Another wrong illustration is using ourselves: I am one person, but also a wife, mother, and writer. Water is water, but exists in three different forms: liquid, frozen, or steam. And the reason we know that is because the Persons of the Godhead have perfectly loved each other for all eternity. Answer (1 of 25): Cynics assert that the idea of the Holy Trinity is a logical impossibility. For instance, we know that God is perfectly loving. Each person is fully God (Phil 2; Acts 5:3-4). The Holy Trinity: Egg Analogy by Sharmaine Pagtakhan - Prezi Theyve transformed. The water analogy of the Trinity follows this line of reasoning: water can be a solid (ice/frozen water), liquid, and gas (water vapor), and yet all three forms are still water (H 2 O), and likewise, God manifests Himself in 3 different ways in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Water at room temperature is liquid. A single molecule cannot simultaneously exist in three different states. God is like H2O in that the Bible may refer to a specific person of the Trinity but that person is still God. Tritheism denies the unity of the God-head by saying there is just three different gods. Therefore, in this context, God is the what and the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are the who. God Is Like An Egg - vtaide.com The Trinity is not real in my life because of superior knowledge or insight. 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. This analogy is an invalid comparison to the Trinity and is a heresy called PARTIALISM. Some people falsely claim the Trinity is a form of . I bet I havent sung or heard this song in years! The Trinity is one of the most foundational doctrines of Christianity. Christians believe, then, that only one God exists but this God exists as a unity of three persons: a Trinity. 4 Bad Ways to Explain the Trinity (and 1 Good One) When we view the egg in its entirety we have the Biblical Trinity, One that is Three. Its a very common explanation within the church to try to explain how God, who clearly exhorts His followers to preserve His supreme oneness (Deuteronomy chapter 6 verse 4), could also be identified with Jesus (Titus chapter 2 verse 13), and the Holy Spirit (Acts chapter 5 verses 3-4). They are three in one egg. I never thought about it in that way some of these examples Ive never heard of. So, part of understanding the Trinity is realizing that God is personal and relational. The three parts create a unified whole. God does not just change forms but exists as three persons in unity. 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. His being is somewhat of a mystery to us. ORDER from Barnes and NobleAmazon.com or wherever fine books are soldISBN-13: 978-1978167643Return to Cafe Logos Homepage | Bite-Sized Bible Bites, The Egg and i -A Simple Explanation of The Trinity. An analogy illustrates that in a similar way, one shamrock can have three leaves on it, and the trinity has three persons that comprise one God. This is a worse analogy than the egg because it is more analogous to the heretical doctrine of Modalism/Oneness than for the Trinity. But this idea is central to the Christian faith. It leads to the heresy of MODALISM which teaches that God switches to different modes. They say that three separate beings exist, 2. In one of his sermons, he wrestled with the passage in Scripture recounting Jesus' Baptism. When we look at the egg as an example of the Trinity, we must view it in its entirety. The trinity is like water. Paul leaves the Corinthians with this blessing in 2 Corinthians 13:14- May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.. But we cannot do that (assuming we can) with God. show me your glory. Jesus then becomes a created being and thus less than fully God. The Father hears their intercessory prayers. Not just for explaining it to others, but to bolster our own faith and see how each One works in our lives. St. Augustine, one of the most important Fathers of the Church, wrote a great deal on the doctrine of the Trinity. A chicken egg consists of a shell, a yolk, and an egg white, yet it is altogether one egg. 2:5-6; Col. 1:15-17, 2:9; Heb. For the Trinity, instead of using the formula 1+1+1, we use 1x1x1. A Simple Way to Explain the Trinity - Keith Ferrin It is not existing as 3 different parts (persons) at the same time. TO AVOID HERESIES, LET US LIVE BY WHAT HAS BEEN REVEALED TO US: 1. 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 visual form of God seperated from Jesus on the cross. copyright 2009 by H.D. The following verses attest to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19). When we speak of someone as being a "person", we often mean an individual who is separate from other people, or we simply mean a human being. That fire keeps devils away from the saved. 