Yesterday was Trinity Sunday, the day when preachers cower and hide away from the challenge of trying to explain the Trinity (God: Father, Son & Holy Spirit).
I felt challenged by a few updates on Twitter yesterday. The first read:
Well, I’ve been invited to preach at a local church next Sunday and as they didn’t have a Trinity service yesterday, and because I’m feeling brave (or stupid), I’m going to preach on the Trinity.
The other tweets read as follows:
If you’ve been going to church for a while I’m sure you’ll have heard some of the many analogies used to help explain the Holy Spirit. Here’s my incomplete list – just from memory:
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Egg: shell/White/yolk
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Water: ice/steam/liquid
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Jaffa Cake: sponge/chocolate/orange jelly
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Man: worker/husband/father
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Apple: skin/core/pulp
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Human: body/soul/spirit
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Three blade propeller
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Three leaf clover
So:
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How would you critique these analogies?
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Would you add any other analogies to the list?
But my main question is this:
Is it helpful to use these analogies, even knowing that they are imperfect representations of the Trinity?
Discuss…