By: Bahram Khozairy
Copyright © 2018 by Bahram Khozairy. All
Rights Reserved.
The identity of each faith, cult or religion is
determined by the nature of its deity.
The nature of their deity will determine what type of doctrine the
followers of that cult, religion or faith will adhere to.
In this article, we will examine the central and core
belief of the Christian Theology and Christian faith, which is the nature of
our God, namely the doctrine of Trinity.
Ever since the birth of Christ’s church, Trinity and the Deity of
Christ, which Trinity fully embodies, are the
doctrines that have been consistently and viciously attacked the most, by the non-Christian
religions, cultist, ani-Trinetarian sects and
heretical groups.
One may wonder ‘why is this doctrine and teaching
has always been under assault’?! Theologians vary in their responses. I would answer for the simple reason that it expresses
two basic principles:
1. It
defines the Core of the Christian faith.
2. It
sets the Parameter of the Christian faith.
It not only defines very clearly what the Christian
faith stands on, namely the nature of our God and Christology, but it also
marks out the teachings and doctrines that fall outside the Christian Faith and
Christianity.
Its importance can also be categorized as twofold.
First, it opposes the opponents of the Gospel of
Christ and exposes their heretical and non-Christian view of God and His
Nature. It differentiates Christianity’s
core belief from non-Christian faiths. It does that by its unique and exclusive
definition. It puts the spot light on
their counterfeit teachings and doctrines, whether they are being proliferated
purposely or accidentally. Whether their
leaders are deliberately spreading their erroneous view of God, or they are
just confused without blame!
Second, it challenges the mind and heart of
Christians to ponder on the nature of our God on a deeper level. It brings forth the clearer picture of the
complexity and unfathomable Nature of our Creator, which is beyond our limited
mortal mind. Since God is transcendent
and infinite, His Nature is also beyond our full comprehension and finitude,
but not necessarily our apprehension, for the reason that He has chosen to reveal
in His word the Bible, the Who and the
What of His nature, but not the How of His Nature; the How of His Nature
translates to, How God is God. He has not revealed that to us yet. The answer to that question must wait until that
day when we His children by His Grace, will meet Him face to face. That is the
blessed hope of every true Christian.
Biblical
proof texts – First level
Biblical
proof texts – Second level
Index
of Some Non-Trinitarian heretical doctrine of Trinity
Classical definition that Dr. Martin always used is
this:
Within
the nature of one God, there exist Three Persons, The
Father, The Son & The Holy Spirit.
I amplified the definition slightly:
Within
the nature of one Eternal God, there simultaneously exist Three Persons, The Father, The Son & The Holy Spirit.
The definition brings the One-ness and Three-ness
together.
So, in a very simple form, that’s what Trinity means
to Orthodox Christians. Orthodox not in
terms of the Eastern Orthodox Faiths or denomination, but Orthodox in terms of
the central, correct and fundamental Christian faith, which includes all the
major sects and denominations of the body of Christ, including the Protestants
and Evangelicals.
Incidentally, Orthodox
simply means conservative, traditional, mainstream, and conventional.
Now for the term Trinity:
Trinity basically describes the Nature of our
God. It describes the “What” of
God and “Who” of God.
It’s
etymological root (much like many of the English terms) comes from the Latin
term: Trinitas.
Trinitas or Triad from Latin Trinus, literally means, threefold. Which is basically a reference to oneness as
to the nature of God and three-ness as to the Persons within this One God (also
referred to as Godhead found in Colossians 2:9); thus, co-joining the Tree-ness
and One-ness in one term.
When described in syllogistic form, it portrays as such:
ONE
GOD:
Meaning, One Being, having One Nature who
has revealed Himself to us in The Person of The Father, The Person of The Son, The Person of The Holy Spirit. They are
ONE in terms of the Nature but THREE in terms of Distinction or Persons. (Note
the definite article “The” in front of The Father, Son & Holy Spirit, denoting
Individuality or distinctiveness).
ONE:
Meaning,
One Substance, One Nature, one Essence (substance “Homoousion in Greek ὁμοούσιον”). Note: It
is the What of the Trinity or Godhead.
