Second Person of the Trinity
Basic Info
Whether to even try to depict the Trinity has always been an issue for Christians. By the time the iconoclasm controversies ended in the 9th century, we saw two very different strands of thought about Christian images. One strand sees images as statements or assertions about the figure depicted, thus saying that depicting God the Father reflects the heresy that the Godhead is contained or limited in form. The other strand of thought sees images as a way to educate the faithful, thus saying that in order to educate about the Trinity, one must find a way to represent the Trinity even though all such representations are inadequate. The former is the common perspective in Greek and Russian and most other Orthodox Traditions, the latter is the common interpretation in Roman Catholic, Ethiopian Orthodox, and some Mainline Protestant Traditions.
One way to depict the Trinity without “depicting” God the Father is to depict an accepted metaphor for the Trinity, such as the three “angels” that Abraham entertained in Genesis 18. Such an artwork might be called Old Testament Trinity or might be called Hospitality of Abraham. Even in the West, Christians have never claimed that any particular image of God the Father or of the Trinity captured the overwhelming fullness of God. Unfortunately, because many children see images of God the Father only as an old white man with a long white beard, this is the image that many people grow up thinking is the “official” image of God the Father. They are seldom encouraged to imagine other images of the Trinity.
This then is our starting point for interpreting images of the Trinity; they can point to aspects of God but should never be interpreted as the only way to try to understand God. Like any metaphor, images can be concrete ways to think about attributes of that which is symbolized, but they always have limits; they always fall short in some way. The challenge is to identify where the image is useful in helping us to understand something about the Trinity and where its limits can inspire further thinking.
What to Look For
Physical appearance of the Three Persons of the Trinity (metaphorical or otherwise)
- Old man, young man, dove
- Identical triplets
- 3 angels with wings
- Old man holding Jesus on the cross, and a dove
- Hand (right for love, left for justice) in the sky (representing God the Father), Jesus, and a dove
- The garments and accessories (crowns, etc.) on the Three Persons
Relationship among the Three Persons
- Where they are looking
- In a line or the form of a triangle (pointing in which direction)
- Expressions or attitudes toward one another
- Close together or far apart
- Similarities or differences in function or attention
Relationship between the Trinity and/or the Three Persons and other figures
- Close to other figures or far away
- Above, below, or beside the other figures
- Approachable or frightening
- The size of the Three Persons of the Trinity in relationship to the size of other figures
Whether God’s traditional attributes are depicted in any or all of the Three Persons (powerful, knowing, present, unity [oneness], wisdom, loving, truth, goodness, beauty, just, merciful, forgiving, unchanging, creative, redemptive, sanctifying, holy)
Questions to Focus a General Interpretation
Why does the Trinity seem to be included in this scene? Are the Three Persons modeling a relationship of eternal love, witnessing to God’s eternal presence in human activities, backing up the actions of a group of followers, judging human behavior, being merciful toward human behavior, sustaining the universe, or doing something else?
Which attributes of God or the Trinity are missing from this depiction?
In what ways does this depiction of the Trinity not make sense? Can God age? Are all Three Persons identical? Is the Holy Spirit a dove, or does it just share qualities with something that can fly?
Questions to Guide a Personal Interpretation
Does this depiction of the Trinity affirm your mental image? Does it challenge it? Does it tweak it?
Do you resonate with the needs to which this depiction of God responds?
Questions to Suggest a Historical Interpretation
People in need focus on that aspect of God that will meet their needs. Suffering people need God’s power to liberate them; guilty people need God’s mercy; people in chaos need God’s wise guidance; and so on. Work backward from the artwork. Does it offer any clues to what the people of the artist’s time and place might have needed?
