A Dialogue on Trinity-2

Madeleine: You are right, Dad! Also, I can see that the three processors would still be parts of the one; so, the analogy does fail.

Clark: You saw it well.

Madeleine: So, we lack an analogy?

Clark: Well, there may be a few natural ones like space which has three dimensions (Length, Breadth, Depth), time has three divisions (Past, Present, Future), persons have three references (First person, Second person, Third person), and the universe has three realities (Space, Time, Matter).

Madeleine: Water has three forms: liquid, solid, vapor.

Clark: Right. However, we must be careful here because there is a false view known as Sabellianism (or Modalism) which says that God has three forms: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. According to this false view, the Son who died on the cross was the same as the Father.

Madeleine: What are the other false views?

Clark: These are the four chief heresies or false teachings:

Unitarianism: One God = One Person
Modalism: One God =Three Forms
Tripartitism: One God =Three Parts
Tritheism: Three Gods = Three Persons

The Bible teaches us that there is one God; the Father is God, the Son is God, the Spirit is God.

Madeleine: Was this known to people in both the Old Testament and the New Testament?

Clark: The word "Trinity" was not known to them, of course. Also, the way in which this doctrine is known to us today was not known to them as such, then.

Madeleine: So, they didn't have the confusion.

Clark: Yes. For instance, in the Old Testament, the Spirit of God is mentioned several times. Similarly, we find references to the Son of God, the Angel of the Lord, and the Glory of the Lord which we know were references to Jesus. However, there was no confusion regarding the oneness of God. Similarly, in the New Testament, Jesus was prayed to, Jesus was worshiped, and the Christians were baptized with the Holy Spirit. But, they didn't have a problem about the Trinity. At least, we don't find any such problem mentioned anywhere in the New Testament. They all knew and believed that God is one. They also knew that God the Father sent His Son Jesus Christ to die for our sins, and that the Holy Spirit dwells among us today to guide us into all truth and help us in our weaknesses.

to be continued...

Go to A Dialogue on Trinity - Part III...

© Domenic Marbaniang, July 2010

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Marbaniang, Domenic

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