Although God is transcendent, sovereign, unapproachable light, He has condescended to reveal something of Himself to His creation. Deuteronomy 6:4- Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. This verse is also the beginning of the Jewish Shema prayer; their confession of faith. Each side is co-equal with the others, yet, each side is necessary. 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. In this episode, Fred Sanders discusses what it really means to say that God is a Trinitythree persons in one God. When we separate them we can fall into the error of tritheism, which is the worship of three individual deities as one. The apple seed alone is not an apple. Son and Holy Ghost are each fully God. We define a person as one having a will and who is distinguishable from another person. Arianism is named after the heretic Arius. You can throw away one part of an egg (e.g., shell) and still have essentially an egg. Youre right, theyre all good but not perfect because only God IS perfect. The problem with this analogy is that no one molecule of H2O can actually exist as solid, liquid, and gas at the same time. So whats one good way to explain what the Trinity is? He was with God in the beginning. In part one, we looked at what the Bible has to say about the Trinity. Because Gods Person is unapproachable, the Spirit White acts as insulation, for we know that it is through the Holy Spirit that God can communicate, speak through and interact with mankind. Being the brightness of the eternal Light, He Himself also is absolutely eternal. The Trinity is Like an Egg How the analogy goes: The Trinity is like an egg. However, Christians through the ages believe in the Trinity because the truths it represents are taught in the Bible. How can we ever explain our Most High, exalted, powerful, uncontainable, and most glorious God? 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. Not just for explaining it to others, but to bolster our own faith and see how each One works in our lives. 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). It may not appear to agree with common sense. However, keep in mind that the one being. The Unseen Father and Father that is seen existed at the same time. Can you think of some Bible verses to back up your explanation? These things are referred to as the Economic Trinity. Each one is fully 100% God. The three distinct notes come together to make one beautiful sound. The Trinity is not real in my life because of superior knowledge or insight. One day, however, the image will be clear. For sure, our everyday experience does not include using our finite minds to understand the infinite! The yolk represents Gods Person, His Being, and His Holiness which generates Light that no man can approach (I Timothy 6:16). Every kid in Sunday school thinks he knows all about God. One is a musical chord with three notes. - well, sort of. He is one God in three persons, all at the same time. Does that make sense? You are an egg! There have been many attempts to explain the Trinity the relationship between God the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. The Spirit white is connected to Jesus Person I will come to you (John 14:18) and the Fathers Person, We will come to him and make our abode with him (John 14:23). My name is AnnMarie and I'm so glad you're here! All of the above Bad Analogies would perhaps do more harm than good if used in explaining the Trinity. 1. They that dont have the Holy Spirit in them will talk like the Adversary. 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. Or have you ever tried to teach kids about the Trinity? But if they give us a warped idea of what they are trying to explain, they arent helpful illustrations. Who is God? Armstrong. Moreover, the yoke and the whites are no longer as they used to be. When we separate them we can fall into the error of tritheism, which is the worship of three individual deities as one. The scientific analogy that will be provided in a few moments is truly inadequate to describe the Holy Trinity. The past is not the present and the present is not the future, yet all three together is what we call time. But in the Godhead, each Person is fully and completely God unto Himself (even as they are all one God). Thus, the Father Himself is not God, nor is the Son, nor is the Holy Spirit, but combining the three, there is one God. Learn how your comment data is processed. The problem with this analogy is that it teaches that God has three components: The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. When we look at the egg as an example of the Trinity, we must view it in its entirety. If one of the persons were not there, then we would not have God. A chicken egg consists of a shell, a yolk, and an egg white, yet it is altogether one egg. When we look at the egg as an example of the Trinity, we must view it in its entirety. Jesus is fully God. In order to accomplish this union with God and man, He allowed His Shell to be broken with the weight of our sins to cleanse our souls so His holiness can approach, for God cannot look upon sin (Habakkuk 1:13). The problem with this analogy is that it also leads to the heresy of MODALISM. In other words, one stuffness. However, He exists in three Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. An explanation that is so common, and seemingly does elucidate how something can simultaneously be three and onecan it really be that bad? But you cannot be broken when your faith is in Jesus, for the Spirit of the Son that lives in us and gives us the voice through which we cry Abba, Father, (Galatians 4:6,) this Spirit of the Father that dwells within you is there to strengthen, protect and guard your person. 