What a
first week back to the Institute! It’s been great being back, although it was a
little strange at first. It was refreshing to spend a couple of week out in the
“real world” with my family. The break reminded me of the environment that we
are going to be headed back into come April. For the past several months, the
seventy of us have been striving to live in Biblical community. We begin our
days in communal worship and prayer. We bear each other’s burdens, know each
other’s sufferings, celebrate in each other’s joys, and learn and grow together
in our pursuit for Christ every day. I have friends here who are holding me
accountable in ways that I have never had before. I have friends and leaders
who challenge me like crazy. I know that I’m being prepared for a lifetime of
ministry beyond these walls in whatever context life takes me.
We
began our second semester digging into the Trinity. What a topic to start with!
Geez, let’s just say that it was a whirlwind of a week. Our professor for the
week was Dr. Glenn Kreider from Dallas Theological Seminary. He is a very
intelligent and knowledgeable man who isn’t afraid to challenge your beliefs
and stretch your thinking. This week, I felt
like I was in seminary. There were things that Dr. Kreider taught that I found
fascinating, some things that were challenging, and even some things that I
didn’t agree with.
Our
main purpose for this week was to learn about the Trinity. This semester, our
big project (like the Bible Overview for last semester) is developing our
belief statements about different aspects of our faith. For example, this past
week, we had our rough draft of our belief on God the Father due. We’ll
continue on with Jesus this week, then the Holy Spirit, Trinity, etc. With that
being said, it was helpful to learn about the Trinity as we are thinking about writing
that belief statement in a few weeks.
I would love to share with y’all
some fun things that I learned about the Trinity this week. First of all, I
learned that Christianity is the only religion that affirms the Trinity.
Judaism, for example, although it acknowledges God the Father and the Holy
Spirit, does now acknowledge Jesus Christ as Messiah and, therefore, the Son of
God. Islam acknowledges “Allah”, who they see as the God of Abraham, but they
do not acknowledge the Holy Spirit or Jesus as God. Christianity is the only
faith that believes in this crazy idea known as the Trinity, in which God is
persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. These persons are distinctly different,
yet one in the same. They are uniquely independent, yet independent on one
another. They exist as one, yet also as three. What a crazy concept!
Personally, belief in the Trinity has always been one of those things that I
try to understand to the best of my ability, and then the rest just has to be
faith. I like that balance, though. Sometimes, things just make more sense if
they’re taken on faith.
One of my favorite things that Dr.
Kreider did this week was that he spelled out the basic truths of the Trinity.
I loved that it is an easy and simple (as simple as it can be) way to just
focus on what we believe as Christians about out God. The first is that there
is only one God. Although God exists in three persons, that does not change the
fact that there is only One. Christianity is not polytheistic; we believe that
only One God exists. We believe that the Father is God eternally. We believe
that Jesus is God eternally. We believe that the Holy Spirit is God eternally.
They are all God, but they are not all each other. The Father is not the Son or
the Spirit, the Son is not the Father or the Spirit, and the Spirit is not the
Father or the Son. As he was talking about this, it reminded me of an
illustration that my friend Marquette Bugg showed me in college. Although I think
it was Marquette; maybe it was Meredith Summers. But, regardless, props to both
of them. They are both so incredible and I’m so thankful for their presence in
my life. Anyway, I wish I could put this illustration in here. Maybe some day.
My favorite thing
that I realized this week was how the Apostle’s Creed fit with the study of the
Trinity. I had never realized it before. The Creed means even more to me now
that we are going through our belief statements. It’s empowering for me to see
that I agree with the same thing that millions of believers have for centuries.
We are not alone in this pursuit of Christ.
The
Apostle’s Creed:
I believe in God,
the Father almighty,
Creator of heaven
and earth,
and in Jesus
Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived
by the Holy Spirit,
born of the
Virgin Mary,
suffered under
Pontius Pilate,
was crucified,
died and was buried;
he descended into
hell;
on the third day
he rose again from the dead;
he ascended into
heaven,
and is seated at
the right hand of God the Father almighty;
from there he
will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the
Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic
Church,
the communion of
saints,
the forgiveness
of sins,
the resurrection
of the body,
and life
everlasting. Amen.
