The Trinity in Human Life

NB: This post will assume a Christian outlook, without intentional reference to individual denominations. As such, this issue is of course subject to debate. I am aware of the counter-arguments, yet I cannot address them within such a limited capacity of a humble blog post!


Part of my Theology course in second year so far has been on the subject of the Trinity. This complex doctrine in all its glory is most definitely one of the more difficult things for the human brain to contemplate. Most notable is its apparent illogical structure - how can one being take on three forms?


Throughout history, there has been various debates surrounding this issue originating with Origen of Alexandria in the third century, right up to twentieth century hypotheses like that of Moltmann. One must remember that throughout the course of these developments, the theories formed were often in response or retaliation to historic occurrences (Origen writing in response to a Platonic way of thinking, and Moltmann writing during the aftermath of the Second World War. Their views on the Trinity therefore are naturally going to be formed by events in history). Whether these thinkers and others like them were considered heretical is not an issue which I shall address within this post. My intention is not to locate my argument within any specific developments of history or church dogma. Instead, I am attempting to state a thesis that is universally applicable to all humanity, originating in the very core of the human being.


The two big questions that arose throughout history, and are still being contended in my view are: are the Son and Spirit co-equal with God or are they different modes of being that act upon the world, yet retain a separate nature from God? 
Whether a thinker substantiates their view with the economic or an immanent Trinity is another element of discussion, but in order to understand the three beings in one, for me it is imperative that the economic Trinity reveals the Immanent Trinity. Humans are more capable of understanding God in the economic Trinity applicable through history, in terms of salvation and creation. We can see God's workings in our daily lives. However, it is more difficult to understand the Immanent Trinity, that is, the inner life of God (otherwise known as the ontological, essential or the hidden Trinity). Naturally, we are not meant to understand this. The interior life of God is something that surpasses human knowledge, and so this is why the economic Trinity was instituted by God, in order for us to at least attempt to gain an understanding of the way in which God works.


 Regardless of where you stand on the issue, one cannot escape the fact that it is inherently difficult, using human terminology to describe a divine being. And this goes for all aspects of God - our language is just too inadequate to explain the higher power, most notably because of our limited understanding of the nature of God. However, the very fact though that our cognitive ability allows us to contemplate the divine suggests an intrinsic link between humanity and the divine. Most Christians would argue that this is because we are made in the "image of God" - this argument of course originating from the Genesis story. I think this argument is often adequate enough in terms of explaining our ability to think about God and relate to him, albeit from a human perspective.

My view here is similar vein of thought as the doctrine of theosis, but (and this point must be necessarily stressed), my view is not for humanity to be deified, but for us to retain our human status and apply the divine nature of the trinity in allegory to humanity's nature of being.
The human mind, in its inadequate ways of speaking about God, will naturally apply God to a anthropomorphic view for we can understand these tangible human concepts. 

I understand there is potential here for confusion within my thought, and so I hope to express myself in a way in which my ideas can be conveyed succinctly, yet due again to the tendency of humans being unable to express or understand fully the nature of God, I understand I may do so inadequately.

My argument is that the Trinity in the human being can be communicated through the human aspects of soul, body and mind. God can be described as the soul, Christ as the body, and the Spirit as the mind. I do not intend this thinking to be heretical. I understand God is far superior to humanity. I also understand the Trinity in its own nature - God, Son and Spirit to be one entity of Christian doctrine. I do not wish to say that the Trinity is humanity. 
My main line of thought is that humanity has the possibility to emulate God and therefore we can apply the Trinity to human life. 

I shall deal with each element of the Trinity to humanity individually, and then link them as a whole afterwards:

The human soul as an innate point of contact with God, it is the intrinsic link of humanity to God. It is the substance which seems to have an element of mystery akin to God which perhaps has the ability to transcend our bodily retainer after death. Depending on various religious traditions, the soul is capable of continuing after death, independent or dependent of the body. (It is my assumption that the soul is the part that reunites us with God, an issue which may or may not be contentious with bodily resurrection, but that's a whole other post!) The soul, to me, seems like God within the human. I am not suggesting that humans are divine in the perfect sense - far from it - but that we possess an innate likeness to God, and this originates in the soul.
Next, is Christ as the human body. Through the Incarnation, the Christian understanding is that Christ was both fully human and fully divine. Though this again appears to be illogical, it is through this mystery that the possibility of salvation is a reality of faith. Though our human bodies are simply just biological - (in that they possess no divine function as Christ's did,) we are inherently linked to Christ due to his humanity. The body of Christ also of course has Christian connotations of the Eucharist, which in belief is supposed to cleanse the soul through its bodily consumption. This provides the link between body and soul - Christ and God - within a human capacity.
Finally, the Spirit as the mind. As previously stated, the human mind is totally inadequate in addressing the being of God. Yet, through the working of the Spirit, we can be inspired with ways in which to contemplate God, to perhaps further our understanding; or at least, further our faith and beliefs, which originate in the mind. The Spirit therefore influences this, with its origin in God and Christ.
Therefore the three are intrinsically and equally linked - the soul located within the human body, with the mind as the cognitive and working ability to contemplate the divine. Therefore this triune humanity has an ability to emulate the divine Trinity. That is, God is located within Christ, who is working in the Spirit. 

In an attempt to illustrate my argument, a visual representation of my thinking looks like this:

Therefore, my thinking is not to make humanity akin to a divine being, but to illustrate that humanity, whilst made in the image of God has the potential to think about the divine, and as such is capable of emulating that thought in action, despite our imperfect nature. We can think and act as Christ did in order to fulfil the Trinity within ourselves. As there is a Trinity as work within the world (the economic) and as there is a Trinity existing in itself (the immanent), so we too have a Trinity within ourselves (the human being consisting of mind, body and soul) that we must utilise and enact within the world in order to access the divine.