holy trinity egg analogy

holy trinity egg analogy

If you looked at a single cloverleaf, you wouldnt call it a shamrock. The Unseen Father is in Christs mind. Just like an egg, none of the parts are co-equal, nor are all of the parts necessary for the egg to exist. Analogies often fall short. Many of us would use analogies to explain the Trinity. H2O can only ever be one form at a time. There was no relational deficiency that prompted God to create us. The egg shell is the image of the yolk and the white. Likewise we cannot have the Father or His Spirit without the Son I am the Way the Truth and the Life, no one comes to the Father except by Me- John 14:6. But remember, it is much better to let Scripture teach the 3 points above which establish the doctrine of the Trinity than to rely on analogies. In the same way is God being the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.. This means there is a sense in which all 3 persons may act or speak as one. God does not play three roles.. We believe that it is a revelation that comes from Christ Himself. Analogies for the Trinity exist to explain the unexplainable. in that while water can change into vapour or ice, Jesus cannot change into the Father or the Holy Spirit. When we think about influential New Testament leaders, most names are male. However, keep in mind that the one being who is God is a personal being. Lost will be burned up. They say that three separate beings exist 2. Light comes from God. The Spirit white is connected to Jesus Person I will come to you (John 14:18) and the Fathers Person, We will come to him and make our abode with him (John 14:23). But Hes God too, right? There's a simple reason they don't work: The Trinity, as such, isn't like anything in creation. The trinity is a like a Three-Leaf Clover. Therefore the eternal brightness shines forth before Him, and co-exists with Him, in that, existing without a beginning, and always begotten, He always shines before Him; and He is that Wisdom which says, I was that wherein He delighted, and I was daily His delight before His face at all times.. and Holy Spirit are only parts of God (egg and sun). And when the time comes when death is allowed to crack your shell in its final hour and your believing soul is released; the Spirit of God that holds you will carry you in His arms to your heavenly home because In My Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I'm always interested in ways to encourage you, so feel free to contact me and let me know what areas interest you! Time Analogy God is like time. Often these analogies explicitly teach heresy. It is still H20, but just different forms. Some think of God as H 2 O, which is sometimes a solid (ice), sometimes a liquid (water), and sometimes a gas (steam). For them, a person is someone who could relate to another. The more I reflect on Easter, the more Ive realized how much its become a consumeristic holidayeven Did Jesus really rise from the dead? The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are each called Jehovah (or Spirit of Jehovah), given divine attributes, and are distinguished from one another. God is not made up of 3 parts like the 3 parts of the egg. Revelation 4:3 And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. That would not be had God be three persons. Answer (1 of 25): Cynics assert that the idea of the Holy Trinity is a logical impossibility. Who is God? Here's a look at six explanations for why so many people truly believe 3 Ways to Experience The Good Life in Jesus. When we see them as three individual spirits, (God is one Spirit John 4:24), then that is the blasphemy of polytheism which is the worship of more than one God. 5And there are varieties of ministries and the same Lord. The Gospel is theperson, work, and message of Jesus Christ that provides salvation to all repentant believers. So, I shot down a lot of images that seems to be pretty helpful. Arianism denies the deity of each person in the trinity. (Describing God as LOVE is my favorite way of understanding the Trinity. John 17). All Rights Reserved. Believing in the above 3 points leads all Christians to acceptance of the doctrine of the Trinity. Now God can be in you by His Spirit! For example, we know that God didnt create humanity because He bored or lonely. Or, we can quote Daniel Webster; a strong Christian- I do not pretend fully to understand the arithmetic of heaven now. . His ways are not my ways! I think the analogy of the Sun works well. But theres one problem: the water analogy is not the biblical picture of God. In using analogies, we need to acknowledge the demerits and limitations of the said analogy. . There is what is called the 'triple point' the combination of pressure and temperature at which H2O can exist simultaneously in all three states: solid, liquid and gas. Examples of these different roles would be: The Incarnation: Only the Son became incarnate, took on flesh. God is much bigger and much greater than we can understand, and to be honest, I'm ok with that. Jesus, visually seen, judges all, not the Unseen Father. Here are a couple "usefully flawed" analogies for the Trinity. Trinity is like a Shamrock (or an Apple or an Egg). But it cant be that way with God. The Holy Trinity, one of the five Dogmas of the Church, is an extraordinary and unfathomable mystery. Which ones have you heard? Similarly, people have used the example of the apple in the same way- skin, flesh, and seeds. This analogy actually teaches the heresy of tritheism. My interview: https://www.readlotswritelot.com/wp/podcast/episode-21-john-k-adams/, More from Catholicism for the Modern World, https://www.readlotswritelot.com/wp/podcast/episode-21-john-k-adams/. At the Cathedral, we recognize that there are responsibilities that come with . The Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Spirit is God. