Random Reflections on the Trinity

Even many non-Christians are probably familiar with the basics of the Christian Doctrine of the Trinity, the Doctrine that talks about God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. But even many devout Christians would probably confess that they do not fully understand the Trinity. For me, the Trinity is a mystery we must ponder.

This coming Sunday many Christian Churches will be observing Trinity Sunday, the Sunday after Pentecost and a Sunday to celebrate, reflect upon, and scratch heads about the Trinity. Here are some  random reflections that might get you to scratch your head.

One of the Professors in my D.Min. program at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary argued in our Reformed Theology Seminar that the Doctrine of the Trinity is not biblical but it is essential. I think what he meant was that nowhere in the Scriptures does the word “Trinity” appear and while Scripture in places talks about God in terms of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, there is no fully developed Doctrine of the Trinity. The Doctrine of the Trinity is a creation of human reason as we have sought to make sense of, understand, and somewhat systematize Scripture.

I have recently been thinking about the Doctrine of the Trinity in terms similar to the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle. The Heisenberg Uncertainty principle states that one cannot determine the mass and the velocity of an electron at the same time. If one determines it mass, there is no velocity. If one determines the velocity, there is no mass. Similarly, if we focus on any one “person” of the Trinity then we can no longer see the Triune God. But if we focus on the “Triune God” then we can longer see any of the individual “persons” of the Trinity.

Another analogy I find helpful is that of determining whether light is a wave or a particle. If God is at all like light (Jesus is, after all, proclaimed to be the light of the world) then perhaps our understanding of light can serve as a metaphor for our understanding of God. Sometimes light seems to behave like a wave. Sometimes light seems to behave like a particle. Neither understanding, even combined, fully explains the nature of light and in a sense light is still a mystery.

While the Doctrine of the Trinity can (sometimes) help us make sense of the way God behaves in Scripture, I am becoming increasingly convinced that it does not give us a complete picture of or fully explains the nature of God. The Doctrine of the Trinity helps us to conceptualize and understand the mystery of God, yet God still remains a mystery we must ponder, a mystery that invites us to marvel at God with the same childlike wonder of the Psalmist in Psalm 8:3-5, only more so.

In his book The Journey to Truth, George F. Garlick, Ph.D., discussing the work of Dr. Michio Kaku, writes “the best way to understand the mystery of light is to admit that light is not a part of this world, but instead has its source in the fifth dimension. Kaku concludes, ‘This alternative theory gave the simplest explanation of light; that it was really a vibration of the fifth dimension.’” (p. 108) Just as physicists are beginning to understand light in new ways, maybe it is also time theologians begin to understand God in new ways beyond the Doctrine of the Trinity.

It has been a while since I last read Carl Jung, but I think he argued that the Doctrine of the Trinity was not psychologically complete, that what humans need psychologically is not a Trinity of Father – Son – Spirit but a Quarternity of Father – Son – Spirit – Wisdom/Mary, and that for Roman Catholics the Doctrine of the Assumption of Mary comes close to fulfilling this function. While this is a somewhat esoteric argument, here is a link to an equally esoteric article about Jung’s theory of the Quartentity.

The Rev. Cynthia Bourgeault, Ph.D., offers a thoughtful analysis and some words of caution about Jung’s Quarternity and the possible inclusion of the feminine within the Trinity and the Quartentity in her article THE SHAPE OF GOD: Deepening the Mystery of the Trinity.

I generally believe that the questions we ask are often more important than any answers we might find, that we often find more grace in our search for understanding than we do in adopting a posture of dogmatic certainty. Therefore I posit the above reflections as questions, discussion starters, and head scratching conundrums to help us think about, reflect upon, ponder, and ask questions about the Triune God and the Doctrine of the Trinity. And I have not even mentioned perichoresis!

Shadows Outside the Cave

Not long ago during a sunny afternoon following a week of rain and overcast skies, I noticed a compelling shadow on a wall in our living room. Recognizing the outline I knew at once what the shadow was of. The shadow on the wall was of a mermaid sculpture sitting near the window where rays of the Sun were shining in. I would not have been able to deduce the form casting the shadow if I had not first known the Sculpture. Because I knew the three dimensional sculpture I recognized its outline in the two dimensional shadow. I knew the shadow was not the sculpture because I also knew the sculpture casting the shadow. I was compelled to capture both the shadow and the sculpture with my digital camera.

