7
vol.
The Trinity and Apologetics
L. T. Jeyachandran
F o u n d a t i o n s
o f
APOLOGETICS 1
2
TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S
Mind Your Head..................................................4
A Note To Facilitators...................................6
THE TRINITY AND APOLOGETICS L. T. Jeyachandran...........................................................9
Answer Guide.......................................................27
Stepping Stones................................................. 36
3
MIND YOUR HEAD
In Oxford, England, where this curriculum was filmed, signs with the warning “Mind Your Head” are a common sight. Buildings so old that they would be tourist attractions in the United States are commonly used as office space, retail stores, and apartments because they are so plentiful. The low hung, sometimes sagging, door frames are a hazard for the taller among us, hence the warning. Those of us living in the globalized world of the twenty-first century often need to heed this warning in its figurative sense. We pay too little attention to what goes into our minds and often don’t have any way to filter good ideas from the bad. Though we may recognize the truth when we see it, we struggle to articulate and defend that truth to others. Ravi Zacharias has often said, “What I believe in my heart must make sense in my mind.” We hope that this curriculum will help you “mind your head” by making sense of what you believe in your heart. We also hope that you won’t be content with a mere intellectual apprehension of the Christian faith, but that you will let the promises of the Christian faith transform your heart, affecting every aspect of your life.
4
5
A NOTE TO FACILITATORS
F a c i l i tat o r s Thank you for your willingness to lead others through this Foundations of Apologetics study. We hope that you will take the material we’ve made available and adapt it to the needs of your group in whatever way you find it most helpful. Below you will find some suggestions to help you get the most out of this study guide. Each session includes four major elements.
I.
Laying the GroundwoRK
This is the video portion of the study accompanied by a note-taking guide. The bulk of the content is presented in “Laying the Groundwork.” The rest of the study aims to unpack and apply the information that has been presented in this section. After introductory comments, announcements, and opening prayer, simply play the DVD, alerting the participants that they may use the note-taking guide if they find it helpful. Some participants may prefer to take their own notes rather than fill in the guide. Other participants may follow the note-taking guide religiously, perhaps even getting frustrated if they miss one of the answers. For this reason, we’ve provided in the facilitator’s guide the answers to the fill-in-the-blank section, and you should feel free to make the answers available to participants.
II.
Testing the Footing
This section provides questions designed to make sure the content is understood and to allow students to begin to articulate the ideas in their own words. If you are working with participants who have never encountered these ideas before, this section will be especially important. Keep in mind that these are meant to be comprehension questions rather than discussion questions, and you needn’t spend the majority of your time on this section. You may also want to consider using these questions for a review at the beginning of the next session. Answers to “Testing the Footing” questions are provided in the facilitator’s guide. 6
III. Digging Deeper This section offers questions that consider material beyond what is presented in the video, including Bible passages, additional quotes, or other issues related to the subject matter. These are open-ended questions without set answers; thus you will not find answers in the facilitator’s guide. Remember that the goal of this section is to have a thought-provoking discussion. If you depart from the questions but have a relevant, stimulating discussion, you should consider the session a success!
IV.
Building on the Foundation
This final section provides application questions designed to encourage the participant to personalize the material they’ve encountered. Some members of your group will be more comfortable sharing their personal experiences than others. We encourage you to pray for your group, asking God to make it an atmosphere where people feel safe to share their fears and expectations. This section includes a prayer guide. You can either use this prayer portion in your group, or encourage the participants to pray through it on their own. This section also includes resource suggestions for further study. As you progress through the study, try to gauge how each participant is doing, paying special attention to any who may be discouraged because they find the material difficult. Try to encourage them that they don’t need to grasp every concept to come away with helpful applications.
V.
Stepping Stones of Apologetics
This section allows you to tackle some of the main points of the content rather than the entire lecture. Stepping Stones offers short DVD segments for a group to watch and discuss in a lesser amount of time and is therefore ideal for a Sunday school or small group setting. Each teaching clip is enhanced by a handful of questions for thought and discussion in section five of this study guide. We hope that leading others through this study will be an enjoyable experience. May God be with you.
7
8
THE TRINITY AND APOLOGETICS L. T. Jeyachandran
7
Volume
This lecture will look at biblical examples of the doctrine of the Trinity and demonstrate how this understanding of God and of human beings as created in the image of God explains reality.
