An example of the Trinity
Questions Muslims Ask by Del Kingsriter:
Chapter 2: Why Do Christians Worship Three Gods?
Chapter 5: Is There Really a Triune God?
It is hard for a mind of the flesh to understand truths of the spirit, or in other words, it is hard for a finite mind to understand the infinite. That is why our Lord Jesus Christ had to use parables in His teachings. He took spiritual concepts and communicated His truth to humans via stories they could relate to on their level.
Two heterosexual humans joined in holy matrimony become one flesh. Why do we believe this? Because we understand it? No. We believe it because the inspired Word of God teaches it to be true. It is the same thing with God's holy trinity. We don't understand it and God never said that we had to. All we have to do is accept it- it's that simple. But, like always, Satan and sin-tainted humans want to argue with God and His word. They want to introduce leaven and spoil everything. They want their own way and cause confusion by doing so. Well, let's not let them. Let's hold to what God says and to what His Word says. Let's take a good hard look at this most important Bible
doctrine.
The last section of this web page deals with answers to Muslims about this Christian doctrine. I think it is relevant in dealing with this subject. I give you an opportunity to read this in it's entirety if you want to. Just click on the "Witness to Muslims" link toward the bottom of this web page.
To keep the reader from getting confused from section to section in this web page I have used different colored print (font) in order to help. However, I have used the color purple, symbolizing God's royalty, to highlight scriptures. Most of the scriptures quoted are from the Old King James translation.
God uses setbacks
"The Trinity is a first-rate mystery. Augustine said that anyone who denies the Trinity is in danger of losing his salvation, and anyone who tries to understand it is in danger of losing his mind. It is not fully explained in Scripture.
It is true that the word Trinity is not found in the Bible. But by the late second century the church was using it to describe a biblical concept� literally, tri-unity, or "three in one."
This does not mean three Gods � though Christians have been accused of being polytheists by other world religions. Instead Christians have a unique view of God, one that comes about because they believe both the Old and New Testaments.
There are six basic biblical steps to understanding the Trinity:
2. The Father is God (2 Peter 1:17).
3. The Son is God (John 8:58).
4. The Holy Spirit is God (Acts 5:3,4).
5. Father, Son and Holy Spirit are distinct individuals (John 14:26).
6. Therefore, there are three Persons in the one Godhead.
Since the Trinity is completely unique, no analogy really fits. The Trinity is not really "like" anything.
But attempts have been made. An analogy that looks at the Trinity as three parts that make up a whole (for example, eggshell, egg white and yolk) really falls short. A better example is the three phases of H2O� liquid water, ice, vapor� but this also falls short since any given molecule of H2O exists as only one of these at a time. That picture leads to a heresy (modalism) that says the Trinity is really only one Person who takes on one of three modes at any given time. This belief is problematic for those who hold it: Just what was going on in the Garden of Gethsemane when Jesus was praying to the Father? Was He talking to himself?
The best illustration I have seen is C.S. Lewis�s: The three dimensions of space� length, width and height. All coincide in the same place, yet are distinct.
The New Testament concept of the Trinity enlarges the concept of God found in the Old Testament, and makes certain Old Testament passages more understandable. For example, some 2,500 times, the word for God is Elohim, plural, instead of El, singular. There are plural pronouns used to describe the one God:
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Love increases
"In the history of theological thought concerning Christ until modern times there was always a solid core of doctrine which can be equated with biblical orthodoxy. The early church Fathers, struggling with the obvious problem of the doctrine of the Trinity and how could God be Three and yet One, stated in enduring terms that while God is One numerically, He subsists in three Persons, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, who are equal in eternity, power and glory. Each possessing all the divine attributes and yet having properties which distinguish Them within the unity of the Trinity. A milestone in the statement of this important doctrine of the Trinity was reached in the Nicene Council in 325 A.D. and was matured and restated by the Protestant Reformers."
"The evidence which has already been considered testifying to the deity and eternity of Christ also contributes to the concept of God existing in three Persons. Historically, the trinitarian doctrine turns largely on the question of whether the Son of God is eternal, whether He has the attribute of personality and the very nature of God. The problems of the doctrine of the Trinity largely arise in the studies of Christ in His incarnate state. The Old Testament, while it assumes the doctrine of the Trinity, does not actually define the relationships of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit except to indicate subordination of the Son to the Father and of the Holy Spirit to the Son as brought out more clearly in the New Testament.
