​​ || Unpacking the unpackable Trinity || The doctrine o | Theology bites

​​


|| Unpacking the unpackable Trinity ||


The doctrine of the Trinity teaches that there is One God that is three Persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. The One God is not only the Father. Neither is He only the Son. Nor is He only the Holy Ghost. God, in proper Trinitarian formulation as formally recognised by both western and eastern churches, is the conglomeration of all three Persons, therefore, God is together the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. To exclude any of the Persons in the triadic formulation is to dismantle what is deemed as God in orthodox Christian dogma.

In a nutshell, because God is all three of the said Persons, the Father himself is not that One God, nor is the Son by himself that One God, nor is the Holy Ghost himself that One God. And yet, they are not small fractions of that One God even though each is not that One God but rather together they make that One God. As the One God is a conference of three eternal Persons that have been eternally three from before time existed, each Person cannot possibly be said to be equal to the conference of the three that make the One God, therefore, the One God must be stronger than any of the particular Persons within that One God. But if that is the case, then those three Persons must necessarily be fractions of that One all-powerful God, but Trinitarians insist that that is not so. Rather, they insist that each Person has equal share and is fully God, but what is meant by fully God remains unasnwered and confounded by our little exercise in simply stating the doctrine and the basic implications that follow. The Trinity is a mystery is yet the best answer orthodoxy has to offer these many centuries past. It was inexplicably confusing one thousand years ago and it remains just as inexplicably confusing this very moment. No theologian has ever been able to grapple with the mystery of the Trinity.

And so theologians Roger Olsen and Christopher Hall complain that, “For many Christians the doctrine of the Trinity has seemed an esoteric belief--beyond comprehension and possibly merely speculative.” [1]

Let us have a look at the attached Christian Catholic fresco below. That's the Father holding the globe, the Son holding the cross and in between them, the Holy Spirit as the Dove. How many do you see? One or three? Where is the ONE God? We see only three. And so, the Qur'an rightly remarks, “Do NOT say THREE...!” (4:171)

Ibn Anwar

Reference:

[1] - Olsen, R. E. & Hall, C. A. (2002). The Trinity. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. p. 1



---------------------------------------
Tags: #Christianity #Trinity