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Concerning the Trinity, some people ridicule it because they can't understand it. Recently, someone said to me:
The Triune God so loved the world that:
1- They came Themselves, or
2- They sent ONE of ThemselvesEnlighten me; which IS it?
Although I doubt that he really cares, I responded to him as follows.
The Triune God came to us in the Person of Christ.
This is a mystery. But a mystery to which God has given us insight here on earth. Let me explain it logically.
You and I share a human nature, do we not? Yet we are distinct persons. So what's the difference between us and the Holy Trinity.
Well, the difference is our limited nature. Human nature is such that we are limited. We are restricted to our space. You, in yours and I, in mine. But Divine Nature is such that it can't be limited. The attributes of Divine Nature is such that it is Eternal, Omnisicient and Omnipresent.
What does that mean? Well, that means that there can only be One God. God is eternal and therefore there is no "room" for any other God. If God were not eternal, then there could be many gods. But there is only one because the Divine Nature is eternal.
What about the persons? How can there be three Divine Persons? What is Person? A person is distinguished by an attribute that can't be shared. You and I share a human nature but we don't share a name, a personality, a body, a mind and many other characteristics. What is it that the Persons of the Holy Trinity do not share with one another. An identity, a role, a relationship.
The Father is in the Son, but the Father is not the Son.
The Son is in the Father but the Son is not the Father.
The Holy Spirit is in the Father and the Son, but the Holy Spirit is not the Father or the Son.
Three persons SHARE one Divine Nature.
BUT, you say, those three Persons aren't like you and I.
Correct. Each one of those Persons is eternal. We are finite. Each one of those Persons is God. We are human.
You might also say, but you and I share the human nature with many human beings. We are talking about a Trinity, not a multiplicity.
True. But the Trinity is revealed as such. If God had revealed a Quintity or even a Centurionity whatever, that is what we would have to accept. God has revealed He is a Trinity, nothing less and nothing more. Therefore we believe and accept it, although the Mystery is almost beyond the ability of the unaided mind to comprehend.
Then there is the mathematical response.
Certainly, 1+1+1 is equal to three. That is only partially true however, because there are Three Divine Persons. But the three persons are also consubstantial. That is, they share the same nature. Since they share the same nature, then it is also correct to use this mathematical formula, 1x1x1 = one.
And, we can explain the Holy Trinity by objective observation of the nature of all being.
A look at nature will show how the entire world reflects the Holy Trinity. If we look at space we see that everything is three dimensional. Everything has width, heighth and depth. Yet everything is seamlessly one. This is a reflection of the Holy Trinity.
If we consider time, we see that time has past, present and future. Yet where do we divide it? When does the past become the present and the present become the past? Time is also seamless. Time is one.
Everything in nature exists is three dimensional and everything in nature dwells in time. The Scripture clearly says:
Acts 17:28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.
Therefore, all of nature reflects the Blessed Trinity. All of nature, reflects God:
Romans 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse.
