As To God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit...

Ok, if you are a regular reader of my blog you know that I have had problems with this! I told you I would do research and try to figure this out..and I have...With the help of friends and mentors I have come to some new conclusions! My previous thoughts of God being a family name is totally wrong!!

- The bible says is John 10:30: " I and my father are one" this is not a numerical one, Jesus is not saying he is the father. they are not one person but in nature they are a united one. It actually reads we are one in Greek the first person plural esmen . 

And then, when Jesus dies, He is separated from God and how can you separate from yourself? Ok, So I ask my friend this and she says you cant but God can. That is ok with me! I already accept God can do a lot of stuff I cant do! like be everywhere at once, read minds and hear everyones prayers at once!

So she came up with... There is only one God, but He manifests Himself in three persons, whom we call the Trinity. I LOVED that! but then I read..."The doctrine of the Trinity does not on one hand assert that three persons are united as one person, or three beings in one being, or three Gods in one God (tritheism); nor on the other hand that God merely manifests himself in three different ways (modal Trinity of manifestations); but rather that there are three eternal distinctions in the substance of God." So now I am worse off than when I started! At least when  I started I have a theory. I knew it was most likely not correct but I had one!

In case you have not figured this out yet, I am writing this as I am doing the research... My thought process is important to this important subject! And I learned my lesson from the creation vs evelotuion one!! I should have done all of that one and not stopped in the middle...it made the whole post seam unfinished!

- The Trinity is not three substances but three persons existing simultaneously, which are the one essence.

-  These person's are not separate from the essence, they subsist in it. (I had to look up subsist, it confused me so I figured I had the meaning of the word wrong it means...1 to exist; continue in existence. 2. to remain alive; live, as on food, resources, etc.)

-  Nor are there three essences that would make them three God's.

-  God is tri-une as persons but in nature one God. As Athanasius coined the phrase "not dividing the substance nor confusing the persons."

- If God were deduced to a mathematical formulae he would not be 1+1+1=3 which would be tritheism, but would be 1x1x1=1, a unified one. None of the persons can exist without the other, they all make up the one God in unity. that each person dwells in the other two which makes God indivisible and unquantifiable, so that wherever one of the persons of God is, all of God is there.(again, how do you separate from yourself...again...I trust God does lots of things we as humans cannot do!)

- God cannot be divided, he is one God in his nature but three in persons. Its not a matter of opinion because this is the only conclusion one can come to from the overall body of literature in the scripture. All three are called God, the Father calls the Son God in Heb.1 the Son calls the Father God. All three simultaneously exist. 

Well I still dont get it. I truly do not. Look for another post on this matter in the future...for now I have decided that I cannot understand this...it is like the whole milk thing...as a young (not in age but in time spent as a ) christian, I need to be feeding on milk, and this issue is solid food, not milk, I think it is that I have to understand a lot of other important things before I can get this thing...As I grow and mature in Christ, these harder lessons will come, but that does not mean give up or that I shouldnt seek to learn these issues...


And then another friend said...Think of it like this; water takes the form of mist/steam, snow/ice, rain/water.... But, it's all still water, right? All are totally different; but still water. just different forms....Reducing God to water is just wrong, but it shows, here on earth, how one thing can be three things and how three things can be one thing...This I can get, I can understand, and I will learn more about it later when its time!


This is added a few hours after this is originally posted and helped me greatly.... 

The Trinities in Nature

People already believe in trinities. They just don't know they do. Here is how. Basically, the universe consists of three elements: Time, Space, and Matter. Each of these is comprised of three 'components.'
Time     Past     Present     Future
Space     Height     Width     Depth
Matter     Solid     Liquid     Gas

With time, for example, the past is not the same as the present, which is not the same as the future. Each is simultaneous (according to some time theorists). Yet, they are not three 'times' but one. That is, they all share the same nature: time.

With space, height is distinct from width, which is not the same as depth, which is is not the same as height. Yet, they are not three 'spaces' but one. That is, they all share the same nature: space.

With matter, solid is not the same as liquid, which is not the same as gas, which is not the same as solid. Yet, they are not three 'matters' but one. That is, they all share the same nature: matter.