Uniquity of triads.

To supplement the study on the trinity (trineness) of God, this study is a list of concepts that have arisen as basic triads, either directly from Scriptures or from logical extrapolation of Scriptural concepts. Often these triads are easily compared to the classic definition of trinity, but often there is deliberate ambiguity in mapping one triad to another. Sometimes all three aspects of one triad apply to all three aspects of another. However, it appears to me that even when two triads do not map easily one to another, they remain isomorphic descriptions of the plurality in unity of God, because the relationship between two triads can either be identity, distinction, or elements of both, which forms another triad! This suggests that distinctives do not prevent triads from each being valid expressions of God, because the distinctives also form a triad and constitute an expression of God.

The purpose of this compilation is to show that some aspects of God appear paradoxical when compared to others, but that when considered as independent structures they behave similarly. The paradoxical appearance only arises because it is assumed two concepts can be mapped precisely one onto another, but that would make the concepts redundant with each other. Instead, no human concept maps precisely onto another. This means that whenever one attempts to claim a paradox, it arises from failure to define terms precisely and to rightly compare and contrast the definitions.

In one of its simplest forms, paradox is cited because the following beliefs are held to be contradictory as a group: "The Father is God", "The Word is God", "The Father is not the Word". The resolution of the paradox involves recognizing that distinctions exist between Father, Word, and God, and so "is" does not mean precise identity, but establishes that essential attributes are identical but some distinction still exists. Any tension between these triads is resolvable the same way.

• Father [God], Son [Lord], Spirit [Holy]: The traditional triad of Matthew 28:19 and Eph. 4:4-6.

• Father [Begetter], Word [Flesh], Glory [Dwelling]: The traditional triad of John 1:14. The Word is the Logos (Verbum) and the Monogenes (One-of-a-Kind).

• From, To, Through: How all things relate respecting him, Rom. 11:36.

• Above, In, Through: How he relates respecting all things, Eph. 4:6.

• Of-None, Begotten, Proceeding: The Athanasian definitions of the distinctives of these triads.

• Of-Self, Of-Other, Of-Others: One way of reconciling the Athanasian terms for relations of personality. This also harmonizes with the next two.

• Seity [Self], Aseity [Of-Self], Deity [God]: Another way to summarize the same thing from a human perspective. A seity is a considered self; an aseity is a self considered in itself; a deity is then a perfect harmony of self and consideration of self. Here the Father is the considered self that originates the triad; the Son is "God with God", self of self, John 1:1-2; and the Spirit is the perfect relation between them, "God out of God", the love of 1 John 4:7-8.

• Deity [Simplicity], Seity [Complexity], Aseity [Profundity]: From a divine perspective, the Father is simple unconsidered deity; the Son is the Self the Father sees when considering "himself"; and the Spirit is the consideration of the Father for his Self, the Son. This shifts the application of the words because the perspective of consideration changes.

• Unity, Diversity, Triunity: Triunity is a special case of "university", meaning "unity in diversity".

• One, Two [And], Three [Many]: Even mathematical simplicity is an incomplete expression, Rom. 12:4-5, 1 Cor. 12:12-20.

• Singular, Dual, Plural: The same triad expressed in grammatical cases.

• Absolute, Relative, Both: A general harmonization of these harmonies.

• Incomprehensible, Almighty, Eternal: Three of the six Athanasian attributes that apply to all of the trinity.

• Omniscient [All-Comprehending], Omnipotent [All-Doing], Omnipresent [All-Spacetime]: A common logical application of the infinities of the prior triad. Omniscient implies Ineffable, Inexhaustible, Unshared, Incommunicable, infinite in thought. Omnipotent implies Omniefficient, All-Working, infinite in action (matter or word). Omnipresent comprises Immense (Immaterial, Total, Full) and Eternal (Agelong, Endless, Everlasting), infinite in relation. Thus:

• Thought, Action, Relation: Explicit forms of these infinities.

• Uncreated [Creator], Lord, God: The other three of the six Athanasian attributes.

• Being, Power, Glory: Another common creedal triad.

• Kingdom, Power, Glory: The Lord's Prayer that may indicate the source of the creedal statement, Matt. 6:13.

• Ehyeh [I Am], Ehyeh-Asher-Ehyeh [I Am What I Am], Yahweh [I Am I]: God's self-naming from Ex. 3:14-15.

• Self-Identity, Self-Existence, Self-Causality: I use these words to explain the three names. First, such perfect being that that being uniquely is identifiable as God; second, such perfect consideration of that being that the consideration is also really God; third, such perfect relation between being and consideration that "cause" and "effect" have no difference when applied to that relation, such that God is the uncaused first cause of all. (Thus these words apply similarly as the triad, deity, seity, aseity. "Self-causality" does not mean that one literally exists before one causes oneself to exist, but that one has no cause outside oneself.)

• Unimagined [Inscrutable], Unlimited [Illimitable], Undistinguished [Indivisible]: This is a similar explanation from a negative perspective: only God can fully imagine, limit, or distinguish his infinity.

• Ousia, Homoiousias, Homoousias: At the risk of simplifying several hard-fought disputes, the Father is an existence, the Son is a similar existence, and the Father and Son are both of the same existence, the Spirit.

• Transcendence, Personality, Immanence: God is both wholly other to creation and wholly within creation, and reconciles these in the personality of Jesus.

• Being, Seeking, Rewarding: The basic activity triad from Heb. 11:6.

