Question:
Dear
Greg,
I have two questions:
1.
Does the Trinity merely assert that God is one in three persons or does
it go
2.
Would it be fair to say that the doctrine of the Trinity is man’s attempt
to
Dave
Answer:
Dear
Dave,
The teaching of the Trinity is the best attempt of Christians over almost
2000 years to put into human language the biblical revelation of God.
Yes, the formulation of the Trinity does explain how God is one in three—perhaps
not “exactly”, for there is no such thing as “exact” when humans attempt to
understand the divine. Do we know
exactly what eternity is like, what heaven is like, how God created the universe,
how Jesus was resurrected from the tomb, how God in the person of Jesus became
incarnate, etc., etc.? No, we don’t
know “exactly” and the Bible therefore uses terms like “mystery” to help us
understand such divine realities. Many
passages speak to the fact that on this side of eternity we only know “in part”—we
“see through a glass darkly”.
The Trinity is based entirely on the Bible and is faithful to all biblical
revelation. It therefore is based
upon what God reveals to us of himself.
The Trinity proclaims that God is one and he is Triune, he is God the
Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
One God who is three divine Persons (not to be confused with the way
we use the word “persons” to speak of humans) who are co-essential and co-equal.
In response to your second question—not at all.
In fact, it would be twisting the Bible to say such a thing.
The Trinity is biblically faithful to God’s revelation of himself in
both the old and new covenants. It
is based entirely on the Bible. The
statement you pose and the question about its fairness is contradictory.
God reveals himself to us in our world and in our language.
We cannot understand God unless he reveals himself to us in both general
(the creation itself) revelation and specific (the written record of the Bible)
revelation. In order to communicate
with us and reveal himself to us God condescends.
He uses our reality, our limitations of time and space and language in
helping us to understand who and what he is.
Our attempts to understand him, therefore, must be based upon his biblical
revelation—which the Trinity is.
In Christ,
Greg Albrecht