If Christ is God and as such is distinguished from the Father and the Spirit, preliminary evidence is provided to support the doctrine of the Trinity as normally stated in orthodoxy. It is safe to say that no attack on the doctrine of the Trinity can be made without attacking the person of Christ. It is also true that no attack on the person of Christ can be made without attacking the doctrine of the Trinity, as they stand and fall together. It is for this reason that current liberalism is usually Unitarian, that is, denies the three Persons of the Godhead, or is modalistic, that is, affirming simply that the Persons are modes of existence of the one Person and not actual entities. From our preliminary study it is fair to conclude that the doctrine of the eternity of Christ tends to support the orthodox doctrine of the Trinity, and the subsequent study of the person and work of Christ in the Old and New Testaments will amplify and support this preliminary conclusion."
"Without God, we can not
"The claim of the unity of God is a claim that the divine nature is undivided and indivisible. Christian scholars consider that their concept of monotheism does not differ from traditional Judaistic monotheism out of which Christianity is derived. Thus the Old Testament texts that are the thrust of Judaism are likewise pointedly emphasized by the Christian theologian.
"Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord"
The New Testament simply endorses and reaffirms the Old Testment statement of the unity of God,
"And this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent"
To assert the unity of God is not necessarily to assert that God is a unit. While God is neither composite nor suseptible to division, He is capable of relations and personalities within His essence, and this concept does no violence to the person of deity. God's unity comprises not a mere attribute of God but an essential condition of His whole existence. Monotheism stands as both a necessary and a natural consequence of any genuine theism, and it is basic and fundamental to any legitimate approach to the Christian God.
An understanding of the fact of the unity of God serves to preserve the believer both from unitarianism and from polytheism. The unitarians confound the unity of God with the claim of His existence as a unit. Polytheism seeks to assign a separate personality of God to each of His attributes, and thereby it sets forth a plurality of gods. In practice, polytheism is almost universally coupled with low moral standards. To neglect the unity of God is to deprive man of an understanding of that absolute perfection that challenges man to a higher and better life. Polytheism gives scope to secondary gods and goddesses and the result is rightly described by Saint Paul,
"They changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image like to corruptible man, and to birds and four-footed beasts and creeping things"
Although there is no passage of Scripture which sets forth a formal, credal type of statement concerning the trinity, the orthodox view insists that triunity of God is no mere afterthought. There is nothing in the doctrine of the trinity that contradicts the claim of the unity of God, and in fact the triune existence of God extends throughout all that has been revealed concerning Him throughout the entire Bible. It is to be noted that the doctrine of the trinity is a truth only of revelation and not of natural theology. Although reason shows the unity of God, only revelation reveals the trinity. The word "trinity" does not occur in the Bible, but was first used either by Tertullian (190-211), or by Theophilus of Antioch (2nd century A.D.).
It may be said that the trinity enlarges the concept of God. It is the outcome of the admission into the realm of deity of the persons of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. Scripture very clearly and emphatically defends the deity of each of these divine persons. Thus, the concept of a divine triunity particularly harmonizes with the revelation of God in the incarnation. God declares His threefold name in the events of the incarnation. The Father sent the Son to atone for sin, and the Son upon completing His redemption sent the Holy Spirit to apply redemption to mankind. A true interpretation of the plan of redemption is dependent upon a trinitarian concept of deity. Trinitarianism is not meant to be a burden upon man's intellect, but it stands as a practical necessity to a true view of the world and the plan of God.
In apostolic times the trinity seems to have been simply a spiritual and practical portrayal of deity. There was no profound speculation into the mystery of the three in one. However, the doctrine of the trinity was necessarily demanded by the trinity of divine manifestation. The doctrine of the trinity, or as it may be called the doctrine of triunity, is not in itself a matter of direct revelation but it must be reached by a process of thought. An understanding must be developed that accounts for the threefold manifestation of God and at the same time does not conflict with the Bible revelation of God's essential existence. Trinitarianism, or the doctrine of the triunity of God, is neither tri-theism nor is it some kind of a unitarianism. Among Bible believers, unitarianism has usually taken the form of ancient Sabellianism. Thus, the trinity is considered to be only a matter of the manner in which the one God manifests Himself; no essential distinctions in His being are seen.
Scriptural Intimations of the Triune Godhead
Jehovah is an awesome individual:
"Then Jehovah rained down fire and burning sulfur from the heavens on Sodom and Gomorrah"
Jehovah is depicted as having a son.
"Thou art my son; this day have I begotten thee"
The oft mentioned angel of Jehovah (Lord) in the Old Testament seems to designate the pre-incarnate Logos
A plurality of the Trinity is indicated. Some 2,500 times the plural noun Elohim is found in the Old Testament. Likewise, the Trinity is depicted as having consultations within Himself:
"Let us make man..."
