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Hec
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Username: Hec

Post Number: 1508
Registered: 3-2009
Posted on Saturday, November 20, 2010 - 8:34 pm:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Reading the story of Jesus, I came to his baptism. Now when he came out of the water there was a voice coming from heaven saying, "this is my beloved son..." and the Spirit came down from heaven in the form of a dove. Wouldn't this imply that there are three separate persons? How could there be only one individual with three non-separated persons be in three places. Of course God is omnipresent, but then why come from three separate places to show the one God?

Hec
Dennis
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Username: Dennis

Post Number: 2146
Registered: 4-2000


Posted on Sunday, November 21, 2010 - 9:40 am:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Augustine suggested an illustration of how God is both three and one at the same time. The Bible informs us that "God is love" (1 John 4:16). Love involves a lover, a beloved, and a spirit of love between lover and loved. The Father might be likened to the Lover; the Son to the One loved, and the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of love. Yet love does not exist unless these three are united as one. This illustration has the advantage of being personal, since it involves love, a characteristic that flows only from persons.

No analogy of the Trinity is perfect, but some are better than others. If we could fully understand God, He would not be worthy of being called God. One illustration that causes more problems than it solves is to visualize the human being as a "trichotomy" of body, soul, and spirit. Obviously, the body and soul are not an indivisible unity. They can be (and are) separated at death. The nature and persons of the Trinity cannot be separated.

Dennis Fischer
Philharris
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Username: Philharris

Post Number: 2311
Registered: 5-2007


Posted on Sunday, November 21, 2010 - 9:55 am:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Hec,

Here is how I resolve this in my mind:

We understand things within context of what we see around us. Physically, three different person are physically separate persons.

Foundationally, I understand that God resides in “heaven” which is not a location with physical position. God is located in the direction of “up” and is a mystery because I am unable to see in an “upward” direction. Since the bible speaks of the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit and refers to them as all being fully God, I accept that as truth without comprehending it within the physical world I now inhabit. I accept this as a mystery because God has revealed himself to me.

When the truth is evident, I accept it without fully understanding it. When Peter walked on water he did so because of faith in Jesus and without having any idea how it could be physically possible.

Fearless Phil
Jeremy
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Username: Jeremy

Post Number: 3498
Registered: 10-2004


Posted on Sunday, November 21, 2010 - 2:33 pm:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Hec,

Here is part of a previous post of mine from another time when this topic came up, which may help answer your question:


quote:

Well, as I mentioned above, God is outside of space and time, so even during the incarnation and Jesus' baptism, God did not change. He was still one infinite spirit being (indivisible, and without body or parts). Jesus, of course, became a man and was living on earth as a man (while still being the omnipresent God of the universe). And the Father did manifest Himself in time and space with physical voice at the baptism (and other occasions). Also, the Holy Spirit was revealed in the form of a dove, but He didn't actually become a dove, and He was still in heaven--and omnipresent as always. But the three persons of the Trinity were not occupying "separate spaces," since God was still one spirit being and He was still outside of time and space (although manifesting and revealing Himself to us within time and space).

--http://www.formeradventist.com/cgi-bin/discus/board-auth.cgi?file=/4529/8468.html#POST111700




Jeremy
Hec
Registered user
Username: Hec

Post Number: 1510
Registered: 3-2009
Posted on Sunday, November 21, 2010 - 4:52 pm:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Thanks.

Hec
Asetechrail
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Username: Asetechrail

Post Number: 56
Registered: 1-2010


Posted on Sunday, November 21, 2010 - 6:53 pm:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I found the following link very helpful. It is kind of a long read but well worth it.

http://www.everystudent.com/journeys/nothing.html

Kent

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