Comment: Semantics can be such a

Semantics can be such a stumbling block for humans. Even the simplest words like “faith” or, in this case, “trinity” can have so many meanings for people. I think that comes from the way people think. We don’t think in words, we think in pictures. On a more basic level we think in symbols. The pictures that come to mind when we hear something are dependent upon our own personal experiences so teaching by parable is very effective. We all know Aesop’s Fables from our childhood.

As a child I was taught that the “Trinity” was like a shamrock; a three leaf clover. That image has stayed with me all my life. Still, the three leaves are separate and individual, so that didn’t make much sense to me then or now. It’s like saying my right arm is separate from my left arm but they are both part of the same body. Ok. How does that idea extend to God the Father begetting himself as God the Son? And if that’s the case, who was Jesus praying to when he called on his “father”? Add to that the shortcomings and outright errors in translating from one language to another and we can see how words can become rather muddled and confusing.

I have no trouble with the word “Trinity” because I think of them as “The Godhead”. To my way of thinking, this is a position, an office. In our human organizations the triune is often used; president, vice-president and secretary, or executive, legislative and judicial. The LDS church is organized in the same manner. From the ward (the community church) level on up, each level has a bishop or president, first counselor and second counselor.

Knowing that the Heavenly Realms are governed by law, it stands to reason that there is a hierarchy, in this case The Godhead, who rules over all.

If that makes me a Sabellian or Arianian as Andrew Jetton mentions below, so be it.