The concept of the Trinity can never be completely understood or rationalised by the human beings. There have been many attempts at developing illustrations of the Trinity. However, none of the popular illustrations are entirely accurate. The popular egg illustration fails in that the eggshell, the egg white and yolk are parts of the egg; none of them are the egg in and of themselves. Similarly with the apple illustration: the skin, the flesh and seeds of the apple are parts of it, and not the apple itself. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are not parts of God; each of them is fully God.

Another model used to try and explain the Trinity is to take three separate measurements of a room; measuring its length, its breadth and its height. Each of the measurements describes something of the room, but you can’t visualise what the room actually looks like without having all three measurements. One room yet with three distinct dimensions.

A better illustration, perhaps, for explaining the Trinity is water, ice and steam as being one of the same essence or substance but with each having a different relationship from the other… yet this too fails to adequately describe the Trinity because water, ice and steam cannot all fill the same place at the same time whereas God can. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are not forms of God; each of them is fully God. So, while these illustrations give us a picture of the Trinity, a picture can never be entirely accurate. An infinite all-powerful God cannot be fully described by a finite illustration.

A symbol of the Trinity (known as the “Shield of the Trinity” or “Scutum Fidei”)