Christian Essentials
What are Christian essentials? Simply put, they are non-negotiable beliefs and doctrines that must be agreed on in order to be considered a true Christian.
Within Christianity, there are uncompromising, non-negotiable beliefs that must be held. These are also referred to as primary doctrines.
A step beneath the primary doctrines are secondary doctrines. These beliefs can be held deeply and zealously, but they are not deal-breaking beliefs that should hinder Christian fellowship. For example, the subject of Calvinism (predestination) vs Arminianism (free will) is often a hotly contested doctrinal debate. However, it is a secondary doctrine that true Christians can disagree on and maintain Christian fellowship. There are great proponents of each position that are true and godly people.
A step beneath the secondary doctrines are tertiary doctrines. Many times these are simply preferences and opinions. Topics such as using musical instruments in worship vs vocal singing only, the age of the earth whether young or old, worship styles such as hymns vs contemporary praise songs, alcohol use, and the likes fall squarely within the tertiary doctrines. These are completely inconsequential to Christian fellowship.
Today we discuss the essential doctrine of the Trinity.
Introduction
What is the Trinity? Is there 1 Christian God or are there 3?
The doctrine of God’s Triune nature is arguably one of the most difficult doctrines to understand. I would venture to say that even knowing we don't understand it falls vastly insufficient to how much we don't understand it.
Our finite intelligence will never examine the fullness of an infinite God, so we try to break down the nature of an infinite being into a concept we can grasp. That we will never come close to exhausting our learning who God is regardless of spending eternity with Him is just as mind boggling - and exciting.
But we shouldn't just shelve the doctrine because we can't fully understand it. When we relegate the doctrine of Trinitarianism to irrelevancy, then we risk following the pattern of major heretical patterns that has arisen over the last two thousand years. Around 300 AD, an Egyptian priest named Arius denied the divinity of Jesus and taught that Jesus was God’s first created being and unequal to God with a lesser divinity. Arianism was debated at various early church councils until it was finally denounced as a false doctrine. However, the idea did not vanish or die.
How does that sound familiar in some modern world religions? Jehovah’s Witness and Latter Day Saints hold very Arian-like beliefs that Jesus is a created being. The other Abrahamic religions of Judaism and Islam believe in a singular God that does not have a triune nature.
The Trinity
Scripture provides several illustrations where Jesus claimed to be God:
Jesus said to them, "Truly, Truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”- John 8:58
Those who heard this immediately picked up stones to kill Him for blasphemy. They understood that His identifying Himself with "I Am" was a direct reference back to God revealing His identity to Moses out of the burning bush.
"Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” - he said to the paralytic - “I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.”- Mark 2:9-11
Jesus answered in this way because He knew the religious scholars there were angry because only God can forgive sin. To show them that His words weren't simply ineffectual wind, He worked the more "difficult" miracle before their eyes.
Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “He has uttered blasphemy. What further witnesses do we need? You have now heard his blasphemy."- Matthew 26:65
The high priest, Caiaphas, tore his garments over Jesus' previous claim in referencing a prophetic passage from Daniel 7:13-14 that states the Father (Ancient of Days) bestows on the Messiah, the Christ, (Son of Man) eternal power and glory of God.
"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit"- Matthew 28:19
In that statement Jesus links the Father, the Son (Himself), and the Holy Spirit as each equal with the others. In a monotheistic religion, attributing an equality with God would be seen as blasphemous, but His disciples believed who He said He was.
The apostle John would later write:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. [...] And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.- John 1:1-2, 14
In addition, multiple verses show that Jesus received worship on a number of occasions not the least of which was from Thomas so famously known for doubting Jesus' resurrection despite having witnessed His miracles and living for 3 years with Him and with his fellow disciples who had told him that Jesus had appeared to them.
Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”- John 20:28
Just to round it out, the bible is clear that the Holy Spirit is also God. He is first mentioned in Genesis 1 at the beginning of creation, but Luke provides a clarity as well in his recording of the Acts of the apostles in the accusation of Ananias lying to "the Holy Spirit" and "to God".
