The Trinity
"You tell us that there are three gods and yet one," the puzzled Irish said when St. Patrick was preaching the gospel to them in the 5th century AD. "How can that be?" The saint bent down and plucked a shamrock. "Do you not see," he said, "how in this wildflower three leaves are united on one stalk, and will you not then believe that there are indeed three persons and yet one God?"
Using this illustration from nature, St. Patrick was able to help some of the pagan Celtics to accept the doctrine of the Trinity.
I think an even better illustration of the Trinity is the universe itself (though no illustration is perfect). IsnТt it interesting that the entire physical universe (uni = one) consists of three and only three aspects -- space, time, and matter? If you were to take away any of these three, you would no longer have a universe.
SPACE consists of length, width, and height Ц three in one. If you were to take away any of these dimensions, you would no longer have space.
TIME consists of past, present, and future Ц three in one. If you were to take away any of these aspects, you would no longer have time.
MATTER consists of energy in motion producing phenomena Ц three in one. If there were no energy, there could be no motion or phenomena. If there were no motion, there would be no energy or phenomena. If there were no phenomena, it would be because there was no energy or motion.
We see this threeness in oneness composing the very fabric of the universe. Why do you suppose the nature of the universe is so trinitarian? Could it be that God made His universe to reflect his trinitarian nature? I believe that God left His fingerprints on the work of His creation, and we see in it a reflection of the Trinity.
So what does the Bible teach about the Trinity? It clearly affirms the existence of three distinct Persons that are all identified as the one God of the universe. This is not a contradiction, because we are not saying that God is both one person and three persons. Neither are we saying that God is both one God and three Gods. We are saying that God is one in essence and three in person. Just as the one universe exists as space, time, and matter, the one God exists as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
For the rest of the article, download here. (If you canаopen Word documents).