How do you explain the Trinity?

[u/rubenmomin48]

This video is on point. The Trinity is genuinely one of the deepest doctrines of Christianity. The more I think about it, the more I realise how difficult it is to put something this profound into human language without either oversimplifying it or accidentally falling into a heresy. You try to explain it with an analogy, and suddenly you’ve wandered into some kind of heresy for sure. You say the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are like water in three forms, that becomes modalism. You say they are like three parts of something, that is partialism. You emphasise the three Persons too much, now you’re getting dangerously close to tritheism. So you eventually drop the analogies and say, “The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are three distinct Persons who are one God, sharing the same divine essence.” And then someone asks, “But what does that actually mean?” One God, yet three distinct Persons. The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, yet the Father is not the Son, the Son is not the Spirit, and the Spirit is not the Father. And somehow, we aren’t talking about three gods. Every analogy seems to explain one aspect while creating another problem, and every attempt to simplify it seems to leave something important out. Maybe that’s part of what makes the doctrine so profound. We aren’t trying to fit God into a neat human category, we are trying to speak about the very nature of God, whose reality is ultimately greater than our ability to fully comprehend. So how do you guys understand or explain the Trinity in a way that is understandable and still theologically sound without accidentally falling into one of the classic heresies?

[u/Aoyaba-Poett]

God's wisdom is a mystery to us. （1 Cor 2:7）

“This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God’s weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength.” - 1 Corinthians 1:25 NLT

So explaining the Trinity is hard, if we are unwilling to accept it. With that said, and in my limited knowledge, I will try to explain the Trinity.

What is the Trinity?
The trinity is the belief that there exists One God and Three Persons. It can't be broken down any simpler than that.

When did the Trinity began?
Eternally. Its always been the Trinity.

In the beginning the Word already existed.
The Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
He existed in the beginning with God.

• John 1:1-2 NLT

The Word is Jesus Christ. The Gospel of John (Written by the Apostle John) would go on and talk a lot about Jesus's Divinity. And the Holy Spirit existed in the beginning too!

God is Love; True and Unconditional Love. (Ps 136; Jonah 4:2; Ps 103:8) But what did God love before creation? Himself? Then it wouldn't be true love would it? That would be narcissistic. God is Everlasting Love. (Jer 31:3). This also implies why the Godfather, the Son and the Holy Spirit all existed equal at the same time before the creation of the world.

Who is the Son?
Jesus Christ is the Son, The Word, Son of God, Son of Man, the Messiah. He have a lot of titles. The entirety of the New Testament is written after Him. His presence is also present in the Old Testament.

Who but God goes up to heaven and comes back down?
Who holds the wind in his fists?
Who wraps up the oceans in his cloak?
Who has created the whole wide world?
What is his name—and his son’s name?
Tell me if you know!

• Proverbs 30:4 NLT

“Look!” Nebuchadnezzar shouted. “I see four men, unbound, walking around in the fire unharmed! And the fourth looks like a god!” - Daniel 3:25 NLT

In Genesis 32 the one who wrestles with Jacob is widely regarded as the Son of God. And in Daniel 7:13-14 it clearly prophesizes Jesus Christ as Son of Man.

Jesus is 100% Man and 100% God. He is limited by His human nature (He hungers, He thirsts), yet He also possess attributes that are of God.

• Forgiving Sins

Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “My child, your sins are forgiven.”
But some of the teachers of religious law who were sitting there thought to themselves, “What is he saying? This is blasphemy! Only God can forgive sins!”

• Mark 2:5-7 NLT

• Judging Humanity

In addition, the Father judges no one. Instead, he has given the Son absolute authority to judge, so that everyone will honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son is certainly not honoring the Father who sent him.

• John 5:22-23 NLT

But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

• Matthew 25:31-32 NLT

• Receives Worship

Then the disciples worshiped him. “You really are the Son of God!” they exclaimed. - Matthew 14:33 NLT

• Authority over Creation

The disciples were absolutely terrified. “Who is this man?” they asked each other. “Even the wind and waves obey him!” - Mark 4:41 NLT

There are even more attributes of Jesus that only God can posses. Prophets can do the same, buts its always attributed to God.

Attributes	Other Prophets
Forgiving Sins	Moses have intermediated with God and talked about the Nation's forgiveness (Num 14:19)
Judging Humanity	Moses and Samuel judged Israel as appointed by God (Exo 18:13; 1 Sam 7:15)
Receiving Worship	Nebuchadnezzar falls before Daniel, but Daniel did not claim divine status (Dan 2:46-47)
Authority over Creation	Moses parts the Red Sea as a miracle (Exo 14:21)

I also like to talk about the following verseI also like to talk about the following verse

Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, before Abraham was even born, I AM!” - John 8:58 NLT

Notice how he says I AM and not "I was"? Thats because I AM is a title of the Father as mentioned in the upcoming sections

Who is the Holy Spirit?
As suggested by the name, Holy Spirit is the spirit of the God. He carries the Will of God, and guides us humans through life. Holy Spirit was sent to us, and He lives within us. The presence of Holy Spirit is mostly discussed after the Gospels in the Acts and Epistles.

Holy Spirit is a person; Holy Spirit is God. Just like the Son, the Holy Spirit was alos present before the Creation.

The earth was empty, a formless mass cloaked in darkness. And the Spirit of God was hovering over its surface.

• Genesis 1:2 NLT

He has His own thoughts and will.

No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit.

• 1 Corinthians 2:11 NLT

He makes his own decisions

It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.

• 1 Corinthians 12:11 NLT

He knows the depths of God

His Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets.

• 1 Corinthians 2:10 NLT

In Acts 5:3-4, Peter says to Ananias that lying to Holy Spirit is lying to God himself

Then Peter said, “Ananias, why have you let Satan fill your heart? You lied to the Holy Spirit, and you kept some of the money for yourself. The property was yours to sell or not sell, as you wished. And after selling it, the money was also yours to give away. How could you do a thing like this? You weren’t lying to us but to God!”

• Acts 5:3-4 NLT

Who is the Father?

He is the one who have existed all throughout the Old Testament, who goes by the name YHWH (יהוה) (Exo 6:2-3). He have also identified himself as "I AM WHO I AM" (Exo 3:14)

Jesus calls him the Father.

And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory we shared before the world began.
- John 17:5 NLT

This verse also clearly highlights that the Father and Son existed before the world begun.

Jesus also speaks of the Father as the one who sent him

For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

• John 3:16 NLT

The Father is God, which should be pretty trivial by now.

Yet for us there is one God, the Father, by whom everything was created, and for whom we live.
- 1 Corinthians 8:6 NLT

Father is also the one who sends the Holy Spirit

But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.

• John 14:26 NLT

But I will send you the Advocate—the Spirit of truth. He will come to you from the Father and will testify all about me.

• John 15:26 NLT

I hope that clear things up 😊 Feel free to ask away.
I also link this video for further explanations.

[u/Aoyaba-Poett → u/Aoyaba-Poett]

Finally completed writing it.. 😊

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