The Trinity Explained by a Scot

For truth, God had to be one.
For love, God had to be two.
For joy, God had to be three!

Iron Celtic Trinity Knot and Peace Sign by Rusty Rooster Fabrication & Design

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Scottish theologian Richard of Saint Victor (1110-1173) offers us this brief reflection on the Divine Trinity:

“For God to be truth, God had to be one; for God to be love, God had to be two; and for God to be joy God had to be three!”

By this measure, the soul of human kind is given an endless horizon of creativity; “an infinite abundance and flow of God’s mysterious presence.” However, the wonderful mystery of the Trinity can never be fully understood with the rational mind. But it can be known through the creative expression of love, prayer, and service to others. Jesus invited us into this world of mystery.

“Our supposed logic,” writes Richard Rohr, “has to break down before we can comprehend the nature of the universe and the bear beginnings of the nature of God. Paraphrasing physicist Niels Bohr, the doctrine of the Trinity is saying that God is not only stranger than we think, but stranger than we can think.”


Adapted from Richard of Saint Victor, Book Three of the Trinity, trans. Grover A. Zinn (Paulist Press:1979).

Rohr, Richard. Devotional Meditation: Week 37, Eastern Christianity, from September 10, 2018.