Trinity Tuesday - An Ancient Analogy for the Trinity (Part 2) One of my favorite definitions of the Trinity comes from Mike Reeves, who says that the Trinity is the Father, Son, and Spirit loving each other forever. Trinity analogy - good or bad? | The Puritan Board Mainly because water cannot be all three at one time. What is a good analogy for the trinity? Therefore, to help understand the Trinity better, I offer the following analogy that, I think, is hinted at . Every analogy falls short. Is water a good analogy for the Trinity? An alternative. Unfortunately, these errors usually come about when Catholics with good intentions try to create an analogy to help nonbelievers, or those who need catechesis, to understand the Trinity. Perhaps you've heard the analogy that the Trinity is like H 2 O (the molecular symbol for water). The analogy explains that in the same way that one shamrock can have three leaves on it, the Trinity has three Persons that constitute one God. He is also a preeminent Catholic . This one is not so successful: "If three drops of water are put into a bowl, they become one, but there are still three drops of water in . Yet we look to the heavens and hold expectations of God. Every analogy ends up introducing some kind of heresy. I'm so sorry! If you keep your expectations very, very, very low, some Trinity analogies might be . So if all of these explanations are heretical, what is a good analogy? I really thought that the God of the Jews / The One God The above picture is a famous work of art by Andrei Rubilev, the great medieval Russian painter of Orthodox icons and frescos. One of the more traditional ways people have used in the past (myself included) to describe the Trinity is an analogy of the states of water . There is also the example of the 3 physical forms of material, such as water. The Trinity is mysterious. The shell is the Father, the egg white is the Son, and the yolk is the Holy Spirit. What we need to understand, however, is that analogies don't prove anything. The Holy Spirit is the shell, Jesus is the egg white, and the Father is the . Throughout history, Christians have pictured the relationships between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit through analogies. And if we're being honest, a lot of things are outside of our complete understanding. http://reasonablefaith.org - Dr. William Lane Craig gives his own analogy of the Holy Trinity.We welcome your comments in the Reasonable Faith forums:http://. Let the patron saint of the Irish show you what I'm talking about. 0:00. II) Analogies of the Trinity Having defended the distinctions of the persons in the Godhead, Augustine proceeds to search out for analogies that will illuminate the relationships within the Godhead. Q. One person with three roles—just like the Trinity." Another popular but false analogy is the following: the Trinity is like how water can be ice, liquid and steam. Trinitarian Analogies. Bad Analogies for the Trinity. One of the most common analogies is water: Water is one thing, but it takes three forms: liquid water, water vapor, and ice. One approach is to use analogies. The Trinity is Like a Man who is a Father, Husband, and Son. There may be no analogy of the trinity that does not break down at some point. Misunderstanding 1: The transforming trinity. However, the egg analogy is good because it shows the distinction between the persons of the God-head: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. #7 Andy T. , Aug 28, 2007 These definitions express three crucial truths: (1) The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are distinct Persons, (2) each Person is fully God, (3 . There is nothing on earth like the Triune nature of God. Now, I think some analogies are helpful. (If you just see a black box, click through the to blog itself to see the video.) The difficulty arises when he have to decide which analogies are good analogies and which are bad. Answer: I will get into Latin and Social Trinitarianism a little bit later . A good analogy can be helpful sometimes, but can't possibly please God when the word "Trinity" makes us think primarily about ice cubes and shamrocks rather than the incarnation of the Son and the outpouring of the Spirit. H2O can take the form of ice, water, or water vapor, but all three forms are water. Transcript Is There a Good Analogy for the Trinity?. I do not think that the three phases of water is a good analogy for the trinity. The example of the egg is often used. Q&A: Loving the LGBTQ Community, Analogies for the Trinity, and Abortion Nov 12, 2021 On today's Bible Answer Man broadcast (11/12/21), Hank answers the following questions: The Holy Trinity is a mystery that will always remain a mystery to us on earth. Maybe using a couple analogies will help illustrate how the analogies are limited to pointing to specific truths. Here are some suggestions of a good way to use analogies for kids to further their comprehension of God as Trinity. Despite the fact that each member of the Trinity . In the past, I have used illustrations that answer kids' questions about the Trinity but do so at the expense of mystery and what is true. How the analogy goes: The trinity is . In spite of that, people have used various analogies to convey this mystery, albeit vaguely and imprecisely. *A . True. Answer: In which case, I am not sure that is a good analogy, then, for the Trinity! Yep, I've come to think that all analogies, when pressed completely, are more heretical than helpful. What we are need are analogies that help see plurality and unity at the same time. Actually, one end shows one opening of white light and the other has . List of triple deities of Babylonian polytheism. The divine persons do not share the one divinity among themselves but each of them is God whole and entire: 'The Father is that which the Son is, the Son that which the Father is, the . The Trinity is a mystery which cannot be explained or compared to anything on earth. The Bible uses analogies to teach us various aspects of God's character; HE is like a rock in HIS faithfulness or HE is a shepherd in HIS care, etc. In Three in One, William David Spencer shares a lifetime of insights from . Let the patron saint of the Irish show you what I'm talking about. The idea of God as three-in-one is indeed a mysterious concept, one that is difficult to understand. We would not expect the worm to instantly understand the man, or the man to be precisely what the worm expects. Another analogy for the Trinity is that God is three in one, just as H 2 O can exist as a solid, a liquid, and a gas. Illustrating the Trinity is a noble goal, but it is ultimately an exercise in futility. The water-in-three-different-forms-analogy may be misleading, but it works as an analogy of the economic trinity where God certainly reveals himself in three different forms. "Three musicians". We believe that it is a revelation that comes from Christ Himself. H 2 O can exist in three forms: liquid, gas and solid. Analogies are used to help us explain complex topics such as Trinity. But the analogies you've probably heard the most of are not very good. The Trinity, Michael Bird, explains, "is not an esoteric doctrine forged in an unholy marriage of Greek metaphysical speculation and dodgy biblical interpretation." b Our experience of God is not unitarian or tritheistic, but can only . There are not 3 essences, and there is not just one divine person. The whole idea that it matters very much to figure out a good analogy for the Trinity is usually a sign that we've gotten hold of the doctrine by the wrong end. Common analogies. The following may help in this regard: 1. 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