主題：天主聖三的奧秘
我中學時代住在公共屋邨，中四纔領洗入教。當年還是念【要理問答】的年代，由校長親自教授。洗禮後不足一年，還有一點兒心火。有一天，一個自稱是基督教的人拍門，推銷聖經刋物。言談間，他開始引用【迦拉達書】有關保祿當眾斥責伯多祿的例子，質疑天主教有關「教宗不能錯」的當信道理；後來更質疑「三位一體」奧跡。怎可能「1 + 1 + 1 = 1」？
首先，他在我面前滾瓜爛熟地引經據典，令我汗顏，當時的我簡直全無招架之功。但我反而要感激他，是他激發我，做一個天主教徒必須認識聖經，更深入地認識自己的信仰，不再安逸地停留在唸經領聖事的階段，可以與天主建立更深厚的關係。
天主聖三，是天主的本體。人間的語言又怎能充份地講述呢？所以，古代的神學家，在用盡當代的哲學語言之後，祗能用圖像或比喻去幫助群眾理解。例如：三葉草、用三個半圓形構成的三角形、蠟燭，光，熱、聖奧思定有名的比喻（充滿愛的人、被愛之物、那份愛情，我存在、我意識到我存在、我喜愛我的存在…等）這些哲學推論或圖像，始終是時代的產物，能滿足當代當地的需要，卻未能滿足後世的渴求。其實，隨著時代的進步，每一世代的人，需要尋找更令當代的人容易接受的描述。請注意：教會是不能修改真理，遷就群眾。而是用更合適的語言，來描述真理。
到了現代，科學和知識上的進步，其實已把部份的困難解決了。「1 + 1 + 1 = 1」的答案，其實十分簡單。因為天主是無限的。無限加任何東西，結果都是無限。所以無限的聖父，加無限的聖子，再加無限的聖神，結果當然是一個無限的天主喇！這樣就証明「1 + 1 + 1 = 1」了。後來，因為興趣，讀一些數學和科學的普及書藉，發現在數學中和科學中，一樣可以找到天主。例如，若望福音有一些很難理解的章節，用數學中的無限概念，就能迎刃而解了。耶穌說：「我與父原是一體。」（若10:30），卻又說：「父比我大。」（14:28）這兩段看似矛盾的經文，如何調和呢？有興趣的話，彌撒後用數學解釋給大家聽。
我們生活在三度空間之中。生活在一條線上，例如一條隧道，祗有一個方向的活動空間，是一度空間的例子。生活在一個平面上，例如一個桌面，與桌面上的玻璃之間的空間，有一隻螞蟻在爬行，它有兩個方向的自由空間，是兩度空間的例子。自從發明了飛機之後，戰爭就正式變成了三度空間的遊戲。我們通常說時間是第四度空間，在這維度之中，我們沒有自由，不由自主地朝一個方向走。天主在第四度空間卻有自由的。例如，梅瑟和厄里亞是公元前的人，分別生活在耶穌出生前1300年和公元前800年。但在耶穌顯聖容的時候，他們同時出現在耶穌身邊。即是說，梅瑟和厄里亞離開這個世界之後，在時間的維度上是自由的了。間接地說，是天主在時間上是自由的，不受時間的約束。或許這就是「永恆」吧。
一八八四年，在英個有一位校長寫了一部小說，名為「平面國：一個多維空間的浪漫故事」。表面上教導他的學生「維度」的概念，實際上是諷刺當時英國社會的封閉和對女性的歧視。小說在諷刺時弊上並不成功，但對數學普及卻是成功了。
現在，大家意會到我在甚樣解釋「三位一體」嗎？人類生活的「立體國」，容納不了生活在高維度的天主。當天主經過、進入人類的世界時，人類祗能認識到祂是惟一的天主，並且是一個「三位一體」的天主。物理學家告訴我們，這個宇宙除了我們熟悉的四維時空之外，一共有十一度空間。人類祗在三維空間有自由，其餘的八個維度，連想像也有困難，如何談得上自由呢？執事想告訴大家，科學和數學，並不與宗教信仰對立，而且科學能幫助我們欣賞天主的美妙。不過，科學不是全能的。科學不能解釋天主對人的慈悲，天主為甚麼要死在十字架上等等的問題。這是信仰的問題。你相信三位一體的惟一天主愛你嗎？你相信天主聖父出於愛，為你創造了這個宇宙嗎？你相信天主聖子為你死，並為你復活嗎？你相信天主聖神，並願意與祂配合，讓三位一體的天主，生活在你的心中嗎？你會如何報答天主呢？這是不能用科學去回答的，是用我們每一天的生活去回答的。
其次，雖然他引用聖經，但並不表示他是正統的基督徒。我們每個主日在彌撒中所唸的「信經」，是公元325年，基督徒在羅馬帝國獲得宗教自由後，從地下教會變成官方認可的教會後，主教們處理各種信仰上的爭議時，所達到的共識。這是所有基督徒作為基督徒的最基本的信條，不接受這些信條就不算是基督徒。基督徒的信條包括天主是唯一的，並且是三位一體的。教會是由宗徒傳下來的，洗禮是不可缺少的。所以，雖然拿著聖經，但不接受天主是三位一體的，不算是基督徒。雖然拿著聖經，但不能追溯回到十二宗徒的，不配稱為教會。問題是，怎樣合理地解釋「三位一體」的奧跡，怎樣說明「1 + 1 + 1 = 1」呢？
大家不妨想像祗有兩度空間的「平面國」會是怎樣的呢？在那生活的人並不會感到不方便，世界原本就是這樣的。不過有一天，一個來自三維空間的物體，一個球體，經過「平面國」。那裡的人見到甚麼呢？請注意，三維空間的物體祗能經過，卻不能存在「平面國」，因為「平面國」沒有足夠的維度承接它。讓我們回到「平面國」的群眾，他們首先見到一點，這個點膨脹成為一個圓形，一個在「平面國」裡大家熟悉的人物。不過這圓形繼續膨脹，之後收縮回一點，最後消失了。這個概念大家一定不會陌生，在醫院做磁力共振也是為了獲得器官的橫切面影像。現在，讓我們想像一個通心的doughnut 垂直經過「平面國」，那裡的國民會見到甚麼呢？有一段時間，他們見到一個漸大的橢圓形，分身為兩個小橢圓形，然後又聚合回一個大橢圓形。有多少個doughnut呢？一個。但「平面國」的人民見到的是兩個橢圓形，因為他們的世界裡，容納不了球體，容納不了doughnut。
