Answers | To Your Questions About the Bible, Theology and Christian Living

I am having a difficult time explaining to my children how Jesus, God, and the Holy Spirit are one person. Can you help?

The Trinity is first-rate mystery.

Augustine said that anyone who denies the Trinity is in danger of losing his salvation, and anyone who tries to understand it is in danger of losing his mind. It is not fully explained in Scripture.

In fact, the word Trinity is not found in the Bible. But, by the late second century it was being used by the church to describe a biblical concept—literally, tri-unity, or “three in one.”

This does not mean three Gods … though Christians have been accused of being polytheists by other world religions. Instead Christians have a unique view of God, one that comes about because they believe both the Old and New Testaments.

There are six basic biblical steps to understanding the Trinity:

1. There is one God. (Deuteronomy 6:4)

Deuteronomy 6:4 is one of the most important verses to the Jews, who believe in one God. It is known as the Shema: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one!”

Here is the Hebrew: Shema Yisrael: Yahweh Elochenu Yahweh Echad. The Hebrew language has two words that are translated “one”—Yachid and Echad. Yachid means an absolute one. Echad refers to a united one. Echad is the word used of God in the Old Testament—God is a united one.

2. The Father is God. (2 Peter 1:17)

3. The Son is God. (John 8:58)

4. The Holy Spirit is God. (Acts 5:3-4)

5. Father, Son and Holy Spirit are distinct individuals. (John 14:26)

6. Therefore, there are three Persons in the one Godhead.

A typical, accurate doctrinal statement is this, Assemblies of God Fundamental Truth no. 2: “WE BELIEVE … There is only One True God—revealed in three persons … Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (commonly known as the Trinity).” (See ag.org for all 16 Assemblies of God Fundamental Truths.)

Since the Trinity is completely unique, no analogy really fits. The Trinity is not really “like” anything.

But attempts have been made. The best analogies do not look at the Trinity as three parts that make up a whole, like these examples:

• Shamrock: Saint Patrick, who spread the Gospel in Ireland, used a three-leafed clover.
• Egg: Another common one—eggshell, egg white and yolk.
• H2O: The three phases of H2O—water, ice, steam—are better as an analogy but also fall short since any given temperature produces only one of these at a time. That picture leads to a false doctrine that says the Trinity is really only one person who takes on one of three modes at any given time. This belief is problematic for those who hold it: Just what was going on in the Garden of Gethsemane when Jesus was praying to the Father? Was He talking to himself?

The best illustration I have seen comes from C.S. Lewis:

• The three dimensions of space: Length, width and height. All coincide in the same place, yet are distinct.

Ken Horn

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What does it mean to be “drunk in the Spirit” and is it biblical? Also, what scriptures support the idea of being “slain in the Spirit” and what is the purpose of it?

First answer: Acts 2:11-16 is the account of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit can be mocked as drunkenness by observers. Some Pentecostal Christians have adopted the terminology of being drunk in the Spirit for those who are demonstrably experiencing an outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

Second answer: I wrote the following in a historical review of revival, but there is no exact technical instance in the scripture, except for people falling before the Lord or in His presence:

This is perhaps the most criticized of today’s manifestations. But virtually all historical revivals record this phenomenon.

Methodist minister John McGee relates the outbreak of the second Great Awakening in Cane Ridge, Kentucky, in 1800: “I … was near falling, the power of God was strong upon me …. Losing sight of fear of man, I went through the house shouting and exhorting with all possible ecstasy and energy, and the floor was soon covered with the slain.”

James Finley “saw at least 500 swept down in a moment.”

High emotions, falling, crying out, tears, even shaking, all occurred in revivals before a modern Pentecostal ever appeared. People who “fell under the power of God” included Congregationalists, Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists, Anglicans, and others. In the early days of the Salvation Army (mid-1800s), in the meetings of General William Booth, “persons were frequently stricken down…overwhelmed with a sense of the presence and power of God.”1

Jonathan Edwards’ own acceptance of such physical demonstrations was no doubt influenced by the fact his wife Sarah “did, indeed, hop when under the influence of the Holy Spirit, and she would swoon away for hours together, enjoying, she claimed, the presence of God.”2

1 James Gilchrist Lawson, Deeper Experiences of Famous Christians: Warner Press, 1911, p. 257.
2 Jonathan Edwards, Some Thoughts Concerning the Present Revival of Religion in New England, cited by Harold Fickett.

In 1910, William F.P. Burton attended a meeting at which he first witnessed speaking in other tongues; and although he was convinced it was from God, he was disturbed by people “falling to the ground, laughing, groaning, trembling, and seeing visions.” He said, “A little study of the Scripture removed my misgivings about such manifestations.”

An older saint gave him advice that resonates today: “We don’t encourage such manifestations, but we are not at all surprised when they do occasionally occur. We have learned the lesson which Michal learned so dearly, that it does not do to belittle those who are carried away with the joy of the Lord.” (See 2 Samuel 6:16-23.)3

3 Colin C. Whittaker, Seven Pentecostal Pioneers: Gospel Publishing House, 1983, p.156.

Ken Horn

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