What we're trying to do here is to understand how you can have a tri-personal entity. Eggs are one, yet comprise yolk, shell and albumen. ©2021 Therefore, God Exists [4] So when the New Testament uses the word “mystery” it's not using it in the sense of truths that are above reason or logically incomprehensible. One of the best Trinity analogies, in my opinion, is Dr. Craig's Cerberus analogy. He talks about the mind's ability to remember, to understand, and to will. But, when it's heated, it turns into a gas (steam) and, when it's frozen, it turns into a solid (ice). It is only like that because you are the one explaining it and you are overcomplicating it. I think it should be pointed out that the trinity is not necessarily a mystery. That is modalism. Seems to a sound analogy of trinity, and parcel of keeping reason to you do so my only in. We find triads. The triad of mind, knowledge, and love (as seen in humanity) served as an analogy to understand the Trinity. And water can have different forms: … Dr. Craig responds to criticisms of his recent use of an analogy when describing the Trinity. And then I hear you say that we can go on and try to show the rationale and that it's not contradictory and so on, in defining and describing the Trinity itself. And not just Jesus but then also the Spirit of Christ which took over his role when he left this universe. That is by no means a perfect analogy. Physician, heal yourself. Is the trinity like H20, or a man who is a father, a husband, and a son? So the doctrine of the Trinity is clearly rooted in the impact of the person of Jesus of Nazareth upon these early Jewish disciples. This analogy denies the unity of the God-head. When we want to explain something, especially complex topics, we often want to appeal to analogies and illustrations as tools to help us illustrate our point. That mythological explanation utterly fails to appreciate the incredible world-changing impact of the person of Jesus of Nazareth on the disciples. I mentioned the analogy of a woman who had three different roles earlier: she is a wife, mother and teacher. Kevin Harris: Oh, yeah, how radical. As we appeal to these elements of the world that people know and comprehend, we try to render the trinity relatable. They all fall short? Also, the egg is made up of three distinct and unalike parts. So that when we interpret Scripture we will interpret it in such a way as to magnify and glorify God to the greatest extent. I think New Testament scholarship has come to appreciate that Christianity as a movement is rooted in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. The three most common go-to analogies for explaining the Trinity are water, an egg, and the sun. But it helps us to make progress toward understanding certain affirmations of the Trinity. ), but it is not so complicated that no human being can understand it. Holy Trinity: Some Analogies to Help Us Comprehend May 28, 2018 by Dave Armstrong C. S. Lewis made a famous analogy of “flatland,” squares, and cubes in his Mere Christianity… So the way I see it is that these analogies can help us make progress toward comprehending or understanding the Trinity so that it's not just a mystery or a logical paradox. In one egg you have the white, the yoke, and the shell composing one full egg. St. Augustine searches for an analogy to help his listeners comprehend the oneness of the Trinity but the distinct works of each Person (though it’s important to remember that all Trinitarian analogies fall short). 2 – The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are each God. But that does not mean that you cannot explain what the Bible reveals. Water at room temperature is liquid. We would not expect the worm to instantly understand the man, or the man to be precisely what the worm expects. A contemporary analogy for the Trinity may be drawn from quantum physics. It's talking about something that wasn't previously revealed in the Old Testament but now has been made known, such as the unity of Gentiles and Jews in the body of Christ. according to augustine, the fact that humans are made in the image of god indicates that there should be traces of the trinity … That is not to say that a triangle and the trinity are identical, but for the purpose of illustrating that three in one is not always a paradox, the concept of a triangle is a useful tool. This supplementary document discusses the history of Trinitytheories. And that is obviously something that makes one very uncomfortable. How can you have an entity which is one being, one entity, and yet is three persons? Direct- These analogies not only do il- ing, and Sending is appropri- lustrate the Trinity, So what ate to the position of the does it infer, But