The temptation is to soften some aspect of the mystery in order to make it more comprehensible. Historically this has led to any number of heretical outcomes. For instance, if one denies the real distinctions among the three persons, Sabellianism (modalism) results. If one denies that each and every person possesses the fullness of divinity, subordinationism results. And if one divides the substance so as to conceive of divinity as a generic essence with three particular instantiations, tritheism (polytheism) results.
