In a Bible study I was in a while back we were discussing the Trinity. If you are unfamiliar, the Christian view of God is that there is one God in three persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Sounds like a contradiction right? Or a creative play on words to make a religion that would sound on the surface to be polytheistic still monotheistic. Or just strange. And I'm aware that this is one major area where Muslims believe Christians have missed the boat - big time.
But lately I've been thinking that the idea of trinity makes a lot more sense than it seems to on the surface. Because without realizing it, we all live in a trinitarian (yes, that is a word that Christians made up) reality. What I mean is, us humans are actually a trinity in and of ourselves. We have three distinct selves that are interdependent and inseparable, yet distinct in nature and function. Our intellectual being, our emotional being, and our physical being. It's impossible to draw lines where one ends and another begins, because they are necessarily dependent on each other. We need the brain to have a mind and chemicals to feel emotions, and yet the brain is not the mind, and chemicals are not emotions. I think this is the best way to explain God. He is not three separate persons just as I am not three separate persons. But within His nature are three distinct persons, just as within my nature there are three distinct persons. Which would make sense if the Genesis writer was correct in stating that God made people in His own likeness.
The thing with God is that He has unity within His persons. In an ancient speech to the nation of Israel were spoken the words: "Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One." And the word 'one' that was used in the Hebrew was a word often used to refer to the unity of more than one person. They then go on to say, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and strength." Be unified within yourself as God is unified within Himself. Within our persons, we are often at war. We may think a certain way about something, feel another, and act in even another way. We often feel ways we know we shouldn't and act in ways we feel we shouldn't. We are so often in disharmony with ourselves. As the apostle Paul says, "For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate." (Romans 7:15) But if ever you meet a person whose thoughts, feelings, and actions all agree - you have most likely met someone who has changed or is changing their corner of the world.
The Christian teaching is that God came down to us in order to reconcile us to Himself - and in so doing to reconcile our selves internally to each other. To bring our mind, body, and spirit into agreement and harmony through loving Him - our Source of unity and harmony within the paradox of trinity.
But lately I've been thinking that the idea of trinity makes a lot more sense than it seems to on the surface. Because without realizing it, we all live in a trinitarian (yes, that is a word that Christians made up) reality. What I mean is, us humans are actually a trinity in and of ourselves. We have three distinct selves that are interdependent and inseparable, yet distinct in nature and function. Our intellectual being, our emotional being, and our physical being. It's impossible to draw lines where one ends and another begins, because they are necessarily dependent on each other. We need the brain to have a mind and chemicals to feel emotions, and yet the brain is not the mind, and chemicals are not emotions. I think this is the best way to explain God. He is not three separate persons just as I am not three separate persons. But within His nature are three distinct persons, just as within my nature there are three distinct persons. Which would make sense if the Genesis writer was correct in stating that God made people in His own likeness.
The thing with God is that He has unity within His persons. In an ancient speech to the nation of Israel were spoken the words: "Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One." And the word 'one' that was used in the Hebrew was a word often used to refer to the unity of more than one person. They then go on to say, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and strength." Be unified within yourself as God is unified within Himself. Within our persons, we are often at war. We may think a certain way about something, feel another, and act in even another way. We often feel ways we know we shouldn't and act in ways we feel we shouldn't. We are so often in disharmony with ourselves. As the apostle Paul says, "For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate." (Romans 7:15) But if ever you meet a person whose thoughts, feelings, and actions all agree - you have most likely met someone who has changed or is changing their corner of the world.
The Christian teaching is that God came down to us in order to reconcile us to Himself - and in so doing to reconcile our selves internally to each other. To bring our mind, body, and spirit into agreement and harmony through loving Him - our Source of unity and harmony within the paradox of trinity.
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