What is the doctrine of the Trinity? According to Christianity.com’s website, the trinity belief is defined as the belief that the one God eternally exists in three Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; and that these three are one God, co-equal and co-eternal, having precisely the same nature and attributes, and worthy of precisely the same worship, confidence, and obedience. The article on that website is titled, “God in Three Persons: A Doctrine We Barely Understand” and it was written by Dr. Ray Pritchard. Instead of writing a free standing paper about this subject, I will write a critique about Dr. Pritchard’s article.
Excerpts from Dr. Ray Pritchard’s article will be shown “italicized” while my critique will be shown in bold text formatting.
Critique
Introduction
All Christians believe the doctrine of the Trinity. If you do not believe this—that is, if you have come to a settled conclusion that the doctrine of the Trinity is not true—you are not a Christian at all. You are in fact a heretic. Those words may sound harsh, but they represent the judgment of the Christian church across the centuries. What is the Trinity? Christians in every land unite in proclaiming that our God eternally exists as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Those who deny that truth place themselves outside the pale of Christian orthodoxy.
Having said that, I admit that no one fully understands it. It is a mystery and a paradox. Yet I believe it is true.
I can think of at least three reasons for believing in the Trinity:
- The Bible teaches this doctrine.
- Christians everywhere have always believed it.
- No other explanation makes sense.
Someone has said it this way: If you try to explain the Trinity, you will lose your mind. But if you deny it, you will lose your soul.
In reading the introduction of this article, one can see that according to Christianity, being a Christian has much more to do with just following or being “like Christ”. If one doesn’t embrace the Christian doctrine of the trinity, then one is not even a Christian at all but rather, a heretic. Why does this doctrine mean so much to Christianity? For a doctrine that is so mysterious and bogus all at the same time, it would appear that it would be just another insignificant doctrine for which one Christian sect would divide from another to form a separate denomination but no… this doctrine of the trinity essentially defines who you are as a Christian so it seems. The fact that Christianity proclaims that God exists “eternally” suggests that God’s existence is dependent on time. The word eternity is defined as infinite or unending time but time itself is a construct created by God so how can God exist within the limits of a construct He designed for His creation? God exists and His existence is not determined by time. If Christianity is that careless to make such a claim that is not only illogical but impossible, how much more can they adopt illogical and impossible doctrines? The trinity doctrine is nothing more than a doctrine of men and the bible nowhere teaches this doctrine. It is a fact that Christians everywhere have always believed it but Christians everywhere have also been subjected to the lies of religious leaders for centuries. Christian support is no basis for believing anything and I’d argue that it would be more practical to believe the opposite of anything that Christianity endorses. Just take one look into the history of the Christian church and you will see that their judgments were utterly vile and wicked so their judgment is certainly not something to measure a doctrine against.
The Trinity Defined
There are many places we might go to find a suitable definition. Any of the great ecumenical creeds would serve us well in this regard. However, let’s stick closer to home and simply reprint Article B—The True God from the Calvary Memorial Church Articles of Faith.
We believe in one living and true God who is the Creator of heaven and earth; who is eternal, almighty, unchangeable, infinitely powerful, wise, just and holy.
We believe that the one God eternally exists in three Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; and that these three are one God, co-equal and co-eternal, having precisely the same nature and attributes, and worthy of precisely the same worship, confidence, and obedience. Matthew 3:16, 17; Matthew 28:19, 20; Mark 12:29; John 1:14; Acts 5:3, 4; II Corinthians 13:14.
While I am sure that this statement is biblically accurate, I also understand that it can seem very intimidating. Let’s break it down into six smaller statements about the trinity that’s easier to understand:
One God and One Only
Exists in three Persons
Equal and Eternal
Worthy of equal praise and worship
Distinct yet acting in unity
Constituting the one true God of the Bible
As you might imagine, the early church struggled mightily over this doctrine. They eventually reduced their belief in the Trinity to two short statements. They concluded that God is …
One in Essence
Three in Person
When we say these things we mean that the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, but they are not three gods but only one God. The Father is not the Son, the Son is not the Spirit, the Spirit is not the Father, but each is God individually and yet they are together the one true God of the Bible.
Have you ever seen the word “Godhead?” Theologians sometimes use that term when they want to refer to God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit as three divine Persons in one God.
At this point I think we should acknowledge the chief objection to the doctrine of the Trinity, which is that it is absurd. Sometimes the Jehovah’s Witnesses (who pointedly deny the Trinity) ridicule it with this little equation: 1 + 1 + 1 = 3. In their minds Christians worship three Gods, not one. The answer is quite simple. The doctrine of the Trinity is not absurd if that’s what the Bible teaches. Furthermore, there is more than one way to play with equations. You could also say it this way: 1 x 1 x 1 = 1!
