Why three? Why not two, or four, or one – which would have been so much easier to explain. Of course, the Christian understanding of God is as One, yet also Three. Three persons within the One Godhead. But, why three?
The shortest answer I know is, because Jesus said so. He spoke of his Father in heaven, he spoke of himself as Son of God, and he referred in personal terms to the Holy Spirit, who would be given when he was no longer bodily present. And there were stories, like the voice heard at Jesus’ baptism, “This is my Son, my beloved, with whom I am well pleased,” and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. Early church preachers and thinkers, trying to interpret collected teachings and stories, had to wrestle with these references. When you think about it, seeing God as triune was pretty unavoidable, given how much Jesus refers to these three distinct persons as God.
Unavoidable doesn’t mean simple. It took centuries to sort out and articulate Christian doctrine about God, and some of the process was torturous. So is any time we try to talk about the Unity and the Trinity of God (read the Athanasian Creed sometime…) And on the one Sunday each year when we highlight not an event but a doctrine, preachers twist themselves into pretzels trying to clarify a spiritual mystery.
Sun, ray, beam… Orange, peel, juice… Mother, wife, sister… Water, ice, steam….
Or the one I stumbled onto in Water Daily a few weeks ago: sea, water-fall and spray. I rather like that one.
A good formula for the Trinity does not allocate different functions to Father, Son and Spirit, but affirms their sharing in the full life of God. It conveys distinction between persons and the unity of the whole – and so affirms the principles of differentiation and wholeness that are so important for human health and thriving. It communicates the core Christian belief that God is One and also more than One; that God is so big, as it were, God could not be contained as just One but exists in eternal relationship of persons.
This ongoing, active, relational life of God is what we are invited to join. So the Christian life is not just assenting to a belief, but actively joining a relationship already in full swirl, and somehow richer when you and I join in. Some liken it to a dance, in which we are swept up, folded in, made whole.
What difference does understanding God as Trinity make to us? It gives us different ways to connect with God. Some relate to God as Spirit, unseen but powerful and present. Some connect better to God the Father, holy and transcendent, unknowable and yet perfect love. And some find their connection to the Son who left his heavenly home to enter our world as a human being, so that God would be knowable to us.
Who do you find you most connect with in prayer? Have you ever consciously tried to address another Person of the Trinity just to see how you might experience God differently? You might try it today...
I will leave us with a great formulation written by my friend Willy Welch in a song for children:
God is One person, and he’s also Three.
God is a person, and He’s a family.
One, he is the Father; Two, he is the Son;
Three, he is the Spirit, and they’re never done.
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