ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
May 30, 2026
Tomorrow is Trinity Sunday according to the church calendar, a Sunday in which the church claims the basic conviction that God is one and God is three. There is no question that there is language within scripture that gives the impression that the God of Jesus is the Triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. At the same time, scripture by itself does not give us any sort of concrete and well defined concept. In fact, many scholars would say that what we see in scripture is found only because we are reading into it the tradition that has been taught to us. Tertullian was the first theologian, around the year 200AD, to use trinitarian language. And the church only began claiming it as a doctrine between the years 320 – 381AD. It started with the Council of Nicaea (325 AD) when the Son (Jesus) was first declared to be divine. This concept of Trinity, which was not finalized until the Council of Constantinople in 381AD, did not come down from heaven on a golden scroll. Instead, it was a journey that involved significant conflict and the influence of various powerbrokers who pressured those with differing opinions into consensus.
Personally, I have a complicated relationship with the Trinity. I believe, from a human perspective, there is complexity to the nature of God, yet the language of complexity, trinity, and the undivided unity of the three expressions of the divine are all attempts at describing what is an eternal mystery. In our desire to seek understanding, we try to apply language and theological structure to the very thing that is ineffable and inexpressible. Some people will say that to be saved and go to heaven, you must hold the orthodox and Biblical view of the Trinity. There are plenty of theologians who have set out to give us THE understanding of Trinity, yet their best attempts fall short in this task. I tend to believe God gave a part of the divine nature out of a deep love for this creation, not so that humans could pass a test on the finer points of the Trinity. Instead, I believe God so loved this world that God has and continues to give of the divine nature in hopes of the world realizing that love is the only way to joy and peace in this world.
Holy and Beloved, Merciful and Gentle God, you are all we need, and though we try to understand you, what we have learned in Jesus is that you love us whether we think we have you figured out or whether we are scratching our heads in complete confusion. At the end of the day, all we need is your love. Thank you! Amen.