Who creates religious doctrines? Who is it that writes these great ecumenical creeds? Is it not but mere men, men who have been given religious authority to rule over the masses of people?
Before taking a look at the scriptures used here to support the trinity doctrine, let’s take a closer look at this notion that Jesus Christ and his Father are co-equal. Is it logical to think that a “son” could ever be considered to be equal to his “father”?
Does Jesus ever claim that he is equal to His Father? No, he doesn’t and in fact, in John 14:28, Jesus plainly states that his Father is “GREATER” than he is…
If Jesus’ Father is “greater” than he is, how can they be co-equal? Not only is that a contradiction, it’s just plain stupid. 2 is always greater than 1 and there is no way to justify trying to make 2 equal 1 or 1 to equal 2. The father always comes before the son so how could they be co-eternal? This is BEYOND absurd… I’m a father and I have a son that is 16 years old… We are not co-equal or in any way. I’ve existed 22 years before he was even born. He depends on me for essentially EVERYTHING but that is not unusual as most children depend on their parents for just about everything. Is it any different for Jesus and his Father? Does Jesus depend on his Father for everything or does he operate independently to do whatever it is that he wants to do?
John 5:30 (Jesus speaking) I CAN OF MYSELF DO NOTHING. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.
So, we are charged to believe that God the Father and His son Jesus Christ are co-equal but Jesus can’t do anything without His Father’s guidance for he does his Father’s will not his own. Does that sound like a co-equal situation to you? Does John 5:30 say, my Father and I do the same thing. As we collaborate, we judge; and Our judgment is righteous, because we seek each other’s will which is really the same thing?
If you and I started a business as a partnership with equal interest at 50/50 and I tell you, don’t make any business decisions without listening to me, in fact, don’t do anything you want to do but rather, do everything that I want to do. How “co-equal” would you feel?
A son is NEVER equal to his own father and this is elementary knowledge.
Here are the scriptures used to support the trinity;
Matthew 3:16-17 When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
How does this support the trinity? How does “the Spirit of God” become a separate person from God Himself based on this scripture? We have got to stop viewing God as a man as if He is literally sitting on a literal throne in the clouds somewhere in outer space. God is “SPIRIT” and spirit is invisible. God exists everywhere and there is not a place that God doesn’t exist! The “Spirit” of God belongs to God not the Holy Spirit. It doesn’t say, the Spirit of the Holy Spirit but rather, the Spirit of God because the Spirit of God belongs to God. The “spirit” of Sulaiman (Me) is not a separate distinct person from Sulaiman. We are one and the same for my “spirit” is a part of me – it isn’t a separate or different version of me, it is me! The Spirit of God is God…
Matthew 28:19-20 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
How does baptizing people in the NAME of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit create a triune God?
Mark 12:29 Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.
Exactly, one not three individual persons…
John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
There is NO trinity in this scripture, not even close…
Acts 5:3-4 But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself?While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own control? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.”
These scriptures simply illustrate that the Holy Spirit is God but that doesn’t make the Holy Spirit a separate and individual person apart from God. In Matthew 1:20, we read that Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit but nowhere in the scriptures is Jesus referred to as the Son of the Holy Spirit. Jesus is the Son of the Father but why isn’t the Holy Spirit recognized as the father of Christ if the Holy Spirit is to be recognized as a distinct individual co-equal third of a Godhead trinity? If a man impregnates a woman with his seed and she conceives a child, the man is the father of the child. The man’s seed is not the father and his seed is certainly not an individual and coequal version himself. The Holy Spirit acted as “God’s seed” and since Mary was conceived of God’s seed (the Holy Spirit), God is the Father not the Holy Spirit.
2 Corinthians 13:14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.
The “grace of Christ and the “love” of God with the “communion” of the Holy Spirit does NOT create a Christian trinity.
In reference to the word “Godhead”, this interesting word came from a variation of transliterations of the Greek word “theos” which is properly defined and used as “God”. The Greek adjective “theios” is found 3 times in the New Testament and twice it is used as the word “divine” and once as “Godhead”. How did the bible translators go from “divine” to “Godhead”? What is interesting is that the Greek has a word for “head” and it is “kephalē” yet we do not find the words “theos/theios” paired with “kephale” anywhere in the Greek. The word “Godhead” is a Christian invention created solely to provide some form of justification for the trinity, a pure doctrine of men. Consider this;
Colossians 2:9 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily;
If the “Godhead” represents the trinity which includes God in one as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, how can the fullness of God the Son dwell in the Son himself? The fullness of the DIVINE (God’s nature) dwells in Christ’s body and the “divine” is GOD. In Christ doesn’t dwell the fullness of Christ himself as we are plainly told in John 5:30 that Christ of his own self can do NOTHING and he seeks not his own will but the will of his Father. Look at how other translations render Colossians 2:9?