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. This was first used by Patrick of Ireland (yes there really was a Patrick of Ireland and he was a great guy), around 400 A.D. 2. Analogies that we present would always be insufficient as none of them would equate to the incomprehensible beauty of God. Time Analogy God is like time. Dont become discouraged if you cant answer the question to your liking. Jesus, visually seen, judges all, not the Unseen Father. For example, triangles are not the kinds of things that are personal. The doctrine of the Trinity tells us that there's ONE GOD who is THREE distinct PERSONS existing as a community of self-giving and loving relationships with each other. Yet the orthodox view is that each person of the Trinity is fully divine. Jesus is the Holy Spirit. God does not play three roles.. Now God can be in you by His Spirit! The Trinity is pretty weird: the Father (or Mother), Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit are in some sense distinct from one another, but are all unified in another sense. The Holy Trinity: Egg Analogy The Holy Trinity is GOD in three divine persons GOD the FATHER GOD the HOLY SPIRIT GOD the SON But together they makeup and are still ONE GOD Like how an egg is made up of three things but is still ONE EGG. ORDER from Barnes and NobleAmazon.com or wherever fine books are soldISBN-13: 978-1978167643Return to Cafe Logos Homepage | Bite-Sized Bible Bites, The Egg and i -A Simple Explanation of The Trinity. in that while water can change into vapour or ice, Jesus cannot change into the Father or the Holy Spirit. The problem here is it describes each part of the Trinity as 1/3 parts of the overall egg. Father, Son, and Spirit are each fully God (their own egg)- not fractions of one. But having lots 6 Bible Study Tools To Help You Dive Deeper. The Holy Spirit is Christs spirit in us guiding us into all truth. Dont you know Jesus? 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. Bach, and has released two previous CDs, one . 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). THE TRUTH IS: The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are not three different parts or components of God, but the . Water has three states: solid, liquid, and gas. Some people falsely claim the Trinity is a form of . God is like an egg in that He is 3-in-1 God the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ) and the Holy Spirit. God is much bigger and much greater than we can understand, and to be honest, I'm ok with that. But based on what you know that Jesus is born so that He can save people from their wrongdoings, will you trust Him to forgive you. Im giving God the credit for stirring this memory, and am extremely grateful. What is the Trinity? God is kind of like a man who is a father, a son and an uncle God is kind of like a three-leaf clover, or a triangle; one object, but three different, identifiable leaves, or sides* The trinity is a like a Three-Leaf Clover. Further, his dialectic is guided by the particular consideration of what true love is: a trinity of lover, beloved and the love that binds . There is only one egg with three different parts. True, we humans are image bearers but nothing in creation serves as an analogy for the Trinity because the Trinity is a doctrine of special (biblical) revelation not nature or reason. If youre interested into diving deeper into the topic of the Trinity, here are some valuable resources that could help. 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. When we think about influential New Testament leaders, most names are male. The egg white represents Gods Spirit. 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). Now were going to look at how some people often misunderstand the Trinity. The egg analogy is very simple but it is OK to show something as simple as an egg can be one and yet three. Shively They suggest that only one God exists but this God transforms or morphs into each of the different persons. Understanding 1 Corinthians 14:34-35. 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. La da dee dee dum dum (I couldnt remember the in-between parts). Instead, each person is co-equal, co-powerful and co-eternal. It only has 1 person acting in three different roles. But Hes God too, right? For them, a person is someone who could relate to another. 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. I think the illustration that represents the Trinity most accurately is the egg example. To return to my Life Group anecdote, after our discussion I asked why does it even matter?. These attributes are: omnipotence (all-powerful), omniscience (all-knowing), and omnipresence (exists in all places). 2. So, part of understanding the Trinity is realizing that God is personal and relational. The beautiful depth of Gods eternal Triune nature is a sublime reality which should bring an end to our attempts to cognitively master Him. How do we make sense of the Trinity? This little child cannot look at one without experiencing a profound sense of wonderment and awe. 1A) Dave is a son of Graham and Lois Armstrong. This analogy actually teaches the heresy of modalism. Unfortunately, an analogy from the limited realm of creation may not be sufficient in explaining Gods nature. For the Trinity, instead of using the formula 1+1+1, we use 1x1x1. Some think of God as H 2 O, which is sometimes a solid (ice), sometimes a liquid (water), and sometimes a gas (steam). When discussing God, especially in regards to his nature, being and persons, a simple statement to articulate the Trinity is: God is 1 what and 3 whos*. 