What have been excellent ways for Christian theologians to describe the concept of God, who is also the Trinity?

Question

Triune Godhead It goes without saying that Christianity is based on the concept of a Triune Godhead, a Trinity, a Tri-unity. But those theological words do not make it any easier for the lay person, or the seeker, to understand the whole idea of a God that is 3-in-1.

So, drawing from Catholicism, Orthodoxy, or Protestantism in the history of Christianity, what illustrations have been used to demonstrate such a mysterious concept? Which of them comes closest to accurately describing this Christian God? Or, per chance, is such a concept beyond comprehension, and falling short of illustrations, so that believers must accept it as a mystery, belonging only to the realm where Eternity exists?

Note: The OP intent is not to dredge up systematic theology dissertations to prove the concept of the Trinity. This doctrine is stipulated and acknowledged. Rather, since Jesus---and Church Fathers---did not hesitate to use illustrations (and parables) to portray important biblical doctrines, the intent here is to also seek out good illustrations about the Trinity so that the plough boy in the realm can appreciate and exult in it!

The quest here is not "which one is the best", but which illustrations are available that have been effective and productive while presenting the Gospel to the non-theologians? Again, do not mistake this as a substitution for presenting the Gospel, but just a way of illustrating the Gospel in terms that people outside the seminary can understand.

Remember that the common people heard Him gladly. And this wasn't because Jesus was an eloquent pedantic theologian! Neither did He compromise the Gospel of the Kingdom...He was just a good illustrator.

Answer 1

The best theological explanations for the concept of the Trinity that I have read are in books that today's 'sound-bite' generation would not spend more than five minutes on. Yet I am "a common lay person". I have also read books with simplified explanations, that invariably offer illustrations, like three-leaved-clover, or which have diagrams. But when I progressed from them to the weighty tomes of theologians, I quickly realised that the simplified explanations were all flawed - sometimes, fatally.

To illustrate what the real problem is here, let me quote from one such tome:

"The terminology of 'Father' and 'Son' refers to a relationship that is eternal, not to an act in time. The Father eternally begets the Son, and is never without him. This proposal does not explain the Trinity, but it does permit us to conceive of the Son as eternal and thus as fully God. Later theological language will express the mystery of the Trinity by saying God subsists in three Persons...

By introducing a rare term, 'subsists', theology seeks to show that the Trinity is not to be demystified by resorting to inapplicable comparisons. If one were to say, for example, that God consists of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, this might appear to suggest that God has three parts [which is where the three-leaved-clover illustration comes to grief.] By teaching that the Father eternally begets the Son, and that the Son, eternally begotten before all time, is thus effectively co-eternal with the Father, Origen prepared the way for our present understanding: God does not consist of parts, but subsists in Persons. These Persons are distinguished from one another by means of a relationship - in the case of the Father and the Son, by begetting and being begotten - but not by succession in time.

To countless Christians and non-Christians, attempts to make precise distinctions - such as Origen's and ours - seems pedantic, if not altogether meaningless. It is impossible to recognize that the terminology was not developed idly, but because it was urgently needed to clarify concepts such as the death of Christ, even though neither it nor any other intellectual tool can explain them. Inasmuch as the deity of Christ and the doctrine of the Trinity are embedded in the NT, although not explicitly formulated there, we must make the effort of wrestling with difficult terminology if we are not to fall an early prey to misunderstanding or to actual heresy...

The doctrine of the Trinity will always remain a mystery, but thanks to Origen, it can at least be expressed in such a way that we can see wherein the mystery lies." Heresies and Orthodoxy in the History of the Church, Harold O.J. Brown, pp. 89 & 91, 1998 Hendrickson, then by arrangement in 1998 with Baker Book House.

Here is the point:- one of the greatest stumbling-blocks to understanding this doctrine (to the extent that it can be understood) is failure to grasp from the Bible that the Son of God is uncreated - eternal (as is the Father and the Holy Spirit). The heresy that Christ had a starting-point in time must be disposed of first before there is any chance of grasping the Trinity doctrine. Thereafter, the matter may open up to the enquiring mind.

