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The Trinity:  Unity without Uniformity
by Cadet Dawn Marie Paulson

 

Augustine said, “Try to explain it [the Trinity], and you’ll lose your mind; but try to deny it, and you’ll lose your soul” (Erickson 342). Over time, many have sought to understand and try to explain the Trinity. How the three parts (tri-) can be one (-unity) without being separate and without being the same, has boggled many good minds. People have compared it to a peanut M&M, to an apple (core, flesh, skin), to the roles a person may have as father, husband, and son—or the ever-famous water, ice, steam analogy. Though each of these seeks to somehow help people understand the Trinitarian nature of the Godhead, each one falls short in some way or another. The third doctrine of The Salvation Army deals with one of the essential beliefs of the Christian faith, stating, “We believe that there are three persons in the Godhead—the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, undivided in essence and co-equal in power and glory” (The Salvation Army Handbook of Doctrine XV). This belief both confirms the plurality and the oneness of the Godhead. Thus, the tri-unity of the Godhead affirms the unity of the three persons without assuming or concluding uniformity.

 

Throughout Scripture, there is no explicit mention of the Trinity—it is not a word that exists within the Bible, but rather, is a concept derived from Scripture as God reveals Himself to man. From Genesis to Revelation, the three persons of the Godhead can be seen. For instance, Genesis one contains the account of the creation of the world, and in it, readers can see each person of the Godhead at work. God spoke— and it was so. Generally one of the first functions or roles people think of when they think of God is Him as Creator. Genesis 1:1 reads, “In the beginning,” which is the same verbiage as John 1:1, which reads, “In the beginning was the Word [Jesus] and the Word was with God and the Word was God” (The Nelson Study Bible NKJV). Furthermore, Paul, in his letter to the Colossians writes that Jesus is “the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth…all things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist” (Col. 1:16-17). So though God the Father is predominantly thought of as Creator, it is obvious from Scripture that Christ was intimately involved in creation with the Father. As the creation account continues in Genesis one, it is revealed how the Spirit was at work: “And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters” (Gen. 1:2b). As the story of the Old Testament unraveled, God was revealing Himself little by little to the Israelites, beginning with the creation account. His self-revelation culminated in the incarnation of Jesus, which ultimately brought revelation of the plurality of the Godhead, three persons in one (Olyott 27).

 

Looking further into the creation account, the plurality of God and the oneness of God can be understood in the phrase “God created” found in verse one of Genesis one. The Hebrew word used for God is Elohim, which is the plural form of God (which, in its singular form would simply be El). This form of God is referred to as the ‘plural of majesty’ or the ‘plural of intensity,’ and can be translated to mean the ‘fullness of deity’ or ‘God—very God’ (Radmacher 4). This understanding is important to the discussion of the Trinity because the plurality of God is inherent even within the name God uses to refer to Himself. However, this plurality is not to be understood as God being more than one, such as the ordinary plural god(s). Rather, the oneness is intrinsic in the plurality of Elohim. This is evidenced in multiple Scripture passages, such as Genesis 1:27, which reads, “Let us make man in our image (italics mine), and in Genesis 3:22 when God says, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil,” and again, in Genesis 11:7, “Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language.” In each of these instances, God speaks of Himself in the plural, but the Hebrew verbiage is singular, thus speaking to the unity of the Godhead. Jesus also makes reference to the unity of the Godhead, as He commissions the disciples—“Go, therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit” (Matt. 28:18-20). The Greek word used for name is in its singular form, thus pointing to the unity of the Trinity. There are many other similar instances of this recorded in Scripture, but referring back again to the creation account, the very next word—Elohim created—is in the singular form. So, the ‘plural of majesty’—the ‘fullness of deity’—singularly created together—Father, Son, and Spirit. Therefore, the unity of the Trinity can be traced back to God’s own name and His activity recorded in the first verse of the Bible.

 

The Trinity—or tri-unity—of the Godhead asserts that the God who is three persons is one God, as has been previously established. Beyond the inherent nature of this concept in the use of Elohim, are God’s own claims to oneness within Scripture. In Deuteronomy 6:4, it is written, “Hear O Israel the Lord our God is One…” Here is recorded what is now known as the Shema and is still recited by devout Jews to this day. Not only does this verse affirm that God is the One and only God, but it also affirms that He is one. This verse testifies that “God is one in His essential being or constitutional nature” (Olyott 22). This verse further implies that the essence, being, or substance (often used interchangeably) are one (Olyott 23). This is the unity referred to in the third doctrine of The Salvation Army and in the concept of the Trinity. Furthermore, the whole of Scripture assumes that there is only one true God, through explicit statements such as the Shema, as well as implicitly, through laws against idolatry, for example (Vander Pol 30). God makes it very clear that there are to be no other gods—that His followers must be monotheistic—as evidenced in the first of the Ten Commandments that He gives the Israelites (Ex. 20:3). The oneness of God thus affirms Christianity as a monotheistic religion, an opposing view to those who lack understanding of the unity of the Trinity, and therefore conclude that Christianity is tri-theistic or polytheistic. God’s self-revelation in Scripture supports monotheism and the belief that He is one, stated both explicitly and implicitly throughout the Biblical text. Therefore, it can be concluded that the concept of the Trinity must be comprehended within this understanding, such that the unity of God is not forsaken.

