Day 10 of 28
The Three-Personal God
Beyond Our Imagination
Scripture Readings
Today's Reading
Read Matthew 28:19: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."
Then read 2 Corinthians 13:14: "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all."
Reflection
Lewis tackles one of the most difficult doctrines in Christianity: the Trinity. Three persons, one God. He knows it sounds impossible, and he does not pretend otherwise.
"If Christianity was something we were making up, of course we could make it easier. But it is not. We cannot compete, in simplicity, with people who are inventing religions. How could we? We are dealing with Fact. Of course anyone can be simple if he has no facts to bother about."
This is one of Lewis's most important methodological points. A religion invented by humans would be tidier. The doctrine of the Trinity is complex precisely because it was not invented — it was discovered. The first Christians did not sit down and design a theology. They encountered Jesus, experienced the Holy Spirit, and found themselves forced to speak of God in a new way that preserved both His oneness and His threeness.
Lewis offers an analogy: dimensions. A world of one dimension contains only lines. A world of two dimensions contains squares. A world of three dimensions contains cubes — which are six squares joined together in a way that a two-dimensional creature could never imagine. Similarly, we find it hard to conceive of a Being who is three Persons yet one God because our experience of personhood is limited to separate individuals. But God's level of being may include a kind of personal reality that is richer than anything we know.
"God is not a static thing — not even a person — but a dynamic, pulsating activity, a life, almost a kind of drama. Almost, if you will not think me irreverent, a kind of dance."
The Trinity means that love is not something God does — it is something God is. Before creation, before time, the Father has been loving the Son and the Son has been loving the Father in the unity of the Spirit. Love is not a divine policy; it is the divine nature.
Going Deeper
Matthew 28 and 2 Corinthians 13 embed the Trinity in the most practical contexts: baptism and blessing. The early church did not treat the Trinity as abstract theology. It was the name into which they were baptized and the reality under which they lived.
The doctrine of the Trinity means that relationship is not a created afterthought — it is woven into the very being of God. When Scripture says "God is love" (1 John 4:8), the Trinity explains how that could be true even before anything was created. God has always had someone to love.
Key Quotes
“If Christianity was something we were making up, of course we could make it easier. But it is not. We cannot compete, in simplicity, with people who are inventing religions. How could we? We are dealing with Fact. Of course anyone can be simple if he has no facts to bother about.”
“God is not a static thing — not even a person — but a dynamic, pulsating activity, a life, almost a kind of drama. Almost, if you will not think me irreverent, a kind of dance.”
Prayer Focus
Approaching the Trinity not as a puzzle to be solved but as a community of love to be entered
Meditation
How does the idea that God is eternally relational — Father, Son, and Spirit — change the way you think about what 'love' means at the deepest level?
Question for Discussion
Lewis says the Trinity is complex because it was not invented but discovered. If Christianity were a human invention, would you expect it to include a doctrine this difficult? What does the sheer strangeness of the Trinity suggest about whether the faith was made up or encountered?