A common criticism of Christianity is that it is unintelligible, perhaps polytheistic. This charge is due to the doctrine of the Trinity. Jews, Muslims, and skeptics have made this charge for centuries. Hindus, in contrast, seem to side with Christianity by stating that their religion has had a Trinity before the New Testament was even written.[1]
The doctrine of the Trinity as we know it today was a gradual development in the early church. The initial attention by the Church Fathers was on Christ. As the status and nature of Christ was understood and believed to be the same as God the Father, then it was an easy step to include the Holy Spirit. Indeed the Roman Catholic Church has been accused of reckless abandonment by elevating Mary to the level of God and raising the level and importance of saints. Mary and the saints are prayed to. They are honored in such a way that they appear to be worshipped, which is an honor to be given to God only.[2]
The reader may go online and do a search for “Bible passages Trinity,” and he will find the many different passages that are used to support the doctrine that the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit are all one. There are only two passages which I wish to illustrate from the Gospels.
For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath. But Jesus answered them, “My Father has been working until now, and I have been working.” Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God. (John 5:16-18)
“I and My Father are one.” Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him. Jesus answered them, “Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?” The Jews answered Him, saying, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God.” (John 10:30-33)
The particular issue in these two passages is the reaction of the Jewish leaders. They understood that the claims being made by Jesus were unique. As the New Testament was written and circulated after the death of Jesus, the readers also considered the claims of the above two passages as well as the others that are in the New Testament. What did Jesus mean when he said that the Father and he were one? What did the Jews mean when they accused Jesus of making himself equal to God? How was He one God? Was it one in purpose? Was it one in function? Was it one in being? Was it some sort of combination of the previous questions?
Somehow the worship that was being directed toward Jesus and the title of Lord that was given to Him had to be reconciled. Throughout the Old Testament the Jews only understood, believed, and practiced that the God who had been revealed to them was the only one to be worshipped. Even the pagan religions only worship gods. When humans sought to be worshipped (such as Caligula), he claimed to be a god. The Roman emperor simply said he was a god, but Jesus made indirect statements that meant he was God. What did Jesus mean?
The Romans believed that only Caesar was Lord, i.e., the final authority, whereas the early Christians believed that only Jesus was Lord. The cost to the Christians was frightful and, eventually, resulted in empire-wide persecution. The early Christian took an uncompromising stand for the Lordship of Jesus and signed their commitment with their property, freedom, and blood.
What did they believe? Though extant writings from 100AD-400AD will gave a wide range of what was believed, the first formal meeting of Christian leaders in Nicaea in 324AD was the first consensus statement regarding the Trinity.
An English, Latin, and Greek translation follows. A portion of each translation will be highlighted, considered to be heart of the doctrine of the Trinity.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the begotten of God the Father, the Only-begotten, that is of the essence of the Father.
God of God, Light of Light, true God of true God, begotten and not made; of the very same nature of the Father, by Whom all things came into being, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible.
Latin:
Et in unum Dóminum Iesum Christum,
Fílium Dei Unigénitum,
Et ex Patre natum ante ómnia sæcula.
Deum de Deo, lumen de lúmine, Deum verum de Deo vero,
Génitum, non factum, consubstantiálem Patri:
Greek:
Καὶ εἰς ἕνα Κύριον Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν, τὸν Υἱὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ τὸν μονογενῆ, τὸν ἐκ τοῦ Πατρὸς γεννηθέντα πρὸ πάντων τῶν αἰώνων·
φῶς ἐκ φωτός, Θεὸν ἀληθινὸν ἐκ Θεοῦ ἀληθινοῦ, γεννηθέντα οὐ ποιηθέντα, ὁμοούσιον τῷ Πατρί, δι' οὗ τὰ πάντα ἐγένετο.
The creed uses a number of phrases to emphasize that Jesus and the Father have the same properties and are the same nature. The three key words (transliterated) are “very same nature,” “consubstantiation,” and “homoousios.” Unfortunately the terms and concepts being discussed belong in the philosophical discipline of ontology, the study of being.
More than likely few of the readers of this article are familiar with ontology. If you wish, you may do a search for “ontology,” and you will find plenty to read if you with to pursue that. In summary ontology is the study of “what is,” i.e., what is real, what isn’t real, is existence a property, etc. The typical reaction to this sort of talk is, “You must be kidding. What is real is what I can see and touch. What are we going to talk about next, ‘How many angels can stand on the head of pin?’” That is a reaction and not a thoughtful response.
