Explaining the Trinity to a six year old

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My six year old daughter asked me tonight how Jesus can be his own father. I tried explaining using the example of water, steam and ice all being different forms of water, but that did not really answer her question.

Can anyone suggest a simple way to explain this complex mystery?
 
fermat said:
My six year old daughter asked me tonight how Jesus can be his own father. I tried explaining using the example of water, steam and ice all being different forms of water, but that did not really answer her question.

Can anyone suggest a simple way to explain this complex mystery?
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Little ones see the world in black and white terms and the trinity is anything but black and white. At her level of cognitive development, she’s really not capable of dealing with this kind of abstraction.

Personally, I like where you began. Your little one’s brain is highly plastic so she is still a walking scientist - she literally learns from every experience she has. Rather than trying to explain it to her, why not actually show her? Take some ice cubes, put them in a pot and slowly melt them over a stove. Let her watch them dissolve and turn into water. Check the water first and, if it is cool, invite her to touch the water. And then, turn up the heat and let her watch the water turn into steam. One thing can be three different things…

However, that might not work. Frankly, I don’t think that many people really understand the trinity - we all know what it is, but I think it is the kind of mystery that our flawed little primate minds can not begin to grasp. If she is still confused, it is likely best to admit that you don’t even really understand it and that we can’t hope to ever truly understand God.
 
Hey, I like the water-ice-steam analogy.

Adults cannot fully appreciate the concept of the Trinity, Confirmands less so and six-year olds? Probably not at all. Very good, though, that she’s interested in knowing about it.
 
You might try the Cloverleaf roll approach. One roll made up of three parts.
 
fermat said:
My six year old daughter asked me tonight how Jesus can be his own father. I tried explaining using the example of water, steam and ice all being different forms of water, but that did not really answer her question.

Can anyone suggest a simple way to explain this complex mystery?
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You could follow St. Patrick’s example and use a three-leaf clover.

Of course, under scrutiny, the analogy falls apart because the the three persons of the Trinity are not simply “parts” of a larger entity in the same way that the clover leafs are part of the clover. But it’s useful for explaining it to kids. 👍
 
Good approach. And I like the cloverleaf roll.

Different things work (and don’t work) for different folks. I’ve used the example of a man. He is a father to a little girl, he is a brother to a person in Cleveland, and a son to a mother in New Jersey. He may present himself in three different ways to different people, but he is the same man.

The Trinity is a mystery and our comprehension of it will only be (possibly) complete in the next life. But your example is a good one, especially to a small child.
 
that is why is called the Mystery of Holy Trinity…our human minds cannot comprehend how it is…

but an easier to explain is that Jesus and God father are of the same substance…both equal in honour and glory

And the choir of Angels and Saints said…Amen:thumbsup:
 
I’m not sure of the approriatness of a six year old. But I know I would feel comfortable sharing with my nephew who is seven this concept: You have your thoughts and you think and your mind tells you what to do and the answers to questions and is very important to being you. Your heart tells you who you love and you feel this love within your heart and it helps you to care for people that you love. All of this is held in your one body, your body has many functions but it works as one.
 
The Holy Spirit is sometimes called the breath of God and Jesus is the word of God.

Does anyone know if this imagery has been used in an analogy to explain the trinity? If there is, I’d love to see it.

Peace,

Ryan 🙂
 
ryanoneil said:
The Holy Spirit is sometimes called the breath of God and Jesus is the word of God.

Does anyone know if this imagery has been used in an analogy to explain the trinity? If there is, I’d love to see it.

Peace,

Ryan 🙂
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I’ve thought of that before, too. That would make an excellent reflection to read, I think (if one exists, yet).

St. Augustine wrote 15 books on the Trinity. I guess it makes sense that it can be difficult to condense this down into a way that 6 year old can understand!
 
Try using yourself as the “example” …

You are your Parent’s [Father/Mother] Child
You are a spouse
You are your child’s parent …

You are “Three In One” … and more …

In fact, the greatest mystery is in how the One God is perfection in the “Three In One” …

We resemble the Trinity in thatwe are created in the image and likeness … but we image that “Fullness” of God imperfectly … and as such we fail to obtain that fullness even though our relationships go beyond the number of three … probably because we cannot be all things to all people like the Creator is … the God Who made all.

You can discuss the various roles that people have … friend, Aunt/Uncle/Cousin/Sibling … Employer/Employee … Citizen … and yet through all of these roles … and indivvidual remains just that … One Person …

And in all of these roles there is a glue [love, friendship, duty] that binds the roles together …

In the end it is and will remain a mystery until we can ask God face to face in Heaven …

I hope this helps 😉 - it is one way I discuss the "Mystery’ with children [ad even adults] … though I alsu use the water, steam and ice analogy … and others … from feed back - though this works well as a concept that is understandable …
 
YADA said:
You can discuss the various roles that people have … friend, Aunt/Uncle/Cousin/Sibling … Employer/Employee … Citizen … and yet through all of these roles … and indivvidual remains just that … One Person …
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Maybe I’m being too nitpicky (😉 ), but we need to be careful not to fall into the heresy of modalism (that God is just three modes or roles rather than three persons). God isn’t just one person, but three persons. I think the anaology you use could be a good starting point, so long as we don’t leave it at that. We would want to immediately add that God is three persons in one God. And it’s certainly not an easy thing to understand!
 
