Introduction
The
Trinity is a concept that has baffled many, caused many to be deemed as
heretics, divided branches of the Church, and still remains confusing
today. There is a certain mystery to the
Trinity, which cannot be explained. In
thinking on the complexity of the difficulty in grasping the reality of the
Trinity, I experienced a certain cerebral frustration that reminded me of a
math class that I took in College. As I
studied Discrete Mathematics (basically math without numbers), I experienced a
certain cerebral jumbling especially as I contemplated the issues in relation
to infinity. We learned that there are
in fact different levels or degrees to infiniteness. Take for instance, a number line starting
with zero and going out to infinity. How
many numbers are on the number line? There is an infinite set of numbers on the
number line. But, suppose that the next
question has a number line that starts with negative infinity and proceeds to
positive infinity. The answer as to how
many numbers are on the line would still be an infinite set of numbers, but
this infinite set of numbers would have to be argued to be a larger infinity
than the first set. This endeavor then
progresses to the evaluation of numbers between two integers such as zero and
one; it has been mathematically proven that there are in fact an infinite set
of numbers between zero and one. The realm of mathematics progresses to an
understanding of countable and uncountable infinities.[1]
This
area of mathematics is still under discussion and exploration; I am far from an
expert on these things, but contemplating the trinity reminded me of
contemplating the differences in countable and uncountable infinities, and thus
the search for the largest infinity. I
believe this area of mathematics has a contribution to be made to the
understanding of the trinity. The
problem that many face in understanding the trinity is basically a mathematical
problem. How can there be three persons
who are fully God and yet there is one God?
How can three be one? As a side
note, infinity plus infinity plus infinity equals infinity. Through this essay I seek to outline that
there are in fact three persons, all three persons are fully God, and there is
one God while integrating an understanding of infinity in relation to God.[2]
God is Three Persons
While
never offering a concise definition of the trinity, Scripture does outline the
concept and it definitely demonstrates the three persons in several
locations. In Christ’s baptism there
seems to be the presence of all three at once, in one locality. After Jesus’ resurrection, he offers the
Great Commission in which he instructs to baptize, “in the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). While Jesus uses the
singular “name,” he lists the three persons.
Thus it could be said, “One God, three persons.” Passages such as 2 Corinthians 13:14 and
Ephesians 4:4-6 make mention of all three of the persons. These passages point to a difference in role
and work between the three. So, it
cannot be said that there is no difference between the three, because Scripture
clearly outlines different jobs that the three are performing in things such as
creation and redemption in many cases those jobs are happening simultaneously,
so the explanation that modalism offers falls short. Modalism tries to protect the oneness of God
at the expense of the three persons by claiming that there is one God that
takes on the three different modes. The
fact of the matter is that in role, function, and person the Father does not
equal the Son or the Holy Spirit nor does the Son equal the Holy Spirit. On the level of personhood the three are
mathematical inequalities.
Each Person is Fully God
Due
to the authority / submission structure within the Godhead, it is easy to think
of the Father as being God and the Son being kind of a mathematical subset of
God and the Holy Spirit being a subset that proceeds from the other two. The problem here lies in a fallen, sinful
perspective on authority / submission.
All three persons of the trinity are fully God therefore authority does
not come from possessing more power or being more perfect, authority comes from
love and submission within the Godhead.
The argument here lies in the fact that all three persons fully possess
every attribute of being God.[3] Let us examine individually the claim that
each person of the Godhead holds on being fully God.
There
is little contention about the fact that the Father is fully God. Matthew 6:9 points to this fact along with a
plethora of other passages. Debate has
arisen on the full divinity of the Son.
Matthew 1:23 points from his birth (the incarnation) to the fact that he
is God. Questions have arisen over the
eternality of the son. Was he “born” or
“begotten?” John 1 points to the eternal
existence of the Son alongside the Father.
He was “in the beginning” (John 1:1-14).
This would combat heresies such as Arianism claiming that there was a
time when the son was not, therefore making him less than fully divine because
he does not possess the trait of eternality from time past. Jesus does not correct Thomas when he bestows
upon Jesus the title, “My Lord and My God” (John 20:28).[4]
There
is some problem with full acceptance of the full divinity of the Son when one
considers passages such as Mark 13:32.
It appears that the son is limited in the area of omniscience. To understand the answer to this problem, one
has to understand the fact that son willingly submitted himself to being
limited in certain of his attributes in the incarnation. Much of this ties in with the study of
Christology beyond just the study of Trinitarianism, but it is interesting to
note the change in Christ’s answer to the same question after the resurrection,
once he would no longer be limited. In
Acts 1:7, Christ states that it is not for the disciples to know the date, he
no longer claims to not know the date himself.