Christian Standard Bible
For the entire fullness of God’s nature dwells bodily in Christ,
Colossians 2:9 Good News Translation
For the full content of divine nature lives in Christ, in his humanity,
The Living Bible
For in Christ there is all of God in a human body;
New American Standard Bible
For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form,
All of these more responsible bible translations do not include the strange word “Godhead” so it is clear that this word was “added” to the word of God to somehow justify this bogus trinity doctrine. The only defense that the Christian church uses to defend the absurdity of the trinity doctrine is to claim that it’s what the bible teaches when the bible clearly doesn’t. Christianity interprets scriptures in a way that supports their own beliefs not for the purpose of truth and enlightenment. The chief objection to the doctrine of the trinity is that it is false and the only god that Christians truly worship is the god of Christianity.
The Trinity Explained
What exactly do we mean when we speak of the Trinity? Let’s start with the negative and work toward the positive.
- What we don’t mean
First of all, Christians don’t believe in three Gods. That’s a heresy called Tritheism. Second, we don’t believe that the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit are three “forms” of God—like, steam, water and ice. That’s the heresy called Modalism. Third, we don’t believe that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are “parts” or “pieces” or God. That would imply that Jesus is 1/3rd God, the Father is 1/3rd God, and the Holy Spirit is 1/3rd God.
- Where do we find the Trinity doctrine in the Bible?
I would answer that the Trinity is taught in both the Old and the New Testaments. It is taught by implication in the Old and by direct statement in the New.
For instance, the Bible contains numerous clear statements regarding the unity of God: Deuteronomy 6:4 tells us that “the Lord is one.” 1 Corinthians 8:4 adds that “there is no God but one.” 1 Timothy 2:5 explicitly says “there is one God.” All Christians heartily affirm this truth.
However, the Bible also contains clear statements regarding diversity within that unity. For instance, in the very first verse of the Bible we are told that “In the beginning God.” The Hebrew word for God is elohim, which is actually a plural form of the word el. It’s a word that in other contexts is sometimes translated as “gods,” referring to heathen deities. Later in the same chapter we have one of the most striking statements of diversity-in-unity:
Then God said, ‘‘Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:26-27
Notice the shift in pronouns. “Let us … in our image … So God created man in his own image. … he created him.” From us and our to he. Why the shift? Commentators speak of a literary form called the plural of majesty or the “editorial we.” This much is certainly true. If Genesis 1 does not explicitly teach diversity-in-unity within the Godhead, it certainly leaves room for it to be developed later in the Bible.
Isaiah 48:16 seems to explicitly refer to all three Persons of the Trinity (with my additions in parentheses): “And now the Sovereign LORD (the Father) has sent me (the Son), with his Spirit (the Holy Spirit).” I’m not suggesting that Isaiah fully understood the Trinity or that the Jewish readers would have understood what it meant, but I do think that in the light of the New Testament, we can say that this seems to be a clear statement of the Trinity in the Old Testament.
Consider further this line of evidence. All Three Persons are called God in different places in the Bible.
Father — Galatians 1:1
Son — John 20:28
Spirit — Acts 5:3-4
How could the Son and the Spirit be called God unless they somehow share in God’s essence? But if they share in God’s essence, they are God alongside the Father.
Finally, all three Persons are associated together on an equal basis in numerous passages:
Jesus’ baptism—Matthew 3:13-17 (voice of the Father, Son baptized, Spirit descending like a dove).
Salvation—1 Peter 1:2 (chosen by the Father, sanctified by the Spirit, sprinkled with the blood of Jesus).
Sanctification—2 Corinthians 13:14 (grace of the Lord Jesus, love of God, fellowship of the Holy Spirit).
Christian Baptism—Matthew 28:19 (baptized in one name, yet three Persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit).
Prayer—Ephesians 3:14-21 (strengthened by his Spirit, know the love of Christ, filled with the fullness of God).
Christian Growth—2 Thessalonians 2:13 (chosen by God, loved by the Lord, sanctified by the Spirit).