Since I have no interest in swimming against the stream of our current culture’s resistance and dismissal of philosophy, this essay will illustrate the manner in which Jesus is the “very same nature” of God the Father.[3] I will avoid as much as possible lengthy, theoretical paragraphs and focus on an illustration.
The failure of illustrations has been the singular weakness when discussing and defending the Trinity. In order to discuss an idea, it needs to be distinct and clear. A very common reaction from someone who has never heard of the trinity and has had it carefully explained and illustrated for the first time is “Huh?”
Voltaire is credited with having written (http://www.positiveatheism.org/mail/eml8962.htm),
The son of God is the same as the son of man; the son of man is the same as the son of God. God, the father, is the same as Christ, the son; Christ, the son, is the same as God, the father. This language may appear confused to unbelievers, but Christians will readily understand it.[4]
Thomas Jefferson is supposed to have written (per Richard Dawkins in The God Delusion, also http://www.sullivan-county.com/deism/jeff_letters.htm),
Ridicule is the only weapon which can be used against unintelligible propositions. Ideas must be distinct before reason can act upon them; and no man ever had a distinct idea of the trinity.
Explanation after explanation after explanation may be given, but unless a new idea can be illustrated with analogies then very few will understand it.[5] When Einstein first proposed special relativity and later general relativity, the new concepts were understood by very few people, only those with advanced degrees in mathematics and physics. After years of refinement in experiments and teaching the concepts to others, illustrations have been devised that make the concepts understandable.
In the same way that the advanced principles of relativity have to be illustrated so the novice can understand, the same is true of the Trinity. Whereas I am comfortable with the teachings and the theories of philosophy, I must illustrate by analogy the concepts of trinitarian ontology (i.e., illustrate how the Trinity can really exist) so that it is understandable, applicable, and intelligible.
Let’s consider some of the traditional illustrations of the Trinity. Mathematics and geometry are often used.
For instance, 1 x 1 x 1 = 1. The explanation is that three distinct numbers multiplied by themselves equal the same number; hence, the three personalities in the Trinity equal one God. Though this is a popular illustration I have always missed the application. Mathematics is pure applied logic. There is no number “1” anywhere; it is abstract and exists only as an idea in the mind. It is also true in mathematics that 1 + 1 + 1 = 3.[6] Math can equally “illustrate” that three digits in a formula can equal the same digit or a different digit.
Another popular illustration is the triangle. The triangle illustrates the Trinity because the triangle is one unit; however, it is comprised of three angles or three corners. No single corner is the triangle, and, if one corner is removed, there is no longer a triangle. The same problems exists here as in the last math illustration. Again, this is an abstract illustration. Though this illustrates and expands on what a triangle is, how does that relate to a live being? Then again, the idea of a triangle requires three angles (TRI-angle). It is required because it is the definition. What in the idea or definition of God requires more than one personality or entity?
A popular illustration is an egg: an egg is one, but it is comprised of a shell, the white, and the yoke. Once I separate one of those components, the egg no longer exists. I may break an egg, fry it, and put it on bread for an “egg sandwich.” My first usage of egg does not equal my second usage of egg. The first egg had a shell, but the second one does not have any shell. (If there is shell, then I’d pick it out for the second egg should not have a shell.)
All three of the illustrations so far (as well as any others that could be used) are no more that a whole-part description. All the parts together equal the whole. Remove a part, and the whole no longer exists. That isn’t what is being sought to illustrate the Trinity.[7]
The majority reply for years in regard to illustrations for the trinity has been there is no perfect analogy. That is a bit amusing in a way, for there is no perfect analogy for any comparison. After all an analogy is a comparison to something that is similar; so, if an analogy were perfect, it would have to be one thing compared to itself. The real problem with trinitarianism is none of the illustrations remotely portrays how three different and distinct entities can be one and the same nature (one and the same substance).
It is not uncommon for a comment something like the following to be made (found at (http://www.reclaimingthemind.org/blog/2009/08/the-trinity-is-like-3-in-1-shampoo-and-other-stupid-statements/):
One more thing. I often tell my students that if they say, “I get it!” or “Now I understand!” that they are more than likely celebrating the fact that they are a heretic! When you understand the biblical principles and let the tensions remain without rebuttal, then you are orthodox. When you solve the tension, you have most certainly entered into one of the errors that we seek to avoid.