THREE
PERSONS:
Meaning,
Three Distinct Persons,
Particular Persons (Hypostasis Greek ὑπόστασις). Persons NOT in terms of human persons which
are separate individuals, but Persons in terms of identity and distinction; All
possessing the Same Nature, CO-Eternal, CO-Equal, CO-Substantial. Note:
It is the Who of the Trinity or
Godhead.
PERSONS
OF THE GODHEAD:
Meaning The Father, The
Son and the Holy Spirit each have their unique roles and functions, but all
work together, because they are ONE Being and share the SAME Essence
(Substance). Person implies personality
and individuality (distinction).
Note:
Homousian
and Hypostasis share some overlap
meaning; Hypostasis is more distinct
to the individuality, whereas Homoousion is more distinct to the Overall.
Being
and Persons are basically
Category distinctions. The term “Person”
is a convenient way to describe them from human perspective, because that’s how
we can describe Personality. The
scriptures clearly teach both the distinction and union between the Persons of
the Trinity.
To Sum up:
Only God understands the mind of God. We humans are mortal, limited creatures. We are limited in terms of what God Has
revealed about Himself in His Word. As Dr.
Martin so often would say, “If we knew how God is God, we would be God; but it
is obvious that none of us have those qualifications”.
So True!!
We don’t understand many things in this world and
nature, but we believe in them.
Who can explain what Gravity is? Do we deny Gravity
because we can’t explain it? Of course
not! We believe in it and adhere by its rules.
Who can explain the nature of Light? No one has been able to fully explain what
Light particles are; but we as humans, believe in Light and live based on its
nature.
There are millions of things that some people know
and understand, and others don’t, but that doesn’t discount the truthfulness or
reality of any of them. If they are
True, they are True; whether we understand them or not.
Do we understand How Jesus can be both God and Man
at the same time? He is Fully God, and
Fully Man. Does Bible ask us to
understand (fully comprehend) the full Nature of Christ? No.
And yet, Lord Jesus clearly and emphatically proclaimed that unless we
believe He is God, which is Whom He claimed to be, we would be lost! We are not
asked to understand how He was, but
only to believe that He was!
Same principle holds true for the Nature of
God. We are NOT asked to understand the
nature of our God; simply because we cannot.
But, we are asked to believe; believe by faith that God is The Father, God is The Son & God is The
Holy Spirit, simply because His Word the Bible has revealed it to us.
The
Nature of our GOD is a MYSTERY!
Question:
Can we prove the above from the Biblical
Scriptures? Where does all that
information come from? Is it a human
made formula or description? Is it an
illusion or wishful thinking or belief?
Answer:
We will find out in the next segment.
-
Biblical proof texts – First Level
It would be literally impossible to cover every
single passage that deals with Trinity in this section. The Bible is literally loaded with them and
there are some great resources by some great theologians that cover them in
detail. For further study on Trinity, please refer to the end section of this
article.
However, in this section, I will only list out an
instance of each passage for each sub-section as a proof text.
Let’s define Trinity again:
Within
the nature of one Eternal God, there
simultaneously exist Three Persons, The Father, The Son & The Holy Spirit.
There
is a Person called God the Father
1 Peter 1:2
“who have been chosen according to the
foreknowledge of God the Father…”
There
is a Person called God the Son
Hebrews 1:8
“But about the Son he
says, “Your throne, O God,
is forever and ever, And the righteous scepter is the
scepter of His kingdom”
There
is a person called God the Holy Spirit
Acts 5:3-4
“But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan
filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back some of
the price of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own?
And after it was sold, was it not under your control? Why is it that you
have conceived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men
but to God.”
And
yet, The Bible tells us there is only ONE God
Deuteronomy 6:4
“ Hear, O
Israel: The Lord our
God, the Lord is
one.”
Therefore, from the
above passages, we discern there are 3 Persons each is called God, and yet, even
though, there is ONLY ONE GOD!
-
Biblical proof texts – Second Level
Note: The Term Father is mostly referenced to
God. There are instances where the
actual title “Father” is mentioned, and there are times where God is referred
to the Father specifically in various passages.
Context will determine which is which.
Father
is God
Ephesians 1:2
“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
1 Peter 1:3
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ…”
Father
is The Creator
James 1:17
“Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming
down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation
or shifting shadow”
Father
Speaks
Matthew 17:5
“While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and
behold, a voice out of the cloud said, “This is My
beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!”
