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Fashina86
Guest
The Trinity is describe in the words of St. Patick as a shamrock with 3 leaves in one clover. But it is all one plant just as the Trinity is 3 persons in God
God Bless–JMJ
Laura
God Bless–JMJ
Laura
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wcknight
Guest
I would not try to explain the Trinity, as it is a mystery of the Church.
By definition, a mystery can not be explaned. Just as we can not explain what God is, we can not explain what shape, form, or nature He is.
From scriptures, these things we do know, God the Father created us and cares about us, Jesus His only Son came to us, and later sent the Holy Spirit to remain with us.
But we also know that Jesus said He and the Father are One. How that is or how it came about, is the great mystery. How or why a tree has more than one branch is not a problem for me, I just know that, that is the way most trees grow.
God is as He presents Himself in scriptures and to His people throughout history, I don’t need to know why or how He came to be that way.
Most of us are born with two arms and two legs, why we don’t have 3 or 4 of each is not something I can explain or need to worry about.
WC
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JPrejean
Guest
Yeah. You’ve really got to watch out for modalism or Sabellianism with some of those analogies (particularly the wife-mother-daughter analogy, which involves the same person). St. Patrick’s is probably the best, because the clover, as a living thing, emphasizes both the wholeness and the integral sharing of the nature without rejecting either the distinctness or the identicality of the persons. One of the things that is really good about that analogy is that the distinctness of the Trinity is based on the relationship of the leaves to one another. If you took the leaves off of the stem, they would appear identical.
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jimmy
Guest
The Father is the source. The Son is begotten by the Father and the Spirit proceeds from the Father as the ultimate source, through the Son to the people of God.This is a hard theological question. I would be interested what you have to say.
God Bless–JMJ
Charlie
They are all of the same source, but they are three different persons.
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atsheeran
Guest
Be careful with any explanations/analogies/metaphors that imply that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are different roles played by God.
They are not roles. They are persons.
Beware of creeping Modalism!
They are not roles. They are persons.
Beware of creeping Modalism!
J
jp2fan
Guest
Augustine describes it as the lover, the beloved, and the love. The lover being the Father, the beloved the Son, and the love being the Holy Spirit. They are a communion of love, and as such are one, but three distinct persons.
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antiaphrodite
Guest
i don’t remember what my parents taught me about the Trinity, but it must have stuck, because i don’t think i have ever questioned the concept of the Trinity.
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that helped a lot, didn’t it?
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that helped a lot, didn’t it?
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BibleReader
Guest
As the kids grew up, I told them (1) we simply can’t fully understand the Trinity; (2) God made the family a picture of the Trinity, where Dad = the Father, Mom = the Son, and kids = the Holy Spirit; (3) Christ, in some way we can’t fully understand, “eternally pops out of” the Father, so that He is a Son to the Father; and (4) the Holy Spirit, in some way be can’t understand, “eternally pops out of” the love that is between the Father and the Son.
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steveroz
Guest
Jim G.'s post #18 says it perfectly (No wait - only God’s knowledge of Himself is perfect 
). I too, highly recommend Frank Sheed’s “Theology for Beginners” and “Theology and Sanity”. Sheed’s explanation of the Trinity is simple, logical and eloquent - and it will blow your mind! The entire Catholic faith spins out of the doctrine of the Trininty. The more we meditate on this mystery and the more light we can shed on it, the more the rest of our faith falls into place.
We are blessed with a parochial vichar at our parish who really emphasizes the metaphysical concepts of God in his preaching and teaching. He started by telling us that so many people, when discusing the Trinity, simply shrug their shoulders and say “It’s a mystery - let’s move on”. But in fact, the mysteries of the faith are not called mysteries because they are shrouded in fog and darkness - they are mysteries because they are so full of light that we can not see them for all that they are, much like looking into the sun. With study and prayer we can see more and more of this mystery and grow in faith, sanctity and holiness as a result.
I’m mostly a lurker, but this topic really fires me up - God’s blessings to all!
Steve
). I too, highly recommend Frank Sheed’s “Theology for Beginners” and “Theology and Sanity”. Sheed’s explanation of the Trinity is simple, logical and eloquent - and it will blow your mind! The entire Catholic faith spins out of the doctrine of the Trininty. The more we meditate on this mystery and the more light we can shed on it, the more the rest of our faith falls into place.We are blessed with a parochial vichar at our parish who really emphasizes the metaphysical concepts of God in his preaching and teaching. He started by telling us that so many people, when discusing the Trinity, simply shrug their shoulders and say “It’s a mystery - let’s move on”. But in fact, the mysteries of the faith are not called mysteries because they are shrouded in fog and darkness - they are mysteries because they are so full of light that we can not see them for all that they are, much like looking into the sun. With study and prayer we can see more and more of this mystery and grow in faith, sanctity and holiness as a result.
I’m mostly a lurker, but this topic really fires me up - God’s blessings to all!
Steve
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John_Colean
Guest
I have heard many explanations of the Trinity in terms of the three persons in one. The explanation I like the best is to say that the Trinity is a three room house without walls.
Also, in regards to how the human-Christ fits into the Trinity, I like to think of the Trinity in terms of it nature and its persons. As humans, we are one person and have one nature (human). The Trinity has three persons (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) and one nature (the nature of God). Christ (the Son) has two natures (human nature and Godly nature), but only one person.
These explanations may seem a bit simple, but they have helped me in explaining the unexplainable.
Blessings to all,
John
Also, in regards to how the human-Christ fits into the Trinity, I like to think of the Trinity in terms of it nature and its persons. As humans, we are one person and have one nature (human). The Trinity has three persons (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) and one nature (the nature of God). Christ (the Son) has two natures (human nature and Godly nature), but only one person.
These explanations may seem a bit simple, but they have helped me in explaining the unexplainable.
Blessings to all,
John
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