# How the Trinity works

The Bible is *filled* with references to God's three-person essence.

- All three were present during creation (John 1:1-3, Genesis 1:1-2).
- All three were present at Jesus' conception (Luke 1:35).
- All three were present when Jesus started his ministry (Luke 3:21-22)
- Jesus placed all three on the same level of authority (Matthew 28:19)

Each of the Persons of God are distinctive, but they are all the same God (Matthew 28:19, Luke 1:35, John 14:16-17, John 14:23).

- God is clearly composed of [a Father](theology-god-father.md), [a Son](theology-god-jesus.md), and [a Spirit](theology-god-spirit.md) (Matthew 12:31, John 16:3, John 16:8, Acts 5:3, Acts 7:51, Acts 8:39, Acts 10:19-20, Romans 8:26-27, 1 Corinthians 2:10-11, 1 Corinthians 12:11, Ephesians 4:30, Hebrews 10:29).
- Since God has separate persons, we can't believe the [heresy](people-conflicts-christian-4_false.md) of Monarchianism (that God is only one person).
  - However, God can't be three separate Gods or we fall into the heresy of Tritheism.

The Bible clearly shows separate divine relationships.

- Jesus is distinctly different from God (John 1:1, John 1:14, John 4:25-26, John 8:24, John 10:30, 1 John 5:7).
- At the same time, Jesus is the same as God (Isaiah 7:14, Luke 2:21, Colossians 2:9-10, Hebrews 1:8, 1 Timothy 3:16).
- Jesus and the Holy Spirit are distinctly different (Matthew 1:20, Romans 8:9).
- The Father and the Holy Spirit are distinctly different (John 14:26, John 15:26, 1 Corinthians 2:10).

In short:

- The Father isn't the Son or Holy Spirit.
- The Son isn't the Father or the Holy Spirit.
- The Holy Spirit isn't the Father or the Son.
- But, all three are irreducibly God.

## Hard to comprehend

The Trinity is, plainly, nearly impossible to understand.

We don't have any decent comparisons to the Trinity:

- Water (solid, liquid, and gas) or light (primary colors that add to make white) fail in their analogy because external conditions define their form.
  - Taken far enough, we fall into the [heresy](people-conflicts-christian-4_false.md) of Modalism/Patripassianism, which is that they are not separate persons.
  - On particular branch of Modalism is Sabellianism/Emanations, which asserts that the Old Testament God is the Father, the New Testament God was the Son, and the Holy Spirit is God right now.
- Our [body, soul, and spirit](theology-godandman-humanity.md) can somewhat compare, but our essence is still all contained entirely within the same being.
  - Each part of our individual essence is distinctively separate (e.g., a soul and a body can be fully separate), and we become "less" ourselves if we are missing one.
    - Believing each member of the Trinity is not fully God falls into the [heresy](people-conflicts-christian-4_false.md) of Partialism.
    - One sub-branch of Partialism, called Swedenborgianism, asserts that each member of the Trinity *is* God's body, soul, and spirit.

## The Trinity each have different roles

At least two persons of God (the Father and Son) are distinctly male.

- Some metaphors express female attributes, but *very* rarely (Matthew 23:37, Luke 15).

The Trinity involves three highly interconnected relationships that closely resemble a [family](church-family.md), but more intimately than we're capable of imagining.

- [Love](people-love.md) always requires a giver and receiver, and the Trinity makes Him the only being that can love as both essence *and* action.

With God being a Trinity, by [deduction](logic.md) each Person will have a different [perspective](people-image-why.md), each with at least a slightly different [understanding](mind-understanding.md) of something (Matthew 24:36, John 6:38).

## It does matter, however

The presence of a Trinity is the only logical way many things can happen within Christianity.

- Jesus can't pray to the Father in any meaningful way without having some degree of difference from the Father.
- We can't live to be like Jesus if Jesus isn't human.
- The Father can't deliver judgment fairly if He's a finite human.
- The arguments for the existence of God can prove the Father's existence, but they don't necessarily prove anything about Jesus.
- Without the Son possessing at least some scarcity of information while also being God, then God wouldn't need to respond to human changes.
  - Without changes, there is effectively no [free will](mind-decisions.md) because God is simply acting out a predetermined script.
  - There is no [legitimate relationship with God whatsoever](theology-godandman.md) without a God who can respond to us in some capacity.
- Jesus has been described as the firstborn of all creation (Colossians 1:15), and the Trinity makes it possible for God to always exist while also deciding to change for the sake of His creation.

From the framing of our understanding, God could have been *anything*, but He chose to be a God composed of three parts.

- This means that God's design, from the beginning of creation, was for humanity to have [a relationship with Him](theology-godandman-humanity.md).

## More information

[On the Holy Trinity; Doctrinal Treatises; Moral Treatises - Compilation](https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf103.html)