Picturing Theology

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P i c t u r i n g T h e o l o g y

God’s Three-In-Oneness: The Trinity Rev. Dr. Don L. Davis

The Church has not hesitated to teach the doctrine of the Trinity. Without pretending to understand, she has given her witness, she has repeated what the Holy Scriptures teach. Some deny that the Scriptures teach the Trinity of the Godhead on the ground that the whole idea of trinity in unity is a contradiction in terms; but since we cannot understand the fall of a leaf by the roadside or the hatching of a robin’s egg in the nest yonder, why should the Trinity be a problem to us? “We think more loftily of God,” says Michael de Molinos, “by knowing that He is incomprehensible, and above our understanding, than by conceiving Him under any image, and creature beauty, according to our rude understanding.”

~ A. W. Tozer. The Knowledge of the Holy . New York: Harper Collins, 1961. pp. 18-19.

“Glory be to the Father,” sings the church, “and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.” What is this? we ask—praise to three gods? No; praise to one God in three persons. As the hymn puts it, “Jehovah! Father, Spirit, Son! Mysterious Godhead! Three in One! This is the God whom Christians worship — the triune Jehovah. The heart of Christian faith in God is the revealed mystery of the Trinity. Trinitas is a Latin word meaning threeness. Christianity rests on the doctrine of the trinitas, the threeness, the tripersonality, of God. ~ J. I. Packer. Knowing God . Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1993. p. 65. Questions to Ponder • What is the relationship between understanding something and giving witness to something? • Why do you suppose the Church’s best testimony of the Trinity is captured in its hymns and worship as well as its doctrines and teachings? • In what ways is a keen understanding of the nature of mystery so important in studying the doctrine of the Trinity? • Why is understanding God as Trinity so important for both our own spiritual growth as well as our ministry to others?