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FAMILY · TOLD GENTLY

Bible Stories

“Suffer little children to come unto me.” — Mark 10:14 · KJV

A peaceful reading of this page. 0:00
"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."

Matthew 28:19 · King James Bible

The short summary

There is one God, eternally existing in three Persons — the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. The three Persons are not three gods. They are one God. Each Person is fully God; each is distinct; all three are eternally united in one being. This is the doctrine of the Trinity.

Why we believe it

The word Trinity is not in the Bible, but the doctrine is everywhere.

Scripture is clear that there is only one God: "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord" (Deuteronomy 6:4).

Scripture is also clear that the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God. Jesus is called "my Lord and my God" (John 20:28). The Holy Spirit is called God (Acts 5:3–4). At Jesus's baptism the Father speaks from heaven, the Son is in the water, and the Spirit descends like a dove (Matthew 3:16–17). The great commission commands baptism "in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost" (Matthew 28:19) — one name, three Persons.

A picture — and the limit of pictures

No picture is perfect for God. But an old one helps: the sun is one, and yet there is the sphere in the sky, the light that shines from it, and the warmth that reaches us — three, and yet one sun. All analogies for the Trinity break down; the point is that God is greater than what we can fit into a diagram.

Why it matters to your household

The Trinity is not a puzzle to solve. It is a truth to worship. It means the God we pray to is eternally love — Father, Son, and Spirit loving one another before there was ever a world. It means when we pray, we come to the Father, through the Son, in the Spirit. It means Christianity is not the story of a lonely God who made us because he was lonely, but of a God whose life is love, who invites us in.

Where to read

Matthew 3:16–17 · Matthew 28:19 · John 14 – 17 · 2 Corinthians 13:14 · Ephesians 2:18 (KJV).

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Where else this page opens into the household library.

Who is Jesus?Christian BasicsWhat is the Gospel?Christian BasicsHow to PrayChristian BasicsThe Gospel of JohnBible study
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