Why is the Trinity difficult for Christians to understand?

Answer 1

At its most basic level, the Christian concept of trinity refers to God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit seen as three separate manifestations of one entity. The fact that there is no wordly equivalent (i.e. a being that is three persons, yet combines to one entity) renders the concept hard to fathom for many. Furthermore, there are different and conflicting positions people take with regard to the trinity. These mostly concern the functions of the individual manifestations, and their degree of independence from each other. Neither side can rarely understand the view of the those holding a contrary belief.

Answer 2

Because God is made up of three parts- Father, Son and Holy Spirit. They are all different. The Father is not the Son. The Son is not the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not the Father. And yet they are all forms of God. I think here are some things we are not meant to understand with our minds - just accept in our spirits.

Answer 3

I have never even understood why the Trinity is difficult for some Christians to understand. The ancient Egyptians had similar but even more complex god forms, and seem to have managed. The Hindu trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva is even more complex than the Christian Trinity.

Answer 4

According to the New Bible Dictionary: "The term 'Trinity' is not itself found in The Bible. It was first used by Tertullian at the close of the 2nd century, but received wide currency [common use in intellectual discussion] and formal elucidation [clarification] only in the 4th and 5 centuries" (1996, "Trinity").

It further explains that "the formal doctrine of the Trinity was the result of several inadequate attempts to explain who and what the Christian God is...To deal with these problems the Church Fathers met in [A.D.] 325 at the Council of Nicaea to set out an orthodox biblical definition concerning the divine identity." However, it would not be until 381 A.D. at the Council of Constantinople that the divinity of the Spirit was affirmed (ibid.).

This is a manmade concept and not found anywhere in the Bible. So many have made surprising admissions about the Trinity - "an absolute mystery," "mysterious in its origin and its content," "impossible for Christians actually to understand," " unintelligible," "misunderstood," "presents strange paradoxes" and "widely disputed." One would have to question then why/how a doctrine on which billions of people base their faith and salvation is accepted. The Apostle Paul was inspired to tell us in 1 Corinthians 14:33 that "God is not the author of confusion" yet this doctrine of men is total confusion.