Part 2. The Scriptural Metaphor for Trinity
Various metaphors and analogies have been proposed by Christians seeking to explain the doctrine of Trinity, but they have all been less than satisfactory. A familiar one is the three part composition of water as solid (ice), liquid, and vapor (steam), but water cannot be all of these at one and the same time. This analogy commits the error of modalism in which one God manifests himself in different forms at different times. Another humanly invented analogy is the egg with its three components of shell, white, and yolk, but this teaches three very different components that are not the same essence, and hence commits the error of tritheism (three separate but equal gods). None of these proffered analogies are given in Holy Scripture, and so they fail to adequately illuminate the doctrine of Trinity for us. But there is from the Bible a metaphor that beautifully illustrates the Trinity!
1 John 1:5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.
Notice that this metaphor is heard from God himself! John might have understood it in the light of Jesus’ teaching that men bring their good deeds into the light of God’s approval, but hide their evil deeds in darkness (John 3:20-21). Therefore evil cannot exist in the light of God (“there is no darkness at all”).
John had no knowledge or context to appreciate the metaphor he spoke by inspiration, which I am about to share here. But throughout the Bible men often prophesied (spoke from God) by inspiration without full intellectual grasp of the teachings they uttered (Daniel for instance in 12:8-9 and Isaiah in 44:28-45:1).
Nevertheless, God’s teachings are not limited by contemporary human understanding, for God transcends time and place and human knowledge. In this metaphor (1 John 1:5) I believe there is a revelation of God’s triune nature that blesses our understanding today in terms of knowledge not available in the first century. This metaphor can help to illumine the one true amazing God, Yahweh Elohim, for believing hearts today. And it serves to assure us that the LORD God lovingly reveals himself to people in all times and at all levels of knowledge, since his knowledge surpasses that of every time and place. Let those who have ears to hear ponder his metaphor.
The metaphor is that “God is light.” This does not mean that God is reduced to a manifestation of his creation (“let there be light” Genesis 1:3). But it does mean that light as a metaphor reveals something about his triune nature, that is, the doctrine of Trinity. In other words, the Trinity is something like light. And this revelation is for people of our time and scientific knowledge. This metaphorical explanation of the triune God can be seen in a diagram of the spectrum of light.
All of light is the same essence—waves of pure energy. Each wave carries a given amount of energy. Light consists of a spectrum of waves which vary in length (the distance between the peaks or troughs of the waves). These wavelengths vary from very short at the left end of the spectrum shown above (10-14 millionths of a meter) to very long at the right end (104 meters). Shorter wavelengths mean that light impinges on any physical object with greater power, since many more waves arrive in a given time than with longer wavelengths.
Shorter waves (toward the left end of the diagram) have more power and are not visible to the human eye. For instance we know that ultraviolet rays from the sun burn and damage skin. As wavelengths progressively shorten, the waves arrive more frequently, and the energy multiplies to destructive levels. A good way to understand this would be waves at the seashore. If the same wave that strikes the beach every fifteen seconds were to arrive every one second, damage and alteration of the shoreline would be much greater.
Longer waves (toward the right end of the diagram) are also invisible to our eyes, but our modern lives are heavily influenced by and dependent on their nature and function, as can be appreciated by reference to the diagram above.
Finally, the small central portion of the light spectrum (red to violet, approximately 380 to 740 millionths of a meter) is visible to our eyes and reflects the various colors in our world. It is the only portion of light that our retinas can receive and transmit to the brain.
Some things in our world are so fundamental to our existence that we seldom inquire about them. Light is one such entity. Everyone knows light when he or she sees it. The artist manipulates it for aesthetic effect. Radio and television stations broadcast longer wavelength light to communicate auditory and visual signals that we receive on radios and televisions. NASA scientists aim light as radio waves to satellites to control satellite functions. Microwaves heat our food. Hospitals use shorter wavelengths to peer inside human anatomy to discover occult tumors, and airports use this light to look through luggage for hidden weapons. Even shorter wavelengths are used in medical practice to destroy malignant tumors inside the body with penetrating high energy. In these, and many other familiar forms, light is part of our modern world. And our triune God is like the light.
But if you were asked to define light, could you explain it in terms that were comprehensible to someone who had never experienced it? How would you describe it to a person congenitally blind? How would you convince them to undergo an operation which would render them sensitive to light? That is somewhat like the difficulty of explaining the Trinity to someone who has not appreciated the touch of the Holy Spirit in his or her life.
Now let us look further at the light metaphor by adding to our diagram of the light spectrum.
All of light is the same fundamental essence—waves of pure energy. But there are three very distinct portions of light defined by wavelength. High energy light is powerful and can both create and destroy physical material. Thus invisible high energy light is like (metaphorically speaking) God the Father.
Low energy light is of the same essence as high energy (waves of pure energy) but with longer wavelength so that it transmits lower energy. This invisible light is weak but penetrating and communicative, like (metaphorically speaking) the Holy Spirit.
Visible light is the same essence as high and low energy light (waves of pure energy) but can be received by the human eye and mind to instruct in truth and beauty. As seen in the above diagram of the electromagnetic spectrum, these three distinct portions of the light spectrum are very much like the three persons of the Trinity.
The spectrum of light is the very essence of light, which is manifest in three very distinct forms to us physical beings. These three forms of light are one essence and therefore like (metaphorically speaking) the triune (three-one) God of the Bible. Each is the same in essence, but different in form or role. Or to put it another way, there is one essential God in three distinct persons—Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Isn’t it just like our gracious LORD God (Yahweh-Elohim, singular-plural) to use metaphors that can reveal himself to men of every time, including our own today.
Finally, I would note that this metaphor (analogy) for God places no limits on God, as illustrated by the question marks in the spectrum diagram. We don’t know what lies beyond these limits. The metaphor is valid as far as we know, because it is a message from our LORD God himself to John: “God is light!”
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