My Notes on the
Trinity
Compiled By
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.
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
The Christian Church was large, but
had been fractionalized by persecution and doctrinal disputes.
Under
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
"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 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."
Lets look at what Jesus asks and says
on this very important subject:
Matt.
14. Some say that thou art John the
Baptist. Who had been killed by Herod a few months before. That was one
popular notion regarding him, circulating, no doubt, chiefly among those who
had never seen him. Herod Antipas entertained it (chap.
14:1). Elias. It was very generally expected that Elijah was to
return to the earth in connection with the Messiah's advent (Mal.
4:5). One of the prophets. The Jews believed that at the coming of
the Messiah the prophets were to rise again.
15. But whom say ye that I am?
This is the great and smaller catechism, the one great and essential question.
Christ is the one object of the Christian's faith. We say we believe in him;
but in whom do we believe? The hour had not come for the settlement of what
should constitute the Christian confession.
16. And Peter answered.
With the impetuosity and impulsiveness that were ever manifest in him, Peter
replied at once and expressed the faith of all the apostolic band. Thou art
the Christ, the Son of the living God. This confession not only sees in
Jesus the promised Messiah, but in the Messiah recognizes the divine nature.
The confession of Peter is the one Christian confession of the New Testament
and of the apostolic age, and the very foundation of the church, into which all
saints are built as living stones of the temple.
17. Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona.
Happy are all lips that make this confession, for such shall be confessed
before the Father in heaven. For flesh and blood hath not revealed it
unto thee, but my Father. This holy and blessed confession no one
can make from the heart unless he is moved by the Spirit. “
(The People's New Testament, 1891 )
Our dearest Jesus seems to clear up
the relationship he has with his Father in the passages above.
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
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
"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
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
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
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
2 Corinthians
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 know 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
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:
Encyclopedia
Britannica. Vol 16.
Lamson,
Alvan. The Church of the First Three Centuries.
B. W.
Johnson The People's New Testament. Vol. I. The Four Gospels and Acts of
Apostles.
Victor P. Wierwille. Jesus Christ is Not God. New
Internet Pages that I Researched /Recommended
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.
.
About
Heavenly Father: This was written by Wade Englund at this site he covers
such issues as: Are
Heavenly Father and Christ One God and/or Two Separate Gods?; Does
Heavenly Father Have a Body? , Heavenly Father Differentiated from the Omnipresent Spirit
Essence?, Is Heavenly Father a Spirit Personage? And How
did Heavenly Father Come to be God, and Our God?
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
Catholic Encyclopedia - This is
from the
New
Advent website.
The People's New Testament. Vol. I. The Four Gospels and Acts of Apostles
Jesus and the Trinity by Mark M. Mattison this is from Oneness vs The Trinity Website
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