RevJamesMurray
Imagining the Trinity
Posted on: 02/19/2009 16:17
In the thread on The Shack, several people have admitted their fascination/trouble with how the three persons of the Trinity are presented. So here's an imaginative challenge: if you were to represent the Trinity as three characters in a novel, who would it be? and why is this image healing/holy/transformative/salvific?
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RevJamesMurray
Is Clint Eastwood's character
Posted on: 02/19/2009 16:17
Is Clint Eastwood's character in Gran Torino a salvific figure?
SG
RJM, I have not yet read
Posted on: 02/19/2009 16:47
RJM,
I have not yet read "The Shack" but have it and plan to read it next week when I shall need reading materials for hours spent at the hospital.
I wanted you to know I am seriously contemplating what three characters I would pick and why. The endeavour is great, I think.
Stevie G
seeler
The trinity: God the creator
Posted on: 02/19/2009 19:19
The trinity:
God the creator - an artist, maybe a painter, a potter, or a weaver who creates and recreates something functional or something of beauty.
God the son - perhaps in the medical profession - a doctor, nurse or medic - or a teacher. Maybe a teacher of young children.
God the Spirit - this is perhaps the hardest. I was thinking of a mystic but that wouldn't work. The Spirit has to be moving, present, with us. I'll have to think on it.
As for gender: in the Shack, God was female and black. Jesus was male and eastern Mediteranean. The Spirit was female and, if I remember right, white. I was going to say: God and Jesus, male Spirit, female. But then I realized that it wouldn't matter, as race wouldn't matter.
God - artist, creator
Jeaus - healer, teacher
Spirit - ?
RevJamesMurray
In The Shack, Young portrays
Posted on: 02/19/2009 20:23
In The Shack, Young portrays the Spirit as an Asian woman.
Pilgrims Progress
Hi Rev Murray, I've been
Posted on: 02/20/2009 00:32
Hi Rev Murray,
I've been giving this some thought, and Jesus was the only one of the Trinity I could imagine as a character in a novel.
I wondered why that was the case - until it struck me that Jesus was the only one that took human form.
Maybe you could have a spirit in a fantasy or science fiction novel, but I don't read those.
As for God, we haven't a clue what He looks like - how would you handle description in your novel? (It reminds me of that saying , if we were horses God would look like a horse!)
Jesus yes, Spirit and God no - I'm content for them to remain a mystery.
seeler
Sorry Rev. James - you are
Posted on: 02/20/2009 08:27
Sorry Rev. James - you are right. My memory failed me. The Spirit was Asian.
Faerenach
seeler - I like the idea of
Posted on: 02/20/2009 09:25
seeler - I like the idea of God the Creator as a weaver. To me, it seems so right, pulling the different colour threads through a complicated pattern to end up with a breathtakingly beautiful cloth.
As for the spirit and the son... I guess I see the spirit as something/someone more androgenous. Someone who chooses exactly the right words, and smiles a lot, and radiates wisdom and peace. Perhaps a diplomat? And the son is, well, human. Someone we can relate to. Someone we could sit down at a pub with and crack a joke and be attached to in a way that no one else understands. Maybe like the comraderie found with soldiers.