Reddit mentions of The Deep Things of God: How the Trinity Changes Everything

The notion of the Trinity is something that really has no analog in our experience. I think to understand this it requires, at minimum, a shift in thinking about what it means to be God. Typically when people hear that there is one God, the implicit assumption is that God exists as a singular instance. I think the shift is to think about God not as being equivalent with an instance, but an essence which can exist in multiple instances.

To be God means to partake in the essence of God; i.e., to have the attributes of God (eternality, aseity, omniscience, omnipotence, moral perfect, etc...) If you make this shift, it becomes more intelligible how there can be one essence that is God (monotheism) yet three persons who partake in that essence (the Trinity).

Just in the same way that the color red is a singular property, yet there are many instances of things which participate in having the property of being red. If I have three red chairs of exactly the same color, I would not say there are three colors among my chairs. I would say there is one color, red, and three chairs which are red. In the same way I believe when we say there is one God, we refer to the property, or set of properties that comprise the essence of what God is. It turns out that there are three persons who hold that essence. So there is one God (the essence), but three people (the instances) who are God.

It can still be hard for us to understand precisely what this means. I think it's helpful to think of a person in terms of consciousness. So when we say there are three people who are God, we are saying something like that there are three distinct conscious beings who each share God's essential properties, such that they are unified by that same essence. They are one God in the sense that they are united by the same attributes, the same will, the same personality features of love and justice, and so on. Yet they are distinct persons in that they do not share the same subjective experience, can be in community with one another, and can interact amongst each other in a way that is not equivalent to you talking to yourself alone in a room.

Ultimately because the Trinity has no earthly analog it will always be something of a mystery. I think if we had examples of such a tripersonal being in our earthly experience it would not be so much of a paradox. I don't believe that the notion is logically incoherent but it can be difficult to apprehend due to a lack of analogs.

I recommend you read The Deep Things of God by Fred Sanders.

I loved Reeves' book but I don't know that it will answer your question. It doesn't matter. Get it and read it anyway.

A slightly more technical book that might get to what you're asking is The Deep Things of God by Fred Sanders

As for the Shorter, I'm sure there's a book that expounds it that might be more specifically what you're looking for.

Here's a good resource for seeing the practical application of the doctrine. I have found that to be the most helpful for understanding some of the nuances of the doctrine itself.

If you want something more academic and historical, check out this resource.

Book recommendation: The Deep Things of God: How the Trinity Changes Everything by Fred Sanders (Crossway, 2010).