Three and One
To some this may sound like secret code but to others it’s understood as the ancient reference to ‘The Trinity’! Apart from what God has revealed, much will remain mysterious as to how God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit can be three persons and yet one. Many have tried to explain this in simple terms – you may recall such examples as a three leaved clover or the three states of water in liquid, gas and ice. The featured tree trunk has three sections and yet is one – there is no metaphor that can adequately explain or help us fully comprehend ‘the Godhead’. Valiant though any attempts of ours may be from our finite end of the telescope, they will all fall short. Rather than being troubled about the hidden things, it is better to focus on what is known. ‘Trinity’ is not a word that appears in the Bible but it was first used by early theologian Tertullian. The theological understanding was finalized at the First Council of Nicaea in 325 AD after years of debate.
- ‘The Doctrine of the Trinity teaches that within the unity of the one Godhead there are three separate persons who are coequal in power, nature, and eternity’ – Walter Martin
- ‘God eternally exists as three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and each person is fully God, and there is one God’ – Wayne Grudem