The Holy Trinity
While I often talk about conversations that I have with Christians of the various varieties, I don’t often talk much about other conversations I have. Since it is pretty well known that I am somewhat of an atheist activist, I often come across people who are not Christians who are not well-informed atheists. They may be simply atheists who aren’t really familiar with the arguments, Jews, or Muslims. Often times when in conversations with such people, they will try to discuss religion with me by commenting on how ridiculous Christianity is. However, it is pretty odd to me that these people don’t back up their statement with the obvious ridiculousness of a personified deity or even any of Jesus’s magic tricks. No, the first thing that comes to their minds is the Holy Trinity. “How can God be three different beings at once? That is ridiculous.”
While I agree that Christianity is a very ridiculous religion, I think the Holy Trinity isn’t as ridiculous as other Christian doctrines. On the other hand, it really is a pretty ridiculous concept, just not the most ridiculous. I mean really? God is three separate and distinct forms but at the same time and in the same way each form is fully integrated into the Godhead? If that isn’t an obvious contradiction, I don’t know what is.
In Bill Maher’s film “Religulous,” there is a scene in which Maher talks to the actor who places Jesus at “Holy Land Adventures.” When Maher brought up the Holy Trinity, the Jesus actor compared the Trinity to water being in three forms. But as Maher hinted at, H2O isn’t the same in each form in the same way. Ice isn’t liquid. The analogy is a great for people who don’t think much about it, but with the Trinity, the claim is that God is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit at the same time and in the same way. Logically, that just doesn’t hold water so to speak.
Someone once told me that his father was also a son and a brother. This idea of family titles is an interesting one, but it too falls flat because we are not merely talking about titles. The character of Jesus is clearly talked about as a distinct character from that of the God the Father. In at least one instance, Jesus even seems distant from his father and inquires about his father’s divine plan. In another instance, Jesus asks God why God had forsaken him. This implies that Jesus was not aware of his own divine plan (assuming he and the father are one).
Despite the obviously failed logic of the Holy Trinity, most Christians not only still believe in the Trinity but also are happy to defend such an absurd concept. The odd thing is that most Christians who try to defend and/or explain the Trinity don’t even know that the phrase “Holy Trinity” never appears in the Bible at all. Another fun fact that seems to have been left out of Sunday School is that prior to the First Council of Nicea in the year 325, there was no Holy Trinity. At the council, they had to debate the relationship between God and Jesus. One side of the debate insisted that Jesus was God’s literal son, while the other side insisted that “son” was a metaphor or a figurative son. In the end a compromise was reached to form what is now known as the Holy Trinity. Obviously, one group had the stronger hand at the bargaining table, but the point is that the Trinity was a political compromise and not a holy decree from God himself.