To illustrate this, consider this point in this booklet:

"The Apostle John tells me that, 'The Eternal Life which was with the Father, was manifested.' 1 John 1:2. Before being manifested, the Eternal Life was. And that Eternal Life was with the Father - prior to manifestation. If so, then that Eternal Life is a matter of Sonship." The Son, Everlasting, Nigel Johnstone, p. 5, 2015. http://www.belmontpublications.co.uk

"For this is the Christ - The Son of God who comes into the world, as confessed Martha, John 11:27. The Son who comes is the Son of God before he came. Otherwise Martha's words are meaningless. The Greek of the Textus Receptus, the words spoken by Martha, are ho eis ton kosmon erchomenos. Literally: who into the world comes. He is; and he comes, who is. And what he is, is the Son of God." (Ibid., p. 11)

I suggest that once that particular penny drops in the mind of those who never believed the Son to be uncreated, then it will begin to dawn on them that the Trinity doctrine needs to be looked at initially from the fact of the everlasting Son of God. This beats all illustrations to fiddle-sticks. Don't start with illustrations. Start with the Son, everlasting.

My answer is, paint word-pictures of who, exactly the Son of God is, using words from the Bible.

Answer 2

What is the best way for Christian theologians to describe the concept of God who is also Trinity?

Theologically speaking there seems to be no one best way that Christendom can describe the concept of the Trinity.

Theologians over the centuries have written about the Trinity in a diversity of ways, came up with various schematic diagrams to explain this Divine Mystery, and used what natural means nature has produced to stimulate an understanding of the Most Holy Trinity. Preachers have given fantastic homilies and talks about the infallible nature of the Divine Trinity. Even artists have weighed in their artistic abilities to represent the Most August Trinity.

All these ways are excellent ways to explain the concept of the Trinity, but no one way is the best!

Better to be able to employ variety of divergence sources, both historical and modern to be able to explain the source of our trinitarian faith.

The nineteenth century Catholic theologian, Frank Sheed, the founder of the first Catholic Evidence Guild, once wrote:

“There is but one divine nature, one divine mind, one divine will. The three Persons each use the one mind to know with, the one will to love with. For there is but one absolute divine nature. Thus there are not three Gods, but one God. The Christian revelation cannot allow the faintest derogation from pure monotheism. The three Persons then, are not separate. But they are distinct.“

A Layman’s Defense of the Holy Trinity

A compact diagram of the Trinity, known as the "Shield of Trinity". The Shield is generally not intended to be a schematic diagram of the structure of God, but it presents a series of statements about the correlation between the persons of the Trinity.

The Adoration of the Trinity by Albrecht Dürer (1511) From top to bottom: Holy Spirit (dove), God the Father and Christ on the cross.

The hagiography of the saints has it’s place here, but we have to as usual decipher from what is legitimate teaching of the saints and what is legend.

For example it is claimed that st. Patrick used a shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity.

As good of a metaphor nevertheless as it is that St. Patrick used a shamrock to explain the Trinity. The truth is that this legend stands on undocumented sources.

The shamrock being a type of clover, is used as a symbol of Ireland. Saint Patrick, one of Ireland's patron saints, is said to have used it as a metaphor for the Christian Holy Trinity.

The first historical records linking St. Patrick to the story of the shamrock date to 1571.

This doctrine of the Trinity is called Trinitarianism and its adherents are called Trinitarians, while its opponents are called antitrinitarians or nontrinitarians. Christian nontrinitarian positions include Unitarianism, Binitarianism and Modalism. Trinitarians are often called out as hiding from explaining the concept of the Trinity as hiding behind the terminology of simply saying the concept of the Trinity is a mystery!

True, in order to understand the August mystery of the Godhead, we must admit as trinitarians that man will never be able to completely understand the concepts the this Divine Mystery called the Trinity.