This list of passages might be extended. It simply shows how easily the writers of Scripture passed from one Person of the Trinity to another, doing so in a way that assumes their equality of nature while preserving their distinct personhood. If the doctrine of the Trinity is not true, it would seem to be blasphemy to speak so freely of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in one and the same breath.
The title of this section is called “The Trinity Explained” but there is no explanation provided rather only a series of leading implications that guide the reader to the obvious conclusion for anyone bias or already indoctrinated in Christian dogma. Just for the record, the “trinity” doctrine itself is also heresy…
In regards to the authors claim about this diversity-in-unity based on the Hebrew word “Elohim”, the plural Hebrew word “Elohim” doesn’t in any way support the doctrine of the trinity. At the time “God” decided to create the heavens and the earth, “God” was already a FAMILY which consisted of “father and son”. That is why “Elohim” is plural and why “Elohim” or (the God family) said, “let us be making man in “Our” image”. It is unbelievable to me how far people will go to try an justify their precious little heresies…
Now let’s take a look at Isaiah 48:16;
“Come near to Me, hear this: I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; From the time that it was, I was there. And now the Lord God and His Spirit have sent Me.”
The author certainly believes this to “explicitly” support the trinity doctrine but is it really so explicit? Could it be that his religious bias has blinded him from seeing anything other than what he wants to see? When men impose their religious ideas into the scriptures, we allow men to exalt the doctrines of men over the word of God. From the translation provided by the author, it does appear at face value that there are three distinct characters but let’s look at how some other translations render Isaiah 48:16;
New International Reader’s Version
“Come close and listen to me. “From the first time I said Cyrus was coming, I did not do it in secret. When he comes, I will be there.” The Lord and King has FILLED ME WITH HIS SPIRIT. People of Israel, he has sent me to you.
New International Version
“Come near me and listen to this: “From the first announcement I have not spoken in secret; at the time it happens, I am there.” And now the Sovereign Lord has sent me, ENDOWED WITH HIS SPIRIT.
Good News Translation
“Now come close to me and hear what I say. From the beginning I have spoken openly and have always made my words come true.” (Now the Sovereign Lord has GIVEN ME HIS POWER and sent me.)
From these translations, we can clearly see that the Holy Spirit is NOT an individual person but rather God Himself working with and through him that was sent. Do the scriptures support the idea that God sends forth or does whatever He chooses with His Spirit or do we see the Holy Spirit ever act independently?
Acts 10:38 And you know that God ANOINTED Jesus of Nazareth with THE HOLY SPIRIT AND WITH POWER. Then Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for GOD WAS WITH HIM.
Did the Holy Spirit anoint Jesus or did God? Again, the Holy Spirit is not a distinct person of a triune god, the Holy Spirit is God’s Spirit which He uses to display His own mighty works. God is manifested to the physical world through his Spirit. Do we need another witness?
Luke 4:1 Then Jesus, being FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,
Here again, we see that Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit which is God’s own spirit not some independent force or person absent of God but the author contends that all three “persons” are called “God” and he uses Galatians 1:1, John 20:28, and Acts 5:3-4 to support that idea. He continues that since the Son and the Spirit share in God’s essence; then they must also be God alongside the Father.
They MUST also be God alongside the Father? Sharing in God’s essence doesn’t make anyone or anything EQUAL to God the Father the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth. Humanity has “life” but isn’t “life” the essence of God? Are we equal to God because we share in the God essence of “life”? Again, the Holy Spirit – IS – God but the Holy Spirit is not a separate or distinct person apart from God. What God does with His own power all belongs to Him not some other person of a trinity called The Holy Spirit.
Here is a question for the author? Does Jesus have a God? Based on his article, I would assume that he would argue that he doesn’t because he is himself God co-equal to his Father. The scriptures show us that Jesus Christ has a Father and his Father is also his God…
2 Corinthians 11:31 THE GOD AND FATHER OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, which is blessed for evermore, know that I lie not.
Ephesians 1:17 That THE GOD OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
1 Peter 1:3 Blessed be THE GOD AND FATHER OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
So again, does Jesus Christ have a God? Yes he does… Does God the Father have a God? NO, He doesn’t… So how can they be co-equal? There is more than one way to assume the title “God” for in John 20:28, Jesus Christ is certainly the “God” of Timothy but he is NOT the God of His Father. We as in (humanity) are considered to be “gods” simply by having knowledge of good and evil. God has given His son all authority in heaven and in earth so by that alone, Christ can certainly be and is “God” but he is not “God” over his Father the one that gave him the position to begin with.
