The Trinity

What is the doctrine of the Trinity?

Don't Christians worship three different gods?

Could you explain it so it makes sense to me?

Central to the Christian belief system is belief in the Holy Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Many who are new to Christianity, and even some who have believed for quite some time have questions about the nature of the trinity. If Christians are monotheistic (believing in only one God), doesn't a trinity mean three gods?

There are many different analogies that have been used to describe the trinity. The first is one that I thought was very applicable until a short time ago; that of comparing the trinity to the three forms of water: liquid, gas and solid. That seemed logical to me when I first heard it. The solid, unchanging would be God the Father. The liquid would be Jesus Christ, symbolizing the fluidity of being both fully God and fully man. The gas would be the Holy Spirit, unseen, but present nonetheless.

Unfortunately, this analogy is not doctrinally sound. That particular analogy describes a common theological error known as Modalism; the belief that God, though one being, manifested Himself in the Bible in three forms or modes. The first mode would be the Father, the second the Son, and the third the Holy Spirit. The theological problem with this is that these three modes are presented consecutively rather than simultaneously. Trinitarians, those who believe in one God in three persons, recognize that the Trinity has existed since the very beginning. Genesis 1:1 starts off by saying “In the beginning, God created the Heavens and the Earth.” If we are to believe that God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit are truly one, the fact that we are told God created the Heavens and the Earth means that God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit created the Heavens and the Earth. To separate out the members of the Trinity, denying the others are present at the same time as one in particular, is denying God.

When sharing about the Trinity with new believers, a much more effective analogy is that of a candle. Picture the physical candle itself as God The Father. There are two other “persons” of that candle. First, we have the light that the candle gives off; just as Jesus Christ is the light of the world. Then we have the heat that the candle radiates, the Holy Spirit, which touches everyone and lets us know the candle is there. Notice that these three “persons” occur simultaneously. You cannot have one without the other. In this way, the persons of the Trinity cannot bes separated out. God is indeed one God in three persons.