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. (Luke 1:35)One of my Sunday School students said, "How could Jesus (God) enter Mary's stomach (womb) and be born? But we cannot do that (assuming we can) with God. And we know that because Hes been experiencing perfect love within Himself forever. It is not existing as 3 different parts (persons) at the same time. God does not just change forms but exists as three persons in unity. Yet we do not have three gods but ONE God. He also knows how to perfectly love us. The three distinct notes come together to make one beautiful sound. Further, his dialectic is guided by the particular consideration of what true love is: a trinity of lover, beloved and the love that binds . Few topics of discussion in the Christian faith are more confusing than the idea of the Trinity. The problem here is it describes each part of the Trinity as 1/3 parts of the overall egg. Father, Son, and Spirit are each fully God (their own egg)- not fractions of one. We can say that the first is egg the shell, the second is egg the albumen and the third is egg the yoke. The trinity is Like a man who is a father, husband, and son. Sure enough, one member answered Well Ive heard that the Trinity is like water: water can be liquid, gas (steam), or solid (ice), but its still the same water. You are an egg! A good example would be an electrical cord. And let us once more come to illustrations. So under modalism, God acts as the Father in the Old Testament, the son in the Gospels, and the Spirit in Acts and the Epistles. The yolk represents Gods Person, His Being, and His Holiness which generates Light that no man can approach (I Timothy 6:16). You can throw away one part of an egg (e.g., shell) and still have essentially an egg. Sending of another: The Father sends the Son, and both the Father and Son send the Holy Spirit. So, in God, there are three distinct persons. Three Gods or one? Born in England in 1961, Benjamin Waterhouse Benjamin Waterhouse has been the organist of the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity since 2000. Although he is one he has different roles to different people. Similarly, light and heat are simply creations of the sun, yet it is the heresy of Arianism to claim that the Son or Spirit are mere creations of the Father. Devils cannot grab ahold of them to cast them into Satans prison. Haydn Lea is an Ordained Minister, and is currently serving as an Air Force Chaplain in Adelaide. Time exists as 3 things: past, present, and future. Each one is fully 100% God. He taught that the son was at one point created by God the father. Jesus is the Holy Spirit that saves us. There have been many attempts to explain the Trinity the relationship between God the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. If the Sun existed from eternity past then so were the light rays from the Sun. Studying the Trinity poses difficulty to us Catholics. But they are one God. Have you wondered what is God like? When we view the egg in its entirety we have the Biblical Trinity, One that is Three. Each Person in the Trinity (or the Godhead) is fully God and fully a Person. In humans, our spirits are designed to operate with and be united to the soul which is the person of anyone and so it is with our Egg. They suggest that only one God exists but this God transforms or morphs into each of the different persons Let's begin with the second view. The Unseen Father keeps the Father that is seen, alive. The trinity is not a contradiction, but a paradox. This is the one I used long ago when trying to explain the Trinity to a group of 1st-5th graders. When we use analogies, we need to indicate these things so as to not lead to heresies, A Catholic and Filipino writer interested in theology, philosophy, liturgy, politics, and law. Jonathon serves as a lay pastor at Gospel Life Church in New Braunfels, TX and currently works as the IT Manager for a non-profit ministry. This analogy is still not perfect because each of the aspect cannot stand as egg like each of the persons in the trinity can stand as God. Yet it appears to be almost entirely misunderstood within contemporary evangelical circles. The military would end up destroying themselves. God is much bigger than what we can understand yet He is close enough to us so that we can know some things about Him, though not completely and not everything. Some people falsely claim the Trinity is a form of . 