Upon completion of this session you should be able to accomplish the following: General Outcome: Understand the doctrine of the Trinity and realize that our understanding of God and of human beings as created in the image of God explains reality Specific Outcomes: Understand the doctrine of the Trinity through seeing God in the Old Testament, during Jesus’s life, and after His resurrection Realize and communicate why the Trinity is a paradigm for apologetics Respond to the Trinity through worship, holiness, and a deeper relationship with God
Laying the Groundwork Vi d e o S e ssion
Introduction “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse” Romans 1:20 (NIV). point. ✦ We do not all have the same The story of “The Blind Men and the Elephant” is used to show that different religions and perspectives are touching different aspects of but that reality is one truth behind it.
•
The flaw of this illustration is that you cannot know that there is an
elephant out there unless you have
.
9
✦
has affected our rationality.
✦ We usually define God with what He is not rather than what He is.
terms, explaining
Development of the Doctrine of the Trinity within Scripture: Three Encounters ✦ God in the Old Testament • “The Lord your God, the Lord is
The Hebrew word used for oneness is “echad,” which could refer
to a kind of a composite oneness rather than an
•
oneness. The same word for oneness is used to refer to man and wife becoming
.” Deuteronomy 6:4
•
.
•
God appears in
Genesis 22, Genesis 32, and Joshua 5.
form in Genesis 18,
•
There is a deliberate
when God says, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness and let
“error” in Genesis 1:26
them….” (“Man” is singular but “them” is plural.)
•
When there is bad
is good theology!
•
In order to express the image of God, God had to create a relationship,
a
plurality to express the image of God.
•
We see plurality in messianic
Psalm 110:1, Proverbs 8:31.
in the Bible, there
of a man and a woman. There must be : Psalm 2:7,
✦ God on the dusty streets of Palestine • All Jews (and the first Christians were Jews) were strict
10
.
•
If we could have watched Jesus and observed him those three and a
half years, of one thing we would have been absolutely certain: that he
was a
•
Yet
•
Jesus excludes himself from praying the
•
He
•
Jesus spoke to the creation as if he were its
•
The
claiming to be equal with God.
. shines through Jesus’s humanity. prayer.
sins, and he felt no need for forgiveness himself. .
understood that by calling God his Father, Jesus was
•
Some liberal scholars claim that John invented the divinity of Christ, but
we see the same idea throughout all four
•
.
The resurrection ✧ There is an important difference between the of Jesus and all of the other miracles of Jesus. ✧ Every other miracle worked within the second law of They bring you back into present creation.
.
Second Law of Thermodynamics:
A closed system will inevitably move toward thermodynamic equilibrium (heat death) through loss of heat (entropy). This law shows that the universe is running out of energy available for useful work.
Entropy:
A measure of the progress of a system toward equilibrium. Entropy is thus an indication of energy in the universe that is no longer available for work. ✧ Jesus’s resurrection takes him forward into the new creation and is the only instance that violates the law of .
•
When Jesus ascends to heaven, he moves into another
.
Development of the Doctrine of the Trinity within Scripture: Three Encounters (continued) ✦ God in the upper room in Jerusalem “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.” John 14:16-17
•
The Holy Spirit is mentioned from the
Bible onwards.
•
Before Pentecost, the work of the Holy Spirit was extra-personal—
verse of the
of the individual.
•
On the Day of Pentecost, for the first time one person of the triune
God comes to
•
In John 14-16, the Greek word for “spirit” is neuter, but John uses
the masculine pronoun “he” to modify it.
the believer.
11
What should we make of these three encounters? ✦ Two options the church rejects: • These three encounters refer to
gods—This option
is rejected because three independent gods would be finite rather
than infinite.
•
These three encounters refer to one God playing three
—This option is rejected because it cannot make sense of the
relationship between the Father and the Son.
In John 10:30, Jesus says, “I and the Father are
.” Throughout
John’s Gospel, masculine gender used to define persons, but neuter gender is used to define the substance that is one. Is the Trinity a logical contradiction? ✦ No. If we said, God is one person and three persons, that would be a contradiction. But we are saying God is one who exists in three
•
.
One
and three
. One essence, three persons.