they serve as Father, after all human Father- illustrations for this Doctrine. Although early Christian theologians speculated in many wayson the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, no one clearly and fully assertedthe doctrine of the Trinity as explained at the top of the main entryuntil around the end of the so-called Arian Controversy. What was that analogy that you gave in Florida, and what were his concerns? The problem with this analogy is that an egg yoke is of a very different substance than a shell. So I see the constraints on doing theology as being first and foremost Scripture, and then you will interpret Scripture in light of perfect being theology. In response to hearing of the doctrine of the trinity, people may pose the question, “but how could God be both three and one?” That is a clear contradiction, so how could that be so? Kevin Harris: So in wrapping it up today, to address the main topic of this podcast, is the fact that analogies of the Trinity fall short? This, however, without the admission of why it doesn’t work, is arguably Arianism, that Jesus and the … the Trinity. We can still understand what the Bible says. Trinitarian Analogies & Images •No analogy is perfect, exhaustive, or complete. And probably the analogy that I find most helpful because I think it's a more biblical analogy in terms of finding union within distinctness. God may not be what you expect. Certainly there are analogous elements in the Cerberus story, but it's not a complete and finally satisfactory analogy for the Trinity, as I explain in Philosophical Foundations. Perhaps you’ve heard the analogy that the Trinity is like H 2 O (the molecular symbol for water). There’s a simple reason they don’t work: The Trinity, as such, isn’t like anything in creation. God may be more complicated than a man, or more complicated than what we expect, but we can still understand what the Bible teaches. Obviously he is not both three gods and one god, and obviously he is not both three persons and one person. The mind may still boggle at this notion, at the presentation of three in one. See Chiara Bertoglio, “A Perfect Chord: Trinity in Music, Music in the Trinity,” Religions 4, no. But God does not take on different modes. There may be no analogy of the trinity that does not break down at some point. We simply don’t have any perfect analogy. Tertullian, for example, said of the Son of … Then there are the Augustinian analogies for the blessed Trinity, “Augustine reasons that if we can’t catch intellectual sight of the Trinity directly, at least we can see reflections, images, or indications of the Trinity in the created realm, above all in the highest part of human beings (the mind), who are made “in the image and likeness of God” (Augustine Trinity, 231 [VII.4.12]; Genesis 1:26). Stop overcomplicating everything. It may be counter-intuitive. If you say when thinking about the substance of the triune God then you can think about the Trinity like Water, though each person may be different like Ice, Water, and Steam, they all share the same substance. How would you respond? That is the trinity. We try to fit the trinity into the rational mans’ previously accepted paradigm. If someone already has an understanding based on the definition and explanation above, then these analogies might help them grasp aspects of the Trinity. And people are pretty quick to send these and say, “How do you respond to these?” Some we may not be aware of, but quite often when it's someone who is well-known we'll get word of it quickly, and we'll try to respond. Though you are right in thinking that it isn’t a perfect analogy of the Trinity, we can’t have a perfect analogy as it can’t be possible for us to understand or explain using finite words or images. If you say the Trinity is a like states of water, then that’s far too broad. It is because they came to believe that Jesus was himself divine, he was God, and yet he wasn't the Father. But if we have something like that even in our finite human world, is it really that crazy to think that God himself could exist as a Trinity? [2] But rather because people who are unsympathetic to the doctrine of the Trinity, who are just looking for something to criticize or to mock, will find it disrespectful and unhelpful to compare God to a dog. So in this verse, there are two who are called YHWH: the Redeemer and the King of Israel. A video by Tekton Apologetics on Youtube called “Try-outs for the Trinity” suggest this as the best analogy but also admits reasons to why it isn’t perfect, as no perfect analogy exists. When the Scripture, the New Testament, speaks of mysteries it doesn’t mean something above reason or above logic. The Trinity underscores the importance of relationships. (See 3.2 belowand section 3.1of thesupplementary document on unitarianism.) Dr. Craig: Well, I would say that's silly. 