Featured Richard Rohr’s explanation of the Trinity

No one can explain it.

Isaiah 40:25
To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One.

Isaiah 46:5
To whom will ye liken me, and make [me] equal, and compare me, that we may be like?

 

I listened until he started extolling “The Shack”, which is pure blasphemy. He apparently approves Catholicism, also. I won’t pollute my mind with anything else he has to say. To me, he is very aberrant.

 

It makes a lot of sense to me. I like his metaphor of empty space in the atom and understanding God as a verb. One of the challenges of Christian mystics is that there are so few of us. Most of the time we end up being misunderstood as heretics when we are in fact connecting to God in a very deep Biblical way.

I've often said that if the doctrine of the Trinity helps you in your personal journey and relationship with God, then believe it. If a non-trinitarian doctrine makes more sense to you, then go with that. The mystical path deemphasizes the importance of beliefs and emphasizes experience and personal relationship with God. Ultimately, your beliefs need to be a help to you and not a hindrance on your journey. When you die, God's not going to sit in judgement of you with a checklist of beliefs that you should have. God's going to see how you lived your life, how you treated your fellow man, how you made others feel, etc. And it's not going to be in judgement, it's going to be done in love.

 

Scripture warns us that people would follow many teachers in the latter times that would de-emphasize true doctrine, because they would have ears itching to hear things like they want it to be, instead of wanting the truth. Some even go so far as to deny Christ.

The wise believer searches for God’s truth, as one would search for pure gold, and not accept a phony substitute.

 

Thankfully, though, at least what I saw in my Kindle copy of the book, Universal Christ does not have an imprimatur or official approval from any bishop. That’s good because in The Universal Christ, there are some theological doozies we can call them.

Another Catholic priest that crossed the line and was eventually silenced by the Vatican and then entered The Episcopal Church was Matthew Fox who wrote: 'The Coming of the Cosmic Christ' and 'Original Blessing'. I read both and would put them in the same category of Shelby Spong. Pure heresy.

 

LOL. The Trinity IS the explanation.

One LORD God who is revealed being three distinct Persons. The Father, the Son of God and the Holy Spirit.

 

Then do you understand why, God being three distinct Persons to be a matter of salvation?

2 John 1:9, ". . . Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. . . ."

Richard Rohr’s explanation of the Trinity

 

It's one of those doctrinal theories I don't have a very strong opinion about either way. I don't think it's really a salvific issue. It's a clever and creative way to attempt to explain the nature of God which is something that we can't ever fully understand anyway.

I personally have gone back and forth on it over the years. I'm wishy-washy on this one. I subscribe to a panentheistic (not pantheistic) theology. And Within that, there's plenty of room for the Trinity if it's helpful.

 

Yes. And it's not surprising because he's Catholic and the Church believes in the Trinity. The idea of Jesus as the one who shows the way has always resonated with me. I like hearing Rohr's perspective on things. He has this way of thinking through things in a way that I can relate to.

 

Exactly. We don’t understand it. We accept God’s revelation of Himself and that the finite cannot comprehend the infinite.

 

John 14:6, ". . . Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. . . ."

1 Timothy 2:5, ". . . For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; . . ."

Revelation 1:17-18, ". . . And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death. . . ."

Isaiah 44:6, ". . . Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God. . . ."

Isaiah 43:11, "I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour."

 

Neither pantheism not panentheism have any place in Christianity.

pantheism

1. A doctrine identifying the Deity with the universe and its phenomena.
2. Belief in and worship of all gods.
3. The worship of all the gods.

panentheism

1. The principle or belief that all things are contained in God.
2. A doctrine that the universe is part of God, but that God nevertheless transcends or has some existence separate from the universe.
3. A belief in all gods.

Also expressed as God is in all things. Scripture shows us God exists without His creation.