Background
In 1978, in my final interview to determine if I would be recommended for ordination to the Ministry of Word, Sacrament, and Pastoral Care in the United Church of Canada, I was asked to share my understanding of the Trinity. There was a long pause after I replied, “It’s all a mystery to me.” Apparently the committee was expecting a more fulsome answer. But evidently my answer was sufficient for the occasion, and I was ordained “in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” And for the next 40 years, “mystery” was my default answer whenever I was asked to comment on this bedrock Christian teaching.
But in my old age, and after helpful exposure to teachings and critiques from feminists, Indigenous wisdom holders, historians of Western ideas / culture / class, Process theologians and others engaged with contemporary Western science, I am ready to make a stab at offering that more fulsome response. And trusting that I will still be honouring “the name”.
Before I Begin
But before I begin, let me briefly lay out a few underlying assumptions I am making.
- Christians don’t believe in “God”.
By this I mean that Christians don’t believe in a singularity. “God” is not a separate self / being / object that exists somewhere out there, or up there, or in here, or anywhere. “God” just does not “exist” in the usual way you and I experience the existence of our own bodies, rocks, trees, birds, other people, etc. - “God” cannot be equated with any human idea or feeling.
By this I mean that if there is any “God” worthy of the name, then that must be a genuine mystery in the sense of being more than any words you or I or anyone could conjure up. Obviously, we humans do have thoughts and feelings about “God”. And. In my not so humble opinion some of those thoughts and feelings are false and unworthy of “the name”. So “mystery” is not an invitation to anything goes. The goal is to find words and feelings that are accurate, provisional, approximations of the reality that is evoking these thoughts and feelings. That is what I am aiming for in this post. - “The Holy Trinity” is a mis-naming that leads to nothing but trouble.
The trouble with naming this teaching as “Trinity” is that it just multiples by 3 the issue I pointed out in 1. above. “Trinity” implies that the defining core of this teaching is we now have three persons whom we now have to explain are actually only one person. This is not a mystery. This is confusion caused by mis-naming. - “Father” is a mis-naming that leads to nothing but trouble.
At the time of Jesus, it was believed that children originated only from the male. Male semen was like an acorn, which, when planted in the “soil” of the female body, simply grew into a larger version of the baby already contained in the semen. In the same way, children were simply miniature versions of what they would age to become as adults. So, at the time of Jesus, where you were born and who your father was completely defined your life-long status and reputation.
So. Imagine what happens to your status and reputation when Jesus invites you to pray to “Our Father”. How will the elites continue to enforce their privilege when the peasants claim their status and reputation as children of God?
The trouble with “father” today is its sexism and its false understanding of human procreation. But the trouble with simply adding “mother” is that we lose the overturning and critique of all the social, political, and economic power structures that try to define and control our identities, our status, and our opportunities. - “Son” is a mis-naming that leads to nothing but trouble.
Jesus invites everyone to claim the status and reputation of children of “God”. I do not believe that he claimed “Son” as an exclusive title for himself alone. Nor did Jesus teach that maleness alone is privileged and femaleness, and queer, non-binary, two-spirited, etc. are excluded from the sacred.
Jesus also rejected privileging blood-line family kinship. So. Whatever “God” is, “Father” and “Son” are not meant to be taken as a model for a happy nuclear family.
But “Son” also captures an important truth. It is important not to lose the hard reality that individual life is not eternal. Life continues through generations; through procreation and death; through the old giving way to the new. Death requires that we care about the well-being of others.
My Understanding of The Holy Threesome
Christians believe that “God” is a relationship, a community, a Holy Threesome.
I do not believe that three is some magic, definitive, significant number. What is significant is that the number is not one; not two; but three. Three prevents narcissism. Three prevents pairing. Three requires inclusion of all. Three means that the core of this teaching is not, “How many?” Three requires that the core of this teaching is that relationships are everything that matter. In fact, that matter arises from relationships. That reality, that everything that exists, arises from relationships.
And because the core of this teaching is relationships, the teaching itself needs to be renamed from “Trinity” (which references only the number) to “Threesome” (which references the relationships).
And because the core of this teaching is relationships, the questions to ask are: What are the best relationships? The most healthy? The most constructive, creative, generative? The most happy, peaceful, joyful, generous? What qualities, values, commitments does it take for these to be realized? What does it mean to live in ways that honour the name of this relationship?
So here is how I understand what it means, for example, to baptize, in the name of The Holy Threesome:
In the name of: The source of your identity, status, and beauty;
And in the name of: The bond that joins you to all in shared accountability and joy;
And in the name of: The vitality that empowers you to truth, justice, and abundance.
That’s as far as I’ve gotten. I wonder if this response would’ve led to my ordination.
David Ewart
June 2022
Short, easy to use, faith inspiring explanations of the meaning of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John for your sermon, homily, bible study, or reflection.