Understanding Each Person of the Trinity [Audio Version]

By: James Thomas Lee Jr

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

People sometimes have difficulty understanding the Trinity. But if that is the case with someone reading this Introduction, then he or she should not feel too bad. It took the scholars and theologians of the early Church about five hundred years after the Incarnation of Jesus to even begin to figure it out. The whole idea of one God is not too difficult to understand. But when the same scholars and theologians start talking about one God in three persons, then the whole matter becomes much more complicated. Is it biblically correct to say or think of three different persons of deity, daily conversing with each other, and then making regular decisions about this life? Does one of the three persons have to answer to the other two, or vice versa? Exactly how does that work? Those are difficult questions to answer. So to do that kind of analysis and to answer those kinds of questions, an individual must begin by looking at what the scriptures say about each of the three persons.

So that is exactly what this text has done. The best way to understand anything is to begin by first identifying those parts of the whole thing that are easily identifiable. For example, the most complicated problems in mathematics are solved by first working through the simple components of the whole problem and by then working from those parts towards a solution for the greater problem. The most complicated computer programs are written by first breaking the whole problem into small, simple components and by then writing subroutines to do each one. Therefore, to acquire a better understanding of the Trinity, a person must first look at each person of the Trinity separately and then see what kind of information results. So in the following eighteen chapters of this text, that is what will be done.

Chapters one through five will consider the first person of the Trinity who is God the Father. Chapters six through twelve will consider the second person of the Trinity who is God the Son. Chapters thirteen through seventeen will consider the third person of the Trinity who is God the Holy Spirit. So the examination of each one will proceed in the same manner for each person. First, evidence for His deity will be given. Second, their three comparative attributes will be discussed. Third, their personal attributes will be discussed. Fourth, their individual personal ministries will be discussed. Then, after having gathered that information, chapter eighteen will attempt to express what one can reasonably know or understand of the Trinity.

There is one note, however, to be made with respect to the organization of this text. Something that the reader might find useful is boxes throughout that show the different passages that are being referenced at the times and in the places where they are being referenced. That way, he or she will not have to jump all over the place or get into or out of the scriptures to locate a particular reference. Hopefully that inclusion will help the reader in trying to understand the various events and to also put them into their right context. So it is hoped that that will make this book easier to read and that the Lord will receive the praise, honor, and glory that He rightfully deserves.