The Doctrine of the Trinity
The Doctrine of the Trinity
Recently several people have raised questions about the long-held Christian understanding of God as triune. The word “Trinity” is not found in the Bible, so it can be easy to have misgivings about the idea. This article is not intended to be a comprehensive defense of the doctrine of the Trinity. Rather, it is my I hope that it provides some insight into the reasons that Christians have held to this doctrine with such tenacity and fervor.
In his 11th-century work Proslogion, Anselm of Canterbury set out an ontological argument for the existence of God. An ontological argument for the existence of God is a philosophical argument for the existence of God that uses the concept of being or existence as its basis. Anselm’s argument makes the case that God, as the greatest conceivable being, must exist in reality because existence in reality is greater than existence only in the mind. Simply stated, he wrote, “God is that than which there can be nothing greater.”
In short form, we might say that God is infinite, or God is perfect. Certainly, God cannot be simply a greater form of human being. God must be “other” in kind, nature, and essence. Isaiah 46:9 has this to say, “I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me” (NASB 2020).
What we know of God, indeed all that we can know of Him, is what He reveals about Himself. God has revealed Himself to us in ways we can easily grasp, and in ways we can only contemplate or understand in part. To Moses, He revealed Himself in a burning bush as “I AM”, for example.
The most clear and relatable way He has revealed Himself to us is in the Lord Jesus Christ. John 1:14 says, “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us; and we saw His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (NASB 2020)
Taking on flesh and living with us, He showed us much about His personality and character. Of the Lord Jesus, scripture says, “He is the image of the invisible God” Colossians 1:15 (NASB 2020) and “He [that is, God the Son, Jesus Christ] is the radiance of His [that is the One God] glory and the exact representation of His nature” Hebrews 1:3 (NASB 2020) This is summarized with crystalline clarity in Colossians 2:9, which declares that in Jesus Christ “all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form” (NASB 2020).
God has revealed Himself in scripture in ways that make it clear that He is One God and there is no other, as He said through the Prophet in Isaiah 45:22 “Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; For I am God, and there is no other.” (NASB 2020)
God has also revealed Himself in scripture in ways that make it clear that He cannot be understood in the way we understand an individual. One example is found in Mark 1:9–11 “In those days Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And immediately coming up out of the water, He saw the heavens opening, and the Spirit, like a dove, descending upon Him; and a voice came from the heavens: “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.” (NASB 2020)
To complicate things further, we read that Jesus said, “I and the Father are One.” John 10:30 (NASB 2020). We also read of the Holy Spirit referred to as the Spirit of God, and the Spirit of Christ. One place where this is seen is Romans 8:9. It reads, “However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.” (NASB 2020)
In many other ways, both obvious and veiled, we find the perplexing and mind-bending idea that God is profoundly unlike us. We cannot hope to understand God fully. He would be a small god indeed if we could. Likewise, we cannot hope to understand with clarity the way in which God has revealed and represented Himself to be. That He is One, yet He is Three.
No one understands God. The doctrine of the Trinity is the best way we have found to express what we find revealed about God in the Scriptures. By this framework, we get a tenuous grasp on the infinite perfect One who has revealed Himself as one God, yet seemingly three Persons.
Forms of this pictorial representation have existed for over a millennium. Many have found it helpful, yet it remains a woefully inadequate representation of our vast and glorious God.
The Trinity