The Trinity as a Paradigm for Apologetics ✦ The Being of God (Freedom and Identity) • Personality requires
In the Trinity, God is “all personal.” The Father relates to the
through the
•
When Jesus prays that the church may be one, he is reflecting the
. that exists between the Father and the Son
through the Spirit.
•
The New Age actually tells us that
to personality.
•
Identity comes by
the Spirit).
•
Only in the triune God do we see perfect unity as well as
•
Freedom is a
•
The complementarity that exists between
a reflection of the complementarity within the sacred being of the triune God.
•
God can be transcendent over creation and still immanent in creation.
And for true
12
.
•
is superior (Father and Son through .
quality. and
is
, both these qualities have to be available in God.
Transcendent:
Above and independent of the material universe.
Immanent:
Present in the natural world. ✦ The Holiness of God • God is holy only because God is
•
The absolute center of morality is the absolute
•
There is no non-relational
. . .
✦ The Knowledge of God • Matthew 11:27: “…No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one
knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses
to reveal him.”
•
God is complete in his
is dynamic.
•
Knowledge is a relational quality.
, yet that knowledge
✦ Our Response • The appropriate response to God’s being is true
•
.
The appropriate response to God’s holiness is to discover that relational in my relationship to others.
•
The appropriate response to the God who is all-knowing is to pursue
truth that is not only intellectual but also
.
Michael Polanyi:
Twentieth-century philosopher and scientist; author of the book Personal Knowledge.
13
Testing the Footing Co m p r e h e n si on These questions are meant to confirm that all participants have understood the concepts presented in the lecture and are able to articulate them. ✦
What is the fatal flaw in using the story of “The Blind Men and the Elephant” to make the point that we can follow different "truths" yet still be ultimately discovering a unified reality?
✦
What sort of oneness can the Hebrew word "echad" be used to refer to?
✦
Why does Genesis 1:26 make the deliberate grammatical mistake of pairing the singular "man" with the plural pronoun "them"?
14
✦
Name an example of Jesus's divinity shining through his humanity.
✦
What was the chief difference in the miracles of Jesus (including the resurrection of Lazarus) and his own resurrection?
✦
The Holy Spirit existed both before and after Pentecost. According to L.T., what was the difference that Pentecost brought about?
✦
If the Greek word for "spirit" is neuter, why would John repeatedly use a masculine pronoun to modify the word "spirit"?
15
✦
What two explanations for the Godhead has the church rejected?
✦
What is the correct understanding of the Trinity?
✦
How do the Father, Son, and Spirit demonstrate that God is both transcendent and immanent?
16
17
Digging Deeper D i s c u s si o n In Colossians 1:19-20, Paul writes: “For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross” (ESV). Was it necessary for our savior to be fully God? Why?
In Matthew 3:16-17, we read this account of Jesus’s baptism: “As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.’” What evidence for the doctrine of the Trinity do we find in this scene?
John Wesley reportedly said, “Bring me a worm that can comprehend a human being, and then I will show you a human being that can comprehend the Triune God!” Should the fact that we cannot fully comprehend the Trinity keep us from pondering it? Why or why not?
18
A former Christian who converted to Islam wrote in her testimony “…I could find no real base for the trinity in the Bible. I could not find proof that Jesus or any of the prophets who came before him (peace be upon them all) taught trinity. They all preached monotheism.” How would you respond to this woman?
Some have suggested that God created mankind because He was lonely. How does the doctrine of the Trinity undermine this assertion?
In 1 Peter 1:15-17, Peter writes, “But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy’” (NIV). How is the doctrine of the Trinity central to God’s holiness? Why does God command us to be holy?
19
In John 17:20-21, Jesus prays for us: “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you ” (NIV). What does the unity of the Trinity look like? How should our unity reflect the Trinity?
Theologian Timothy George has said, “The Trinity is foundational to the Christian faith and is something that all orthodox believing Christians share. It’s a part of the structure of the building, and though often we don’t notice the infrastructure, it’s there.” What happens to Christian groups that dismiss or deny the foundational doctrine of the Trinity? Can a sect be accurately called Christian if it does not hold to the doctrine of the Trinity? Why or why not?
