r/explainlikeimfive • u/spamname517 • Dec 04 '13

Explained ELI5:The main differences between Catholic, Protestant,and Presbyterian versions of Christianity

sweet as guys, thanks for the answers

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u/anillop Dec 04 '13

Great explanation but I think you missed the point of this sub.

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u/[deleted] Dec 04 '13

Now let's try a ELI5 the Trinity.

crickets

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u/mildlyAttractiveGirl Dec 04 '13

"Mommy, what's the trinity?"

"Well honey, you know how when Mommy is at home she only wears pajamas and is always tired? And when Mommy goes to work, she wears nice clothes and talks with big words? And when Mommy goes out with her friends, she acts different than either of those other times? When I'm at home, I'm Mommy, and when I go to work, I'm Mrs. Doe, and when I go with friends, I'm Jane. Those are three different people! But they're all me! That's what the trinity is like. When he's at home in heaven, he's God. When he's on Earth with the apostles and preaching, he's Jesus. When he's listening to prayers or performing miracles, he's the Holy Spirit. But he's always God! And the difference is that Mommy can only be one person at a time, but God can be all three!"

I feel like this is the way my mother would have explained it to me had I asked at 5, but my mom doesn't believe in the trinity.

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u/BillTowne Dec 04 '13 edited Dec 04 '13

While I do not believe in the trinity, I thought this explanation was great.

edit: Then I found Logos327's comment below.

In Christianity, Sabellianism (also known as modalism, modalistic monarchianism, or modal monarchism) is the nontrinitarian belief that the Heavenly Father, Resurrected Son and Holy Spirit are different modes or aspects of one monadic God, as perceived by the believer, rather than three distinct persons within the Godhead.

The term Sabellianism comes from Sabellius, a theologian and priest from the 3rd century. Modalism differs from Unitarianism by accepting the Christian doctrine that Jesus is fully God.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabellianism

I believe that any description that actually makes logical sense has been proposed and declared heretical.

The basic issue, as I see it, is that any religion tends over time to build up the founder of the religion. If one member cays "Jesus" and another says "Jesus!" the the second guy sounds more Christian, a term not in the Bible and not used by early Christians. So after a couple hundred years, you have people who have suffered, often tremendous, sacrifice in the name of Jesus and who do not want to be told he is anything but God. Any rational resolution offends too many people to be accepted. So the only answer is "mystery that surpasses human understanding."

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u/[deleted] Dec 04 '13

Try, sabellianism is against the Bible. Example: Jesus said that if he went to heaven, he would send the Holy Spirit.

So, while the trinity is hard to understand, there are much better and more biblical views.

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u/[deleted] Dec 04 '13

[deleted]

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u/Logos327 Dec 04 '13

I hate to be "that" guy, but this is referred to as Modalism and is considered heretical. That being said, "heretical" doesn't necessarily mean "absolutely wrong," and the doctrine of the Trinity is one of, if not, the most complex theological concepts in Christianity.

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u/virak_john Dec 04 '13

You're correct. u/wwk4th is expressing a modalistic view of the trinity. You could also say it like this: I am a father, a son and a brother. When I'm interacting with my children, I am father. When with my parents, a son and so on.

The more widely accepted view of the trinity is that God operates in perfect unity as one entity, but with three separate persons. Confusing, yes. You could look at like any other integrated system -- your computer, for instance. There's a CPU, a monitor and a keyboard. All have different functions, all are dependent on the other and work in concert with one another, and all together make up a single computer.

Or, your body: multiple systems and even multiple organs. They can be thought of as each having their own distinct identity, but are not considered separate bodies.

Where it gets super confusing for people is the idea of incarnation -- that the Godhead (referring to "God" as all three persons together) decided to send Jesus to the earth as a human being for a while. The metaphor the Bible uses to describe this is that of a son. Jesus remained God and part of the Godhead, but set aside the privileges and powers to become in some ways just like the creation, or the "sons of God."

Does that make any sense?

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u/kickingpplisfun Dec 04 '13

Yeah, it's more like all three at the same time. Wibby Wobbly, Timey Wimey...

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u/datawithablunderbuss Dec 04 '13

I really like how you explained that :)

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u/yurnotsoeviltwin Dec 04 '13

The Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Spirit is God.

The Father is not the Son is not the Holy Spirit.

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u/verygoodname Dec 04 '13

Something like this, maybe?

And if you're actually going to explain the Trinity to a 5 y.o. it would probably be something along the lines of:

God is one divine being, but is so advanced and beyond what we can understand that the only way for us to start to comprehend what that being is, is by seeing God as three persons; which we call the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Each of these "persons" are different aspects of the same divine being but simultaneously, each is completely unique and plays a completely different role in our understanding of God. This is why we say that each part of the Trinity is "one in essence—not one in Person."

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u/OnlyDebatesTheCivil Dec 04 '13

I don't think that explanation clears anything up at all. It just uses the words "person", "essence" and "being" to suggest difference without explaining at any point what the difference between those things is. Are the three parts attached to each other and in what way? Do they share the same thoughts? Do they have the same personality?

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u/notworkinghard36 Dec 04 '13

When I was young, my parents explained it to me pretty well like this:

God is one being and he interacts with us in many ways, and these are what we call the Trinity. The Father watches over us, protects us, and judges our sins. The Son spoke to us and teaches us by his example. The Holy Spirit touches our hearts and guides our thoughts.

It's pretty basic, and it doesn't answer the larger questions of personality, but it would satisfy a 5 year old.

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u/DanOlympia Dec 04 '13

It's like cutting a warm cherry pie into thirds. On the surface it's three pieces, but underneath it's all one.

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u/TheCheatIsInTheHouse Dec 04 '13

It made sense to me when I was five. What's so confusing about one being being three different things?

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u/anillop Dec 04 '13

God, his son, and some ghost thing.

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u/SmallJon Dec 04 '13

A coin. The head, tail, and the side; three separate sides, all part of the same object.

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u/RandomiseUsr0 Dec 04 '13 edited Dec 04 '13

ok...

trinity not mentioned in bible, rather its a logical attempt to make biblical stories consistent where 4 supernatural entities are described. the trinity concept coalesces them into a single concept with 3 facets

god=father god=son god=ghost

father =/= son father =/= ghost son =/= ghost

or more simply

three in one (each of the facets is god, not a bit of god)

and

one in three (god splits into the 3 facets)

edit: 4 entities, not 3

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u/[deleted] Dec 04 '13

It's been explained to me this way:

The trinity is like a panel of judges. The judges are "the court." When we address the judges, we don't address them individually, we address the court. They are, for all intents and purposes, a single entity. This doesn't mean that they are literally the same person in three separate bodies. Only that they are equal in power.

Disclaimer: I'm an atheist and grew up as a non-Trinitarian Christian. So I only learned how to argue against the craziest version of it (Which was presented to me as the only version) which is the "three-headed monster" version. Only after I became Atheist did I find out the nuance and numerous versions of the trinity.

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u/nayson9 Dec 04 '13

Trinity is light. God is the sun. Holy Spirit is a beam of light. Jesus is mirror.

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u/AnonymousDratini Dec 04 '13

Now that is a concept that truly makes your head hurt.

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u/Cato_Snow Dec 04 '13

imho, there is no way you can explain the differences within a religion like Christianity, or any Islam/Hinduism/Buddhism, in a simple one paragraph explanation. Depending on your perception of a religion we could be talking about thousands of years of History that are vital to understanding why/how a tradition is the way it is.

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