You know I believe the common misunderstanding in thinking there are three God’s is derived from not fully understanding the nature of God. There is only one nature for our God. Within that nature there are three distinct but not seperate persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. There are not three Gods!
I believe that understanding the the Trinity is very difficult. I think that if all the knowledge of the world were equivalent to a drop of water that it would take all the knowledge contained within all the drops of water in the oceans, rivers and lakes in the world to just arrive at a proper start for appreciating the beauty and love of the relationships within the Trinity.
That said, I believe one analogy that might help in a limited way to understanding a little more about the Trinity is to take the example of water. Water can be manifested in three different ways , ice, snow and steam. These manifestations could be thought of as three distinct persons of God, while the water itselt could be thought of as the divine nature of God. Using the above analogy you end up of with nature of water with three diffenent manifestions within it.
With God you also have one nature and three distinct but not separate persons within that nature, that is three persons, not three seperate God’s. God bless. george
Maybe this helps some to understand in a very limited way the Trinity of the Christian faith.
This is a good explanation. And like you said, I always try to emphasize that with analogies on the Trinity, they always fall short in some way, though some are better than others, and they can generally approximate it, but never really get what we’re talking about.
Also, when using “distinct” and “separate”, it is best to state specifically what you mean, because of course, they can be used interchangeably, which I do when emphasizing the “distinctness” of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, i.e. that the Father is not the Son or the Holy Spirit, the Son is not the Father or the HS, and the HS is not the Father or the Son.
distinct:
1 :
distinguishable to the eye or mind as discrete : separate
2 : presenting a clear unmistakable impression
3 archaic : notably decorated
4 a : notable b : readily and unmistakably apprehended
So, when we say that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are not separate, i.e. inseparable, we mean that there is a clear and real, eternal relationship between the 3, and you cannot have one without the others.
The 11th Council of Toledo in 675 AD explained this point further:
*
“Nevertheless these three persons are not to be considered separable since, according to our belief, none of them ever existed or acted before another, after another, without another. For they are inseparable both in what they are and in what they do, because, according to our faith, between the Father who generates and the Son who is generated or the Holy Spirit who proceeds, there has not been an interval of time in which the one who generates would precede the one who is generated, or there would be no begotten one to Him who begets, or the Holy Spirit in His proceeding would appear later than Father or Son. For this reason we profess and believe that this Trinity is inseparable and distinct (inconfusa).”*
ewtn.com/library/COUNCILS/TOLEDO.HTM
So, in one sense, they are “separate” in that they are not each other, and they are not “attached” to each other, which is a caricature that some may bring up. Many choose to use the word “distinct” to emphasize this. On the other hand, they are inseparable because of the eternal relationship, the connectedness, between the Three.
Hope that helps!
