The Trinity is a Swiss Army Knife

            Lately, I’ve gotten into some deep, philosophical conversations about the Trinity. Many people find it difficult to understand the whole idea of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit being one, but also being separate at the same time. For me, though, that idea has never been a problem. It’s actually quite simple for me because there is one specific way I have always seen the Trinity.

            The Trinity is a Swiss army knife.

            No, I’m not saying the Trinity is something kept in the back pocket for emergencies and only taken out to fix things (although, maybe there could be a deeper metaphor there…but I digress). What I mean is that the Trinity and a Swiss army knife have something in common.

            Let’s start by thinking about what exactly is a Swiss army knife. A Swiss army knife is made up of a knife, blades, and other helpful tools. Each tool is an individual part. The knife is a knife. The blade is a blade. The nail file is a nail file and the corkscrew is a corkscrew. If I see each tool alone, I can still tell what tool is what tool and call it by its name. However, when all of the tools are put together, I know what that is too: a Swiss army knife.

            Is it getting clearer where I’m going with this?

            Like the Swiss army knife, the Trinity has individual parts. The Father is the Father, the Son is the Son, and the Holy Spirit is the Holy Spirit. They each have their own names. However, also like the Swiss army knife, when all of the parts are put together, they become something else: the Trinity.

            God is a great being that humanity can just never fully understand. We can continue to analyze Him, question Him, and dissect Him until our minds melt. Eventually, we have to come to terms with the fact that there is only so much we can understand while we are on this earth. I’ve accepted that.

Nevertheless, thankfully, there are times when God does let us reach a point where we are comfortable with our own understanding. My metaphor with the Trinity and Swiss army knife is an example. I’m sure there is much more complexity to it, but I’m comfortable with the way that I’ve come to understand the Trinity and I hope my metaphor can help others understand as well.

Then again, the Trinity is a Swiss army knife? That’s probably nowhere close to the reality of the Trinity! Oh well, at least I tried.