Confused? Good! That is just where you need to be.
The “mystery of God” is often used when we cannot explain something, e.g., “Why do people suffer” or, in the topic of this essay, “How can there be three entities but one God?” The last sentence in the quote above suggests the “mystery of God” motif.[8]
For years I have had the impression that the “mystery of God” meant that the topic could not be understood or should not be understood. Understanding the nature of anything 100% seems to be impossible. Certainly no one knows me as well as I do; yet, even I do not know myself fully. There are questions in philosophy and science that are unanswered at this time and may never be answered. Does that imply that we should stop seeking an answer? Are we satisfied with saying “Nature is a mystery.” Of course it is a mystery, but we should still seek to understand as much as possible.
Deuteronomy 29:29 states that whatever has been revealed by God is to help us to obey. This does not mean we need to have the full grasp of a topic in order to apply that topic to our lives. Most certainly it does mean that as the topic is better understood then there should be some sort of change in behavior or a more in-depth understanding of behavior.
This essay will suggest a new analogy for the Trinity. From reading in the history of church doctrine the impression is gained that nothing more can be or should be said about the Trinity.[9] All that has been said is all that needs to be said. It is a mystery; it cannot be understood; therefore, end of discussion.
I do not agree with this whatsoever and have not for years. The very nature of new knowledge is to create more knowledge. Along with new knowledge comes new analogies. The analogies (illustrations of comparison) mentioned earlier have been around for a long, long time. The analogies for the Trinity have been frozen in time as the definition.
I am offering a new analogy in this essay; I am not aware of having read it elsewhere or being incited by something that I have read. The Trinity has simply been a bafflement to me. I wanted to understand it better, to make it more intelligible to others. Being an analogy it will fall short of making everything clear; however, if the analogy is basically correct, then we should have a better understanding of the Trinity than before and that understanding should be reflected in our behavior.
The question that this essay is concerned with in regard to the Trinity is: what is the “very same nature” that Christ has in relationship to God, to the Father? (For those of you who enjoy theology, then what does “homoousia” mean, or how can it be illustrated?)
Along with the Nicene Creed, I would like to use the Westminster Confession of Faith (http://www.reformed.org/documents/index.html?mainframe=http://www.reformed.org/documents/westminster_conf_of_faith.html). Chapter II, Article IIIa states:
III. In the unity of the Godhead there be three Persons of one substance, power, and eternity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost.
In the above statement the word substance is used once again. What is meant by the phrase, “In the unity of the Godhead there be three Persons of one substance …?” We must start with what distinguishes substance from Persons. The substance is the WHAT, and the Persons (Father, Son, Spirit) are the WHO. Unless that distinction is recognized, then any intelligibility will be hopeless.
Unfortunately the word God is used in a vocative sense as well as a substantive sense. What do I mean by this? When a person prays, “God, hear my prayer,” he is using God as a vocative. God is the name of the entity he is speaking to. When someone asks, “Hey, Man, what time is it,” Man is an impersonal name. Someone is using the name to get another person’s attention, and, in the same way, God is being used as a name to get God’s attention.
When a person prays, “Our God is a mighty God,” he is not using God as a name, but as an entity, an object, a substance. God is a noun in the sense of a class, not a name.[10] When a person asks, “Does anyone know where that man lives,” the designator “man” is not a name at all; it represents an entity, an object, a substance. Man is a name of a class, not a personal name.
Let me illustrate this way. Perhaps some of us know someone who has given his dog the name, “Dog.” He will actually say, “Here, Dog, here, Dog.” The word Dog is a name that represents a particular object. It could represent a dog. Perhaps in a fit of irony, an owner could have named his cat, “Dog.” I have seen movies in which a person was called “Dog” as a nickname.
We cannot determine from the name “Dog” (the Who) for sure if a biological animal called a dog (the What) is meant. Frankly, it would be difficult to determine from the sounds alone what a speaker might mean. For instance, consider the following sounds: “come” and “here” and “dog.” Say the three words together. There is no way to tell from the sounds whether “Come here, dog” or “Come here, Dog” is the correct meaning. The first sentence is referring to a dog class. It could be a strange dog or a pet. In the second illustration, some object with the name “Dog” is being addressed. Unless we had some other context we would have no idea if a What was being called or a Who was being called.