Various combinations of three in Scripture definitely speak of the Trinity. The priestly benediction of
Both Old and New Testament Scriptures depict the entire trinity in operation.
"Thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, I am the Lord..."
b.
New Testament
The announcement of Jesus' birth involved all three persons.
"And the angel answered and said unto her, the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee"
The trinity is contained in familiar forms and formulas of the New Testament.
b.
Apostolic salutations and benedictions. Fifteen New Testament books begin with salutations that include both the Father and the Son (for instance:
"Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ"
The Nature of the Trinity
The Christian is called upon to hold equally the fact of the unity of God and the fact of His tri-personality. Together with the claim that God is one, is the accompanying recognition that in practical operation, the one supreme God manifests Himself in three persons. The trinity is a mystery, but not a contradiction. It is above reason, but it cannot be proved contrary to reason nor inconsistent with all of the truths known concerning God. The arithmetic of God is the concept: 1 + 1 + 1 = 1 which is true, even if not now understandable. Brumbach comments: "The term Trinity is a symbol...It is an algebraic sign for an unknown, mysterious relation." Chafer once wrote: "No argument has been advanced against the trinitarian conception other than that it does not conform to the limitations of the mind of man." Commented Robert Smith: "As he that denies it may lose his soul, so he that too much strives to understand it may lose his wits."
Trinitarianism, or the doctrine of the triunity of God, does not declare that there are three Gods nor does it declare that one person is three Persons, nor that three gods are one God. One of the best statements of trinitarianism is the traditional Athanasian Creed or the Quicunique which declares in part as follows:
An effort in understanding the trinity sometimes is directed toward the definition of the word "person." It is suggested that in the historical theological sense, a person does not need to be a detached independent entity. Although the human experience with persons is limited to experience with other humans, it is conceivable that there might be a non-human person with attributes varying somewhat from those of a human individual. The traditional formulations of the trinity tended to use the word person somewhat in the same way that the modern word "character" is used. The properties of self-existence and independence are properties of the triune God, and not of the individual persons of the Godhead. Even though the persons relate to one another in a variety of personal ways, orthodoxy does not want to claim that there are three Persons in the Godhead in the same sense that there might be three persons in a family. Ultimately, the theologian is impressed to retreat into the claim that the
trinity is inscrutible and incomprehensible because in relation to the Scriptures, it stands unexplained.
The early Christians, with their background of monotheistic Judaism, were convinced that there was but one God and that any other claim was in error. Nevertheless, the problem of the place to which to assign Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, who were as it were newly discovered persons of the Godhead, was deeply perplexing. The process of working out a consistent comprehensive doctrine led to prolonged controversy and debate within the Church, and in the process many false doctrines were developed and discarded. The doctrine of trinitarianism was by no means an immediate development in the Christian Church, nevertheless by the time of the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D. a great deal of light and truth emerged, and the pattern was set for the orthodox Christian concept of the trinity.
In the era of the early Church, those who rejected trinitarianism were likely to identify with the monarchians. It was their position that the persons of the trinity were merely names for the various shifting phases of divine activity. The monarchians arose about 200 A.D. and they have maintained representatives throughout history. One of the first monarchians was Noetus of Smyrna (late 2nd and early 3rd century). Noetus' claim was that the Father became the Son when He was born, so that Christ was Himself the Father and therefore it was the Father who suffered and died in order that He might serve mankind. One of the best known students of Noetus was Praxaes. He likewise denied the distinction of Persons in the Godhead and held that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are identical. He maintained the deity of Jesus Christ on the grounds that Jesus was the Father and that when Jesus died on the cross the Father died also. To be incarnate, the Father came down from heaven and was conceivd in Mary by His own
power. The glorified Lord Jesus is now seated in heaven at His own right hand. Praxaes also objected to the role of the Holy Spirit in the Church as it was practised in his day, so that his opponents declared of him: "He put to flight the Paraclete and he crucified the Father."
Sabellius, a presbyter of a church in Africa, came into prominence in the monarchian movement a few decades after Praxaes. History records that in 215 A.D. Sabellius was in Rome and there he was teaching his doctrine. Sabellius and his collegues particularly emphasized that the phenomena involving the trinity represented mere modes of expression of deity, and not the basic essence of the divine being. Hence, this interpretation is usually called Modalism. In the view of Sabellius, God is a divine unity revealing Himself successively in three different modes or forms. As Father, God reveals Himself as creator; as Jesus, He reveals Himself as Redeemer; as Holy Spirit, He reveals Himself as sanctifier. Since Jesus Christ was the supreme God Himself, God was His own Son. The Holy Spirit was simply that aspect of Christ discernable when He operated in the realms of man, or when virtue flowed forth from Him. In their classic illustration, the Sabellianists likened the Father to the globe of the sun, the Son to its illuminating effects, and the Spirit to its warming effects; while the whole solar phenomenon represented the divine substance. It was insisted that deity was an absolute unity and that the terms Father, Son and Holy Spirit are not real and personal, but nominal and official.
