B. Doctrine of Trinity explained The word Trinity is derived from the Latin trinitas, being a combination of the words tri for three and unitas for unity. The Christians definition of Trinity based on verses like the above is expressed in the Athenasian Creed: We worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity; Neither confounding (mixing up) the Persons; nor dividing the Substance (Essence) The word Person is here used in the sense of self with a particular function. (The Illustrated Bible Dictionary by F.F. Bruce, IVP Leicester, 1962, see person) It has to be stated emphatically that Christians do not worship three gods but one God because ...each member of the Godhead in some sense indwells the other, without diminishing the full person hood of each. The essential unity of the Godhead, then, is found both in their intrinsic equality of divine characteristics and also in the intensely personal unity that comes from mutual indwelling. (The self-giving triune God, the imago dei and the nature of the local church: an ontology of mission, paper by J. Scott Horrell, Th.D, professor of Systematic Theology at Dallas Theological Seminary) Thus when God the Son died at the cross, God did not cease to exist but was separated from himself regarding the relationship within the Trinity not regarding his essence. To think that God gave up a perfect relationship for a time shows how great his love towards us is! It is held that although the doctrine is beyond the grasp of human reason, it is, like many of the formulations of physical science, not contrary to reason, and may be apprehended though it may not be comprehended by the human mind. (See, Encyclopedia Americana, Trinity, by F.C. Grant, Danbury, Con.: Americana Corp., 1980) The Trinity of God, like many other facts about him does not have to be understood fully, but to be believed in. Faith, the simple childlike trust that God is and acts as he revealed himself in the Bible, is sufficient for salvation. Similarly, one does not have to understand how a Television set works in order to enjoy a program about nature. A simple touch of the right button will bring about the blessing. The danger one faces when confronted with extreme or complicated ideas, is, to throw the baby out with the bath-water, this means to reject everything about a matter, even the true and the good. Here is what C.S. Lewis, professor of Medieval and Renaissance literature at Cambridge University has to say about such an attitude: If Christianity was something we were making up, of course we could make it easier. But it is not. We cannot compete, in simplicity, with people who are inventing religions. How could we? We are dealing with Fact. Of course anyone can be simple if he has no facts to bother about. (Mere Christianity, Macmillan Company, New York, 1943, page 145) C. Illustrations When it comes to finding illustrations for the Trinity, to explain that which can be apprehended but not comprehended, one can easily fall into modalism. This is a false teaching holding that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were three successive modes in which the one God manifested himself to bring salvation to the world. It would mean that God the Father was made flesh, died, and rose from the dead. The Biblical teaching, however, is that Jesus, God the Son took on a human nature died and rose again from the dead. Jesus is a person, in the sense of self with a particular function, distinct from the Father and the Holy Spirit. The oneness is still maintained by stressing the fact that Father, Son and Holy Spirit are of the same substance or essence. As mentioned before each member of the Godhead is indwellt with the other which further confirms Gods oneness. Keeping this important difference in mind, the following examples have to be viewed as applicable only in a limited way. In trying to come to terms with this subtlety it will be helpful to realize that everything in this world consists of a kind of Trinity, namely substance, form and purpose! To put this statement to the test let us think of a pencil. Like everything else it is made out of a substance that is formed into something, in our case into a pencil. Its purpose is to enable people to write, in the same way as all other things have some purpose! The geometric illustration of the Trinity is found in a triangle. The tree corners are inseparable and simultaneous. The one that represents Jesus is touched by a circle that stands for his human nature, whereas the corner indicates his divine nature. (Phil 2: 5 -11) Questions and apparent contradictions regarding Jesus being God (e.g. How can God eat, die, etc. like Jesus?) are easily solved by taking his two natures into consideration. What he did in one he did not in the other. You, dear reader, have got a body, a soul and a spirit according to Hebrews 4:12. Yet, in spite of this you are unique, you are the only one who is like you in the whole wide world. Nature is another example where we find diversity within unity. On one hand one can find nowhere a bigger variety. When God created flowers he did not just design red roses. There are countless different forms, shapes and colours. On the other hand is natures unity evident in the fact that the extinction of one kind of animal effects many others. St. Augustine, an early church father, compared the Trinity with love that involves a lover, the loved one and a spirit of love between them. It may also be valuable to see the one universe as made of space, matter and time. Time by itself consists of past, present and future. If any one of these is removed then universe and time will cease to be! Fire generates heat and light. Thus fire, with its light and heat is one thing that has different functions. Multiplicity in unity is a very common phenomena. This kind of spiritual unity which reflects the Biblical understanding of the Trinity is distinguished from mathematical unity where 1+1+1 = 3. In mathematical terms one could compare Trinity with 1 x 1 x 1 = 1. Further, some have pointed to the fact that Muhammad was simultaneously a prophet, a husband, and a leader. Why then should a Muslim reject the idea of a plurality of functions (persons) in God. (Answering Islam, by N.L. Geisler&Abdul Saleeb, Baker Books U.S.A. 1993, page 269) This brings us to another analogy for the truth of the Trinity, that of mans mind. He has one mind, which