GroshLink

In no other subject is error more dangerous, inquiry more difficult, or the discovery of truth more rewarding.  -- St. Augustine, De Trinitate 

Jim gave an excellent presentation on The Trinity during week 1 of 2 on The Character, Person, and Story of God as a Proper Lens for Christmas.  Despite being pressed for time, as no doubt we could spend an entire term (& infinitely more) reflecting upon and exploring the reality of The Trinity, he maintained his composure and clearly presented the below material in an interactive format.  To God be the glory!

1. Jim began by blessing our class with Sing Praise, a song of praise
   1. calling us to give praise to the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, the Three in One. 
   2. reminding us of the Father's love, Jesus' saving, and the Spirit's indwelling which makes us one.
2. Participants were asked for examples of other understandings of The Trinity which have challenged the orthodox perspective: 
   1. God the Father, God the Mother, God the Son
   2. 3 gods, i.e., Tritheism, note:  the challenge given by Islam to the Christian faith
   3. God the Father as the true God with God the Son being considered a created, inferior/lesser being, i.e., subordinationism
   4. Since class Tom came across the below helpful diagram of Trinitarian heresies with some clarifying comments at http://drulogion.blogspot.com/2006/08/trinitarian-heresies.html
      1.  
          
3. Participants were asked for analogies they use to articulate The Trinity, but the caution was given to keep in mind that analogies are never the true thing itself [Note from Tom:  a Grove City College professor of mine would often comment No analogy walks on all fours].
   1. Egg:  shell, white/albumen, yolk; weakness:  the various parts are not the whole, but only a part (e.g., the shell is not the egg, but part of it).  If this is the case, then none of the members of the Trinity are God, unless they're altogether.
   2. Water can be solid, liquid, or vapor, i.e., 3 forms/modes of God; weakness: some form of modalism, e.g., the evolution of God (e.g., Father to Son to Spirit) without all 3 Persons existing at the same time
   3. 3 roles of God, e.g., God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit just as a man might be a father, son, and husband.  This looses the distinctive persons of the Trinity, existing at the same time.
   4. Note:  Post class addition for future use: The Trinity: So What? The Shack allegorizes a tricky but foundational doctrine and Understanding the Trinity (which considers the more common analogies before turning to the social/family, psychological, and state-lump analogies)
4. Why is conversation regarding The Trinity difficult?
   1. Because we're talking about God and as created (and subsequently fallen) human beings we cannot fathom the fullnes of God approaching any form of completeness.
   2. Our joy, delight, and work in heaven will be to learn about/from and dwell in the Presence our infinite God, the one who created/sustains/recreates
   3. The Bible is not a theological textbook, but instead people telling stories how they experienced God in life and not in a classroom.  The Scriptures do not have a definition of The Trinity.
      1. But the Church took from the Word of God key texts such as Jesus' baptism (Matthew 3:13-17) in which we see the triune Presence of God (the Voice of God the Father from heaven declaring Jesus to be His Son and the Spirit descending from heaven in the form of a dove) to articulate who is God in teaching and witness.  [Note: Also check out The Great Commission, Closing to II Corinthians]. 
      2. To build more of the Biblical case for embracing what the Church has taught through its history, we provided What does the Bible teach about the Trinity? from GotQuestions.org.  Note:  another on-line piece of interest which Tom came across is The Trinity (Triunity) of God at Bible.org.
      3. To provide a brief statement on the Trinity, the paragraph on the Trinity's Etymology was given.
      4. To give example of how God's people taught who is God, inspired and given direction by the Scripture and the Spirit as a people, the Trinitarian elements of The Apostles Creed, The Nicene Creed (helpful expansion upon the Holy Spirit from the mere mention in the Apostles Creed), and the Athanasian Creed were highlighted [A helpful resource is The Ecumenical Creeds from CRI/Voice, Institute.  Looking for others, if you have recommendations, let me know].  In addition, the Athanasius versus Arius controversy, i.e., subordinationism, received a brief overview.  Binder materials on Athanasius include:
         1. Christianity Today Bio
         2. The King Visits Earth
      5. So how do we take the next step in relating to God as in his true being/person (i.e., ontology)?
         1. God is love, attention given to 1 John and that for there to be love, there must be at least 2.
         2. Distinction made with Islam's description of God as loving but not as love. 
         3. Human beings have been made in the image of God.
         4. We love because God first loved us.  We don't love on our own, we love because we're loved.
         5. How do we solve issues which arise in economics, families, various addicitions?  Sin is so horrible because it is the opposite of love, i.e., selfishishness. 
         6. In order to love, there must be something to love.
         7. God was compelled to restore/recreate us to be what we were supposed to be.  Jesus came to earth and died/rose for this task.
      6. Question for next week:  If sin would have not entered the world, would God have come to the world as a human being? 

Note to readers:  feel free to post your thoughts/responses to this question.  Watch for The Character, Person, and Story of God as a proper lens for Christmas:  Week 2.  For more on the series, go to Practicing a Christ-Centered Christmas 2.0