In heaven we will have all eternity to digest the implications and nuances involved in understanding the nature of the Trinity and never come to a total understanding of the Godhead.

That is why we will be adoring God forever and never having of our spiritual vessels filled to overflowing.

Answer 3

Although I am quite sure this falls as short as any other 'explanation' of the Trinity, it is the one that best satisfies my mind such that I no longer fuss over the doctrine.

God has infinite, perfect integrity.

God has perfect integrity so there is no ontological difference between who He is, what He says, and what He does. The Father is who He is, the Son/Logos is what He says, the Spirit is what/how He does.

Because each is infinite each has distinct person-hood and yet they are together one God. The Father has never not had a rational mind (Logos) or power (Spirit). The Son and the Spirit have never not done the Father's will.

Answer 4

This is a very good question. And let me say from the onset that I will not "dazzle" you with examples of the Trinity that deals with water, ice, eggs, four leaf clovers sun rays or anything else in like manner.

The definition of the doctrine of the Trinity is not an "assumption." It is the normative systematic theology of God in Christianity and is based on the fact that the Bible is EXPLICIT in telling us that there is, was and forever will be only ONE God AND the fact that the Bible identifies three (and only three) persons as God.

So, how is this "substantiated?" Now, please bear with me on this because it may appear to be complicated but it is not when you think about it. Also, the Trinity cannot be understood, argued or refuted by appealing to any single passage in the Bible. It is drawn from the whole Bible.

The Bible identifies God by: (1) His names. (2) His titles. (3) His unique attributes. (4) His unique actions. (5) His worship. If you will examine the Bible thoroughly you should be able to quickly discover that there are three and ONLY three "persons" who are identified as God by the 'COMBINATION" of the literary means I listed above.

These persons are each variously...CALLED by the NAMES of God. (YHWH and its variants) either directly or indirectly, usually both.

RECOGNIZED with the TITLES of God. (Lord, king, savior, redeemer etc.) For example God is identified at Isaiah 44:6, "Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel And his Redeemer, the Lord of host; I am the first and I am the last. And there is no God besides Me. At Isaiah 43:11, "I, even I; am the Lord; And there is no SAVIOR besides Me.

Jesus Christ is also described as the "first and the last in the book of Revelation. Jesus Christ is also identified as the "SAVIOR" at Luke 2:11, "for today in the city of David there has been born for you a "SAVIOR, who is Christ the Lord. Are you beginning to see the connection?

As a point of order let me say that when you see the word "God" in the Old Testament you "CANNOT" assume it refers to God the Father all the time. Let me pick another one! His unique actions. That is to say (Creation, origin of God's word, salvation of men etc).

Going back to Isaiah at Isaiah 44:24 the part that says, "I, the Lord am the maker of all things, Stretching out the heavens BY MYSELF, And spreading out the earth ALL ALONE."

And we have at John 1:3, "ALL things came into being by Him, and apart from Him (apart means without Him) nothing came into being that has come into being." Colossians 1:16 backs this up, "For by Him/Jesus Christ ALL things were CREATED, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities ---all things have been created by Him and for Him." God the Father backs this up at Hebrews 1:10.

One more, God's worship. We already know God is worshiped in the Bible. Jesus also receives worship. The highest form of worship to Jesus was by Thomas at John 20:28 when he said literally to Jesus Himself, "The Lord of me and the God of me." At Hebrews 1:6 His Father says, "Let all the angels of God worship Him." The Greek word for worship in this text is "proskuneo" which is the same word used for worshiping the Father.

At this point I'm not going go over His unique attributes/characteristics which are easy to figure out on your own, i.e omnipresence, omnipotence, eternality, etc.

Keep in mind that I am saying that each person of the Trinity receives some COMBINATION of the 5 means of identifying and distinguishing God listed above. Remember, theology is not salvation. It is in Christ that we find God fully and sufficiently manifested to us human beings, AS a human being and for His own glory. And it is only through His Holy Spirit that we can know Him and be saved by His grace.

