We Believe in One God

Today is Trinity Sunday. It’s the Sunday where we celebrate the mystery of the Trinity, the Godhead, the Three in One and One in Three. It’s something that has caused quite a bit of confusion among a lot of people for many years. Because the Trinity is not exactly a simple concept to wrap our brains around. 

God the Father is God, but is not the Holy Spirit, and is not Jesus. Jesus is God, but is not the Father and is not the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit is God, but is neither the Father, nor the Son. The three are one God, and yet also, distinctly three.

If you’re one of those people who hears that and says, “Oh yeah, that makes perfect sense. No problems here,” then I applaud you. The rest of Christendom, however, has spent quite a bit of time trying to explain this mystery in a way that makes sense, and in a way that all parties can agree on.

lex orandi, lex credendi, lex vivendi

Many of us, in the days following the riot and attack on the capitol building on January 6th of this year, have come to wonder how people who claim to know Jesus could have ended up storming the capitol with the intent of causing harm to those within its walls. Causing harm, when the Jesus they claim to follow expresses the mandate to “love your neighbor,” and “pray for your enemies.” Nowhere does Christ seem to indicate that violently beating your enemies with a flagpole is the way of love, nor even something he wants his followers to do.