Modern Non-Trinitarians
In 1960 there were reported to be in the United States approximately 750,000 Christian believers who were committed to the denial of the trinity, and who thereby accepted some form of traditional Sabellianism. This group is almost wholly pentecostal and generally traces its roots to the mystical experiences of a small group of believers at a camp meeting in Southern California in 1913. It is to be noted that these modern Sabellianists are likely to acknowledge little or no connection with ancient monarchial views; they consider that their doctrine is a latter day revelation and no mere revival of traditionalism. Modern Sabellianism often is identified as "Jesus Only" or "Oneness," and currently the movement is usually considered an unorthodox cult. Hence, its adherents are likely to be denied fellowship not only by non-pentecostal evangelicals, but also by trinitarian pentecostals.
At some level, the modern Sabellianistic controversy involves little more than the baptismal formula and the dispute concerning the use of
Sabellianism holds that the three persons set forth in the Bible are only manifestations of Jesus, the one true God. They hold that the one name of deity is "Jesus" and they use proof texts such as
"For unto us a child is born...and his name shall be called...The everlasting Father"
The trinitarian view would hold that a modalistic concept of the holy trinity or mere manifestations is not Scriptural, for only the Father is described as having been manifest.
"God was manifest in the flesh"
"The author responds to the questions of Muslims concerning their misunderstanding about the trinity...
In some small way I hope that you have been encouraged by this article.
If you can accept the truth of how two humans can become one flesh then
you can accept the truth of how three Persons can be one God
to move us forward
1. There is one God (Deuteronomy 6:4).
Assemblies of God fundamental truth no. 2 says it well: "WE BELIEVE...There is only one God� revealed in three persons ... Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (commonly known as the Trinity)."
"Let us make man" (Genesis 1:26);
"Man is become as one of us" (Genesis 3:22);
"Remember thy Creator[s]" (Ecclesiastes 12:1);
"Rejoice in his Maker[s]" (Psalm 149:2).
And, in Matthew 28:19,
"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" (NKJV),
the word for "name" is singular, yet representing three Persons."
Ken Horn, "God, the three in one"
http://www.tpe.ag.org/Articles_2005/4736_horn.cfm
as we give it away
John F. Walvoord, Jesus Christ Our Lord, Moody Bible Institute of Chicago, 1969, page 11
John F. Walvoord, Jesus Christ Our Lord, Moody Bible Institute of Chicago, 1969, page 32
Without us, God will not"
--by Saint Augustine
(Deuteronomy 6:4). "That all the people of the earth may know that the Lord is God, and that there is none else"
(I Kings 8:60). "I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God"
(Isaac 44:6). "And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one"
(Zechariah 14:9).
(John 17:3). "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus"
(1 Timothy 2:5). "Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well; the devils also believe and tremble"
(James 2:19). Trinitarian doctrine specifically maintains that there is only one eternal supreme divine being and that in Him all of the divine attributes and perfections inhere.
(Romans 1:23).
(end of page 32)
(end of page 33)
(Genesis 19:24).
(Psalm 2:7).
(Genesis 16:7-13, Exodus 3:2, Exodus 23:20). He appeared to Hagar, to Moses at the burning bush, and He promised Moses to accompany him throughout the wilderness wanderings. The Angel presents Himself as one in essence with Jehovah, and yet distinct from Him. Says Boettner:
"As the revelation is unfolded by the procession of the prophets we find that divine titles and divine worship are given to this Angel and accepted by Him, that He is revealed as an eternal Being, the Mighty God, the Prince of Peace, the Adonai, the Lord of David, that He is born of a virgin, that He will be despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, that He will bear the sin of many, and that He will, above all, set up the kingdom of righteousness which is to increase until it fills the whole earth."
These prophecies were, of course, fulfilled in Christ.
Loraine Boettner, Studies in Theology, William B. Eerdsmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1947, page 99.
(Genesis 3:22). "Let us go down and confound..."
(Genesis 11:7). "Who will go for us..."
(Isaiah 6:6). The literal rendering of various passages indicates a plurality:
"Remember thy Creators..."
(Ecclesiastes 12:1); "Rejoice in His makers..."
