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Catholic_JIMMY
Guest
Thank you very much, that was my explination. I glad to see someone had an explination similar to mine.
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AustralianGuy
Guest
thats an interesting way to look at it actually
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AustralianGuy
Guest
that is a simple way of putting it which does make sense! All these examples and ways of saying the same thing is really interesting. Everyone has their own ways of trying to come to terms with it all it seems.
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Bran
Guest
This is a clumsy way of looking at the Holy Trinity because the Word preexisted the body he took during the incarnation. The proper way to speak of the Holy Trinity is the Father, the Son (AKA the Word), and the Holy Spirit - not God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.
I would recommend Frank Sheed’s “Theology for Beginners” or “Theology and Sanity” if you’d like a deeper understanding of the Holy Trinity. You can read the online samples if you type the titles in Google, which contain the chapters on the Holy Trinity. You can also simply read the Gospel of John chapter 1.
Peace.
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AustralianGuy
Guest
Ah yeah, I get what you’re trying to say. Does sound more correct to say Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
I’ll have a look for some online samples, thanks
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JustinR
Guest
the Trinity
3 distinct forms , 1 substance,
look at H2O ------- ice , water, vapor(steam)
ice is the ONLY thing in this world that expands when it freezes, All other things contract when they freezes, Without that unique fact life could not exist, if ice contracted and sank in a lake then no fish could live, all lakes would freeze solid, iceburgs in the ocean would sink. . Ice expanding allows life,
ice= God the Father
water, the living flowing water, life can not exist without water, Christ is often represented as flowing water
water=Jesus
vapor, unseen, without it again life would not exist, if humidity was 0 percent. we would shrivel up and die, we need the vapor in our every breath we take, the vapor in the air also gives us rain. vapor is the breath of life.
vapor= Holy Spirit
All 3 forms of H2O are separate and distinct, but there are all H2O They are all the same element , in distinct forms.
all give LIFE, 3 distinct forms- (persons), but only One Substance-(God)
3 distinct forms , 1 substance,
look at H2O ------- ice , water, vapor(steam)
ice is the ONLY thing in this world that expands when it freezes, All other things contract when they freezes, Without that unique fact life could not exist, if ice contracted and sank in a lake then no fish could live, all lakes would freeze solid, iceburgs in the ocean would sink. . Ice expanding allows life,
ice= God the Father
water, the living flowing water, life can not exist without water, Christ is often represented as flowing water
water=Jesus
vapor, unseen, without it again life would not exist, if humidity was 0 percent. we would shrivel up and die, we need the vapor in our every breath we take, the vapor in the air also gives us rain. vapor is the breath of life.
vapor= Holy Spirit
All 3 forms of H2O are separate and distinct, but there are all H2O They are all the same element , in distinct forms.
all give LIFE, 3 distinct forms- (persons), but only One Substance-(God)
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AustralianGuy
Guest
I think a few people have mentioned that example but you’ve explained it quite well! I loved that fact about ice expanding being so important, I didn’t know (or was taught and then forgot) that!
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JesuXPIPassio
Guest
AusGuy, if you wanna get into the mystical side of this, you might also wanna check out Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich. I was just reading this article and I thought of you.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Catherine_Emmerich#Visions
Also you could read up on Saint Faustina Kowalska and her diary “Divine Mercy in My Soul”. Both these women had visions, were beatified and/or canonised, and both of the wrote about their mystical experiences. You could find links to their writings on Wikipedia.
Blessed Anne Catherine’s writings, by the way, were the inspiration for much of The Passion of the Christ. Her conception of the Trinity as illustrated on Wikipedia is a little esoteric for my taste, though I probably would appreciate it much more if I actually read her work (I’m getting around to it!). Saint Faustina’s writings talk a lot about Jesus and the Father; one image I remember in particular was that the Father looked at the world through Jesus’ Wounds.
Faustina’s story is extremely fascinating. She had visions but knew that when she died, her message would be suppressed until a later time. Before he became Pope, John Paul II happened to be the archbishop where she lived, so it was his responsibility to have her writings studied again and he began the cause for her beatification. After he was Pope, he had the privilege of declaring her a saint; she was the first saint of the year 2000. In her Diaries, she wrote of Jesus’ Desire to establish a Feast of Divine Mercy on the first Sunday after Easter; I found it remarkable that he ended up dying on that feast five years later. I wonder if it was a message from heaven, like how the assassination attempt on him also fell on an important day – the anniversary of one of the Fatima appearances.
