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Friday, October 2, 2015

Thirty-Four on the Three in One: Which Are Not True?

In his little book Delighting in the Trinity, Michael Reeves calls the Trinity "the governing center of all Christian belief" and "the cockpit of all Christian thinking."1 In other words, it's not an irrelevant or secondary doctrine, but of primary importance.

How well do you know this central doctrine of Christianity? I've put together a little quiz so you can test yourself. Here are 34 statements related to the Trinity. Which ones are not true? (There's a link to the answers at the end of the post.)
  1. There is one God.
  2. God is one person.
  3. God is one being.
  4. There are three persons in the Godhead.
  5. The three persons in the Godhead are related eternally as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 
  6. Each of the three persons of the Godhead is one-third of God.
  7. The Father is fully God.
  8. The Father has the whole fullness of God’s being in himself.
  9. The Father is eternal.
  10. The Father is not the Son.
  11. The Father is not the Holy Spirit.
  12. The Son is fully God.
  13. The Son has the whole fullness if God’s being in himself.
  14. The Son came into being at the time of the incarnation. 
  15. The Son was brought into being in eternity past.
  16. The Son is eternal.
  17. The Son is not the Father.
  18. The Son is not the Holy Spirit.
  19. The Holy Spirit is fully God.
  20. The Holy Spirit has the whole fullness of God’s being in himself.
  21. The Holy Spirit is eternal.
  22. The Holy Spirit is not the Father.
  23. The Holy Spirit is not the Son.
  24. The persons of the Trinity are distinct.
  25. In their nature, the Son and the Holy Spirit are co-equal and co-eternal with the Father. 
  26. The Son and the Spirit are subordinate to the Father in their essence or nature.
  27. The Trinity is unique.
  28. There is both unity and diversity in the being of God.
  29. The persons of the Trinity have distinct primary roles.
  30. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are simply different names for the one person of God showing himself to us in three distinct roles.
  31. A right understanding of the Trinity is vital to right worship of God.
  32. A right understanding of the Trinity is vital to a right understanding of redemption.
  33. Any analogy used to explain the Trinity will not represent it completely accurately.
  34. The doctrine of the Trinity cannot be derived from the biblical text.
Answer key.

1] Michael Reeves, Delighting in the Trinity, page 16.

This quiz was first posted on my personal blog several years ago.
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3 comments:

  1. AnonymousOctober 2, 2015 at 2:35 PM

    I got 32 wrong. I'm not sure if it is because I didn't fully understand the question though. Does a right understanding of redemption equal redemption itself? I did not know how the doctrine of the Trinity fit together until after I was saved and began studying the Bible. I also did not fully understand all of the various implications relating the Cross. But I did have an elementary trust that Christ died for me and was my Savior and Lord. I understood that He was the Lord over everything therefore He was God and that I must follow Him completely in order to have everlasting life. I knew I was completely unworthy in myself. But it took further instruction to understand the details.

    It has been an ongoing discussion in our home as to how deep of an intellectual understanding we must have before it can be united with redemptive faith. When I get confused about these things I remind myself that we are saved by grace.

    This was SUPER good Becky!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Rebecca StarkOctober 2, 2015 at 2:49 PM

    Diane,

    By "right understanding of redemption" I just meant "a right understanding of how God worked redemption." Father, Son, and Spirit work together in redemption, and the work requires that all three be God and all three be distinct persons.

    But a new believer probably won't understand the Trinity . . . yet.

    ReplyDelete
  3. MarieOctober 2, 2015 at 8:42 PM

    Hurray! I got them all right--credit to our pastors who are committed to expository preaching--and of course to Scripture itself!

    ReplyDelete