The Trinity is a dogma that is forged in the fires of controversy. It is not formulated in language that is consistent with the modern world and is an examination of or rather an attempt at explaining something in a language that is redolent of medieval world views and Greek philosophy. Yet it is a founding principle upon which the Christian faith stands which has not been changed nor truly examined other than to try and explain it in modernistic terms. Perhaps that is to unkind, yet if we think about the theological investigations and verbiage around the topic most of it is constrained by the very thought of what is being discussed, the Trinitarian formulation, and not by going back to first principles. It has perhaps become a cage within which the Christian faith survives but also prevents that same faith from thriving within the natural state.
If we are to truly expand our faith boundaries why are we confining our thinking by relying on the structures of the past or should we rather build on the deeper bedrock, understand the formulation and re-iterate a new formulation that makes provision for our modern life. At this time of year preachers are constrained to bring an understanding of the Trinitarian doctrine to their own flock through the use of such things as the clover leaf, clock face, mother / daughter / sister, or other such analogies to bring about understanding. In the same breathe our denominations explode outwards as they magnify on over the other in their worship experience (Jesus over the Spirit / Father, the Spirit over the son / Father and of course in limited places the Father over the Son / Spirit). It is easier for us to conceive of a singular rather than a plural singular or it is easier to worship a plural over a singular plural. Individuality is for us the key and anything above one is just confusing unless it is broken into oneness. This distinctiveness is a draw back for many as they have trouble with the philosophical concepts that the Trinitarian formulation raises.
Is Trinity only singularity?
If, we look carefully at our Hebraic roots buried in the Bible we can see that there is a discrepancy regarding singularity of worship of a sole God. Rather, it is a God that is worshipped over other Gods that is acceptable and promoted, whilst acknowledging the presence of other Gods (Ps. 82). Strict monotheism becomes a feature of the faith journey only after the exilic period. Our inheritance of which moves towards the strict dichotism we have in the modern era that it has to be the right or the left, God or Evil, etc. This leaves no space for both / and. Early Christian life was filled with difference in understanding prior to the imposition of ordered thought. In grappling with this early difference in God - thinking, Tertullian and others out of Africa formulated our Trinitarian aspect, which has perhaps caged our growth into and understanding of God for whose likeness we were given in creation. An understanding which some suggest has been uplifted from the sagacity of African thought in the communal spaces of I am because you are and you are because I am. So can we retain an understanding of God that is uniquely part of us (God Immanuel) (Rom 8.12-17) and yet is so far beyond our understanding that we struggle to define and describe. Did the originators of the formulation believe it would be the only means of God-talk or did they expect it to evolve as our thought and world views evolved?
In this world we are surrounded by networks of relational activity that connect us to the past, present and future of those close and far away. We do not live in singularity but in multiplicity. God's presence springs up not in familial lineage down the years but more like an out of control rhizome of connectivity that springs up where the gardener (our dogma, formulas and neat garden solutions) least expects. Setting our thoughts, bodies and communities afire with difference and change that inspires. Others suggest that we begin to re-read our faith journey and re-interpret our understandings on the backs of twisting elastic threads, not singularities of particulate material, that cause paradoxical jumps and communications across vast unsupported space. A more elastic understanding that inhabits God's freedom in the world not containing but releasing and opening our hearts to those around us.
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