In a previous article, I discussed the doctrine of the Trinity and how it is often seen as somewhat of an absurdity. However, this is far from reality as the doctrine of the Trinity is not some weird add-on. It is at the heart of the gospel and in everything that God does, for it is the very nature of God. It is the glory of the Christian faith and is drawn entirely from revelation.
The way we think about God makes a world of difference, for He is the ultimate reality that grounds all other realities. Therefore, it is important to make sure that we don't get it wrong. So here are four incorrect ways of thinking about the Trinity.
Tri-theism (three-godism)
Tri-theism is a teaching that says that God is actually three separate and distinct deities. Hence, it can be seen as a sort of 'three-godism'. Tri-theism is clearly a form of polytheism, the belief in multiple Gods. It is therefore an obvious incorrect way of thinking about the Trinity and is clearly never an option for Christians who affirm that there is only one God.
To adhere to tri-theism is to be unbiblical. The Bible plainly reveals that there is only one true God and condemns any form of idolatry. This can be clearly seen throughout the whole of the Old Testament in the history of Israel. Deuteronomy 6 verse 4 states clearly that there is only one God, "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one." Further emphasis is placed on the oneness of God through the condemnation of worship directed at other gods.
Most prominently, this can be observed in the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20 verse 3, "You shall have no other gods before me." It's clear that one of the core beliefs of the Israelite nation and the patriarchs of the Old Testament was that there was one God. This fact is unmistakably carried over to the New Testament as well.
In response to a scribe's question concerning the greatest commandment, Jesus quotes from Deuteronomy 6 and affirms monotheism in Mark 12 verse 29, "Jesus answered, "The most important is, 'Hear O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." Given the fact that God is one, it is evident that tri-theism is a misrepresentation of the doctrine of the Trinity.
Modalism (one god playing three roles)
During the AD 200s a school of thought called modalism emerged. Modalism is a Unitarian view of God, a view which denies the concept of God in three persons and sees God as a single person. Modalism denies that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are distinct persons but rather views them as different roles played by this one person who is God.
To use an illustration, the view of modalism is like one of those puppet theatres with someone behind a box holding up three little puppets. You can't see who is holding up the puppets and so you don't really know anything about that person behind the box. You're only interacting with the puppets. This is one of the reasons why modalism is wrong – according to this view God is revealed as Father, Son, Spirit, but none of them are the real God. Who He really is, is hidden from us. So we can't have an actually relationship with the real God, but only with his characters.
Early Church fathers like Tertullian spoke strongly against this view by appealing to Scriptural passages which point towards the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as being distinct persons. Such passages see the persons of the Trinity use the first personal pronouns ("I") and second person personal pronouns ("you") in addressing each other. Thus, they are distinguished from each other as they are not presented as a single person.
As Tertullian says, nowhere does the Scripture say, "I am my only beloved Son; today I have begotten myself." The Scripture says, "You are my Son; today I have begotten you." – Psalm 2 verse 7.
Arianism (there-was-when-the-Son-was-not-ism)
Arianism arose in the AD 300s and viewed that the Father is eternal while the Son came into being at some point. It reasoned that the Son was created by the Father before the beginning of the world. Thus the Son, being a created thing, is of a different nature to the Father. If we were to give Arianism a simple to understand name but slightly convoluted name, it could be called 'there-was-when-the-Son-was-not-ism'.
The main objection to Arianism is that it portrays Jesus, the Son, as a work of God – a creature who is part of creation. Clearly this is wrong because if we are worshipping Jesus, then we would be worshipping a created being, a creature. The Bible portrays the Son as having the same divine nature of the Father. This can be seen in Colossians 3 verse 19 where it says concerning Jesus, "For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell."
God-in-three-bits-ism
Finally, we have a view which sees the Father, Spirit, and Son as being parts of one whole God. This means that, none of them are fully God, but each a third of God – 33.333333% God. This is probably how a lot of Christians think about God. Let's call this view god-in-three-bits-ism.
This is definitely not how the Bible talks about God. As we saw from Colossians 3 verse 19, Jesus is not just partly God, but is fully divine. In the words of the American theologian Bruce Ware, "The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are not each one-third God, but each is fully God, equally God, and this is true eternally and simultaneously."
A Proper Understanding
Thus, now that we've completed our short tours of these four incorrect ways of thinking, we can arrive at the proper doctrine of the Trinity. To sum it up concisely:
1. There is only one God.
2. The Father is not the Son, is not the Spirit.
3. The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God.
The doctrine of Trinity in its proper form has immense and profound implications. It has implications from the grand to the minute, from the origins of the universe to your everyday personal life. It concerns the way God is.
Anton Zhang is studying aeronautics and arts at the University of Sydney, he is part of a family of four, his hobbies include music, hiking and fencing. He is an active part of the Christian youth work at the Padstow Chinese Congregational Church.
Anton Zhang's previous articles may be viewed at
www.pressserviceinternational.org/anton-zhang.html