Monotheism

Last class, we discussed the term monotheism and what it means.  Monotheism is a term that to me has always meant the belief in one God.  However, the term “Trinity” was also mentioned.  Back in high school, I remember having the discussion of how the Trinity is constituted as one God and it brought up some really interesting questions. To start, defining the term Trinity is critical.  Trinity refers to one being, and three persons: the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  This brings up the discussion of how can we say we are monotheists if there are three define persons that make up the Trinity?  Well together they work as one, but yet they are also each different “forms” of one being.  What can this be compared to?  One of the examples that stuck out to me that was a real life example of how we can demonstrate the relationship of the Trinity is water.  Water has three forms: steam, water and ice, however they all can be constituted as different types or forms of the same thing.  In this way, I think that the Trinity is still constituted as the belief in one Divine being that has different forms or types.  The Father is God, the Son is Jesus through whom God works, and the Holy Spirit, who also communicates to us through God.  God is present in all three persons and therefore, the Trinity supports this idea of monotheism.