false dilema, it is what it is . pretending doen't help, its best to face it and move on. by the way who says its a closed system?
You are hangin' with the wrong men
new moon
Paradise is a well established Hebrew concept and the scriptures are replet with passages refering to the time and place of eternal fellicity. For example see Isaiah 51:3; 65:17-18; Micah 4:1-5 etc.
Gan-Seden is the transliteration of the Hebrew, meaning literaly" Garden of Righteousness".
Garden
Trinity is simply the state of being three. The word itself carries no religious overtones when used in the vernacular. It takes on its theological connotation when considered in the context of New Testament revelation. Although the word "trinity" does not appear in the bible, Never the less, the concept is clealy evident throughout, even in the Old Testament (as your previous respondent has ably illustrated).
Tri-unity is a good way to understand the Holy Trinity. God is a triune being, He is Three in One. He is not three beings in one being, that would be a logical contradiction. Neither is He three persons in one person also a contradiction in terms. God is three Divine Persons in one Divine Being. No contradiction here, though admittedly a great mystery.
All analogies fall short of yeilding a comprehensive explaination of the nature of the Holy Trinity. But they are not usless and do help to try to wrap a finite mind around an infinite concept to some degree. Here are some, I hope they help.
Expressed mathematicly: 1x1x1=1 triune, an expression of monotheism.
1+1+1=1 error, should be: 1+1+1=3 triplex, polytheism.
Philosophical propositions: Subject (Father) Copula (Holy Spirit) predicate object (Son).
God is love:The Father is Lover (the initiator)The Holy Spirit is Loving (the state of being; the relational action) The Son is the object of The Father's love and is the exact representation of it (Son in turn and simultaneously returns love to the Father through the same Spirit). In this way we have the Father as the "Begetter" the Son as the "Begotten" and the Holy Spirit "Proceeding " from both the Father and the Son.
With this formula as our tool lets look at some other propositions.
God is eternal mind: The Father is the Thinker, the Spirit is the Thinking, and The Son is the Thought or as the scripture puts it "The Word of God". Now each element must be present or there is no mind for a mind is defined by the act of thinking thoughts. They are co-existent and co-dependent. In the case of The Godhead, they are co-eternal, and co-equal.
One more. God is the Author of truth: The Father is the source of truth, The Spirit is the revealer of truth and the Son is truth revealed.
Hope this helps a little :}
The Protestant reformation did not retain the Roman Catholic doctine or practice of auricular (private, spoken, into the ear) confession to a priest for absolution of sins. However St. Augustine was a key figure in the thinking of the Reformers, like Luther. One of Augustine's most significant writings is titled Confessions. See the website for additional explanation.
All exegesis, explaination, critical analysis or interpretation of a word or a text is dependent upon the mutual understanding between the exegete and his audience. The question of presupposition in this context beggs the question of the existence of objective truth and the possability of unambiguous definition of terms. In the classical sense, communication demands such. But in the post modern world of philosophical Linguistic Analysis and Studied Ambiguity, presupposition has become the darling of the Relativistic Skeptics and the Contemporary Theologians; Bultmann et al.
Employed.
Vedry nice site.