Delighting in the Trinity

1. Delighting in the Trinity A brief introduction in the Biblical Doctrine of a Vital doctrine

2. …Go On to Maturity • Hebrews 5:12-6:1 “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. Therefore, let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on the maturity…”

3. Goal of this introduction • To dispel the notions that the Trinity is… • Unnecessary • Unknowable • Illogical • Contradictory • Confusing • NOT Biblical • To give a clear definition of the Trinity • To leave tonight’s lecture with one vital question remaining: “What does the Bible teach?” • i.e. Preparation for tomorrow

4. Christianity distinguished • Which God we worship: that is the article of faith that stands before all others. • “What makes Christianity absolutely distinct (from every other religion/belief system) is the identity of our God. WhichGod we worship: that is the article of faith that stands before all others.” (pg.15) • Quote from Michael Reeves in his Delighting in the Trinity. • His book is an introduction to the topic, hopefully promoting further study.

5. Does it really matter? • Some contemporary ideas about God: • The Man upstairs… • Belief’s about God are like four blind men describing an elephant. Their descriptions all depend on what part they are feeling and describing. • He/She/It just wants us to love each other and get along. • God is just a word we use to describe the eternal unity of everything • It doesn’t matter what you call him/her/it. Just as long as you believe in something. • No one can really know so don’t sweat it!

6. Any Man will do? • Who would be okay if his wife said, “It doesn’t matter which man I’m with, as long as it’s a man and am sincere”? • Do you think it matters to God which “God” we believe in and worship?

7. Identity matters: example • David S. Denny David S. Denny • White male White male • Brown hair Brown hair • Married Married • Southside of Indy Southside of Indy • Attending IUPUI Attending IUPUI

8. Identity Matters • David S. Denny David S. Denny • Age: 23 Age: 30 • Height: 5’6” Height: 6’ • Occupation: At the time, Occupation: Engineer & HR at CNC lathe operator electronics company • Wife: Aimee Wife: not Aimee • Manly facial hair & ruggedly handsome Not so much

9. Back to our foundational article of faith • WhichGod we worship: that is the article of faith that stands before all others. • From our analogy it is very reasonable to infer that Goddoes care which God we worship.

10. Do the Specifics matter? • Abrahamic religions: • Christians, Jews and Muslims all worship the same God; the God of Abraham. • Christians and Jehovah’s Witnesses both believe that Jehovah is God and Jesus is God’s only begotten Son. • Oneness Pentecostals believe that Jesus is God. • Mormons believe that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are all God(s). • These last three even claim the Bible as an authority • God is infinite and we can’t comprehend Him so don’t sweat the specifics.

11. Attention to details • 9mm Short, Makarov, Parabellum? • Battle terrain map (Leif Babin) • Which button you push matters (Chris Kyle) • Tire pressure: 33psi vs. 80psi.

12. Our Triune God: Distinct among the “Gods” • God the Creator of all things • Other religions believe in a God who created all things • God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob • Abrahamic religions all believe in the God of Abraham… • YHWH, the God Who alone exists • Jews, Christians, and Christian deviations all believe in YHWH • The Triune God (He is a Trinity) • Christianity alone believes in the Trinity • This will be our specific focus

13. A Skeptics Reflection on the Trinity • Christ, according to the faith, is the second person of the Trinity, the Father being the first, and the Holy Ghost the third. Each of these three persons is God. Christ is His own Father and His own Son. The Holy Ghost neither Father nor Son, but both. The Son was begotten by the Father, but existed before He was begotten—just the same as before.

14. Reflections on the Trinity (2) • Christ is just as old as His Father, and the Father is just as young as His Son. The Holy Ghost proceeded from the Father and Son, but was equal to the Father and Son before He proceeded, that is to say, before He existed, but He is of the same age as the other two. • So it is declared that the Father is God, and the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, and the Holy Ghost is God, and that these three Gods make one God.

15. Reflections on the Trinity (3) • According to the celestial multiplication table, one is three, and three times one is one, and according to heavenly subtraction if we take two from three, three are left. The addition is equally peculiar, if we add two to one we have but one. Each is equal to Himself and the other two. Nothing ever was, nothing ever can be more perfectly idiotic and absurd than the dogma of the Trinity.

16. Understandable frustration • Though there are all kinds of inaccuracies and distortions in the above statement, we can understand his frustration. (Greg Koukl) • Straw man arguments used • Equivocal language used • By making certain presumptions and misunderstandings the doctrine of the Trinity can seem contradictory, utterly confusing, perhaps even absurd.

17. the word Trinity • The word, itself, is a combining tri-unity, or three in one. • It was a word coined for a simpler way of describing what the Bible teaches about the nature of God. • Other examples: Omnipotent…Omniscient…Omnipresent…transcendent…immanent, etc.

18. Description of the Trinity: The three pillars • 1. There is only one God. • 2. The Father is God. The Son is God. The Holy Spirit is God. • 3. The Father is distinct from the Son. The Son is distinct from the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is distinct from the Father.

