In earlier Christian times, not everyone was able to read the written word, so pictures, stained glass windows and statues were used to help them remember. If you look in a children's bible you will see pictures to facilitate that remembering process. Often if there is something we really want to remember we do it with a picture. For instance to remember the flower "hibiscus" I picture a biscuit on a high tower. That is how this icon was used -- to help us remember certain things about the Holy Trinity.
This is perhaps the most famous icon of the Holy Trinity. It was painted by Andrei Rublev in 1410. It is the only icon attributed only to Rublev. Icons in the 15th century were often group efforts by several artists. It is currently in Tret-ya-kov Gallery in Moscow, a state repository of many pieces of Russia's finest art. You might wonder how did the artist know who God is? I think he may have used apophasis, that is he knew what God was not and painted the opposite. I will illustrate this when we look more closely at the icon.
In regards to the Holy Trinity the story is told of Augustine of Hippo, a great philosopher and theologian. He was preoccupied with the doctrine of the Trinity. He wanted so much to understand the doctrine of one God with three persons and to be able to explain it logically One day he was walking along the sea shore and reflecting on the matter. Suddenly he saw a ;little child all alone on the shore. The child made a hole in the sand, ran to the sea with a little cup, filled her cup with sea water, ran back and emptied the cup into the hole that she had made. Back and forth she went to the sea, filled her cup and came and poured it into the hole. Augustine drew up and said to her, "Child, what are you doing?" She replied, " I am emptying the sea into this hole." "What do you think?" Augustine asked her, "Do you think that you can empty this immense sea into this tiny hole and with this tiny cup?" She answered back, "And you, how do you suppose with that tiny head of yours you could ever have room for the immensity of God?" With that the child disappeared.
The doctrine of the inner relationship of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in such a way that each of them is fully and equally God, yet there are not three Gods but one, cannot be fully comprehended by the human mind...
The doctrine of three persons in one God, equal in divinity yet distinct in personality, is not explicitly spelled out in the Bible. In fact the very word "Trinity" is not found in the Bible. Early Christians arrived at the doctrine when they applied their God-given reason to the revelation which they had received in faith. Jesus spoke about the Father who sent him (the Son) and about the Holy Spirit whom he was going to send. he said that the Father had given him (the Son) all that he has and that he had given that to the Holy Spirit as well. In this we see the unity of purpose among the three persons of the Trinity.
Like Augustine we may not be able to understand the HOW of the Trinity but it is very important to understand the WHY. Why did God reveal to us this mystery regarding the very nature of the Supreme Being? The importance of this doctrine lies in this: we are made in the image of God, therefore, the more we understand God the more we understand ourselves. Experts in religion tell us that people always try to be like the god they worship. People who worship a warrior god tend to be warmongering, people who worship a god of pleasure tend to be pleasure-seeking, people who worship a god of wrath tend to be vengeful, and people who worship a god of love tend to be loving. Like a god, so the worshippers. Therefore, the more important question for us to ask is: What does the doctrine of the Holy Trinity tell us about the kind of God we worship and what does this say about the kind of people we should be? Let's look at the Icon for answers.
-- Look at the loving soft eyes of each person of the Trinity, eyes exuding warmth, welcome, and kindness.
-- Notice how each person looks so similar to the other like they are of the same substance. (Nod distinctive individuals.
-- Look at the matching staffs which each person holds in his left hand - indicating equality in power and perception. (Not hierarchical in power)
-- Look at the way the son (in the middle) gazes toward his Father and his Father returns his gaze with respect. This indicates he is both God and man. (Both, Not one or the other.)
-- Look at the father's hand held in the posture of blessing.
-- Look at the Holy Spirit gesturing towards the chalice and pointing toward a place in the altar where the relics are stored indicating a place at the table for all of us to join the Trinity in Communion.
-- Look at the three halos of the three persons in community. They indicate further the horizontality or equality of their relationship.
-- See the verticality in the picture starting at the top of the tree next to Jesus and running down the side of his chair and through the altar and along the Holy Spirit's left leg. This verticality is the true welcome mat for us to join them. The horizontality and verticality form a cross. The halos are circles. Where circles and cross intersect we are invited to join the Holy Trinity.
-- We are made in God's image and likeness. Just as God exists as god only in a Trinitarian relationship. so we can be fully human only in a relationship of three partners. We need to be in a horizontal relationship with our loved ones and others and we need to be in a vertical relationship with God. We look up to God as the immense ineffable transcendence. And like Augustine we are urged that we cannot get our little minds around that but we can experience the presence of God in a Trinitarian sense through our relationships with others plus our Relationship with God....
Happiness research has shown that the single most important ingredient in happiness is a sense of community with family and friends. A sense of community with God is a multiplier in that happiness. True happiness on earth does not happen in the absence of faith.
On the next page is a reprint of another's view on this particular Trinity Icon and on what it represents.