(Psalm 149:2).
Numbers 6:24-27 is threefold. The word "holy" is repeated three times in
Isaiah 6:3 and Revelation 4:8. The Hebrew assigns three names to God: Elohim, Jehovah, and Adonai.
a.
Old Testament
The functions of deity are, on occasion, related to more than one Person of the Godhead and often to all three.
"Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ"
(Isaiah 48:17). "In all their affliction he (God) was afflicted, and the angel of his presence"
(Isaiah 63:9-10).
(end of page 34).
(Luke 1:35). At Jesus' baptism, the Son emerged from the water, the Spirit descended upon Him and the Father spoke from heaven.
"Jesus also being baptizd, and praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Ghost descended...and a voice came from heaven"
(Luke 3:21-22). Jesus promised the Holy Spirit to believers:
"I will pray the father, and he will give you another comforter"
(John 14:16). On the day of Pentecost, the comforter clearly was the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is thus distinguished from the Saviour who mediated and the Father who decreed the gift.
(I Peter 1:2).
"And behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high"
(Luke 24:49).
"How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost..."
(Acts 10:38).
a.
The baptismal formula. Jesus instructed his disciples
"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost"
The Persons of the Trinity maintain specific relationships toward one another. They use pronouns: I, thou, he and him, when speaking to or of each other:
"This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him"
(Matthew 28:19). It is significant that in this initiatory rite of the Christian religion, the doctrine of the trinity is pointedly set forth. The three terms, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are each names in the Godhead. Although in themselves, these words are common names, they are made proper names because of the form they take and the usage that is employed. It is to be noted that they are names and not titles. Since
Matthew 28:19 is a formula, obedience to our Lord's command to use it, calls for the repetition of the formula, for this is the way in which formulas are used. There is no reason to seek to interpret the formula.
(Romans 1:7). Salutations mentioning all three persons are found in
I Peter 1:2 and Revelation 1:4-5. A typical benediction that mentions all three persons:
"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all"
(II Corinthians 13:14).
(end of page 35)
(Matthew 17:5). There is mutual love and desire between the Persons to see the other glorified:
"The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand"
(John 3:35); "And now, Father, glorify thou me..."
(John 17:5). "He (the Holy Spirit) shall glorify me (Christ)"
(John 16:14). The Son prays to the Father, and Father and Son send the Holy Spirit to be their Agent on earth.
"But the Comforter, even the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name..."
(John 14:26). Concludes Boettner:
"Thus we see that the Persons within the Godhead are so distinct that each can address the others, each can love the others, the Father sends the Son, the Father and Son send the Spirit, the Son prays to the Father, and we can pray to each of them."
(end of page 36)
"And the Catholic Faith is this: That we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity: Neither confounding the Persons: nor dividing the Substance. For there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Ghost. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost is all one: the Glory equal, the Majesty co-eternal. So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Ghost is God. And yet they are not three Gods, but one God. And in this Trinity none is afore, or after the other, none is greater, or less than another. But the whole three Persons are co-eternal together and co-equal. So that in all things as is aforesaid: the Unity in Trinity, and the Trinity in Unity is to be worshipped."
(end of page 37)
(end of page 38)
Matthew 28:19 as contrasted by the recorded practices of the book of Acts. However, the theological inferences of a monarchian doctrine inevitably become the focus of interest. Thus, modern Sabellianists are likely to be militant and hostile to traditional trinitarianism and to refer to such believers as "three gods people." Some modern Sabellianistic writers have made a great deal of the tetragrammaton and have derived many of their conclusions from the fact that the name is mysterious and unknown.
(Isaiah 9:6); "And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one"
(Zechariah 14:9). Another Sabellianistic approach is to hold that the trinity represents not three persons but three personalities of the one God who is named Jesus. In religious practice, not only do Sabellianists baptize in the name of Jesus but they tend to emphasize prayer to Jesus and to ascribe special, almost magical, power to the name of Jesus.
(I Timothy 3:16). The reference to Jesus as "The everlasting father" is interpreted to mean that Jesus Christ is Father in the sense that He is the co-author of creation, the head of the saints, and the founder of the Church. To say that God's name shall be one is not considered as teaching monarchianism but rather as teaching simply that at the end time, paganism and the worship of false gods will no longer prevail. Trinitarians deny that God could exist as a personality in contrast with existing as a person, for the former is necessarily dependent upon the latter."
(end of page 39)
L. Thomas Holdcroft, Theology Proper, loose leaf booklet purchased at the Bethany Bible College book store in 1970
by Del Kingsriter
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