Joe_5859 said:
I’ve thought of that before, too. That would make an excellent reflection to read, I think (if one exists, yet).

St. Augustine wrote 15 books on the Trinity. I guess it makes sense that it can be difficult to condense this down into a way that 6 year old can understand!
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If one exist, I’d be interested in seeing how they deal with three distinct persons and where one is all are present. In other words are there times when the father is breathing but not speaking. I think His breath was always proceeded by a statement though. 🤷

Thanks for the link.

Peace,

Ryan 🙂
 
ryanoneil said:
The Holy Spirit is sometimes called the breath of God and Jesus is the word of God.

Does anyone know if this imagery has been used in an analogy to explain the trinity? If there is, I’d love to see it.

Peace,

Ryan 🙂
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Dear ryanoneil,
St. Augustine used very similar imagery in “City of God”.

Peace!
 
Tough concept for anyone, let alone a 6 year old. I like the Play-Doh approach, especially for little ones:

Open a new can of Play-Doh (an already open can will do but there is just something wonderful about that new can smell 😃 )and take out the roll. Tell your daughter the roll of doh is “God”. Stretch it, pull it, roll it out into different shapes, it is still 'God".

Now, roll it into a ball and break it into 3 lumps. Each lump is still “God”. You can shove them back together and do it again if it helps. Then give her the lumps and let her make three shapes out of it (I am not artistically gifted and end up doing a worm, a snake and a hose).

Hopefully, she will then see that she has three separate “shapes” or “persons” but they are still all one “God”.
 
Joe_5859 said:
Maybe I’m being too nitpicky (😉 ), but we need to be careful not to fall into the heresy of modalism (that God is just three modes or roles rather than three persons). God isn’t just one person, but three persons. I think the anaology you use could be a good starting point, so long as we don’t leave it at that. We would want to immediately add that God is three persons in one God. And it’s certainly not an easy thing to understand!
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I am not advocating *modalism … *and God in three persons does not equate to three bodily ‘incarnate’ people if that is how you are refering to three persons … only Jesus was incarnated … made in the flesh a person [as I am a person] …

The Triune God exists fully Triune … from the beginning of time until the end … Jesus existed at the Creation yet he was not yet incarnate … he had not yet entered into time … Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega … he is the Word that formed Creation … God 'Breathed" His spirit into Adam … Adam in an incarnated spiritual being created in the image and likeness of God …

Thus the analogy of our relationships imaging the Trinity is very apt … and does nothing to destroy the three persons [Latin ‘personas’] of the Trinity … IMHO

In the end, it is a mystery that is not fully understandable nor explained by the mere words and imaginations of man … something to grasp at and contemplate but always a mystery …
 
YADA said:
I am not advocating *modalism … *and God in three persons does not equate to three bodily ‘incarnate’ people if that is how you are refering to three persons … only Jesus was incarnated … made in the flesh a person [as I am a person] …

The Triune God exists fully Triune … from the beginning of time until the end … Jesus existed at the Creation yet he was not yet incarnate … he had not yet entered into time … Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega … he is the Word that formed Creation … God 'Breathed" His spirit into Adam … Adam in an incarnated spiritual being created in the image and likeness of God …

Thus the analogy of our relationships imaging the Trinity is very apt … and does nothing to destroy the three persons [Latin ‘personas’] of the Trinity … IMHO

In the end, it is a mystery that is not fully understandable nor explained by the mere words and imaginations of man … something to grasp at and contemplate but always a mystery …
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I know you weren’t advocating modalism, and I apologize if I came off as accusatory. That was not my intent. :o I guess I just wanted to make the point that any analogy we come up with to describe the Trinity ultimately falls flat if we push it too far (as it is such a great mystery). That doesn’t mean we can’t use them. We just have to keep the degree of their utility in perspective. I’m not trying to say that you are not doing that, though. I only meant it as a general note of caution.
 
Make it clear to her that Jesus is not his own Father!!!

The Bible says that God is love. And in love, there have to be three things - two lovers and the love that flows among them.

The Father is the Lover, Jesus is the Beloved and the Holy Spirit is the love that flows from the Father to Jesus and back from Jesus to the Father. And since God is love, this love is not something other than God but it’s a person in God.

Perhaps you can explain the trinity to your daughter with the analogy of the sun. The Father is like the sun (that gaseous mass), Jesus is like the light that we see, and the Holy Spirit is like the heat that we feel. Although they are distinct they’re inseparable.

You may also want to download this wonderful (and mind blowing) teaching on the trinity by the late Archbishop Fulton Sheen
americancatholictruthsociety.com/sheen/11TheBlessedTrinity.mp3
 
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