The Trinity

Though Christianity is thoroughly a monotheistic religion, it believes that one God exists as a unity of three distinct persons – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit - known as the Holy Trinity. The word Trinity comes from a Latin origin trinitas, meaning “three are one”. The doctrine of the Christian Trinity is as follows:

Each of the three persons are separate from each other, yet each are absolute and identical in essence or Godness. Deuteronomy 6:4 says “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one!”

To better understand the concept of Trinity, Dr. Harold Willmington shares this analogy: a book has length, width, and depth. The length is not the book’s width, the width is not the book’s depth. These three dimensions can be described separately, yet they are connected together. If you remove one dimension, you are no longer describing a book (or in our case, God).

God is presented to humanity as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit because each persons have different functions, where:

• God the Father is the Creator

• God the Son is the Savior (Jesus) who is both human and divine

• God the Holy Spirit (aka: the Spirit of Truth) is one who continues to guide, comfort, and encourage Christians

The Triquetra symbol represents the Trinity.

The word “Trinity” is absent from the bible; however, there are many references to God’s three distinct natures. This absence has resulted in some Christian denominations rejecting the concept of Trinity stating that it does not make philosophical sense. Other denominations consider it as Christianity’s central concept stating the Trinity helps Christians understand the God they meet in the Bible, therefore, enhancing their ability to worship him.

For further explanation behind the concept of the Holy Trinity, watch this short video clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQkFlzFJ3kA

The Ichthus Fish

Often I’ve noticed the Christian symbol of a fish on the back of automobiles and wondered what the symbol represented. After doing some research, I’ve found that the word fish derives from the Greek word Ichthus. Moreover, Ichthus is a Christian acronym for “Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Savior”:

I (Iota in Greek) is the first letter of Iesous (Greek for Jesus)

Ch (Chi in Greek) is the first letter of Christos (Greek for Christ)

Th (Theta in Greek) is the first letter of Theou (Greek for God)

U (Upsilon in Greek) is the first letter of Huios (Greek for Son)

S (Sigma in Greek) is the first letter of Soter (Greek for Savior)

It’s believed that in early times, during the first 3 centuries, Christians endured great persecution from the Roman Empire - before Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire. At this time, Christians used the symbol of the fish to mark safe locations for Christians to meet and acknowledge or identify other fellow Christians. Historical stories mention that when one Christian met another in public, one would draw the top arc of the fish in the dirt and the other Christian would finish the fish by drawing the bottom arc, thereby symbolizing mutual faith in Christianity.

Here is a link to a short video that further explains the origin of the Christian fish symbol: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmQC5JqJ7FE. 

The Cross

Though there are several rich symbols associated with the religion of Christianity, the most recognizable and famous symbol known worldwide is the cross. The cross was initially a pagan spiritual symbol (long before the Christian era), and was later adapted by Christians to symbolize sacrifice and redemption.

It was in the 4^th century that Roman Emperor Constantine adopted Christianity as the official Roman religion and abolished the painful Roman execution method of crucifixion - which was applied to Jesus Christ - to promote the cross as a symbol of the Son of God. Jesus was said to have carried His own cross to which His hands and feet were bound and nailed; after His crucifixion, the cross took on a whole new and powerful representation as the cross that Jesus was crucified upon. The cross, in Christian context, is a reminder of the selfless sacrifice Jesus made for the redemption of humanity’s sins.

Today, there are many different variations of crosses, each with different meaning or representation. The most common variations are the Latin cross, Greek cross, and the crucifix. Moreover, this powerful symbol is depicted in many paintings, statues, and artifacts around the world to represent the faith of Christianity.

The Latin Cross

The Crucifix

The cross is also used by many denominations as a gesture during prayer by touching the forehead, chest, left shoulder then right shoulder with the right hand (sign of the cross) while repeating, “in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit”. This gesture is a representation to profess faith, belief, and dedication to the trinity.