Will someone explain the Trinity?

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aball1035

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I know this much: 1 God, 3 separate persons being Father, Son, Holy Ghost who all are 100% God.

Am I right on this? Could someone explain how they relate or “interact” with one another? The Trinity’s very confusing to me.

References or quotes from past theologians would be appreciated 🙂
 
aball1035 said:
I know this much: 1 God, 3 separate persons being Father, Son, Holy Ghost who all are 100% God.

Am I right on this? Could someone explain how they relate or “interact” with one another? The Trinity’s very confusing to me.

References or quotes from past theologians would be appreciated 🙂
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Unfortunately, the official teaching is that it’s a mystery, therefore it can’t be fully explained. Here’s a sermon on the Trinity that has been helpful to me:

audiosancto.org/sermon/20050522-Feast-of-the-Holy-Trinity.html
 
Baptism. Para. 265: By the grace of Baptism “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” we are called to share in the life of the Blessed Trinity, here on earth in the obscurity of faith, and after death in eternal light (Cf. Paul VI, CPG § 9).

C. Para. 253: The Trinity is One. We do not confess three Gods, but one God in three persons, the “consubstantial Trinity” (Council of Constantinople II [553]: DS 421). 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 Father and the Son that which the Holy Spirit is, i.e., by nature one God” (Council of Toledo XI [675]: DS 530:26). In the words of the Fourth Latern Council (1215): “Each of the persons is that supreme reality, viz., the divine substance, essence or nature” (Latern Council IV [1215]: DS 804).

Para. 254: The divine persons are not really distinct from one another. “God is one but not solitary” (Fides Damasi: DS 71). “Father,” “Son,” “Holy Spirit” are not simply names designating modalities of the divine being, for they are really distinct from one another: “He is not the Father who is the Son, nor is the Son he who is the Father, nor is the Holy Spirit he who is the Father or the Son” (Council of Toledo XI [675]: DS 530:25). They are distinct from one another in their relations of origin: “It is the Father who generates, the Son who is begotten, and the Holy Spirit who proceeds” (Latern Council IV (1215): DS 804). The divine Unity is Triune.

nccbuscc.org/catechism/quizzes/trinity7.shtml
 
Catechism of the Catholic Church

B. Para. 246. The Latin tradition of the Creed confesses that the Spirit “proceeds from the Father and the Son (filioque).” The Council of Florence in 1438 explains: “The Holy Spirit is eternally from Father and Son; He has his nature and subsistence at one (simul) from the Father and the Son. He proceeds eternally from both as from one principle and through one inspiration. . . . And, since the Father has through generation given to the only-begotten Son everything that belongs to the Father, except being Father, the Son has also eternally from the Father, from whom he is eternally born, that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Son” (Council of Florence [1439]: DS 1300-1301).

D. Para. 238: Many religions invoke God as “Father.” The deity is often considered the “father of gods and of men.” In Israel, God is called “Father” inasmuch as he is Creator of the world (Cf. Deut 32:6; Mal 2:10). Even more, God is Father because of the covenant and the gift of the law to Israel, “his first-born son” (Ex 4:22). God is also called the Father of the king of Israel. Most especially he is “the Father of the poor,” of the orphaned and the widowed, who are under his loving protection (Cf. 2 Sam 7:14; Ps 68:6).
Para. 240: Jesus revealed that God is Father in an unheard of sense; he is Father not only in being Creator; he is eternally Father by his relationship to his only Son who, reciprocally, is Son only in relation to his Father.

nccbuscc.org/catechism/quizzes/trinity9.shtml
 
Catechism of the Catholic Church

Para. 200: The confession of God’s oneness, which has its roots in the divine revelation of the Old Covenant, is inseparable from the profession of God’s existence and is equally fundamental. God is unique; there is only one God: “The Christian faith confesses that God is one in nature, substance, and essence” (Roman Catechism I, 2, 2).

Para. 230: Even when he reveals himself, God remains a mystery beyond words: “If you understood him, it would not be God” (St. Augustine, Sermo 52, 6, 16: PL 38:360 and Sermo 117, 3, 5: PL 38, 663).
 
I guess that I am going to go off on a different tangent with the Trinity. (Please note I do not mean to downplay the mystery, but I like examples.)

The Trinity is like an egg: it is shell, albumen and yolk. Each is the egg, but they are all the egg together. Imperfect example, but tangible.

Also, water. There is water, ice and water vapor. Each exists together and separately at the same time.

I like the story of St. Augustine walking on a beach thinking how he can explain the Trinity when he sees a boy running from the water to a hole in the sand. As he comes closer, he notices that the boy has a cup of some sort and is taking the water from the sea to the hole. He approaches the boy and ask him what he is doing. The boy tells St. Augustine that he is taking the water from the sea and filling the hole. When St. Augustine tells the boy that he is attempting the impossible, the boy answers, “It is like trying to understand the Trinity.” Then the boy disappears.

Hope that helps. That and the fact that Catholics embrace the idea that we are not necessarily supposed to (or for that matter, that we can) understand God.
 
bnbkaine - thanks for posting that. I love it. 👍

We can also think about St. Patrick’s use of the clover to explain the Trinity. Three leaves, one plant.

When I went through RCIA, I was taught that the three are three aspects and manifestations of that which is GOD. This particular priest believed that the Holy Spirit was a very feminine aspect. I like that too.

