The Trinity
A friend of mine has been struggling with the Trinity. This of course, should not be surprizing, anyone who *really* thinks about the Trinity struggles with the the idea. She has found her own concepts resembling Modalism, the belief that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are not three persons, distinct yet consubstantial, but rather that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are but three different manifestations or "modes" of the one God. The realization that her own concept deviates from the classic theology of Christianity is causing her distress at the least, and it seems perhaps even pain. She asked:
Who have I been loving?
And I think that question is actually her answer. The question is Who is it that we love? not what is it that we love? (Well, at least hopefully it is.) God is not an idea. We do not worship an idea, we do not love an idea. We worship a Being, we love a Being. (That is where the atheists over at challenging_god go astray, they do not disprove a being, they disprove an idea.) We may not completely understand God, but we are in relationship with God.
When we think about our other relationships, we see that they are all like this. Even in marriage, one of closest - if not the closest - relationships that a human can have, our love precedes complete understanding. Or that of a child, one of the closest - if not the closest - relationships a human can have. Elizabeth Grace is still happily floating in her mommy's womb. I have not seen my little Elizabeth, not really met her, I know almost nothing about my daughter, I do not understand her, but I am in relationship with her .. she is my daughter and I am her Father and I do so love her. And that is because it is not knowledge, but love that is at the heart of our relationship. Greater understanding will come in time, but that understanding will come *because* I love her, and greater love will come with that greater understanding.
This is the thing that truly sets the the God of Christianity apart, that God is inherently relational, and that reality is how our God can be three persons, Trinity. Scripture tells us that God is Love. The Holy Writ does not tell us that God loves, and that love is perfect - though both are true - it tells us that God actually *is* love. And what is love? Love is the total gift of self to another, the total reception of that self by the other, an utter giving and an utter receiving. And that is how God can *be* love. Perfect love is not just perfect loving, but perfect being loved. God loves us perfectly, but we certainly aren't receiving God's love perfectly, nor are we giving God a perfect love that He might receive, so if God's love is perfect, if God is love, who is receiving it perfectly?
Only God is perfect, so only God's gift and reception are perfect. God the Father loves God the Son perfectly, God the Son receives that love perfectly; God the Son loves God the Father perfectly, God the Father receives that love perfectly. In loving perfectly, the gift of self is perfect, utter and total. And therefore the gift is God, the Holy Spirit. A mode does not love another mode, a mode is not in relationship with a mode. It requires a person to be in relationship, and that is why God is three persons and not merely three manifestations.
And that is why we do not need to fret too much about not completely understanding God. We do not need to understand God to love. We were made for God, made to love God and be loved by God, at our core is a longing for God. God's love and our longing will lead us to God, and that love will lead to greater understanding .. which will in turn help us avoid trying to stuff other things into that God-shaped hole in our selves and love God even more. We do not understand completely, and that is fine. If we love, we will strive for greater understanding. The idea is important, but only because the striving for understanding is important. God Himself is more important, our love is more important. God does not ask us to understand Him, He asks us to *love* Him and to allow Him to love us.
Who have I been loving?
And I think that question is actually her answer. The question is Who is it that we love? not what is it that we love? (Well, at least hopefully it is.) God is not an idea. We do not worship an idea, we do not love an idea. We worship a Being, we love a Being. (That is where the atheists over at challenging_god go astray, they do not disprove a being, they disprove an idea.) We may not completely understand God, but we are in relationship with God.
When we think about our other relationships, we see that they are all like this. Even in marriage, one of closest - if not the closest - relationships that a human can have, our love precedes complete understanding. Or that of a child, one of the closest - if not the closest - relationships a human can have. Elizabeth Grace is still happily floating in her mommy's womb. I have not seen my little Elizabeth, not really met her, I know almost nothing about my daughter, I do not understand her, but I am in relationship with her .. she is my daughter and I am her Father and I do so love her. And that is because it is not knowledge, but love that is at the heart of our relationship. Greater understanding will come in time, but that understanding will come *because* I love her, and greater love will come with that greater understanding.
This is the thing that truly sets the the God of Christianity apart, that God is inherently relational, and that reality is how our God can be three persons, Trinity. Scripture tells us that God is Love. The Holy Writ does not tell us that God loves, and that love is perfect - though both are true - it tells us that God actually *is* love. And what is love? Love is the total gift of self to another, the total reception of that self by the other, an utter giving and an utter receiving. And that is how God can *be* love. Perfect love is not just perfect loving, but perfect being loved. God loves us perfectly, but we certainly aren't receiving God's love perfectly, nor are we giving God a perfect love that He might receive, so if God's love is perfect, if God is love, who is receiving it perfectly?
Only God is perfect, so only God's gift and reception are perfect. God the Father loves God the Son perfectly, God the Son receives that love perfectly; God the Son loves God the Father perfectly, God the Father receives that love perfectly. In loving perfectly, the gift of self is perfect, utter and total. And therefore the gift is God, the Holy Spirit. A mode does not love another mode, a mode is not in relationship with a mode. It requires a person to be in relationship, and that is why God is three persons and not merely three manifestations.
And that is why we do not need to fret too much about not completely understanding God. We do not need to understand God to love. We were made for God, made to love God and be loved by God, at our core is a longing for God. God's love and our longing will lead us to God, and that love will lead to greater understanding .. which will in turn help us avoid trying to stuff other things into that God-shaped hole in our selves and love God even more. We do not understand completely, and that is fine. If we love, we will strive for greater understanding. The idea is important, but only because the striving for understanding is important. God Himself is more important, our love is more important. God does not ask us to understand Him, He asks us to *love* Him and to allow Him to love us.