But anyways, enjoy the read.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Catherine_Emmerich#Visions
Also you could read up on Saint Faustina Kowalska and her diary “Divine Mercy in My Soul”. Both these women had visions, were beatified and/or canonised, and both of the wrote about their mystical experiences. You could find links to their writings on Wikipedia.
Blessed Anne Catherine’s writings, by the way, were the inspiration for much of The Passion of the Christ. Her conception of the Trinity as illustrated on Wikipedia is a little esoteric for my taste, though I probably would appreciate it much more if I actually read her work (I’m getting around to it!). Saint Faustina’s writings talk a lot about Jesus and the Father; one image I remember in particular was that the Father looked at the world through Jesus’ Wounds.
Faustina’s story is extremely fascinating. She had visions but knew that when she died, her message would be suppressed until a later time. Before he became Pope, John Paul II happened to be the archbishop where she lived, so it was his responsibility to have her writings studied again and he began the cause for her beatification. After he was Pope, he had the privilege of declaring her a saint; she was the first saint of the year 2000. In her Diaries, she wrote of Jesus’ Desire to establish a Feast of Divine Mercy on the first Sunday after Easter; I found it remarkable that he ended up dying on that feast five years later. I wonder if it was a message from heaven, like how the assassination attempt on him also fell on an important day – the anniversary of one of the Fatima appearances.
But anyways, enjoy the read.
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AustralianGuy
Guest
thanks for the articles, I’ll read through them when I get time, they sound really interesting!
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Catholic_JIMMY
Guest
I believe the relationship between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are similar to but not exactly the same as the relationship between the mind, body, and soul of each individual being.
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1edyson
Guest
I’ve posted it before, but the best way the Trinity has been explained to me is to use the metaphor of a candle, or more the flame of the candle. The flame has three different and distinct parts, but are all one.
In the flame you have the light of the flame, the heat of the flame, and the shape of the flame itself. Each three separate, but all in one. Christ is like the light leading us, the Holy Spirit is like the heat, the invisible giver of life that we feel, and the shape of the flame is like God the Father, always there, and you can’t have it without the other two.
In the flame you have the light of the flame, the heat of the flame, and the shape of the flame itself. Each three separate, but all in one. Christ is like the light leading us, the Holy Spirit is like the heat, the invisible giver of life that we feel, and the shape of the flame is like God the Father, always there, and you can’t have it without the other two.
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AustralianGuy
Guest
It’s interesting how many different ways people have to understand the trinity!
Thanks to everyone who’s posted up new ideas, feel free to keep posting any others you have! I didn’t think there’d be so many, it’s really interesting.
Thanks to everyone who’s posted up new ideas, feel free to keep posting any others you have! I didn’t think there’d be so many, it’s really interesting.
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VivaPadrePio
Guest
My suggestion to the OP would be: you’re trying too hard.
In the end, a full understanding of the Trinity is precluded to us whilst we live. One day, we will grasp it in all its glory.
This is one of the most beautiful things of Christianity: it requires a certain degree of abandonment, of understanding that hey, it’s not you who has to understand everything and hey, you will not be able to understand everything. It is a humbling experience and it very useful, every time that pride tries to rear its head, to think that we cannot even understand what God really is.
When I was a child, two images were given to us to try to get nearer to the concept:
In the end, a full understanding of the Trinity is precluded to us whilst we live. One day, we will grasp it in all its glory.
This is one of the most beautiful things of Christianity: it requires a certain degree of abandonment, of understanding that hey, it’s not you who has to understand everything and hey, you will not be able to understand everything. It is a humbling experience and it very useful, every time that pride tries to rear its head, to think that we cannot even understand what God really is.
When I was a child, two images were given to us to try to get nearer to the concept:
- the one of the water, where vapur, ice and water are, in fact, the same even if they are, in fact, distinct. This has been already explained here in a very effective manner.
- the human being.
A little child, an adult and a very old man are the same person, undoubtedly; but at the same time, it cannot be doubted that they are different, to such an extent that you would never be able to recognise a very old man from his photo as a child and vice versa, and the same for character, inclinations, etc…
The same person, but three completely different ways of being the same person.
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AustralianGuy
Guest
Yep, you’re totally right! I’ve come to realise over the previous posts that it is something I’ll never fully understand, at this point I’m now mostly interested in hearing what other ways people have to understand the trinity themselves. Like your human being example, that’s an example I haven’t heard before, it’s an interesting take on the whole thing
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