1 Corinthians 15:27-28 For God has put everything under his feet. Now when it says “everything” is put under him, it is obvious that he who puts everything under him is the exception. When everything is subject to Christ, then the Son himself will also be subject to the one who subjected everything to him, so that God may be all in all.
So, do you still believe that Jesus Christ is “co-equal” to his Father?
The Trinity Examined
In this section of the message I want to examine some of the common questions about the Trinity.
- Where in the Bible do you find the word Trinity?
The word “Trinity” is not in the Bible. Neither is the word “Inerrancy” but we don’t discard it simply because it isn’t found in the Bible. The issue is not the word, but the concept or the idea. We don’t believe in the Trinity because of the word, but because of what the Bible teaches.
The word of God teaches NO such thing as the “trinity” by word or concept. Christians believe in the trinity because that is what Christianity teaches and Christians submit to the will of Christianity.
- Is there another word we could use?
Yes there is. Theologians sometimes speak of the Tri-Unity of God. That’s a good word—even though it sounds odd to our ears—because it combines the two ideas of unity and diversity in one word. There is a third word you should know. Sometimes we speak of the “Triune” God. That’s also another word that means the same thing as Trinity.
Nonsense, just more Christian religious gobbledygook…
- How can we illustrate the Trinity?
A number of illustrations have been suggested. They all are useful as long as you remember they are only illustrations. For water can exist as solid, liquid, or steam. That’s okay, but usually water only exists in one state at a time. However, there is a physical condition in which water can exist as solid, liquid and steam at the same time—which would be a much better illustration of the Trinity.
There are others we could mention. An egg is made up of a shell, the egg white, and the yolk. All three are needed for an egg to be complete. One of the more interesting illustrations note the different roles a person can play. I am a father, a son and a husband at one and the same time. Yet I am only one person. Perhaps a more biblical approach is to consider that a husband and wife are two persons yet in God’s eyes they are “one flesh.” Add children and then you have the family as a miniature (and very imperfect) version of the Trinity.
This is actually kind of funny! What the author is saying is certainly true in regards to the word “trinity” but the funny part is that it has absolutely nothing to do with God. Christianity imposes this worldly nonsense on God and it is as absurd as it is comical.
In regards to the author’s example using the 3 forms of water, I would like to know the “physical” or “spiritual” conditions that took place for God to be Father, Son, and Holy Spirit that is, the trinity? Does God turn into the Holy Spirit in subzero temperatures? Or maybe the Son (pun intended) when it is sweltering? An illustration is meant to help clarify not to create additional confusion. In his second analogy, he uses the different roles people can play but it is very interesting that he limited his roles to only 3 as if he is not also a child himself to his parents and quite possibly an uncle, cousin, brother, and a host of other possible familial roles. A man must have a child before he becomes a father, he must be born first before he can be a son, and he must get married to be a husband. These are all “circumstantial” events that must take place at distinct times before the role can be assigned to the man. Was God a “father” before He had a son or did He just assume the role even before He had a son? I’m not restricting God to human limitations but you don’t receive a title until you accomplish the role for which the title is given. God is the Creator of the Universe because He created the Universe. If He didn’t create the universe how silly would it be to suggest that He did anyway? It is true that husband and wife are considered one union in marriage to God but that is 2 not 3 and children have nothing to do with marriage so the author’s example is pointless.
Tony Evans commented that the pretzel is a good illustration because it consists of one piece of dough with three holes. Take away any one of the holes and the pretzel isn’t really a pretzel anymore. (According to some people, the pretzel was actually invented in Europe several hundred years ago by a monk who wanted to illustrate the Trinity to the children of his village so he took some dough, looped into the familiar three-hour shape, based it, and gave it to the children as an edible object lesson.)
Wow, I am utterly flabbergasted… so these “3 pretzel holes” I assume are supposed to be representative of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirt. In the pretzel analogy, if one hole is taken away then the pretzel is really not a pretzel anymore. Is this suggesting that God is not God anymore if one of the trinity persons is taking away? Well, I believe Christ actually DIED if I’m not mistaken and I think God managed to get through with that okay…
My personal favorite illustration comes from noted scientist Dr. Henry Morris. He notes that the entire universe is trinitarian by design. The universe consists of three things: matter, space, and time. Take away any one of those three and the universe would cease to exist. But each one of those is itself a trinity.
Matter = mass + energy + motion
Space = length + height + breadth
Time = past + present + future
Thus the whole universe witnesses to the character of the God who made it (cf. Psalm 19:1).