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. In an attempt to explain the Trinity, there are some bad examples people use, and some better ones. . Genisis 1:17, KJV. The doctrine of the Trinity tells us that there's ONE GOD who is THREE distinct PERSONS existing as a community of self-giving and loving relationships with each other. show me your glory. Just like an egg, none of the parts are co-equal, nor are all of the parts necessary for the egg to exist. My prayer is to infuse God's character into your everyday lives with short ( 4-5") devotions and Bible Studies every Monday morning. If one of the sides were removed, then there would be no equilateral triangle. This view teaches that three separate beings exist. This is the error of Arianism (not to be confused with Aryanism, which is also bad). The more I reflect on Easter, the more Ive realized how much its become a consumeristic holidayeven Did Jesus really rise from the dead? We believe in only one true God in all existence, in all places, at all times. This means there is a sense in which all 3 persons may act or speak as one. Admittedly, the idea of three distinct persons/expressions that are each fully God is part of the mystery. This little child cannot look at one without experiencing a profound sense of wonderment and awe. The meme above discourages the use of analogies in explaining the Trinity. This is a general rule when we study this Mystery using our human weakness since it is absolutely impossible for our human minds to comprehend the Divine. It is a miraculous invention, the egg. For since light is always in existence, it is manifest that its brightness also exists, because light is perceived to exist from the fact that it shines, and it is impossible that light should not shine. 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). Few if any have every tried to teach the heresy of Tritheism, but it needs to be mentioned anyway. The trinity is like this man. Our limited intellects are unable to comprehend its reality, yet, our Scriptures and scholarly Tradition makes it known to us. Although he is one man who is simultaneously a husband, a father, and a student, he would consider it Modalism to suggest that this is a good Trinitarian analogy. As a result the water molecule must change forms. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. (John 1:13). 2. The Holy Spirit is the shell, Jesus is the egg white, and the Father is the egg yolk. 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. We define a person as one having a will and who is distinguishable from another person. I have the good one. We recommend you adhere these emblems to your vestments by mounting on the material with fabric glue and then stitching them . If then the sun were eternal, the day would never end; but now, for such is not really the state of the case, the day begins with the beginning of the sun, and ends with its ending. These attributes are: omnipotence (all-powerful), omniscience (all-knowing), and omnipresence (exists in all places). Here are eight bible characters that you might not know about, but should. The Unseen Father would have been put into Satans prison. Why analogies of the Trinity fail Youthworks So cool that God imparted that song in your mind and heart before you even wrote this blog post! Space consists of three things: height, width, and depth. Its downright hard to understand. Born in England in 1961, Benjamin Waterhouse Benjamin Waterhouse has been the organist of the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity since 2000. Time exists as 3 things: past, present, and future. Revelation 4:3 And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. That would not be had God be three persons. Now if any man has not the Spirit of Christ, he is not His" (Romans 8:9). In the first place, if we truly claim to love God, then surely we should endeavour to know Him. The 3 Most Common "Trinity Analogies" (and their limitations) The three most common go-to analogies for explaining the Trinity are water, an egg, and the sun. But you cannot be broken when your faith is in Jesus, for the Spirit of the Son that lives in us and gives us the voice through which we cry Abba, Father, (Galatians 4:6,) this Spirit of the Father that dwells within you is there to strengthen, protect and guard your person. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Analogies often fall short. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit also exist eternally and concurrently. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. (Luke 1:35)One of my Sunday School students said, "How could Jesus (God) enter Mary's stomach (womb) and be born? And we know that because Hes been experiencing perfect love within Himself forever. And the Holy Spirit is not the Father or the Son. You are an egg! H2O is a combination of two particles (atoms) of hydrogen and one particle of oxygen and this compound can exist as water (liquid), ice (solid) and vapour (gas). The problem with this analogy is that it would imply that there is only one Divine Person, who eventually multiplied Himself. He has the world and our individual lives within His supremely capable hands. In Jesus is the fullness of the Godhead bodily (Colossians 2:9). Indeed, how can an infinite God be contained in a finite human womb! It taught there is one nature in God, and that there are two processions, three persons, and four relations that constitute the Blessed Trinity. He differs from the Father, but was and still is God. The problem with this analogy is that it teaches