I think quoting a lot of scripture perhaps makes a simple concept way too complicated. And as some wise ones on this thread have pointed out, the Church itself teaches that it is a mystery - you aren’t supposed to be able to fully grasp it, but you can ponder it and learn from it. 🙂
 
I like looking at a flame and seeing the multiple colors. You can have red, yellow, and blue all in ONE flame.
 
OR for you scientists: Proton, Neutron and Electron make up ONE Atom 👍
 
I would have to agree with the previous posters that the Trinity is a mystery of our Catholic faith. However, one metaphor that seems to work well with those new to the idea goes as follows:

“Open one of your hands and put it in front of you. How many fingers do you see?”

“Five.”

“And how many hands do you see?”

“One.”

One hand, and yet five fingers. One God and yet three persons. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

I hope this helps.

May God bless you and Mary keep you in her prayers always.

YinandYang
 
The priest that I know who recently spoke to a group of pre-K students at the parish school told me he described it to them as such:

See the tree outside the window?
It has roots, a trunk and branches.
It’s still one tree, not 3 trees. Without one of those, there would not be a tree.
So, of course the kids asked about the leaves.
He smiled and said, we’ll talk about that next year. Because I’ll need that much time to work on that. 😉

I like that guy. 👍
 
When Jesus spent his time on Earth, he would have lived by the greatest commandments, could these commandments be the greatest purpose of both God the Father and the Son?

Jesus loves God the Father with all his heart, mind, soul and strength.
Jesus loves each and every one of us as he loves himself.

God the Father loves Jesus the Son with all his heart, mind, soul and strength.
The Father loves each and every one of us as he loves himself.

Could God love us more than he loves himself?

Could the spirit be the power of God’s love, working through the perfection of the greatest commandments?

All the law and the prophets of God, hang on the greatest commandments, could the Trinity also hang on these commandments?

Before the creation of the universe began, could the greatest commandments possibly describe part of the trinity?

Is it possible that God’s purpose is for each and every one of us to have this Trinitarian relationship with each other?

Peace

Eric
 
Hereswith said:
When I went through RCIA, I was taught that the three are three aspects and manifestations of that which is GOD.
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The problem with expressing the Mystery of the Most Holy Trinity as “three aspects” or “manifestations” is that this leads to the heresy of Modalism, wherein God is not a Communion of Three Divine Persons, but merely expressions (of which there may be more) emanating from one God. This article more fully explains the heresy:

bringyou.to/apologetics/a63.htm

One of the best books for helping us learn more deeply (as one can this side of Heaven :)) of the revealed doctrine of the Trinity is Frank Sheed’s Theology for Beginners.
 
aball1035 said:
I know this much: 1 God, 3 separate persons being Father, Son, Holy Ghost who all are 100% God.

Am I right on this? Could someone explain how they relate or “interact” with one another? The Trinity’s very confusing to me.

References or quotes from past theologians would be appreciated 🙂
Click to expand...
I recommend the book Theology For Beginners by F.J. Sheed. It has an excellent chapter on the Holy Trinity and is an easy read.
 
bnbkaine said:
I guess that I am going to go off on a different tangent with the Trinity. (Please note I do not mean to downplay the mystery, but I like examples.)

The Trinity is like an egg: it is shell, albumen and yolk. Each is the egg, but they are all the egg together. Imperfect example, but tangible.

Also, water. There is water, ice and water vapor. Each exists together and separately at the same time.

I like the story of St. Augustine walking on a beach thinking how he can explain the Trinity when he sees a boy running from the water to a hole in the sand. As he comes closer, he notices that the boy has a cup of some sort and is taking the water from the sea to the hole. He approaches the boy and ask him what he is doing. The boy tells St. Augustine that he is taking the water from the sea and filling the hole. When St. Augustine tells the boy that he is attempting the impossible, the boy answers, “It is like trying to understand the Trinity.” Then the boy disappears.

Hope that helps. That and the fact that Catholics embrace the idea that we are not necessarily supposed to (or for that matter, that we can) understand God.
Click to expand...
Or like chicken soup: Soup stock, chicken and veggies. 😃

The flavors are intertwined, inseparable…you taste chicken in the vegetables, vegetables in the chicken, soup stock in both and both in the soup stock. Each part has its own flavor but all the flavors are in all the parts. Together they make the soup.

This is the theology of…

…wait for it…

…Chicken soup for the soul.

:doh2:

Sometimes analogies can be helpful in understanding the Trinity, sometimes they can be not so helpful. It’s helpful to me to understand that understanding it is beyond my understanding. 😃
 
Compendium of the Catechism:
  1. How does the Church express her trinitarian faith?
249-256
266

The Church expresses her trinitarian faith by professing a belief in the oneness of God in whom there are three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The three divine Persons are only one God because each of them equally possesses the fullness of the one and indivisible divine nature. They are really distinct from each other by reason of the relations which place them in correspondence to each other. The Father generates the Son; the Son is generated by the Father; the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son.
  1. How do the three divine Persons work?
257-260
267

Inseparable in their one substance, the three divine Persons are also inseparable in their activity. The Trinity has one operation, sole and the same. In this one divine action, however, each Person is present according to the mode which is proper to him in the Trinity.
 
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