Finally, at Matthew 16:13 Jesus said, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is? At verse 16 Peter replied, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus replies to Peter, "Blessed are you Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven."

In closing, I'm convinced that God wants us to know all about Him which means to me that there is too much talk about the Trinity being a mystery.

Answer 5

The best analogy I've seen was related by C. S. Lewis in his book Mere Christianity in its 4th section - "Beyond Personality: or First Steps in the Doctrine of the Trinity."

In its first chapter, Lewis relates the limitations of the 2-dimensional Flatlanders (referencing Flatland by Edwin Abbott Abbott) in understanding a sphere (or really, any 3-dimensional object). Then he applies their predicament to us: we have an innate and natural understanding of one person = one being, because that is all that we see in our own experience. Even in multiple-personality disorders, we still only see one "personality" at a time (leaving out any dispute of demon possession).

The Trinity, then, is essentially three persons = one being, similar to how one 3D cube consists of six 2D squares. In this way, the tri-personal God of Christianity is the only deity that is truly more than personal.

Answer 6

Legitimate Usage It is true that many theological concepts (doctrines) are, by their very nature, only able to be conveyed by theological terminology. Having noted this, it is also true that the use of secular (physical, carnal) illustrations is legitimate in presenting the Gospel, even if some users balk at this, and perhaps treat them as unnecessary.

SECUAR OBJECTS---------->FIGURES OF SPEECH----------->SPIRITUAL TRUTHS

Master Teacher Although some, shall we say "purist", theologians and Bible teachers strongly prefer religious terminology, it is well to note that Jesus was quite at home using Figures of Speech to illustrate the divine truths He wished to teach the common people. As His being the Master Teacher, we note His handiwork in speaking as a model for us. So we list His illustrations here. These similes and metaphors are all taken just from the Gospel of Matthew alone:

Fishing - 4:19.........................Hunger/Thirst - 5:16.......................Salt - 5:13
Light - 5:14............................City on a hill - 5:14...........................Lamp under a bushel - 5:15
Amputation - 5:29................Eye-sight - 6:22.................................Birds - 6:26
Lilies - 6:28............................Sawdust - 7:3....................................Pearls & Pigs - 7:6
Narrow Gates - 7:13............Wolves - 7:15....................................Good fruit - 7:17-20
House foundations - 7:24....Fox holes /bird nests - 8:20............Guests of bridegroom - 9:15
Sewn patch - 9:16.................Old wineskins - 9:17.......................Shepherdless sheep - 9:36
Harvest - 9:37.......................Sheep/wolves - 10:16.......................Snakes/doves - 10:16
Student/teacher - 10:24........Head of House - 10:25....................Hairs of head - 10:30
Sparrows - 10:31...................Reed in wind - 11:7.........................Royal clothes - 11:8-9
Marketplace - 11:16..............Yoke 11:29-30...................................Sheep in pit - 12:11
Bruised reed - 12:34..............Strong man's house - 12:29............Brood of vipers - 12:34
Sowing farmer - 13:3-23.......Weeds - 13:24-30.............................Mustard seed - 13:31
Yeast - 13:33...........................Treasure in field - 13:44.................Pearl merchant - 13:45
Fishing net - 13:47-50...........Higeine - 15:10................................Pulled plants - 15:13
Blind guides - 15:14..............Bread/dogs - 15:26..........................Fair weather - 16:2-4
Keys - 16:19...........................Little child - 18:3-4..........................Lost sheep - 18:12
Debts - 18:23-25....................Day laborers - 20:1..........................Cup of persecution - 20:22
Fig tree - 21:18-19.................Two sons - 21:28..............................Vineyard tenant - 21:33
Rejected stone - 21:42..........Wedding banquet - 22:1.................Dish washing - 23:25
Whitewash tomb - 23:2......Solar eclipse - 24:29..........................Grinding wheat - 24:41
Thief - 24:43.........................Household acct. - 24:45....................10 Virgins - 25:1
Talents - 25:14.....................Sheep/goats - 25:31............................Bread/wine - 26:26.
Flocks - 26:31

Apostle Paul To these illustrations of biblical truths, we could add the several used by the Apostle Paul. He used the imagery of Roman military armor, of all things (Ephesians 6:10-18). A boxer, dogs, burial (as a type of baptism), Rap sheet, Body members, Old/new clothes, Seasoning, Caring mother/father, Crowns, and Thieves (even writing that Christ's coming will be as a thief in the night!).