The point is that a name does not necessarily equate to a particular thing or entity. The word God may mean What, that is, the word that encapsulates the nature of God; or it may mean Who, that is, the name of an object.[11]
From this point I will be careful in distinguishing the difference between the What and the Who. I will use the word God as the class and Father as a member of that class. In Trinitarian language the What is God, and the Who is Father, Jesus, and Holy Spirit.
Return now to the phrase “the very same nature.” Let’s use an analogy to form the foundation to understand this phrase. Consider the word “human.” I am a human, and you, the reader, are human. We are of the very same nature, but what do we mean by that? How are you and I different from the rest of the animal kingdom or the rest of the biological kingdom?
DNA is what distinguishes humans from animals as well as the rest of the animal kingdom. Even though the DNA may be very, very close (the genotype); the result (the phenotype) maybe so drastically different that no one would have surmised such a close genotype existed. The genotype of chimpanzees and humans differ by less than 2%.[12] Human DNA is different from other biological DNA. The physical distinction of a human is simply in the DNA. DNA is the blueprint of what a human is.
Yet, each individual human DNA is different from other human DNA. This is what accounts for the physical differences between all humans. However, something very, very intriguing occurs when the DNA is nearly identical.
When does nearly identical DNA occur? It occurs with identical twins (three births out of 1000) or identical triplets (one birth out of 1,500,000). After the union of the male sperm and the female egg, a diploid cell is formed. This is called a zygote. After three or four days of cell multiplication, the larger unit is called a blastocyst. At some point while the zygote is multiplying or initially in the early stages of a blastocyst, the unit will divide into two zygotes or two blastocysts. The identical DNA is present in each.
Immediately after the split into two embryos or shortly thereafter, epigenetic modification occurs.[13] After birth epigenetic modification continues because of more environmental factors so that as the twins or triplets age more differences can be detected. The differences may be minute or minor, but they will be there.
What has been discovered through the research of the Minnesota Twins Project (http://mctfr.psych.umn.edu/) is that identical twins separated from birth have the same probability of being similar in personality and interest as those raised together. These findings have given credence to the theory that a major formation of a person’s interests and personality are genetically based vis-à-vis environmental.[14]
The typical average for identical siblings being the same is 80%, whether raised together or separately. Depending on the epigenetic modification, the sameness will be higher or lower than the average.
The discussion of the identical twins was spurred by the phrase, “the very same nature.” Though there may be many features that can be listed that distinguish humans from other biological life, the physical substance that creates this difference is DNA. All humans have the same type and pattern of DNA; however, the specifics of the DNA will vary from human to human. There is a common humanity in the same way that there is a common DNA. There are no two humans with identical DNA, but the DNA of monozyotic twins or triplets are practically the same. If epigenetic modification did not occur, the DNA would be identical.
Though phenotypical[15] differences might exist with identical DNA, what we would observe might be identical personalities, temperaments, and behaviors. Truly, if identical DNA exists, we could say with full understanding that identical triplets have the same nature. Even with the phenotypical differences that occur with current epigenetic modification, we could still say identical triplets have the same nature and be fully understood.
The human triplets would be one, that is, one nature. This one nature would be comprised of three distinct entities.
DNA, obviously, is the code for physical humans. The term “the very same nature” (or the Greek, homoousia) means “whatever God is made up of.” Homoousia is translated as nature, substance … the “stuff” that makes God to be God.[16]
If I may continue the extension of my analogy, homoousia is the expression for the DNA of the spiritual world. And the same way that human triplets are one, so the Divine Triplets are also one. And in the same way that human triplets can do different things (one teaches math; another, English; and another, history), so the Divine Triplets have different functions (one directs and manages; one, constructs the framework; one, enables day-to-day operations).[17]
In both of these sets of triplets, there are three personalities or three entities who are comprised of one nature; the three are truly one. Likewise the one nature is comprised of three distinct and separate personalities or entities.
Let’s assume that human triplets have been born and have been named Mike, Frank, and Roger. I want to illustrate their relationship by adapting a well known Christian diagram to the triplets.
The three members of the triplets are the same nature, the same substance, the same stuff. Assume epigenetic modification had not occurred. Literally, the DNA would be 100% the same.