It’s important to remember that all illustrations fail eventually. They don’t “prove” the Trinity, they simply help us understand the concept.
Attempting to explain the concept of the “trinity” is no different than trying to help someone understand the concept of square circles. It is simply irrational and impossible. The design of the universe may certainly exist within a 3 construct system but it certainly has nothing to do with 3 construct God.
The Trinity Applied
I am sure that many Christians think this doctrine has no practical value. That is, even if it’s true, it doesn’t and shouldn’t matter to them. However, that simply isn’t true. Let me suggest five important ramifications of this truth.
- The Trinity helps us answer the question, “What was God doing before he created the universe?”
This is a question little children like to stump their parents with. But skeptics like to ask it as well. You may remember Augustine’s answer: “He was preparing Hell for people who ask questions like that!”
But the Trinity teaches us that before the foundation of the world, God was having fellowship within his own being. That’s why the Bible tells us that the Father loves the Son (John 17:24). In some sense we can never understand that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit have forever communicated and loved each other.
Francis Schaeffer emphasized this point in his books. This, he says, is where the human desire for intimacy and communication comes from. We were made to communicate. That design is part of the image of God within each of us.
It also teaches us that God is never “lonely.” He didn’t create us because he “needed” us. God could have existed forever without us. That he made us at all is a statement of his great love and the wisdom of his plan.
The reason why many Christians think that the doctrine of the trinity has no practical value is because it doesn’t have any practical value. A believer gains NOTHING by believing this silly doctrine. To suggest that the practicality of a doctrine shouldn’t matter to the believer is blatantly irresponsible. This is section is called, “The Trinity Applied” but how can someone “apply” something that’s impractical?
It amazes me how casual Christians are when they make subtle comments or boast about their own evil pagan hell. The fact that any person can believe that God would create such a place at any time is beyond the boundaries of insanity but I guess to be truly “Christian” some element of fear mongering must be included to sway believers.
The author states, “the Trinity teaches us that before the foundation of the world, God was having fellowship within his own being”.
WHAT? So now the “trinity” is teaching us? Let that nugget of stupidity sink in for a minute. Christianity creates its own unscriptural doctrine and then they convince themselves that they are actually being taught by it. Is that not consistent with what the ancient pagan cultures practiced? Creating their own gods and then looking to that created god for spiritual direction? Unbelievable…
Christianity teaches that Jesus Christ the Son of God is eternal and even though the word eternal is not appropriate, I understand what they are trying to convey. However, the SCRIPTURES tell us in Colossians 1:15 that Jesus Christ was the “FIRSTBORN” of all creation… CREATION? Is that not a damning scriptural truth to the eternal son teaching? Yes it is but what does Christianity do when they come across a scripture that contradicts their teachings? They call on to the “god of context” in order to change the meaning of the scripture so that it aligns with what they teach but make no mistake about it… Jesus Christ was “created” by his Father. Why is that so hard to believe? Aren’t all sons created by their father? We know that Jesus Christ who is the “Word of God” existed in the beginning with God but did the Word of God exist before the beginning? Well, time itself is a creation and since Christ is preeminent over all creation, it’s probable that he existed before time. With that said, Christ’s existence was still dependent on God speaking since Christ is the “Word of God”? There is no evidence that God always spoke and it is logical to conclude that it wasn’t until God spoke that Christ was born, that is – the first thing God produced from Himself that was manifested as His son. The point of all this is to clearly show that the Son of God didn’t always exist with the Father and based on that truth, it proves the trinity doctrine to be completely false. The way God created us to desire communication and intimacy has nothing to do with God being a trinity.
- The Trinity sets the limits on human speculation about the nature of God.
There is so much we would like to know about God, but our finite minds cannot comprehend it. We are not free to create God in our own image. The Trinity sets the limits for human speculation. God is more than the Trinity, but he is not less than that.
Let us all remember that Christianity believes that torturing people in real fire for all eternity is a part of God’s nature but they want to limit human speculation with the trinity? The trinity is the king of all human speculation… It is true that our finite minds cannot comprehend all there is to know about God but we can know “some” things about God for He has already revealed many things to us. We do not need to make up or grasp for fictitious doctrines just because it tickles ears. The author claims that we are not free to create God in our own image but that is exactly what he and trinity worshipers do with their trinity god. There is a school of thought that teaches that man is comprised of spirit, soul, and body – essentially a trinity and man has projected this self-created trinity onto God. The logic is, if man is a trinity made up of spirit, soul, and body and we are being made in God’s image, then God Himself must also be a trinity. That’s actually quite logical to their defense but the problem is – man is NOT a trinity made up of spirit, soul, and body. Most religions believe that a man’s soul is a separate entity from the man’s body but that is not based on anything scriptural. In the book of Genesis, we read that God formed man from the dust of the earth then He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life – THEN man became a “LIVING SOUL”! Man was not a living soul before his body and the breath of life (God’s spirit) were combined together. A man’s body is a part of his soul it is not a separate entity. If I had some wood and nails and combined them together in the shape of a square, I would have a wooden box. The wood and nails weren’t a box until the two were combined. If I take the nails out of the wood, the wooden box doesn’t exist anymore. God is God, not a trinity…
- The Trinity teaches us that God is beyond all human comprehension.
