An analogy for christian "monotheism" compared to strict monotheism.?

Question

an analogy my friend and I came up with...

the Trinity of much of christianity is like a tree with a trunk split into 3, and these splits act in some ways as separate trunks, in some ways as a collective one trunk, and they come together into a single base trunk.

where the Jewish view, (and, at least according to many people, this view is shared by Islam) God is more similar to a perfect, solid stone obelisk. one singular, perfect, undivided "object" of focus. where in the oblisk, there are facets to it, but that these facets are merely different angles of observing it, while it is still absolutley singular.

now to a person who prefers the split tree, and considers it to be "single" as it has a unified nature and a single base trunk, might look at the monolith and not see it to be signifigantly differently monotheistic.

where if one prefers the monolith, then by comparison, the tree would clearly be "more than one".

thoughts?

Answer 1

Nice analogy, but I will give you mine...

It is like the concept of light. Is there such a thing as white light? Yes. Does it exist as one light? Technically, no. It exists as a compound unity of equal illumination of red, green and blue spectrum. So white light does NOT exist? Of course it does. But in the form of three-in-one. Science can explain it, and we have just gotten used to it. In the eternal, such things are equally possible and exist. God is light, and in Him, there is no darkness at all. What color? Pure white.

Answer 2

We need to know how we are created in God's image to grasp the concept of the Holy Trinity and I think your question is a good one.

To understand this better, chart it out or use a diagram of two triangles of equal proportions like the Star of David. This allows an easier understanding of the relationship between the Essence and Existence of a thing. The following words should be distinguished in the following categories: Physical, Mental, and Spiritual. These three words encompass everything in the Universe and make up the CREATIVE PROCESS to help describe the Creator, creatures, and creation.

God is spirit. He cannot be seen. If you were to examine all the creatures, the CREATOR has made a pattern emerges: angels and demons are intellectual creatures without a body; plants and animals do not have an intellect but a body and mortal soul. IT IS ONLY LIVING, HUMAN, BEINGS, that have a MIND, BODY, and SOUL. Only human beings have all three. Now, living, human, being is the existence of man. Those words describe the essence of man's mind, body, and soul. The Body is living, the Mind makes us human and distinguishing us from animals, and our Soul makes us the being that we become (good or evil).

Now, even Muslims will agree Allah is omnipotent (all powerful), omniscient (all knowing), and omnipresent (ever present). These words describe the existence of God. So, what is the essence of God? I will hold off answering this question till the end.

Now, if you think about the existence of a person they have a triple existence: physical (body), mental (mind), and spiritual (eternal soul). In fact, whenever we create something it has all three of these parts. When we cook we have a recipe (in our mind), we gather all the raw ingredients, and we cook (don't burn it, ha ha) what it is we are making. Cooking has the physical, mental, and spiritual parts. Same with engineering or technology it has three parts: the blueprints (to convey an idea), the raw materials (physical), and the workmanship (spiritual). If something goes wrong investigators will look for a design flaw, material flaw, or faulty workmanship. THIS DEMONSTRATES CREATION HAS THREE PARTS LIKE THE CREATOR.

Now, in the Bible it says Jesus is the visible likeness of the invisible God. (Colossians 1:15) The ESSENCE OF GOD IS: Father (mental), Son (physical), Holy Ghost (spiritual). ONE TRUE GOD IN THREE JUST LIKE A PERSON. THREE PARTS ONE PERSON. When you are sick you send for a doctor; when you are mentally troubled, a psychiatrist; when spiritually seeking you seek out a holy person.

EXISTENCE OF MAN: Living, Human, Being.
ESSENCE OF MAN: Body, Mind, Soul.
EXISTENCE OF GOD: All Powerful, All Knowing, Ever Present
ESSENCE OF GOD: Father, Son, Holy Spirit.

Many other parallels can be made. For more details contact me.

Answer 3

Does Israel provide religious services for its Arab citizens?

It was recently announced that Israel is arranging for a Muslim prayer room at the new terminal at Ben Gurion International Airport.

Just another in a series of activities to make Israeli Arab citizens feel more at home. An Arab language web site has already been unveiled and guide books and signs at the airport are already available in Arabic.


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Answer 4

One singular plurality. God is one. Meaning of one mind, but true monotheism depicts God as one unit and is not acceptive of one unit 'in mind' with duel personages.

Father and Son act under the same 'mind'. They do not disagree on anything. One speaks on behalf of the other. The Word is this voice.

It is better to use the proper words associated with God. Elohim is a plural term used to describe the Hebrew Gods. Jehovah (The Lord) was the speaker, the same who interacted with Israel's history. Eloah is the head of the family and is seperate from Jehovah, but is of one mind, one accord.

Jehovah is Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus prayed to Eloah (in Islam this is Allah) calling him Eloi (Father).

True monotheism discounts Jehovah as seperate from Eloah, it makes them both one physical entity when Elohim clearly implies multiple spiritual personages. The key to Christian monotheism is understanding singular plurality.

Elohim is one family.

John Smith Jr. is his father's son. His Father is also John Smith. When the Father tells John to perform some act, John does not perform another in opposition to the order, he does exactly as told because he knows it is the right thing. There are two Johns, yet they are of one mind and act of one accord. Their family is one entity.

Christian monotheism is only monotheism in this understanding. Islam is strict monotheism.

Answer 5

I think a better analogy is that the trinity is like an egg - shell, white and Yoke, but still, and egg.

Answer 6

the trinity concept matches the concept of god in hinduism, hindus have over millions of gods. and they are considered sometimes monotheistic and sometimes polytheistic, samething can be said about the trinity concept.

Answer 7

A simpler way is to understand that God wears three "hats."


The hat of a Father,
the hat of a Son,
the hat of his Spirit.

One God, three ways in which He interacts with us.

Answer 8

To quote my 8 y/o son when he asked me what Monotheism meant......."Monotheism is stupid....It's just conceited"