19. The Trinity:a solution not a problem to be solved • Each of these three pillars must be maintained without contradicting/denying the other two. • Greg Koukl writes, the Trinity, properly understood, is a solution, not a problem,to maintaining the three pillars above.

20. Solution • Michael Reeves wrote, “…church theologians would use philosophical terms and words not seen in the Bible (like Trinity), (but) they were not trying to add to God’s revelation of himself, as if Scripture were insufficient; they were trying to express the truth of who God is as revealed in Scripture. Particularly, they were trying to articulate Scripture’s message in the face of those who were distorting it in one way or another—and for each new distortion a new language of response was needed.”

21. Removing Objections: Contradiction? A Scientific example • Light behaves both as a particle and as a wave. • A particle is localized in space • A wave is delocalized in space • Since the days of Einstein, scientists have been trying to directly observe both of these aspects of light at the same time. • Quantum mechanics tells us that light can behave simultaneously as a particle or a wave • Now, scientists…have succeeded in capturing the first-ever snapshot of this dual behavior. (From Phys.org)

22. Contradiction? A Mathematical example • It is true that 1+1+1=3. This is the kind of mathematics, namely addition, that three one’s cannot equal one. • It is not true that 1x1x1=3. Actually, this kind of mathematics, namely multiplication, three one’s must equal one. • Therefore, it is not an inherent contradiction in mathematics to say that three one’s equal one. • (However, we believe in one God in three Persons, not one God in three Gods.)

23. Contradiction? A Practical example • IDEA in my head • IDEA written down • IDEA read by others • Same IDEA but originating in my head, materialized in a book and transferred to others by reading.

24. Examples are not proof • These three examples are not proof of the Trinity • They are evidence that the concept of the Trinity is not inherently illogical, unscientific or contradictory. • But we do not base our beliefs on simple logic or science!

25. Why Do We Believe in the Trinity? • God knows who He is, and He has revealed Himself to us in Scripture. • The Bible is “the final authority in all matters of faith and conduct…” • Therefore, there is only one good reason for us to believe in the Trinity: • The Bible teaches it.

26. Removing Objection (2) • “So”, someone might say, “it’s not a contradiction or illogical, but…” • The doctrine of the Trinity is confusing. • The Bible says that God is not a God of confusion. • God would not have us believe a confusing doctrine. • Therefore, the Trinity must not be true

27. Misquoting Scripture • The passage referenced is 1 Corinthians 14:33 which literally reads, “God is not a God of confusion.” • The context is one which references chaotic, disorderly gatherings of the church. • The verse is not saying that we will never be confused about anything theological.

28. Confusing? • The fact that many are confused in their understandingof God’s nature is quite different from there being confusion in God’s nature itself. • In other words, any confusion lies in the finite, sinful mind of man and not in God’s eternal nature. • Example: I may be confused by calculus, but the confusion is my own not in the nature of calculus itself. Many men/women smarter than I am are not confused at all by it.

29. Who is the one confused? • God is not confused about who He is • God is who He is whether it confuses us our not. • In other words, even if we are confused about the nature of God it does not affect His nature or in His own understanding of His nature.

30. Incomplete understanding • A partial or incomplete understanding of God does not equal confusion. (nor a contradiction.) • The fact is we cannot fully understand many things about God such as: • God knows everything • God is everywhere • God has always existed • God never makes a mistake • God predestines creatures with a genuine free choice and responsibility • Yet we believe these things simply because the Bible tells us that they are true

31. Again… • There is only one good reason for us to believe in the Trinity — the Bible teaches it! • If it does not, then we should not believe it. • If it does, then we must believe it.

32. Biblical language:A brief intro into Hermeneutics • God is transcendent, beyond our capacity to fully comprehend. • God speaks to us in human language. • God speaks to us in a similar way that adults speak to young children. • “Mommy has a baby in her tummy!” • “Thunder is the clouds bumping into each other.” • How are we to understand Biblical language? • Is there a one-to-one correlation between the words God uses to describe himself and those same words used to describe finite creatures? • God is described as holy, (Isaiah 6:1) but his people are also called holy brothers. (Heb. 3:1)

33. Three options in use of language concerning the knowledge of God • Univocal • Equivocal • Analogical • For further study on this see Michael Horton’s Systematic Theology • Pastor Nate Gast also leads a Hermeneutics study in proper Biblical interpretation

34. Univocal • Aword has the identical meaning when used of two different objects. • For example, if I am speaking of a ball (in this case a basketball) used in two different NBA games, I am using the term univocally. • In other words, the word ball in both cases refers to the exact same thing.

35. Equivocal • A word has no obvious, connected meaning when used of two different objects. • For example, if I am using the term ball to describe a basketball and a formal dance, I am using the term equivocally. • Though it is the same word, it has an entirely different meaning in each context/sentence.

36. Analogical • Aword has similar but not exact meanings when used of two different objects. • For example, if I am using the term ball to describe a soccer ball and a basketball, I am using the term analogically. • These objects are similar but not identical. Both are round, both are used in a game, etc.

