My Notes On The Trinity
My Notes On The Trinity
Compiled
By Devin Willis
I found it very interesting that the
Fundamentalist Christian Preacher Jimmy Swaggart
Wrote that "the term" 'one,' as applied to the Godhead,
"means one in unity." "The three are one in the sense that they
are always in perfectly agreed; with never any disharmony between them
{Sic.}." Yet, he continues, the blessed souls in heaven will actually see
three distinct divine beings upon their arrival there. (Swaggart, from his
paper entitled "What is Meant by the Trinity?" And When We Get To
Heaven Will We See Three Gods?" as cited by Peterson, Ricks p. 68)
Or is the Trinity:
-The Catholic
Encyclopedia states: " Trinity is the term
employed to signify the central doctrine of the Christian religion. Thus, in
the words of the Athanasian Creed: 'the Father is God, the Son is God, and the
Holy Spirit is God, and yet there are not three Gods but one God.' In this
Trinity .the Persons are co-eternal and co-equal: all alike are uncreated and
omnipotent."
Many other churches in Christianity
agree. For instance, the Greek Orthodox Church also calls the
Trinity "the fundamental doctrine of Christianity," even
saying: "Christians are those who accept Christ as God." In
the book Our Orthodox Christian Faith, the same church declares: "God
is triune. The Father is totally God. The Son is totally God. The Holy Spirit
is totally God." the Trinity is considered by many to be "one
God in three Persons." Each is said to be without beginning, having
existed for eternity. Each is said to be almighty, with each neither greater
nor lesser than the others.
Many sincere Christians including
myself have found it to be confusing, contrary to normal reason, unlike
anything in their experience. How, I ask, could the Father be God, Jesus be
God, and the Holy Spirit be God, yet there be not three Gods but only one God?
In 311 AD Christianity was powerful
and growing. Constantine, Struggling to become the
Roman Emperor saw an opportunity to get Christian Support, and made the
decision to supposedly become a convert to Christianity, in his successful
effort to win the Roman Civil War and gain complete control of the empire. The
Roman government, under Constantine Absorbed the Christian Church just as the
earlier Roman Empires had absorbed other religions.
The Christian Church was large, but
had been fractionalized by persecution and doctrinal disputes. Constantine's
acceptance of Christianity put an end to the persecutions. He also held he
first ecumenical council to resolve Doctrinal conflicts.
Under Constantine's supervision, the
first ecumenical council
was held at Nicea in 325 AD, and settled a doctrinal dispute
by ruling that Jesus Christ was equal with the Father. Which Christ never
claimed! Constantine was not a Christian. Supposedly, he converted later
in life, but he was not baptized until he lay dying. Regarding him, Henry
Chadwick says in The Early Church: "Constantine, like his father,
worshipped the Unconquered Sun; his conversion should not be interpreted as an
inward experience of grace. It was a military matter. His comprehension of
Christian doctrine was never very clear, but he was sure that victory in battle
lay in the gift of the God of the Christians."
A second council held in 381 AD,
decided that the Godhead (nature of God) was a trinity of three parts, the
Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. This concept of the Trinity was first put
forth by Tertullian in his "Treatise Against Praxeus" in about 210 AD
The orthodox doctrine of the Trinity is not to be found in the teachings of the
First Century Church, but rather evolved in the second, third and forth
centuries.
"Does the Bible support this
belief?" Questioning traditional Trinity Christian doctrine is nothing
new. As the Protestants broke from the Roman Catholic Church, they believed
came to realize that the idea of a progressive revelation of God guaranteed by
an infallible council or papal decisions were incorrect. Doctrines decreed
within the Roman Catholic Church are subject to question. One such Protestant
and scholar who questioned the doctrine of the Trinity was none other than Sir
Isaac Newton. He came to the same conclusion others were coming to -- namely; that
this doctrine was false.
Until 200 AD, no one ever spoke of
God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost as a three-in-one deity. Furthermore,
there was no formal doctrine of Trinitarianism (the teaching of the
three-in-one God) until the fourth century. Alvan Lamson, a writer of history,
documented this: "The modern doctrine of the Trinity is not found in
any document or relic belonging to the Church of the first three centuries...
It was of later origin".
Even the New Catholic Encyclopedia
admits that Trinitarianism did not become a part of the Christian doctrine
until the fourth century. A passage from the encyclopedia reads, "When
one does speak of an unqualified Trinitarianism, one has moved from the period
of Christian origins to, say, the last quadrant of the 4th century... The
dogmatic formula 'God in three Persons' was the product of 3 centuries of
doctrinal development" . In Buzzard and Hunting pg, 73). This doctrine
did not develop as a result of biblical study.
In fact, after examining the whole New
Testament, Fortman concludes that the classical Trinity doctrine is not to be
found there, only a foundation for the future development of that doctrine:
There is no formal doctrine of the
Trinity in the New Testament writers, if this means an explicit teaching that
in one God there are three co-equal divine persons. But the three are there,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and a triadic ground plan is there, and triadic
formulas are there . . .. The Biblical witness to God, as we have seen, did not
contain any formal or formulated doctrine of the Trinity, any explicit teaching
that in one God there are three co-equal divine persons. (Fortman, pp. 22-23,
as cited by Robinson, p. 74)
In the New Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol.