But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.”- Acts 5:3-4
God eternally exists as one essence and three distinct persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Each person is fully God, yet there is only one God.
But how does one begin to wrap their mind around that?
Consider this: how you would describe a sunset to someone born blind, or what a bagpipe sounds like to someone born deaf (much less anyone else), or how you would define how your favorite dessert tastes to someone who was born with ageusia (a condition where taste buds don’t work).
Analogies
There are various analogies that are used to attempt to make sense of a triune nature. While analogies can be helpful in a limited manner, they hint at God’s triune nature at a superficial level. The downside is that they can also hinder one’s understanding of the triune Godhead. The primary problem with analogies especially when applying them to God, is while they can initially be helpful, they are never fully adequate.
Unfortunately, unless care is taken in their delivery and reception, some people may take them as equivalent – or analogous as the term implies. If analogies aren’t recognized as imperfect, someone could then try reasoning them out to logical conclusions and end up with various heretical ideas as what arose in the early years of the church.
| The Egg Analogy | |
 | Analogy: The three parts of an egg represent the three persons of the Trinity. Just as one egg is made up of the shell, the yolk, and the albumen (the white), the Trinity is made up of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Problem: While the three parts make up the one egg, each part separately is not fully the egg. Each member of the Trinity is fully God. Hints of Heresy: Taken to its end, this results in Partialism. |
| The Clover Analogy | |
 | Analogy: Like the egg analogy, the three leaves of a clover are to represent the three persons of the Trinity. It's three leaves make one clover. Problem: While the three leaves make up the one clover, each leaf separately is not fully the egg. Hints of Heresy: Taken to its end, this results in Partialism. |
| The Water Analogy | |
 | Analogy: The water analogy keeps the nature of water the same (H2O) whether ice, liquid, or gas (steam). Each state assumes the personage of Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Problem: Water is not liquid, gas, and ice at the same time. Each state is as the moment, condition, and circumstance requires. God eternally exists in all three Persons of the Trinity. Hints of Heresy: Taken to its end, this results in Modalism. |
| The Human Analogy | |
 | Analogy: A person who, while only one person, has different roles and is recognized by that role such as parent, child, or spouse. Problem: As a person, you remain you but you don’t engage with your spouse as their child or their parent, you don’t engage your parent as their spouse or their parent, you don’t engage your child as their spouse or their child, etc. Each role is taken as the moment requires. God eternally exists in all three Persons of the Trinity. Hints of Heresy: Taken to its end, this also results in Modalism. |
| The Sun Analogy | |
 | Analogy: The sun is used to represent the Father, the light to represent the Son, and the heat to represent the Holy Spirit. Problem: The sun (the primary) exists and creates the light and heat. Without the primary, the secondaries would have been created. Again, God eternally exists in all three Persons of the Trinity. Hints of Heresy: Taken to its end, this results in Arianism - which denies the deity of Jesus and divinity of the Holy Spirit. |
Understanding the mystery of the Trinity is similar to experts like Stephen Hawking or Albert Einstein understanding their professions. Although leading experts with incredible knowledge, they still did not exhaustively know everything about their fields of study. They spent their lifetimes studying and trying to gain more understanding. A lack of full comprehension doesn’t diminish the subject; it is just that our understanding of the subject is limited.
So how do you have one God and three Persons?
Beings and Persons
One method of explaining the Trinity highlights the difference between a “being” and a “person”. The theological opposite view of the Trinitarian view of God would be Unitarian. The unitarian view is that God is one being who is also one person or one consciousness. Orthodox Jews, Muslims, and Jehovah’s Witnesses are examples of unitarian religions.
The trinitarian view is the belief that God is one being but His being exists with three centers of consciousness, that are completely equal in their fullness but are distinct persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. As distinct persons of one being, each can interact with the others in personal ways such as loving and communicating. This illustrates the difference between “being” and “person”. It would be a contradiction to say “three beings equals one being” or “three persons equals one person”.
