Creation

The Trinity is the most complex and incomprehensible of all the complex and incomprehensible christian doctrines. Three in one, one in three, clover; no analogy really seems to make sense. The best explanation I had heard was that of three distinct being with the same essence, but this requires a slightly different understanding of essence than when used generally in order to remain within orthodoxy. Cornelius Plantinga Jr. speaking of God's trinitarian nature in Engaging God's World, says “God has the endless dance of Perichoresis, the ceaseless exchange of vitality, the infinite expense of spirit upon spirit in superlative, triplicate consciousness.” This phrase made the concept of the trinity seem much clearer, and I will try to explain why.

First off, perichoresis, as explained by Plantinga, shares the same root as choreography. It means the mutual indwelling of each member of the trinity in the others. I think of a marching band continuously folding in upon itself and reemerging, even while each section remains distinct. It is not close to being a perfect analogy, but it does convey some sense of the dynamic interplay that is perichoresis. The most important thing, I think, is the dynamism conveyed by the word. I had always thought of God as static, to a certain degree, since his eternal and unchanging. I had not thought that his changelessness could by more like a waterfall than a lake. A waterfall does not change, it has a defined shape, but it is not static.

His dynamism, then, is what caused him to create. The Father is eternally bestowing his essence upon the Son, the Son upon bestows it on the Father, and likewise with the Spirit. It would be natural for God to create and bestow his essence, though to an infinitely lesser extent, on His creation because he is always bestowing it upon himself. The conception of God that I got from Plantinga is one of overflowing abundant vitality, which makes creation fitting, as he says. I would have intellectually acknowledged this before, but he made it seem so clear and obvious that it struck me in way it had not before.