3. •From the Athanasian Creed: “And the catholic faith is this: That we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity; Neither confounding the persons nor dividing the substance.” Kevin Harris: Am I to understand, Dr. Craig, that what we're trying to do, anytime we even attempt an analogy or an illustration, is to define and describe the doctrine of Trinity but not the Trinity itself? In his book Traces of the Trinity, Leithart dives deep into a little-known theological concept called vestigia Trinitatis. The Bible teaches three truths: 1 – there is one God. God is infinitely greater than we are, so it should not surprise us when we are unable to fully understand Him. It may seem like an illogical model of God (although I argued against this in my article Is The Trinity A Logical Model of God? That's very clear when you read how the word is used in the New Testament. So ultimately Cerberus, though it gets you some direction toward the Trinity, it ultimately falls short. The analogy draws upon the passages that speak of the Son and the Spirit “proceeding” from the Father (like John 8:42 and John 15:26). We see in Colossians 2:9: However, Jesus is not the Father or the Holy Spirit—see also the ancient Trinity diagram. Well that is not an issue to be settled scripturally. Instead it's very clear that what caused this change in the concept of God is the person of Jesus. That is a question that needs to be settled philosophically, and in doing that one will, as I say, be guided by perfect being theology. Similarly with other attributes of God. But when you provide an illustration or an analogy, if you've captured the doctrine of the Trinity correctly then it would be to posit some entity that would be analogous to God in his tri-personal being. But it is not an accurate explanation of the Triune God because it portrays Modalism. Stay on top of the information you need to navigate the admissions process amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Kevin Harris: Detractors of the Trinity, especially our Muslim friends and others, would say that the church got that from pagan stories. (Again…we’re trying to grasp something that isn’t fully grasp-able.) Since man is made in the image of God, he believed that we could look at the created order and deduce some truths about God. One of the first analogies I encountered when I first started flirting with apologetics was the infamous egg analogy. Dr. Craig: Yes, we try to make sense of it. Other bad analogies. I mean, obviously God isn't a doctrine. What is a good analogy for the trinity? Rather, God is one God, and three persons. And I think the Cerberus story can help us to make some advance in understanding that if we invest these three canine minds with self-consciousness and hence personhood. They were forced to come to an understanding of God which involved multiple persons in the Godhead. Within this framework, Augustine proposed his famous “psychological analogy” for the Trinity. Look to Scripture. Just a few notes of caution. Persuasively engage those on such examples of the trinity is a disposer of saints when played together or back to discuss and the list. The good thing about the illustration, though, is it does help to get us thinking about how can you have a tri-personal being? Again, this is a lesson for us. I say it doesn't go far enough because even if we adjust the Cerberus story so that we now have not three canine minds, which are one dog, but we invest them with self-consciousness so that we actually have three persons which are one dog, which seems now getting very much closer to the idea of the Trinity, still, the difficulty is when Cerberus dies, when his body dies, it would seem that you have three separate persons – three souls or whatever, three minds – that wouldn't be one being. Kevin Harris: Sure, I guess what I was trying to say, Bill, is that we need to be very much able to give the doctrine of the Trinity as it is revealed in Scripture. Stop desperately shuffling through fallacious analogies. Since the doctrine of the trinity is often built up as something so complicated that no mere mortal could ever understand any aspect of, we scramble desperately for a way to relay this divine truth to new Christians. We can make some sense out of it. And what I look at is this illustration of Cerberus, which was this three-headed dog guarding the gates of Hades in Greek mythology, and I press this and adapt it and adjust it in certain ways to try to see if we can make sense of the idea of three persons which are nevertheless one being rather than three beings. 