After all, if we could explain God, he wouldn’t be God. I have no doubt that God is much more than “one in essence, three in Person,” but since I can’t even understand those simple phrases, I don’t worry at all about what else might be true about God. If you feel baffled by the Trinity, join the crowd. The greatest minds of history have stood in amazement before a God so great that he cannot be contained by our puny explanations.
God doesn’t need a stupid “trinity” to surpass all human comprehension. He does that all by Himself no trinity included… It is foolish to think that since God is beyond all human comprehension then the trinity must be true since it also is beyond all human comprehension. Most of Christianity’s doctrines are beyond all human comprehension.
- The Trinity exalts the Son and the Spirit.
We all know that God the Father is to be worshiped. But what about Jesus Christ? If he is God, should we not also worship him? The answer of course is yes. But that truth leads us back to the Trinity. He is not merely the Son of God but also God the Son. The same thing may be said about the Holy Spirit. He is not just a “force” but a Divine Person. Not an “influence” or some vague power, but the Third Person of the Trinity.
Let me draw one important inference. Since all Three Persons of the Trinity are equally God, we may pray to any member of the Trinity. That, by the way, is the number one question I have been asked about the Holy Spirit since writing Names of the Holy Spirit. Many Christians simply do not feel comfortable praying to the Spirit even though we often sing songs that are essentially prayers to the Spirit, such as “Spirit of God, descend upon my heart” and “Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.” Surely if we may sing to the Spirit, we may also pray to him. If he is God, our prayers may be directed to him.
I do agree that Christian prayers will customarily be made to the Father (e.g. The Lord’s Prayer). But let us not quibble or imagine that the Father is slighted if we direct our prayers to the Son or to the Spirit, according to the need of the moment. There is no jealousy among the members of the Trinity nor could there ever be.
The fact that Christ is due worship doesn’t make Christ of equal standing with his Father and there are ample scriptures to prove that for which I have already provided. God the Father is God because of Himself while Christ is God because of His Father. Christ without His Father is NOT God for it is God that appointed Christ to have all authority in heaven and in earth! The Holy Spirit is NOT a Divine “Person” and it matters little how many time trinity worshipers proclaim it. God is “Spirit” and He manifests Himself through His own power via His own Spirit. The Holy Spirit of God is God Himself working with and through His creation. They are not 2 separate entities. There is NO scriptural justification to suggest that the Holy Spirit is the third person of a trinity. That is merely a creed of Christianity.
- The Trinity helps us understand what really happened at the Cross.
At the climax of Jesus’ suffering, he cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” What do those strange, tortured words mean? We have a hint of the answer in that every other time Jesus prayed, he used the term “Father.” But at that moment, when he bore the full weight of the sins of the world, when all that is evil and wretched was poured out upon him, in some way we cannot begin to fathom, God—who cannot look upon sin—turned his back on his own Son. Sin as it were (though not in ultimate reality) caused a rupture in the Trinity. Instead of “Father,” Jesus cries out, “My God, my God!” It is God speaking to God. The eternal Son cries out to the Father at the moment when the penalty of sin has been laid upon him. If it be asked, how could one man pay for the sins of the entire race, we find the answer in the doctrine of the Trinity. Only an infinite God could bear the sins of the world!
What really happened at the cross was the Son of God died for the sins of the world! The author once again is reaching and stretching to find anything to support the trinity heresy. God is the God and Father of Jesus Christ and Jesus saying, “My God, my God” instead of, “Father, Father” doesn’t have anything to do with a trinity. God’s presence, that is – the Spirit of God followed Christ wherever he went. When Christ took on the sins of the world, the presence of the Father was separated from Christ but it is foolish to think that God cannot look upon sin.
Isaiah 59:2 It is your sins that separate you from your God. He turns away from you when he sees them.