37. Analogy of Faith • The first thing that we must assume is that Scripture cannot contradict itself, being inspired directly by the Holy Spirit. • The way we interpret any passage of Scripture must be in a way which does not contradict another. • The Reformers called this the Analogy of Faith. • Sola Scriptura: Scripture alone is our final authority. • Tota Scriptura: All of Scripture is our final authority.

38. Examples from Scripture: • 1 Corinthians 8:4-5 “…there is no God but one. For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many ‘gods’ and many ‘lords’…” • Isaiah 45:22 “…for I am God and there is no other.” • Exodus 23:13 “…make no mention of the names of other gods…” • Psalm 82:1, 6 “God has taken his place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods he holds judgment…I said, ‘You are gods…” • These passages become nonsense if the term “god(s)” means exactly the same in each instance. But they are just as nonsensical if the term “god(s)” means sometime entirely different.

39. Examples from Scripture (2) • Genesis 3:7 “Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked.” • Genesis 3:22 “Then the LORD God said, ‘Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil…” • Genesis 4:1 “Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived…” • Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you…” • Psalm 139:1-6 “…known…know…acquainted…know…such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.”

40. Scriptural examples • When we read descriptions of God in Scripture we must remember that they are analogous not univocal descriptions. Here are some examples of how these analogies are utilized. First, some indirect analogies: • Anthropomorphism: ascribing human characteristics to non-human entities; in this case to God. • 2 Chronicles 16:9 “For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him.” • Metaphor: a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable. • Isaiah 25:8 “He will swallow up death forever; and the LORD God will wipe away tears from all faces.”

41. Analogous word or concept • Righteous: • Genesis 6:9 “…Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time…” • Job 1:8 “…Have you considered my servant Job? …a blameless and upright man…” • Daniel 6:4 “Daniel…was faithful, and no negligence or corruption was to be found in him.” • Acts 10:22 “Cornelius, a centurion, a righteous and God-fearing man…” • Psalm 145:17 “The LORD is righteous in all his ways…” • Psalm 143:2 “For in Your sight no man living is righteous.”

42. Analogous (2) • Son of God: • “Adam, the son of God.” (Luke 3:38) • “Nephilim…when the sons of Godcame into the daughters of men and they bore children to them.” (Genesis 6:4) • “…the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD…” (Job 1:6) • “…He said to Me, ‘You are my Son, Today I have begotten you.” (Psalm 2:7) • “…to them He gave to right to become children of God…but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, ‘Abba! Father!’” (John 1:12…Romans 8:15) • “…He gave His only begotten Son…” (John 3:16)

43. Theological language: One God in Three Persons • “…when you ask, ‘Three what?”, human speech labors under a great dearth of words. So we say three persons, not in order to say precisely, but in order not be reduced to silence. • …So when the question is asked, ‘Three what?” we apply ourselves to finding some name of species or genus which will comprise these three, and no such name occurs to our minds, because the total transcendence of the Godhead quite surpasses the capacity of ordinary speech. God can be thought about more truly than he can be talked about, and he is more truly than he can be thought about.” (Augustine The Trinity, pg. 196, 224-225)

44. Person as Analogy • We use the term person, not in a univocal sense, but in an analogical sense. • In other words, the term person when used of God is not identical to the term person of a human being. • Admittedly, writes Michael Horton, the term person has problems—as all analogies do, particularly when they are predicated on the divine mystery. • What vs. Who • The What of God is His very essence. An oak is a tree, we are humans and God is God! • The Who of God has to do with identity, not so much as attributes.

45. Foundation: There is only one God! • Deuteronomy 6:4 “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.” • How much clearer can it be? The basis for all other commandments clearly states that the LORD is one.

46. There is only one God! (2) • Isaiah 43:10 “…before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me.” • Isaiah 44:6 “…I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god.” • Isaiah 45:22 “Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.” • Isaiah 46:9 “…for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me.” • 1 Corinthians 8:4 “…an idol has no real existence, and that there is no God but one.”

47. What one is not! • Deuteronomy 6:4 “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.” • The word translated “one” hear is the Hebrew word, echad. • This is the same Hebrew term as in Genesis 2:24. “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” • i.e. A plurality of one!

48. Plurality of One • First, we see that this word translated as one, actually represents a plurality of one, not a singularity. • If God were a simple singularity there are other Hebrew words that would describe this very precisely. • Here are some examples: • Psalm 68:6 “God settles the solitary in a home…” • Psalm 86:10 “For you are great and do wondrous things, you alone are God.”

49. Review • It matters which God we worship and the specifics of His attributes and nature • We know Who God is because He has revealed it to us in Scripture. • He speaks to us of Himself in Scripture almost entirely using analogy, God being infinitely beyond our ability to exhaustively comprehend Him. • The terms Trinity and Person are human terms used to more precisely and concisely define God’s nature. • The Trinity is not a contradiction, illogical, nor inherently confusing. (Though not exhaustively understood) • The doctrine which the term Trinity defines is clearly taught in Scripture. • Tomorrow we will more closely cover the specifics. • The foundation: There is only one true GOD!