The Trinity

 The Trinity is an often too ignored topic in the church today. It is not typically discussed, and rarely preached on. Perhaps this is because it is assumed that everybody already has a firm grasp of this topic; or perhaps it is because some are scared of discussing it, and getting it wrong, and being seen as a heretic thereafter.

It is much safer to ask questions regarding topics that one can be wrong about without consequence, but perhaps to ask questions of the Trinity is something that people avoid.

I would argue that this should not be the case. Obviously, to understand the Biblical teaching and reject it is heresy, but a new Christian does not automatically have a perfect understanding of the Trinity. They should be allowed to ask questioned, even pose challenges or discuss areas of confusion surrounding the doctrine.

Often, the general response of many believers is, “well, it can’t be understood.” Now God is infinite, and we are not, God is eternal, and we are not, and He is incomprehensible; but I also believe that the doctrine of the Trinity is easier to grasp than people realise. We just have to force our minds to understand the logical distinction between ‘being’ and ‘person’.

I heard an illustration once to try and help separate this. A rock has being, but it has no personality. It is 1 being, but 0 persons. A human is 1 being and 1 person. Therefore the number of persons doesn’t have to be the same as the number of beings. God is not 3 gods, He is 1 God, 1 Being, but that 1 Being is shared by 3 persons.

Now among the ancient Church Fathers, when discussing the nature of Christ, a few terms were developed. Two notable ones had very similar spelling; ‘homoousios‘ and ‘homoiousios‘. The Greek term ‘ousia’ means ‘substance’ or ‘being’, the Greek term ‘homos’ means ‘same’, and the Greek term ‘homoios’ means ‘similar. In other words, ‘homoousios’ means ‘of the same substance’, while ‘homoiousios’ means ‘of similar substance’. The only difference in spelling between these two words is the Greek letter ‘iota’, from where we get the saying, “it doesn’t make an iota of difference.” Of course, the iota made all the difference in the world.

What does this mean? Well, ‘ousia’ means ‘being’ or ‘substance’, in other words, the ‘stuff’ or ‘material’ that makes up a thing. Homoiousios means that Jesus was of a similar substance to the Father; made of the same kind of ‘stuff’, but not the same stuff. Whereas, homoousios has the Father and Son made of the same divine material, the same stuff.

I remember hearing the Muslim Abdullah al-Andalusi arguing, in a radio debate with James White on an Unbelievable Radio show, that the Trinity was polytheism. He argued, “I’m sure all the Greek gods were made of the same substance.” I believe that this shows his lack of understanding of homoiousios verses homoousios. The Greek gods, according to Greek myth, were made of the same kind of substance. Think of this; my brother and I are made of the same kind of substance – that is, flesh, blood, bone, etc etc. But, we are not made of the same substance. If we were made of the same substance, we would share one body yet with two persons.

Of course, such doesn’t make much sense when thinking of a human, since a human’s body is finite, the result would be a human with dissociative personality disorder, or something similar. This is not so with God, because God’s divine substance – His Deity – the divine ‘stuff’ or divine ‘material’ of God’s Being – is not finite. God’s Being is infinite, eternal, all-powerful. Because of this, while God is only one Being, all 3 persons that share in this Being can simultaneously act as God.

Now the fact that God is one is fundamental to Scripture. The great Jewish declaration of Monotheism is the Shema taken from Deuteronomy 6:4, which is “Shema Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Echad” – “Hear, Oh Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One.” This prayer is recited twice each day by Jews even to this day, and Christ Himself confessed this prayer in Mark 12:29. Monotheism is central to the Christian faith. Once we have established that there is one God, then we can look at the persons in Scripture.

While, I believe, there is much Trinitarian language used in the Old Testament, it is in the New Testament that the revelation of the Trinity is made clear and complete to us, and so from the New Testament that we build the doctrine and understand the language used in the Old Testament. I shall write a later blog post on the Trinitarian language of the Old Testament, but for now I shall focus on the New.

John very much, in his gospel, teaches the Deity of Christ. He begins by speaking of the Word;

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” – John 1:1

We see that the Word already was in the beginning, and the Word was God.

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”)” – John 1:14-15

John the Baptist’s speaking of the one who is to come is recorded also in Matthew 3:8, Mark 1:7-8, Luke 3:16. He refers back to this in reference to Christ;

“The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’” – John 1:29-30

In other words, Jesus is the Word in flesh; and the Word is God. Jesus is God.

In John 10:30, Jesus says, “I and my Father are one.” This was a declaration that they were one in Deity; that Jesus was equally God with the Father. The Jews in the very next verse picked up stones to stone Him for blasphemy. In verse 33, the Jews said to Jesus that they sought to stone Him “for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.”

Now we know that Jesus, being equally God with the Father, is not identical with the Father as a person. They are not the same person, although they both are God. We know this because in the Garden of Gethsemene, Jesus prayed to the Father. Elsewhere, Jesus also prayed to the Father.

Jesus said in John 5:19-20; “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel.”

So we know that the Father and the Son are distinct in personality. They are different persons, yet both God.

Now with regards to the Holy Spirit, Jesus speaks of the coming of the Spirit in John 14-16 in detail, teaching His disciples that the Spirit would come from the Father after the Son is gone. The language used of the Spirit is personal language; he will do this and he will do that. In fact, the language used of the Spirit in John 16:13 sounds very similar to the language that Jesus uses of Himself in John 5:19; of being a person sent from the Father, in submission to the Father.

Ephesians 4:30 speaks of the Spirit being grieved. The Holy Spirit is not an impersonal force or entity sent from God, the Holy Spirit is not an ‘it’, but a ‘He’. The Spirit is grieved; and an impersonal force cannot be grieved.

Finally consider this – Jesus Himself commanded in Matthew 28:19; “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

Imagine, after we have now established that the Father and Son are two persons who share in the nature of God, if Jesus commanded to baptise disciples in the name of the Father, the Son, and of Mary. Or the Father, the Son, and the Apostle Paul. That would be blasphemy! But we know that the Spirit comes from God and speaks of Christ; the Trinitarian language is used throughout the New Testament. Frequently in the Epistles, we read of God, Jesus, and the Spirit, working together to perform functions. This is Trinitarian language; the Father, the Son, and the Spirit all work together in all things. And Jesus commands us to baptise in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Books and books have been written in this subject; and I could have written forever on this. I shall hope to write more on the Trinity in future, but for now, I hope that what I have written here does no injustice to this supreme and glorious doctrine of the Truine nature of God.