Is this right?
Jesus is God (Godhead). All of it.
Same for the Father and Holy Ghost
But, Jesus is not the Father or Holy Ghost or a combination of the two.
The Father is not Jesus or the Holy Ghost or a combination of the two.
The Holy Ghost is not Jesus or the Father or a combination of the two.
Can someone a simple who’s who of the Godhead and how they relate?
The Trinity is difficult for beginners to comprehend because it is not analogous to anything in the physical world. Obviously among inanimate objects, nothing of this sort could be true. For instance, my chair, my left shoe, and my box of kleenex could not form a holy trinity or anything like it.
Better analogies that give us a partial understanding of the Trinity can be found at higher levels of being. For example, with a human person, the body, the mind, and the soul can be seen as a mirror of the Holy Trinity. Hence my body is my entire person, which is to say that everything I am is within my body, and when my body ceases to exist in this world then so do I. Likewise my mind is my entire person, which is to say that everything which constitutes my self is in my mind. Likewise my soul is my entire person, which is to say that all of my true essence is in my soul.
But, my body is not my mind or my soul or a combination of the two. My mind is not by body or my soul or a combination of the two. And my soul is not by body or my mind or a combination of the two.
Rather, the differences between the three are distinct and well-known. Each has certain properties, abilities, and types not seen among the others. For example, when you read this post you learn some of the things that go through my mind, but you learn nothing about my body. If you were in the same room as me you could see my body, but you would not nothing about what’s going through my mind.
So the Holy Trinity is like that. Jesus Christ contains the entirety of God, but has properties and abilities different from the Father and the Holy Spirit. Similarly the Holy Spirit contains the entirety of God, but has properties and abilities different from those of the Son and the Father.
(Like all analogies, this one is imperfect and should not be pursued too far. If you want to learn more about the Holy Trinity, there’s no shortage of writing on the subject.)
It’s like water that occurs in liquid, steam, and ice form (thanks Religilous).
I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together.
Shit, if **Jesus Harold Christ **himself doesn’t understand this, how can the rest of us?
Nope, that’s the heresy of modalism.
I can give a couple metaphors, but we must understand that the metaphors are NOT God. They do not, and cannot, encompass God. They can only help you begin to understand God.
God can be likened to water. Water can be a part of the great and mighty and mysterious ocean, with depths we men can hardly even experience, let alone fathom, and bursting with life in forms and fashions we can barely comprehend, and yet giving rise to all things, ultimately. The sea is always in motion, yet appears to always be the same.
Jesus can be likened to the rivers which flow throughout the world. It flows out of the earth and rain and down to the sea. It brings water to deserts and wastelands alike with forests and plains. It is mighty and roaring, yet more approachable than the sea. The river, if anything, is even more in motion than the sea, yet is only the same river because it is in motion.
The Holy Spirit is like the rain, and just as the river goes where the sea is not, it comes to everyone, everywhere, often in srange or unexpected forms (snow, etc.)
The waters can be dangerous is we seek to sail them unprepared. They buoy us up and make up he greatest part of our being, yet we cannot glut ourselves with without harm. We are not they, but they support us and enable us to live. And of course, the waters themselves are al the same, with the same essence and being. Yet they are seperated, divided, yet interwoven and inseperable. The same, and always different at once.
Again, understand that this is not the thing. It’s simply the best expression I can find of what the thing is like. God is not p[recisely one thing, nor is he many things, but He is one and many at once.
How many Catholics does it take to change a light bulb?
Three! But, they’re really only one.
What you are saying is that God is existence,not a being but Being.
Monavis
You have confused him with Jesus Haploid Christ.
Thou Art God?
The Trinity is like a mustard seed…
Some Christian groups do not believe in the Trinity. Jehovah’s Witnesses think was Jesus was a god, but not The God, and the Holy Spirit is God’s acting force.
I don’t understand it at all.
Nobody understands it. Nobody’s ever understood it.
There’s a very old story in Catholic lore that says St. Augustine was walking along the beach contemplating the Mystery of the Trinity when he saw a small boy who had dug a hole in the sand. The boy kept going to the ocean and carrying water to the hole over and over again. St. Augustine asked him what he was doing and the boy replied, “I’m going to pour the entire ocean into this hole”. St. Augustine said “That’s impossible! That hole is too small!” The boy said, “And so is trying to pour the meaning of the Mystery of the Trinity into your tiny human mind!” The boy disappeared and St. Augustine realized he’d been talking to an angel.
Which just proves that it’s never actually been understood except in the most superficial way. If anyone here can do better than 2000 years of the greatest thinkers of the Church, have at it.
I am not a believer myself, I’m just noting that it’s a doctrine that is inherently irrational and therefore not wholly understandable.
Following up on what **jayjay **said:
Perhaps it should be pointed out that trinitarianism is not a peculiarity of Roman Catholicism but is a hallmark of Orthodox and mainstream Protestant theology as well. Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, and other non-trinitarian sects* are viewed as heretical by many Christians who see belief in the trinity as the bedrock of their faith.
This is of course a gross generalization, but Roman Catholics seem comfortable with mystery being a part of faith while Protestants want faith and reason be one, so Catholics may emphasize the trinity more, but that doesn’t mean it’s any less a part of Protestant doctrine.
I see the Trinity as being different representations of the same being. The same as I’m a daughter to my parents, a wife to my husband, and a Doper to all of you, so does the Trinity represent the different aspects of God that He encompasses. God is creation, Jesus is salvation, the Holy Spirit is the divine love that He has for all of us. None of them (or even all of them together) are all that there is to Him–the Trinity is just us trying to understand the nature of God the best that we can.
Did you consider “Jesus H X”? It would have scrunched the front page less, for one thing.
As to the trinity, to understand it you must ask a triangle. Here’s the story of a tiny little man who came upon a giant billiard rack. The little man could see only the corner facing him because the wall of the rack was so tall that it went up way way high up in the sky.
“I am the father,” said a voice from the corner.
“The father?”, said the tiny man. “You look like a corner to me. But you’re so big, I can’t tell how many corners there are that share your shape. I can see two walls extending from you, so there must be at least two more besides yourself. So tell me, how many more besides you.”
The ground quaked underneath the feet of the little man as the giant billiard rack began to rotate. When the next corner came around, it said, “I am the son.”
“Well, you look just like the other corner.” The little man let out a sigh of impatience. “Just keep going, and let me see the next corner.”
Again, the little man struggled to stand steady as the ground beneath him shook. The next corner arrived in front of him.
“I am the holy spirit,” it said.
“But you look just like the other two to me. Move along, please.”
And so the rack turned a final time.
“I am the father.”
“Ah so,” said the tiny man. “Are you the same father as the one before?”
“I am.” (c.f. John 8:58)
“Then you’re a triangle!” the little man exclaimed.
“That I am.” (c.f. Exodus 3:14)
“I hope I can remember this,” the little man said.
“I will always remind you.” (c.f. John 14:26)
But, do triangles exist?