Is the Trinity unbiblical, unbelievable,

and irrelevant?

(based on a chapter of Searching Issues

by Nicky Gumbel)

I want to begin by recommending to you this book by Nicky Gumbel. It's called 'Searching Issues'.

Those of you who've been on Alpha, (and that's the majority of you, because over 100 people in our church have now been on Alpha), ...you will know that Nicky Gumbel is the author of all the Alpha material.

This book looks at the seven of the most popular questions which are asked by people coming on Alpha. They include:

Why does God allow suffering?

Do all religions lead to God?

Is there anything wrong with sex before marriage?

...and the last chapter in this book asks the question:

"Is the Trinity unbiblical, unbelievable, and irrelevant?"

So if you've not yet read it, I recommend Searching Issue, which you can buy at Wesley Owen books in the City Arcade.

For those of you who've not yet been on Alpha, I need to explain that each week I take a chapter from one of Nicky Gumbel's other books, and turn it into a short talk. ...and that is exactly what I'm going to do this morning.

So if you find this talk interesting, you may like to consider coming on our next Alpha, (which will be on Thursday evenings starting in October).

If you would like me to send you some details about it, put your name on the card you were given today, and hand it to me or one of the sidespeople as you leave church.

So this is the talk...

The word 'Trinity' comes from the Latin word TRINITAS, which means 'threeness'. Christianity rests on the 'threeness' of God.

The word 'Trinity' does not appear anywhere in the Bible, ...and so some people argue that it's not biblical.

This argument is particularly put forward by some of the cults, (for example the Mormons, and the Jehovah Witnesses). All the main Christian denominations do believe in the Trinity, but most of the cults don't, ...and their argument is that it's not biblical.

Others suggest that the idea of The Trinity is not believable, because it doesn't make sense. The doctrine of the Trinity basically says that "Our heavenly Father is God, ...Jesus is God, ...and the Holy Spirit is God, ...yet there are not three God's but one". And some people argue that it simply doesn't add up!

In Lewis Caroll's book, Alice through the Looking Glass, the white queen made a habit of believing six impossible things before breakfast! Some people think that Christians have to do something like that with the doctrine of the Trinity.

And thirdly, some people believe that it's true, ...but can't see why it is relevant to their daily lives.

So why should we believe in the Trinity? Is it biblical? Is it believable? Is it relevant for us today?

Let's take the first of these. Is it biblical?

It's true that the word Trinity does not appear in the Bible. In fact the word was first coined by the Bishop of Antioch some 100 years after the Bible had been completed. ...But that does not mean that the idea behind the Trinity is unbiblical.

Christianity grew out of the Jewish faith. Jesus himself was a Jew, and one of the things that made Jews different from people of other religions, is that they believed in ONE God.

People of other religions believed that there were lots of different gods, ...but the Jews said there is just One God.

Now the early Christians continued to believe that there was just one God, but they were faced with two historical events which radically changed the way their understanding of this God.

The first event was the life, death, and resurrection of this man Jesus. They soon found themselves worshipping Jesus as God, yet they refused to accept that there were now two Gods. They came to see Jesus as a man whose was God, ...and yet who was not identical with God the Father.

The second event was the coming of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was identified with God, and with Jesus, ...but he was not identical to either. He was not the Father, nor the Son, ...but he was one with them.

The New Testament has several passages where we see the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit working together. They act as one, ...and yet they remain distinct from each other.

Let's look again at today's Gospel Reading. Notice how Jesus is speaking about himself, his Father, and the Holy Spirit as three separate persons, ...but also notice how the three work together as one.

On the night before he died, Jesus said:

"I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes he will guide you into all truth.

...He will bring glory to me by taking what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you."

It was Bible passages like this, ...which eventually led Christians to define the doctrine of the Trinity. There is One God, ...but if when we look closer, we see that this one God is three persons ...Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

So 'YES'', the Trinity is biblical.

But is it believable?

Many people think that the idea behind the Trinity just doesn't make sense. How can one God be three persons?

Certainly we have to admit that it's not an easy idea to get our heads around, ...but since we are dealing with the very nature of God himself, perhaps that shouldn't surprise us.

In order to make it simpler, people have turned to various analogies. One vicar wrote to The Times newspaper in 1992 suggesting one such analogy. He wrote:

Last Sunday I dragged myself away from watching the end of the Test match at Lord's in order to preach at our evening service on the theme of "What Christians believe about the Trinity".

The last three balls I watched being bowled were by Ian Salisbury, England's exciting new spin bowler. The first ball was a leg-spinner, ...the second was a top-spinner, ...and the third was a googly.

I had been searching around for a helpful illustration of the Trinity - and there it was: one person expressing himself in three different, but very similar ways.

The leg spinner's stock ball represents God the Father, who created us to 'feel after him'. the top-spinner, which goes straight through, represents the direct activity of God the Son; ...and the googly represents the surprising activity of God the Holy Spirit.

Now, if you understand cricket, you may find that helpful. If you don't, you're probably none the wiser!

