Kierkegaard on the Scriptures

"The matter is quite simple. The Bible is very easy to understand. But we Christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers. We pretend to be unable to understand it because we know very well that the minute we understand we are obliged to act accordingly. Take any words in the New Testament and forget everything except pledging yourself to act accordingly. My God, you will say, if I do that my whole life will be ruined. Herein lies the real place of Christian scholarship. Christian scholarship is the Church¹s prodigious invention to defend itself against the Bible, to ensure that we can continue to be good Christians without the Bible coming too close. Dreadful it is to fall into the hands of the living God. Yes, it is even dreadful to be alone with the New Testament." -- Søren Kierkegaard

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Understanding the Trinity

Click on the graphic for a larger image.

I based my design of the diagram of the Trinity on the classical Shield of the Trinity, which you can see examples of here on Wikipedia.

Often times when people ask me to explain the doctrine of the Trinity, I'll reply, "I can't explain it, but I can draw it." I'll then roughly sketch the "Trinity Shield". It really helps with young people. Recently I tried explaining the Trinity to my daughter. Try explaining "co-equal, co-eternal, etc..." to a 9 year old. When I drew the shield for her, she actually said "Oh, now I get it." How much she really understands remains to be seen, but for now, it's good enough just to have something that will inform her thoughts as she pursues various theological topics. Having that mental image of the Trinity will help her understanding of other doctrines as well, such as, the incarnation and atonement. It certainly has helped me.
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