Descriptions Of The Trinity

[dairygirl4u2c]

how would you describe the trinity to someone, especially per analogies?
i remember in catechism they'd say things like, a loaf of break v. the parts of the loaf, or a spirit entering into a being.

i know i often think of a spirit leaving heaven as God, being the spirit while in transition, and entering into a man. this is just a way for a human to understand it.
i realize that most say the trinity is a paradox. "God is the father. the father is not the son. the son is God." so it's not suppose to make sense arguably.

is the 'spirit leaving' a person thing accurate? whod say it is?
what's a better description?
how would you go describing it, especially to a nonchritian?

[paradox]

Augustine described the Trinity as Lover (The Father), Beloved (The Son), and the Love between them (Holy Spirit), stressing the fundamental relational aspect of God.

For high school kids, I use the triple point of H20. The triple point is when something is simultaneously a solid, liquid, and gas. So if you think of the Trinity as H20, then the Father is steam (gas) because He is fully transcendent, the Son is ice (solid) because He is fully immanent, and the Holy Spirit is water (liquid) because He serves as somewhat of a go-between and because the Holy Spirit is often associated with water in scripture. I've found that to be the most affective.

[kafka]

[quote name='dairygirl4u2c' date='15 July 2010 - 08:57 PM' timestamp='1279241829' post='2143210']
how would you describe the trinity to someone, especially per analogies?
i remember in catechism they'd say things like, a loaf of break v. the parts of the loaf, or a spirit entering into a being.
[/quote]
analogies are difficult for the Trinity since who or what is truly like God.

The Son proceeds from the Father and the Spirit proceeds primarily from the Father and secondarily from the Son as from one principle. The Procession is the One Divine Eternal Act which God Is. To proceed is a springing forth like a fountain from the earth. Procession is a Pure Act of springing forth from the Father who is the unprincipled principle, the un-originate origin, yet the Son eternally proceeding from the Father, and the Spirit eternally primarily proceeding from the Father and secondarily proceeding from the Son as from one principle is the Pure Act which God is. There is no separation, before or after, division, etc. Yet the Procession is the basis for the disctinction between the Persons.

The mission/role of Jesus is a reflection of the Procession. The Father sends the Son into the world by means of the Incarnation. Pentecost is a reflection of the Procession. The Father and Son send the Holy Spirit to the Church. A sending forth is like a springing forth.

Saint Patrick used the three leaved clover to teach the pagan Irish. Here is a picture Blessed Anne Catherine of Emmerich saw in a vision:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Holy_Trinity_scheme.svg
"Each sphere of omnipresent God is extended toward infinity"

[dairygirl4u2c]

Michael, "who is like God?", St. Michael

"in the name of the father, and of the son, and of the love between them"? has a nice ring to it.

[kafka]

some of the reflections of the Trinity in creation include:

The family: husband-wife-children
Ordination: Bishop-priest-deacon
sanctifying grace: love-faith-hope
Divine Revelation: Tradition-Scripture-Magisterium
Human nature: soul-body-spirit
Time: past-present-future
Spiritual Life: Purgative-Illuminative-Unitive (Ways)

[Sarah147]

Here is a beautiful description:

God the Father, seeing His own Image in the Son, loves the Son; and God the Son loves the Father from all eternity. Each loves the other, because each sees in the other the Infinity of the Godhead, the beauty of Divinity, the Supreme Truth of God. The two Persons loving each other do not just have a thought, as human beings would have, but from Their mutual love is breathed forth, as it were, a Living Person, one with Them, and of Their own substance. This is God the Holy Spirit. Thus the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Love, "proceeds" from the Father and the Son.
...
God the Father eternally knows Himself, and continues to know Himself, and thus continues to bring forth the Son. God the Father and God the Son continue to love each other, and their delight in each other continues to bring forth the Spirit of Love, God the Holy Spirit. In a similar way, fire has light and color. As long as there is fire, it continues to produce light. As long as there is fire with light, there is produced color. But all three exist at one and the same time.

[b]Source: My Catholic Faith - A Manual of Religion by the Most Reverend Louis Laravoire Morrow, S.T.D.
(My Mission House, Kenosha, Wisconsin)[/b] -- Fantastic, deep book for all ages!


It sounds like a married couple having a baby.

I had heard a description of the Trinity as a Mom and Dad each kissing the cheek on each side of their baby's face, and the baby is the love between them (like the Holy Spirit).

Edited July 28, 2010 by JoyfulLife

[Slappo]

The fundamental problem with any analogy of the trinity is it separates the Persons from the Essence.

A family: Mother, Father, Child... the [b]family [/b]cannot exist without all three, but one of them could exist as a single being separate from the rest.

In the case of God, the very existence of the three persons of the Trinity is shared. One cannot exist without the others as it is the same existence, the same substance, the same essence. That is to say, the essence of the Son isn't "part" of the essence of God, but is the fullness of the essence of God. For the Son to not exist, God would not exist. It is the same with the other two persons.

Edited July 28, 2010 by Slappo

[kafka]

[quote name='Slappo' date='28 July 2010 - 04:55 PM' timestamp='1280350529' post='2149233']
The fundamental problem with any analogy of the trinity is it separates the Persons from the Essence.

A family: Mother, Father, Child... the [b]family [/b]cannot exist without all three, but one of them could exist as a single being separate from the rest.

In the case of God, the very existence of the three persons of the Trinity is shared. One cannot exist without the others as it is the same existence, the same substance, the same essence. That is to say, the essence of the Son isn't "part" of the essence of God, but is the fullness of the essence of God. For the Son to not exist, God would not exist. It is the same with the other two persons.
[/quote]
Yes the family is just a pale reflection of the Trinity.

Another way of looking at it is that if one of the persons of the family leaves because of a divorce or death, etc. the nature of the family is damaged. It doesnt exist in its fullness, the way it is meant to.