This points to a willing submission of certain of his powers as the
incarnate Christ. A weak illustration
would be as follows: Say I have a friend that has an automobile that can only
turn left. Now say I am going to go
somewhere and that friend is going to follow me. I would have to plan my trip and only take
left hand turns to get to where we are going.
I am thus limiting myself and my driving to only being able to turn
left, but this does not mean in my essence or the essence of my vehicle that I
cannot turn right; I have simply limited my ability. This is to say that Christ’s abilities were
limited from the incarnation to the resurrection (or at least until the death
on the Cross), which does not mean that the person of the Son in the Godhead
does not possess and have in his essence all of the attributes of the trinity.
The
Holy Spirit probably has the least scriptural support for a claim of total
divinity. The best passage has to be
Acts 5:3-4 where lying to the Holy Spirit is equated with lying to God, thus
the Holy Spirit is God. In Hebrews the
Holy Spirit is accredited with making claims that the Old Testament accredits
God with making (Heb 10:15-17). Certain
attributes of God are accredited to the Holy Spirit in Psalms 139:7-8
(omnipresence) and 1 Corinthians 2:10-11 (omniscience). Which leads back to the mathematical analysis
of the concept of the largest infinity in relation to the trinity.
I
would like to propose that God possess the largest infinity of each and every
one of his attributes. So, to answer the
question how much love does God possess, God possesses the largest uncountable
infinite set of love. God’s wrath is
infinite; His justice is infinite; His knowledge is infinite; his presence is
infinite; his power is infinite; His freedom is infinite; His holiness is
infinite; His peace is infinite; His righteousness is infinite; His jealousy is
infinite; His goodness is infinite. Thus
I am claiming that to be God means to be in possession of the largest possible
infinity of every one of his attributes.
Therefore, as each person of the trinity is seen as being fully God, each
person of the trinity possesses the largest possible infinity of each and every
attribute. Which leads into the
discussion of the oneness of God.
There is One God
So
far no logical contradiction should be found with the claims that there are
three persons and that all three persons are fully God. There are however no shortage of passages
claiming that there is one God: 1 Timothy 2:5, Deuteronomy 6:4-5, 1 Corinthians 8:6, Isaiah 45:5-6, and James 2:19 to state a few. So it is well supported that the Bible
outlines three divine persons and yet only one God.
This seems on a mathematical level
to be a logical contradiction, unless the oneness of God is understood in his
essence or nature or the summation of his attributes. Here is where the discussion of the
infiniteness of God’s attributes comes to full light. If all three persons of the Godhead are in
equal possession of the identical attributes of being God and that essence is
the greatest infinite essence of being God then there is only one essence with
no distinction and therefore there is in essence or nature only one God. I would claim that instead of this being
illogical that in fact that it is the only logical conclusion that there is one
God if all three persons of the trinity are equal in their essence or the
possession of the greatest possible infinitude of the characteristics of being
God. Just because I draw a number line
twice representing the set of real numbers from negative infinity to positive
infinity does not mean that there are two different sets of numbers along these
lines in essence or nature, but in fact the numbers would be the same along the
two lines in essence and nature. The
only difference would be that there were two number lines that might serve
different purposes. To sum it up I am
proposing that if you consider together three person identical in nature,
essence, and attributes that those three persons would have to be considered
one in who they are as an essence, on this level there would be no way to distinguish
between them. The problem lies in the
fact that we have no representations of this kind of being outside of the
Godhead.
Conclusion
Through
this essay I have attempted to show that there are three separate persons who
are distinguished by their roles and actions, yet all three are fully God, and
by definition of being fully God they are one.
I would hold that to deny one of the three, full equality in an attempt
to preserve the oneness is to propose multiple Gods. For instance to hold that the Son does not
possess the largest infinite amount of the attribute of existence is to
actually fall into polytheism. For in
that case there would be a being, the Son, who possesses the largest infinite
amount of the majority of the characteristics that are held in definition by
God, but not all of the characteristics therefore making two separate
Gods. None of the persons of the trinity
can be in possession of a subset of one of the attributes and not possessing
the full maximum infinity of each and every attribute. I hold that there is no denying the existence
of the three persons or the full divinity of each of the three persons,
therefore the only logical conclusion is that the three are one in essence but
still three in person. Comment below and let me know what you think about the Trinity. I leave you with 2 Corinthians 13:14, "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all."
[1]
Susanna Epp, Discrete Mathematics with
Applications, (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Group, 1995).
[2]
Outline of three sections comes from: Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994), 231.
[3]
For an excellent explanation and defense of the authority and submission in the
Godhead see: Bruce Ware, Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2005).
[4]
Other passages in support of the divinity of Christ include Romans 9:5,
Philippians 2:5-6, and Hebrews 1.
