Back of the Envelope

Old Post: This is a continuation of a discussion of the Trinity here.

I was looking over some old e-mails, and I came across the original e-mail on which the previous post on the Trinity was based. The explanation of the Trinity was written in response to some questions my old fellowship, MIT's Graduate Christian Fellowship, received from a Muslim. (It turns out the questions weren't really asked in earnest--he had no interest in engaging us in conversation, just challenging us, which became clear once he began repeating his questions while refusing to explain why our previous answers were insufficient.) In any case, my original answer was even longer than what I posted, and portions of it got cut even before it got sent to our Muslim questioner. However, looking over it, I decided it'd be worth sharing. Our questioner was particularly interested in whether belief in the Trinity was a belief in three gods, and thus idolatry, which is what I address here. (I later decided that explaining what the Trinity is should suffice, and that I could cover the rest in the follow-up, which never really happened.) In any case, here it is:

How does one worship the Triune God? Doesn't the nature of God divide the commitment and obedience, the love and adoration we must give Him between three people rather than just one? Isn't this as bad as idolatry in any form, where idols were not condemned for their own power and influence (of which they had none), but rather for what they stole from the living God who deserved it all?

This is a serious charge, especially since it drives at the heart of something Jesus himself said, that "No man can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other." (Matt. 6:24) Consider, however, that God told Moses, "You will be God to Pharaoh." [Ex. 7:1] Moses was not God, and never claimed to be. But he acted as God's representative, and when he spoke to Pharaoh, he spoke with the authority of God. Jesus claims a much different relationship with God than Moses (Moses never would have said "I and the Father are one" or "If you've seen me, you've seen the Father." He never even called God Father.). But this shows how one human can act as God toward another human, simply by acting on behalf of God. To disobey Moses was to disobey God, not because Moses was literally God, but because he spoke for God, acting not out of his own will but on behalf of God's will. Jesus's claim is stronger than that of Moses, since Moses still had his own will and often ran counter to God. Because Jesus and the Father are one being, their will is the same. Jesus cannot want anything other than what the Father wants. Thus when Jesus speaks, he carries the authority of the Father. To disobey one person of the Trinity is to disobey all three, whereas to obey one person of the Trinity is to obey all three. They are never in conflict, they always speak from the same will and for the same purpose, even if they speak in different ways and about different things.

This resolves the matter of divided loyalties, but does not address the matter of divided affections. How can the finite human being give all the adoration due to God to not one but three persons? The adoration due to God is to love him with all our heart and soul and mind and might. But if all our love goes to the Father, how can we love anyone else? Not just another person of the Trinity, but what affection could we possibly have left over for family, or friends, or country? The answer is that God commands us to surrender all our love to him not so that we can love no one else, but so we can love the things that he loves. To love God is to love what He loves. Our love for others is unsteady, fitful, and conditional. It varies depending on how we perceive and deal with a person on a day-to-day basis. God is the only being we can come close to loving consistently and completely, the only being who deserves that kind of love. When we give Him the love He deserves, He directs us to love those whom He loves, including those who cannot deserve that kind of love. So how can we talk of our love for God being divided among the three persons of the Trinity? If we love God we love what He loves, and the Trinity's love for one another is so complete, no person of it can begrudge love given to another of it. The Father is intent on glorifying the Son, and the Son is eager to glorify the Father. The Spirit receives their affection and works to glorify them both. Each works to direct the love given Him to the whole of the Trinity.

I'd love to hear other people's thoughts on the matter.

New Post: In response to my commenter, I've written a post on the use of the phrase "Son of God."