As we reach Trinity Sunday, the mainstream churches consider the nature of the One God as three persons: the Father, his Son, called Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. This concept is hinted at right at the beginning of the Bible when the Hebrew word 'elohim' is used for God in Genesis chapter 1, verse 1. Elohim is a plural noun, but here treated as singular, like a single 'flock' of many birds. Similarly, in verse 26 of the same chapter, God said, "Let us make man in our own image."
The Trinity is difficult for human brains to comprehend fully. Taken at face value it is just a matter of God having three parts, like humans are head, abdomen and legs, or body, mind and spirit. However, it becomes more difficult when, in particular, we realize that Jesus is a complete person in his own right who related to his Father and the Holy Spirit as other people (John chapter 14, verses 16 & 17), but also claimed to be the same as the Father, in particular (John chapter 10, verse 30). The Trinity then becomes a mystery, since there is only one God, but he is composed of three distinct persons.
The Trinity is a dynamic, happy dance of love and respect between the inseparable Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
The Universe, of course, reflects the nature of God in some ways. In particular, there are are some trinitarian examples in nature which help to give us some handle on the triune nature of God. One which I find especially helpful is the proton. We all come across these at school as the positively charged part of the nucleus of the atom. Protons can exist on their own and, as far as we know, if left to their own devices they will exist like that essentially forever. What is less well known is that each proton is made of three smaller particles called quarks. The special thing about quarks in a proton is that they cannot be separated under normal conditions. If we try to pull them apart the force holding them together gets stronger, rather than weaker in the case of most other collections of objects. The harder we pull at them, the more tightly they are held together, by things called gluons. Yet the proton is definitely made of three distinct quarks, which are actually quite small compared to the overall proton, while still being an indivisible proton that does what protons do.
The above is obviously a simplification, but true. In the same way, a simple explanation of the truth of the Trinity is that there is a single God made of three distinct persons who can never be separated. Theologians talk about the dance of the Trinity, which they call perichoresis - an everlasting loving, happy relationship of mutual respect, held together by constant communication. The amazing, and even devastating fact is that Jesus, who said that he had never been separated from his Father (John chapter 8, verse 29), was briefly abandoned by the rest of the Trinity as he died on the cross for our salvation (Matthew chapter 27, verse 46), but that is another story.
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