One Simple Rule to Better Understand the Trinity
How to approach the central mystery of Christianity
It is very easy to misunderstand the Trinity.
The Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of Christian religion, but even well-intentioned people often fall into error when trying to explain it to others.
Is there a simple rule that can help?
Yes! A quick, medieval simplification can help provide a tremendous amount of clarity and help preserve you from error when talking about the Trinity.
But most importantly, it can help you better contemplate the inexhaustible beauty of the Triune God.
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The Trinity is Easy to Misunderstand
The Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of the Christian religion. Christians believe that the Trinity is one God and three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. They deny it is three gods, but rather three persons that all share in the same divine substance. It is a philosophically rich understanding of God that leans heavily into the definitions of person, substance, essence, and origin. And with this subtle framework comes a large capacity for error. In other words, it is very easy to misunderstand the Trinity.
Is there a simple rule that can help you understand the Triune mystery?
Yes. In fact, there is a very helpful and ancient diagram that helps image this simple rule.
The Simple Rule to Understand the Trinity
The simple standard to keep in mind when discussing the Trinity is this: all three Persons are God, but the Persons are not each other. Now, you may think that makes everything clear as mud! But once you see the rule in diagram format, as below, and run through some basic questions, it becomes tremendously helpful.
The diagram shows that the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God; however, the Father is not the Son, the Son is not the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is not the Father. All three Persons of the Trinity are God, but the Persons are not each other—they remain distinct.
Why is this so important? Well, it becomes a quick, easy theological standard by which to judge whether a statement about the Trinity is true. For example, because the Son is God, that means whatever the Son, as incarnate as Jesus Christ, does is attributable to God as well.
Did Jesus die on the Cross? Yes.
Did God die on the Cross? Yes.
However, the Persons are distinct; thus, whatever is attributable to the Son is not necessarily attributable to the Father. For example:
Did the Father die on the Cross? No.
Was the Father born of the Virgin Mary? No.
Was the Son born of the Virgin Mary? Yes.
Was God born of the Virgin Mary? Yes.
Did the Holy Spirit die on the Cross? No.
Was the Holy Spirit born of the Virgin Mary? No.
See how this works? It creates a simple standard (with a helpful diagram) that can bring clarity to the Gospel story and any theological claims about the Trinity you may hear. It also helps make sense of Christian claims that at first can seem counterintuitive, like “God died for you” or “Mary was the mother of God.” These statements are defending the divinity of Jesus, as the Son, as what is attributable to the Son is attributable to God.
An Invitation to Deeper Contemplation
The Trinity is the central mystery of the Christian religion. Christians believe that salvation is being brought into the life and love of the Trinity through the saving work of Jesus Christ, the Son made incarnate.
The Trinity is a mystery—an intelligible mystery that invites your intellect to contemplation but one that can never by exhausted. Some aspect of it will always be mysterious and invite you deeper—it is an unending abyss of grace.
If you want a deeper dive on the Trinity, check out The Trinity Explained.
Dcn. Harrison Garlick is a deacon, husband, father, Chancellor, and attorney. He lives in rural Oklahoma with his wife and five children. He is also the host of Ascend: The Great Books Podcast. Follow him on X at Dcn. Garlick or Ascend.
To me this echoes of the idea that we are all individuals, created by God, yet we are not each other.
Phenomenal. Thank you.