20
On a popular atheist website, Stephen Van Eck writes, “The inherent polytheism in the Trinity doctrine cannot be explained away with the nonsensical claim that three is one and one is three.” How is this statement a misunderstanding of the doctrine of the Trinity?
Should we be content with explaining difficult doctrines like the Trinity as mysteries? Is the idea of mystery a code word for incoherent beliefs?
21
BUILDING ON The Foundation Applic a t ion In the past, has the doctrine of the Trinity seemed to have any relevance to your life?
Is thinking of the Godhead as a community a new idea for you? Explain.
How would you respond to someone who said that, because the word “trinity” is not in the Bible, the Trinity is a man-made doctrine?
Is there one particular member of the Trinity that has been foremost in your mind when you think about God?
22
Do you typically think of God as an impersonal force, or as a being with a personality? Which is a more accurate understanding of God? Why?
Do you consider yourself a relational person? Do you prefer isolation or community?
Have you ever tried to be holy without being loving? Did it work?
Do you understand the Trinity and its relevance better than you did when you started this study? If so, what stands out that you have learned?
23
Prayer Use the words below, from the hymn by Reginald Heber, as the basis for a prayer of praise to the triune God: Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty! All Thy works shall praise Thy Name, in earth, and sky, and sea; Holy, holy, holy; merciful and mighty! God in three Persons, blessed Trinity! Use the blessing found in 2 Corinthians 13:14 as the basis for a prayer that you would know the fellowship of the triune God. “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all” (ESV).
Suggestions for further reading: God the Holy Trinity: Reflections on Christian Faith and Practice edited by Timothy George (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2006). Making Sense of the Trinity by Millard Erickson (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2000). The Trinity by Philip Butin (Louisville: Geneva Press, 2006). Our Triune God by Peter Toon (Colorado Springs: Victor, 1996).
24
25
26
THE TRINITY AND APOLOGETICS L. T. Jeyachandran
7
Volume
Answer Guide
Laying the Groundwork Vi d e o Se ssion
Introduction “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse” Romans 1:20 (NIV). starting point. ✦ We do not all have the same The story of “The Blind Men and the Elephant” is used to show that different religions and perspectives are touching different aspects of reality but that reality is one truth behind it.
•
The flaw of this illustration is that you cannot know that there is an sight elephant out there unless you have .
27
Sin
✦
has affected our rationality.
negative ✦ We usually define God with what He is not rather than what He is.
terms, explaining
Development of the Doctrine of the Trinity within Scripture: Three Encounters ✦ God in the Old Testament • “The Lord your God, the Lord is
.” Deuteronomy 6:4
•
The Hebrew word used for oneness is “echad,” which could refer
to a kind of a composite oneness rather than an absolute oneness.
one
•
The same word for oneness is used to refer to man and wife becoming one flesh .
•
God appears in
•
Genesis 22, Genesis 32, and Joshua 5. grammatical There is a deliberate
when God says, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness and let
visible
form in Genesis 18, “error” in Genesis 1:26
them….” (“Man” is singular but “them” is plural.) grammar in the Bible, there
•
is good theology!
•
In order to express the image of God, God had to create a relationship, community a of a man and a woman. There must be
When there is bad
•
plurality to express the image of God. prophecies We see plurality in messianic
Psalm 110:1, Proverbs 8:31.
✦ God on the dusty streets of Palestine • All Jews (and the first Christians were Jews) were strict
28
: Psalm 2:7,
monotheists
.
•
If we could have watched Jesus and observed him those three and a
half years, of one thing we would have been absolutely certain: that he man was a .
•
Yet
•
•
•
•
creator Jesus spoke to the creation as if he were its . Jews The understood that by calling God his Father, Jesus was
claiming to be equal with God.
divinity
shines through Jesus’s humanity. Lord’s Jesus excludes himself from praying the prayer. forgave He sins, and he felt no need for forgiveness himself.
•
•
Some liberal scholars claim that John invented the divinity of Christ, but gospels we see the same idea throughout all four . The resurrection ✧ There is an important difference between the of Jesus and all of the other miracles of Jesus.
resurrection
✧ Every other miracle worked within the second law of thermodynamics . They bring you back into present creation.
Second Law of Thermodynamics:
A closed system will inevitably move toward thermodynamic equilibrium (heat death) through loss of heat (entropy). This law shows that the universe is running out of energy available for useful work.
