The truth is, every illustration [of the Trinity], as being incomplete on one or other side of it [i.e. the human or divine natures or “sides” of Jesus], taken by itself, tends to heresy. The title Son by itself suggests a second God, as the title Word a mere attribute, and the title Instrument a creature. All heresies are partial views of the truth, and are wrong, not so much in what they say, as in what they deny. (Athanasius, “Four Discourses Against the Arians,” trans. John Henry Newman, in Schaff, Nicene and Post Nicene Fathers, Series II, vol. 4, p. 322 n. 2; square brackets my own, added for clarification)
This admission by Cardinal Newman reminds me of a video I have posted elsewhere on this blog, but is worth reposting, as (1) it is hilarious and (2) hits the nail on the head:
