Understanding the Trinity: Where to Start?

In our modern times, many people believe the doctrine of the Trinity is one that is far beyond their understanding. The reason is that the doctrine of the Trinity attempts to put into words an understanding of the all-powerful and Almighty God. The Lord is beyond our understanding and outside the grasp of our mind’s comprehension.

Recently there has been a large push against the doctrine of the Trinity. It is my personal belief that this comes from a lack of understanding of this theology.

In the next few posts, I hope to help you better understand why this theology has held such a foundational place within the Christian faith and to better understand the formation of this doctrine.

Why it Matters

Someone recently asked me why it would even matter? “If people, before the New Testament was written, didn’t know about the trinity, why would it matter if we know now?” This is a great question that brings several answers.

1. God has revealed Himself to man throughout time. As time has gone on God has revealed more about His work and who He is. As believers, we should want to know as much as possible about our Lord, how He relates to us, and anything our minds can grasp about Him. 
2. The doctrine of the Trinity is not something that a random philosopher came up with. It is the result of hundreds of years of people wrestling with Scriptural texts and trying to understand who God is and how He relates to us.
3. Beyond understanding who God is, the doctrine of the Trinity explains how we are saved. This is something I will discuss in a later post, but our salvation is totally and fully dependent on God’s work in sending a savior, that savior dying on the cross, and the Spirit of God turning us to Him. Our salvation is based on who God is and how He works within time, nature, and us.

It’s too Theological for Me

There is no doubt that the doctrine of the Trinity is one of the larger theological issues that many can stumble over. But God has revealed Himself to us in the Scriptures and it is, therefore, worth us trying to understand it. It is my hope to talk about some of these large issues in a way that the average Christian with no theological training will be able to understand. This does not mean that I will be able to touch on every aspect and debate that has taken place, but that I hope to give readers a foundation that is easy to understand and able to be built upon.