One God Yet Three Persons? Part 1
One God Yet Three Persons? Part 1
One God, yet Three Persons. This is the God in which true Christians believe – the Trinitarian God. From an initial human perspective, this may sound like mindless poppycock. Many humans do think that is poppycock. But reality is deeper than what meets the eye, and even deeper than what meets the mind.
Who is this Trinitarian God? There is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. (Note: the Name Holy Spirit is also used instead of Holy Ghost.) The Father is the First Divine Person of the Most Blessed Trinity. The Son is the Second Divine Person of the Most Blessed Trinity, also called the Word, with Jesus Christ being this Second Person Who took on a human nature and became a man. (The debate on the latter point is beyond the scope of this article.) And the Holy Ghost is the Third Divine Person of the Most Blessed Trinity. Catholics profess in the Nicene Creed, which is a summary of Catholic Faith, in part “I believe in one God, the Father Almighty … in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the Only-begotten Son of God … of one substance with the Father … And in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of life, Who proceeds from the Father and the Son, Who, together with the Father and the Son, is adored and glorified:” [Underlined emphases are mine] (1962 Roman Missal).
So the prayer above, which reflects the Catholic faith, very briefly addresses the one yet three “problem.” How might we proceed scientifically?
Substance
One key concept is made visible in the Creed, which is that of substance. What is substance? Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary defines it as “That which underlies all outward manifestations; substratum; the permanent subject or cause of phenomena, whether material or spiritual; that in which properties inhere; that which is real, in distinction from that which is apparent; the abiding part of any existence, in distinction from any accident; that which constitutes anything what it is; real or existing essence.” Notice the key points of underlying existence and of being real in this definition.
Using this concept of substance, a simple scientific explanation of the Trinity can be made from the physical states of matter. Matter is known to have the states of solid, liquid, and gas. Using the molecular substance H2O (water – which consists of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom), as the type of matter for our example, there are three forms (or states) of this one substance:
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Ice | H2O chilled to its freezing point or lower temperature is in a solid form. |
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Water | H2O at a temperature in-between its freezing and boiling points is in liquid form, which is the natural state of H2O on earth in the typical climate in which we live. Note that H2O in outer space would be very much solid, unless it were near a star. |
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Steam | H2O heated to its boiling point or hotter temperature is in a gaseous form. |
In each case, H2O still remains the underlying substance, in whatever form it exists. This form, in the case of H2O, depends on the external environment in which the H2O resides, in particular the temperature (which depends on heat energy or lack of heat energy). This substance is not changed even though the form is changed by external stimuli.
We even give unique names to the same substance when it is in its different forms. In our H2O example we use the names ice, water and steam for the respective forms of solid, liquid, and gas. No one in a right, correctly-educated mind would say that ice, water or steam does not consist of H2O, nor would they say that H2O cannot exist because one cannot reconcile ice, water and steam. Rather, the different forms of H2O are relative to the environment. So then the observer’s perceptions are dependent and therefore differ too, even though the substance remains constant. The essence (pun intended) of the analogy is that the essence of existence – the substance – does not change, but the viewable form can be different based on environmental factors.
So in our scientific analogy, we can call the H2O the Trinitarian God since that is the underlying substance, and assign each Divine Person to a form, e.g. Father is the solid form, Son is the liquid form, and Holy Ghost is the gaseous form. We must also be careful not to carry analogies too far by inference. In the case of H2O, the three forms are determined by external stimuli. The Trinitarian God is not determined by external stimuli at all, but rather is existence itself, and He determines created existence. So there is a better – and deeper – way of explaining One God in Three Persons: that of dimensions. This deeper scientific analogy will be dealt with in another article Part 2 – Dimensions. Stay tuned.
