(January 21, 2021 at 6:50 pm)tackattack Wrote: @OP- do you have any specific questions I can help with? Are you thinking of the trinity as a paganistic like triad?
No, not anymore. This thread has been great for satisfying my lingering questions about this bit of lore, in that the responses and discussion have confirmed my original impressions: that the "same guy but three in number" does not make sense. You have to change the parts of that equation to get to "=" . Those who don't change anything about it and still hold it as a core belief(I do not think anyone who holds this opinion has commented in the thread; but these Christians have been referred to by others in the thread, so, take my broad strokes with a grain of salt) they seem content to think of faith and the Trinity as an esoteric, unknowable fact. God(s) are just so above humans, it only makes sense in heaven. Which, considering that the more authority based versions of Christianity(read: Catholic Orthodox) rely on this fluid definition, it implies that those in charge use this "non-defined" doctrine to control the faithful, and those who believe it willingly bow to it because thinking about your religion isn't the important thing. Faith is what they get out of it.
Others who feel the need to alter parts of the equation usually break the ephemeral rules of the Trinity itself and there's a poly flavor to the new equation in the same way the Mormons do. Whether you use the metaphor of three in a family using the same name or an atom with electrons, there are three separate gods all of one unified purpose. Before this topic, I didn't consider these as being a part of the same lore. But now coming to the conclusion that as soon as we start talking about the Trinity in any concrete way it automatically breaks the paradox, I do consider them in the same bucket.
Thank you.