Luke 3:22
“and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in
bodily form like a dove, and a voice came out of heaven, “You are My beloved
Son, in You I am well-pleased.”
Mark 9:7
“Then a cloud formed, overshadowing them,
and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is My beloved
Son, listen to Him!”
Father
Draws
John 6:44
“No one can come to Me unless the Father who
sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.”
Father
Receives Worship
John 4:23
“But an hour is coming, and now is, when the
true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such
people the Father seeks to be His worshipers.”
Father
Receives Prayer
Matthew 6:6
“But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door
and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what
is done in secret will reward you.”
Father
Glorifies The Son
John 17:5
“Now, Father, glorify Me
together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world
was.”
Father
Resurrects The Son
Galatians 1:1
“Paul, an apostle (not sent from men nor through
the agency of man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father,
who raised Him from the dead),”
Father
Sends the Holy Spirit
John 14:16-17
“I will ask the Father, and He will give you
another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the
Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see
Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you
and will be in you.”
The
word another (“allos
“Greek ἄλλος), means another of the same kind. Please note the Clear Triunity in this passage.
God the Son is speaking about God the Father sending God the Holy
Spirit; distinctions of the Persons in this exact particular passage.
Son
is God (Deity of Christ)
John 1:1
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word
was with God, and the Word was God.”
Colossians 2:9
“For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form.”
John 8:58
“Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you,
before Abraham was born, I am.”
Son
is The Creator
John 1:1-3
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word
was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning
with God. All things came into being through Him,
and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.”
Colossians1:16
“For by Him all things were created, both in the
heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions
or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.”
Son
Speaks & declares to be the Son of God
Luke 22:70
“And they all said, “Are You the Son of God, then?” And He said to
them, “Yes, I am.”
Son
Draws
John
12:32
“And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all
men to Myself.”
Son
Receives Worship
John 9:38
“Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.”
Son
Receives Prayer
Acts 7:59
“They went on stoning Stephen as he called on the Lord and
said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!”
Son
Glorifies the Father
John 17:4
“I glorified You on the
earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do.”
Son
Resurrects Himself
John 2:19-21
“Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I
will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It took forty-six years to build
this temple, and will You raise it up in three
days?” But He was speaking of the temple
of His body.”
John 10:17-18
“For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it
again. No
one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down
on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to
take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.”
Son
Sends the Holy Spirit
“When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you
from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from
the Father, He will testify about Me,”
Again, the same note as in John 14:16-17 applies; the
distinctions of the Persons of the Trinity is visible
in this passage.
Holy
Spirit is God
Acts 5:3-4
But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan
filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back some of
the price of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own?
And after it was sold, was it not under your control? Why is it that you have conceived
this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.”
Holy
Spirit The Creator
Genesis 1:2
“The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over
the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving
over the surface of the waters.”
Job 33:4
“The Spirit of God has made me,
And the breath of the
Almighty gives me life.”
Holy
Spirit Speaks
Acts 13:2
“While they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy
Spirit said, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which
I have called them.”
Holy
Spirit Himself Helps the Believer in Prayer
Romans 8:26
“In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not
know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us
with groanings too deep for words”
Holy
Spirit Himself Desires the Believers to Prayer in Him
“But you, beloved, building
yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit,”
Holy
Spirit Dwells inside the believers
1 Corinthians 3:16-17
“Do you not know that you are a temple
of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If any man destroys
the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is
holy, and that is what you are.”
Holy
Spirit Distributes Gifts according to His will
1 Corinthians 12 (the
entire Chapter)
Holy
Spirit Resurrected The Son
Romans 8:11
“But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in
you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to
your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.”
Holy
Spirit Glorifies The Son
John 16:13-15
“But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He
will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own
initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you
what is to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of
Mine and will disclose it to you. All
things that the Father has are Mine; therefore, I said
that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.”
Holy
Spirit can be grieved
Isaiah 63:10
“But they rebelled And
grieved His Holy Spirit; Therefore He turned Himself to become their
enemy, He fought against them.”
Holy Spirit can be blasphemed
Luke 12:10
“And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be
forgiven him; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be
forgiven him.”
Plurality
(We, Us) and Unity of the Persons
John 10:30
“I and the Father are one.”
