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[Unicorn]

A question about the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Non-christian here, but I want to understand more. Are these separate? And they the same? Are they different versions of the same thing? I don't really understand. Do they have different functions? If so, what are these functions? What is the difference?

[jimwalton]

The Trinity is one of those things where we are taught the reality and understand it, but finding adequate words to define it and describe it gets challenging. Back in the 2nd-3rd centuries they came up with descriptors like, "God is a single essence who exists in 3 persons." "God is a unified divine essence, but the 3 persons differ in their divine functions." It's not like they manifest themselves in different ways, but that they each have their role within the one monotheistic Godhead. This is how we have used language to try to explain reality. It's not a whole lot different from scientists struggling to describe dark matter (is "dark" really the right term?) or string theory (strings? seriously?).

God is one essence: holy, righteous, good, omniscience, omnipotent, omnipresent.

The Father is the Creator. He is YHWH, the "I am," meaning existence is core to his nature. He just is. No one or nothing was before Him, and nothing caused His existence. The Father is the Person we pray to. He is the sender: He sent Jesus, and He sent the Holy Spirit.

The Son is the Sent One. The Father sent Him. He was the agent of creation. He came to Earth in the flesh and died for our sins. He is the Redeemer.

The Holy Spirit is also a sent one. He is the Indweller—the One who lives in us. He guides us into truth, convicts us of sin, and makes us holy unto God.

I know it's a difficult concept to understand, but there are analogies that make sense of it and help us to understand. Suppose I write a book, and I put myself in it. The character "me" says what I would say and does what I would do. It's ME in the book. He's exactly as I am. Now, is the character in the book different from the me outside of the book? Of course he is. But is it me? Of course it is. He's all me, but he's all a separate character. I can easily be both the author and a character without compromising either.

If you're into science, in quantum mechanics there is a principle called superposition, where subatomic particles are able to exist in two states at once. This again may be a kind of analogy, if that helps.

For another potential scientific "validation" of such possibilities, in 2017 a group of quantum scientists (University of Science and Technology of China in Shanghai) successfully teleported a photon from earth to a satellite in orbit. It's called quantum entanglement. As far as our discussion here, quantum entanglement means that the two quantum objects share a wave function and share the same identity, even when separated. What happens to one happens to the other—whoever it exists. They are more than identical twins, the article said, "the two are one and the same." Apparently, according to the article, when they interact with matter on Earth they lose certain aspects of entanglement, but in the vacuum of space, they can extend infinitely (eternally). It's just interesting.

People still complain that the concept of Trinity is a contradiction, but I'll ask you to think about this: We are taught that at a point at infinity, parallel lines meet. If you can explain that to me, then you have the capacity to understand the Trinity. If you can’t explain that, but you still accept it as true, then accepting the concept of the Trinity should come just as easily for you.

It's a tough concept. I'm willing to talk more if you want.