Let’s replace the terms that are typically associated with this diagram. The Father, Son, and Spirit are distinct and separate personalities or entities. All of them are God. Remember the illustration about calling a dog (a class) by the name Dog (a name)? The term in the middle is NOT a name or a personality; it is the class of being that is called god. Whatever makes god as god, that is what is in the center, the spiritual DNA.
This is an analogy. I do not pretend to know this is what the Trinity actually is when we say “the very same nature,” but the analogy makes sense. The science from which the analogy is derived was only known a few years ago. There was no analogy in previous centuries. Because there were none then it is not necessary there will be none later.
Without doubt there will be disagreement that this is really polytheism or, specifically, tri-theism. There are two comments to that criticism.
The moment three personalities or entities or distinctions are acknowledged, the moment plural pronouns or nouns are used, then we are dealing with something that has a pluralistic nature or property of some sort with it. The distinction on the analogy is that human triplets are truly one and three at the same time. They are one in nature (the what), but they are three in personalities or entities (the who). We understand that; we can grasp it … though there is still a mystery about it and an intrigue that will remain beyond imagination.
To say “the Father, Son, and Spirit are one God, and there is one God but in three personalities” gives the impression that there is one entity that is God. That truly makes no sense. Three entities cannot be distinct and separate and yet be the same entity. In contrast, three entities can be one substance, because a substance is not an entity … but what an entity IS. In the same way that three entities of triplets are one DNA, so there are three entities but one Godhead (or God-stuff, whatever actually comprises the spiritual being called God in contrast to the spiritual beings called angels).
The distinction between this analogy and others that suggest polytheism is that the nature of God is not a being. The nature of God is what makes God what He is. The gods of the Pantheon (assuming they existed) were comprised of some sort of god-stuff; yet, that god-stuff was different per god. Their spiritual genes were clearly different. The spiritual genes of the Father, Son, and Spirit are 100% identical. All three have all the attributes of God, the very same nature. There really is only one God-stuff, but three personalities. If any analogy could be used (similar to footnote 1), the entities of the pantheon are fraternal whereas the entities of the Godhead are identical.
All this explanation has been “theoretical”; none of it can be demonstrated. Everything is by extrapolation and logic from Scripture. So what difference does it make?
1. God understands relationship because it is part of His nature. The word for God in the Old Testament is elohim in the Hebrew, the plural form of el (god). In Genesis when God said, “Let us make man in our image,” either He was talking to Himself using the “royal we,” much like the Queen of England will say, “We thank you for this gift” when a gift has been given to her individually. Perhaps He was talking to the angels. Or, using my analogy, one personality with the very same nature of God was talking to two other personalities with the very same nature of God.
Though there are people who are “loners,” most of us find that odd. Perhaps we are not demanding that we be with a crowd most of the time, but we do need some sort of connection with others. We have a drive to share with others, experience with others, bond with others. Why is that? If Scripture is true and God is how He is described, then this social need that we have is part of His very nature. The nature of God is expressed in three entities. God is a “we.” Being made in the image of God, we will have characteristic that are like His. Though time, events, and circumstances can creep into our lives and magnify our sense of “aloneness,” we still prefer relationships. This desire is a direct reflection of the Trinity.
2. The doctrine of the Trinity elevates the words of Jesus. Since “the very same nature” of God was somehow united with the human body of Jesus, then when He spoke, God was speaking. His insight into God was more than a revelation He had about God, Jesus was expressing God’s thoughts himself.
Consider again the analogy of the identical siblings. Most of us have experienced them in our lives, and many times there is an eeriness how they seem to be reading the other’s mind. When one speaks, the other is speaking. What one is thinking the other is thinking. The analogy breaks down because the DNA is not 100% the same, but assume it were. How uncanny would it be then? Jesus was truly the spokesman for God, not because He knew a lot about God, but because He was God.
3. The doctrine of the Trinity legitimatizes the vicarious death of Jesus on the cross. For centuries the Jews had been taught through the sacrificial system established in Leviticus that “a lamb without blemish” was to be used. Though we esteem other people as nearly perfect, we know that simply is not true. There is always something lacking, always.