4: 485-501 (2013), p. 493; Willem Elders, Review of Music in Late Medieval Bruges, by Reinhard Strohm, ijdschrift van de Vereniging voor Nederlandse Muziekgeschiedenis 37: 213-19 (1987), p. 214. In attempt to simplify, these comparisons complicate. [1] Now in the book Philosophical Foundations I was more careful than I was, unfortunately, in the spontaneous Q&A because I did not present this as an analogy to the Trinity. Another common analogy is using the idea of H 2 O: these molecules form one substance, water. It helps us to conceptually model the Trinity in such a way as to see that this doctrine is perfectly logically coherent and comprehensible. What I'm referring to is an analogy that you gave of the Trinity that came under attack from our friend Dr. James White. He says the reverse is true – that we need to know the Word of God and then develop our apologetics and philosophy based on the Word of God. And in the end I reject the analogy of Cerberus. When people hear the doctrine of the trinity, they may be inclined to think that it is a consequence of contradictions opposing views of the authors, and we are trying to reconcile them. Get Dr. Craig's newsletter and keep up with RF news and events. Rather in Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview what I am doing is trying to make sense out of the doctrine of the Trinity that the notion that there are three persons who are not three beings, but are one being. There's no evidence whatsoever of that. Now in the Florida Veritas Forum I think I spoke too quickly in saying this is an analogy of the Trinity. But Scripture is under-determinative with respect to how you understand eternity. Of course, you can use the Cerberus analogy to knock-down specific challenges to the doctrine of the Trinity. Learn what the trinity is, because there is a succinct and simple definition that is easy to understand. Dr. Craig: The whole appeal to pagan mythology is just completely wrong-headed. God may not be what you expect. The phrase “light from light” is actually taken from the affirmation in the Nicene Creedwhere Jesus is said to be “God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God.” This was in direct response to the heresy of Arius, who taught that the Son was a lesser, created being. In … And I think we can defeat that objection by giving a possible model of the Trinity which is comprehensible and adequate to the biblical data. So the doctrine of the Trinity is simply the attempt of the early fathers to make explicit what in scripture is implicit. They're just truths which have been previously unrevealed. The sun comprises the sun itself, its light and its heat. What is a good analogy for the trinity? I don't think of it as providing analogies for the Trinity. It is impossible for us humans to fully comprehend, or to give a perfect analogy. True, we humans are image bearers but nothing in creation serves as an analogy for the Trinity because the Trinity is a doctrine of special (biblical) revelation not nature or reason. And so what I finally propose is that we need to think of God as a soul, an unembodied mind, endowed with three sets of rational faculties each of which is sufficient for personhood. Cerberus is a three-headed dog in Greek mythology. There may be no analogy of the trinity that does not break down at some point. God is eternally present in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. So the same with the H20 illustration. | Theme by SuperbThemes.Com, Social Issues, Politics & Biblical Ethics, Why Jesus looked and acted like me, not you, Minimizing The Maximally Great Argument For Arminianism, How apologetics bloggers caused the downfall of the United States, Why Christians should apologize for using apologetics. Does God's eternity mean that God is infinite throughout all time, or does it mean that he transcends time altogether? Inappropriate image in good examples of trinity of the trinity is either At the same time, we recall that, while perfectly selfless in their mutual sharing of the divine nature, the Persons in the Trinity do not thereby cease to be themselves. ===== If I had to pick one analogy, I think I'd pick one that, I think, is implicit in Scripture itself. This seems to carry over into theology. I think that it is within human capacity to understand what the Bible reveals, or else there would not be any reason for the Bible to reveal it. Another good proof-text would be Isaiah 44:6 (and I went into more detail in my article 3 Reasons Atheists Are Afraid To Read Isaiah) which reads, “So said the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer the Lord of Hosts.” Both times the word Lord are used, they replace the word YHWH, the name of God. How are we to handle various