General Overview of the Trinity

In Christianity, the Trinity (or Tri-unity) is the fundamental doctrine describing ” God, One in essence and Three in persons ” : the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. These three persons are equal and share the same divine substance. For Christians, God is triune, meaning that there are three persons within the Godhead.

The reality of God’s oneness in His Trinity is beyond our human understanding. All attempts to describe the Triune God using finite analogies fail to fully capture Him, for an infinite God cannot be fully contained by a finite image. However, some theologians reasonably argue that the Trinity can be explained or grasped, even if it cannot be fully understood.

The Foundations of the Trinity

The complex doctrine of the Trinity goes like this: Christians fundamentally believe that there is only one God, but that this one God exists eternally in three distinct persons:

• The Father is fully God.
• The Son (Jesus Christ) is fully God.
• The Holy Spirit is fully God.

However, there are not three Gods. They are one God, which means that these three divine persons are not three separate deities. They share a single divine essence. This is a central mystery of the Christian faith that is beyond full human comprehension, but it is the pivotal doctrine concerning the nature of God in Christianity.

The Unity of the Three Divine Persons

The following expressions may help to grasp the unity of the three Divine Persons of the Trinity: They are “one Being.” They “co-exist,” ” co -inhere” in one another, “co-inhabit” one another, “envelop” one another, or “interpenetrate” one another. Their oneness as being has been expressed by affirming that the whole of God is present in each of the divine Persons: the whole of God is present in the Father, the whole of God is present in the Son, and the whole of God is present in the Spirit. “The Triune God is a Unity in the Trinity and a Trinity in the Unity.”

Love as an Explanation of the Trinity

The statement “God is Love” ( 1 John 4:8 ) offers another perspective to explain why the Triune God is composed of three divine persons and why He is “Three in One.” However, it must be kept in mind that there are nuances to consider, since our human knowledge is limited.

The three divine persons of God are interdependent and in a permanent relationship from all eternity, through a relationship called perichoresis . This is a relationship of consubstantial union in which the three persons form a single substance in an unceasing movement of perfect and infinite love, by which “God the Son is united in essence with God the Father and with God the Holy Spirit.” Perichoresis expresses the idea that the three Persons of the Trinity dwell in one another, without merging or separating. Perichoresis helps express the profound mystery of the Trinity, emphasizing the perfect unity, intimacy, and reciprocal relationship within the Godhead.

• As CS Lewis pointed out, “God is love, and therefore God is more than one person (it takes more than one person to show and express love). God is love because God is Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, three persons united in mutual and eternal love.”
• Dr. Feddes agrees: “God is love because He is Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, three persons united in mutual and eternal love.”

However, wisdom dictates that we be careful not to directly apply our limited human conceptions of love to the divine and infinite nature of God. Divine love is of a quality and perfection that we can only partially glimpse.

The idea that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are one God is impossible for us human beings to fully understand. What is important is to know that there is one God, that there are three persons in God, that God loves us, that Jesus died for our salvation, and that the Holy Spirit is with us to help and guide us.

We worship the one God, Who manifests Himself to us in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.