But the problem with all analogies is that they have their limitations. This particular letter drew criticism from others who pointed out its weakness. One person replied to The Times to say:

This particular trinitarian analogy will have to be called wide! It reflects a serious theological error, identified in the early church that one God simply acts in different ways at different times.

Better to stick with three stumps in one wicket.

Other analogies have been suggested.

- St Patrick suggested the shamrock leaf. Each of the three portions of the leaf is an essential part of that leaf, but the leaf itself is greater than all its parts.

- Another common analogy is that of water, ice and steam. Three manifestations of the one substance.

One of the problems with these analogies as that they are very impersonal. So others have compared the three-fold nature of God with that of a book.

A book exists in three different and distinct ways at the same time. It exists in the mind of the author, ...it exists on a library shelf, ...and it exists in the imagination of the reader.

In seeking to understand the Trinity we need to understand our own limitations.

First there is the limitation of language. One thing that I find amusing is the way that some people struggle to describe the taste of wine. "It has a hint of autumn leaves, ...and sea shells".

Well, if the limitations of our language mean that we have difficulty to describe a glass of wine, ...how much more difficult must it be to describe God.

The second limitation is that of our own intellects. In defining the Trinity we have to resort to the language of paradox. The Concise Oxford Dictionary defines a paradox as a "seemingly absurd though actually a well-founded statement".

It is interesting to find that scientists also use the language of paradox to explain other things that are currently beyond human understanding. For example, consider the nature of light.

When I studied 'A' level physics, I learned that there were some experiments that 'prove' that light is made up of very small particles, ...rather like tiny ping pong balls that are flying through the air.

But then I discovered that there are other experiments which prove that light is not made up of particles at all, ...instead, its made up of waves, ...rather like the ripples you get when you drop a pebble in a pond.

Now we could say to the scientist, "That's not logical! ...Light is either made up of particles, or it's made up of waves, ...but it can't be both!"

And the scientist would reply, "Well the true nature of light is beyond our limited understanding. At times it's helpful to think of it as particles, ...and at other times it's helpful to think of it as waves, ...but in reality its more complicated than that"

It's the same with God.

The true nature of God is beyond our limited understanding. At times it's helpful to think of God as one being, ...and at other times it's helpful to think of God as three persons, ...but in reality its more complicated than that.

The fact that God is One and God is Three may defy the logic of a mathematical, ...but its the sort of paradox that a scientist is very familiar with.

So 'YES'', the Trinity is believable.

But is it relevant for us today?

In the book, "Searching Issues", Nicky Gumbel mentions four reasons why the doctrine of the Trinity is relevant to us today. I just want to finish by mentioning one reason, ...which has to do with the way we worship God.

If you have been to services in other churches, you will know that there is a wide variety of ways in which Christian worship God.

Some churches are very good at capturing the awsomeness of God. Large spectacular church buildings, ...the vicar in colourful vestments, ...the altar positioned quite a long way from the congregation, ...these all give a message about the greatness of God.

Such worship might be summed up by the 19th century hymn:

"O worship the Lord

in the beauty of holiness,

bow down before Him,

his glory proclaim;

with gold of obedience

and incense of lowliness,

kneel and adore Him,

the Lord is his name."

The worship of other churches focuses more on the human face of God. There is a great focus on the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. They worship God for all that Jesus did for us 2000 years ago.

Their worship might be summed up by the 1960's hymn,

Lord Jesus Christ,

You have come to us,

You are one with us, Mary's son;

cleansing our souls from all their sin,

pouring Your love and goodness in:

Jesus, our love for You we sing -

Living Lord.

Still other churches focus more on the reality of God's presence here and now. They expect to meet with God in a very tangible way: ...to feel his presence with them, ...to hear him speak to them, ...to know his healing touch upon them. And in their worship they thank and praise God for that.

One of their favourite songs might be the one we learned a few weeks ago, which asks God to:

Hold me close,

let your love surround me,

bring me near,

draw me to your side;

and as I wait,

I'll rise up like an eagle:

your Spirit leads me on

on the power of your love.

Now, the doctrine of the Trinity tells us that we need a balance of all three approaches to worship.

One model of God is not enough: we need to hold together the awesomness of God the Father, ...the human face of God the Son, ...and the personal presence of God the Holy Spirit.

Our worship needs to reflect all three.

I find it very sad that churches can be very polarised in their worship. O once belonged to a church where a church warden would walk out of the service, and stand outside, whenever a certain type of song was sung.

Most people don't express their views so strongly, ...they just grumble about 'boring old hymns', or 'happy clappy ones'.

We might have personal preferences to different styles of worship, ...but worship is primarily something we give to God. And if God has revealed himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, then our worship needs to reflect the characteristics of all three.

Our worship needs to reflect the awesomness of God the Father, ...the human face of God the Son, ...and the personal presence of God the Holy Spirit.

So in conclusion: The Trinity is not an easy concept to get hold of, but I hope you can see that:

- It is biblical,

- It is believable, and

- It is relevant to us today.

Amen.