Correct Greek translation should read: “I and
the Father, We are in Union.”
Notice the plural personal noun “We”, designating more
than One Person. The word Union
resembles another a passage quoted earlier for the Oneness definition of God:
Deuteronomy 6:4
“ Hear, O
Israel: The Lord our
God, the Lord is
one.”
The word “ONE” (“echad”
Hebrew “ekh-awd”)
translates to ONE Union. Thus, concluding from John 10:30 that Father
and Son have plurality/unity (WE, UNION) and from Deuteronomy 6:4 singularity/unity
(ONE, UNION).
John 14:23
“Jesus answered and said
to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.”
Three
Persons are mentioned in one instance
3 Persons mentioned with the article “the” in front
of them in the same passages in critical events and important passages such as:
Hebrews 9:14
“how much more will the blood of Christ,
who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to
God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the
living God?”
During
Christ Incarnation
Luke 1:35
“The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon
you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that
reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.”
During
Christ Baptism
Luke 3:21-22
“Now when all the people were baptized, Jesus was
also baptized, and while He was praying, heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit
descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came out of heaven,
“You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.”
During
the Great Commission
The One-ness and Three-ness
are clearly mentioned in this one verse.
Matthew 28:19
“Go therefore and make disciples of all the
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy
Spirit,”
Further Note about this passage in the section Anti-Trinitarians
Objection.
During
Promise of the coming of The Holy Spirit
John 16:13-15
“But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He
will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own
initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you
what is to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of
Mine and will disclose it to you. All
things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said
that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.”
During
Salutation
1 Peter 1:1-2
“Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To
those who reside as aliens, scattered
throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia,
and Bithynia, who are chosen according to the foreknowledge
of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey
Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and
peace be yours in the fullest measure.”
During
Benediction
2 Corinthian 13:14
“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and
the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you
all.”
Knowing beyond the shadow of a doubt, that our God
has created the world, His attributes would inevitably be visible throughout
His Creation. Let’s look at some:
·
Trinity
in math: 1 x 1 x 1 = 1
·
Trinity
in science: Liquid – Solid – Gas = H2O
(Note: In Chemistry it is known as The Triple Point of Water (H2O) – Where
all 3 substances can appear at the same time – 3 different forms, and yet, ONE
substance (H2O).
·
Trinity
in time: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow or
Past, Present, Future.
·
Trinity
in dimension: Height – Width – Depth
And there are many others…
Note: These are only finite illustrations of
Trinity; and since God is infinite, He cannot be fully delineated in a finite
way.
WARNING:
Be
careful when using finite illustrations.
Even though they are good in describing 3ness and 1ness
at the same time, the 3ness can be separated in each instance, whereas God The Father, God The Son and God The Holy Spirit, though 3
Persons, CANNOT be Separated
as they are ONE in ESSENCE and SUBSTANCE.
Again: The Nature of our God is a mystery.
For the
sake of length of this article, I will address only 2 of the most common and 1
not so-common (in fact quite rare) objection here.
1.
The
term Trinity is not in the Bible.
There are many terms or concepts or truths that are
not in the Bible, but we believe in them.
For instance:
The circumference formula of a circle (2πR) is not in the Bible, but
it is true and we believe and accept it.
Or the famous Energy Mass formula (E=MC2) is not in
the Bible, and yet it’s the basis for the nuclear physics and many other scientific
designs and intervention. Thus, the
argument that Trinity is not in the Bible doesn’t deter the fact that what it
stands for is true and it is as true as the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus
Christ!
2.
Some
Translations have different text(s) in those passages that proof the Trinity.
There are some corrupt and un-Orthodox (incorrect)
translations of the Bible, which are not based on the main and original manuscripts. They have utilized faulty hermeneutics during
their translations and have deliberately changed the words and phrases in-order
to alter the meaning of the passage, such as Jehovah Witness (NWT - New World
Translation), Witness Lee and The Local Church (The Recovery Version), Moffatt New
Translation (MNT) and others. MNT
version for instance attacks the Godhead and the Deity of Christ, much like NWT
translation does.
Look at Hebrews 1:8 as an example (there are many
examples, but I will list only 1 here):
NASB Version
But of the Son He
says,
“Your
throne,
O God, is forever and ever,
And the righteous
scepter is the scepter of His kingdom.
