Three in One

Controversy is nothing new to the church. Within a few weeks of Peter’s first sermon, the disciples had to deal with a group who was concerned that “their people” were not receiving the attention they deserved. Soon after that, Peter is invited to the home of Cornelius, a Gentile—someone he had been taught was “unclean.” When Peter returned to Jerusalem, he knew he had some explaining to do. Much of the Book of the Acts of the Apostles recounts the way the early community of faith dealt with one controversy after another.

When you read the letters of Paul, Peter, James and John (and even the short letter of Jude), it is not too difficult to imagine some of the controversies they were trying to address. There were procedural questions and doctrinal issues and interpersonal conflicts. One important principle runs through all of this discourse. Paul puts it this way: “Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone” (Romans 12:18).

Still as the church grew and became more diverse, it struggled with a variety of issues. Interestingly, some of the earliest and most passionate disputes grew out of the different ways people tried to explain the nature of God. Great controversies arose around conversations about God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

Constantine was the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. About a decade after he made religious tolerance the policy throughout the Roman Empire, he authorized the leaders of the church to convene in Nicaea (at public expense) to address the most divisive controversies of the day. From these discussions arose the classical doctrine of the Trinity: God is understood as “one substance,” but “three persons.”

While the Council of Nicaea was able to hammer out a consensus about the way the church would talk about God; it could not fully explain the character and substance of God’s relationship with those he loves. So we continue to struggle with ways to describe the nature of God.

Perhaps we would be better served by focusing on our experience of God. Perhaps we should meditate on the ways God reveals himself to his people. Perhaps then we can come to a more helpful understanding of our God who has revealed himself in a threefold way—Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer; but who has always revealed himself as the one, complete, perfect, undivided God.