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). What does that really mean? RELATED: Did Jesus Really Rise From The Dead? 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. Surely this is a better understanding of the water analogy! Each one is fully 100% God. Although the water changes forms it is still H2O. Blessings! In contrast to the Ontological Trinity, there is the Economic Trinity. It taught there is one nature in God, and that there are two processions, three persons, and four relations that constitute the Blessed Trinity. In an attempt to explain the Trinity, there are some bad examples people use, and some better ones. One of the more traditional analogies is to the states of water. Augustine's typical dialectic is to move from the exterior realities of creation to the interior reality of the human soul where he hoped to encounter God in the image of God, damaged as it is by the fall. The concept is literally unthinkable. While an egg has a yolk, a white and a shell to make up the whole, each part is only ever . Yeah its definitely a hard thing to understand, let alone explain to little ones ! Infinite thy vast domain, everlasting is thy reign.. Some have used examples such as water, watermelons and eggs; the principle behind those illustrations is that even though each thing is one, it is also three. But this idea is central to the Christian faith. When discussing God, especially in regards to his nature, being and persons, a simple statement to articulate the Trinity is: God is 1, *. As a result, this analogy can easily lead to tritheism in which there are three different gods which might share some like substance. Jesus is the visual form of God. The egg (or apple) fails in that the shell, white, and yolk are parts of the egg, not the egg in themselves, just as the skin, flesh, and seeds of the apple are parts of it, not the apple itself. Although he is one he has different roles to different people. MULTIPLICATION ANALOGY. Examples of these different roles would be: The Incarnation: Only the Son became incarnate, took on flesh. The problem with this analogy is it denies the unity of the God-head. Thought of Tim Its amazing to think that everything will be so clear when we het to Heaven! That is heaven in a person. The trinity is like water. [4] The goal of an analogy is to draw out similarities between it and its referent in illuminating ways, not to define the referent itself. The Holy Spirit prays for us. In other words, God may manifest Himself as the Father, Son, or Holy Spirit. This analogy explains that the Father is like the sun. In humans, our spirits are designed to operate with and be united to the soul which is the person of anyone and so it is with our Egg. They all exist as fully God, with none of them lacking in any attribute or aspect that defines God. The trinity is a mystery that cannot be fully comprehended. They have a common purpose in making harmonious music, but each note is its own separate entity. Here are some of them: The problem with this is that it leads to the view that God is a Trinity simply because He relates differently to us at different times. 1B) This son of Graham and Lois Armstrong is Dave. She would explode!" In other words, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have a unique and unbreakable unity, and their existence together is the being that is God. THE TRUTH IS: The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are not simply names designating modalities of the divine being, for they are really DISTINCT from one another: He is not the Father who is the Son, nor is the Son he who is the Father, nor is the Holy Spirit he who is the Father or the Son. (CCC 254), 3. Similarly, in our aquatic analogy, water can appear in three different modes, depending on the environment, but the three are not co-existing. In Jesus dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily (Colossians 2:9) There is what is called the 'triple point' the combination of pressure and temperature at which H2O can exist simultaneously in all three states: solid, liquid and gas. His motto was that "There was a time when the son did not exist". Jesus was standing in the Jordan River, His Father speaks from heaven above, and the Holy Spirit descends upon Him as a dove. They are three in one egg. THE TRUTH IS: From the very beginning, the Blessed Trinity Father, Son, and Spirit was there. Though I find the video to be hilarious and often . When we look at the egg as an example of the Trinity, we must view it in its entirety. Relationship Analogy (Husband/Son/Father) God is like a person with different relationships just as a man can be a Dad, but also someones Son, and also someones Husband. H2O can only ever be one form at a time. These hand embroidered emblems are made with metallic gold-plated thread with silver content, printed on canvas. 