When we look at the egg as an example of the Trinity, we must view it in its entirety. The Trinity is a tri-unity, a unity of Three, - God the Father, Jesus, the Son of God and the Holy Spirit. Jesus Person is joined to the Father by the Fathers Holy Spirit, because Gods Spirit is also Jesus Spirit - "But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if the Spirit of God dwells in you. This analogy is an invalid comparison to the Trinity and is a heresy called PARTIALISM. The shell, while important, is no longer needed. Moreover, the yoke and the whites are no longer as they used to be. But its all water. Water Analogy God is like water, or H2O, which can exist in 3 forms. He wondered how it was possible that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit could be inseparable, while, in . A, distinguishes himself from others by saying me, mine, you, yours, etc. A. is the whole nature or essence of something. Your email address will not be published. In Jesus is the fullness of the Godhead bodily (Colossians 2:9). The word Trinity comes from the Latin word trinitas which means tri-unity. When we separate them and view them as individual deities, that is the error of tritheism, which is the worship of three individual gods as one. The Unseen Father would have been put into Satans prison. There's a simple reason they don't work: The Trinity, as such, isn't like anything in creation. Common, yes. Yet others have thought that H20 (water) shows us the Trinity since H20 can be three things: solid (ice), liquid (running water) and vapor (steam). These images fall short, because these components arent enough to be considered a whole on their own. Three Gods or one? Rather, He created us in order to bless us. I remember asking my Life Group last year, How have you heard the Trinity explained? I braced myself for the inevitable reply. Similarly, people have used the example of the apple in the same way- skin, flesh, and seeds. God is much bigger and much greater than we can understand, and to be honest, I'm ok with that. In other words, this view denies Gods oneness. However, Christians through the ages believe in the Trinity because the truths it represents are taught in the Bible. Just as water changes forms so too is the trinity. There is only one egg with three different parts. Likewise we cannot have the Father or His Spirit without the Son I am the Way the Truth and the Life, no one comes to the Father except by Me- John 14:6. There are some analogies that come close. Revelation 4:3 And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. That would not be had God be three persons. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength (1 Corinthians 1:25). copyright 2009 by H.D. Born in England in 1961, Benjamin Waterhouse Benjamin Waterhouse has been the organist of the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity since 2000. We can touch the cord, but not the power it is insulating. Hi Im not a theologian and I dont disagree with what you say but when you state that we know the persons of the Trinity have perfectly loved for eternity etc how do we know? This is a quick way to describe the doctrine of the Trinity namely, God is 1 being (the, is Gods nature, essence, being) and 3 whos (the, being Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). But while this idea is central to the Christian faith, it is also incredibly mysterious to us. And we know that because Hes been experiencing perfect love within Himself forever. The beautiful depth of Gods eternal Triune nature is a sublime reality which should bring an end to our attempts to cognitively master Him. This is not an exhaustive list: For further reading on the Trinity, I would recommend James Whites The Forgotten Trinity, Wayne Grudems Systematic Theology and online articles by CARM.org. And let us once more come to illustrations. For instance, we know that God is perfectly loving. Now that we know the doctrine of the trinity and its corresponding major heresies, now we are ready to look at some bad analogies for the trinity. From time to time, Doctors of the Church used analogies, but with care. Among the most popular analogies for the Trinity, two in particular stand out; and most of the others resemble one of them. The Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Spirit is God. httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQLfgaUoQCw. RELATED: The Biblical Principle Of Baptism By Fire. Answer (1 of 25): Cynics assert that the idea of the Holy Trinity is a logical impossibility. Lord of all, we bow before thee. An egg has a shell, white, and yolk, but these three are part of an egg or Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao but the same Philippines. They are unified in one divine being. Each of the persons is that supreme reality, viz., the divine substance, essence or nature. (Lateran Council IV), 4. Thus the Father is in Jesus " I and My Father are One" (John 10:30), "The Father is in Me" (John 14:10) God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself (II Corinthians 5:19). Here are 8 Bible Characters Who Should Be More Famous. The doctrine of the Trinity is one of the primary tenants of the Christian faith. How can we explain what it means to have three persons in one being? Martyn Iles Removed as Managing Director of Australian Christian Lobby by Board, Seven Types of Rest to Restore Your Body, Mind and Spirit, 8 witnesses testified against Hillsong founder Brian Houston in court case, wife Bobbie reveals, Why you feel guilty for not going to church, Samaritan's Purse sends 52-bed field hospital to Turkey. Being the brightness of the eternal Light, He Himself also is absolutely eternal. We recommend you adhere these emblems to your vestments by mounting on the material with fabric glue and then stitching them . Unfortunately, Arianism is still around and can found within the Jehovah's Witnesses teachings. Or water can be evaporated and called steam. We also know that God didnt create humanity out of loneliness or boredom. I go to prepare a place for you. Each person is fully God (Phil 2; Acts 5:3-4). When we separate them and view them as individual deities, that is the error of tritheism, which is the worship of three individual gods as one. Does that make sense? Modalism is a heresy because it denies the distinction of God. In the Scripture we see "the fullness of God was pleased to dwell" (Col 1:9). Here are four. Each person is fully the one God, but is also distinct. God has revealed some mysteries from the Old Testament in the New Testament (the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the coming of the Messiah, salvation by grace through faith, etc.) To return to my Life Group anecdote, after our discussion I asked why does it even matter?. 