Edited with comments by Bob Beanblossom
17 May 2017
It seems to me that the Trinity is a bit difficult for many of us to grasp. Over the years I have heard many wonderful analogies to help explain the relationship that is the Godhead: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
This is my favorite. Remembering that it is only an analogy, and that any attempt to describe God is far beyond man’s limited ability, you, too, might find it worthwhile.
Anselm of Canterbury (ca. 1033-1109) wrote extensively about deep theological issues. His commentators note, often in a somewhat surprised way, that he was consistent throughout his writings in his beliefs. Although a Bishop in the Catholic Church, he was not always appreciated, and was exiled twice.
A defining aspect of his arguments was that he applied logic rather than Scripture, seeking to meet the detractors of God’s Word on their own turf. He did not deviate from Scripture, but, rather, built upon it. He is acknowledged as the originator of the ontological argument for the existence of God.
Here is an excerpted compilation of his arguments for the Trinity. He uses the Nile River system as his springboard. He is thorough, but enlightening. Stick with him and I think you will be rewarded. It is, of course, translated from Latin.
“The Nile is a spring flowing thru a river and accumulating in a lake. The spring is not the river or the lake, the river is not the the spring or the lake, and the lake is not the spring or the river.
“Yet the spring is the Nile, and the river is the Nile, and the lake is the Nile. Moreover, the three collectively are called the Nile; and the combination of any two of them is also called the Nile.There are not three Niles, but only one. The Nile is one nature, one water.
“Although the whole Nile is the spring, the whole Nile is the river, the whole Nile is the lake, yet the spring, the river, and the lake are all distinct from one another. The river is not the spring, but the river is what the spring is, viz., the Nile.
“In this respect all three have the same nature. Likewise the whole river exists from the spring, and the whole lake exists from the whole river and the whole spring.”
“The Son exists from the essence of the Father; the Holy Spirit proceeds from the whole of the Father and the Son. The Son is not the Father or the Holy Spirit, yet the Son is what the Father and the Holy Spirit are, viz., God.
“There are not three Gods, or three sets of consciousnesses, but only three distinct spheres of relationship with one indivisible consciousness”
(Also see a very similar argument by Augustine in Faith and Creed)