14, p. 299, R. L. Richard writes, "the formulation 'one God in three
persons' was not solidly established, certainly not fully assimilated into
Christian life and its profession of faith, prior to the end of the 4th century
. . .. Among the Apostolic Fathers, there had been nothing even remotely
approaching such a mentality or perspective" (as cited by Robinson, p.
121).
The non-LDS scholar J.N.D. Kelly noted
the absence of the doctrine of the Trinity in the early writings of the Church.
"The Church had to wait for
more than three hundred years for a final synthesis, for not until the Council
of Constantinople (381) was the formula of one God existing in three coequal
persons formally ratified"
(Early
Christian Doctrines Harper, New York, 1978, pp. 87-88, as cited by Robinson, p.
76).
Interesting, The New Testament, refers
to Jesus Christ as God's Son 68 Times, and the word Trinity is not even
in the Bible. Not only does the Bible denies of the Trinity (the traditional
view) and calls Jesus Christ the Son of God, but it also distinguishes the
differences between God (The Father) and Christ.
For final and the best resource anyone
could use, I must turn to the TRUE authority on the Trinity doctrine, Jesus
Christ himself! NEVER said, "I am God one God, one Being who is God and
only God; yet that one God has three different Persons, separate personas, the
Father, Son and Holy Spirit." Instead, Our Dearest Jesus spoke of God as
being his Father. The many passages in which Jesus Christ referred to God
demonstrate that he thought of himself to be under God The Father. For further
supports that they are separate
Many well meaning Christians have
shared John 10:30, John 17:20-22 to prove their thoughts on the Trinity. Christ
did teach that He and His Father are one (John 10:30), but He explained
what this unity meant. One in perfect agreement
In John 17:20-22, However this does
not mean that we will no longer be individuals or that we will be dissolved
into one substance, but that we can be of one heart and mind, united with the will
of God, in perfect agreement and unity. This same teaching occurs in other
passages, where Christ explains that the oneness and unity between the Father,
Son, and Holy Ghost is what we should have with each other or what we can also
have with them in heaven.
For instance, in John 14:10,11, Christ
says that the Father is in Christ and Christ is in the Father. Does this mean
they are the same person? No, for in verse 20 He explains that in heaven, we
will know that Christ is in the Father and we are in Christ and He is in us.
Clearly, something other than oneness of substance and person is meant here.
As for John 10:30, the much esteemed
and non-LDS F.F. Bruce in his International Bible Commentary States:
"The neuter gender [used in
the Greek] rules out any thought of meaning 'one Person'. This is not a comment
on the nature of the Godhead. Rather, having spoken of the sheep's security in
both Himself and the Father, Jesus underlines what He has said by indicating
that in action the Father and He can be regarded as a single entity, because
their wills are one."
(F.F. Bruce, The International Bible Commentary, Marshall Pickering/Zondervan,
Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1986, p. 1249).
Selected Bible Passages:
Matthew 3:15-17; 17:5; Mark 1:10-11;Mark
1:10-11; Luke 3:21-23;When Jesus is baptized, the Spirit of God descends on him
like a dove and the voice of the Father is heard to say, "This in my
beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
Matthew 10:33-36 "But
whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which
is in heaven
Matthew 12:31-32: "And
whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but
whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven, neither in
this world, neither in the world to come."
Matthew 18:10: Jesus says that the
angels of little children "do always behold the face of my Father, which
is in heaven."
Matthew 20:23: Jesus cannot
designate who will sit on his right hand and who will not. This is for the
Father alone to decide.
Matthew 22:36: Jesus does not know
the exact time of the second coming. Only the Father possesses this
information.
Matthew 26:39 "O my Father, if
it be possible, let this cup pass from me! nevertheless, not as I will, but as
thou wilt."
Matthew 27:46; "And about the
ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying "Eli,Eli,Lama
Sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken
me?"(NAS)
Matthew 28:18: After the
resurrection, Jesus declares that "all power" has been
"given" to him.
Matthew 28:19: Baptism to be
performed in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
Luke 23:35: the Christ of God.
1 John 2:1 Christ is our advocate
with the Father.
John 5:17-23,36-37 "My Father
worketh hitherto, and I work."
John 5:19: The Son can do nothing
of himself. He can only do what he sees the Father do.
John 8:28: Jesus says, "I do
nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things."
John 8:29: Jesus always does those
things which please the Father.
John 8:42 "For I proceeded
forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but He sent me."
John 12:28-29; 17:1-5 The Father
speaks to the Son from heaven, "The people therefore that stood by, and
heard it, said that it thundered: others said An angel spoke to him."
John 12:49-50 "I speak
therefore, even s the Father said unto me, so I speak."
