Triunity: Thoughts on the trinity at 3am

In the 1990s it was popular to ask the question, What Would Jesus Do? It seemed that everywhere one looked WWJD was stamped on t-shirts, bumper stickers, and key chains. Last night, I read a new variation of the question on twitter, What Would Jesus Tweet?

This is not necessarily a bad question. It is better than basing one’s life decisions on filing in the name of a popular celebrity or athlete: WW_D (what would fill in the blank do).

However, as I am contemplating the meaning of the trinity at three in the morning, and reading some Barth, I think the WWJD question illustrates how we have not held on to the triunity of God. We tend to tear the trinity apart. In our limited understanding, God the Father seems more distant and even has a reputation for being judgmental. God the Holy Spirit, even in the church’s own liturgy, is under-defined. Jesus often seems to be the only accessible one in the three.

Yet, Barth’s challenge is to hold on to the unity of God: “We must say that all God’s work, as we are to grasp it on the basis of His revelation, is one act which occurs simultaneously and in concert in all His three modes of being.” [375]

So, perhaps a better question would be, WWTD?

Back in Barth: Unity in the Trinity

I apologize for my nearly month-long absence from this blog. After finishing the first book of “Church Dogmatics” I paused to read some other texts. One book I read, which I highly recommend, is Rabbi Harold S. Kushner’s, “Overcoming Life’s Disappointments.” I strongly suggest the book, you will not be disappointed.

Today, I return to the journey with Barth. This second book takes on the unfathomable subject of, “The Revelation of God, The Triune God.” Trying to understand the trinity by reading Barth is somewhat like trying to understand the complexity of the universe through the dense writings of Stephen Hawking. Although the task is not easy, most good things in life are difficult, so the journey continues.

One of the first points that Barth makes is the importance of the unity of the Trinity. Barth emphasizes that one must consider the trinity as one in name, one in essence, and one in divine being. He writes, “The Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Spirit is God. And yet, they are not three gods but God in one. In the same way, the Father is Lord, the Son is Lord, the Holy Spirit is Lord; and yet there are not three lords, but the Lord is one.”

While the concept of unity in the trinity seems obvious, it is quite challenging. To this day, we give the three persons of the trinity distinctive names and tend to assign to them different roles, personalities, and characteristics. Barth strongly warns against this and challenges the reader to hold together the unity of God.

While I completely agree with Barth’s concept of unity in the trinity, it is thought-provoking to consider how we speak of God in ways that dangerously divide or carefully hold together unity in the trinity.