Christians worship one God.
This one God has three distinct beings of Father, Son and Holy Spirit; or you prefer the newer language of Creator, Redeemer and Sanctifier.
It is a bit like one person having different roles. Everyone has a name. My name is David, that is who I am; but to my wife I am her husband, to my children I am Dad, to my brother’s children I am an Uncle, and so on. There is only one me, but I can be seen in different ways.
In a similar way, there is only one God, which we think of having three distinct persons. These distinct persons are all in a community together and make up the one God. In Christian theology these three persons are called the “holy trinity”.
Put simply, It was back in the year 325 that Constantine the roman emperor called together all the Christian bishops to attend a council in Nicea (modern Iznik in Turkey) to decide what was the true nature of God.
A statement known as the Nicene Creed was created. This was a written statement of what Christians believe. It is still being used in more traditional churches today. A more modern affirmation of faith using the newer language of Creator, Redeemer and Sanctifier is used in many churches today.
There are often three key stages in Christian faith development. The first two stages are often mixed but to make it simpler to explain they are presented as being separate. At any stage be patient and kind to yourself.
New Christians just starting out on their journey of faith are in the first stage. They often confuse the worshipping of the one God with three persons, for worshipping three separate Gods and also the many gods they brought with them. They may add worshipping of family, partner, intellect, qualifications, job, money, bible, church, political party, etc. Worship of these extra gods may not be obvious, but it is there. New Christians need to learn to shed these extra gods. Sometimes we need professional help over many years to deal with them.
The second stage is where Christian people on a journey of faith have learned to get rid of the extra gods but still worship three separate Christian Gods. This is not usually a problem, providing they are growing in faith but can be confusing for those people wanting to understand what Christians believe.
The third stage takes time. It is only the most mature and reflective Christians who can worship God as having three persons without worshipping the other gods our society puts in our way.
How many Gods do you worship?
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