that God has three components: The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Now that we know the doctrine of the trinity and its corresponding major heresies, now we are ready to look at some bad analogies for the trinity. The yolk represents Gods Person, His Being, and His Holiness which generates Light that no man can approach (I Timothy 6:16). His ways are higher than ours, but isnt that a comfort?! In other words, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have a unique and unbreakable unity, and their existence together is the being that is God. Now God can be in you by His Spirit! Blessings! Explaining the Holy Trinity. Son and Holy Ghost are each fully God. The yolk represents Gods Person, His Being, and His Holiness which generates Light that no man can approach (I Timothy 6:16). These are likewise erroneous or even heretical. The idea of God as three-in-one is indeed a mysterious concept, one that is difficult to understand. It is not important merely for the sake of tradition, or because the word itself is taught in the Bible (the word is not). 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. . in that He is not made up of three parts one part () the Father, another part () Jesus Christ and a third part () the Holy Spirit. God is like an egg in that He is 3-in-1 God the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ) and the Holy Spirit. Before moving on I should note that providing a full theological explanation of Trinitarian doctrine is well beyond the scope of what I can do here. Our God is three in one. Unfortunately, an analogy from the limited realm of creation may not be sufficient in explaining Gods nature. The term Economic refers to the roles, functions, and relationships that exist within the Trinity. If youre interested into diving deeper into the topic of the Trinity, here are some valuable resources that could help. Like modalism, the "three beings" view was rejected by the early church. It can also be a liquid and called water. Hi Im not a theologian and I dont disagree with what you say but when you state that we know the persons of the Trinity have perfectly loved for eternity etc how do we know? There have been many attempts to explain the Trinity the relationship between God the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. What is the Trinity? Living Theologically The Council's definitions concerning the Trinity are really as easy as one, two, three four. The mystery is in the "how" this is accomplished; something we will finally understand in heaven. This is a bad analogy because it fails at the truth that all three persons comprise the fullness of God. The Egg and I - Part Two That helps explain the concept quite well- the oneness, unity of God with the distinct three persons of God- Father, Son, and Spirit. 1A) Dave is a son of Graham and Lois Armstrong. It's impossible to be an Orthodox Christian without professing belief in the Triune nature of God. When we see them as three individual spirits, (God is one Spirit John 4:24), then that is the blasphemy of polytheism which is the worship of more than one God. The trinity is an essential doctrine to the Christian faith. ), The Son Phil. Although God is transcendent, sovereign, unapproachable light, He has condescended to reveal something of Himself to His creation. When the Bible talks about God, it may be referring to Jesus Christ in a specific instance, the Holy Spirit in another and God the Father in a third occasion. Yet it appears to be almost entirely misunderstood within contemporary evangelical circles. (Which I just found out is in error). This view, also known as "modalism", was rejected by the early church. RELATED: What Did Jesus Really Look Like? God is NOT like H2O in that He does not need the right pressure and temperature to exist as three persons. Water Analogy God is like water, or H2O, which can exist in 3 forms. 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. As a doctrine (belief), the trinity is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as three separate and distinct persons united in one being- God. The Holy Spirit and Son do not send the Father. This analogy is still not perfect because each of the aspect cannot stand as egg like each of the persons in the trinity can stand as God. Humans as we are, we cannot fully understand how the three divine Persons, though really distinct from one another, are one and the same God. 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). The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are each called Jehovah (or Spirit of Jehovah), given divine attributes, and are distinguished from one another. These three persons - Father, Son and Holy Spirit - exist together in complete unity, with no separation, as one divine being. The egg shell is the image of the yolk and the white. 