So, Yesterday was Holy Trinity Sunday.
I'll bet you're a heretic!
"What?"-you say. Yes indeed. I'll bet what you've been taught about the Trinity (you know-it started with your education in Sunday School when you were a kid, but was never corrected) is heresy.
Here, watch... you ever had the Trinity described thusly:
Yea, the Most Holy Trinity is like unto water... it doth come in three forms; a solid, a liquid, and a gas. Yet in these three appearances there exists but one essence, H2O. Yea this is like unto the Most Holy Trinity. God does come in the form of three, Father, Son and Holy Spirit... yet behind each form there exists but one true God.
How 'bout this one: The trinity is like an egg -- there are three parts to an egg; the shell, the white, and the yolk. But they are all parts, three parts that make up one egg.
The thing with these common descriptors of the Holy Trinity is that they are examples of heresies. This first is called "Modalism". Modalism is the understanding that God is really ONE, but appears under the guise of THREE. There is ONE God, but appearing in (this case) THREE different modes. It's like having the ONE God appearing behind the mask of The Father, then later appear behind the mask of The Son, then at a different time appear behind the mask of The Holy Spirit, yet all the while being ONE God behind the three masks.
The other example of the egg sees the Trinity as "parts", that together form God... like an engine: By THEMSELVES, the parts aren't the engine, but TOGETHER they make the engine. But that's not "doctrine" either!
The doctrine of the trinity is this: there is ONE God, but that God is composed of THREE different, distinct and individual persons.
How does that sound to you? Weird huh! See, to us, that sounds not right. To us God is ONE, not THREE. Sure, God APPEARS as THREE, but it really is just ONE God... right?!?!?
That's very close to tri-theism, isn't it?!?! And I'm sure NOT a tri-theist! I believe in the ONE God! Just like in the Creeds!
Here's the thing... the early church believed the same thing. But they just couldn't get around the idea that, to them, in the scriptures and the apostolic teachings, God DID seem to be composed of three; Father, Son and Holy Spirit.So was it ONE God in three "modes"... or was it THREE Gods? Well, it couldn't be three Gods, because we're just not tri-theistic, so what alternative did that leave them? God was communal. God is God in community! Here's another more right-brained way to see this. The God-energy is in a constant cosmic dance of the universe. This God-energy is dancing the dance of creation and redemption, dissolution and light. But this God-energy is not done alone! This dance is done in community. It is my learned (and non-cynical) perspective that for all the faults (and limited visions) these early church leaders may have had -- and I'm sure they had some, as compared to us modern "enlightened" people -- they really were trying to understand this God better, trying to make sense of the bible stories, and the stories of the apostles. And they kept coming back to this idea that somehow, some way, God (later to be called the "God-head") was made in community among the three persons.
However, let's get back to us...Here's my take on this: If however you understand God works for you- helps you be a person of faith, a person that makes a difference in the world, a person living the life Christ has called you to -- if understanding the trinity as H2O, or an egg... then pick a heresy and move on. Now-a-days there are no doctrine police coming looking for heretics to burn at the stake anymore (thank God). If how you understand God works for you (within reason - there are some very destructive theologies out there, and some strange ones - if you believe God is a rock calling you to watch TV from noon until 7:00, well I guess all bets are off) then that works for you.
Responses? Write something and post it. Let's talk!
3 comments:
Adam Pastor,
Thanks for your message. I've seen a little over a quarter of the video so far.
If it's true that Jesus was a good Jewish boy, then it would follow that Jesus "believed" in that most fundamental and holy of Jewish prayers -- the Sh'ma. That would make sense.
So what about the trinity? Heard this before..."It sounds confusing, but we just have to believe it in faith... it's part of the mystery of God." On my non-cynical days I say that the early church DID see something different in Jesus. So much so that they had to explain it. Did they use Greek (or pagan) philosophy? No doubt. But would we have expected otherwise? That's who they were -- Greek Christians influenced by classical and perhaps pagan philosophies.
But remember there were more theologies about Jesus back in the first few centuries after jesus died than there are today.
It's true that the word trinity is not in the bible. But the church has used the bible to make the case for Trinity almost since the beginning. The early church leaders weren't trying to invent something out of whole cloth. They were trying to explain somethign they kept seeing in the narrative story of the bible and the person of God.
Yes Judaism is VERY Monotheistic (i.e. No trinity there). But... although Jesus was a good jewish boy... Christians aren't Jews! We should honor and respect Judaism as an important religion. But the truth is, Judaism and Christianity are diferent religions... related in some ways. Certainnly Christianity started from its roots in Judaism, but at this point (and certainly after 325 C.E.) they are two distinct religions. Although Christianity and Judaism share some things, and we respect each other (hopefully), we should not pretend that we're "new" Jews. Judaism stands on it's own right- as it should, and Christianity stands on it's own right as well.
And one of the differences is Christianity (as witnessed in the world since 325) witnesses God in this way - the trinity.
Now... do you have to agree? No! This is America. You can believe what you want. Christianity as a whole should respect your right to believe how and what you want to believe. But the reverse is true as well.
But here's the "rubber-meets-the-road" place -- How does the way YOU understand God make a difference in your life? Does understanding God the way you do change how you see the people of God in the world? Does it make you a person of compassion, of holiness, of honor?
How does how you understand God impact how you live on this earth?
It's amazing how we can all argue (or discuss/disagree) over every single point of religion. The form of God, his prophets, whether or not there was a Son of God, and on and on and on. We argue so much that we forget the one thing we all seem to agree upon--the most important thing of all--the LOVE OF GOD. Does it matter what God is (as if we even have the capacity to truly understand it anyway); or is it more important to follow the teachings of what God stand for and know we are loved by God and that we are supposed to love others the same way? And then follow through on that and DO love others, which means we would treat them with respect. But if we spend our time bickering over the details, we'll use up our energies on just that...bickering and arguing....when we COULD be out bettering ourselves (and I mean spiritually) and helping others. This is a classic strategy to keep a large group of people from banding together and becoming stronger. Make them argue small points and pull them apart so they don't realize their full potential.
Now I'm not saying that there is no purpose in trying to find the truth; but then again, can we really ever know the real truth? And is that the point of religion anyway?
Personally, I'm going to follow in the teachings and try to better myself and help those around me and maybe make the world a little better. But most of all I'm going to let God worry about what he looks like, and whether or not he's 3 in 1 or 1 of 3 or whatever. If he thinks it's that important, maybe he'll let me know.
One word for you Karen -- Heretic!!! LOL
Hey- don't bust my chops here. I'm trying to get the ball rolling. Wanna discuss? Go for it.
It seems "theological" stuff has has lost its impact. Centuries ago, people would have burned others at the stake for what we're talking about... whether we should spend time talking about this stuff or not. in fact "on this date in history..." in 1431 Joan of Arc was burned at the stake for heresy.
Is this a thing many of you think? Fighting over the finer points of doctrine is okay, but I don't get very excited about it. You're welcome to believe what you want within reason (i.e. so long as you're not hurting anyone, etc).
Is "doctrine" becoming less and less important to people now-a-days?
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