Evidence for God from Science

I'm hoping this is a quick question, but it probably won't be...

As far as I'm aware, Christian theology generally asserts that Omnipotence, as applied to God, is the ability to do anything that can be done. This rules out things that cannot be done, i.e. the logically impossible or paradoxical, such as God creating a round square, or creating a rock so heavy that He can't lift it. I agree with this, as a God capable of the logically impossible would seem to cause more problems than it solves. The problem that I've run into, though, is that there are doctrines in Christianity that happen to be paradoxes in themselves: God is one God, but simultaneously three Persons. Jesus was fully man, but also fully God. If God cannot do the logically impossible, then how do we explain the Trinity and incarnation?

What do you find logically impossible about God being a Triune being? and the incarnation?

Hi Nox,

I think a lot of people get caught up with 'relative' truths and end up finding apparent contradictions.

example:
Lets say "you are standing still in a room" which is a relative truth.
To an observer watching you from the moon "You are moving a high speed" which is also a relative truth.

So, are you standing still or are you moving ?

One must study the relative truths in order to reach absoulute truth.

A spiritual example might be something like:
The catholic church believes that there is no such thing as reincarnation - which is relatively true.
The buddhists believe that there is such a thing as reincarnation - which is also relatively true.

Both are relatively correct. One needs to penetrate deeper into reality to understand why. I will give an answer later.

Another example is how one God can be three.

What do you find logically impossible about God being a Triune being? and the incarnation?

Well, simply that if God is one Person, he cannot also be three separate Persons at the same time (at least, not without appealing to modalism) without creating a paradox. If Jesus is fully God, then he cannot also be fully human at the same time without creating a paradox.

I think a lot of people get caught up with 'relative' truths and end up finding apparent contradictions.

example:
Lets say "you are standing still in a room" which is a relative truth.
To an observer watching you from the moon "You are moving a high speed" which is also a relative truth.

So, are you standing still or are you moving ?

I think I see what you're getting at here (hopefully), but I'm not sure it's an exact equivalent. The difference between the two is that one is "moving" and the other is "being moved." They're different kinds of motion, whereas God, to my knowledge, is three Persons in the same way that He is one.

Well, try this example.

I am now going to tell you exactly what a little known fruit called the 'miracle' fruit tastes like !

Ooops, I can't ! You are going to have to taste the fruit and experience it directly for yourself.

And so it goes with knowing God.

The Trinity is not self-contradictory. It does not say that God is one being or one person that is also three beings or three persons. It says that there is one God that is three persons. Further, on the classic doctrine of the Trinity, "God" is defined as ipsum esse subsistens, which translates, "Being In Itself." That's why we can't even say God is A being that is three persons. God is not A being. He is Being. And in this Self-Existence is Three Persons. Moreover, we must not see in the word "Person" something like "a being," as if the Trinity were Being Itself that is three beings. Rather, a "Person" is "an individual substance of a rational nature." Now, all three Persons share an identical nature as well as an identical substance. And that is why they are not three different beings. What distinguishes them is not their substance but rather their relations. The son is begotton of the Father, and the Spirit proceeds from the Father (and the Son, in Catholic theology).

I suspect that very brief answer raises more questions than it answers, but the Trinity is a deeply philosophical doctrine. The point is merely that it is NOT self-contradictory. If you want to learn it in detail, read Thomas Aquinas' Summa Theological 1a.27-43.

As far as the Incarnation goes, it is much easier to understand. In it, we have two DISTINCT natures found in one person. There are not two persons who is one person. There are not two natures that are really one nature. In Christ, there are two natures in one person. There is a divine nature and there is a human nature. As such, there are two wills and two intellects. The will and intellect of the human nature are perfectly submitted to the divine will and intellect. That should not be read as if there are two minds or two persons. The ONE person has two natures. That ONE person grasped the world around him by both his divine intellect as well as by his human intellect, since it is Persons, not natures, that grasp, judge, and apprehend the world around them--they simply do so by the means of their intellect. Likewise, the ONE person ACTED in the world by His two wills, and both wills were always in perfect harmony. For, again, it is not natures that act, but persons that do, and they do by their will.

So, again, there is no self-contradiction here. For more on that, read these three articles:

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08675a.htm
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10502a.htm
http://www.newadvent.org/summa/4018.htm

Those are actually really helpful links, thanks! I've heard of the Summa Theologica, but I didn't realize it discussed the trinity and incarnation in that much detail. I'll have to give it a read.

Well, simply that if God is one Person, he cannot also be three separate Persons at the same time (at least, not without appealing to modalism) without creating a paradox. If Jesus is fully God, then he cannot also be fully human at the same time without creating a paradox.

To echo what Jac stated very well:
God is not One person, God is three persons in One.
Like jac stated we shouldn't really call God "a being" because He IS being BUT it is very hard for us to contemplate God not being A being so, ONLY for illustrative purposes, we can think of God as A being, the ONLY ONE of It's kind EVER and that this being is 3 persons in ONE.
Jesus being fully God and fully Human is a statement of His nature, there is no paradox.
Humans, for example, are fully material (body) and fully immaterial (mind). Not the perfect analogy, but one that I hope allows you to see that being fully God and fully human is NOT paradoxical.