cleanses them and redeems us. (Ephesians 1:7). God the Holy Spirit seals our salvation (Ephesians 1:13)
Now, this raises a supposed contradiction in the Bible. There is only one God, but why does it look like there are three? If they all have a functional role, the idea of three persons work; but even that does not answer why the Bible says that there is one God but there seem to be three. Well, no matter how many times God says He is the only God, some people will not believe on His word alone because this is a question of his existence. Here is how the "three persons" are still one God.
H2O is the formula for water. Imagine filling a contained room with H2O in the liquid form (water) and freezing some of the water so there is a block of ice in the center of the water. H2) has now taken two forms, but still is the same thing, H20, just in different forms. Now, imagine adding steam into the room. H2) now has three forms, liquid, solid, and gas, but none of these forms are any less H20 than the other. They are all the same thing, but in different forms.
Now, water is not the same as steam or ice. I can chew on ice, but not on water or steam. I can swim in water, but not in ice or steam. These three forms of H20 all do different things, but they are not any less of H20 than the other; just as God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are all the same God in different forms. This is how the Trinity does not violate the fact that Christianity is a monotheistic religion (one God religion).
To clarify, God is not one person. He is not God as the nature, Jesus as the vessel, and the Holy Spirit as the force. God is three persons to one nature. There is only one God, but there are three persons to be identifies with. He is not one person taking three forms (The Father becoming the Son, becoming the Holy Spirit) but one nature in three unified forms. The distinction seems minor, but it makes the difference. God the Father is separate from the Son and the Holy Spirit. The are all God, but not all one another; just as ice and water are both H20, but ice is not a liquid, and water is not a solid.
The Trinity can seem tricky until you break it down and look at it. Nature is something and Person is someone. God is a what, and the trinity defines the who. There is only one "what," and this "what" takes on three "who" forms to be identified with. We identify the "whjat" with a "who," like identifying H2O with a liquid form or a solid form. There is one "what" that comes in three "who" forms. The who is not the same as the what. Just as H20 is the "what," steam is the "who." This does not make water any less H20 than steam or ice. The forms are simply that, forms of the "what."
That is the Trinity: The three "who" forms of the "what" known as God. There is one God who has three forms, just as H20 has three forms. None of them are any less God than the next, but they are God in forms that we can comprehend.
(Because of new discoveries, I have edited this lesson to better follow the truths of the scripture.)
-D
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