Trying to Understand the Trinity

I've been listening to someone trying to argue for the Trinity, against the idea of a strict monotheism that asserts that God can only be and have One self/person. It seems like an argument between a crazy ultra-rationalist and a theologian having a bad case of heartburn. For myself, I tend to be a mystical experientialist, while (hopefully) staying within the bounds of orthodoxy. So, let's look at this from a new perspective.

What is the orthodox opinion of the Trinity being understood as a wholly healthy (not crazy) example of triplet schizophrenia? Can we even say that without sounding pejorative? We speak of God as having three persons in one being. And, of course, as God, He has the power to be in multiple locations at one (eternal) time, so it can get plenty confusing. A single essence (being), spread to three separate places, each with a distinct (not separate) person-ality, doing different but harmonious activities, all at the same time.

The difference from a human person with schizophrenia, is that a human would be totally insane to even imagine doing this. But with God, being divine, all things are possible.

Of course, I'll bet everyone thinks that is a crazy, heretical idea. But try to explain the Trinity any better.

To start the whole thing off, the Father likes to present Himself as the power behind the natural world, and as being its creator. He appears to people as a whirlwind, a pillar of fire, a volcano, an earthquake, or maybe just a burning bush that isn't being burnt or consumed. His voice can be overwhelming, scary like thunder, or silent as the stillness in our hearts. But one thing is for sure, He is way beyond our comprehension.

And yet, He comes to us to give us Laws to guide our lives, and to share some of his power with a few who become his favorites. And He has a plan: to save the whole human race, because obviously we are broken and unable to behave as we should. We are slaves to sin (claimed by Satan), and need to be set free. So God is going to send for us a Messiah, a teacher who will sacrifice Himself, to save everyone who will believe in Him.

And then, it gets even more weird. How does God, as the Holy Spirit conceive his Word into Mary, so that Jesus, the Messiah, can be born? It isn't sex, because she's still a virgin. So we can't accuse God of incest, having sex with His own mother, but still it leaves us with a big problem. Even when Jesus says that in Heaven there will be neither male nor female, so there isn't any sex, it's strange.

And then, what is God going to do with Jesus' human body, after the crucifixion and resurrection? He has to remain (eternally) wholly human and simultaneously wholly divine, if the orthodox creeds are as infallible as they claim to be. And, at the same time, the Son and the Father are One, distinct but not separate, of a single undivided essence (being). But the Father doesn't have a body, unless you imagine a bodily image of Him sitting on a throne with the Earth as his footstool. (Metaphors having any actual essence get really messy, really fast.) So, now, God is stuck with being forced to remain undivided, but in two distinct places at the same time: in/being a human, and Being God on his Throne, while also being at His Own right hand and sitting in another throne.

But wait! We are not finished! The Holy Spirit emanates from both, the Father and the Son, from their holy, loving relationship, as a Spirit of Love and Wisdom. However, the Holy Spirit is its own person in the Trinity, and able to act independently in accord with the divine will shared by the Father and the Son. He (She?) is tasked with our guidance and the teaching of all Wisdom to those who believe. The Holy Spirit is the person (distinct but not separate) of God who spoke to the prophets, teaching and admonishing the people of Israel and Judaea, to obey the Law of Moses, and to expect the coming of the Messiah.

The Holy Spirit (He/She?) was given to the apostles, and then to all Christians, on the day of Pentecost, after Christ ascended into Heaven, so that we would not be left alone. So, the Holy Spirit does not (now) have a throne to sit in, but passes continually between the Father and the Son, and descends to us for our guidance and to speak for Jesus within our hearts. He does not speak for Himself, but only as Jesus or the Father speaks through Him. We cannot perceive the Spirit any more than we can know where the wind comes from, or where it is going. But the Spirit is known by the way we, as Christians, love one another as Jesus loved us, and the way we try to treat each other as we want to be treated.

But always we must remember, these three persons of God are not separated in any way. They are distinct in personality and activities, but share one undivided essence in one self-identical Being. They may be in separate and different places at the same eternal time, without ever being apart from each other, and they each have their own distinct but shared agendas about how they want to interact with us. But always, They have the same goal, to save us from ourselves and help us to avoid Hell and eternal condemnation. And He/She/They are always and continuously in communion, sharing with each other, so that their actions stay in harmonious unity and agreement.

Indeed, that is how we can know and discern what we are listening to in our hearts. If it does not agree with all that we know of the Father and the Son, and with what the Spirit has said before, then it does not come from God. And that is why it is so important to learn all that we can of God from the Scriptures and from the Church, and to study and pray always. In that way, we can share in the divine communion, and understand what the Spirit is speaking to us, for our re-formation into the renewed image and likeness of God in Christ. God is trying to fix our brokenness, so that we can be accepted into Heaven.

So this goes around and around, like a game of musical chairs, when the music stops the three of them try to sit in two thrones, except no one gets left out, because there's only one God, and He get to sit in both seats as distinct but not separate persons. And the music probably never stops anyway, because they are too busy down here trying to save us. And we have no idea of what we are looking at because, whatever God is, He is way beyond our comprehension. That's where we started, and that's where we end up. But with God, all things are possible.