I certainly HOPE that one doesn't have to believe Nicaean Trinitarianism to be considered Christian. Otherwise, NO ONE could be considered Christian.
The bottom-line is this: people may say they do, but no one actually believes the Trinity as articulated at Nicaea.
To believe something, one must first think it; if something cannot exist in the mind, it is incapable of being believed. The Nicaean Trinity is (in a completely non-colloquial way, but still with the voice of Vizzini from the Princess Bride) "inconceivable."
Suppose someone asked you to believe that they knew someone that knew someone that discovered a "four-sided triangle." Then after they saw the dumbfounded look on your face, they asked you to just believe the mystery.
You can't believe in the existence of a "four-sided triangle," because you can't conceptualize what it would mean for a triangle, any triangle, to have four sides.
A human being is not capable of conceptualizing one being as three persons. You can memorize the words, and even confess them every Sunday, but you can't believe them, for you can't even know what they mean.
Comment of the Weekend
Monday January 12, 2009
Categories: Comment of the Day, Theology
Wow. There was a slew of great comments from which to choose this weekend. The best comment string, methinks, is under The Orthodoxy of Down Syndrome. But the top comment goes to Steve D., who commented under Is the Trinity Optional?
Add to Del.icio.us
Add to Technorati
Add to Digg
Add to Newsvine
Add to Facebook
Add to StumbleUpon
Advertisement
Advertisement
Search This Blog
About The New Christians
Tony Jones is the author of many books, including The New Christians: Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier and The Sacred Way: Spiritual Practices for Everyday Life. He is a leader in the emergent church movement and a renowned expert on postmodern theology and the American church landscape.
Find out more about Tony, his books, and his speaking schedule at his website.
Subscribe
Tag Cloud
barack obama, bible, blogalogue, blogging, christian, christianity, christianity21, church, comment of the day, doctrine, emergent church, emerging church, gay issues, glbt, god, homosexuality, jesus, new testament, news, original sin, paul, politics, prayer, rod dreher, same sex marriage, scot mcknight, spirituality, theology, tony jones, transforming theology
Calendar
Top Features
- Inspiration and Hope from The Dolphin
- Let It Shine: Inspiring Quotes About Light
- 10 Tips for a Fearless Life
- All You Ever Wanted
- 7 Ways to Discover Joy
- Allow Good Things Into Your Life
- Seven Patron Saints for Healing and Comfort
- Love Is a Many Splendored Thing
- 'Expect God's Favor': Interview with Joel Osteen
- Spider Raid
- 10 Tips for Inner Confidence
- 7 Ways to Discover Joy
- Seven Patron Saints for Healing and Comfort
- 10 Law of Attraction Lessons in Film
- 10 Tips for a Fearless Life
- Let It Shine: Inspiring Quotes About Light
- Inspiration and Hope from The Dolphin
- A Reason to Celebrate
- Famous Scientology Couples
- Love Is a Many Splendored Thing
erik G
I can concieve of:
1. an infinite set
2. an infinite set with infinite subsets
3. of those subsets being the entire set
I cannot conceive of those subsets being both different from each other and the entire set at the same time. They are either distinct or not.
I would have to agree that being able to conceive of, or being able to visualize something is not necessary in order to believe it. I cannot visualize the size of the United States, but I still believe that it is approximately 3000 miles across, whether or not I can conceive of those 3000 miles or not. I cannot really conceive of what the square root of -1 looks like, certainly not in the same manner as I can conceive of the square root of 4, but I still believe in complex algebra. That I cannot conceive, visualize, comprehend or apprehend the ontic nature of God doesn't mean that I don't believe in Him.
the sqrt(-1)=i
"i" is the imaginary number.[exactly bc we cannot conceive it.]
John C-W,
I know what you mean, and that is a valid point. However I cannot agree that finite human logic can be applied to understanding something that I believe the bible teaches about God by faith. I accept by faith that God is God, that Jesus is God and that the Holy Spirit is God. I also accept by faith that God is the only God and there are no other God's but him alone. If there are two things here that seem to be contradictory together, but in there separate elements I can apply a comfortable hermeneutics to see them in scripture, then I accept by faith that they are 3 yet 1.
If you were to ask me if God can exist within a reality that doesn't have the limits of understanding that he has sovereignly placed upon us, I would say of course I "believe" that....by faith.
I agree with Larry when he said:
"That I cannot conceive, visualize, comprehend or apprehend the ontic nature of God doesn't mean that I don't believe in Him."
In closing, this verses come to mind:
1.)Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
2.)For by it the men of old gained approval.
3.)By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.
We really need to get away from the idea of Bottling up God into math equations (not that anyone was doing that). I didn't believe in God because I understood him, I believe in him because I know by faith that my life is changed and I want to serve him. When I get to heaven, if this is possible, I will ask Adam what it was like to not be ashamed of himself and then all of a sudden be ashamed of himself and have different knowledge because of the bite or many bites of an apple. That is a circumstance that I can't conceive of. The bible says it, so I believe it...by faith.
The last post was mine, i forgot to put a name for it. I just didnt want there to be any confusion.
Post a Comment
By submitting these comments, I agree to the beliefnet.com terms of service, rules of conduct and privacy policy (the "agreements"). I understand and agree that any content I post is licensed to beliefnet.com and may be used by beliefnet.com in accordance with the agreements.