Around the year AD 200, one of the early Church Fathers, by name Tertullian, used the word “Trinity” to describe God. 125 years later, at the Council of Nicaea, the Church adopted this term in expressing God’s nature as we proclaim every Sunday when we recite the Nicene Creed. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that “the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of Christian faith and life.” What does this mystery teach? To sound really theological, one can employ the Greek terminology “perichoresis” used by St. John Damascene and St. Gregory Nazianzus to define or describe the mystery of the trinity. Perichoresis in theological parlance describes the mutual interpenetration of the hypostasis (persons) of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit who are individually and together of one ousia (essence). That sounds abstract, doesn’t it? However, you can forget about those high sounding philosophical terms and look at it plainly. Take for example, the idea of the family. No single person talks about herself or himself as a family. Even when someone marries, she’s reluctant to refer to herself and her husband as a family. But once a child comes into the equation, individuality and spousal categorizations give way to family relationship. The mutual interpenetration implied in the trinity is similar to the change that results in the formation of the family unit, which consists of a husband, wife and child(ren). Mr. Trent, Mrs. Trent, and Ms. Trent are all of the same Trent family. In the trinity, the Church teaches that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit form one God, but exist as three persons. God is essentially family.
Does that explain the mystery of the trinity? Hardly. A very important point to be made about a mystery is that we certainly can know something about it but cannot fully understand or explain it. It surpasses our understanding, as long as we remain finite beings trying to grasp supernatural reality. It shouldn’t surprise us that we’re incapable of understanding God fully. Just like a kindergartener is incapable of understanding algebra and calculus, in the array of possible knowledge of reality, humans are kindergartners in relation to divine realities. Some arrogant people will object and claim that if they cannot know God, that makes God unknowable or inexistent. What is wrong with that claim is that even in the natural universe, we are incapable of knowing everything contained therein. My grandfather who only knew about telegram would have dismissed the possibility of email messages. Is it possible that God is too great for us to understand Him fully? Yes, because we do not possess the same level of knowledge as God and do not exist at a level contemporaneous with God. When we see Him face to face, we’ll need no further explanations. The book of Revelation sums it: “His name will be written on their foreheads and there will be no need for lamplight or sunlight, because the Lord God will shine on them” (Rev 22:4).
Having said these, the question remains: “Of what relevance is the doctrine of the trinity to believers?” The trinity teaches us love, collaboration, unity, mutual understanding. These qualities subsist in the trinity and preclude the possibility of tension, discord, hatred and unfaithfulness. When we learn to live like God, we’ll overcome the tensions in human relationships, which result from lack of unity and love. Tensions in marriages, alliances, and currently very deep in our national discourse result from lack of love and unity. Unlike God who is unity, the devil, whose essence is division (deamonum) sows discord among us causing us to tear each other down. Since our nation abandoned God to make idols of ourselves and our desires, it’s no surprise that we’re experiencing more tension, hatred and disunity. Similarly, friendships, alliances, marriages, and laws not built on God, on the inner life and love of the trinity, are destined to collapse.
Fr. Chukwudi Jo Okonkwo