Ta Ha
wrote:
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Hi, guys —
- Is God three-in-one and one-in-three, simultaneously, or one
at a time?
Ta
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{
Is God three-in-one and one-in-three, simultaneously, or one
at a time? }
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Eric replied:
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Hi Ta,
I expect simultaneously, though I'm not sure I understand your question.
- In what sense could the Trinity be three-in-one at a time?
God does
not change, so it's not like the Persons of the Trinity move in and out
of position.
Perhaps you are referring to the error known as Modalism, where there
is one person with three modes or functions, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
(I.e., one is to a son, father, and to a father, son, and so forth.)
The
Trinity is three co-equal and co-eternal Persons who are one in substance
(or being) with one another. They operate totally in concert with one another,
simultaneously.
I hope this helps!
Eric
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Ta replied:
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Thanks Eric,
First, I'm not a Christian but the Trinity is something I can't get my head
around.
Okay then, If God is one and three simultaneously, then none of the three could
be the complete God. Granting that such was the case, then when Jesus was on
earth, he wasn't a complete God, nor was the Father in Heaven, a
whole God.
- Doesn't that contradict what Jesus always said about His God and our
God in Heaven, His Lord and our Lord?
- Does that also mean that there was no
complete God then, between the claimed crucifixion and the claimed resurrection?
Ta
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Eric replied:
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Hi Ta!
You said:
First, I'm not a Christian but the Trinity is something
I can't get my head around.
No one can get his head around the Trinity. It is an unfathomable mystery
that transcends human understanding.
You said:
Okay then, If God is one and three simultaneously, then none of the three could
be the complete God. Granting that such was the case, then when Jesus was on
earth, he wasn't a complete God, nor was the Father in Heaven, a
whole God.
- Doesn't that contradict what Jesus always said about His God and our
God in Heaven, His Lord and our Lord?
- Does that also mean that there was no
complete God then, between the claimed crucifixion and the claimed resurrection?
God has no parts, so there is no such thing as an incomplete God.
Either you are God or you are not. A good way of explaining this is the Pseudo-Athanasian
Creed:
Now this is the Catholic faith: We worship one God in Trinity and the
Trinity in unity, neither confusing the persons nor dividing the divine
being.
For the Father is one Person, the Son is another, and the Spirit is
still another.
But the deity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is one, equal in glory,
coeternal in majesty.
What the Father is, the Son is, and so is the Holy Spirit.
Uncreated is the Father; uncreated is the Son; uncreated is the Spirit.
The Father is infinite; the Son is infinite; the Holy Spirit is infinite.
Eternal is the Father; eternal is the Son; eternal is the Spirit: And
yet there are not three eternal beings, but one who is eternal; as there
are not three uncreated and unlimited beings, but one who is uncreated
and unlimited.
Almighty is the Father; almighty is the Son; almighty is the Spirit:
And yet there are not three almighty beings, but one who is almighty.
Thus the Father is God; the Son is God; the Holy Spirit is God: And
yet there are not three gods, but one God.
Thus the Father is Lord; the Son is Lord; the Holy Spirit is Lord: And
yet there are not three lords, but one Lord.
As Christian truth compels us to acknowledge each distinct person as
God and Lord, so Catholic religion forbids us to say that there are three
gods or lords.
The Father was neither made nor created nor begotten; the Son was neither
made nor created, but was alone begotten of the Father; the Spirit was
neither made nor created, but is proceeding from the Father and the Son.
Thus there is one Father, not three fathers; one Son, not three sons;
one Holy Spirit, not three spirits.
And in this Trinity, no one is before or after, greater or less than
the other; but all three persons are in themselves, coeternal and coequal;
and so we must worship the Trinity in unity and the one God in three
persons.
Whoever wants to be saved should think thus about the Trinity. |
It doesn't make sense to us that God can be one in three (or three in
one) and yet each Person is completely God, but that is how it is.
Think of it this way. Each Person is infinite, so it is impossible for
them to be incomplete.
Just as:
- infinity plus infinity plus infinity equals infinity, so
- God the
Father plus God the Son plus God the Holy Spirit equals one God.
Hope this helps,
Eric
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Mike replied:
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Hi Ta,
You said:
- Does that also mean that there was no
complete God then, between the claimed crucifixion and the claimed resurrection?
There is no such thing as a claimed Crucifixion or claimed Resurrection.
These are historical realities and events that the Christian can point to in history.
No one is making this up.
You may hear our Jewish brothers [and/or] other non-Christians make this
statement, but the historical writings of the Early Church Fathers and
Jewish historians, like Flavius Josephus
(born 37 A.D.), state otherwise:
About this time lived Jesus, a man full of wisdom, if indeed one may
call Him a man. For He was the doer of incredible things, and the teacher
of such as gladly received the truth. He thus attracted to Himself many
Jews and many of the Gentiles. He was the Christ. On
the accusation of the leading men of our people, Pilate condemned Him
to death upon the cross; nevertheless those who had previously loved
Him still remained faithful to Him. For on the third day He again appeared
to them living, just as, in addition to a thousand other marvelous things,
prophets sent by God had foretold. And to the present day the race of
those who call themselves Christians after Him has not ceased.
From Josephus's second work, the Jewish Antiquities (Ioudaike
Archaiologia)
Mike
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