天主保祐。
Trinity Sunday (Year C)
Theme: The Mystery of the Blessed Trinity
I lived in a public housing estate during my secondary school years. I was baptized in S4. It was the era of Baltimore Catechism taught by the Principal. One year after baptism, there was still a flicker of religious passion in my heart. One day, somebody who claimed to be a Christian knocked at the door to sell biblical magazines. Soon after we entered into a friendly conversation, he began to quote the incident in the Letter to the Galatians in which Paul publicly rebuked Peter to challenge the dogma of "Papal infallibility". Later, he even questioned the mystery of the Blessed Trinity. How could "1+1+1=1"?
First of all, I was humbled by his fluency in quoting the Bible. At that time, I simply had no defence. But I am grateful because it was he who stimulated me to study the Bible seriously, to know more about my faith as a Catholic. I could no longer be complacent with reciting set prayers and receiving sacraments. I wanted to build up a deep relationship with God.
The Blessed Trinity is the essence of Godhead. How are human languages able to describe it adequately? Therefore, after the ancient theologians had exhausted their philosophical languages, they could only use images and analogies to help people understand. For example, shamrock; a triangle formed by 3 semi-circular arcs; candle + light + heat; and the famous analogies of St. Augustine (lover + loved object + the love itself; my existence + the consciousness of my existence + the love of my existence etc.) After all, these philosophical arguments and images were contemporary products. They were able to meet the needs of the contemporaries but not the needs of future generations. In fact, with the advance of time, each generation has to find a language most acceptable to the contemporaries. Note: The Church cannot modify the truth to suit the crowd. Rather, she should find the most appropriate language to describe the truth.