Entropy:
A measure of the progress of a system toward equilibrium. Entropy is thus an indication of energy in the universe that is no longer available for work.
✧ Jesus’s resurrection takes him forward into the new creation and is entropy the only instance that violates the law of . dimension • When Jesus ascends to heaven, he moves into another .
Development of the Doctrine of the Trinity within Scripture: Three Encounters (continued) ✦ God in the upper room in Jerusalem “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.” John 14:16-17
The Holy Spirit is mentioned from the
Bible onwards.
•
Before Pentecost, the work of the Holy Spirit was extra-personal— outside of the individual.
second
•
•
verse of the
On the Day of Pentecost, for the first time one person of the triune indwell God comes to the believer.
•
In John 14-16, the Greek word for “spirit” is neuter, but John uses
the masculine pronoun “he” to modify it.
29
What should we make of these three encounters? ✦ Two options the church rejects: • These three encounters refer to
three
gods—This option
is rejected because three independent gods would be finite rather
than infinite.
•
These three encounters refer to one God playing three
—This option is rejected because it cannot make sense of the
relationship between the Father and the Son. one
In John 10:30, Jesus says, “I and the Father are
roles
.” Throughout
John’s Gospel, masculine gender used to define persons, but neuter gender is used to define the substance that is one. Is the Trinity a logical contradiction? ✦ No. If we said, God is one person and three persons, that would be a being contradiction. But we are saying God is one who exists in persons three .
•
One
what
and three
whos
. One essence, three persons.
The Trinity as a Paradigm for Apologetics ✦ The Being of God (Freedom and Identity) relationality • Personality requires
•
•
Son
When Jesus prays that the church may be one, he is reflecting the oneness that exists between the Father and the Son
through the Spirit.
•
The New Age actually tells us that
to personality.
•
Identity comes by
the Spirit).
•
•
Only in the triune God do we see perfect unity as well as relational Freedom is a quality.
•
The complementarity that exists between
a reflection of the complementarity within the sacred being of the triune God.
•
God can be transcendent over creation and still immanent in creation. And for true worship , both these qualities have to be available in God.
30
.
In the Trinity, God is “all personal.” The Father relates to the Spirit through the .
relationships
impersonality
is superior
(Father and Son through
man
and
diversity
.
woman
is
Transcendent:
Above and independent of the material universe.
Immanent:
Present in the natural world. ✦ The Holiness of God • God is holy only because God is
•
•
love
.
The absolute center of morality is the absolute holiness There is no non-relational
relationship
.
.
✦ The Knowledge of God • Matthew 11:27: “…No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one
knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses
to reveal him.”
•
God is complete in his
is dynamic.
•
Knowledge is a relational quality.
knowledge
✦ Our Response • The appropriate response to God’s being is true
•
•
, yet that knowledge
worship
.
The appropriate response to God’s holiness is to discover that relational holiness in my relationship to others. The appropriate response to the God who is all-knowing is to pursue relational truth that is not only intellectual but also .
Michael Polanyi:
Twentieth-century philosopher and scientist; author of the book Personal Knowledge.
31
Testing the Footing Co m p r e h e n si on These questions are meant to confirm that all participants have understood the concepts presented in the lecture and are able to articulate them. ✦
What is the fatal flaw in using the story of “The Blind Men and the Elephant” to make the point that we can follow different "truths" yet still be ultimately discovering a unified reality? We would never know that the blind men were actually encountering an elephant if someone hadn’t been able to see them and tell the story. The seeing person represents the role of revelation in knowing reality.
✦
What sort of oneness can the Hebrew word "echad" be used to refer to? A composite oneness—such as the oneness between a husband and wife— rather than an absolute oneness.
✦
Why does Genesis 1:26 make the deliberate grammatical mistake of pairing the singular "man" with the plural pronoun "them"? This captures both plurality and the oneness; humans had to be in relationship to be in the image and likeness of the Trinity.
32
✦
Name an example of Jesus's divinity shining through his humanity. Jesus taught his disciples to pray for forgiveness of sins, but he himself did not need to pray for forgiveness. He forgave sins and did not need to be forgiven. Jesus spoke to the creation with the authority of creator. By calling God his Father, he communicated to the Jews around him that he was making a claim to be divine.