1A) Dave is a son of Graham and Lois Armstrong. But understanding the Trinity is important. This analogy is an invalid comparison to the Trinity and is a heresy called PARTIALISM. . This is not an exhaustive list: For further reading on the Trinity, I would recommend James Whites The Forgotten Trinity, Wayne Grudems Systematic Theology and online articles by CARM.org. Our God is three in one. The Trinity is not 1 + 1 + 1 butmore like 1 x 1 x 1.You can throw away one part of an egg (e.g., shell) and still have essentially an egg. But you cannot be broken when your faith is in Jesus, for the Spirit of the Son that lives in us and gives us the voice through which we cry Abba, Father, (Galatians 4:6,) this Spirit of the Father that dwells within you is there to strengthen, protect and guard your person. Some people have suggested using an egg to explain how God can be both one and three. As a doctrine (belief), the trinity is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as three separate and distinct persons united in one being- God. He is married to Shamsa Lea, is the father of Amira, and loves running, boxing and studying history and theology. The doctrine of the Trinity is one of the primary tenants of the Christian faith. THE TRUTH IS: The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are not three different parts or components of God, but the . The white of an egg is the connection between the yolk and the shell. The Latin word for trinity (trinitas) combines two words- unitas (unity) and trias (three). As we examine the scriptural witness we see three truths that make up the doctrine of the trinity. What does that really mean? In reality, I change my role depending on who I am interacting with. In an attempt to explain the Trinity, there are some bad examples people use, and some better ones. God is Great, I always try to figure out how to explain it to my Sunday school kids and they get confused which i get, how would you explain it to them? It does not imply Jesus was created if you emphasize that the Sun existed from eternity past. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are each called Jehovah (or Spirit of Jehovah), given divine attributes, and, (usually there is no argument that the Father is not God, since every place Jesus speaks to God, he is addressing the Father.). document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. He is one God who expresses Himself in three modesFather, Son, and Spirit. He can even be all three at the same time. Likewise we cannot have the Father or His Spirit without the Son I am the Way the Truth and the Life, no one comes to the Father except by Me- John 14:6. The three parts create a unified whole. But, when it's heated, it turns into a gas (steam) and, when it's frozen, it turns into a solid (ice). Hello busy women! God is like H2O in that the Bible may refer to a specific person of the Trinity but that person is still God. But based on what you know that Jesus is born so that He can save people from their wrongdoings, will you trust Him to forgive you. We worship one God who exists in three persons. These two analogies are the "water" analogy and the "egg" analogy. So much of what we know about what God does is wrapped up in who He is. The egg analogy is very simple but it is OK to show something as simple as an egg can be one and yet three. If the sun exists, there is also day; if nothing of this be manifest, it is impossible that the sun should be there. This description that all persons are fully God is called the Ontological Trinity. Bach, and has released two previous CDs, one . To the other major monotheistic faiths (Islam and Judaism), it is rank heresyTrinitarianism is therefore definitional to Christianity. In some ways, it resembles the tritheism view (Misunderstanding 2). God is like an egg in that He is 3-in-1 God the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ) and the Holy Spirit. Jesus is the visual form of God. The Father sends the Son, and both the Father and Son send the Holy Spirit. I think the illustration that represents the Trinity most accurately is the egg example. Despite its potential obscurity, Trinity Sunday is a great occasion for me to revisit an old article on the Trinity. If we separate them we still may have God the Egg yolk, God the Holy Spirit Egg white and God the Son, the Egg shell/image, three individual parts of an Egg, but they cannot be a Trinity, or tri-unity unless they are unified and are seen as one Egg, so to speak. Yet the orthodox view is that each person of the Trinity is fully divine. An egg has a shell, white, and yolk, but these three are part of an egg or Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao but the same Philippines. God is NOT like H2O in that He does not need the right pressure and temperature to exist as three persons. As a result the water molecule must change forms. Here are a few common illustrations: The Egg- One egg has three parts: shell, whites, and yolk. I bet I havent sung or heard this song in years! So if all of these explanations are heretical, what is