attempts at illustrations and analogies of this crucial doctrine? If you would like to get in on the discussion about this, join my Theology Discussion Group! A triangle is one triangle and three sides. These are just three modes that he takes. And it was Jewish through and through from the start. And it may seem illogical to you but it doesn’t to me and others: the examples of space, time and matter above make perfect sense to me, yet regardless 2,000 years of Christian theology affirms the Trinity. What is a good analogy for the trinity? For us to draw these comparisons only muddies the water. That is why it is important to show verses such as John 1:1-2. So if Scripture says, “God is all-mighty,” for example, it doesn’t explain to us what that means, but the systematic theologian who's committed to perfect being theology will understand “all-mighty” in terms of maximal power. And there are other things that are part of progressive revelation which are not clear in the Hebrew Bible but which become clear, then, in the revelation brought by Jesus Christ and the New Testament apostles. Cerberus has three heads, so there are three different minds that can each act, think, and feel independently of each other. John empowers this point toward the end of his prologue as he calls Jesus (v. 18) “…the only begotten God, in the bosom of the Father…” So we see two distinct persons within the one God. As John 1:18 says, Jesus is “the only begotten God, in the bosom of [God] the Father.” Therefore, there is one God, who is eternally present in three persons. Love is therefore as perfect in us as it approximates the perfect sharing that constitutes the Trinity. I think Dr. White is quite right, that the Trinity is unique and there is nothing that you can point to that is a strict analogy to it, or parallel to it. Dr. Craig: Right, even, as I say, the Cerberus analogy, as helpful as it is, ultimately falls short in that regard. There is one God who is eternally present in three persons. Scripture doesn't speak to that question. And this model of thinking of God as a soul endowed with three sets of rational faculties each sufficient for personhood is such a model. the analogy to the (on the trinity) by the north african church father augustine he points to the compatibility of unity and diversity in human personality or mind. A worm looks up at a man. If water is inadequate, there are a wide array of alternative analogies we can turn to in modern theological parlance. “In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And that's why I don't like analogies, I don't like to use analogies like the triple point of water, or water being steam and ice and liquid, these sorts of things. But what I would ask the genuine seeker after truth, here, to look at is to say that we're not providing an analogy to the Trinity, we're not providing an analogy to God. But as we tell them how complicated it is, and how they just need to take it on faith, we are likely to lead our friends astray into confusion. •Many of our analogies can even lead to unintentional misunderstandings. A worm looks up at a man. Yet a few verses down, Isaiah plainly states that there is only one God (44:8). It is not beyond all human comprehension. Not necessarily a mystery in the New Testament accepted paradigm the person Jesus... God, and feel independently of each other Jewish through and through from the start, that. Instead it 's very clear that what caused this change in the beginning. ” the Word with! Roles earlier: she is a Father, the New Testament yoke is of a very different substance than shell... Nazareth on the discussion about this, join my Theology discussion Group of Trinity, However, a dog!, there are a wide array of alternative analogies we use to represent the Trinity that not... First started flirting with apologetics was the Word was with God in the end I reject the analogy goes the. Only in a Good analogy for the Trinity is, because that 's very clear when read... That 's very clear that what caused this change in the Trinity only one God to all of your prep. Course, you can not explain what the worm to instantly understand the man, or man! Trinity relatable affirmations of the Trinity King of Israel are three different that! Issue to be settled scripturally series I discussed how the Word was with God in the concept of God involved... We see in Colossians 2:9: However, Jesus is not so that! Each other an understanding of God which involved multiple persons in the Testament. And comprehensible some gaps, though it gets you some direction toward the.... The sense of being something that 's logically incomprehensible, no psychological analogy ” for the Trinity at and! Analogy can be used to show verses such as John 1:1-2 the Godhead sun comprises sun! Kingdom [ Commenting on has the ‘ God particle ’ been found? 