There was a rupture in the oneness that Christ experienced with his Father not a trinity and this rupture was certainly not “God speaking to God”. It was the Son of God talking to his Father who just so happens to be his God too. God turned away from His son when He placed the sins of the world on him. Jesus Christ was able to bear the sins of the world because with God All THINGS are possible. Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world! The “Trinity” is NOT the savior of the world…
A Doctrine that Unites and Divides
The doctrine of the Trinity has been called the most puzzling doctrine in the Christian faith and the central truth of the Christian faith. Which is it? Inscrutable puzzle or central truth? The answer is, both are true.
This doctrine unites all true Christians and separates us from those who are not Christian. You may believe and still not be a Christian, but if you deny this doctrine in your heart, you are not a Christian at all.
I come now to the end of my sermon. In so doing I end where I began. The Trinity is a doctrine that all Christians believe but no one really understands. That much should be clear from this message. If you try to explain the Trinity, you will lose your mind. But if you deny it, you will lose your soul.
Someone asked Daniel Webster, who happened to be a fervent Christian, “How can a man of your intellect believe in the Trinity?” “I do not pretend fully to understand the arithmetic of heaven now,” he replied. That’s a good phrase—the arithmetic of heaven.
The Trinity should cause us to bow in humble adoration before a God who is greater than our minds could ever comprehend.
Let us rejoice that we have a Triune God who has provided for a Trinitarian salvation. When we were lost in sin, our God acted in every Person of his being to save us. The Father gave the Son, the Son offered himself on the Cross, and the Holy Spirit brought us to Jesus. We were so lost that it took every member of the Godhead to save us.
In 1774 a man named Ignaz Franz wrote a hymn of praise to the Trinity: Holy God, We Praise Your Name. Verse three may serve as an apt conclusion to this message.
“Holy Father, Holy Son, Holy Spirit, Three we name you;
While in essence only one, undivided God we claim you.
Then, adoring, bend the knee, and confess the mystery.”
Indeed it is a mystery, and with all the saints we bend the knee in worship before our great God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
As a former Christian, I can honestly say that the doctrine of the trinity was one of the most difficult doctrines to give up not because it made any sense but simply because of what the author proclaims. To deny the trinity is to essentially deny being a Christian but what does it really mean to be a Christian? Christianity holds on to this false power as if they own a patent on Christ and the kingdom of God. If you go against Christianity then you essentially go against God but God is NOT a Christian. Christianity is nothing more than a religious system made by men for men. What might have started out as an institution focused on the works of Christ has for centuries fallen hard from the foundation from which it was built. Today, modern Christianity is littered with many falsehoods and doctrines of men. The doctrine of the trinity is just one of many examples of the doctrines of men and if your dare to stand against the religious creeds of men, you risk being persecuted, alienated, and in Christ’s case, crucified. The author says that denying the trinity will cause you to lose your soul… Under what scriptural pretense is that nugget of heresy based upon? Christianity loves exalting that which is stupid… “the arithmetic of heaven”? Christianity defends their stupid doctrines with stupid phrases such as this which totally deflects from the original position. They know that it makes no sense and that is it illogical but they don’t care… If Christianity believes it, they must believe it because they submit to the will of their “god” which is their own religion.
Before I end my critique, I want to point out that the author very purposefully in my opinion failed to quote 1 John 5:7-8 which in the KJV reads as follows;
For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.
The author I’m sure left this out because there is scholarly consensus that the product of these scriptures as it is written in the KJV is a product of biblical CORRUPTION! These verses are typically used to justify the doctrine of the trinity but as the truth has been uncovered, the doctrine of the trinity is just the product of the church itself. The following was taken from the Wikipedia page for the Comma Johanneum.
“The Comma Johanneum, also called the Johannine Comma or the Heavenly Witnesses, is a comma (a short clause) found in Latin manuscripts of the First Epistle of John at 5:7–8. The comma first appeared in the Vulgate manuscripts of the 9th century. The first Greek manuscript that contains the comma dates from the 15th century. The comma is absent from the Ethiopic, Aramaic, Syriac, Slavic, Armenian, Georgian, and Arabic translations of the Greek New Testament. The scholarly consensus is that that passage is a Latin corruption that entered the Greek manuscript tradition in some subsequent copies. As the comma does not appear in the manuscript tradition of other languages, the debate is mainly limited to the English-speaking world due to the King James Only movement.”
This is what Christianity proclaims to be a “central truth”? The Apostle Peter spoke well in 2 Peter 2:1 when he warned about false prophets and false teachers bringing “DAMNABLE HERESIES” into the church…
I rest my case…
The Real Gospel of Christ 