With the advance of science and other fields of knowledge, part of the problem has been solved. The answer to "1+1+1=1" is actually very simple because God is infinite. Anything added to infinity will result in infinity. Therefore, the infinite Father, plus the infinite Son and plus the infinite Holy Spirit will result in one infinite God. Q.E.D.
We live in a three dimensional world. Life along a line, e.g. a tunnel, has only the space along one direction. It is an example of a one dimensional world. An ant crawling in the space between my desktop and the glass covering the desktop is an example of a two dimensional world. After the invention of airplanes, wars have become a 3-D game. Time is usually referred to as the fourth dimension in which we have no freedom. We are forced to move in one direction only. God enjoys freedom in this dimension. For example, Moses and Elijah lived in about 1300 B.C. and 800 B.C. respectively. But during Transfiguration, both of them appeared beside Jesus at the same time. That is to say, after their departure from this world, they became free in the time dimension. Indirectly speaking, God is free in the time dimension. He is not confined by time. Perhaps this is "eternity".
In 1884, a schoolmaster wrote the novel "Flatland: a Romance of Many Dimensions". Superficially, it taught his students the concept of dimensions. In reality, the book criticized the closeness of the English society and its prejudice against women. The novel failed to satisfactorily criticize the society but it was successful as a mathematics popularizer.
Let us imagine what life would be like in Flatland? Her civilians would not feel inconvenient because life had always been like that. But one day, a 3-D object, say a sphere, passed through Flatland. What would the inhabitants of Flatland see? Note: the 3-D object could only pass through but not stay in Flatland because there were not enough dimensions in Flatland to accommodate it. Let us return to the citizens of Flatland. Firstly, they saw a dot which expanded in a circle, a familiar figure in Flatland. But this circle continued to expand and then shrink back into a dot and vanished. You will not find it unfamiliar because this is what we do in MRI. Now, let us imagine what happened when a doughnut passed through Flatland vertically. What would the inhabitants see? For a while, they would see an expanding ellipse which splits into two smaller ellipses and then back into a shrinking ellipse and vanished. How many doughnuts are there? One. But the inhabitants of Flatland would see two ellipses. It is because their world cannot contain spheres nor doughnuts.
Now, do you see how I explain Trinity? Human beings live in a "3-D Land" which cannot accommodate God who lives in higher dimensions. When God passes through our world, we experience Him as one and as trinite. Physicists tell us that other than the four dimensional space-time we are familiar with, there are in total eleven dimensions. Humanity has freedom in only three dimensions and the remaining eight, which we have difficulty in imagining, not to mention enjoying freedom, does not move freely. I just want to tell you that science and mathematics do not contradict religion. They help us see God's wonders. But science is not almighty. Science cannot explain questions such as why God shows mercy towards men and why God is willing to die for men etc. These are religious questions. Do you believe the one trinite God loves you? Do you believe that out of love, God created the universe for you? Do you believe that the Son died for you and came back to life for you? Do you believe in the Holy Spirit and are willing to cooperate with Him, to make room for God in your heart? How do you want to repay God who loves you so much? These cannot be answered by science. These can only be answered by our everyday life.
Secondly, even though he quoted the Bible, it didn't mean he was an orthodox Christian. The Creed we recite on Sunday was laid down in 325 A.D. when Christianity was officially sanctioned by the Roman Empire. Bishops gathered to sort out dogmatic controversies and came to this consensus, the Nicaean Creed. This is a collection of the articles of Christian faith. Whoever embrace them are Christians. Otherwise, they are not. These articles include: God is one. God is trinite. The Church is handed down by the Apostles and Baptism is indispensable etc. Therefore, although you quote the Bible, if you don't believe that God is three-in-one, you are not a Christian. Although you wave the Bible, if your community cannot be traced all the way back to the Apostles, your community is not a Christian Church. The problem then is how can we explain the Mystery of Trinity reasonably? How do we explain "1+1+1=1"?
Out of interest, I continue reading science and mathematics popularizers and find that God can be discovered in them. For example, there are some difficult passages in the gospel of John which can be handled with the concept of infinity. Jesus said, "I and the Father are one." (John 10:30) but then he said, "the Father is greater than I." (14:28) These two passages sound contradictory. How can we harmonize them? If you are interested, see me after Mass and I will explain them in Mathematics.
God bless.
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