2/12    I don't understand the whole Trinity / Holy Ghost / Father
        Son thing (ok i figured out the Son is Jesus).  please
        explain?  - bad Christian
        \_ It's all about the Divine Nature (think Source, Course, Flow)
        God as the Father is the Source of the Divine Eternal Life
        Jesus is the Course to obtain this Divine Eternal Life after
        man sinned and got banned from the Tree of Life from Garden of Eden
        The Holy Spirit is now the Life Giving Spirit which is the
        experiential flow one obtains by taking in the Divine Eternal Life
        by receiving Christ. They are all the same entity just they only way
        by receiving Christ. They are all the same entity just the only way
        to approach taking in the Divine Life. God, Jesus, and the Holy
        Spirit are all the same being.
        \_ I just like how God impregnated his daughter and gave birth to
           himself.
          \_ What is a creator who just exists by his lonesome going to do?
        All He can do is create. So He creates man, dispenses His divine life
        into man so man can become the same in life and nature as He is
        so that God can find a suitable counterpart to spend the rest of
        eternity with. So man receives the Holy Spirit, it transforms mankind
        into God kind. So Mary conceived a child of the Holy Spirit.
        It's a miracle because she was still a virgin even though she got
        pregnant.
        \_ it's the Divine Mystery, you're not supposed to understand it.
           (That's religious code for "Bullshit")  -tom
           \_ Your answer may be correct, but it's not what I was looking
              for.
        \- look in the "catholic encyclopedia" ... although what you read
           may be incomprehensible because of all the jargon. --psb
           \_ FYI, the Catholic Encyclopedia is an excellent source for
              heresies and controversies, if you're willing to read between
              the lines. --erikred
        \_ The Bible refers to each person individually, and says they are
           "one". The Nicene Creed invented the Greek word "homoousios" (same
           substance) to describe the relationship between the persons (three
           persons, one substance).  It gets more complicated from there. The
           basic idea is "Three persons, one God."  Note: the idea that the
           three persons are different forms of God (like ice, water, steam) is
           a heresy, called "modalism". I AM ... -emarkp
           a heresy, called "modalism".  -emarkp
           \_ Ping: Does God or the Holy Spirit have the power to shoot
              laser beams?  This is a serious question.
           \_ must...resist... trolling emarkp into explaining Mormon
              GOD MAN meme found in ancient Egyptian scroll John
              Smith bought from gypsies...
           \_ I heard Eternal Progression is a heresy.  -- ilyas
              \_ Oh, I reject the Nicene creed out of hand.  (And the Council
                 of Chalcedon is a joke.)  I was answering the question based
                 on what traditional Christianity teaches.  I find the history
                 of the Christian Church fascinating. I didn't go into the
                 whole "filioque" clause which divides the Western and Orthodox
                 traditions either. -emarkp
                 \_ Rejecting the Nicene Creed is pretty much rejecting
                    Christianity, which is one of the reasons why us Christians
                    don't consider Mormons to be Christian.
                    \_ The Orthodox churches rejected the filioque clause, so
                       have a different creed, yet are still Christian. Other
                       \_ I'm Orthodox and a lot of us would consider
                          "other churches" to also be heretical.
                       groups reject other ecumenical councils and are still
                       Christian.  You want to start a "Mormons aren't
                       Christians" thread, go ahead, but this one was about
                       what the Trinity is.  I posted a summary as to how
                       traditional Christians understand the Trinity. -emarkp
                       \_ So Mormons are "untraditional Christians"?
                          That's an understatement.
                          \_ We believe in Christ, but do not adhere to many of
                             the traditions of Christianity, yes. -emarkp
        \_ It's just a mostly-arbitrary doctrine. The father is the normal
           God from the old testament. The Holy Ghost is, essentially,
           everything else. They look at specific bible passages that talk
           about the holy spirit and that's what it is. There's nothing else
           to understand.
           \_ See!  That is the answer I was looking for.  tom you are an
              atheist meanie who will never make it past Terrestial
              \_ Don't confuse atheist with anti-theist.
              \_ I may betray my New Jersey heritage when I say "I'd rather
                 laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints."  -tom