Moffatt
Version
“But of the Son he says,
‘God is your throne forever and
ever!
Be
aware of which translation you are reading!
I personally recommend NASB (New American Standard
Bible) along with Greek & Hebrew Interlinear Versions (https://biblehub.com
– Online Version). Reading the
Scriptures with NASB will not run into any of those errors.
3. Matthew 28:19 long version has been
altered by the early church fathers and therefore is not part of the original
text.
NOTE:
This is the least common of all objections, as it is only found among Heretical
and Legalistic cults, namely the Seven Day Adventist, cult of Messianic Jews
and Messianic Christians, which are part of the Hebrew Root Movements. It is also an objection raised by Islam.
Although Matthew 28:19 is proof text for Trinity (as
discussed earlier), it is also the baptismal formula. Moreover, the definite article “The” is in
front of the Name, Father, Son, Holy Spirit. The name (onoma Greek, ὄνομα) could also be translated as
“authority”.
Below I offer 3 responses to this objection.
A.
Eusebius:
Eusebius of Caesarea, is
mentioned by the critics, as never using the long term, instead the short term
baptismal phrase, as is found in Acts 2:38, 3:6, 16:18 during his discourses
and writings; meaning only in the Name of Jesus Christ and NOT in the name of
The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit.
Acts 2:3
“Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you
be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins;
and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
First of all, this claim
is totally false. Eusebius of Cesserea (260-340AD), who himself was a Trinitarian by
claim, though implemented abbreviations in many instances, references to
various passages (not quoting them directly), did use and quoted the long term
as is found in Matthew 28:19 in such places as:
Theophania 4.8
“…But He drew near to them, spoke with them, and said: "All
power (both) in heaven and earth, is given to me of my
Father. Go ye and make Disciples of all nations, and baptize them in the name
of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. And teach them to observe
all that I have commanded you. And, behold! I am with you always even to the
end of the world." Observe now, in these things…”
And in others, such as: Contra Marcellum
I.1.9; I.1.36; Theologia III. 5.22; EpCaesarea 3 (Socrates,Eccl.Hist
1.8); Psalms 117.1-4.
Note: This is not an endorsement of Eusebius as a whole, but only to refute the idea
that Matthew 28:19 was changed and its original form was a short statement of
Baptism (such as the mentioned earlier) and not the long form (The Father, The
Son, The Holy Spirit) that appears in our Bibles.
B.
Manuscripts proof:
Critics claim that earlier manuscripts (Internal and
External) do not contain the Matthew 28:19 long format.
Various Ante-Nicene (prior to Nicaea) church fathers have
quotations and statements that date back as early as 96AD. Note that the most scholarly consensus is
that the Gospel of Matthew was written in 60’s AD, roughly 30 years prior to
Didache (The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles) document. Here are some samples (please note the dates):
·
Didache 7:1 (96AD) – “Concerning baptism, you
should baptize this way: After first explaining all things, baptize in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, in flowing water”.
·
Tertullain (155-240
AD) On Baptism paragraph 13 – “Go, he says, teach the nations, baptizing
them in the
Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost.”
·
Tertullian
(155-240 AD) Against Praxeas, chapter 2 - "After
His resurrection…He commands them to baptize into the Father and the Son and
the Holy Ghost".
·
And
others such as Gregory Thaumaturgus (205-265 AD) in A
Sectional Confession of Faith, XIII , Hippolytus
(170-236 AD says in Fragments: Part II.-Dogmatical and Historical.--Against the
Heresy of One Noetus, Cyprian (200-258AD) in The
Seventh Council of Carthage Under Cyprian.
C.
Coherent proof:
We can also reason that if one had willfully wiped out the
so-called short form version in Matthew 28:19 and forged and inserted the long
form instead, just to force the doctrine of Trinity and Baptismal formula, why didn’t
the same alter the rest of the short forms found elsewhere in Acts (2:38,
3:6, 16:18)? Why the same conspirator
left the other so-obvious passages untouched?
Secondly, how come not one single manuscript ever found with
the short form for Matthew 28:19? There
are 5800 manuscripts of the New Testament (full version or fragmented versions)
with 10,000 Latin and 9300 in various other languages in our possessions
today. Not one of them has the short
form version for Matthew 28:19. Finally, Matthew 28:19 is not the only verse
that all three Persons are mentioned, as we saw in the previous sections.