How could another human truly be “without blemish” and qualify as the sacrifice for all other sins? Jesus was perfect in the sense that He did not merely try harder and discipline Himself more in order to obey and please God. I do not have “to try” to be human; I AM human. When someone gets aggravated because ants have invaded his picnic … well, that’s what ants do. Jesus was fully human and understood desire, but He was also fully God.[18] Jesus’ being fully human (He had the nature of a human, DNA) and His being fully God (He had the very same nature as God, the “God-stuff”) put Jesus above sinning.[19] His sacrifice on the cross was guaranteed to be efficacious precisely because Jesus had the very same nature as God.
4. The resurrection of Jesus is viewed in a different light because He is God (that is, He has the nature of God). When the body of Jesus died on the cross, there is no meaning to say that God died on the cross. The nature of God CANNOT die. The difference in the spiritual nature of man and the spiritual nature of Jesus is that man’s spiritual nature is an image of God whereas Jesus’ spiritual nature was the very nature of God himself. The body of Jesus could NOT have stayed dead. Even in the Garden Jesus said He had to go through the suffering. He could have prevented it at any time. The death and burial was needed to prove that there was life after death when the resurrection occurred. Swooning and passing out had to be removed. Jesus had to be “buried beyond doubt.”[20] Enough time had to be in the grave to satisfy doubt that He was dead, but not so long to create doubt when He did arise.
Lazarus had been dead four days. His body certainly “stinketh” as we fondly have in the King James Version. The raising of Lazarus was close enough to his death to create a spiritual jolt. If too much time had passed and peace had begun to settle in, his reappearing could have caused as much doubt and confusion as joy. “Wait, you’re dead. You can’t be real.”
This brief excursion into the time that the body was dead was merely to show that the length of time was to maximize the response by those who loved Him. Because Jesus had the very nature of God, He could have arisen AT ANY TIME. The body could not have stayed dead but brought alive whenever Jesus chose.
Jesus promised His resurrection power to all those who receive Him. This is not a promise of a “n’er-do-well.” Since Jesus is God (has the very same nature as God), then the resurrection is sound and real; and the promise to confer it to others is as real as God’s power to create the universe.
The reader may use his/her imagination to see how Jesus having the very same nature of God energizes our relationship with Christ. There is no heresy to fall before Him in worship. There is no heresy to pray to Him. The importance of the nature of God being displayed in Jesus is that He was seen, felt, heard.
There is so little closeness to the God of the Old Testament. His transcendence simply overwhelms us and mystifies us. The nature of God being united to a human body provides a sense of security and acceptance and unity that would be impossible unless Jesus, indeed, had the very same nature of God.
[1] Brahma, the Ultimate Being, is unknowable. Yet, He has manifested Himself in three forms (personalities): Brahman, Vishnu, and Shiva. These three manifestations display different aspects of Brahma, much like three photographs will give you three ideas of what a person looks like. These three manifestations are still beyond human comprehension; so, these manifestations will create their own manifestations, avatars, such as Krishna. Lord Krishna lived on earth, talked and lived with people. That manifestation of a manifestation of the Ultimate Being gives a clue to what Brahma is like. The claim of Hindus that they have a Trinity like Christianity is a completely different use of the word. Hinduism teaches that Brahman, Vishnu, and Shiva are different. To compare with my analogy, the Hindu Trinity is like fraternal triplets where the Christian Trinity is like identical triplets.
[2] The official doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church is that God is “worshiped” whereas Mary and the saints are “venerated” or “honored.” This appears to be a verbal distinction only; however, the Church maintains that there is a substantive difference. The idea is that we will often ask someone to request a favor for us with someone else. We are uneasy about making the request directly. So, in Roman Catholicism, a believer will pray to a Saint (or with a Saint) to request a favor from God. From the conservative Christian Protestant perspective the response is, “Why ask a servant to help you out with the king. We understand your uneasiness, but why not ask the king’s son?”
[3] The creed states that the nature is the same as the Father. In this essay I will use God and the Father interchangeably. I have several paragraphs discussing how we use the word “God” in two different ways. I have done this purposely because that is how the language is used. God is used as a name, God the Father, or as the term to designate a type of being, God gives life. Hence, when Jesus is said to have “the very same nature as the Father,” I will also use the phrase, “the very same nature as God.”
[4] Though I do not have the context of this quote, I have read enough of Voltaire in his other writings to believe that this comment is ridicule. The most forceful objection to the Trinity from skeptics is its unintelligibility.