A few days later I was walking along the sidewalk on another rare bight sunny day. I noticed my shadow ahead of me on the sidewalk. Since I had my camera with me I took a picture, not quite a self portrait, but close.

A week or so later I was standing in the foyer of North Church Queens, waiting for worship to begin, when I looked out the window and noticed on the street in front of the church the shadow of a very recognizable form. It was the form of a Celtic Cross, but not any Celtic Cross. It was the shadow of the Celtic Cross on the roof of the church.

I have learned over the years that when I am aware of similar phenomena occurring in threes or more within close proximity of time to pay attention to them. Jung called such occurrences synchronicity, and through his writings he taught me that when I am aware of occurrences of synchronicity that I had not only better pay attention but also reflect upon the experience. Thus, I write this post.

Hopefully everyone who has ever had a high school or college level Introduction to Philosophy Class will be familiar with Plato’s Analogy of the Cave. I know the students I had for Introduction to Philosophy at the undergraduate level were presented with it.

I think we very often are willing to settle for and live with shadows when upon a little reflection and inquiry we can discover the three dimensional reality behind them. We rarely expend the time or energy to ask questions about our world, to go below the surface and delve deeper into reality. After awhile our own existence can take on a shadow quality and so we live shallow, superficial, two dimensional lives.

Synchronicity

Less than twenty-four hours after I stated blogging, the January/February 2009 issue of Presbyterians Today arrived in the mail. It contained a short article by Jody Harrington entitled “Best of the blogs: Blogging 101.” Jody is an elder at Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church in Houston, Texas, and past moderator of New Covenant presbytery. She writes the blog Quotidian Grace . That same day, Psalms Modern, a blog of Presbyterian Welcome, published a meditation I had earlier submitted to them. Was this a mere coincidence?

My interest in blogging, dare I say even my familiarity with it, was sparked by an article in the November 3, 2008 issue of The Presbyterian Outlook. The article quoted blogger Shawn Coons but did not give the name or location of his blog. I wanted to engage Shawn in a conversation so I initiated a search of the internet and discovered Shawn Coons Newish Blog. His links directed me to more blogs, which I also perused. I had entered the world of blogging for the first time and without realizing it apparently had become hooked.

Not long after first discovering the world of blogging the December 2, 2008 issue of The Christian Century arrived. The back cover featured information about the online magazine christiancentury.org, the blog of the Christian Century at theolog.org, and Century community of bloggers at ccblogs.org. I looked at some of the blogs at ccblogs.org and was impressed.

I sent an email to CC requesting more details about CC hosting my blog and hosting a domain name at no cost. CC responded that there had been a slight change to policy regarding hosting and domains, that CC would do this but only for established bloggers. CC suggested I start a blog at blogger or wordpress or anywhere, blog for a time, and get back to them.

After looking at both blogger and wordpress I chose blogger because it was free and I already had a Google account. I started my blog Monday evening, January 5, 2009. The following day’s mail delivery included the most recent issue of Presbyterians Today which ran the article about blogging. That same day Psalms Modern, a blog of Presbyterian Welcome, published a meditation I had earlier submitted to them.

The article in PT is the first in an ongoing column promising to “highlight blogs of particular interest to readers of Presbyterian Today.” This leaves me wondering if my blog will earn being mentioned. Maybe grace will prevail and it will be mentioned even if it does not deserve to be.

Was it coincidence that within the time frame of a month I read about and discovered Shawn Coons Newish Blog, started reading other blogs, saw the back cover of CC about blogs, started my own blog, received the most recent issue of PT with the first article in a new column about blogging, and had a meditation published on another blog?

Generally speaking, I am a Jungian. I am also an Intuitive on the MBTI. I see connections others do not normally see and invent them were there are none. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar and sometimes, well. There are coincidences and there are coincidences. When the same word, symbol, sign, emotion, or thought seems to be manifesting itself in numerous and generally unrelated events and mediums, pay attention! You might end up starting a blog.