Two things are immediately brought to mind by the Gospel reading for the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, John 3:16-18. One is the ubiquity of John 3:16 amongst evangelical Christians, a key verse in “the Four Spiritual Laws (see Law 1 at http://www.godlovestheworld.com/). I grew up with this verse as perhaps the most significant verse in the Bible. Some of you might remember the rainbow haired man who held up “John 3:16” at sporting events, and who now sadly spends his life in a California prison. The ubiquity of this verse should not allow us to drain it of its power or beauty, or take its message for granted. The second thing that I recall is my childhood wonder that Jesus was God, or was it, is Jesus God? Or was the question, how can Jesus be God? I recall a great deal of confusion as I puzzled over this great mystery: was Jesus a man or God? Was God Jesus as well? Or was Jesus God? (I admit right now that I must have relegated the Holy Spirit to a position off to the side or on the bench, as I do not recall puzzling to the same degree over the person of the Holy Spirit.) As I began to study early Christianity formally I began to note that there was no easy answer or easy explanation to the relation of the three persons of the Trinity. I read the definitions of the Ecumenical Councils at Nicea, Constantinople, and Chalcedon. I found them all compelling, but it seemed that what they were describing was beyond words. It was a mystery and one that had been studied, examined and explained by numerous great minds in the Church, but always with the sense that there was something that could not be explained or grasped this side of heaven. Love seemed to get to the heart of it, but even more to the heart of the matter is Paul’s benediction from 2 Corinthians: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you” (13:13). I am not certain how to explain the relationship amongst the Trinity, but what needs to be explained when you experience the grace, love and fellowship? Paul was not operating with any formal definition of the Trinity when he wrote those words, centuries prior to the Ecumenical Councils. He was operating with a lived experience of the Trinity that defied description or confusion, that imposed itself through the very reality of grace, love, and fellowship on his heart and mind. This is how I understand the Trinity. John W. Martens

John W. Martens is an associate professor of theology at the University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, Minn,where he teaches early Christianity and Judaism. He also directs the Master of Arts in Theology program at the St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity. He was born in Vancouver, B.C. into a Mennonite family that had decided to confront modernity in an urban setting. His post-secondary education began at Tabor College, Hillsboro, Kansas, came to an abrupt stop, then started again at Vancouver Community College, where his interest in Judaism and Christianity in the earliest centuries emerged. He then studied at St. Michael's College, University of Toronto, and McMaster University, with stops at University of Haifa and University of Tubingen. His writing often explores the intersection of Jewish, Christian and Greco-Roman culture and belief, such as in "let the little children come to me: Children and Childhood in Early Christianity" (Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 2009), but he is not beyond jumping into the intersection of modernity and ancient religion, as in "The End of the World: The Apocalyptic Imagination in Film and Television" (Winnipeg: J. Gordon Shillingford Press, 2003). He blogs at  www.biblejunkies.com and at www.americamagazine.org for "The Good Word." You can follow him on Twitter @biblejunkies, where he would be excited to welcome you to his random and obscure interests, which range from the Vancouver Canucks and Minnesota Timberwolves, to his dog, and 70s punk, pop and rock. When he can, he brings students to Greece, Turkey and Rome to explore the artifacts and landscape of the ancient world. He lives in St. Paul with his wife and has two sons. He is certain that the world will not end until the Vancouver Canucks have won the Stanley Cup, as evidence has emerged from the Revelation of John, 1 Enoch, 2 Baruch, and 4 Ezra which all point in this direction.