BOB 1) 3 are 1

There is one God, who is three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God is the Creator and Sustainer of all things.

For there are three who bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one.” (1 John 5:7)

I guess, when we talk about God, we have a fundamental problem of a dimensional nature. We are human, gendered, bound by race, nationality, time and space….and God is well, greater, purer, all knowing, perfect, in short, God. So, at best we can come up with feeble pictures of God through chemistry such as egg shell, yolk, white or ice, water, water vapour are one substance

OR story form such as The Shack by William P. Young

OR dimensions of space such as Length, width and height. All coincide in the same place, yet are distinct by C. S Lewis or the notion of big energy in small spaces.

OR visually such as three intersecting golden rings or the three leaved clover.

So BOB tries to describe God to the extent that God has self-revealed/communicated to us and leave it there. Understanding BOB helps us spot misrepresentations who God is.

Here are some examples of NOT BOB:

Modalism

Modalism describes 3 Gods with the same goals/purpose and they kindof take turns to appear. BOB says that there is one ‘God in Three Persons’ but one Being, the only true God. Both the Old and New Testament confess one God. The NT names Jesus and the Holy Spirit together with God the Father without attempting a systematic teaching or explanation.

Tritheism

Tritheism describes 3 Gods, who form a power-team. Each God has separate powers and influence but work together as a threesome. BOB says there are 3 Persons. Each Person is all powerful (omnipotent), and all influencing, so the 3 are 1, God is one.

Arianism

Arianism says that Jesus is a superior/special human being, but not God. BOB says the incarnation of God in Jesus reveals the mystery of the Triune God. God becomes visible in a human face, tangible in a human body.

Monism

Monism says that there is one God with many manifestations. It denies the person of God and sees God in nature etc. BOB says God is personal and desires an intimate relationship with all that He creates. ‘In Him we live and move and have our being. He is not far from every one of us.’ Humanity does not define what ‘person’ means, but because God is Person (with personality and personal) we can also speak of humanity as a person.The sovereignty of God in creation implies that nothing obliges God to create, nor does the created universe limit, determine, enlarge, or bind God.

Here are some video attempts to represent Trinity:

A picture of reality

A picture of a projector

As a Literature major, I like the idea that trying to understand God, is like trying to understand unconditional love. Being loving is a personality trait that can be only worked out within a relationship with persons and if that love is perfect then we are/ I am one. That’s my imperfect understanding of it, maybe you can try and work it out for yourself in pictures/ metaphors found in your field of study.

This video shows how complex the discussion is

A theological discussion of the complexity

If you would like to read more try JI Packer’s “Knowing God.” Here is an extract from the book www.epm.org/resources/2009/…/knowing-god-j-i-packer-chapter-1/

or for debates and discussions on apologetics check out http://thinkingmatters.org.nz/

or the website written by Dick Tripp called exploring Christianity–The Trinity   www.christianity.co.nz/trinity.htm