The Trinity has been and will continue to be a difficult concept to grasp, for it cannot be physically studied. Dorothy Sayers relates it to what she calls “The creative trinity”. Although some Christians believe that nothing in creation resembles the Trinity, the creative trinity on earth resembles the Heavenly one because it was created by the Heavenly Trinity and contains characteristics of it. One example of their likeness is that both are threefold (Mind of the Maker 37). However, before one attempts to discuss whether the creative trinity and the Holy Trinity relate, he should first understand a bit, of what the two are separately.
The creative trinity is made up of three parts. The first part is the “Idea” (Mind of the Maker 37). The Idea, in the writer’s sense, is an idea for a story that has not yet been thought of by the writer. It is unacknowledged and not subject to form, process, or time. As one reads any story, he shall discover the mutual components shared amongst them. To be more precise, every idea holds, at least, goodness, truth, and beauty in common. Although one might claim that the relation of goodness, truth, and beauty to a story about mountain climbing, or rivaling countries is vague, mountains themselves are beautiful, and when God created them, He “saw that it was good” (Genesis 1:10). This story involves the goodness and beauty that God inlaid into the mountains and will most likely continue about how to better view its beauty. The rivaling countries are, just as the mountains, each beautifully made by God, and the conflict between them is a battle for good no matter how it may end. From here, one might recognize that if goodness, truth, and beauty are attributes of God, the idea, in turn, must resemble God.
The second part of the creative trinity is the “Energy” (Mind of the Maker 37). Through this Energy, the Idea is made known to man. When a writer thinks of an Idea or writes it down on paper, this is the Energy at work. Without Energy, the Idea remains unacknowledged. Dorothy Sayers says that Energy is concerned with that which has to do with, “consciousness”, “form”, “time”, or “process” (Mind of the Maker38). Upon hearing the distinction between the two, one might propose that there is no Idea, but only Energy. This is a welcome and important point, but when one writes a story and says that a certain part does not fit his book as a whole, he implies that there is an overruling authority governing how the story should be. The Energy points to a standard that the writer attempts to achieve. Energy cannot rule itself, but it is the Idea, which guides the writer to determine how his story should be.
Lastly, within the creative trinity is the “Power” (Mind of the Maker 38-39). Power interprets what the Energy represents by conveying the meaning of the story to the reader. It provides understanding of what the characters, words, plot, and physical pages of the book are trying to convey. Power is vital to the creative trinity, for without it, man would have no understanding of the Idea and the book would be a purposeless book on a shelf. All three parts of the creative trinity must be present in order to create a book, for without the Idea, there is nothing to represent or interpret, without Energy, the Idea is unacknowledged, and without Power comes ignorance. Through the Energy, Power is able to make the Idea understood. The creative trinity, in these ways, resembles the Heavenly one.
Like the creative trinity, the Holy Trinity is threefold. C. S. Lewis, a popular theist in the twentieth century, calls the trinity a “three-personal being” (Mere Christianity 162). He says that just as a three-dimensional cube is made up of six two-dimensional squares, the one being Trinity is made up of three persons (Mere Christianity 162). These three persons are God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. God the Father, which the Idea symbolizes in the creative trinity, is incomprehensible, and not subject to form, process, or time by himself. As the Idea is composed of goodness, truth, and beauty so is God, for the Bible says that God is “good”, “true”, and “beautiful” (Luke 18:19; 1 John 5:20; Psalms 27:4). Just how all that is created by the creative trinity reflects the idea, and is made physical Energy, all of creation reflects the Father and by the Son, it is brought into existence.
The Son is the second person of the Holy Trinity. He represents God the Father and makes Him tangible to man. He is the physical and mental form of God who deals with consciousness, form, time, and process. Without the Son, God the Father would remain incomprehensible to man. One might consider it incorrect to say that without the Son, the Father would be incomprehensible to man, since before the manifestation of Christ, man knew of God and talked with him. This is true, but what one must remember is that the Son is not only the physical form of God, but the mental form as well and before His birth, he still existed. For the Bible says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God” (John 1:1-2). The Son is the mental form that allows man to acknowledge the existence of God, for the Bible says, “no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him” (Matthew 11:27). This is the same to any accusations against the creative trinity as well, for just how the Son was not created at His manifestation, the Energy is not created at the manifestation of a story, but exists before it.
The third and last person of the Holy Trinity is the Holy Spirit. He interprets what Jesus taught. Through Jesus the Holy Spirit able to give man understanding about the Father. The Holy Spirit guides and teaches man about the word of Christ, for Christ Himself said, “He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you” (John 16:14). The Holy Spirit is a part of the Trinity and the Bible speaks of those who will and have “received” Him (Acts 8:17). It is by the Holy Spirit that communion with God has been restored to man.
Although a man may suggest that one can separate the trinity in order to understand it, the three parts of the trinity are inseparable. Man can never begin to comprehend an incomprehensible God without all its parts. It is impossible to separate the trinity in order to look at one part, but through two, a man may distinguish one. It is by the Son and the Holy Spirit that mankind learns of the Father. One might question this seeing that the Israelites knew God before Christ. This is an important point, because it may bring clarification and validity to the previous statement. Before Christ was manifested, not all were able to know God personally. Although the Israelites were God’s chosen people, only the holiest of Priests were allowed in God’s presence and He chose certain people to reveal Himself to. Through Christ’s death and resurrection, every man is allowed in the presence of God and may converse with Him through prayer. The Bible says that Christians have been “buried” in “baptism” and “raised with him in faith” (Col. 2:12).
One might declare the creative trinity irrelevant to the Holy Trinity because multiple kinds of stories exist. This would mean that multiple Energies manifest the Idea each in its own way and implies multiples Sons of God. This acts against Christian doctrine, for there is only one Christ. This is true, but the fact that different stories are made does not mean that there is more than one Idea, Energy, or Power. Since the Idea is composed of three parts, it is represented in different ways. The idea contains goodness, truth, and beauty. From these, Energy is able to manifest different stories such as Hamlet, The Lord of the Rings, The Republic, and etcetera. Every story must contain the goodness, truth, and beauty of God. A story missing one of the three is like a book missing a chapter. The characters, plot, words, and pages would be representing an incomplete idea.
When man creates, he uses the creative trinity that reflects the Heavenly one. When a man looks upon creation and has learned to see the goodness, truth, and beauty of God that is incorporated within, he catches a glimpse of the master at work. Through the creative trinity, one can see the fingerprints of God upon all of creation. As a story must be in alignment with goodness, truth, and beauty as its Idea in order for it to be the true story that the writer intended, man must be in alignment with God in order to live as God intends them to. May God guide man in his seeking to learn of the trinity, for when he does, he shall receive a better understanding of who God is. When one sees the complexity and beauty in creation through the creative trinity at work, he shall receive joy from learning a bit more of His God.
