The Trinity: 1+1+1=1???

Many people are confused about the Christian concept of the Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. I have heard that some Muslims mistakenly believe that the Trinity consists of the Father, Son and Mother Mary! This is not entirely their fault since unfortunately the Catholic church in general places too much emphasis on the mother of Christ.

The Trinity is not an easy topic to discuss. The word "Trinity" is not found in the bible, and the concept is not explicitly explained, instead we find this paradox to be well documented through Jesus' own testimony of himself, the testimony of the apostles and we even see hints in the Old Testament. Many others will do a much better job at digging deep into the gritty details of the topic. I would check out this blog as a good place to start for more articles and information on the Trinity.

This clip from a talk by Ravi Zacharias helped me a lot.

It shouldn't seem foreign to us that an infinite God is difficult to define. Our own physical world (which God created) has some very difficult phenomenon to define. For instance, the nature of light has been a highly debated subject. Physicists over the past several centuries have conducted experiments and developed theories about the nature of light, some suggesting that light is a particle and others suggesting that light is a wave. In physics we know this as wave-particle duality. If these sort of paradoxes exist in the finite physical world then we can rest a little more easily if an infinite, creator God asks us to believe paradoxes about His nature.

The Prince of Paradox

I was reading an article today which talked about G. K. Chesterton (among other people and topics) and referred to him as "the prince of paradox". I would like to explore more of Chesterton's work since one of the themes of this blog is Paradoxes.

Paradoxes from Jesus: Slave or Free

Jesus prophesied that he was fulfilling Isaiah's prophesy saying that, 

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives ..." Luke 4:18

What kind of freedom for captives was Jesus bringing? What were they taken captive by? 

In another situation, Jesus famously calls people to come to him for rest, 

"Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." Matthew 11:28-30

But says that he will give them his "yoke", he doesn't completely release them from a yoke but frees them so that they would be captives again. Freedom for slaves to become slaves again? 

Again, Jesus instructs his disciples that they are to be slaves. 

"You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave..." Matthew 20:25-27 

 What is the paradox of freedom that Jesus is communicating? 

Paradox versus Contradiction

A contradiction is a logical conflict of ideas and statements, that is irreconcilable for the given argument. 

A paradox on the other hand is a tricky thing, because it looks like a contradiction but is not. It feels as though their is a logical inconsistency somewhere, but given further thought and explanation the concept makes sense or at least leaves you unsure either way. 

The question is how do you know whether something is a contradiction or a paradox. The initial feeling and thought when we encounter both a paradox and a contradiction is exactly the same: it sounds false. 

In order to discern what is a contradiction and what is a paradox one must first have a keen mind to understand logic and probably some patience in turning over many stones in their mind and book pages. 

There seems to be a few patterns in identifying paradoxes. They are almost exclusively highly intentional and thought through. A good paradox usually comes form an intellect, writer, or thinker. 

As a simple example, Mark Twain once said, "I have never let my schooling interfere with my education." He did not just randomly say this one day and then think about it and say, "Oh, I think I just used a paradox". He obviously thought deeply about education and wanted others to think deeply about it as well. More directly he wanted to influence people - he hoped to wake them up to the truth by saying something that would make them think. This helps us identify situations in which we might spend the extra effort to think more deeply about something that strikes us first as a contradiction that can't possibly work out logically. I would venture to propose that Jesus of Nazareth is one such individually who thought deeply about everything he said, and others who heard it thought is was damn well important enough to write down. 

Paradoxes from Jesus: Prince of Peace

A bearded smiling man in long dazzling white robes carrying a peaceful lamb is the iconic image of Jesus of Nazareth. We know him as the "Prince of Peace". Even agnostics and followers of other religions and philosophies admire him as a great prophet or good teacher. What did he teach? I think most would (and do) say that he taught "all people to love and be at peace with their neighbors." Jesus" and peace seem to be parallel ideas. What do we find though when we read about Jesus... 
Zechariah prophesy over Jesus when he was a child that he would, 

"... give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and to guide our feet into the way of peace." Luke 1:79

Jesus instructs his disciples to bless the households of those who take them in while proclaim the gospel. 

"Whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace be to this house!'  And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you." Luke 10:5-6

In the famous Sermon on the Mount Jesus says, 

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God." Luke 5:9

It seems however that people contemporary to Jesus' ministry thought the very same things that we modern readers think because Jesus had to dispel these misconceptions.

"Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person's enemies will be those of his own household." Matthew 10:34-36

See Luke 12:51 for the same quote. 


What is the sword that Jesus brings? What is the peace that Jesus proclaimed?

Paradoxes from Jesus: The cost of the kingdom

In the gospel of Matthew Jesus tells two similar parable to explain the kingdom of heaven. 

"The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it." Matthew 13.44-46

The most basic and clear interpretation of these two parallel parable is that the kingdom of heaven is extremely valuable and comes at a very high cost to the seeker/buyer. In contrast, Christian evangelists often proclaim a gospel that salvation is a "free" gift and costs nothing. The quintessential reference for this idea comes from Paul's statement in Romans,

"For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 6.23

What is the "cost" that Jesus is referring to?