Each aspect of God holds up a necessary pillar for who God must be if we desire to serve a being who is worthy of worship and service. The character of God is so much more than God simply picking and choosing the type of deity he wants to be; each word we use to describe him – his sovereignty, omniscience, his trinitarian nature – must be true because without any one piece to the picture of God, we end up serving some variation of a monster.
This is why I find the topic of the nature of God so incredibly interesting. It is a phenomenon of a puzzle that is layers and layers thick with words and characteristics that paint a picture of who God is. It is a picture that each person must piece together on their own.
Through this article, I want to layout specific arguments for the necessity for each aspect of who God is that NCFCA’s topics touch on and provide you with a plethora of stories, resources, and content that will help you prepare apologetics cards and leave you a bit more in awe of who God. is.
God as a Trinitarian Being
- What is the Trinity and why is it significant?
- Respond to the assumption that says, “All religions say pretty much the same thing.”
This aspect of God is what I consider to be one of his most interesting and beautiful characteristics. For starters, you do not see the concept of a trinitarian being found in any other religion. Christianity and Judaism immediately set themselves apart from the rest of religions by introducing a concept that seems so impossible it cannot be true. But here is the catch, no matter how much we believe the trinity to be impossible, the beautiful reality is that it must be possible. In order for God to be the person he is described as, he must be trinitarian.
For example, 1 John 4:16 states, “And see we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.” In English, the word used for love in this verse has four main translatable alternatives in ancient greek according to Alyssa Roat: Storge, Philia, Eros, Agape. So which one does John choose to use? Agape. Absolutely incredible! See, in this sentence, John is not simply flippantly stating an aspect of who God happens to be in a certain moment of time, from the ancient Greek, we see that John is making a bold claim to the nature and very essence of who God is. He is stating that since the beginning of God’s existence, he has always been “agape” (for whatever that actually means).
So what is the significance behind the word agape? Well, “Agape requires faithfulness, commitment, and sacrifice without expecting anything in return” (Roat, Alyssa). Here is what is so phenomenal about all of these words… They are relational. This means that when John uses the word Agape to define a part of God’s essence, he is using a word that assumes a pre-existing relationship. If God was just one person with one being, this would be impossible, but because the Bible describes God as being trinitarian, He has always existed in the relational state that is needed for John’s statement to be true.
From the doctrine of the Trinity stems countless necessities like the one I just described to you and countless implications. As much as I wish I could break each aspect down for you, that is not what this article is for. I am writing this post to tease your interest in this NCFCA topic and give you some inspiration on how you can approach this topic from a unique perspective. If you want to learn more about the Trinity and its intricate necessities, try reading Delighting in the Trinity by Michael Reeves.
Additional Resources:
- An incredible explanation of the greek translation of Agape by C.S. Lewis – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaVaGGpeQKM
- A Bible Project video that is a shorter breakdown of the word Agape
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slyevQ1LW7A3. - Roat, Alyssa. “What Does Agape Love Really Mean in the Bible?” Christianity.com, December 20th, 2019. https://www.christianity.com/wiki/christian-terms/what-does-agape-love-really-mean-in-the-bible.html
Jala Boyer has earned numerous 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place medals and competed at the NCFCA National Championship in five categories. As an intern on the Student Advisory Council of the NCFCA, Jala worked alongside the executive director, Kim Cromer, to learn the inner workings of competitive speech and debate, helping students create long-term and meaningful success. Jala is currently an Honors student at Liberty University studying communications with an emphasis in politics. To book a coaching session with Jala, follow this link https://www.ethosdebate.com/ coaching/book-coach/