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This episode of The Reformed Standard explores the profound theological question from Westminster Shorter Catechism Question 6: “How many persons are there in the Godhead?” The discussion navigates the apparent tension between the fundamental Jewish and Christian affirmation that God is one (the Shema) and the New Testament revelation of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Through a narrative approach, the episode invites listeners to experience this tension through the eyes of Jesus’ first disciples, who encountered someone claiming divine authority while also praying to God as Father. Rather than presenting this as a logical contradiction, the episode frames it as a beautiful mystery central to Christian faith—one that drives believers to deeper scriptural exploration and reverent worship.
Key Takeaways:
- The foundation of biblical faith is the oneness of God as expressed in the Shema (“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one”)
- The disciples experienced a profound theological tension in witnessing Jesus’ divine authority while also seeing Him pray to God as Father
- This tension was further complicated by the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost as another divine person
- The Trinity is not a contradiction but a “glorious, confounding, and beautiful mystery at the heart of our faith”
- Understanding the Trinity requires engaging with God’s self-revelation rather than imposing human logic
- The question of persons in the Godhead emerges not from abstract theological speculation but from the lived experience of God’s people
- Divine mysteries should drive believers to deeper scripture study, prayer, and worship
Key Concepts:
The Lived Experience of Divine Tension
The podcast skillfully reframes the doctrine of the Trinity not as an abstract theological puzzle but as the lived experience of Jesus’ disciples. They began with the bedrock Jewish conviction that God is one, only to encounter Jesus who both claimed divine authority (“Son, your sins are forgiven”) and maintained distinction from the Father in His prayers. This experiential approach to theology reminds us that doctrine emerges from revelation and relationship, not mere intellectual exercises. The disciples’ journey from simple monotheism to trinitarian understanding parallels our own theological development—moving from basic truths to more complex mysteries as we encounter God more fully through His revelation in scripture and in our lives.
Mystery as a Feature, Not a Flaw
The episode emphasizes that the tension between God’s oneness and the three persons is not a logical flaw but a deliberate feature of divine revelation. Rather than attempting to resolve this tension with neat theological formulas, we are invited to dwell within it, allowing it to drive us deeper into worship and scripture study. This approach preserves both the transcendence of God (He is beyond our full comprehension) and the immanence of God (He reveals Himself to us in ways we can meaningfully, if partially, understand). The mystery of the Trinity becomes not a stumbling block to faith but an invitation to deeper relationship with the God who is both one and three.
Memorable Quotes:
“This is not a contradiction. It is the glorious, confounding, and beautiful mystery at the heart of our faith.”
“It’s not a flaw in our logic; it is a feature of divine revelation. That tension drove the apostles to their knees. It drove them to seek God’s face to understand this new revelation. It drove them to pour over the scriptures to understand what they must have missed. And it should drive us to do the very same things.”
Full Transcript
[00:00:05] Foundations of God’s Oneness
We have spent the last several weeks building our understanding of God, layer by layer. We’ve affirmed that He is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable. We have stood on the bedrock of Israel’s faith and our own, declaring with the Shema that “The LORD our God, the LORD is one.” We have concluded that there is but “One only, the living and true God.” That truth should feel solid, settled, and foundational.
And now, the catechism asks a question that seems, at first, to unsettle that very foundation. It seems to introduce a contradiction, a crack in the beautiful simplicity of God’s oneness.
[00:00:43] The Question of the Godhead
Today’s question is: How many persons are there in the Godhead?
To understand why this question is necessary, we have to move beyond a simple theological outline. We have to enter into a story.
[00:00:55] Experiencing the Tension
Let’s try to feel, for a moment, the ground beneath the feet of the first disciples.
Imagine their world. Every morning you wake, and the first conscious thought is the Shema: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.” It is the rhythm of your life, the foundation of your identity. This truth separates you from the entire world. The Romans have their pantheon of capricious gods. The nations around you have their idols of wood and stone. But you, you belong to the one God, Yahweh, the Creator of all things. This isn’t just a doctrine; it’s the rock on which your entire existence is built.
[00:01:33] The Revelation of Jesus
Then, you meet a man from Nazareth. At first, you’re drawn by his teaching. He speaks with an authority you’ve never heard, not like the scribes who just quote other rabbis. He speaks as if the authority is His own. Then you see His power. He calms a storm with a word. He heals the sick. You see him approach a paralytic, a man whose suffering is evident to all. And you hear Jesus say to him, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” And the world stops.
The scribes in the room know exactly what He is claiming. Only God can forgive sins. A tension begins to grow in your heart, a tension between the man you are coming to love and the God you have always known.
The tension only grows. You hear Him make claims that echo the very voice of God in the Old Testament. He speaks of an authority and an existence that is pre-creation. His enemies certainly understand what He is saying; they pick up stones to kill him for blasphemy. And as you grapple with this, you realize the evidence is becoming unbearable. The man you eat with, walk with, and listen to is Yahweh Himself, standing right in front of you.
It is unsettling. And yet, the mystery deepens. For this man, who you now believe to be Yahweh, continues to pray to Yahweh as though Yahweh isn’t him. He calls Him Father. By all appearances, the unthinkable appears to be true:
Are there two Yahwehs?
You know in the core of your being that this cannot be true, that it violates the very foundation of your faith, and yet you cannot explain the evidence before your eyes any other way. It must feel easier to ignore the reality right before your eyes than to try and reconcile it with the one, singular God you have always worshipped.
Then, you watch him die. You see him raised from the dead.
[00:03:25] The Promise of the Holy Spirit
And before he ascends into heaven, he makes a promise. He says he will send another Comforter, the Holy Spirit, who will be just like Him, and who will come and live within you.
And at Pentecost, that promise is fulfilled. But this isn’t the neat and tidy answer that resolves the tension. In many ways, it deepens it. The divine presence you had come to know in Jesus of Nazareth is now a personal, powerful presence inside you. It’s not just a memory or an influence; it is another divine person, acting, speaking, and guiding. The mystery you saw in Jesus is no longer just in front of you; it is now dwelling within you. The old framework, the simple monotheism of your youth, can no longer contain this new, lived reality.
[00:04:10] Living the Mystery
Their experience is now our guide. That same holy tension the disciples felt—that struggle to reconcile the one Yahweh with the Son who is Yahweh and the Spirit who is another just like Him—is the very tension the catechism now intentionally creates in us. It’s not a flaw in our logic; it is a feature of divine revelation. That tension drove the apostles to their knees. It drove them to seek God’s face to understand this new revelation. It drove them to pour over the scriptures to understand what they must have missed. And it should drive us to do the very same things.
The catechism asks this question not as an abstract puzzle, but because the lived experience of the disciples, and the testimony of the New Testament, makes it unavoidable. It honors the absolute oneness of God, and then it forces us to wrestle with the personal distinctions that God has revealed within Himself. It tells us that to truly know the one, living, and true God, we must know Him as He has revealed Himself.
This is not a contradiction. It is the glorious, confounding, and beautiful mystery at the heart of our faith.
[00:05:20] Conclusion and Reflection
So before we look at the specific answer next time, let this question do its work. Let the story of the disciples become your own. How can the one God who is our foundation also be this God who has come to us and now lives in us? How many persons are there in the Godhead?