To expand this analogy a bit further, there are other interesting correlations by using H2O – water – as the example of substance for God. First, Jesus said “‘Whoever believes in me,’ as scripture says, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from within him.’” (John 7:38 NAB) Life on earth cannot exist without water, and similarly spiritual life cannot exist without God, although one may not notice. Imagine a little fish asking his mother, “where is the water?” A large portion of the bodies of creatures consist of water. For example, the human body is approximately 61 percent water by weight. “Living water” can be interpreted literally, in addition to spiritually, since the human body is a majority of living water.
H2O consists of two hydrogen atoms being bonded by one oxygen atom. Hydrogen is the most fundamental atom, the simplest and most basic element. God is the most fundamental existence, in fact He is existence itself. All other creation exists because of Him and in Him, and apart from Him nothing exists. This will also be dealt with in more detail in Part 2 – Dimensions.
Also, oxygen bonds two of the most fundamental elements together. Without this bonding in a certain way, H2O (water) could not exist. Analogously, God the Father eternally begets His Son, the Word (Jesus Christ is the incarnation of the Word into a human nature), and the Divine Love of Father with the Son is what God the Holy Ghost (Holy Spirit) is. God would not be God without the Three Persons in the specific bonded form, that is the Most Blessed Trinity.
Using the analogy of God the Father as one hydrogen atom, God the Son as the other hydrogen atom, God the Holy Ghost is the bonding oxygen atom. Oxygen is also needed for higher forms of intelligent life. As with H2O in general, without oxygen intelligent life could not exist. Not only that, but oxygen performs essential functions in a highly efficient way within the human body. “…When the body has ample oxygen, it produces enought energy to optimize metabolism and eliminate accumulated toxic wastes in the tissues. Natural immunity is achieved when the immune system is not burdened with heavy ‘toxic buildup.’ Detoxification occurs when oxygen is introduced into the system” (Dr. Norman McVea). The Townsend Letters for Doctors states “…Oxygen is ideal as the main ingredient in any life form with a nervous system. Oxygen’s conductivity allows it to readily combine with conductive organic materials for transmitting nerve signals. The brain and nervous system consume far more oxygen in proportion to their weight than the rest of the body. The constant firing of micro-electric impulses across the synapses requires a great deal of energy. If there isn’t enough oxygen available for the nerve cells to fire dependably when needed, the brain can’t help but function less effectively.” (Take note of the electric connection in that description of the nervous system; we will use that in a future scientific parable). Ed McCabe described that for the body “the large majority of those infectious microbes that cause us so much illness and pain are anaeroic…a big word that means they live and proliferate best in environments where there is little or no oxygen” (Oxygen Therapies: A New Way of Approaching Disease).
With too little or no oxygen disease and illness occur in the human body. Dr. Stephen Levine, a Molecular Biologist, writes, “…In all serious disease states we find a concomitant low oxygen state. Low oxygen in the body tissues is a sure indicator for disease. Hypoxia, or lack of oxygen in the tissues, is the fundamental cause for all degenerative disease” (Oxygen Deficiency: A Concomitant to all Degenerative Illnesses).
How does this work spiritually? “It is the spirit that gives life … The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life” (John 6:63 NAB). Similarly then, spiritual disease – sin – and therefore suffering occur because of the lack of “Divine Oxygen”, that is the Spirit of God within human hearts. Not that God isn’t there, rather that sin drives out the Divine Oxygen, the Spirit of God. What is sin? Rejection of God’s wise ways, including the Ten Commandments. Suffering is always a result of sin, whether it is personal sin, or someone else’s personal sin perpetrated against you as the victim. If you ask how does a natural disaster such as a hurricane or earthquake relate to personal sin, notice in the Garden of Eden, before sin started with original sin, there were no natural disasters, but rather only a peaceful paradise.
Lastly, the a person will die the fastest without water, typically in three days, while a person can live without food for up to three weeks (Rule of Three, Outdoors Magazine). Without God, the spirit – the soul in a person – will die quickly. That Third Person of the Most Blessed Trinity, the “Divine Oxygen” in particular, is Love – God is Love (1 John 4:8). And we all see how the world is without love.
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