Why Every Christian Should Understand Perichoresis

I’ll admit that the first time I saw this term in writing, I thought it had something to do with why you might need dandruff shampoo. Turns out that term is Pityriasis. Perichoresis has to do with the unity of the Trinity.

That’s a big theological word that you don’t really need to know. But the concept is important. And it’s beautiful. While I hold no hope or desire that you’ll make it a regular part of your vocabulary, I do hope that a further understanding of this concept will lead you to worship.

What Is Perichoresis and Where Does This Idea Come From?

Perichoresis is a theological term that is used to describe the mutual indwelling of the three persons of the Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It comes from two Greek words: peri, meaning “around,” and chōreō, meaning “to make room” or “to move.” Put simply — though still a bit confusingly — perichoresis is the “moving around” of the Trinity.

Usually when we’ve got big nerdy words like this one that are quite precise, it comes from a controversy. That’s the case with this one too. But before we dive into theological speak, let’s try to relate it to something you’ve maybe encountered.

Sarah and Andrew were hired by Stick and Sniff, the global leader in peach-scented duct tape, at about the same time. They were two bright and capable coworkers that would take the world of sticky products by storm. Sarah was hired to handle the branding and Andrew would work on the logistics. They stayed in their respective lanes for a while, but over time their roles blurred. (Highlight this sentence in your mind, we’re going to come back to it).

Sarah and Andrew did everything together. To see Sarah was to see Andrew and vice versa. Before long they became Sandrew. It became a joke around the office. If you needed to check on something in their department you’d say, “Have you checked with Sandrew? What does Sandrew say about this?” You didn’t need to hear from both of them — just one and it carried the opinion of both.

But this meant that Sarah and Andrew no longer existed as individuals. The two became one. Now, when we shift over into talk about the Trinity (Father, Son, and Spirit) we might think “the three became one” is orthodox, but it’s really not.

Two Errors in Thinking

Let’s go back to that sentence I asked you to highlight.

“They stayed in their respective lanes for a while, but over time their roles blurred.” That little sentence, if pressed too far, contains within it two heresies. The first part, “stayed in their respective lanes,” is known as modalism. Let me explain.

Heresy often happens when someone tries to explain one aspect of God but they don’t give full weight to another side. Like the Arians who tried to protect God’s oneness but ended up denying the full divinity of Jesus. Others picked up on that debate. Not wanting to be Arians and wanting to show that the Father, Son, and Spirit were three in one, they tried to explain it by saying that God just wore different masks at different times. That is modalism.

And often to avoid that error, people would drift into the other part of that sentence; they’d blend the Trinity together in such a way that they lost their distinction. That’s what happened often in the first millennium of the church (who am I kidding? It still happens today). People kept moving from either making the Trinity so distinct that we lost the unity or deity of each member, or it making the Trinity so blended that we lost the distinction of each member.

Enter Perichoresis

In the 4^th century, a guy named Gregroy Nazianzus started using the word perichoresis to defend the Trinity. He wasn’t using it quite the way that it would be used later, but it was planting seeds. He was just using it to try to explain how the Trinity is able to “indwell” one another but do so without division or confusion. It’s a word meant to say that they are distinct but not separated.

And if you’d like me to give you an analogy there to make it a little clearer — no thanks. That’s how we end up being heretics. Just let it be what it is and let your brain smoke a little. Gregory was looking at the Scriptures and coming to the conclusion that God reveals Himself as Trinity, and each member is not an independent agent but eternally co-inhering and sharing in the same divine essence.

That was him opposing Arianism. And it did a pretty good job of nailing that down. But then we had to deal with the “blending” — specifically, the blending of the nature of Jesus. And that’s when Maximus the Confessor came onto the scene. He pulled out that word from Gregory and started to use it as a noun to describe the nature of Jesus. He was showing how Jesus was fully divine and fully human — in one person. He wasn’t Sandrew.

Maximus taught that the divine and human natures in Christ “perichōrousin” (interpenetrate one another), so that Christ is not divided, nor are His natures blended.

Fast forward another century and John of Damascus fully developed the doctrine. He used it as a formal theological term — what we have now — and applied it to both Trinitarian and Christological debates. He was huge in helping us say that the three divine persons dwell in one another in a way that is without confusion, without separation, and without change. John used perichoresis to explain it.

Clear as mud? Let me risk a potential illustration here to try to clear up the meaning of the word just a little.

A Potential Illustration

This is going to fall apart at some point so just try to pull out what you can to explain this concept and don’t push it any further than intended.

Let’s imagine, just for the sake of illustration, that the Divine is a house. Perichoresis is a way of saying that each person of the Godhead so fully indwells the others that it’s as if they each have full access to the entire life of God — room to move, dwell, and be present within one another without obstruction.

Or to say that another way, each person has the space to walk around — not because they are separate rooms in a divine house, but because the fullness of divine is perfectly open and fully shared among them. There is no part of the “Spirit” that the “Son” doesn’t have access to. And no part of the “Father” that the “Son” doesn’t have access to, and so forth. No corners are hidden; no “parts of God” are off-limits. Each has the whole space of divinity and yet are fully distinct.

Again, be careful and don’t make yourself a heretic with this. The orthodox statement is something like this: Perichoresis is the mutual indwelling of the three distinct persons of the Trinity — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — such that each fully possesses and shares the one divine essence, remaining distinct in person yet perfectly united in being, without confusion, separation, or division.

But there’s another important question to answer. Why does any of this matter? Is this just theological speculation that has no bearing on our life?

Why Does Perichoresis Matter for You Today?

You might think, especially if you’re in a particularly dry climate, that pityriasis may have more impact on your life than perichoresis. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. First, it’s important because understanding truth and the nature of God is important. It’s important that we get this correct so we can rightly relate to God. But there are also a few reasons why this doctrine is important practically.

1. It Shows Us That Relationship Is at the Heart of Reality

Trinity is the heart of all reality. God is the foundation of everything. It all flows out of Him. If that’s the case, then it is vitally important that God has always existed in a relationship. The Trinity is joyfully bound together. And it shows us that this kind of loving relationship is one that fully respects the identity of the other — that’s what love is. This tells us that relationship isn’t just something that God does, it’s who God is. And if we’re made in His image, this is a pretty big deal.

2. It Protects the Unity and Distinction of God

That may not seem like that important of a matter, but God is pretty firm on there being “one God.” And He doesn’t reveal Himself as One God in three different masks. So how we work this out is important. God has revealed Himself as both united and distinct. This isn’t a puzzle to solve as much as it is a mystery that evokes our worship. Getting this right allows us to follow the Scriptures in giving worship to Jesus, and yet to do so with full understanding that God is One.

3. It Reshapes How We Understand Salvation

Sometimes we think of salvation as the Trinity fighting one another. As if the Father wants to zap us but the Son steps in and offers to die for us. He’s got compassion but the Father would rather see us torched. And the Spirit just goes along with the whole thing because He’s just super passive and does whatever He’s told. But understanding this doctrine means that there is no compassion that the Son has which isn’t shared by the Father and Spirit. The whole of salvation is Trinitarian. And when we’re saved, we’re brought into this relationship. How amazing is that?

4. It Becomes the Model for Christian Community

I hinted at this earlier, but we’re called into this community. We don’t exist just to attend a worship service and perform a few tasks. We’re shaped by this divine love. That means that we’re supposed to move towards this kind of community — where we aren’t self-protective but self-giving. Where we are honoring others and making space for them and giving access to them.

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