The difference comes down between a being and a person, or a “what” and a “who”. Something with being is not necessarily a person, but a person is a being. By the simplest definition, a being is simply something in existence: a what. A person is a being with a will and a mind capable of intellectual reasoning and abstract thought: a who.
 | A rock technically has being; it exists. But it is not a living being. It is a what. | What: One Being (Rock) Who: No Person |
| As an animal-person, I believe that animals aren’t as unimportant as some may think. You can see my take on the potential destiny of our pets here. So if you’re an animal lover, don’t get bothered by this next section. | ||
 | A guinea pig has being, and is a living being, but as cute as it may be and any emotions and thoughts it may legitimately have, it is not a person; it is a living “what” that you’ve named and cared for. | What: One Living Being (Guinea Pig) Who: No Person |
 | A human is a personal being; a living being; we are God’s image-bearers. We have a will, emotions, and a mind capable of abstract thought and reason. So you are a what (human being) and a who (you). | What: One Living Being (Human) Who: One Person Brian |
So a rock is one being and no person. A guinea pig is one living being and no person. You are one living being and one person. | ||
 | God is one living being and three persons – three who’s. | What: One Divine Being Who: Three Persons The Father The Son The Holy Spirit |
A quick medical note: People with DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder) is a different thing altogether and not to get confused into this discussion. It is a troubling mental health issue in a being created to exist with a single-person consciousness. It was renamed from MPD (Multiple Personality Disorder) in 1994 because the condition is characterized by fragmentation or splintering of identity, rather than by proliferation or growth of separate personalities.
As three distinct persons, the argument of fragmentation is not applicable to God. Keep following and we'll see the necessity of the existence of each Person of the Trinity.
Immanent / Ontological Trinity
The doctrine of the triune being of God is referred to as the Immanent Trinity, or the Ontological Trinity. Those are just $64 dollar words meaning existing, inherent, or dealing with the nature of.
The Trinity in that concept has been defined by some as
God the Father: as “eternally unbegotten” and “eternally unsent”
God the Son: as “eternally begotten” and “eternally sent”
God the Holy Spirit: as “eternally proceeds from the Father and the Son”
To me, describing an infinite and eternal being existing outside of time without using verbiage fused with temporal implications is….impossible? and therefore introduces problems. Especially since we are temporal creations.
Although someone may at some future date explain it in a manner that makes sense to me, that’s the reason for my current dismissal of the use of “eternally sent”. The Son was the Son before the creation of time; the Son will always be the Son throughout all time; and the Son would still be the Son had time never been created. Amen? How would that work; how would the Son be “eternally sent” before time existed? Will He still be “eternally sent” in the new heaven and earth?
I have no such issue about the usage that the Holy Spirit “proceeds” from the Father and the Son. Procession has a different connotation than being sent. It is a matter of a state of being in which time is unnecessary and irrelevant. The opening of Genesis records the existence of the Holy Spirit, and we've already seen Jesus' equating the Holy Spirit with the Father and Himself.
Consider it this way, attributing A as God the Father, B as God the Son, and C as the Holy Spirit proceeding from the Father and the Son.
If A (Father) eternally exists and C (Holy Spirit) eternally exists then B (Son) eternally exists out of necessity.
If B (Son) eternally exists and C (Holy Spirit) eternally exists then A (Father) eternally exists out of necessity.
Economical Trinity
Lastly, the concept that each person of the Godhead has His specific role in the plan of our salvation is referred to as the “Economic Trinity”. The roles flow like this:
- God the Father initiated the plan for salvation.
- God the Son accomplishes salvation.
- God the Holy Spirit applies and seals salvation.
This is the understanding best known of the individual persons of the Godhead.
Do we have to fully understand the Trinity in order to be saved? Absolutely not. If you have a god that you can fully understand - what kind of god would that be? It is enough to know that our God has a triune nature and is revealed to us in scripture as being the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit as one God.
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