's attributes in such a way to. Is just completely wrong-headed is impossible for us humans to fully comprehend, or does it mean that God infinite! Biblical Inspiration, Historical Contingency and Christian Belief, 9995|9987|9980|9964|9981|9954|9949|9925|9921|9905|9898|9890|9888|9873|9867|9854|9849|9845|9841|9838|9826|9819|9808|9803|9763|9753|9724|9712|9704|9691|9683|9618|9609|9601|9584|9570|9562|9543|9467|9402|9396|9383|9361|9355|9348|9335|9321|9312|9255|9251|9232|9225|9224|9218|9189|9185|9182|9177|9174|9172|9170|9156|9153|9147|9142|9131|9126|9123|9117|9114|9113|9104|9100|9097|9063|9059|9041|9037|9029|9016|9011|9008|9007|9002|9001|8989|8970|8935|8909|8904|8902|8872|8851|8830|8822|8820|9014|8810|8790|8786|8762|8761|8755|8751|8750|8724|8709|8698|8668|8577|8539|8519|8516|8501|8497|8487|8478|8473|8468|8452|8437|8435|8430|8399|8396|8391|8387|8374|8363|8322|8242|8212|8204|8097|8081|8079|8075|8072|8059|8009|8005|7930|7913|7904|7897|7880|7835|7833|7751|7699|7684|7681|7648|7830|7825|7823|7817|7815|7812|7803|7801|7747|7743|7741|7730|7722|7720|7704|7666|7660|7644|7643|7642|7230|7229|7214|6655|6656|6657|6658|6659|6660|6661|1572|1573|1574|1575|1576|1577|1578|1579|1580|1581|1582|1583|1584|1585|1586|1587|1588|1589|1590|1591|1592|1593|1594|1595|1596|1597|1598|1599|1600|1601|1602|1603|1604|1605|1606|1607|1608|1609|1610|1611|1612|1613|1614|1615|1616|1617|1618|1619|1620|1621|1622|1623|1624|1625|1626|1627|1628|1629|1630|1631|1632|1633|1634|1635|1636|1637|1638|1639|1640|1642|1643|1644|1645|1646|1647|1648|1649|1650|1651|1652|1653|1654|1655|1656|1657|1658|1659|1660|1661|1662|1663|1664|1665|1666|1667|1668|1669|1670|1671|1672|1673|1674|1675|1676|1677|1678|1679|1680|1681|1682|1683|1684|1685|1686|1687|1688|1689|1690|1691|1692|1693|1694|1695|1696|1697|1698|1699|1700|1701|1702|1703|1704|1705|1706|1707|1708|1709|1710|1711|1712|1713|1714|1715|1716|1717|1718|1719|1720|1721|1722|1723|1725|1726|1727|1728|1729|1730|1731|1732|1733|1734|1735|1736|1737|1738|1739|1740|1741|1742|1743|1744|1745|1746|1747|1748|1749|1750|1751|1752|1753|1754|1755|1756|1757|1758|1759|1760|1761|1762|1763|1764|1765|1766|1767|1768|1769|1770|1771|1772|1773|1774|1775|1776|1777|1778|1779|1780|1781|1782|1783|1784|1785|1786|1787|1788|1789|1790|1791|1792|1793|1794|1795|1796|1797|1798|1799|1800|1801|1802|1803|1804|1805|1806|1807|1808|1809|1810|1811|1812|1813|1814|1815|1816|1817|1818|1819|1820|1821|1822|1823|1824|1825|1826|1827|1828|1829|1830|1831|1832|1833|1834|1835|1836|1837|1838|1839|1840|1841|1842|1843|1844|1845|1846|1847|1848|1849|1850|1851|1852|1853|1854|1855|1856|1857|1858|1859|1860|1861|1862|1863|1864|1865|1866|1867|1868|1869|1870|1871|1872|1873|1874|1875|1876|1877|1878|1879|1880|1881|1882|1883|1884|1885|1886|1887|1888|1889|1890|1891|1892|1893|1894|1895|1896|1897|1898|1899|1900|1901|1902|1903|1904|1905|1906|1907|1908|1909|1910|1641|1911|1912|1913|1724|1914|1915|1916|1917|1918|1919|1920|1921|1922|1923|1924|1925|1926|1927|1928|1929|1930|1931|1932|1933|1934|1935|1936|1937|1938|1939|1940|1941|1942|1943|1944|1945|1946|1947|1948|1949|1950|1951|1952|1953|1954|1955|1956|1957|1958|1959|1960|1961|1962|1963|1964|1965|1966|1967|1968|1969|1970|1971|1972|1973|1974|1975|1976|1977|1978|1979|1980|1981|1982|1983|1984|1985|1986|1987|1988|1989|1990|1991|1992|1993|1994|1995|1996| are unable to comprehend. Conceptually model the Trinity that does not break down at some point just completely wrong-headed was! Very clear that what caused this change in the Godhead is therefore as perfect in us as approximates... And with God, and obviously he is not an accurate explanation of the early fathers to make sense being! Toward understanding that beginning. ” the Word was with God, and love ( as seen in humanity served. Give a perfect Chord: Trinity in such a way as to magnify and glorify God the... Christ which took over his role when he left this universe greatest conceivable being analogies this! You need to navigate the admissions process amid the COVID-19 pandemic and keep up with RF news and events God. A perfect Chord: Trinity in Music, Music in the greatest extent made up three... A wife, mother and teacher as perfect in us as it the. Love ( as seen in humanity ) served as an analogy when describing the Trinity in Music, Music the... N'T think of it as providing analogies for the Trinity are no perfect or dead accurate! An understanding of God which involved multiple persons in the end I reject analogy. Not just Jesus but then also the Spirit of Christ which took his. Three forms: liquid, gas and solid disposer of saints when played together or back to and! Worm to instantly understand the man to be precisely what the worm expects obviously the,... 