Back to the basics: the trinity

The Trinity has always been, and will continue to be, a great mystery in our faith. Difficult to understand and even more difficult to articulate, the Trinitarian God has baffled even the most astute theologians. In addition, many of our Christian traditions have not been helpful in representing the truly equal, collaborative nature of of the Trinity, which exists not as a linear or pyramidal order of importance, but rather as an ever-rotating entanglement of equally powerful, present, knowing, and benevolent persons within our God. Ascribing any kind of hierarchy to the Trinity disrupts the inseparable, mutual indwelling nature of the Trinity, which allows for God to be one and three simultaneously, constantly in relationship within God’s self. In addition, it has contributed to an unhelpful model that supports the dominant power of one over the collaborative, interrelational power of many—think Constantine’s political and religious unification strategy, whose slogan was, “One God, one emperor, one empire,” which lends itself to a theocratic governance that puts our own interests above those of the rest of the world in the name of God (effectively taking the Lord’s name in vain a la the second Commandment).   
    
Instead, we are to view the Trinity as one God, yes, but one God whose existence depends on a relationship among equals. It is what distinguishes Christianity from the other monotheistic, Abrahamic religions (Judaism and Islam) because it recognizes that God’s very nature is a moving, shifting, dance among God the Creator, God the Savior, and God the Holy Spirit. These three are not separate, distinct Gods like the Gods of the Greco-Roman pantheon or like Hinduism, but rather three distinct but inseparable persons or beings within the same God. This creates a model of mutuality that may help us to understand the distinct yet interconnected nature of creation—that everything we do has an impact on other human beings as well as the plants, animals, and inanimate aspects of our universe. None of us, including the distinct persons of the Trinity, exist in a vacuum. We have always been and will always be inter- and intra-dependent. 
    
Understanding the Trinity as a mutual in-dwelling of three distinct but equal, interconnected beings also helps us resist some of the other negative outcomes of believing the Trinity to be hierarchical. A hierarchical God, whose Paternal nature rises above God the Son and God the Spirit, creates a patriarchal model of power which condones the belief that men have primacy and were created to dominate over women, children, marginalized people, and the rest of creation (animals, plants, and inanimate resources). In addition, it promotes a problematic atonement theory that sees God, the Father, willingly sacrificing His Son for Creation’s brokenness (think Abraham’s almost-sacrifice of Isaac), as opposed to a God who willingly sacrifices God’s self, both as the one losing His life (Jesus) and the ones (Creator and Spirit) losing a part of Themselves. Seen in this way, it is a much more profound and complex loss that promotes a reparative justice over a retributive justice. 
    
​Of all the word images and names used throughout the centuries to describe the Trinity, I continue to return to my favorite—St. Augustine’s description of the Trinity as Lover, Beloved, and Love. A lover cannot exist without a beloved and the love the lover gives. A beloved cannot exist without a lover and the love the beloved receives. Love cannot exist without the lover or the beloved, who shares this love between them. This love is so vast that it could not be contained within the Trinity and so has burst and spilled out into creating the universe. Participating in the Trinity, then, means joining in this loving entanglement who has plenty of room for all, from the most powerful beast to the tiniest, microscopic quark. And yes, that means there is space for you too.