1B) This son of Graham and Lois Armstrong is Dave. The Holy Spirit prays for us. When the Bible talks about God, it may be referring to Jesus Christ in a specific instance, the Holy Spirit in another and God the Father in a third occasion. The mystery is in the "how" this is accomplished; something we will finally understand in heaven. They suggest that only one God exists but this God transforms or morphs into each of the different persons. This analogy sounds pretty good, but it is fatally flawed in that is describes the Son and Spirit as creations of the Father. MULTIPLICATION ANALOGY. Light comes from God. John introduces us to the Trinity in John 1:1- In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and Word was God. Jesus, the Word, was present in Genesis 1. If you looked at a single cloverleaf, you wouldnt call it a shamrock. This analogy seems to make a lot of sense, but it actually reinforces a fatal misconception about the Trinity called modalism. He is one God who expresses Himself in three modesFather, Son, and Spirit. I do not have the time or space to exhaustively demonstrate in scripture these truths, but the Biblical witness teaches these three truths consistently about God. Holy Trinity, the downtown Greek Orthodox church that was partially destroyed by fire 11 years ago, was a special place for 57-year-old Georgiou. I and My Father are One (John 10:30). So if all of these explanations are heretical, what is a good analogy? It is not important merely for the sake of tradition, or because the word itself is taught in the Bible (the word is not). The word Trinity comes from the Latin word trinitas which means tri-unity. This may be my favorite verse of them all. How would you explain the Trinity if someone asked you right now? The Holy Spirit and Son do not send the Father. We came up with several practical implications of this doctrine. Modernizations of this analogy include that of an apple (with the peel, the flesh, and the core) or an egg (with its shell, yoke, and white). And in our efforts to grasp it, weve come up with a number of analogies. To help you out, here is a comical and silly video that teaches about these bad analogies. I dont know how our majestic God feels about being compared to watermelons and eggs, but He is also a loving Father, and like any father, I believe God would seek to provide simple explanations so His little children can understand. You can throw away one part of an egg (e.g., shell) and still have essentially an egg. Yet the orthodox view is that each person of the Trinity is fully divine. Some think of God as H 2 O, which is sometimes a solid (ice), sometimes a liquid (water), and sometimes a gas (steam). But common sense is intuition based on day-to-day experience. The analogy explains that in the same way that one shamrock can have three leaves on it, the Trinity has three Persons that constitute one God. It should bring us to realise that we truly are finite creatures standing before a sovereign, transcendent, divine mystery. Sending of another: The Father sends the Son, and both the Father and Son send the Holy Spirit. Analogies for the Trinity exist to explain the unexplainable. It does not imply Jesus was created if you emphasize that the Sun existed from eternity past. The Egg- One egg has three parts: shell, whites, and yolk . How do we make sense of the Trinity? So God performs 3 different roles/relationships but 1 God. The Latin word for trinity (trinitas) combines two words- unitas (unity) and trias (three). The early church labeled this view "tritheism". Afterall, we can get rid of a few of its parts - for instance the shell - and still scramble an egg. A certain YouTube page created a famous video titled "St. Patrick's Bad Analogies" (which can be found here), in which the historic St. Patrick meets charming villagers who deride him based on the analogies which he uses in the process of explaining the Holy Trinity. I believe that the best way to talk about the Trinity is to simply say that God is one God, who eternally exists in three Persons. Sadly, theres something "rotten" about this egg analogy. CafeLogos.orgThe Egg and i -A Simple Explanation of The Trinity Water can be ice and steam, yet they are the same element. We can say that the first is egg the shell, the second is egg the albumen and the third is egg the yoke. According to the first, just as water takes three forms (liquid, vapor, and ice), so too God takes the form of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Studying the Trinity poses difficulty to us Catholics. This analogy actually falls prey to the same error of modalism. In other words, God may manifest Himself as the Father, Son, or Holy Spirit. In the same way, there is a God Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.. The egg white represents Gods Spirit. . Now God can be in you by His Spirit! According to modalism, God does not actually exist in three persons. It is the Fathers desire to join His Spirit with all of us as well for He has said They shall be My sons and daughters (II Corinthians 6:18). Just like an egg, none of the parts are co-equal, nor are all of the parts necessary for the egg to exist. To put it simply, "The problem with using analogies to explain the Holy Trinity is that you always end up confessing some ancient heresy." . This analogy explains that the Father is like the sun. Heat it up, and it turns to vapor. Celebrating Easter Is About so Much More Than One Hour on Sunday. If we separate them we still may have God the Egg yolk, God the Holy Spirit Egg white and God the Son, the Egg shell/image, three individual parts of an Egg, but they cannot be a Trinity, or tri-unity unless they are unified and are seen as one Egg, so to speak. A good follow up verse to help explain is the baptism of Jesus. Its downright hard to understand. Wow! The Trinity is distinct in their roles and individuality, but united in their attributes of love, mercy, holiness, knowledge, etc. I bet I havent sung or heard this song in years! He has not yet revealed some mysteries (what did Jesus do in His childhood, when will He return, what does the word Selah mean in the Old Testament- and so many more.). Because God is utterly unique, all comparisons will fail at some point. All of the above Bad Analogies would perhaps do more harm than good if used in explaining the Trinity. In other words, one stuffness. However, He exists in three Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The very definition of the heresy known as Modalism/Oneness is that there is one person existing in three different modes or manifestations. The past is not the present and the present is not the future, yet all three together is what we call time. we worship one God in trinity and the trinity in unity,neither blending their personsnor dividing their essence. 1:8-12; 1 Pet. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there you may be also (John14:2, 3). Jesus is the visual form of God. This description that all persons are fully God is called the Ontological Trinity. And when the time comes when death is allowed to crack your shell in its final hour and your believing soul is released; the Spirit of God that holds you will carry you in His arms to your heavenly home because In My Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. 7But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christs gift., , according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, that you may obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in fullest measure., , But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith; praying in the Holy Spirit; 21keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.. I can only shake my head when He does these things! Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,, , Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. The yolk represents Gods Person, His Being, and His Holiness which generates Light that no man can approach (I Timothy 6:16).