a good analogy? That is heaven in a person. This is why Jesus said, He who has seen Me, has seen the Father (John 14:9). Space Analogy God is like space. He began to play the organ as a chorister in England, before continuing his studies in Qubec and France. An analogy illustrates that in a similar way, one shamrock can have three leaves on it, and the trinity has three persons that comprise one God. According to the first, just as water takes three forms (liquid, vapor, and ice), so too God takes the form of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But you cannot be broken when your faith is in Jesus, for the Spirit of the Son that lives in us and gives us the voice through which we cry Abba, Father, (Galatians 4:6,) this Spirit of the Father that dwells within you is there to strengthen, protect and guard your person. Love was not given to Jesus. He explains why the doctrine of the Trinity is essential to the gospel even if it seems abstract or confusing, highlights why all analogies and metaphors are of limited value when thinking about the Godhead, and responds to the . If the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are three separate beings, then its not really clear how someone can say that God is one or that only one God exists. Depth isnt the same thing as height and height isnt the same thing as width, yet all three together are what comprise space. Yet God lovingly chose to create and eventually redeem us anyway (both thoroughly Trinitarian acts), at great cost to Himself. Unfortunately, an analogy from the limited realm of creation may not be sufficient in explaining Gods nature. I go to prepare a place for you. Its hard to explain! Perhaps youve heard the analogy that the Trinity is like H2O (the molecular symbol for water). The trinity is an essential doctrine to the Christian faith. (Which I just found out is in error). The problem with this analogy is that it would imply that there is only one Divine Person, who eventually multiplied Himself. . And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there you may be also (John14:2, 3). Each one is fully 100% God. That is why Moses said. Some have used examples such as water, watermelons and eggs; the principle behind those illustrations is that even though each thing is one, it is also three. This is a quick way to describe the doctrine of the Trinity namely, God is 1 being (the, is Gods nature, essence, being) and 3 whos (the, being Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). They suggest that only one God exists but this God transforms or morphs into each of the different persons. In scripture we see explicit trinitarian references, especially at Jesus' baptism where the Father speaks, the Spirit descends, and the Son is in the water. If you're looking to dive deeper into God's word, here are 6 kinds of bible study tools and resources 9 Influential Female Leaders in the New Testament. The idea that the Trinity can be compared to a shamrock is largely attributed to St. Patrick. Eggs are one, yet comprise yolk, shell and albumen. The egg analogy fails because it denies that each person of the Trinity is of the same eternal essence. Proof texting is when we cite a bunch of bible verses to support a theological stance. copyright 2009 by H.D. While it captures the idea that God is one, it doesnt do such a good job of showing how God is three and one at the same time. We recommend you adhere these emblems to your vestments by mounting on the material with fabric glue and then stitching them . Thus the Father is in Jesus " I and My Father are One" (John 10:30), "The Father is in Me" (John 14:10) God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself (II Corinthians 5:19). The Trinity are three distinct persons who exist apart from each other. History, lifestyle, family, music, theology, scripture, literature, the saints, church history, parenting, politics, prayer, the pope, and more. If you only had an apple core, you wouldnt pack it in your lunch. Its impossible to be an Orthodox Christian without professing belief in the Triune nature of God. But its all water. THE DISTINCTION AND UNITY of the Trinity is not for us to fully understand because it is a supernatural mystery. H2O can exist as a solid, a liquid and a gas but they are all still H2O. Each person is fully the one God, but is also distinct. Heat it up, and it turns to vapor. In Biblical Trinitarianism we can never have one without the other because they are one Spirit; each is the totality of the other which means we cannot have the Holy Spirit without the Father and the Son, We will come (into the believer through the Holy Spirit, John 14:23), and we cannot have the Son without The Father whose Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the Father (Matthew 10:20). show me your glory. The Unseen Father is in Christs mind. The shortfall of this illustration, and others like it, is that God cannot be divided into "parts." Also, the egg is made up of three distinct and unalike parts. These three persons - Father, Son and Holy Spirit - exist together in complete unity, with no separation, as one