[5] Imagine the difficulty of explaining snow to a person who has never seen it or heard of it. The person has lived on an island in the South Pacific and has never seen pictures of snow. How would the idea be understood or visualized? Perhaps some of the readers remember the same problem that Anna Leonowens (from The King and I) had with explaining snow to the children of Siam. An abstract idea with no comparable analogy is nearly impossible to understand. A common illustration of this is the pure mathematics of theoretical physics. Only a few trained and gifted individuals can understand this 100% abstract language. The rest of us in the hoi poloi must wait on some clever mathematicians who can explain it to us by using analogies. Even I can illustrate time dilation. (I do not want to give the impression that I actually understand time dilation; I can only illustrate it by using the analogies of others who do understand the principles of time dilation.)
[6] A Jehovah Witness will use this illustration to disprove the Trinity. There is no inherent reason to use multiplication as opposed to addition. The use of which math procedure to use is merely convenience. There is nothing inherent within mathematics that is Trinitarian.
[7] The Trinity states the Father, Son, and Spirit are God. If one of the personalities is removed elsewhere, God has not been diminished. If the shell and albumen and yoke are separated, there is no longer an egg.
[8] In fairness to the author I do not want to imply that he meant a person must be confused because the Trinity is a mystery. He may be saying no more than students usually don’t get it right. Mystery makes more sense if we mean that a certain part does not make sense, as “who-dun-it” in a mystery play. The impression I often receive is that the mystery of God means that we probably don’t understand at all. Quite often when I have discussed the justice of God in a class and compared it with passages in which justice certainly does not seem to be occurring, a common reply is, “God’s justice is a mystery. We cannot understand it.” Frankly, that strikes me as an avoidance. If we have NO idea of what justice is, then God’s justice or any justice would mean no more to me than light would to a Mexican Tetra (a blind cave fish). Because I do not fully understand God, does that mean I do not try to continue to understand Him, to push, to prod, to seek? It is precisely this lack of understanding the Trinity that pushed me to seek an analogy that made sense. The mystery is not removed; it is merely less puzzling.
[9] The seeming insistence that any mystery of God is a closed door simply does not make sense. Though God is infinite which precludes an all-inclusive definition, understanding, comprehension, why should that prevent continual thinking, analysis, or, if you please, new theories? If universe is not infinite, it might as well be treated so. Because the universe is immeasurable by thought or tools, should we stop? It simply makes no sense.
[10] The concept of classes is essential in learning and conversation. A child is told, “See the kitty.” The child might use Kitty as the name for kitty. Soon however the child sees a similar animal to the first kitty and will also call this one kitty. A class is a mental construct that defines and distinguishes objects. A child may initially confuse a doggie with a kitty, but after a few corrections, somehow the child will from that point categorize or classify dogs and doggies correctly as well as cats and kitties. In the usage of God as a name and a class, consider the following. Question: What is god? Answer: God is a powerful Being with the following attributes … God is a class, a category. If we find anything that matches the definition of this class, we will put it into that class. Question: Does the God who created the universe have a name? Answer: In the Old Testament people call him God or LORD [Jehovah or Yaweh]. So God is class with a member that is also called God. For the Greeks god is a class with members: Zeus, Hera, Hermes, etc.
[11] Sometimes a person might say, “He treats me like an object, like a thing. Well, I’m a human, not a thing!” I am not using object in that sense at all. The word “object” is being used in the philosophical sense. An object is anything that is not the subject perceiving it or thinking about it. An object may be a person, place, thing, idea, etc. An object is different and distinct from me, the subject.
[12] The vast differences between humans and chimpanzees, while being so similar in genotypes, are an excellent illustration of the chaos effect. The chaos effect is the principle that a minor change may result in hugely magnified and distinct differences later. “The butterfly effect,” which illustrates this principle, suggests that the wind current caused by a butterfly might eventually be the initial force of a tornado on the other side of the world. The inability of the most advanced computers to forecast the weather is due to the chaos effect.
[13] Epigenetic modification is the effect that forces outside the genes affect upon the genes themselves. The effect that environment brings will cause different genes to be “turned on” or “turned off.”
