My little brother is quite a musician. No, not that one…the youngest. He can (or could at one time) hear a song and then go play it on the piano or saxophone. Music is intriguing to me, and I love to listen to it, but it frustrates me as well since it is almost completely beyond my ability to reproduce. There are sharps, flats and sevenths and lots of other musical terms of which I do not fully comprehend.

The Triune God is infinitely more complex and difficult to understand. In God’s Word, he is described as being One God. At the same time, He reveals himself as being of three distinct persons as God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. All three were on display at the baptism of Jesus when the Spirit descended like a dove and the Father audibly spoke his great approval of His Son.

But this is a difficult concept to understand. Perhaps the analogy of a musical chord could help us understand the idea of the trinity with more clarity. I got this idea from Truthbomb Apologetics (who apparently got it from bethinking.org) and I thought I’d share a little bit of the idea here with my readers. I hope it is helpful as you grow in your faith and as you come to understand how much the Creator of the universe loves you.

“…A musical chord is essentially composed of three different notes (to be a chord all three notes must be present), namely the first, third and fifth notes of a given musical scale. For example, the chord of C major is composed of the notes C (the root of the chord), E (the third from the root) and G (the fifth from the root). Each individual note is ‘a sound’, and all three notes played together are likewise ‘a sound’. Hence a chord is essentially three sounds in one sound, or one sound essentially composed of three different sounds (each of which has an individual identity as well as a corporate identity). By analogy, God is three divine persons in one divine personal being, or one divine personal being essentially composed of three divine persons. Moreover, when middle C (the root of the chord) is played it ‘fills’ the entire ‘heard space’. When the E above middle C is played at the same time, that second note simultaneously ‘fills’ the whole of the ‘heard space’; yet one can still hear both notes distinctly. When the G above middle C is added as well, a complete chord exists; one sound composed of three distinct sounds:

There is some question as to whether Adam’s sin caused death to come only on mankind or if the curse of death also fell upon all that were under Adam’s domain as well. One of the most prominent progressive creationist websites claims that animal death had to exist for billions of years because of predators. The writer of the article suggests that since animals that have no predators wreck ecosystems in a fallen work, then animals without predators would have also wrecked ecosystems in a world that God declared to be “very good.”

• Bad Assumption 1: Animals that prey on other animals today were predators before Adam sinned.
• Counter: Genesis 1:29-30 says that God provided only plants for animals to eat. It is contrary to scripture to assume that predatory activity existed prior to Adam’s sin. Since Adam’s sin, God’s carefully crafted creation has decayed to the point that animals now find nourishment easier to gain by killing other animals than eating salads. Romans 8:18-21 is strong affirmation of the fact that all of creation was affected negatively by Adam’s sin. Even today, creatures that would be thought to be only predators (based on appearance) have vegetarian diets. See the story here. And here. Isaiah 11:9 and Isaiah 65:25 give strong reasons why predatory activity is considered part of the curse.

• Bad Assumption 2: “Under God’s plan, nature is balanced.”
• Counter: Where in God’s Word does it say balanced? What is actually says is that “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.” The author assumes death by predatory animals to prove death of animals. It’s not sounds reasoning.

• Bad Assumption 3: The world prior to Adam’s sin is no different from the fallen world after Adam’s sin.
• Counter: Again Romans 8 has a lot to say about the author’s naive assumption. Genesis 3:17-19 also rebukes the author’s assumption. The world changed radically after Adam sinned, and one of the biggest changes was the introduction of death to Adam, his descendants, and those under his dominion (animals).

You can also find further scriptural evidence of animal death by looking here. And here.

Test 1: Is this skull from a predator or vegetarian?

Test 2: Predator or Vegetarian?