Trinitarian Theology — Mystery is Okay
Initial Considerations
I have a friend who decided that christianity was not for him, because he could not rationalize the concept of the trinity. I get it. I disagree with the outcome, but I get it. This is a primary function of the christian faith. And it’s hard.
Personally, I find something beautiful in the idea that I believe in something that is permanently beyond my full understanding. But for others it would appear to be foolishness. A statement we have all heard is, “I’m a rationalist. If it can not be held within my own head (or the head of someone smarter than me), then I doubt it’s truth”.
A great mystery, a mystery of love, an ineffable mystery, before which words must give way to the silence of wonder and worship. A divine mystery that challenges and involves us, because a share in the Trinitarian life was given to us through grace, through the redemptive Incarnation of the Word and the gift of the Holy Spirit. ~ St. John Paul II
Imagine standing on a beach, staring out at the ocean. You can see only a small portion of it, but you know it extends far beyond your horizon. You know the ocean is immense, filled with life, currents, and mysteries far beyond what you can perceive from the shore.
Now, consider someone insisting that the only ocean that exists is the part they can see and understand — the small slice before their eyes, or more charitably, the consensus reality of the ocean as understood by the combined experience of all oceanographers and biologists.
We know a lot about the ocean. But it’s well understood that there are constantly new and “impossible” creatures being discovered on a regular basis. Careful scientists will insist when pressed on their observations that, “This is what I understand to be true given the information available today”. Because they understand that there is reality that stretches beyond their current understanding.
True rationality is being able to say, “I don’t fully understand, but I understand that it is important.”
This is how I feel about the Trinity in the Bible.
A definition
- The Father: Often viewed as the creator and sustainer of the universe, He is the source of all things and the one to whom Jesus prays in the Gospels.
- The Son (Jesus Christ): God incarnate, who took on human flesh, lived among humanity, died on the cross for the sins of the world, and was resurrected. Jesus is both fully God and fully man.
- The Holy Spirit: The presence of God that works within believers to guide, comfort, and empower them. The Holy Spirit is active in creation, in the church, and in the transformation of individuals.
All christians believe in the trinity as described above. As we go through the next few elements of the Nicene Creed, it will become apparent that every aspect of christian faith relies on the Trinity. For example, without the Holy Trinity, the Gospel of Jesus of Nazareth does not hold (but that’s a topic for a future post). So, in profoundly valid way, my friend’s rejection of the Trinity was a deeply rational choice, knowing that he could not accept the rest of the Gospel while rejecting it’s foundation.
[some] Revelations of the Trinity
1. Love
To a follower of Jesus Christ, God is love. Love is essential to a Unified, Trinitarian God’s nature because the Father loves the Son, the Son loves the Father, and the Holy Spirit is the bond of that love. It’s a perfect, eternal relationship of self-giving love. (Romans 5:5, John 14:31, John 3:35, 1 John 4:8)
2. Salvation
Each person of the Trinity plays a distinct role in salvation:
- The Father: The origin of everything, including the plan of salvation. He sends the Son to accomplish redemption.
- The Son: Jesus Christ, fully God and fully man, enters into creation, lives, dies, and is resurrected for the salvation of humanity. He reconciles humanity to the Father.
- The Holy Spirit: The presence of God in the world today, the Holy Spirit applies the work of salvation in the lives of believers. The Spirit empowers, guides, comforts, and transforms believers, making them more like Christ.
Without all three persons working in concert, the Christian understanding of salvation no longer functions. The Father’s plan, the Son’s sacrifice, and the Spirit’s transformation are all necessary parts of the process. (John 3:16, John 1:14, Romans 8:11)
3. Complexity
If God were only the Father, then humanity would be left with a distant creator. If God were only the Son, then we would have a teacher but not the source of life itself. If God were only the Spirit, we’d experience God’s power and presence but miss the purpose of his presence. The Trinity holds all of these aspects together in balance — God is both transcendent (beyond us as the Father) and immanent (with us as the Son and Spirit).
4. Diversity
God is one, yet there are three distinct persons — Father, Son, and Spirit. They are not separate beings but one essence, one God. This unity in diversity is reflected in the apostolic church, where believers are united in Christ but remain distinct individuals with different gifts and roles (infuriatingly so sometimes).
Practical Implementations
The trinity shapes every aspect of christian faith. It also accentuates the struggle of faith. It is the foundation of christian faith, yet it defeats attempts to rationalize it. That’s why it’s faith. Because to affirm it is to accept it’s unknowability (akin to the ocean). Yet it is deeply consistent with itself (review the above image). To be a Christian is to believe that we understand our own limitations, and choose to put our faith in the complex personhood of God the father, God the son, and God the spirit.
This is Craft Christianity, and so we are not just interested in Theology for it’s own sake. We appreciate that theology is a lived experience. Below are a few elements of trinitarian theology that can (and should) be elements of a well crafted Christian faith.
1. Baptism
The most essential of those lived experiences is baptism. For as long as their has been an apostolic church, there have been christians baptized, “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”. To be christian is to be baptized. But that is another post for another time.
2. Worship and Prayer
Worship in the early church was deeply Trinitarian. Christians pray to the Father, through the Son, and in the power of the Holy Spirit. This pattern shapes how believers approach God in worship and personal prayer, recognizing the distinct roles each person of the Trinity plays in their spiritual lives.
3. Living in Community
The Trinity models perfect unity in diversity. In the same way, Christian community is built on mutual love, self-giving, and interdependence. Just as the Father, Son, and Spirit exist in harmonious relationship, Christians are called to reflect that unity in their relationships with one another.
4. Sacrificial Love
The relationship within the Trinity demonstrates self-giving love, especially seen in the Father sending the Son and the Son submitting to the Father’s will. This sacrificial love is at the heart of Christian discipleship.
Closing Thoughts
Frankly, I do not think about the Holy Trinity on a daily basis. I also dont think about the pythagorean theorem on a daily basis. Yet without both, life would be catestrophically different and broken. Unlike the pythagorean theorem, the Trinity may not be fully understood, but it can be fully embraced. This is the beauty of the Christian faith: to stand at the edge of the ocean, knowing that what lies beyond is even more magnificent than what we see, and trusting in the God who invites us into His boundless love.
A quick note
Enumerable books have been written on the Trinity, and many of them are great. The only one I have read is On the Trinity, by St. Augustine. It’s the basis for this post (and the Bible of course). If you found this post interesting and want more depth, please read On the Trinity.
In our next post, we will dive into Christology!