[14] An internet search on “the Jim twins” will provide intriguing articles on Jim Lewis and Jim Springer, identical twins separated at birth. Brought together by Thomas Bouchard, an early leader in the Minnesota Twins Project, the similarities are staggering. Though the similarities of the Jim twins were considered anomalies compared to other identical twins separated at birth (they were “outliers”); yet, what they had in common seems difficult to attribute to coincidence: both married twice (each wife having the same first name), one son (James Allen and James Alan), drove the same type of car, vacationed in the same town in Florida, smoked the same cigarette brand, drank the same brand of beer, had the same hobby of carpentry, both worked as part time deputies for the sheriff’s department, and more. A different set of separated identical twins (one raised by a Jewish family and the other a member of Hitler’s Youth) had a number of similarities, including the odd habit of flushing the toilet before using it. No one is suggesting there is a gene for flushing a toilet, but there are interests, mannerisms, likes and dislikes that seem to be inborn. If not inborn, then as soon as they are exposed to a particular behavior or object, they immediately emulate it or want it. Though there is no gene that would have predisposed both of the Jim twins to marry a woman by the name Linda and one by the name Betty, this does seem more than randomness. The odds are certainly remote for this; however, it is true that people like or prefer certain sounds. How often have you heard a parent say, “I really like the name [whatever]?” Though a gene may not cause a particular behavior, there seems to be something that influences predispositions or immediate acceptance.
[15] A phenotype is the resultant behavior, appearance, and other physical features of the genes. In the same way that a blueprint is the plan and the physical house is the result, so genes are the blueprint and the particular human is the result, the phenotype.
[16] The word “stuff” engenders all kinds of images and connotations. God and angels are spirit, not matter. God is spirit. Obviously neither I nor anyone else knows what a spirit is comprised of. I think of spirit as non-matter; often we imagine translucent shapes or cloudy forms … physical stuff again. Whatever a spirit is comprised of, God is different from angels. The God-spirit has properties and attributes that the angel-spirits do not have. For convenience sake, what it is that comprises God, I will refer to as God-stuff.
[17] The functions of the Divine Personalities are listed in a paraphrased form. A formal declaration is found in Article IIIb from the earlier quote in the Westminster Confession of Faith: “The Father is of none, neither begotten nor proceeding; the Son is eternally begotten of the Father; the Holy Ghost eternally proceeding from the Father and the Son.”
[18] In theology this is referred to as the hypostatic union. This is the union of the nature of God and the nature of man in one. Hypostasis essentially meant real subsistence, not ideal. So, in some way, the nature of God was really unionized with the nature of man.
[19] The doctrine of the Impeccability of Jesus teaches that Jesus could not sin; He was unable to sin. The Peccability of Jesus teaches that Jesus could have sinned, but chose not to. For years I went back and forth between these doctrines, but my reflection on the nature of God the Father and Jesus being the very same has me irrevocably supporting Impeccability. I am not clear to how either doctrine will make a practical difference in behavior; there does appear to be a doubt about our security after death if Peccability is true. After His resurrection it appears that Jesus had the same body that He had before. There is no reason to believe a change had occurred with His spirit; so, His ability to be able to sin would continue after His death. What assurance could a believer have that Jesus would sin later, and the whole cycle of redemption starts all over again? If resurrected believers still have the ability to sin, then there is no security. The question that naturally arises is, “How was Jesus truly tempted as we are but He was unable to sin?” A temptation is a test; negatively it is a test designed to cause a person to fail spiritually. The test is still valid. For instance, assume you attend your child’s first grade class on a Parents Day. A math test is given, and the parents are encouraged to take it. I suspect two emotions would be present. One will be a sense of ease that this test will be a cake walk. “C’mon, add 2 + 2?” Then there would be a second emotion, a negative one. “What if I just overlook something and write a number down wrong? I know the answer, but I just might miswrite it? How embarrassing would it be to miss a question like one of these?” The parent can still feel the anxiety of being in error even though “there is no way he can mess up.” So for Jesus, His spiritual side was sound and would not mess up. His human side could still feel the anxiety, much as it did when He felt hunger, was tired, felt anguish in the Garden, or screamed in pain on the cross, “My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?”
[20] This is reminiscent of Dickens’ The Christmas Carol: “Marley was dead … The registry of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief mourner … There is no doubt that Marley was dead. This must be distinctly understood, or nothing wonderful can come of the story …” If Jesus had merely swooned or went into some sort of coma and then have revived prior to His burial, then the swoon theory of Jesus on the cross would have leverage; but Jesus was buried. He was executed by professional killers and was buried. The burial enables the wonderful story of the resurrection.
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