So, as the OP requested, illustrations that could aid in the teaching of seekers (and believers) about the Trinity, is well in line with the practice of the Holy men of God---and Jesus, the Master Teacher---in the Bible. We wait with abated breath for the answers to this!

Answer 7

They three are different personalities, but something makes them ONE.

That something is their Thinking and Acting in harmony, 100%, eternally. They never contradicted nor going to contradict on anything the other person thinks or does. They are in perfect sync.

Answer 8

Saint Patrick It is commonly known that Saint Patrick explained the Trinity concept to the pagan kings and people of Ireland using the clover plant. The clover is recognizable with its three petals on one stem, and together they make up one plant stem. This illustration seemed to be convincing enough to the Irish clans. And Saint Patrick's missionary endeavors were a success.

Church Theologians Before this, the ancient Church Fathers used the sun in the heavens as illustrative of the Trinity (Tri-unity). They emphasized the existence of the One Sun, and how it manifests itself to Earth in two ways: by light, and by heat. In the same (sic) way the One God manifests Himself in two ways to mankind on Earth: The Light of the World (Jesus), and the Dynamic Energy (of the Holy Spirit). (See Ante-Nicene Fathers)

More modern scientifically minded theologians have used the properties of Water as illustrative of the Trinity. Water manifests itself as frozen ice, liquid, and steam. Three different forms of existence, yet just one essence. (H2O) In the same (sic) way God can show up to the people of Earth in diverse ways, yet He is the One God.

Relationships Recently a thoughtful user tried to demonstrate the Trinity by noting that "in a fully-connected graph of n entities, 3 is the only number where the relationships are equal to the number of entities!" He continued:

Since we (Christians, in general) seem to often place great importance on the element of relationship within the Trinity, it seems like an interesting coincidence that the valence of the Godhead is such that the number of Persons within it equals the number of relationships amongst them.(Qami)

However! However interesting this may be, such curiosity must not detract from the reality that when dealing with God, we are not dealing with an abstract science (arithmetic, mathematics). God is person(ality). He is more than an abstract entity. He exists more than in just the realm of the mathematical concept of "infinity." It is an densely occupied Heaven, a spirit realm.

So instead of mankind being limited to dwelling (meditating) on sterile infinity and such, God has made it easier to understand reality---understand Godhood---by sending a Personage (Jesus, the full expression of Divinity) who is able to communicate the mysteries of life---and the mysteries of Trinity---in such a manner that we (mankind) can know enough to live out our existence with purpose and joy.

Jesus has stood between the spiritual matrix of the Father and the Spirit, and in an amazing way, has given us access to both! An awesome Trinity!

For those tantalizing aspects of God that we still deal with, the wisdom of Moses applies: The secret things belong to God, but what has been revealed is what we are responsible for! (Deuteronomy 29:29)

But Jesus did not hesitate to give illustrations and parables drawn from everyday life and culture. Even though illustrations and parables are limited in scope and use, neither He nor the Church Fathers abstained from giving them, in order to bring understanding to hard doctrines. (Romans 10:17) Different illustrations appeal to different people, but it is useful to know about several of them to put in the ministerial tool kit for ready usage when necessary.

Biblical Method Illustrations are not a substitute for presenting the Gospel. They merely help the seeker understand the Gospel. And adequate illustrations about the Trinity help keep the seekers (hearers) from stumbling over unrequited curiosity, and unresolved questioning.