✦
What was the chief difference in the miracles of Jesus (including the resurrection of Lazarus) and his own resurrection? All of the other miracles brought something into the present creation, but Jesus’s resurrection took him forward into the new creation (hence violating the law of entropy).
✦
The Holy Spirit existed both before and after Pentecost. According to L.T., what was the difference that Pentecost brought about? At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit began to indwell the believer, rather than remain on the outside.
✦
If the Greek word for "spirit" is neuter, why would John repeatedly use a masculine pronoun to modify the word "spirit"? The masculine points to the personhood of the Holy Spirit. The “Spirit of Truth” is a person, not a thing.
33
✦
What two explanations for the Godhead has the church rejected? The church rejects the possibility that there could be three gods, or that there is one God who is simply playing three roles.
✦
What is the correct understanding of the Trinity? There is one God in three persons. There is one “what” and three “whos.”
✦
How do the Father, Son, and Spirit demonstrate that God is both transcendent and immanent? The Father is outside of creation, the Son was inside of creation in the person of Jesus, and the Holy Spirit is present in creation, indwelling believers.
34
35
STEPPING STONES OF APOLOGETICS Stepping Stone 1: Starting Point 1.
In the past, has the doctrine of the Trinity seemed to have any relevance to your life? Why or why not?
2. What is the fatal flaw in using the story of “The Blind Men and the Elephant” to make the point that we can follow different “truths” yet still be ultimately discovering a unified reality?
Stepping Stone 2: Plurality at Creation 1.
In order to express man in God’s image, a plurality must exist in the Trinity. Why does Genesis 1:26 make the deliberate grammatical mistake of pairing the singular “man” with the plural pronoun “them”?
2. Some have suggested that God created mankind because He was lonely. How does the doctrine of the Trinity undermine this assertion?
3. On a popular atheist website, Stephen Van Eck writes, “The inherent polytheism in the Trinity doctrine cannot be explained away with the nonsensical claim that three is one and one is three.” How is this statement a misunderstanding of the doctrine of the Trinity?
36
Stepping Stone 3: Thermodynamic Upset 1.
What was the chief difference in the miracles of Jesus (including the resurrection of Lazarus) and his own resurrection?
2. In Colossians 1:19-20, Paul writes: “For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross” (ESV). Was it necessary for our savior to be fully God? Why?
Stepping Stone 4: Gender Pronouns 1.
What three explanations for the Godhead does L.T. describe?
2. What is the correct understanding of the Trinity?
3. Discuss how you could help a non-Christian friend work through these explanations to the right conclusion.
Stepping Stone 5: One What and Three Whos 1.
How does grammar help us understand the Gospel writer’s intention for presenting the Trinity?
37
2. In John 17:20-21, Jesus prays for us: “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you” (NIV). What does the unity of the Trinity look like? How should our unity reflect the Trinity?
3. Is thinking of the Godhead as a community a new idea for you? Explain.
Stepping Stone 6: Personality Requires Relationality 1.
L.T. describes God as the all-personal, all-relational God. He further explains how our identity comes by these relationships. How do the Father, Son, and Spirit demonstrate that God is both transcendent and immanent?
2. A former Christian who converted to Islam wrote in her testimony “…I could find no real base for the trinity in the Bible. I could not find proof that Jesus or any of the prophets who came before him (peace be upon them all) taught trinity. They all preached monotheism.” How would you respond to this woman?
Stepping Stone 7: Holiness is Love 1.
In 1 Peter 1:15-17, Peter writes, “But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy’” (NIV). How is the doctrine of the Trinity central to God’s holiness? Why does God command us to be holy?
38
2. Have you ever tried to be holy without being loving? Did it work?
Stepping Stone 8: Dynamic Trinity 1.
John Wesley reportedly said, “Bring me a worm that can comprehend a human being, and then I will show you a human being that can comprehend the Triune God!” Should the fact that we cannot fully comprehend the Trinity keep us from pondering it? Why or why not?
2. Should we be content with explaining difficult doctrines like the Trinity as mysteries? Is the idea of mystery a code word for incoherent beliefs?
39
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India Plot No. 211 & 212 V.G.P Nagar, Mogappair Chennai 600 037
Middle East P.O. Box 4006 Abu Dhabi U.A.E.