-
Index of Some Non-Trinitarian heretical
doctrine of Trinity
Throughout the history of the Christian Church,
there have been and continues to be opponents of the Gospel, that tries to
attack the Nature of our God. They do
that by either denying the Trinity, or recreating their own version or
description of the Nature of our God.
A worthy of note fact:
When examining and studying these Non-Trinitarian
Cults and Groups, one cannot help but to come to a conclusion that in each
instance, they tried to explain the Trinity based on the way their finite mind could
comprehend it. They forced the
anti-definition so it would fit within their limited understanding. By doing
so, they have totally disregarded the fact that Trinity is not fully comprehensible
by the human mind. They try to reason
with their limited mortal mind the Nature of our Infinite and Transcendent God,
thinking they have solved the mystery of Trinity or Nature of our God. And as they did that, in each instance they
fell short of the solid Biblical proof texts that we covered in the previous
sections and thus, tumbled into the ditch of heresy and anti-Christian
doctrines and theology!!
Here is the index of some of the Non-Trinitarians Heresies and their short definition:
Binitarianims:
Teaching One Deity in two Persons only (Father, Son) and denying the
Personality and in full distinct
Deity of the Holy Spirit. This heresy rejected
by the Christian Scholars, misunderstands and confuses various texts such as
Romans 8:9 and 1 Peter 1:10-11 (e.g. Spirit of Christ) as well makes use of non-Canonical
anonymous works, such as Shepherd Hermas. By utilizing faulty and erroneous
Hermeneutics, it fully ignores the other clear texts that teach the distinction
of the Person of the Holy Spirit such as Acts 13:2.
Bitheism
(Dualism): Teaching 2
Separate Deities.
Monarchianism:
Teaching No Persons or Plurality of Persons within the One God.
Monarchanistic
Modalisim: Teaching God changes Modes
from One Person to another, based on each Biblical era (Old Testament, New
Testament, and Church Period). First, He
is the Father, then He becomes the Son, Then He becomes the Holy Spirit.
Tritheism: Teaching Three Separate Gods or Deities.
Polytheism: Teaching multiple Separate Deities or Gods.
Pantheism:
Teaching that all is God or Deity. Denying any Personality of God, or Persons of the Godhead.
Panentheism:
Similar to Pantheism, except that God is one step above Universe. Universe is within God. Denies the Persons of the Father, the Son
& the Holy Spirit and fully rejects the Personality of God.
Monism:
Teaching that all is one and one is all.
Unity of all things has the source and the source of all things has a
Unity. Totally reject any idea of
Personality of God of the Bible (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit).
Restrict Monotheism: Teaching that though God has created the
world, but rejects the Sonship of Christ, thus, totally denying the doctrine of
Trinity. Rejects the title, Son, Father
for God and opposes the Personality of the Holy Spirit. Islam embraces the Restrict Monotheism
doctrine.
Unitarianism: Teaching One Deity in One Person only. Denies the Deity of Christ.
Witness Lee’s Local Church (embraces Modalistic view + 1 more): Teaching Trinity is Expanding to 4 parts:
from God the Father, to God the Son, to God the Holy Spirit, and finally to the
Church.
Esotericism:
An antithesis to the Aristotelian logic, Rationalism and Christian Biblical
Theology, Faith and doctrines.
Arianisms:
an early 4th century AD heresy promulgated by a false teacher name
Arius of Alexendria in Egypt. Arius denied the deity of Christ and taught
the false principle that Jesus was a created being, secondary and inferior to
God the Father. He claimed Jesus was not
Eternal, Not Devine and merely a creature.
Arius twisted many of the passages of the scriptures, such as John 4:6,
10:29, 14:28, Matthew 24:36, where it shows the human side of Christ. He was confused and did not understand that
the Bible teaches very clearly that Jesus was 100% God as well as 100%
Man. He ignored the very clear teaching
of Philippians 2:5-8 regarding Christ nature.
Arius heretical doctrines were confronted and dealt
with by the early Church fathers, particularly during the counsel of Nicaea. As a side note, Charles Taze
Russel, the founder of Jehovah Witnesses cult has
adopted the Arius false heresy in their theology and in their New World
Translation.