3:15; John 17:1-4, The Holy Spirit Acts 5:3-4; John 14:16-17, 26; John 16:7-13. Have you wondered what is God like? Here are a few of the many verses giving evidence of the Trinity in the Bible: Genesis 1:1&2- In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth The Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. The Holy Spirit was an active participant in the creative process. copyright 2009 by H.D. Afterall, we can get rid of a few of its parts - for instance the shell - and still scramble an egg. Before I even began writing this post, I had an unusual song stuck in my head Holy God, we praise thy name. This analogy is still not perfect because each of the aspect cannot stand as egg like each of the persons in the trinity can stand as God. The military would end up destroying themselves. THE TRUTH IS: The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are not three different parts or components of God, but the three are all equally one God. If then the sun were eternal, the day would never end; but now, for such is not really the state of the case, the day begins with the beginning of the sun, and ends with its ending. However, in some instances, the use of carefully chosen analogies may be of help for some of our brethren in learning the teachings of the Church. The word Trinity comes from the Latin word trinitas which means tri-unity. Is He Jesus side-kick? Unfortunately, there is a problem with this view of the Trinity. show me your glory. It is a miraculous invention, the egg. The Son is like the light rays that visibly reveal the sun, as Jesus is the visible image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15). Adorn your liturgical vestments with classic images from the Monastery Icons collection. The Father hears their intercessory prayers. A good example would be an electrical cord. It leads to the heresy of MODALISM which teaches that God switches to different modes. Unfortunately, no analogy is perfect. Your email address will not be published. However, it breaks down on the level of equality: No one keeps or eats the shell of an egg. The shortfall of this illustration, and others like it, is that God cannot be divided into "parts." Under Arianism Jesus is less than fully God. Jesus is in the form of the Holy Spirit. Only the Son became incarnate, took on flesh. 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. The Holy Spirit is the shell, Jesus is the egg white, and the Father is the egg yolk. How so? This analogy denies the unity of the God-head. The Holy Spirit is the shell, Jesus is the egg white, and the Father is the egg yolk. They are three in one egg. Before moving on I should note that providing a full theological explanation of Trinitarian doctrine is well beyond the scope of what I can do here. The Bible teaches three truths: 1 - there is one God. Admittedly, the idea of three distinct persons/expressions that are each fully God is part of the mystery. Analogies often fall short. Jesus would have remained in the tomb, or hell, had Jesus sinned. But remember, it is much better to let Scripture teach the 3 points above which establish the doctrine of the Trinity than to rely on analogies. So under modalism, God acts as the Father in the Old Testament, the son in the Gospels, and the Spirit in Acts and the Epistles. Perhaps we must be content to admit that we cannot fully understand Gods nature in our finitude. It is still H20, but just different forms. Yet we do not have three gods but ONE God. However, many of our faithful, and even priests, attempted to simplify the Mystery of the Trinity and made it easier to understand by using MODELS AND ANALOGIES, giving birth to modern-day heresies/fallacies about the Trinity. 3. Many of us would use analogies to explain the Trinity. He can even be all three at the same time. But its all water. All these make up one egg just as the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit make up one God. 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. Trinity Egg Analogy . Love your blogs! So, I shot down a lot of images that seems to be pretty helpful. They say that three separate beings exist, 2. I'm always interested in ways to encourage you, so feel free to contact me and let me know what areas interest you! We can say that the first is egg the shell, the second is egg the albumen and the third is egg the yoke. Here many of the creeds help us in clearly articulating the trinity. No analogy is perfect, but we want to be careful of using wrong ones that may confuse people. 6And there are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons., , The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all., There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; 5one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. Each person is fully God (Phil 2; Acts 5:3-4). And the Holy Spirit is not the Father or the Son. We define a person as one having a will and who is distinguishable from another person. This is a general rule when we study this Mystery using our human weakness since it is absolutely impossible for our human minds to comprehend the Divine. The Trinity is established by 3 Biblical truths, . Unfortunately, Arianism is still around and can found within the Jehovah's Witnesses teachings. He completed a doctorate in 1990, looking at the question of harmonic rhythm in the organ music of J.S. The above picture is a famous work of art by Andrei Rubilev, the great medieval Russian painter of Orthodox icons and frescos. One cannot remove the Holy Spirit and still have the God as taught in the Bible. show me your glory. All three persons exist at the same moment in history. There are three different cloves that represent the three different persons of the trinity. Basic mathematics tells us that 1x1x1 = 1.. httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQLfgaUoQCw. The Unseen Father would have been put into Satans prison. This analogy is an invalid comparison to the Trinity and is a heresy called PARTIALISM.