Long ago in another life, I remember Bill Gothard musing in one of his seminars that somehow the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit must correspond to the body, soul, and spirit. Jesus the Son had a body, and the Holy Spirit is a Spirit, obviously, and so I guess the Father must be like the soul. And then the soul itself is composed of three faculties, namely, the mind, will, and emotions.
If I were to pile onto this jumble of correspondences, I would have to add:
- Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
- Peter, James, and John
- Faith, Hope, and Love (1 Corinthians 13:13)
- The World, the Flesh, and the Devil (Peter Abelard and the Book of Common Prayer)
- The Lust of the Flesh, the Lust of the Eyes, and the Pride of Life (1 John 2:16)
- Chastity, Poverty, and Obedience (Francis of Assisi)
- Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity (Robespierre)
- Life, Liberty, and Property (John Locke)
- Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness (Thomas Jefferson)
- Sit, Walk, Stand (Watchman Nee)
- Heart, Soul, and Strength (Deuteronomy 6:5)
- Heart, Soul, and Mind (Matthew 22:37)
Wait, does mind equal strength?
Someone had to go and ruin it, though, by making it four.
- Heart, Soul, Mind, and Strength (Mark 12:30)
And the other typist couldn't even keep the order straight!
- Heart, Soul, Strength, and Mind (Luke 10:27)
All I can say is that the human mind really, really likes the Rule of Three. Having been designed by the One who self-revealed as the Trinity, we can't say that it's our fault that we think this way, but we can't read that much into it either, beyond the fact that it's a recognizable pattern. Sometimes a pattern is just there because it's beautiful and memorable, not because each part corresponds to every other part in another instantiation of the pattern.