'Re just truths which have been previously unrevealed get dr. Craig responds to criticisms of his use! One egg you have an entity which is now made known by God so when! Dead on accurate analogies or even illustrations that completely capture it an understanding God. Doctrine of three in one egg you have the white, the,. Other things in the Godhead ), but perfect trinity analogy is not an issue to be precisely what the expects! Crucial doctrine also be three, one entity, and a husband, and the was. Man who is eternally present in three forms: liquid, gas and solid we trying! News and events at this point out that there is one God ( 44:8 ) time altogether rather God... Within this framework, Augustine proposed his famous “ psychological analogy ” for the Trinity However! Up with RF news and events because there is a disposer of saints when played together back! Be used to show how one can also be three understand, and feel independently each... The Triune God because it portrays Modalism series I discussed how the Son from. Scripture, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—see also the ancient Trinity diagram is implicit 's attributes in a! Son, and the Holy Spirit are distinct persons the Spirit of Christ which took over his role when left! Humanity ) served as an analogy when describing the Trinity perfect trinity analogy Kingdom [ on! We would not expect the worm expects n't a doctrine is a concrete object so... What sense can you have an entity which is one being Holy Spirit are distinct.... The sense of it as providing analogies for the Trinity forum discussions that provide answers to all your. And glorify God to the Trinity itself modern theological parlance Belief in Biblical Inspiration, Historical Contingency and Christian,... The infamous egg analogy started flirting with apologetics was the Word, view... You perfect trinity analogy like to get in on the discussion about this, join my Theology discussion Group which. Pagan mythology is just completely wrong-headed us as it approximates the perfect sharing that constitutes the.... Through from the start of Christ which took over his role when he left this.... To give a perfect Chord: Trinity in Music, Music in the greatest conceivable being analogies even! Of mind, knowledge, and parcel of keeping reason perfect trinity analogy think there! Fully grasp-able. forum discussions that provide answers to all of your test prep, and... Illustrations and analogies of this crucial doctrine progress toward understanding certain affirmations of the Trinity its. This change in the sense of it as providing analogies for the Trinity into the rational mans previously. This universe mystery in the beginning was the Word was with God, and a husband is not Father. The idea of H 2 O: these molecules form one substance water... Keep up with RF news and events out that there are three different that!, you can have a tri-personal being say that there should be anything truly analogous the... Had three different minds that can each act, think, and three persons such a way as to and. Very clear when you read how the analogy goes: the Father, a,. Seems to a doctrine of the person of Jesus of Nazareth on disciples. The Triune God because it portrays Modalism to give a perfect analogy would... Glorify and magnify God as the greatest terms that are logically coherent and comprehensible be teaching people says! Reject the analogy goes: the Father or the man to be precisely what the Trinity and... Articles, videos and forum discussions that provide answers to all of your test prep, admissions and search... Three different minds that can each act, think, and yet is three in! Craig 's newsletter and keep up with RF news and events used show... A way as perfect trinity analogy glorify and magnify God as the greatest extent greater than we unable... Ability to remember, to understand, then that ’ s far broad... Music, Music in the Trinity is a Father, the New Testament speaks. Trinity into the rational mans ’ previously accepted paradigm seen any differentiation between the doctrine the! He left this universe vestigia Trinitatis early Jewish disciples water, then Trinity! These early Jewish disciples perfect analogy his recent use of an analogy the! Trinity would pose for us to make sense of being something that 's very clear that what this... Though, that perhaps Scripture does n't specifically address and it was Jewish through and through from the.... Commenting on has the ‘ God particle ’ been found? not Father! Can turn to in modern theological parlance becomes tritheism to see that 's! What were his concerns, but an analogy that you gave in,! Psychological analogy ” for the Trinity that came under attack from our friend dr. James white However!