John 14:26: The Father will be send
the Holy Ghost in Christ's name.
John 14:28 "I go unto the
Father: for my Father is greater than I."
John 17; Matthew 26:39-42: Jesus
prays and submits to the Father.
John 20:17 "Touch me not; for
I am not yet ascended to my Father; but go to my brethren, and say until them,
I ascend to my Father and your Father; and to my God, and your God."
Acts 2:32-33; 10:38 "This
Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we are all witnesses. Therefore, being by the
right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the
Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear."
Acts 7:55-56:"...Stephen was
filled with the Holy Spirit. He looked toward heaven where he saw our glorious
God and Jesus standing at his right side. Then Stephen said, "I see heaven
open and the Son of Man standing at the right side of God" (CEV bible)
1 Corinthians 8:4-6: There are many
Gods and many Lords, both pagan ones and true ones. However, to us there is one
God, the Father, and one Lord, Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 15:24-28: When the
Father has totally established his power over earth, the son himself shall also
be subject unto the Father, that God may be all in all."
2 Corinthians 4:4;
Colossians 1:12-15 "In whom
the god of this world hath binded the minds of them which believe not, lest the
light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine
unto them."
2 Corinthians 11:31; "The God
and Father of the Lord Jesus"(NAS)
2 Corinthians 13:14: "The
grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the
Holy Ghost, be with you all."
Ephesians 1:3,17; Blessed be the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every
spiritual blessing in the heavenly places...(NAS)
Philippians 2:5-11: In his
pre-mortal life, Jesus did not think it was robbery to be equal with God. The
Father has highly exalted Christ and has
Colossians 1:19: It pleased the
Father that all fulness should dwell in Christ.
Hebrews 1:2: The Father appointed
Christ "heir of all things."
1 Peter 1:3; "Blessed be the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus" (NAS)
Revelation 3:21 There are two
thrones in heaven, one for the Father and one for the Savior. Jesus will allow
the faithful to sit on his throne just as the Father permitted him to sit on
his (the Father's) throne.
I see this is a sensitive area for
many other Christians who have accepted the doctrine of the Trinity. I cannot
embrace this doctrine as a LDS Christian I accept all biblical teachings on the
nature of God, but I do reject the Nicene doctrine of the Trinity doctrine. in
my humble opinion, the modern doctrine of the Trinity is not taught in the
Bible. I respect those who believe otherwise and would never say someone is not
a Christian for differing in their belief on this intense topic, but I believe
the Bible does not support that doctrine.
A thought from Joseph Smith:
". Wherein do you differ from
others in your religious views? In reality and Essence we do not differ so far
in our religious views but that we could drink into one principle of love... If
I esteem mankind to be in error, shall I bear them down? No, I will lift them
up and each in and each in his own way if I cannot persuade him my way is
better! I will ask no man to believe as I do. Do you believe in Jesus Christ?
So do I. Christians should cultivate friendships with others" (Andrew F. Ehat and Lyndon W Cook, eds,) (The
Words of Joseph Smith, Provo: Religious Studies Center, 1980 pg 229,July
9,1843)
Daniel
C. Peterson, and Stephen D. Ricks Offenders For A Word: Aspen Books, Salt Lake City, and Utah
Stephen
E. Robinson: Are Mormons Christians? Bookcraft, Salt Lake City, Utah 1996
Buzzard,
Anthony F., and Charles F. Hunting. The Doctrine of the Trinity: Christianity's
Self-Inflicted Wound
.
Morrow: Atlanta Bible College, 1994.
Encyclopedia
Britannica. Vol 16. USA: Benton, 1961. 24 vols.
Lamson,
Alvan. The Church of the First Three Centuries.
Boston: Walker Fuller and Co., 1865.
Wierwille,
Victor Paul. Jesus Christ is Not God. New Knoxville:
American Christian Press, 1981.
Internet Pages that I
Researched /Recommended Reading
Non-LDS
Links
IPBE LIBRARY OWEN The Trinity Institute of Practical Bible Education The
Electronic Public Library John Owen Doctrine of The Trinity A Brief Declaration
and Vindication of the Doctrine of the Trinity and also of the Person and
Satisfaction of Christ..., by John Owen.
Mystery of the Ages: Who and What is God? - This Attempts to
answer the question’s“ Who
and What Is God? Chapter 1 Why Does God Seem Unreal?
Jehovah's
Witnesses Official Web Site: Should You Believe in the Trinity? It shares Their Answers to such
questions as: What is the Trinity? Does the Bible
Biblical Monotheism Examined Trinitian or Henothistic in
Nature? By Sam Shamoun This is from the CR&E
web site.
Scriptural Comparisons That Prove Jesus is God - By George Z. This is from the Just
A Christian Ministries, International Website
Trinity and the Bible - by Marc Schindler. Discusses whether the mainstream
"Trinity" doctrine can be found in the Bible. Located on Kerry A. Shirts' "Mormonism Researched" Page.
.
Click here to create or pick up
your Digital Postcard