The nature of a thing is the set of characteristics that define it. What is the nature of God? According to David Petts, it is in Jesus that God has revealed himself most fully. But the Bible also shows that God makes himself known as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This is what is called the Trinity.
An absent word, a present reality
The word “Trinity” does not appear in the Bible. In Latin, it is first found in Tertullian, at the beginning of the third century. It was coined to express in an orderly way what the New Testament shows without formulating it in those terms. It is not speculation, it is a way of accounting for the biblical witness.
God is not a physical person: “God is spirit” (John 4:24). Some theologians therefore speak of “hypostases” rather than persons, to avoid picturing him as a human being.
The notion is difficult to understand, it is true. But not understanding something does not prove that it is false. It only shows that we are limited, and that our words are too.
What the Bible shows
Several passages lead us to believe in a triune God:
- The baptism of Jesus (Matthew 3:16-17). The Son comes up out of the water, the Spirit descends like a dove, the Father speaks from heaven: “This is my beloved Son”. All three are present together.
- Peter’s confession (Matthew 16:16-17). Peter recognises Jesus as “the Christ, the Son of the living God”, and Jesus replies that it is the Father who revealed this to him.
- The command to baptise (Matthew 28:19). “Baptise them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” All three are placed on the same level, and under a single name, in the singular.
- The Son and the Father (John 5:19-23). The Son does what the Father does, gives life and receives judgement, “that all may honour the Son, just as they honour the Father”.
- The Spirit, the Helper (John 14:16-17 and 15:26). Jesus asks the Father to send “another Helper”, the Spirit of truth, who will bear witness about him.
Three gods?
This is a common objection, especially from Muslim believers: the Trinity would be a form of polytheism. The Christian answer is clear: no.
The Bible constantly affirms that there is only one God. “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one” (Deuteronomy 6:4). “Besides me there is no god” (Isaiah 44:6). Jesus himself takes up this confession (Mark 12:29), and Paul writes: “there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things […] and one Lord, Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 8:6).
But the New Testament also shows that this one God acts as Father, Son and Spirit. The theologian Karl Barth preferred to speak of “tri-unity” and of “modes of being”, because the word “person” can suggest three separate individuals.
The Trinity does not mean that there are three gods, nor that God is assembled from several individuals or from three substances. Each of the three persons is God, and together they are only one God. We say that they are consubstantial: they have one and the same substance, that of God.
The attributes of each person
The same divine attributes are found in each of them.
| Attribute | The Father | The Son | The Holy Spirit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Creator | Genesis 1:1 | John 1:3 | Genesis 1:2 |
| Almighty | Job 42:2 | Matthew 28:18 | Luke 1:35 |
| Present everywhere | Jeremiah 23:24 | Matthew 18:20 | Psalm 139:7 |
| Omniscient | 1 John 3:20 | John 21:17 | 1 Corinthians 2:10 |
| Eternal | Psalm 90:2 | John 1:1; 8:58 | Hebrews 9:14 |
The Holy Spirit is not merely a force. He is a person: he intercedes according to the will of God (Romans 8:27), he distributes his gifts “as he wills” (1 Corinthians 12:11), he can be grieved (Ephesians 4:30), he teaches, bears witness and guides into the truth (John 14:26; 15:26; 16:13).
Errors to avoid
- Tritheism consists in believing in three distinct gods. Saying that God is made of three separate personalities leads to it.
- Modalism claims that there is only one divine person, who appears sometimes as Father, sometimes as Son, sometimes as Spirit, like an actor changing masks. One then no longer believes in three persons, but in a single one in three forms. Yet at the baptism of Jesus, all three are present at the same time.
Another common error is trying to explain God with an image taken from our world. The Trinity is sometimes compared to an egg, with the shell, the white and the yolk. But none of these parts is an egg on its own. With God it is different: each person is fully God. All images have their limits.
Knowing our place
The Bible was not written to provide a complete system about God. Seeking to understand him is good and necessary. But we must not get lost, nor divide the Church, over philosophical debates that go beyond the biblical text and do not touch on salvation. The essential point, the dogma, is that there is only one God and that Jesus is God, who died for our sins. The more detailed explanations belong to doctrine.
Key points
- The word Trinity was coined to express a teaching present in the New Testament.
- The Bible strongly affirms that there is only one God, the Trinity is not polytheism.
- The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit each have the divine attributes, creator, almighty, present everywhere, omniscient, eternal.
- The Holy Spirit is a person, he thinks, wills, teaches and can be grieved.
- Two errors must be avoided, tritheism (three gods) and modalism (one God who changes roles).
To think about
- How would you explain simply to someone that Christians believe in one God?
- Does the fact that you do not understand everything about God worry you or reassure you? Why?
Further reading
- David Petts, You’d Better Believe It.
- Matthew 28:16-20
- John 14 to 16