I admit Trinitarian Theology is not that easy to depict nor comprehend. But that should not be surprising,
since we are describing the infinite, transcendent nature of our Creator. It is
one thing for a Christian to say, I don’t understand Trinity. But, it is quite a different thing when after
clearly been shown and demonstrated through the scriptures that Bible teaches
the One-ness and Three-ness of the Godhead, then to say, I reject it and oppose
it; it’s pagan, etc. If confusion leads
to opposition, then that becomes alarming.
That could lead into other errors (as is so clear in the kingdom of the
cults). Faulty understanding and
accepting the nature of our God could lead into other serious aberrational and
heretical doctrines.
Our God is unique and His Nature cannot be fully comprehensible
by our mind. I submit that Christianity
is the ONLY faith that although illustrates and explains the nature of God, it admits
that it is not fully comprehensible.
This should not only grab the attention of the skeptics, but raise the
awareness that as Christians we are humble enough and truthful enough to admit our
limitations in terms of understanding the Nature of our God; which is One-Ness
and Three-Ness at the SAME time.
We can apprehend that God is Triune based on the
Scriptures, but we cannot fully comprehend that “how our Creator can be Father,
Son and Holy Spirit at the same time”.
It’s impossible.
We believe in Trinity ONLY because it is Scriptural,
and for no other reasons.
Final
Advice to Christians:
For those that are searching:
Be honest and open with your search and examination. Without any pre-supposition, try to
understand what One-ness and Three-ness mean? What does One God and Three Persons of the
Godhead Mean? Does the Bible teach the Persons of the Father, the Son and the
Holy Spirit at any one instance to be
distinct? One instance of distinction is
enough to prove that fact. That is part of the correct Christian Hermeneutics. Carefully go over the passages and material
in this article. If something doesn’t
make sense, don’t shove it under the rug; search for answers from trustworthy
legitimate Christian sources (teachers, pastors, theologians, scholars). Be careful what you read, or listen or watch on
the internet. Although internet is an
excellent source for information, it is also an extremely dangerous place for
false information by false and heretical teachers. Satan has been utilizing the internet very
heavily for his sick and perverted ways, to lead the innocent astray. Pray and ask the Lord to show you about what
you read. God the Holy Spirit lives
inside of you to lead you toward all the truth.
That is His role. Lord promised
if we ask for wisdom He will provide,
James 1:5
“But if any of you lacks wisdom, let
him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach,
and it will be given to him.”
For those that have understood: Don’t try to force the definition or
explanation of Trinity so it would be logically or rationally understood and so
called solved. Present the definition and
description honestly and humbly as it is explained via scriptures (as we
studied in the previous sections) and leave it at that; whether the person can
understand it or not. Submit to the will
of the Holy Spirit as He draws people to Himself, and as such, opens their thinking
and perception. Our job as Christians is
not to force solutions, but to be ready to give to every person an answer based
on the Biblical scriptures and Truth with humility and gentleness; for all
Truth is God’s Truth! God the Holy
Spirit is responsible to bring to light the truth about what He wrote. That is His role, to make Christ and the
truth of His scriptures known to people.
His role is to Glorify Christ and to illuminate the minds and hearts of every
person with Love and the Truth of the Gospel.
As Christians, we are His workmanship, which need to be diligent in
readiness by correctly studying and thus proving ourselves to be ready to
present the gospel with love and truth.
But leave the job of illumination and understanding to God the Holy
Spirit.
2 Timothy 2:15
“Be diligent to present yourself
approved to God as a
workman who does not need to be ashamed,
accurately handling the word of truth.”
Titus 2:7-8
“in
all things show yourself to be an example of good deeds, with purity in doctrine,
dignified, sound in speech which is beyond
reproach, so that the opponent will be put to shame, having nothing bad to
say about us.”
I recommend the following books that are excellent
in representing Trinity in depth:
-
Why You should Believe in the Trinity: An Answer to Jehovah’s Witnesses, by Robert M., Jr. Bowman
-
God in Three Persons, by E. Calvin Beisner
-
What Is The Trinity? (Crucial Questions, #10), by R.C.
Sproul
-
The
Forgotten Trinity (Paperback), by James R. White