8 of 12 Christian Basics: Trinity

The Christian faith asserts that God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. While the word “trinity” never appears in the New Testament, the word seems to have been in use to refer to the Christian conception of God by the early 13th Century, or perhaps as early as the 11th Century. 

This basic truth, although taught in the New Testament, is rejected by many in the religious world: Muslims, for example, sometimes protest that “3 does not equal one”; since God, Allah, is one, the Christian doctrine of the trinity is nonsense at best, and more likely heretical.

Still, the basic Christian truth is that God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. At his baptism (Luke 3:21-22), the Father spoke from Heaven, saying “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” At the same time, “the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove.” This is both a mystery and an essential part of the faith (see, for example, 2 Corinthians 13:14; Acts 2:24, 32, 3:15; John 10:17-18; and Romans 1:4, 8:11). It is truly a Christian basic.

Jesus referred to the trinity in his Great Commission, although the word “trinity” is never used in the New Testament.  It apparently is a key understanding about God, since new followers of Jesus are to be baptized “in the name” of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Jesus’s claim to deity was the reason he was executed (Mark 14:61-64). The Holy Spirit is the major player in the Book of Acts in the New Testament, after Jesus returns to the Father. The Holy Spirit is not a creepy, irrational aspect of the Christian faith. I’ve heard him referred to as “the living presence of Christ.” I find this phrase a useful perception of the Holy Spirit.

The idea of God as “three in one” is hard to understand, although we see a number of examples of three in one in nature. My book, Is Jesus Real? expounds on four examples from the natural world that are sometimes used to show that three in one is not irrational (pages 142-144).

Actually, three in one is completely rational. It shows why Jesus founded a community, the church. He, the Father, and the Holy Spirit live in all of eternity in a sublime community and we humans also are designed to live in community. Participating in the church is an essential part of the Christian faith and we are incomplete without it.

Note: This article is the eighth in a series of basics of Christian theology, from Jesus himself. He taught 12 basics of theology in his Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20). The twelve are: Jesus’s authority; Jesus’s divine compassion; heaven and earth; reason and faith; go; all nations; make disciples; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (the basic in this article); all that I have commanded; with you; surely; and the end of the age. The first article in the series is here. To follow all of the articles in the series, click on the word “Philosophical” at the beginning of any or the articles.

You can see the entire study on the 12 basics of Christian theology here.

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