2A) Dave is a father of four children: three boys and a . Love your blogs! Your email address will not be published. Perhaps we must be content to admit that we cannot fully understand Gods nature in our finitude. ANALOGY OF CHARACTERS. The Sun was created on the forth day. God does not play three roles.. But Jesus makes it clear in John 10:30- I and the Father are One. The Greek word for one means one thing, not one person. They are united in their essence (spirit, nature) but not identical persons. In using analogies, we need to acknowledge the demerits and limitations of the said analogy. Yet we do not have three gods but ONE God. One of the more traditional analogies is to the states of water. Now were going to look at how some people often misunderstand the Trinity. John introduces us to the Trinity in John 1:1- In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and Word was God. Jesus, the Word, was present in Genesis 1. Adorn your liturgical vestments with classic images from the Monastery Icons collection. Analogies that we present would always be insufficient as none of them would equate to the incomprehensible beauty of God. Surely this is a better understanding of the water analogy! The Trinity is one of the most foundational doctrines of Christianity. THE TRUTH IS: The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are not three different parts or components of God, but the . Have you wondered what is God like? The Son "proceeds" from the Father, and the Holy Spirit "proceeds from the Father and the Son.". Jesus, visually seen, judges all, not the Unseen Father. I know in the past Ive used analogies that werent the best (more on those later.) The Unseen Father keeps the Father that is seen, alive. This analogy sounds pretty good, but it is fatally flawed in that is describes the Son and Spirit as creations of the Father. A man might be a father to his children, a husband to his wife, and son to his parents. In order to accomplish this union with God and man, He allowed His Shell to be broken with the weight of our sins to cleanse our souls so His holiness can approach, for God cannot look upon sin (Habakkuk 1:13). The problem with this analogy is that no one molecule of H2O can actually exist as solid, liquid, and gas at the same time. Each character of the trinity has in one another (cf. In the same way, water is all the same molecular structure, expressing itself in three different modes. The Bible teaches that the Father is God, that Jesus is God, and that the Holy Spirit is God. What does the Bible teach about the Trinity? | GotQuestions.org 1. Notice the distinction between persons and being. God is much bigger and much greater than we can understand, and to be honest, I'm ok with that. Examples of these different roles would be: The Incarnation: Only the Son became incarnate, took on flesh. I go to prepare a place for you. It does not imply Jesus was created if you emphasize that the Sun existed from eternity past. And in our efforts to grasp it, weve come up with a number of analogies. What portion is erroneous? As we examine the scriptural witness we see three truths that make up the doctrine of the trinity. RELATED: The Biblical Principle Of Baptism By Fire. For example, we know that God didnt create humanity because He bored or lonely. How Helpful Are Analogies of the Trinity? - Kuyperian Commentary This analogy actually teaches the heresy of tritheism. The Trinity is Like an Egg How the analogy goes: The Trinity is like an egg. Haydn describes himself as a five-point Calvinist, but he recognises that many faithful Christians disagree. The Trinity is a tri-unity, a unity of Three, - God the Father, Jesus, the Son of God and the Holy Spirit. But the Bible is CLEAR in its teaching. Memory, Understanding, and Will. Or water can be evaporated and called steam. For example, triangles are not the kinds of things that are personal. And for a mere mortal to have dared invent it and be able t. A Note on Trinitarian Analogies | Place for Truth - Alliance of Part 2. Haydn Lea is an Associate Pastor in Queensland, and is currently studying his Master of Arts (Theology). Armstrong. Matthew 3:16-17- As soon as Jesus was baptized, He went up out of the water. All three persons exist at the same moment in history. But this view, too, wont do. The three-leaf clover analogy is OK. There was no relational deficiency that prompted God to create us. The Father Matthew 27:45-46 (usually there is no argument that the Father is not God, since every place Jesus speaks to God, he is addressing the Father. The egg analogy is very simple but it is OK to show something as simple as an egg can be one and yet three. When we tend to make an analogy about the trinity we are forced to diminish one of the three trinitarian truths in order to make the analogy work. Holy Trinity, the downtown Greek Orthodox church that was partially destroyed by fire 11 years ago, was a special place for 57-year-old Georgiou. But common sense is intuition based on day-to-day experience. Thus, the Father Himself is not God, nor is the Son, nor is the Holy Spirit, but combining the three, there is one God. The egg (or apple) fails in that the shell, white, and yolk are parts of the egg, not the egg in themselves, just as the skin, flesh, and seeds of the apple are parts of it, not the apple itself. He began to play the organ as a chorister in England, before continuing his studies in Qubec and France. This is the Christmas paradox.
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