• Existence, Equality, Possession: This triad as applied to God in himself.

• Being [Doing], Having [Inhabiting], Relating [Transcending]: Another way of expressing the thought of Hebrews 11 within God.

• Space, Matter [Energy], Time: The observed created triad hinted at by Gen. 1:1-3.

• Length, Width [Breadth], Height: The three observed physical dimensions within space.

• Water, Blood, Spirit: A physical triad of 1 John 4:7-8 that was compared to the trinity.

• Mind [Soul], Strength [Body], Heart [Spirit]: The human triad from Deut. 6:5.

• Thoughts, Emotions, Will: A triad often found within the mind, in its reflection upon itself, the body, and the spirit.

• Knowledge, Understanding, Wisdom: Another mental triad in its reflection upon God, Ex. 31:3, 35:31, Prov. 2:6, Is. 11:2.

• Head, Arm, Hand [Finger]: A bodily triad applicable to God. Head, 1 Cor. 11:3; arm, Is. 53:1, etc.; hand, 2 Kings 3:15, Ezek. 1:8; finger, Luke 11:20 with Matt. 12:28.

• Soul [Nephesh], Dust [Aphar], Breath [Neshamah]: The human triad from Gen. 2:7. Here the soul is the unity of body and spirit; at other times the body, or the spirit, is the unifying focus.

• Creature, Name, Call: The earthly naming triad from Gen. 2:19.

• Deity, Name [Attribute], Being [Nature]: Application of the naming principle to God.

• Unshared, Shared, Substantially-Shared: There are ways in which God does not communicate himself with us and ways in which he does, and these are harmonized in our receiving sufficient substance to have both the experience of the communicable and the intuition of the incommunicable.

• Sensing, Knowing, Revealing: The activities by which God's sharing progresses to us.

• Self [Autos], Law [Nomos], Autonomy: God is a "law unto himself" because he is the original self and the original law.

• Deity, Icon [Angel], Glory: 2 Cor. 4:4, Col. 1:15, 1 Cor. 11:7.

• Deity, Radiance, Glory: Heb. 1:3.

• Deity, Image [Character], Substance [Hypostasis]: Also Heb. 1:3. From this verse I can say that the Bible teaches there is (at least) one hypostasis, and I can avoid dogmatism about whether there are actually two or three (each way of phrasing can be harmonized with the others, because multiple definitions of hypostasis have been used).

• Justice, Mercy, Faith: Jesus's triad of weighty matters, Matt. 23:23, compared to the spice triad of mint, anise, and cummin (compare the unity of Ps. 85:10).

• Pure [Good], Right [Just], Great [Holy]: As we get into the outflow of God's attributes in creation later, we will see that he is good of himself, that he is just in accord with himself, and that he is holy in his relating to himself, informing our expressions of these principles in our lives. Further, simplicity and grace are aspects of purity, merit and mercy of righteousness, and glory and majesty of greatness.

• Irresistible Force, Immovable Object, What Happens: The answer to this humorous implied question is that there is perfect harmony if the force and the object are the same entity (the unmoved mover), because they never "meet" in opposition, a possibility the paradox-framer didn't consider.

• Yahweh, Yehoshua, Qadosh: If we seek personal names, even though all personal names work as attributes at this level, it's often considered that Yahweh (Self-Existence) refers more particularly to the Father, while Yehoshua (Jesus, Yahweh's Salvation) is the Hebrew name of the Son. If the Spirit has a personal name it may be the word Qadosh (Holy). However, the attributes of self-existence, salvation, and holiness belong to God in unity. The following may be more specific:

• Abba, Pili, Sheken: This may not even be a triad, but is my attempt to select unambiguous names. In particular, though Jesus instructs us to use the basic names of the Great Commission, father, holy, and spirit have some ambiguity within the Godhead, and son has different application before the incarnation than after. Abba (Daddy, Dada, Papa) uniquely refers to the Father of Jesus, Mark 14:36, Rom. 8:15, Gal. 4:6. Pili (Wonderful, Secret) is a name taken as unique by the Angel of the LORD, Judg. 13:18, Ps. 139:6. Sheken (Dwelling, extrabiblically Shekinah) uniquely applies to the Manifestation of Glory, Deut. 12:5, etc.

• Father, Son [Child], Mother: The earthly family, where in the Godhead the role of the mother is taken by the Spirit-filled church. Interestingly, unlike the third party being the harmonizer, in this view the second party (the Child) is the harmonizer.

• Voice, Word, Sound: This is an old triad hinted at in Scripture, in which the first party (the Voice) harmonizes two things (the message and the sounds it expresses).

• Leader, Follower, Spirit: A triad suggested by C. S. Lewis in which the third party takes the traditional place of harmonizing.

• God, God [Word], With: The Son (Word) is God, and God with God, where the Spirit is the relation between the two, John 1:1.

• God, Out Of, God [Love]: The Spirit (Love) is God, and God out of God, where the Son is the expression of the two, 1 John 4:7-8.

• Lover, Beloved, Love: A triad of action suggested by 1 John 4:7-8 and also Song of Songs; I also like to call it Lover, Loved, Loves.

• Abraham, Isaac, Jacob: As in Ex. 3:15, the patriarchs are often considered to be typological of the trinity of God.

• He-Created [Bara], God-Himself [Elohim], In-The-Beginning [Bereshith]: Gen. 1:1 combining singular verb and plural noun in unifying context.