The Trinity: A Philosophical Construct

By: Michael Flournoy

Last week I was driving around town searching through the radio stations when I happened across the song “I’m Already There” by Lonestar. The opening lyrics depict a father calling his family from a hotel room. In the midst of the conversation his young child gets on the phone and asks his dad when he’s coming home. He replies:

I’m already there
Take a look around
I’m the sunshine in your hair
I’m the shadow on the ground
I’m the whisper in the wind
I’m your imaginary friend
And I know, I’m in your prayers
Oh I’m already there

Ok, confession time. I love this song. I think the father’s claim of being present represents his love for his child and an aching desire to be involved in every aspect of his life. As I listened to this song I couldn’t help thinking that something would be lost if the lyrics were meant to be taken literally. First, we would have to assume that the father was either lying or non-human. Second, the entire theme of the song would change; whereas the metaphorical translation emphasizes the love of a parent, a literal translation would emphasize the father’s metaphysical nature while leaving in doubt his feelings for his family.
As silly as it sounds to even consider a literal translation of this song, the grave mistake has been made of interpreting similar Bible passages literally, when a metaphorical translation was intended. Take for example John 14:8-11. Phillip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you and yet hast thou not known me Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father. And how sayest thou then, shew us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father and the Father in me? The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself, but the Father that dwelleth in me, He doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father in me, or else believe me for the very works sake. In verse 20 Christ goes on to say, "At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you”. Taken metaphorically these verses represent a perfect fellowship between the Father and the Son, one that we may one day share with them. But if these verses are taken literally the doctrine of unity between the Father and the Son is replaced with a perplexing concept of God.
In many cases the doctrine of the Trinity is an attempt at understanding several metaphorical verses literally. The Bible never openly teaches the doctrine of the Trinity, so many of its aspects had to be reached by philosophical interpretations of scripture. For instance, Christ’s assertions in John 14 that he is in the Father and the Father in him, taken at face value, assume that the Father and the Son are distinct but sharing in essence, making in the whole one God. The assumption also is made that God cannot have a body since he could not dwell in us if He did. Taken symbolically no such assumptions need to be made. Collossians 1:15 calls the Father “the invisible God”, which has been used to contribute to the idea that God does not have a body, assuming the term ‘invisible’ implies a non-physical mass, which it does not. In Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount he admonishes his disciples to pray in secret that their Father, who sees in secret, may reward them openly. A figurative approach to Collossians 1:15 suggests that God is invisible in the same sense that Christians praying in their closets would be invisible to the public eye.
The Bible actually portrays God as having physical body parts in Exodus 33:22-23 where He tells Moses, “And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a cleft of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by. And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts. But my face shall not be seen.” However, to make room for the Trinitarian view, any and all verses having to do with God’s body are considered merely figurative by mainstream Christianity, although the Bible never gives any clear indication that they are.
Christ’s testimony that he and the Father are one has also been taken literally by Trinitarians while a different interpretation would simply render them unified. John 1:1 states that in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. In this verse the Word refers to Jesus Christ. Mainstream Christians believe this verse supports the doctrine of the Trinity, by saying the Father and the Son are distinct, yet one. Latter-day Saints recognize that both the Father and the Son hold the title God and so the Word could be with God, and be God simultaneously without being a triune God.
Finally, John 4:24 which says God is a Spirit is coupled with verses like Psalms 139:7-10 and Jeremiah 23: 23-24 which imply that God is omnipresent and fills heaven and earth, to define the triune God as a spirit that permeates the universe. 1 Kings 8:27 states: But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, the heaven, and heaven of heavens, cannot contain Thee: how much less this house that I have builded. It may not seem like 1 Kings 8:27 can mean anything other than that God’s person cannot physically fit in heaven, but anyone who’s heard the phrase “This town’s not big enough for the both of us” knows such a phrase can denote someone’s ego being too grand for a place. From an LDS perspective God inhabits one place, but his spirit, also called the light of Christ, permeates the universe.
Now that’s not to say that Latter-day Saints don’t believe God is capable of being omnipresent, we simply believe He doesn’t have to be an enormous immaterial spirit to pull it off. For example, if time is not an issue, then he doesn’t have to fill all of physical reality to be omnipresent. Clearly God’s omnipotence exceeds human expectations.
The doctrine of the Trinity is based on a number of assumptions not necessarily supported by scripture, and is therefore more philosophical than Biblical. Of course, someone could point out that the LDS view is non-Biblical as well and they might have a point, since the concept of the Godhead was not originally drawn from scripture but by Joseph Smith’s experience. For the average Latter-day Saint the doctrine of the Godhead comes by way of revelation, either by conversion to the first vision or by modern scripture like that found in Doctrine and Covenants 130:22: The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s; the Son also; but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit. Were it not so, the Holy Ghost could not dwell in us.
Allow me to close by saying that truth learned by revelation is always superior to what is supposed through human wisdom. 1 Corinthians 3:19 states that the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God, while John the Baptist exclaims, “A man can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven.”