Most people find it difficult to think about the Trinitarian nature of God, and I have been putting the topic off for the longest time. Recently our bible study on the Holy Spirit force me to take on the subject seriously again.

Wikipedia and other web sources will provide ample biblical references on the issue surrounding Trinity, that God is One, but in 3 distinct Persons.

There had been attempts to draw parallels between the concept of Trinity and the duality nature of quantum mechanics (i.e. light is both a wave and a particle, depending on your viewpoint.) But this will diminish the notion of God as 3 distinctive Persons. Similar attempts, such as the imagery of the Sun with light and heat, are also lacking.

Attempting to comprehend this seems down right impossible, and pastors in the past have resorted to: some things are left as mysteries of God that we human will never comprehend. So for the longest time I have simply put off this topic as one of those notions that I will not bother with.

Lately, with our church starting a serious study of learning and experiencing the Holy Spirit, and my yearning to grow closer to God after a trip to China and visits to house churches, I find it more and more frustrating in my prayer, not knowing which of the 3 Persons I should be directing. Exactly who should I address when I have a certain type of prayer, whether it be intimate or requests.

God's miraculous directions in our lives is awesome. Just as I reach the stage for further growth, the new Kindle for the church library arrived. Somehow I find it compeling to read the Works of Jonathan Edwards. After speed reading through "Religious Affections", which expound on the glorified joy that moves a Christian, and laying the foundation that John Piper and John Elderidge (2 authors I liked much) rested on, I feel the hang of Edwards' writing (even able to speed read through it), and look through the rest of the titles to find his:

"Unpublished essay on Trinity".

This is the most impressive and clear explanation on Trinity I have encountered. A markup version is available through google. (Beware: I don't endorse or agree with the notes added by the website.) The markup helps to emphasize Edwards' thoughts.

Basically, the Father begotten the Son through reflection, and hence wholly equal and the same, and the love that joins the two is again wholly equal and the same as God, which is the Spirit. The image of the Sun with light and heat near the end of the essay is a passing suggestion, clearly stated not to be an illustration of the nature of the Trininty.

This essay suddenly help me to understand how the many issues in the bible are related, when viewing the Spirit this way as the love of God. It is a must-read for any serious Christian.

PS. Wikipedia had further wonderful details on Edwards, his theology, Calvinism vs Armianism, Wesleyan, etc. So finally I get some understanding of all the different denominations.