bignate - not particularly. If Christians want to believe in an old Catholic doctrine then so be it.

There is a 'trinity' of man: mind, body, and soul. All three are distinct aspects of the person but all three make the person. And without one of them the person can't be. The Trinity that the Bible teaches is a reality, Three Persons but one God. They all work together, but they are distinct from each other. Do I understand it? Not even close. Do I believe it? Absolutely!

Okay. Look at this picture. Pretend the two people connected as junction(just think conjoined bodies if you haven't played Final Fantasy 8) are two seperate things, yet one thing. There ya go. The trinity is three beings who are one, but also separate.

I find the whole idea really easy to understand... Must be my abstract thinking.

I agree completely with Tribune....that is the best and logical answer I've read in this thread so far.

God is the father , Jesus is the son and the Holy Ghost is the counselor
in the bible it said's the father becomes the son and the son as the father
the trinity is three in one that what god is he is the father , and the son by Jesus, and the holy spirit when Jesus when he rose from the grave the third day the resurrection
the answer is in the bible ... it is the only way you will understand .....

treat the word God as a title and there is no trouble with this doctrine.

In just the same way that I am a father and other men around the world are fathers.... so it is the same with Jesus, the Father and the Holy Spirit. They are all God. The title means something. It is an adjective more than a noun. Describes who and what they are rather than naming them.

yes and no. They all exist as separate entities yet as one deity. Like a teacher, they are known by Mr. or Mrs. whoever, by their students. They are known as mom or dad by their children. And are also known by their original names, yet they're all the same person. So that's how one would describe the trinity, as a teacher.

The Trinity isn't real, it wasn't even really established as part of Christian theology until the First Council of Nicaea 300 hundred years after Jesus died.

Has anyone considered the possibility that God (the Father), Jesus (the Son) and the Holy Spirit are 3 different beings but "one" in purpose? Like a team? God's ultimate goal, I believe, is to bring His children back into his presence. Because of man's sin there had to be an atonement. God sent His Son, Jesus, to make that sacrifice. While the Holy Spirit is there to testify of the truth and comfort us.

My understanding is just like the Savior explained while he was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. He prayed for the people that had accepted his message. He asked the Father that "they may be one, as we are." (John 17:11) We didn't see these people suddenly meld into one unexplicable being. They were, however, united in their purpose and testimony.

I don't believe that God intended people to left in the dark on this. I believe that He is anxiously waiting for His children to discover these things through the power of the Holy Spirit.

sexyjexy : That is included within the trinity. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are all in the same purpose. They are distinct in their roles, but they are all involved in every role that God does. There is a doctrine called the doctrine of Appropriations, which states that the works of the trinity is a unity, but also necessary for certain acts to be attributed to particular persons of the trinity.

However, we also need to understand that trinity is not ONLY unity in purpose or will. They are also one in being.

Example: Nestorianism is the belief that Jesus is fully God and fully Man but two persons united by will. That is a heresy, because the Bible shows that Jesus is fully God and fully Man by being and by will.

The Trinity is still a mystery, and there are some things that are kept for only God to know. We can know what the Trinity is not, but we can't fully comprehend what the Trinity is like. We can try to describe it, but no one can really comprehend in our mind, seeing God as three persons in one essence, exist in both unity and diversity.

play4fun : But that's my point, the doctrine of the Trinity does not teach that they are distinct beings but different forms, or parts, of the same entity. My understanding is that they are three distinct and seperate beings: The Father is His own person, the Son is His own person, and the Holy Ghost (Spirit) is seperate from the two. Jesus is the literal Son of the Father and the Holy Spirit is a seperate personage of Spirit, whose charge it is, as given by the Father, to testify of the truth to our hearts.

They're 3 different forms of God himself. Jesus is God in mortal form, and the holy spirit is God in his ghost form. And God...Well he's just god. (: the all mighty lord.

sexyjexy : It would not be called the trinity if it ends on them being separate in being. That would be tri-theism. The Bible states that there is only one God and no other. (Deuteronomy 6:4). All three are of the same essence, which in greek is "homoousios." The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are the One God. They are united and different at the same time. They are "distinct yet not divided" This is why it is so hard for our finite minds to comprehend. I like how Augustine says it: "If you can fully grasp it, it's not God."

The terms maybe a reason of confusion. When the doctrine says "One essence in three persons", people confuse "essence" or "substance" like it's some kind of stuff or that the three are in the same "nature", like human nature. That is not so. It means that there is only one personal God and that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is God. More confusion is on the "persons," thinking that it means that they are three individuals like us as people. The reason the word "person" was used is because the word "persona" is referred to the actors in theaters with different roles. But God is not "acting" in those roles, all of them represent expressions of God. So the understanding is a personal God who lives and works in three different ways all at once.

We also want to be careful when we say that they are in different forms. There is a heresy called Modalism where the idea is that God changes to different modes of God in different times, like how an actor wears one mask, then leaves the stage to wear another mask, and then reappear. The Bible makes it clear that Father Son and Holy Spirit exists and works are simultaneous. Modalism overemphasizes the "one essence" but neglects the "three persons" or three roles that God plays at the same time.

play4fun : So, if I understand you correctly, you also agree that they are 3 seperate and distinct individuals who work together as one? Because if that's the case, then we understand each other's beliefs.

sexyjexy : Not to speak for play4fun, but it's not exactly like that...
You see, what he's saying is that they are 3 distinct individuals who are also at the same time one person. It's not really working together as one... but more being one. Tough to understand, but if it's not, then you've got it wrong.

"Tough to understand, but if it's not, then you've got it wrong."

So, if it makes sense then it's wrong.... not THAT makes no sense.

geeogree : Yeah yeah I know... but seriously, God is not supposed to be comprehensible. Especially not the Trinity... so if you think you've got it, then I'm pretty sure you don't. I'm saying that for myself too :/.

says who?

Says the people who wrote the trinitarian doctrine?

I don't believe that at all.... the Bible itself tells us to know God. How can you know something you don't understand.... the incomprehensible God is not something I believe. Simple as that.

geeogree : Yeah, the Bible tells us to know God (more of a personal matter, but knowledge works too), but we can never know everything about God. There are some things that we will not understand about God. There will be mysteries that God would not reveal to us till the end of times. There are things that we can know from what is revealed in scripture, but we don't know everything about God, or we would be God ourselves.

sexyjexy : No, I believe that Jesus, the Father, and the Holy Spirit are all God. They have different roles on certain parts of the ministry of the Godhead, like Creation, redemption, salvation, etc.

I agree with the unity of wills in those works, but that is because Father, Son and Holy Spirit are all God Himself, and He works in a triune way--distinct but always united. That is the Doctrine of Unity of Operations. Example: God is involved in creation in a triune way (Genesis 1:1;John 1:3;Psalm 104:30), even though the Father has the main task of creation.

I agree with people here, I believe that God, Jesus and the holy spirit are separate, but are one as well. I can't really explain why I think this way, but what's been said already has cleared a lot up.