How to Explain the Holy Trinity
Clarify that "There is only one God.", Avoid explanations that seem a little too childish, "Sunday School" or preachy for the people to whom you are trying to give a clarification., Tell them the doctrine of the Trinity., Consider that things are...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Clarify that "There is only one God."
Point out that there is really no way to fully comprehend God; it is beyond our comprehension, as are God's many attributes such as being all powerful, present here and there, knowing all things.
Tell them you're not trying to present just one way to comprehend this, but help them know what to look into and to comprehend by examples and comparisons. -
Step 2: Avoid explanations that seem a little too childish
A common explanation is the egg explanation.
The egg represents God as a whole: one God.
A yolk, the white and shell represent God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit for instance.
The yolk is not the white, the white is not the yolk; each is different yet they are both egg.
The shell plays in just like that too.
Another common one is the apple explanation.
There's the apple as a whole and the apple has three parts, the core, the flesh and the skin.
It works the same as the egg.
But this can often confuse an adult to whom you're explaining this and can make it no easier for them to accept the Holy Trinity because the conception of God/Our Father, Jesus/His only begotten Son and the Holy Spirit/Guide and Comforter are clearly much more involved and deeper than the conception of an egg or an apple.
However, to a young child this way may be best, at least until they're older. , The definition of the doctrine of the Trinity is this: "The belief that God is one in being and three in person." God is a being and has three persons.
A being is "The quality or essence that makes something what it is." A person is "The quality or essence that makes someone who he is." A being and a person are two different things.
What and who is not the same.
So God is a being which makes him distinctly different from his three persons.
God's one being and has three persons; God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
However, these three aren't separate beings
-- but "three in one".
Remember, the being is what makes something what it is.
Take a human being for example.
The person is what makes someone who he is; call that personality.
Ones personality is separate from the visually apparent body, yet the being's body and personality are parts of the same entity. , The Father sent Jesus.
Jesus promised to and did ask the Father to send the Spirit.
The Father sent the Spirit of Christ to abide forever (eternal being).
Many other concepts seen as elements of the Christian faith, regarding God: "monotheism" (one God), "incarnation" of Christ (God in the flesh), "omnipotence" (all power), are denoted by terms directly not found in the Bible, but Christians consider the concepts to be in the Bible (the word "Bible"
itself, is not found in the Bible).
The term "Trinity" is another such term.Some foreshadowing of the son of man in the term Trinity is seen in the Old Testament, as in: "Daniel saw in a vision at night: 'behold, one like the Son of man' came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought him near before Him.
And: there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom shall never be destroyed. (Daniel 7:13-14)".
Jesus said, as He died: "It is finished!" The New Testament develops the implicit concept of the Trinity, implying the Trinity in Matthew 28:19, which commanded:
Baptize "in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit".
Fourth century conferences among Christian believers led to doctrine that corresponds to data gathered from the Bible, deliberated and proclaimed in the term Trinity. -
Step 3: "Sunday School" or preachy for the people to whom you are trying to give a clarification.
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Step 4: Tell them the doctrine of the Trinity.
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Step 5: Consider that things are
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Step 6: for instance
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Step 7: "from the Father
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Step 8: " "through the Son
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Step 9: " and "in the Holy Spirit" with all agreeing in one.
Detailed Guide
Point out that there is really no way to fully comprehend God; it is beyond our comprehension, as are God's many attributes such as being all powerful, present here and there, knowing all things.
Tell them you're not trying to present just one way to comprehend this, but help them know what to look into and to comprehend by examples and comparisons.
A common explanation is the egg explanation.
The egg represents God as a whole: one God.
A yolk, the white and shell represent God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit for instance.
The yolk is not the white, the white is not the yolk; each is different yet they are both egg.
The shell plays in just like that too.
Another common one is the apple explanation.
There's the apple as a whole and the apple has three parts, the core, the flesh and the skin.
It works the same as the egg.
But this can often confuse an adult to whom you're explaining this and can make it no easier for them to accept the Holy Trinity because the conception of God/Our Father, Jesus/His only begotten Son and the Holy Spirit/Guide and Comforter are clearly much more involved and deeper than the conception of an egg or an apple.
However, to a young child this way may be best, at least until they're older. , The definition of the doctrine of the Trinity is this: "The belief that God is one in being and three in person." God is a being and has three persons.
A being is "The quality or essence that makes something what it is." A person is "The quality or essence that makes someone who he is." A being and a person are two different things.
What and who is not the same.
So God is a being which makes him distinctly different from his three persons.
God's one being and has three persons; God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
However, these three aren't separate beings
-- but "three in one".
Remember, the being is what makes something what it is.
Take a human being for example.
The person is what makes someone who he is; call that personality.
Ones personality is separate from the visually apparent body, yet the being's body and personality are parts of the same entity. , The Father sent Jesus.
Jesus promised to and did ask the Father to send the Spirit.
The Father sent the Spirit of Christ to abide forever (eternal being).
Many other concepts seen as elements of the Christian faith, regarding God: "monotheism" (one God), "incarnation" of Christ (God in the flesh), "omnipotence" (all power), are denoted by terms directly not found in the Bible, but Christians consider the concepts to be in the Bible (the word "Bible"
itself, is not found in the Bible).
The term "Trinity" is another such term.Some foreshadowing of the son of man in the term Trinity is seen in the Old Testament, as in: "Daniel saw in a vision at night: 'behold, one like the Son of man' came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought him near before Him.
And: there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom shall never be destroyed. (Daniel 7:13-14)".
Jesus said, as He died: "It is finished!" The New Testament develops the implicit concept of the Trinity, implying the Trinity in Matthew 28:19, which commanded:
Baptize "in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit".
Fourth century conferences among Christian believers led to doctrine that corresponds to data gathered from the Bible, deliberated and proclaimed in the term Trinity.
About the Author
Betty Miller
Creates helpful guides on creative arts to inspire and educate readers.
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