The Christian Vanguard

 In a discussion between a Christian and Muslim, I heard the following analogy. To understand how God can be three persons and one nature, think of three humans. You have three persons, but all one nature, the human nature.  Preliminary comment. All analogies for understanding God will come short in some respect since God is totally unique. God can't be compared to anything, so no analogy is appropriate. That said, they are helpful. We just need to understand that they will have limits.  The limit here is that one could easily respond with: yes, there are three persons, and they all are of the same nature, human. But there are also three humans, which would mean you would have to say there are also three gods. That's an unacceptable consequence for a Trinitarian, and it's often what Muslims will say Christians are forced to believe.  I read the following explanation from J.P. Moreland some years ago, I forgot the title of the book, but a similar analogy, which I thin...

Julia: Hey dad, what's this? Dad: That's a cocoon, sweetheart. Julia: A cocoon? What's that? Dad: A cocoon is where caterpillar turns into a butterfly. Julia: A butterfly? Oohhh I want to see the butterfly! Dad: Well, you're going to have to wait for that, sweetie. Julia: Awww. But why can't we just take a peak now? Please? Dad: Because you're going to hurt it. If you take it out, you'll kill it, and the caterpillar will never grow up into a big beautiful butterfly. Julia: I don't want to kill it. Dad: Good. Now leave it alone. Julia: Can I take a picture of it? Dad: Sure thing. *Click* Julia: Hey dad! Look! The flash was able to see through the cocoon! Dad: Wow sweetie, that's neat! That kinda like how baby Rachel is in mommy's tummy, isn't it? Julia: Oh, you mean that triangle picture with no color? Dad: Yes, that's called an ultrasound, dear. Julia: Do the pictures hurt baby Rachel? Dad: No, they don...

Today was my debate with Professor Garcia at LBCC. It went really well. I went in a bit worried, which is not normal for me when I do debates. Why was I worried? I was worried because Garcia had requested that I specifically do a medieval argument, and then he later requested I do only Aquinas. I've not defended Aquinas or scholastic metaphysics in any depth as I have done with arguments like the Kalam or Liebnizian Cosmological arguments, so, not only did I have to defend it, but I had to defend it from someone who has at least a Masters in Philosophy (I'm unsure if he has a PhD). It would be a challenge, but I suppose philosophy isn't worth doing if it's not challenging.  I had tried to email him so we could collaborate on some slides, but it just didn't happen for a number of reasons. There was some comfort that I took in thinking that I would be able to see his presentation so I could prepare some remarks, but that didn't happen and I had to think on my...