 

A further component of the aforementioned discussion on the unity of God’s essence or being, must also be connected to a discussion on the divinity of God. Because the three persons of the Trinity are unified, it implies that each person must then be fully divine. They are all God; they are one; they are divine. This belief is essential to Christian doctrine. Therefore, because of this unity of essence, and because of the fact that each is divinely God, it can be concluded then, that they are each equal to the others. Thus, a discussion on the unity of the Godhead must be closely linked with an understanding of the equality within the Godhead. For example, Jesus is not subordinate to the Father, nor is the Holy Spirit subordinate to Jesus, but rather, their relationship is such that they each function in their roles in harmony with one another. This diversity in role and function leads to a deeper understanding that the unity of God does not mean that there is uniformity in the Godhead.

 

In a discussion on the unity of the Trinity, one cannot assume or conclude uniformity, but, conversely, one must comprehend that there is diversity within the Godhead. There is one God, yet there exists a plurality of persons within the Godhead, as has been previously discussed (Olyott 24). The Oneness of God does not negate the three-ness of God. Within this oneness then, there are still three distinct persons—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Their unity is found in their aforementioned identical essence and equality in divinity, meanwhile their diversity is grounded in their roles and functions, as well as their relationship to one another. So as to confirm that the unity is without uniformity, it is beneficial to look briefly at the variety of roles and functions that each person of the Godhead has. God the Father is the Creator of the world and all that is in it, as well as being the Overseer and Orchestrator of creation. He is the Sustainer and care-taker of His creation. He is also the Governor over creation and is the ultimate Judge who will judge the world at the end of the age. All of these are part of His role and function as God the Father. Scripture reveals Jesus as also being intimately involved in the creation process and in the preservation of the world, being the One through whom all was made and through whom everything holds together. Jesus came to earth as a man so that He could be mankind’s Redeemer and Savior. Therefore, He is the Mediator between God and man, thus creating the bridge by which humans can cross to spend eternity with God, and without whom, mankind would have no way to God. While on earth, He was an example and a teacher. Because of the incarnation, He is often thought of as the relational one with mankind, since it is through Him that mankind has a relationship with the Father, and as such, He is called Friend. Although He has since ascended to be with the Father in heaven, He is still an intercessor for mankind. And prior to His ascension to heaven, He promised that the Holy Spirit would come and dwell in believers. The Holy Spirit, then, is the counselor and comforter, and is the indwelling of God within those who are saved. The Holy Spirit also convicts the hearts of followers of Christ, and is able to cleanse and purify human hearts. The role and function of each person in the Godhead is vital—so even though the unity of the Godhead is critical to one’s understanding of God, it is equally critical to understand that it is not unity with uniformity. On the contrary, the unity still exists despite the variety and diversity of the roles that each person of the Godhead has.

 

The doctrine of the Trinity is essential to Christian belief. In understanding this doctrine, one must begin to grasp the tri-unity of the Godhead—that there are three persons that make up one God. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—unified in essence and being, yet without uniformity in role and function. Scripture is rampant with examples of God’s own testimony to Himself as One and Himself as three—in perfect harmony to form the One.

 

 

Works Cited

Erickson, Millard J. God in Three Persons: A Contemporary Interpretation of the Trinity. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1995. Print.

The Nelson Study Bible. Earl D. Radmacher, gen.ed. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1997. Print.

Olyott, Stuart. The Three are One. Darlington (ENG): Evangelical Press, 1979. Print.

The Salvation Army Handbook of Doctrine. London: Salvation Books, 2010. Print.

Thoennes, Erik. The Doctrine of the Trinity. Class lecture notes, 2003. Print.

Toon, Peter. Our Triune God: A Biblical Portrayal of the Trinity. Wheaton: Victor Books, 1996. Print.

Torrance, Thomas F. The Christian Doctrine of God, One Being Three Persons. Edinburgh: T&T Clark Ltd, 1996. Print.

Vander Pol, Allen. God in Three Persons: Biblical Testimony to the Trinity. Phillipsburg: P&R Publishing Company, 2001. Print.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

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