[Cal]

Lee never made it very clear why it was so important to think that the Father is the Son and the Son is the Spirit.

I believe that at some level that must be true--because all three are God and there is only one God. But why did Lee have to beat everyone over the head with it?

I've given my opinion on the matter. I think the Trinity is the result of the inner life of a self-conscious, all-knowing Person. He knows himself completely. This produces a perfect image in his own mind of himself, which is ever before him and is so complete it is also a "person"--the Son. The Father and the Son have a relationship, that is the Spirit. Each are completely the one God, yet each are distinct. So in a sense, each are the others. Yet, they are still distinct. Mysterious. Yet if you look at your relationship with yourself, you can see a faint shadow of it.

But Lee never explained why it was better to see them as one. I personally felt his view was helpful, because it was easier to experience God if you weren't always trying to divide him up in your mind, and just let it flow. But to Lee it seemed to be a point where he got to be argumentative about something and show how he was smarter than everyone else. That's where I think he went wrong. And he went wrong that way a lot.

But in general, complete orthodoxy or agreement on the Trinity is unnecessary; and, since it is such a mystery, impossible anyway, because who is to say what is perfectly orthodox? So those who say don't over-analyze the Trinity, just enjoy it, have a strong point.