About the Trinity

The trinity is a concept that is embraced by the Christian religion. Christianity, which grew out of Judaism, redefined who God is by seeing Him not only as one God, as the Jewish people did, but also as one God who was also three separate entities: the Father, the Son (Jesus), and the Holy Spirit. Trying to understand and explain the trinity has confounded Christians for thousands of years.

Features

The trinity is made up of three distinct parts, which are the Father (God), Jesus (God's son, who physically lived on the earth) and the Holy Spirit (God living inside of a Christian). The Father is the God of the Jewish religion who is referenced throughout the Old Testament. Jesus was both God's son and God in human form. The Holy Spirit is both God and God's spirit that has the ability to dwell inside of a person.

Function

The trinity enables Christians to experience God in different ways. The Father is someone to love, honor, respect and obey. The Son was both fully human and fully God, which means that Jesus understands the struggles of humankind because he was human. Jesus also sacrificed himself so that God and humans could reconcile. The Holy Spirit lives inside of Christians and helps Christians to become more like God. The Holy Spirit guides Christians to make better and more compassionate choices in their day-to-day lives.

Risk Factors

Most people have a hard time wrapping their minds around how God could be both one entity and divided into three separate parts at the same time. A good analogy would be comparing the trinity to ice, steam and water. Jesus was "solid," like ice. The Holy Spirit, like steam, is something that cannot be seen. God is like water, which is the base of all three. However, even analogies like this are lacking. Most Christians have to accept the trinity on faith because it is so difficult to find an analogy to explain this concept.

Significance

By embracing the trinity, Christians have a different view of God than that held by the Jewish people. Christians read the same text (the Old Testament) that Jewish people have been reading for thousands of years but find different meaning as they apply the concept of the trinity to those passages. Embracing the trinity was a big part of how Christianity splintered off from Judaism and became its own religion.

Effects

The Jewish God was always viewed as one God. After Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection, Christians saw the Jewish God in a new light. Christians see God as manifesting in three parts through the trinity, as the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. This view of God resulted in Christians redefining many passages of the Old Testament and reaching different conclusions from those who practice Judaism.