Don't ask me how, but researching some college in Michigan found me at the Reform Church of Americas website. I didn't know much about them, so I looked at several topics, including their "beliefs" section. One of the categories was "The Trinity". I felt their simple and succinct discription mirrored my own belief. I post this only because I know there have been several TRINITY threads throughout the past several months and felt this might add something 'new' to the discussion since it's one of the few explanations of the 3-in-1 doctrine that makes sense (at least to me). Take it for what it's worth.
Article 8: The Trinity
In keeping with this truth and Word of God
we believe in one God,
who is one single essence,
in which there are three persons,
really, truly, and eternally distinct
according to their incommunicable properties--
. . .namely,
. . .. . .Father,
. . .. . .Son,
. . .. . .and Holy Spirit.
The Father
. . .is the cause,
. . .origin,
. . .and source of all things,
. . .. . .visible as well as invisible.
The Son
. . .is the Word,
. . .the Wisdom,
. . .and the image
. . .. . .of the Father.
The Holy Spirit
. . .is the eternal power
. . .and might,
. . .. . .proceeding from the Father and the Son.
Nevertheless,
this distinction does not divide God into three,
. . .since Scripture teaches us
. . .that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit
. . .each have their own subsistence
. . .distinguished by characteristics--
. . .yet in such a way
. . .that these three persons are
. . .only one God.
It is evident then
that the Father is not the Son
and that the Son is not the Father,
and that, likewise, the Holy Spirit is
neither the Father nor the Son.
Nevertheless,
these persons,
thus distinct,
are neither divided
nor fused or mixed together.
. . .For the Father did not take on flesh,
. . .nor did the Spirit,
. . .but only the Son.
. . .The Father was never
. . .without the Son,
. . .nor without the Holy Spirit,
. . .since all these are equal from eternity,
. . .in one and the same essence.
There is neither a first nor a last,
for all three are one
in truth and power,
in goodness and mercy.
Link: http://www.rca.org/welcome/beliefs/belgic/b8.html
Edited to put it in the right section...oops
Edited by - Double Edge on 22 August 2002 19:39:0