is capable of thinking thoughts and expressing them in words. Mind, thoughts and words are one. No one can say that God has no Mind that expresses itself in Thoughts and Words. God in Mind and Thoughts and Words is one God and He never claimed that there would be two other gods beside Him! The Trinity of Christianity is truly representative of the Mind of God (commonly referred to as God the Father), His Thoughts, (commonly referred to as God the Holy Spirit) and His Word (commonly referred to as God the Son). In the Gospel according to John we read: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word (Greek: Logos) was God. He was with God in the beginning... The Word became flesh (in Jesus) and made his dwelling among us. (Joh 1:1,14) The context shows clearly that Jesus is God in the flesh: He was in the beginning, that means he is not created, he is eternal as God is eternal. Verse three states that through Jesus, the Word, all things were made, that means that he is God the Creator. Some people have doubted that Jesus is really called God in this verse because in the Greek language the first word for God, ton theon is different from the second, theos. However in Greek it does not suggest this sort of shift in meaning. This can be seen by reading other passages in the New Testament where theos appears in the same context both with and without the definite article, yet with no change in meaning (Joh 3:2, 13:3, Rom 1:21, 1 The 1:9, Heb 9:14, 1 Pet 4:10-11). Whenever the word theos is used in the same construction, it always clearly refers to the true God (Mar 12:27, Luk 20:38, Joh 8:54, Phi 2:13, Heb 11:16, Why you should believe in the Trinity, by R.M. Bowman,Jr., Baker Book House, 1993, pages 93-94) The word proceeds from the mind. Both words derive their meaning from the Greek original Logos. The word Logos has many meanings. One form Logo gives us the English logic, which means not just ordinary speech (words), but mind expressed or intelligent expression. God created the world by His intelligent Mind, or by His Thoughts, or by His Word, all of which mean the same. For God and His mind are the same being. An example of this is when we say, We solved the problem with our minds. Is it us who solved it or our minds? Both are essentially the same thing. This distinction between us and our mind is merely intellectual and does not involve separation but difference of function. Likewise, when we speak about God, His Mind of which His Thought and Word proceeds, we are not separating them, but only clarifying the issue. The last illustration finds support in the Quran where Jesus is called a Word from God. Surah 3, Ali Imran, verse 45: Behold! the angels said: O Mary! Allah giveth thee glad tidings of a Word from Him; his name will be Christ Jesus, the son of Mary, held in honour in this world and the Hereafter and of (the company of) those nearest to Allah;... The English translation uses the relative pronoun his to render a masculine personal pronoun in the Arabic language. Since Kalima (Arabic for word) is in the feminine gender it becomes clear that a word does not just mean a word of language but a person! We also find this clarified in the sayings of one of the Muslim scholars. (Fusus al Hukm, Part II, pages 13,36, by Al Shaikh Muhyi al Din al Arabi) The Bible speaks about the Holy Spirit being God: Then Peter said, Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit...You have not lied to men but to God. (Act 5:3,4) In a similar way the Quran (Surah 4, Al Nisa, verse 171) mentions Jesus as being a Spirit proceeding from God! In other parts people are described as having been strengthened with a spirit from God (Surah 58, Al Mujadilah, verse 22). At the creation Allah has breathed into man of His spirit (Surah 15, Al-Hijr, verse 29), but Jesus only IS the Spirit from Allah! This is why Islamic tradition calls Jesus Ruhullah, that means Spirit of Allah. Neither the Spirit of Allah (the Thoughts) nor the Word (the mind expressed) of Him can have been created since whatever proceeds from God Himself is part of Him and must therefore have existed eternally. If God was without Mind at any time He would not be God; or if he was without Thoughts at any time He would cease to be the Almighty One which is impossible! Muslim theology confirms this belief by stating that the Quran is uncreated and has existed in eternity with God. There again we find plurality within unity, something that is other then God but it is at the same time one with God. D. Trinity answers difficult questions about God The concept of God being a unique community within Himself stands in opposite to the Muslim concept of Allah being one in the strict numerical sense of the word. This Muslim understanding raises three questions: i) How could Allah have been self sufficient and loving before the creation of angels and of the earth? Since true love is always giving and Allah according to Islam is a lone God, according to logic there must have been a time where he was incomplete, where he could not have had the attribute of love? However, according to both the Quran and the Bible, God has always been and always will be perfect. ii) Is Allah selfish? Since love is described as having ...no envy;...no high opinion of itself,....no pride;...no thought for itself...(1 Cor 13: 4-5) some people like sceptic John Stuart Mill, Mark Twain or Pablo Picasso have come to the conclusion that God is utterly selfish. They say that by asking us to worship nobody else but God, he himself commits the sin of seeking glory for himself only for which he condemns man. While many Muslims would say that Allah, the creator can be selfish if he wants, Bible believing Christians find the answer to this apparent contradiction in the Trinitarian nature of God. He shares his glory among himself. iii) Is God limited? Of course that can not be, but he who thinks of God as an absolute unity where there is no room for multiplicity at all, is forced to believe in a god who does not know himself. Self-knowledge demands a distinction, a multiplicity, between knower and known. Self-consciousness, the recognition of a creature by itself as a self can only exist in contrast with an other, a something which is not the self. Only a Trinitarian concept of God allows for such a vital distinction.
Posted on: Sun, 10 Nov 2013 07:40:22 +0000
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