divine being. The Father is fully God; Jesus is fully God and the Holy Spirit is fully God. The early church labeled this view "tritheism". When we look at the egg as an example of the Trinity, we must view it in its entirety. The Father is fully God; Jesus is fully God and the Holy Spirit is fully God. Theyve transformed. FOR CENTURIES, the Church had fought against heresies on the Trinity. A good example would be an electrical cord. Share your thoughts with us in the comments! When we separate them we can fall into the error of tritheism, which is the worship of three individual deities as one. If you say, "Jesus Christ" then you MAY BE incorrect. We Christians believe it on faith. Each PERSON is distinct from one another. And for a mere mortal to have dared invent it and be able t. Admittedly, the idea of three distinct persons/expressions that are each fully God is part of the mystery. In other words, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have a unique and unbreakable unity, and their existence together is the being that is God. That fire keeps devils away from the saved. The Trinity is distinct in their roles and individuality, but united in their attributes of love, mercy, holiness, knowledge, etc. The Holy Spirit and Son do not send the Father. All Scripture is taken from the NIV version unless otherwise specified, Author Ignace Franz, translated by Clarence A. Walworth. Adorn your liturgical vestments with classic images from the Monastery Icons collection. When they used the word person, they didnt mean it in the same way that we do today. Notice the distinction between persons and being. This analogy actually teaches the heresy of modalism. Now if any man has not the Spirit of Christ, he is not His" (Romans 8:9). But we cannot do that (assuming we can) with God. This is because the H20 is changing forms in representing each person. To put it simply, "The problem with using analogies to explain the Holy Trinity is that you always end up confessing some ancient heresy." . It can also be a liquid and called water. The Trinity is a concept that is impossible for any human being to fully understand, let alone explain. Take a moment and give it a try. In trying to describe what they saw in the pages of the Bible, the early church decided to use the word person to describe the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Another analogy that Tim remembers, being Irish Catholic, is the analogy of the shamrock with its three parts. This analogy denies the unity of the God-head. So cool that God imparted that song in your mind and heart before you even wrote this blog post! 2. It became real to me because I have experienced His love, grace, guidance, redemption, conviction of sin, and fellowship that comes from Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Through the brokenness of the Shell, His Son, the Spirit white pours out into our beings through our faith in what was done and believers are joined with the yolk, for it is by One Spirit we have access to God the Father (Ephesians 2:18). An essential factor lacking from those concepts is the relational quality of God. If God has existed for all eternity in a perfectly loving Triune relationship, then it shows He is completely self-sufficient and requires no further relationship in order to complete or satisfy Himself. What makes it hard is that all of our analogies and metaphors fall short of capturing what the Trinity actually is. Now were going to look at how some people often misunderstand the Trinity. I have the good one. Starting with the three biblical affirmations, ask your kids to show you how these examples support or deny what the bible teaches about the Trinity. This analogy denies the distinction of the God-head. See the depths of Catholicism for yourself! The Trinity is one of the most foundational doctrines of Christianity. The Holy Spirit is like the heat that the sun produces, unseen yet powerful and effective in making the sun felt. However, it breaks down on the level of equality: No one keeps or eats the shell of an egg. Let's use an egg to explain the Holy Trinity! We can think of it this way: the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God. It does not represent 3 persons existing simultaneously. The unseen Father is in Christs mind. Therefore, in this context, God is the what and the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are the who. It is so important that to deny the trinity is to deny Christianity. All three persons exist at the same moment in history. Through the brokenness of the Shell, His Son, the Spirit white pours out into our beings through our faith in what was done and believers are joined with the yolk, for it is by One Spirit we have access to God the Father (Ephesians 2:18). The mystery is in the "how" this is accomplished; something we will finally understand in heaven. Jesus Person is the image of Gods Person (Hebrews 1:3), and the Invisible Spirit of the Father that is in Him - God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself (II Corinthians 5:19).

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